Arizona Heat
Jennifer Greene
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
One
Lord, it was hot. Baking hot, choking hot, underwear-sticking hot. Kansas McClellan slapped at the insect buzzing around her neck with a scowl.
Shed been in southern Arizona all of twenty-four hours. Long enough to hate it. Sweat was drooling behind her knees; her calf muscles were screaming from the long hike; and redheads with delicate skin were simply not built to tolerate a climate with all this confounded, relentless sun.
Minnesota in May was a splendiferously superb place to live. Daffodils and lilacs in bloom. Lots of cool, clear lakes. Lots of dark, shady woods.
Kansas slapped another bug, musing that shed sell her soulwithout a qualmfor an ounce of shade right now. She was probably going to end up with heat stroke before this little adventure was over. For sure, she was going to end up with freckles. Naturally this impromptu trip had come up too fast for her to think about details like packing sunscreen. Her throat was parched. Her sandals hurt. Her daffodil yellow shorts and scoop-neck T-shirt were as close to naked as she could get without risking arrest. The outfit still felt hotter than a glued-on suit of armor. Briefly she indulged in a wanton, enticing fantasy about swimming stark naked in a cool mountain lake.
The fantasy was almost better than sex. Regretfully it didnt last any longer than most menbut ahead, as she turned a corner, she found something more exciting than either. Just ahead was shade, real shade, serious shade...and the glimpse of a low-roofed building.
When shed parked her rental car near the sign for the Mile Hi Ramsey Canyon Preserve, she had no idea it would be such a hike to the actual placeor that the landscape could conceivably change this fast. Suddenly there were trees instead of bleak, bald desert. Suddenly there was green. Suddenlyshe saw the closed door to the buildingthere was a prayer of civilized air-conditioning.
Ignoring the heat, she aimed for the door at a breakneck sprint. Seconds later, she was inside the preserve office and basking in the immediate cool.
With a single glance, she could see she fit in here as well as a stripper on Wall Street. The dozen people milling around were all appropriately decked out in L.L. Bean and Patagonia labels. Her overbright shorts outfit had come from Marianneson sale. Half the L-shaped room was an active bookstore, stocked with extensive references and tomes on the wildlife and geology of the area. Personally, Kansas favored romances.
Being a fish out of water rarely bothered her. At twenty-nine, shed been a misfit so long that the title fit as comfortably as a pair of well-worn jeans. There were just a few times when she wished she had the gift for fitting inlike now. If she were ever going to find her younger brother in this dadblasted desert country, Kansas needed help.
Years ago, shed have swallowed a bullet before admitting needing help for anything. As a kid, shed been tough. Shed been stubborn. Shed also been proud, to the point of stupiditya lesson shed learned the hard way and didnt intend to repeat.
Impatiently she waited her turn to speak with the woman behind the front desk. Apparently only small groups were allowed in the Preserve at a time, and a cluster of college-age kids stood ahead of her, pleading their case to the head honcho lady. From listening to their conversation, Kansas gathered that the canyon was the site of an annual hummingbird migration, that said-migration was spectacular, and that this spring was a one-of-a-kind viewing experience for hummingbird enthusiasts.
She blew a limp, carrot-top curl out of her eyes. She had no quarrel with the hummingbird lovers. She just had another agenda, and the day was wastingthe hour was already past three.
Finally the kids turned around and jostled past her. Kansas stepped up and cleared her throat, suddenly unsure how to phrase her question. The round-faced young woman took one glance at her looks and attire, and immediately assumed why she was here.
Youre lost, right? The ladys tone was amused, but not unkind.
No. At least, not exactly. I know this is going to sound a little strange, but Im looking for a man
Arent we all, the woman murmured.
Kansas chuckled, and relaxed. Actually, right now, Im trying to locate a specific mana vet. A Dr. Moore. Paxton Moore. I cant imagine that youd automatically know every single person who happens to be in the Preserve, but Ive been calling his office since early this morning, and all I keep getting is an answering machine message that hes here
The doc? Sure, hes here. No problem.
