Read Online Running Wild by Denise Eagan - Free Book Online

right?”
    Nick frowned. Melinda’s eyes appeared a mite glazed, and
Nick’s shoulders tightened. For all her genius at child rearing, housekeeping,
and matchmaking, Melinda wasn’t what a body would call smart. In fact, she
could drive a man mad trying to follow her convoluted thinking. But she had an
intuition—she called it a sixth sense—that’d saved lives.
    “Sure enough. Wouldn’t go into the mountains without it.”
    “And you’ll keep it with you at all times, right?”
    He nodded slowly. “I do gen’rally. Why? Is there something
wrong?”
    “No. No, everything will be fine then,” she said, her face
brightening. The dazed expression vanished. “Just make certain that you keep it
near, that’s all.”
    Maybe he could use her woman’s intuition to escape . . . .
He frowned. “Maybe we shouldn’t go—”
    “Oh no, now that won’t do. You do your duty by your guests,
Nick.” She pulled the door open and Nick, cookies tucked under his arm, stepped
out onto the porch. Melinda closed the door behind him with a final click, loud
in the cold morning air. Stomach clenching, he looked across the yard toward
two horses saddled and packed. Mack stood at the head of his mount, while Star
held the reins of Belle, stroking its chestnut neck and whispering something in
its ear. She wore a brown, hooded wool cape and a ridiculous green velvet top
hat, which somehow didn’t look ridiculous on Star.
    Miz Montgomery, Nick corrected himself as he crossed the
yard, his boots crunching on the frozen ground. The trick was to keep his
distance as much as possible, and he’d avoid the kind of entanglements that
could cause scenes and cost friendships. A name was a good start.
    Detecting his approach, she turned toward him. Her cloak was
fur-lined and pushed back on her shoulders to reveal a green riding habit,
which, absent bustle or petticoats, clung to her curves. Nicholas sucked in his
breath as his eyes rode over her, while his brain assured his runaway
imagination that there was nothing at all erotic about a riding habit.
Unfeminine and stark, that’s what they were.
    Except on Miz Montgomery.
    Heat and excitement bubbled through his veins. Damn, damn .
    A smile crept across her face, and her eyes gleamed
brandy-brown. Her cheeks were pink in the cold morning air, two bright spots of
color in the midst of a grey winter day.
    “Getting to know Belle?” Nick asked as he reached his mount
and shoved the cookies in his saddlebag.
    “She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she? Gentle and quiet. Did you
suppose I couldn’t handle a more spirited horse?”
    Nick’s eyes caught hers across the back of his mount. “Never
occurred to me. I chose Belle for you because she’s sure-footed, which is a lot
more useful in the mountains than spirit.” He spied her saddle and raised his
eyebrows in surprise. “No sidesaddle?”
    “It seemed safer to ride astride, and Melinda assured me it
was perfectly proper under the circumstances,” Star answered, lifting her chin
in defiance.
    “It surely is, ma’am,” Nick replied, grinning. For all her
Eastern gentility, she possessed a deal of spunk, and her sporadic disdain for
decorum touched a joyful, but deeply hidden, rebellious part of him. He relaxed
a little. “You need a hand up?”
    She shook her head and, with more grace than he’d have
thought possible clothed as she was in long skirts and cape, swung into the
saddle. Melinda, Nick reflected, always needed help into the saddle. Then
again, she was several inches shorter than Star.
    Nick mounted up while Miz Montgomery, expertly controlling
her mare with her knees, adjusted her skirts. She turned to him. “Up the
valley, then?”
    “No, that trail’s too steep in winter. You sure you want to
wear that?” He nodded to the top hat.
    She arched one pretty eyebrow. “Why ever not?”
    “It’ll be even colder in the mountains. I reckon you’ll want
to use that hood instead, ’specially if it snows.”
    Her eyes