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She glanced at her watch. She’d been up for over an hour, and not once had she thought about work. Wow. When had that last happened to her? Before college, to be sure. She’d been driven all through school, and once out in the working world, she’d applied all her energy to making a success of her career. She had friends and went out to blow off steam, but she’d done exactly what she’d accused Gerard of—neglected finding any balance in her life.
Rowan made a pledge: As soon as this bid was done and submitted, that would change. She’d find time to get out of the city, to spend time in the country. A friend had told her about a wonderful ranch close to Sacramento. Maybe she’d check it out, learn to ride horses.
Satisfied with her new plan, she turned around and headed back to the vacation home. Time to get to work.
Gerard jerked up from a dead sleep, unsure what woke him. A noise? He sat and listened. Nothing. Not a single sound. He scrubbed his face with both hands and glanced at his watch with a groan. He’d only fallen asleep a couple hours ago. There was something about being in close proximity to the woman sleeping in his bedroom that messed with his circadian rhythm.
Rowan. He perked up. He didn’t hear her. Hell, he didn’t hear anything, and he’d have bet his McLaren that she was an early riser and woke ready to get on with her day. Slipping out of bed, Gerard pulled sweats on and padded downstairs in bare feet. Her bedroom door was open. He frowned and glanced in. She wasn’t in her bedroom or the bathroom. Craning his head to look outside, she wasn’t at the firepit or sitting on the deck. The coffee had perked, so she’d hit the button and disappeared? Where the hell was she?
An unfamiliar panic rose as the logic closed in on him. She wasn’t in the house. Hell, she didn’t seem to even be on the property. Had she gone for a walk? A city girl, born and raised, she’d said. Did she not know about the kinds of animals that considered this area their home? Elk, deer, and sheep were all benign unless you startled them or pissed them off. Same with the bears, though there were ways to back away from their presence, if you knew how. It was the mountain lions that worried him most. They didn’t care how big or small you were or if you presented a danger to them. They only cared about food.
Crap. He scrubbed his face. She’d mentioned she jogged at home. Was she out running? Panic became edged out by dread as he threw on runners without socks. He raced outside, not even noticing the cool, morning air on his shirtless torso. He had to find her. If anything happened…
Racing past the car to the road, he looked both ways. She was smart, and since she didn’t know the area, she would have stuck to the road. Which way? New views uphill or downhill, the way they’d come in? His instincts told him she’d take the harder route with new scenery, so he turned and raced up the road.
Moments later, he rounded a corner and almost bowled Rowan over in his haste to find her. Gerard grabbed her, steadying her, saw her eyes rounded with surprise, her mouth hanging open, then he crushed her to him, hugging her tight in his relief, holding her for one long, be-still-my-heart moment before the fact set in that she was saying something, muffled against his chest.
He set her at arm’s length but didn’t let go of her. “Are you all right?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned her right and left to make sure she wasn’t hurt. When he realized she was in one piece, the relief that flooded him made him do the first thing that came to mind. He kissed her. Hard and demanding. Letting her feel his fear.
She didn’t react at first, then her arms wound around him, her fingers tracing the muscles of his back, her lips opening to his. God, she tasted so good. Their tongues dueled as charged energy spread through his body, feeding the adrenaline rush. Everything in his world coalesced into the touch of her lips against his, the way her hands snuck up his bare back with soft abandon, tightening when she tried to deepen the kiss.
Just as suddenly as it started, it was over. She pulled her arms back, pushing against him, and they broke from each other, both breathing hard. She took two steps back and glared at him.
“We said we wouldn’t do this,” she said in between breaths.
He scrubbed his hair. His brain agreed, but his arms wanted to pull her back into him, to reconnect. His body demanded the touch of her.
Rowan gulped, her eyes dipping to his chest and widening. When she finally spoke, she rocketed straight to anger. “What the hell were you doing?”
She was pissed at him? “Do you have any idea what it’s like up here? You scared the fuck out of me. Anything could happen to you in these woods. Wild animals live here. Bears, mountain lions. Hell, even an elk will charge you if you look at him the wrong way. You could have been killed!” His voice rose as he spoke. Gerard never raised his voice, but this woman had scared him damn near to death.
“I was fine,” she shouted.
“No, you weren’t. No one goes hiking here alone. Certainly not without a rifle. You put yourself in danger.” His voice modulated, then rose again, damn it.
She thrust her hand into the pocket of very form-fitting jogging pants, pulling out something he couldn’t see. She took one deep breath, then another. When she spoke, she’d tempered her voice. She shoved her arm out, showing him the tube she held. “I’m neither stupid nor weaponless. I had my pepper spray, and I can take care of myself.”
Incredulous, and between clenched teeth, he repeated her words. “Pepper spray? You think pepper spray will stop a cougar?”
“Yes.” She raised her chin, and he could see the fire dancing in her eyes.
“Think again.” He grabbed the cannister and threw it as far as he could.
“Hey!”
“Maybe if you don’t have that paltry weapon, as you call it, you’ll think twice about heading out on your own.”
Rowan advanced on him, her finger pointed directly at his chest. She poked him. Hard. “I will do what I want when I want.” She poked him again. “And you don’t get to play Neanderthal and tell me I can’t.” She poked him one last time, then took off at a rapid stomp for the house. “And put a freaking shirt on, for God’s sake,” she hollered over her shoulder.
He stood there for a moment, rubbing his chest, unable to let his anger and fear go. Did she really think she’d been safe out here? That’s what he got for inviting a greenhorn to the mountains. Shaking his head, he followed more slowly. Inside the cabin, he watched as she poured herself a cup of coffee, glared at him, then stomped past him to her room. He could have sworn he heard her mumble “Neanderthal” under her breath. She shut the door with more force than necessary, but less than he expected.
He went to get his own cup of the fragrant java that sustained him throughout the day. The woman was going to drive him crazy. He glanced down, the remainder of his irritation disappearing as he remembered her parting words. He set his cup on the dining table and, with a glance at the still-closed door, headed upstairs to grab a shirt, grinning at the realization that she’d been affected by his naked chest. And wondering what had pissed her off more.
Chapter Eleven
Rowan sat on her bed, fuming. “Neanderthal,” she mumbled for the third time. That man did not know how to live around another human being. He sure as hell didn’t know how to treat an employee who was only trying to help his company grow. Kissing someone who worked for him? After reading her the riot act about fraternization? Gerard Barrett was a chauvinist and a—a hypocrite. Oooh! She got up and paced from window to bathroom and back, stopping to stare outside and grateful she didn’t see her boss out front. She wasn’t ready to see him yet. She needed time to think.
Leaning with her shoulder against the window jamb, she ran her fingers softly over lips that still tingled from his kisses. The man absolutely infuriated her, yet her body yearned for him. Her lips parted as if he was about to kiss her again.
