Free Bridal Falls Ranch Ransom by Jan Hambright

through the water, he surfaced at the base of the falls. Clawing his way through the narrow slit between the boulders, he prepared for what he might find.
    “Ryker!” Eve dodged to the left and pushed up against the rocks with her shoulder. “You scared me!” Taking a deep breath, she willed her heart rate down.
    “I heard gunshots.” Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he studied her as he slicked water from his face. His eyes shone vibrant blue and alert. His mesmerizing intensity made her want to move closer.
    “He came to the water’s edge. I took aim and fired.”
    “You hit him.”
    Regret stretched across her thoughts and settled in her chest. “I killed someone?”
    “Relax. You didn’t kill anybody. There wasn’t enough blood. You winged him.”
    “Blood?” A shudder crept through her. She closed her eyes for an instant to get her emotions under control. She’d seen too much blood. The realization she could have killed the sniper moments ago needled holes in the courage she’d managed to muster when she’d squeezed the trigger.
    “Don’t go soft now, Eve,” J.P. said. “If he’d have made it across the pool, I don’t think mercy would have been on his mind. He put a hunting knife through your sketch pad.”
    Fear fingered each vertebra of her spine. “You think he planned to hurt me? Cut me up?”
    “I think he would have attempted to if he’d gotten in here.”
    She tried, but she couldn’t swallow past the knot in her throat. “I want to get out of here. Go back to the ranch. I’m sure by now Edith has alerted Devon that we’re overdue. The crew will come looking for us.”
    “Reinforcements. Nice job. Maybe they’ll see the shooter on his way out. Hard to miss a man carrying a .308 rifle, wearing a bloody blue shirt.”
    “You found a shell casing?”
    “Yeah, and a boot track. Not much, but it could get us a lead.”
    Where was the man who’d kissed her less than an hour ago? She suddenly needed him again. Needed to feel his arms around her. Needed to make a connection with him.
    J.P. witnessed the shift, watching desire sculpt Eve’s beautiful face and soften her rigid stance as she moved slowly toward him.
    Guilt walked over his insides, trampling a blaze of need so hot it stole the breath from his lungs. If he kissed her again, he’d be a goner. He’d never be able to get enough of her brand of intoxication. Better to evade temptation here and now while he was sober.
    “About that—”
    “Kiss.” She eyed him with a seductive glance that set his libido on fire.
    “I took advantage. It won’t happen again.”
    Disappointment morphed her features. Her eyes narrowed for an instant before her lips compressed in a tight line.
    “I understand. We were both caught up in a Wild West moment, is that it? One hot kiss for the ugly girl before the cowboy swims away.” Turning, she picked up her hat, slipped through the opening in the rocks and disappeared beneath the water before he had time to stop her.
    “Dammit.” Irritation crushed his nerves as he picked up the discarded .41 and shoved it in the holster at his side. He had the sensitivity of a box of rocks sometimes. He should have kept his mouth shut, but he had no right to want her like this. To need the stroke of her hand on his skin. The silky sensation of her body next to his. She’d realize that fact once he told her about his involvement in her half sister’s kidnapping case.
    Kicking himself ten times harder than she ever could have, he slipped into the water and went deep, breaking the surface of the pool just as Eve reached out to pull the knife out of her sketch pad.
    “Stop!” he yelled as he climbed up on shore. “Don’t touch it. It’s evidence.”
    She yanked her hand back and collapsed on the grass.
    J.P. scanned the clearing for any potential threat, moved to the edge of the rock and sat down. “I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be,” she whispered without looking up. “I don’t expect you