Josh Read online

  To ease her tension Cole said, “I believe you told us you had no brothers or sisters.”

  Sierra tossed her head. “My parents were barely together long enough for me. There was no time for any others.”

  Despite the flip comment, there was an underlying note of something deeper.

  Big Jim kept his tone gentle. “All right. Go on, sweetheart.”

  She gave a dry laugh to cover her pain. “My mother likes to say that I was born on a bus heading to a gig in New Orleans. That night my dad performed with his band and my mother wrapped me in one of his T-shirts and watched from backstage.” Her voice lowered. “That was pretty much their lifestyle in their early days together, before they split up and moved abroad.”

  Josh decided to let that pass without comment, since their breakup was obviously still painful to Sierra. “Where they sent you to England to boarding school?”

  She nodded. “A number of schools, in fact. By then my parents had decided that I needed some stability. You could say I was a bit of a wild child until I discovered photography. That came later, of course. I pursued art at the university, fell in love with the spontaneity of capturing images in photos, and I’ve been earning my own way since graduating.”

  Josh glanced around at his family, wondering if they were as fascinated as he was, not only by what she’d revealed but by that sweet, breathless tone of voice, and the edgy nerves she seemed to exude with each sentence. It was as though she needed to say it all as quickly as possible, so it wouldn’t hurt quite so much.

  He felt an instant and overwhelming desire to put his arms around her. To hold her and tell her that it didn’t matter. That her past was just her past, and that she ought to be proud of the fine person she’d become.

  Instead, he held his silence, watching and listening along with the rest of his family.

  “I think I ought to warn you.” Sierra was staring straight ahead, refusing to look at Josh or his family. “Since your police chief is going to delve into my background, you deserve to know everything about me. For openers, my parents never married.”

  “And you’re telling us this because…?” Josh bit back the grin that threatened.

  She gave a toss of her head. “I just thought you deserved to hear the truth from me, before you heard it from another source. My parents don’t believe in the need for vows, or for a legal document that would bind them forever. And when they decided to go their separate ways—” she spread her hands “—they just split. Right now my father is living with the lead singer in his band. A girl who’s younger than me. And my mother’s partner in the studio used to be her nude model.”

  Josh fought to keep his tone level, though a grin tickled the corners of his mouth. “Is there anything else Chief Fletcher might find in your deep, dark past?”

  She looked over. “Are you laughing at me?”

  “Maybe just a little.” He couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer. “Sierra, as far as I know, we don’t ask for any kind of legal proof of your birth before offering you a room and a bed.”

  She looked around at the others, who were now breaking into wide grins.

  “Okay. I just didn’t want you to think I was keeping secrets, especially since all of you seem so…” She struggled to explain. “You’re all so good and decent and… traditional. You’re this large, loving family that does everything by the book. I figured you’d be a little shocked. I know most of my teachers and the parents of my friends found my background… strange.” She ended with a shrug, as though too embarrassed to go on.

  “We appreciate your honesty, sweetheart, but your family history is your business.” Big Jim wrapped a beefy arm around her and squeezed.

  He was smiling when he turned to the others. “We’d better get some sleep if we’re going to join Jake and the wranglers on the tail end of that cattle drive.”

  “Think they’ll make it through this snow?” Quinn asked.

  “According to Jake, the afternoon sun melted enough snow to make passage possible. Unless it snows overnight, they’re planning on getting started at first light.”

  One by one the men began heading for the stairs as they called out their good nights.

  Cheyenne caught Sierra’s hand in hers. “It had to be awkward, telling us so much about your private business. I’m sorry you felt obliged to talk of it before Chief Fletcher learned it. I hope you understand that it doesn’t change the way we feel about you.”

  Sierra looked at their joined hands, then up into Cheyenne’s eyes. “I guess it wasn’t so bad, spilling family secrets.”

  “Every family has them. Good night, Sierra.” Cheyenne surprised her by giving her a hard hug before turning toward the stairs.

  Phoebe walked closer and wrapped her arms around Sierra’s shoulders. “I hope you can feel safe here, Sierra. Safe and… appreciated.”

  Sierra swallowed. “Thank you, Phoebe. I do. Really. Thanks to all of you.”

  “Good night, dear.” Phoebe pressed a kiss to her cheek before turning away.

  Sierra touched a finger to her cheek, wondering at the warm feeling around her heart.

  Ela paused in front of her.

  With those blackbird eyes staring intently into Sierra’s, the old woman said, “My people believe that it is good to free the soul of all that burdens it. Honor those who gave you life, but choose your own path. Remember this: there is no one else quite like you. So, as you journey, make wise choices, for each road leads you closer to your goal.”

  “Those are beautiful words, Ela. But what if I don’t know what my goal is?”

  Ela smiled. “As we begin our journey, we do not know where it will end. That is why we have spirits to guide us.”

  “I think my spirits must be sleeping.”

  The old woman smiled, softening those shrewd eyes. “Trust them. They will show themselves when you most need them.”

  She touched a hand to Sierra’s fair hair, brushing it from crown to the very ends. “Believe in your own goodness.”

