Hes a darling.
Yeah, I think so. But with females, hes not long on trust. He just doesnt believe any woman is going to stick around for him. The guests come and go. His mothers flightier than wind. And when I saw him talking to you at dinner
You got worried?
Not worried. But he doesnt do that. Warm up to women strangers the way he did with you. He usually avoids all females like they had cooties. So if he starts to form an attachment, Im just asking you to be careful. He acts like a pretty tough little kid, and he is. But he can still get hurt.
Im glad you told me. Her eyes met his. Just for the record, Id shoot myself before deliberately hurting a child. Just in case that was the message you were trying to get across in that gentle way of yours.
She cut her gaze away from his so fast that Cash felt a sharp slash of guilt. Hell. Did I hurt your feelings? Keegan says Im as subtle as a sledgehammer on my good days.
I was teasing you, not complaining. And it wouldnt matter if you hurt my feelings or not. Id do the same thing in your shoessay whatever needed saying to protect a vulnerable child in my care. I loved watching the two of you together. Swiftly she glanced at her wrist. Good grief, its almost midnight. Im keeping you up, and me, too. I just came up here to find a book.
She grabbed the book, then uncoiled and leaped to her feet, then swooped back downapparentlyfor her shoes. Cash saw her suddenly flying around, but when he stood up from the chair, she seemed nowhere near him. He wasnt exactly sure how a shoe suddenly hurtled out of her hand. Or why the book dropped. Or how the crown of her head somehow managed to ram into his chest, throwing both of them off balance.
Instinctively he grabbed her, his hands closing around her upper arms until she steadied. And she steadied fast enough, but she was still red-faced and laughing when she tilted her face.
Cripes, Im so sorry. I warned you I was clumsy, didnt I?
Dont worry about itum She started to bounce down to reach for the fallen shoe again, and almost jabbed a sharp elbow in his crotch. Startled, he grabbed her arms againas gently as he couldand tried to tactfully lift her a few inches safer distance from him. How about if you let me get your shoes and the book? And dont move for a second.
Scared Ill do you injury, huh?
I think youve got incredible potential as a defensive end. Although Im afraid defensive ends dont usually come in your size.
She chuckled. But then her laughter faded. As if someone flipped a switch, Cash was suddenly conscious of the sudden hush in the room, the dark shadows and intimacy of lamplight, the scent of booksand her perfume. It wasnt pixieish and gamine like her, but a soft, sexy, exotic scent, spices he didnt know, flowers he couldnt name. The perfume made him uneasy, but that wasnt why he shifted on his feet.
An embarrassed rose was still brushed across her cheeks from her near tumble. But at that second, her face was still tilted toward his, her lips barely parted, those liquid chocolate eyes fastened on his face.
He had the craziest sensation that she wanted to kiss him. Or to be kissed. By him.
That first lunatic sensation was followed by another. He wanted to kiss her. The way he hadnt wanted to kiss a woman in forever. Not a lets-get-it-on kiss. Not a hi-there-honey kiss. Not a lets-test-these-waters kiss.
But a kiss that communicated Damn, Ive been waiting for you forever. I didnt know Id ever find you. I really didnt believe you even existed. Not for me.
His throat was suddenly too dry to swallow, his pulse galloping like a colts in spring. He couldnt remember ever having this stupid a reaction to a woman. Naturally, though, he recovered swiftly, smiled, moved. Especially moved. Well, youre not going to have any trouble finding your way back to your room, are you?
I dont think Ive memorized the whole layout, yet, but I know I can find my room, no problem.
Well, Ill see you in the morning then, Lexie.
Ill turn out the lights
Again she spun around, so fastagainthat her incredibly lethal elbow almost landed a hook in his ribs. Ill get the lights, dont worry.
Did I?
No, no, you didnt do a bit of harm. I just dont want you walking in the dark in an unfamiliar place. Ill follow you in a minute, and clip the lights off after that.
But he lied, Cash mused. She was harm. He couldnt explain how shed done that ooga booga thing with him a few moments before, but for damn sure, he didnt respond to normal women that way. Something about her was different.
And worrisome.
Three
At 6:29 a.m., Lexies right hand poked out from the cocoon of blankets, lifted midair and waited. When the alarm clock buzzed 6:30, her palm slammed on the sucker almost before it had a chance to screech.
