Free Iron Cowboy by Diana Palmer Page A

a cowgirl,” he replied. “She sells books.”
    â€œAn egghead isn’t much better,” she scoffed. “They want you to come back out here and let them give you around-the-clock security.”
    â€œWe’ll never catch the perpetrators if we hide in a fortress,” he said. “And we’ve had this damned argument before!”
    â€œSomebody’s getting testy,” she purred. “No pillow talk down there, I guess?”
    â€œWhat do you want?” he interrupted.
    She hesitated. “I wanted to tell you that they’ve tracked three men as far as San Antonio. We’re not sure if they’re connected to the other, or not, but they’re the right nationality.”
    â€œWhat’s their cover?”
    â€œHow should I know?” she muttered.
    â€œI pay you to know everything,” he countered.
    â€œOh, all right, I’ll ask questions. Honestly, Jared, you’re getting to be a grouch. What’s this girl doing to you?”
    â€œNothing,” he said tersely. “She’s just a friend.”
    â€œYou’re spending a lot of time at the hospital.”
    â€œNeither of us has family,” he said absently. “We decided we’d look after each other if we got sick.”
    The pause was heated. “You know I’d take care of you if you got sick! I’d have doctors and nurses all over the place.”
    Of course she would, he thought. She’d hire people to care for him, but she wouldn’t do it herself. Max hated illness.
    â€œI’m tired and I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
    â€œI’m flying down there Monday,” she told him. “I’ll bring some contracts for you to look over. Need anything from the big city?”
    â€œNothing at all. I’ll talk to you later.”
    â€œOkay. Sleep well.”
    â€œSure.” He hung up. Max was possessive of him. He hadn’t noticed it before, and he didn’t like it. She was sleek, elegant, aggressive and intelligent. But she did nothing for him physically. He did have occasional liaisons, but never with Max. He hoped she wasn’t going to come down to Texas and upset things. He knew that she wasn’t going to like Sara. Not at all.

    Monday morning, Sara was on the mend. Dee had come twice, on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, bearing baskets of flowers and magazines for Sara to read. She absolutely forbade her to come back to work until the end of the next week. That made Sara feel a little better. She knew Dee was shorthanded when she wasn’t there.
    Jared had been back to visit, staying for a few minutes at a time, with Tony always in the background. She wondered why he needed a full-time bodyguard. He changed the subject every time she asked.
    Dr. Coltrain released her after lunch. She was wheeled out to the hospital entrance, where Jared was waiting in the big black pickup truck. He bent and lifted her like a sack of flour, putting her gently into the passenger seat and belting her in.
    She didn’t expect the sudden rush of breath that escaped her lips when he paused in the act of fastening the seat belt and looked straight into her eyes at point-blank range. She felt the world shift ten degrees. His eyes narrowed and dropped to her blouse.
    It didn’t take an expert to realize that he saw her heartbeat shaking the fabric and knew that she was attracted to him.
    â€œWell, well,” he murmured in a deep, sultry tone. And he smiled.

Five
    J ared’s green eyes burned into Sara’s, probing and testing. They dropped to her full mouth and lingered there until she caught her breath audibly. He only chuckled. It had a vaguely predatory sound.
    He went around to his own side of the truck, climbed in, fastened his seat belt and started the engine. He was still smiling when he pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

    Sara had liked the White Horse Ranch from her first close-up look at it, the first time