  Still smiling, she turned away.

  When she slipped from the room, only Josh and Sierra remained.

  Sierra studied Josh’s hooded eyes, wishing she could read the secrets he hid in those depths.

  “I’m sorry about all this trouble, Josh. I really didn’t mean to dump my messy childhood on you, on top of my problems with Sebastian. I can still be ready to leave in the morning, if you say the word.”

  “Why would I want you to leave?”

  “Because of what Chief Fletcher said. The danger that could come to your family because of me.”

  “Is that what you think? That I’m worried about us?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Sierra, you’re the one being stalked. This guy is a loose cannon that could explode at any time.”

  “But now that I’ve filed an order of protection—”

  “—he’s going to be as mad as a nest of hornets and looking for vengeance.”

  She fell silent for a moment before looking up at him. “Then I guess I’d better be careful where I step.”

  He couldn’t help smiling as he looked into her eyes. Despite that air of sophistication, there was so much innocence in this woman’s soul.

  He dropped an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the stairs. “Yeah. Be careful where you step. Especially in the barns.”

  “Now I don’t think you’re talking about hornets.”

  “You got that right.” He paused outside the door to her room to draw her close. “I’m not thinking clearly about a lot of things right now.” With his lips on hers he whispered, “All I’ve been thinking about for the past hour or more is this.”

  He fought to keep the kiss soft as he felt Sierra sink into it with a sigh, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him. But the taste of her, as fresh and clean as a mountain stream, had him wanting more. So much more.

  He thought about driving her back against the wall and devouring her. Instead, with grea
t care, he held her as carefully as though she were made of spun glass, as his mouth moved over hers with a hunger that caught him by surprise.

  On a moan of pleasure he took the kiss deeper, and his hands began moving up her sides until his thumbs encountered the soft swell of her breasts.

  He heard her little gasp of shock as her body reacted in a purely sensual way, pressing against him until he could feel the imprint of every line and curve inside his own body.

  Dear heaven, she felt so good here in his arms. And just beyond this doorway was a private space that was calling to him, offering him a taste of heaven.

  He indulged himself as long as he dared before coming up for air.

  His tone was low and nearly as stern as his grandfather’s. “I’m heading off to bed now. When you go inside, lock your door.”

  She looked startled. “You think Sebastian will come here tonight?”

  “It’s not Sebastian you need to fear.” He dragged her close and kissed her again until the need for her was so tangled up inside him, his head was spinning. “Right now, I’d like very much to stay here with you. Except then you wouldn’t be safe… from me.”

  She looked up to see his dark eyes burning into hers.

  When she hesitated, he put his hands on her shoulders and urged her inside, before turning and walking quickly away.

  As he made his way to his own room, Josh’s hands were fisted at his side, another sign that he was fighting for control.

  One kiss and he was a smoldering fire about to explode into flame.

  How had this happened? What was it about this woman that had him losing all his cool control?

  He knew he was playing with fire if they continued along this path. She’d made it very plain that this was just a brief stop on the way to her real love—her career. And yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself. There was just something about this independent little female that tugged at him.

  He’d have to see that they kept things cool and impersonal. Otherwise, he was apt to get burned.

  Sebastian Delray checked the caller identification on his cell phone, noting idly that it was his family’s solicitor. Though it wasn’t yet dawn, he’d been awake for hours. His body and mind, it seemed, were still on French time.

  “Yes, Jacques. How are things in Paris?”

  He listened quietly, noting the harsh edge to the lawyer’s voice. Though he kept his tone level, his eyes narrowed to slits. “She did what?”

  He fell silent until the lawyer had finished his tirade. Forcing a bored tone into his voice, he said, “She’s a woman. That’s reason enough for the hysterics. They’re all the same. I’ve broken no laws.”

  There was a burst of staccato French words peppered with expletives. In the silence that followed he said very deliberately, “Yes, I can imagine that my family would not welcome such publicity. Nor would I. As I said, I’ve broken no laws. Of course I’ll present myself to this local gendarme so that he can give me a copy of whatever documents the little gold digger has filed. And I shall be suitably respectful, as you suggest. Now, what else would you like to say?”

  He listened, before adding, “I’ll be home soon enough. Though I may ask you to prepare the secluded villa at Cannes. I’ll phone you from my plane with more details. After all this snow and cold, I have a sudden yearning for sun-drenched beaches.”

  He rang off and stood staring into space.

  That smug little witch had actually filled out papers with some small-town lawman. Papers that stated that he was forbidden to come near her, or to contact her, or to even have an intermediary contact her on his behalf.

  Sierra Moore had gone too far. Dragging his name—his eyes narrowed fractionally as he thought—his family’s name, into the glare of public scrutiny.

  Did she know who he was? Really know? Did she have any idea just how much power he wielded?

  A slow smile touched the corners of his lips, though it never reached his eyes.

  She was about to find out.

  And when he was finished with her, the high-and-mighty Sierra Moore, the ice princess who teased and tormented but failed to deliver, would be begging his forgiveness. Even while she pleaded for her very life.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Sierra awoke to the sound of voices in the hallway outside her room, and the steady tattoo of boots on the stairs.