Blearily she opened her eyes. She was used to insomnia, used to surviving for days on end with short-sleep. She was also used to getting up at insanely early hours. But she wasnt used to dreaming about strange men, and it put her off her stride.
She swung her legs over the side of the unfamiliar bed, switched on the light, winced at the glare and then tested her body for complaints. A lack-of-sleep headache pounded in her temples. Her feet hurt from too many hours of traveling the day before, wearing impractical shoes. The muscles in her neck were painfully tensed from too many hours of tossing and turning. All in all, Lexie figured she should be good and miserable.
Instead, an image of Cash McKay pounced in her mind like a charge of fresh, delightful, invigorating lightning. Instantly she forgot all the creaking body partsor else they self-healed with amazing speed. She couldnt wait to get up and see what the day brought.
Yikes. The terrifying thought bounced through her head that she was losing what little mind she had left.
By the time shed slipped on pale jeans, a pastel shirt and new hiking shoesthe leather soft as buttershe was scowlingand feeling more like herself. How could she possibly be looking forward to this day? If she were at home, by now shed have made three phone calls, checked her home fax and inhaled early-morning CNN before her teeth were brushed. She didnt know how the Dow or NASDAQ had closed yesterday. She could hear birds, but not a single sound of anything electronic anywhere. It wasnt natural.
She wasnt going to make it here four weeks. Heck, she wasnt going to make it four days.
And downstairs, there he wasand not just Cash, but his sidekick. Actually, through the thick red-stone door of the dining room, a number of male bodies were milling around the laid-out buffet, but it was only the dad and son team who snared her attention. One of them was practicing spelling words for a test that day, and all Lexie could think was how adorable they were, both in worn-in jeans and dark long-sleeved T-shirts and boots, both with a cowlick, both with the same swaggering walk. The pair of them could have a matching sign on their foreheadsCash and Son, two against the world, no women wanted.
Since she wasnt looking to be a woman in anyones life, Lexie felt unsure why the two McKays put such a darn lump in her throat. They were just sodarling together. So fierce. So obviously a family, with love they wore like a protective shield. They so obviously belonged together and watched out for each other. But then the one with those sexy, battered eyes spotted her in the doorway.
Since she wasnt looking to be a woman in anyones life, Lexie felt unsure why the two McKays put such a darn lump in her throat. They were just sodarling together. So fierce. So obviously a family, with love they wore like a protective shield. They so obviously belonged together and watched out for each other. But then the one with those sexy, battered eyes spotted her in the doorway.
Morning, Lex, come on in and grab a plate. You met Slim Farraday and Stuart Rennbacker last night, didnt you?
She greeted both the guys, and yes, she remembered them from dinner the evening before. Slim was the banking mogul, a little man with kind eyes of around sixty who walked with the frailty of someone whod recently been ill. Shed instinctively wanted to mother him, and theyd had a great time talking capital gains and futures the night before. Stuart was on his third stay at Silver Mountain, and was a blustery, gruff man in his forties, with the look of an executive and worry built-in around the eyes. Theyd both been welcoming to her yesterday, but since itd been a long sleepless night, she wasnt capable of being friendly until shed mainlined a couple cups of the obvious.
Sorry, babe, no coffee.
She spun around at the sound of Keegans voice. Judging from looks, the scruffy-faced kid couldnt be more than a few years younger than her, but Lexie felt as if she were worlds older in life. Keegan was just one of those perpetual-student types of people. Sweet. Idealistic. Full of good cheer and endless ideaswhich meant he was annoying first thing in the morning. She narrowed her eyes. What do you mean, no coffee?
Keegan motioned to the tray he was carting in from the kitchen. Ive got a high energy drink made for all of you. Itll give you all the zoom that coffee does but without any of the negative side effects. Trust me, youre going to love it.
On a scale between grape cough syrup and castor oil, Keegans high energy drink fell about in the middle. Disgusting. And it had no caffeine. In spite of the bulging buffet table, the offerings were primarily granola and fruit. No eggs Benedict, no toast slathered with guava jelly, no nice, fattening, cholesterol-stuffed doughnuts. Ten minutes later, Lexie was hustled outside with the guys, her stomach whining from starvation and deprivation both.
She wasnt into natureand didnt want to bebut even a hard-core morning grump couldnt help but savor this one. A lake cupped between two mountains gleamed like sterling silver in the morning sunlight. A whisper of fog danced around the trees, the scent of wet pines so strong it was almost a perfume. Squirrels scampered out of their path. A deer frolicked so close that Lexie tripped and almost ran headlong into a tree because she couldnt stop staring at the darling. And the sky was downright scary. It was such a stinging-fresh blue that she suddenly realized how long itd been since shed been anywhere that city pollution hadnt grayed and diluted the skys natural hues.
