Free Caught Up in the Touch by Laura Trentham Page B

chance.”
    “Nope.” She tightened her grip.
    “You’re going to break your neck like that. Throw a leg over and hang on to me.” His voice was flavored with more amusement than exasperation.
    She scrambled to follow his directions, thankful he didn’t turn to watch the peepshow her panties put on. Her feet fit awkwardly behind his boots, the spiked heels vibrating against the side of the ATV, numbing her toes. She grabbed handfuls of his shirt along his sides.
    The ATV launched forward, faster and more powerful than she’d expected. Circling around the back of the garage and house, they tore across the field. The hip-high grass parted like magic and rose up behind them as if untouched.
    He slowed a bit and turned them onto a narrow path. The ATV bumped into troughs worn down by use. She shifted to see over his right shoulder. A narrow bridge spanned a swiftly moving river a good twenty feet wide. The water was clear and shallow, but she had no desire to plunge from the side of the rusty, rickety-looking truss.
    Maybe they would turn and head down the bank. No such luck. Logan stayed on the path and even picked up speed on the downward slope to the river. She pressed into him and clenched her thighs around his hips. Her hands dropped down his shirt and slid to clamp together at his waist, her face pressing into the back of his neck.
    The groan of beams cut through the engine’s growl, and clanging metal punctuated everything. Sweet Jesus. A few seconds later they were on solid ground, and Logan hit the throttle. She looked over her shoulder, the bridge a flash of rusted red through the green leaves. The wind whipped her hair around her face. Tree trunks blurred on either side of them. Birds flew in all directions at their approach, and a squirrel jumped overhead, racing them.
    Instead of the darkness and gloom of a Grimm’s fairytale, sunlight dappled the path and the energy of life teemed on all sides. A sense of exhilaration hit her. The farther into Logan’s woods they travelled, the lighter the weight on her chest grew.
    She laughed and fit her chin on his shoulder. The corner of his mouth closest to her rose, and the ATV surged forward, even faster. The path curved, and the land rolled, but she sensed them gaining altitude, the muddy mostly pine forest giving way to more hardwoods.
    The ATV slowed with a series of jerky gear changes, and Logan steered them toward branches hanging so low, she had to duck down to avoid being poked in the eye. Thorns scratched at her bare legs. The trees petered out, and Logan pulled to a stop at the head of a beautiful clearing full of wildflowers.
    The machine rumbled into silence. At first, the stillness was off-putting after their wild ride, but the quietness wasn’t the same as silence. Songbirds trilled a soft backdrop to the hammer of a nearby woodpecker. A squirrel chattered overhead.
    A rabbit sat on his haunches at the far edge of the clearing. Jessica tugged Logan’s arm, excitement pushing her whisper high. “Look, a bunny!”
    She felt more than heard his sniggers. “You’ve never seen a rabbit?”
    Of course she’d seen them hopping around her yard in Richmond, but spotting one out here seemed different. “I have. It’s just that … I don’t know. It’s wilder out here.”
    He swiveled on the ATV, grabbed her hand, and held it over his heart. No smile was visible, yet he looked as if he was laughing at her. “I promise to protect you from wild, marauding bunny rabbits with my last breath.”
    His heart thumped against her hand. Steady, but quick. Or maybe that was her own pulse. The urge to spread her fingers along his pectoral muscle was overwhelming her good sense. She wasn’t out here to flirt and feel him up. The only reason she’d jumped on the ATV was to badger him about the job until he caved. Her only goal was to achieve her dream of becoming Montgomery Industries CFO.

Chapter 6
    She pulled her hand away, and Logan missed her touch, even