  She’d lain awake for hours, going over in her mind all the secrets she’d revealed to the Conway family. It had been really awkward telling them about her parents, her childhood, and her major error in judgment with Sebastian. And yet there had also been a sense of relief that it was all out in the open. When she’d finally given in to sleep, she’d felt a childlike peace that had been absent from her life for too long. Despite the police chief’s words of warning, she felt safe here on their ranch. Safe and protected.

  She touched a finger to her lips and thought of Josh, and that kiss. He’d warned her to be afraid of him.

  A dreamy smile softened all her features. It wasn’t fear she felt whenever she was alone with Josh. Oh no. It was something far different. In his arms she felt alive. With him she felt free to be herself. And now, with all her secrets no longer a burden, that sense of freedom was heightened.

  She crossed the room to peer out the window.

  When these ranchers said dawn, they meant it. There was only the faintest pale pink light on the horizon, and yet it sounded as though the entire household was up and moving.

  She hurriedly dressed, unwilling to miss even a minute of the coming day.

  In the kitchen doorway she paused. Phoebe and Ela were bustling about stirring, mixing, preparing a hearty meal guaranteed to sustain hard-working cowboys. From the looks of them, they’d been up for hours.

  While they carried steaming platters of steak and eggs and potatoes to the table, the entire household was bursting with energy. The family was loudly arguing over who would ride up to the hills to meet the herd, and who would remain below to guide the cattle into the holding pens when they arrived.

  “Quiet!” Big Jim’s voice instantly quieted the others.

  He turned to Quinn. “Between our two ranches, you and Cheyenne have been doing double duty since you got here a couple of days ago. You two will stay here and wait for the herd.” He turned to Josh and Cole. “The three of us will head to the high meadow.”

  “Do you mind if I ride along?”

  At the sound of Sierra’s voice, the entire family turned to where she stood. She wore faded denims and a plaid shirt, her long hair tied back in a ponytail. Around her neck was her camera.

  Big Jim didn’t mince words. “Suit yourself, sweetheart. But be warned. We’ve got no time to look out for you. I don’t care if your horse gets spooked and tosses you, or you take a wrong trail and get yourself lost up in the woods, we can’t spare anyone to lend a hand.”

  “I promise I won’t be any trouble.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.” He turned when Phoebe announced that breakfast was ready.

  Few words were spoken as they all sat and began passing the platters, filling their plates, and eating quickly. It was clear that their minds were on the job they were about to do.

  Their excitement was contagious. Sierra looked around the table and wished she could capture their faces on film. The anticipation. The determination. The thrill of what they were about to do was etched in the set of their jaws, the light in their eyes.

  As she lifted her coffee cup her hand was trembling, and she knew it was nerves. The very best kind of nerves. She would actually witness a cattle drive. A roundup. Something so typically alien to her lifestyle, something she’d seen only in movies.

  A short time later the family shoved away from the table and trooped out to the mudroom to don parkas, scarred leather chaps, and wide-brimmed hats. In the barn they spoke softly to their horses as they saddled them and led them outside, breath pluming in the frosty air.

  Josh led two horses out of the barn, a big bay gelding and a roan mare
. “I saddled Lady for you.”

  “Thanks.” Sierra pulled herself into the saddle of the roan and took the reins from him.

  He mounted and moved his big bay beside her. “I’ll try to keep an eye out for you, but once we reach the herd, it won’t be easy.”

  “Josh.” She lay a hand over his and wondered at the rush of heat that she felt all the way to her toes. From the look in his eyes, he felt it, too. “You have a job to do. I don’t want to be a distraction.”

  He shot her a wicked grin. “Now that’s going to be a problem. You see, you’ve already become a very big distraction.”

  He turned his mount and caught up with his father and grandfather, leaving her to follow at a slower pace while she mulled his words.

  She’d really meant it when she’d said that she didn’t want to distract him from his job. She wouldn’t be able to bear knowing that her presence caused him to do something careless. Still, his words had caused the strangest little hitch around her heart. She couldn’t deny that she was flattered. He had a way of saying something in that short, staccato way that was so unexpected and sweet it caught her by complete surprise.

  Feeling on top of the world, she passed the corral and waved to Quinn and Cheyenne, who were standing quietly, their arms around each other, their matching smiles revealing a sweet contentment.

  What must it be like, she wondered as she clicked off a series of photos, to know in your heart of hearts that you’d found the one with whom you wanted to spend the rest of your life?

  And why, she wondered, did some people search a lifetime and never find that pot of gold at the end of their rainbow?

  So many questions. And no time to search for answers as she followed Josh and his father and grandfather up a steep, high path.

  The low, rumbling sound of the herd alerted all of them to the approaching cattle long before they actually came into sight.

  There was a deep, rolling roar like thunder. A pounding rhythm so loud, so fevered, it reverberated inside their chests like the beat of a huge drum.

  “They’re coming.” Big Jim stood in his stirrups and peered in the distance.