The way the womans face lit up, Kansas gathered that nothing about the doc was ever a potential problem. As quick as a blink, she was given directions and aimed back outside toward the main trail. Another hike. And uphill yet. Swell.
Another hundred and fifty miles later, she found the man. At least, he appeared to be her quarry, since he was hunched over an extremely fat raccoon with an injured paw. The raccoon was wide-awake. And noticeably not a happy camper. The critter wasnt winning the wrestling match, but it definitely expressed some violently negative opinions about the white bandage being wrapped around its right paw.
Kansas faked a delicate cough. Excuse me. Are you Dr. Moore?
No glance in her direction, no startled surprise at being interrupted. Just a Yup. Be with you in a second.
She was happy to wait, partly because it gave her a chance to catch her breath and quit huffing and puffing, and partly because she wantedneededa chance to study him.
Maybe he was a vet, but somehow she couldnt see Dr. Moore catering to the poodle trade.
She guessed his age in the early thirties, and there had to be some Native American genes in his bloodline somewhere. His hair was Apache black, worn thick and straight and long enough to rubber-band into a ponytail. His skin was bronzed darker than gold, with high cheekbones carved into a long, strong, angular face.
Given a little face paint and a pony, and she could easily picture him licking Custer a few years back. Maybe single-handed. He wasnt carrying an ounce of spare weight, but his shoulders and chest tested the seams of a worn navy T-shirt, and his old jeans explicitly defined long muscled thighs. Cords of veins flexed in his upper arms. There was no sweat on him, even though it was four hundred degrees, and the big hands working on the raccoon were competent and patient. It didnt seem to bother himif he noticed at allthat the critter was raising holy hell.
He was built for a fight, Kansas mused, but he was also unbelievably gentle with the wounded animal. Both qualities reassured her. For her brothers sake, she would have sought out Godzilla if she had tobut dealing with a Godzilla-type would have been exhausting if not downright unproductive. She needed a man who could help her. Assuming she could talk him into it.
Eventually he finished the bandaging chore and let the raccoon free. Still sitting on his haunches, he watched how the critter handled its newfound mobility for several more minutes before glancing up. Youre looking for me?
Yes. If youre Dr. Paxton Moore
Pax. He immediately corrected her, and pushed off from his knees to stand.
Her pulse suddenly bucked like a nervous colt. Until that instant, the only thought that crossed her mind was about how this man might relate to her brother. It never occurred to her that she might have a personal reaction to him.
When he stood, though, he loomed over her. Maybe, if she were on tiptoe, the crest of her head might reach his chin. That long, angular face had character lines on his brow, a cleft in his cheek and eyes that made her think of skinny-dipping in a deep, dark lake at midnightthey were that black. That sexy. Even for a woman who was sick to death of menand Kansas had judiciously avoided all species with a y chromosome for a long, peaceful year nowshe didnt figure any female on the planet could fail to perk up around this one. For a look at those eyes, a woman might even be tempted to wake up from a coma.
Pax, she agreed, and stuck out her hand. My name is Kansas McClellan. And every which way Ive turned since arriving in Sierra Vista, your name keeps cropping up as the only person who can help me.
Sounds doubtful. Somebodys either giving me compliments or insults that I probably dont deserve. His smile was slow, his gaze shrewd and assessing as he clasped her hand for a millisecond and let it go. Whats the problem? Sick animal?
No. A missing brother. She saw the swift judgment mirrored in his eyes. It took no special perception to guess what he thought. She knew the image she projecteda bitsy, frail looking redhead, likely a sissy and definitely a wimp. Most men looked at her and immediately assumed she was a lightweight who needed protecting. Correcting that misconception required so much patience, time and aggravation that Kansas had finally thrown in the towel. It had been a lot easier on her heart to just give up men altogether.