The best part of the view, though, was watching their leader. Cash hiked the group up a hill so steep that Lexie started suffering oxygen deprivationbut she still felt the emotional tug that shed experienced the night before. Shed loved how hed confronted her about Sammyit wasnt about her personally, she understood that, but about anyone who could potentially hurt the boy. She loved his protectiveness, loved the look in his eyes when he talked about Sammy, and yeah, shed liked that personal pull between the two of them, too.
He hadnt kissed herbut hed wanted to. And she hadnt kissed himbut shed wanted to. It had been a long time, if ever, since shed felt that kind of rope-tug for a strangerparticularly for someone so completely unlike herself.
Right then, though, he was herding his minigroup in a circle. Okay, everybodyLexie, youre our new man today but as youll discover, we start every morning the same way, with some kind of problem-solving exercise. Its kind of a way we warm up together, and first, we pair up. Ill work with Stuart, and Lexie, you pair up with Slim FarradaySlim really knows the ropes.
Lexie immediately smiled reassuringly at the frail-looking Slim, thinking nothing sounded too tough so far. The problem-solving business sounded interesting rather than athletic, and surely anything that Slim could physically do, she could do as well? She pushed up her pastel shirt to the elbows as Cash continued talking.
Okay. Lexie and Slim, this is your problem for the morning. You see the creek beyond the trees there? Of course they saw the creek. Impossible to miss anything so dazzling in the infernal morning sunshine. All right. You two have a half an hour to get to the other side of it. Thats all you have to do.
Just hold on a minute, Geronimo. Lexie waved her hand to catch his attention. Theres no bridge. And you didnt give us any tools or ladders or anything
Thats right, Cash affirmed. In fact, thats the point. Youre going to have to use whatever you can find in nature to solve the problem.
Hands on hips, Lexie wandered over to the dazzling creek in question. The water was so clear that she could easily see the creek-middle had to be waist deep. The distance couldnt be eight feet, more like seven, but still too far to jump, and certainly too challenging a distance for Slim to try jumping. One dip of her finger announced that the water temperature was sub zeroif that warmso wading across was completely out of the question.
Mr. Farraday sidled up next to her. Cash always seems to give us what looks like an insolvable problem. But every morning so far, weve managed to find some way to solve it in spite of ourselves.
And well solve this one, too, Lexie assured him. Shed made her first paper million before the age of twenty-two, hadnt she? How hard could it be to cross a little creek? And Cashthe cadwas already out of sight. Some gentleman he turned out to be, pairing the two husky macho guys, and leaving an undersized Ms. Klutz with Mr. Frail.
I know we can do it, Mr. Farraday affirmed, and then scratched his chin. Buthow?
Hmm Again, she pushed up her sleeves. Her system was still offended at being deprived of caffeine, CNN and her ticker tape, yet somehow her pulse was picking up a charge. Challenges had always been one of her favorite things. Inexplicably it made her feelsafewhen she took on something that was supposed to be impossible for her to do.
Firing up on the problem, now, she motioned to the woods behind them. God knows, Ive been tripping over fallen branches since we started walking this morningso how about this. Slim, you scout out the longest branches you can find. Dont lift em. Ill lift em. And well just make ourselves a bridge out of the fallen branches, secured by those rocks in the middle of creekand then well just walk across. Piece of cake, right, partner? She lifted her hand.
Slim gave her a gentle high-five. Right, partner.
When Cash heard the sound of a female shriek, he took off at a dead runknowing, of course, who had to be doing the shrieking.
He charged around trees and brush, barreling to the creek edgeonly to see Lexiestill caterwaulingsitting on her butt in the middle of the creek, soaked right up to her neck.
Even as he clomped in the water to fetch her, he was mentally shaking his head. There was a reason hed paired Lexie with Slim this morning for this particular problem-solving exerciseand blast it, the reason was that she couldnt fail. The only logical way to cross the creek was to make a bridge of branchesand the terrain had the whole winters worth of down pine branches to make that easy. And theyd done that. Made a darn secure little bridge across the water. And Slim Farraday, with no problem at all, even with his arthritic hip, had made it to the other side with no difficulty.