Just then, though, Kansas had no time for pride. The irony prickled her sense of humorfor the first time in her life, she wanted a man to judge her solely by her appearance. If Pax saw her as frail, fragile and delicate, he might be more inclined to help her, and pulling off a wimp image took no acting. She was wilting miserably in the heat, and she noticed his gaze zipped immediately above her neck, earning him major brownie points as a gentleman. God knew, she had no figure to fret over, but her shorts and top were damply clinging and sticking in embarrassing places.
She forged ahead to explain. My brothers name is Case. Case Walker. We dont have the same last namedifferent dadsbut we were always as close as glue. Im scared. Which is why I flew down here from home. Home is Minnesota. Anyway, Case is nineteen, doesnt look like me, blue eyes, brown hair, a good looker and a little heftyaround 200 pounds
I know him. Pax interrupted her.
Some of the tension sagged out of her shoulders. Good. I thought you did, because hed mentioned your name in some of his letters. And thats what other people told me, toothat you were kind to Case and helped him out when he first moved down here
Why are you scared?
Because I havent heard from him in several weeks now. Neither has anyone in the family. Actually no one likely would have, but me. Case hasnt exactly been winning prizes for maturity and responsibility with the family for the past couple of years. Hes having a little trouble finding his way, but hes basically wonderful, a heart as big as the sky
Possibly Pax noticed her teensy tendency to ramble, because he interrupted again. He was running away when he came here.
Hes just not quite ready to settle down, Kansas instantly defended him.
Whatever. If he disappeared from sight, could be he just got itchy feet again. Do you have some specific reason to worry?
All these precise questions. Kansas pushed a hand through her snarled mass of curls. Precise questions werent exactly her forte. He always wrote me, once a week. Occasionally we talked on the phone, too, but he was as regular as a clock with those letters. He just seemed more comfortable spilling out what was on his mind in written form. And I havent had a letter now in three weeks.
Pax nodded. Still not necessarily reason to worry. He could have gone off with some friends, taken a vacation.
Hes in trouble, Kansas said.
You know that for sure?
Yes.
How do you know that?
Because I love him, she said irritably, and smacked at a bug hovering around her chest. She smacked so hard her chest stung, but Dr. Moore was starting to rattle her. Clearly he was one of those rational men who thought things through logically. How were they ever going to communicate? I know my brother better than anyone on earth. Maybe it sounds crazy, but Ive always had an intuition about when Case was in trouble. I dont know if hes hurt. I just know that something is wrong, really wrong, and somehow I have to get someone to believe me
Now just take it easy, Pax said, more slowly, more gently. His gaze drifted over her face again. I never said that I didnt believe you. I was just trying to get some straight answers. And I still dont know what you want from me.
I was hoping you knew where Case is. Or that you could help me find him.
I dont know where he is. And yeah, I noticed he wasnt around for the past few weeks. But as you said, your brother doesnt exactly ace the course in dependabilityor predictability.
This is different, she said firmly.
Pretty clear that you believe it is.
I only arrived in town last night. Without knowing anything about the area or his friends, the best I could think of to do was knock on his neighbors doors. But no one knows anything. No ones seen him. The only lead I ever picked up from his letters was you. And his neighbors said youd know if anyone would, and also that you did some trackinglike finding people, campers or whatever, if they got lost in the canyons around here...damn, how can anyone think in this blasted heat!
Well, who would have guessed that an exasperated complaint would finally coax a smile from him? And not that stingy ghost of a smile like before, Kansas noted, but a full-fledged charmer of a grin. So...he wasnt stone. His expression revealed so little of what he was thinking that shed started to worry that he was one of those emotionally constipated typesno one she could conceivably relate to.
Im getting the feeling youre not too fond of our desert country. Without asking, he unhooked the canvas-wrapped canteen from his belt loop and handed it to her.
Ill never complain about another Minnesota blizzard again. Gratefully she took the canteen, twisted the cap and mainlined several gulps thirstily. The water was warm, but she didnt care. It was wet. Throat-drenching, sweet, soft, wet. Nectar couldnt taste any better. Thanks. You saved my life.