Free Southern Star: Destiny Romance by JC Grey Page A

scent she wore combined with essence of Blaze to curl sensuously around him.
    She dropped his hand as he pulled away. ‘Whatever. They need to be cleaned. Come on.’ She opened the door and murmured softly to the dog, which had calmed down. Mac let him sniff his boots, and held out a hand. The dog sniffed some more and then backed off, taking himself out the open front door.
    Blaze led the way into the kitchen and over to the old porcelain sink. ‘Wash your hands. The soap is anti-bacterial.’
    While he did as she said, she pulled out the salve and took a clean, dry tea towel from a drawer. When he’d finished, she inspected his hands, nodded and patted them dry.
    He cleared his throat. ‘The cuts are from fencing wire. We were repairing sections of fence today,’ he said.
    Blaze nodded, her head bent over his hand as she dabbed the antiseptic salve on the little cuts. She was too close to him, aware of the movement of his powerful chest as he spoke in that low, rumbling tone. His breath stirred little wisps of her hair that curled in the humid air. He smelled of man and horse and leather.
    ‘That should do it.’ She still held his hand. ‘That’s the second time I’ve done that since I’ve been here. Paddy had an injured paw.’
    ‘You named him after your grandfather,’ Mac said.
    Shrugging, she moved back and thought he let out a deep breath. ‘It seemed . . . I don’t know. It was the first name I thought of.’ She returned the salve to the cupboard. ‘He must have another name, though. One day he just turned up on my porch, but he must belong to someone. Do you recognise him?’
    Mac shook his head. ‘A lot of people have blue heelers around here. I’ll mention it around. Thanks.’ He held up his hands. ‘I should go.’ He didn’t budge.
    Blaze closed the cupboard door and turned around. She felt ragged and on the edge, perhaps not surprisingly after crying half the morning, having read the insinuations of the newspaper article. And now this big, brooding hulk of a man was putting her even more off-balance.
    In an effort to act normally, she smiled. ‘Actually, you might be able to help me. I need a recommendation: a builder or carpenter to help me remodel this place; someone sensitive to its age and style. Unfortunately, my reputation precedes me, and all I get are slammed doors – well, phones actually. But you get my drift.’
    ‘I’ll think about it.’ He turned to go. ‘What’s your number?’ He dragged a sleek phone from his pocket and tapped in the mobile and landline numbers she gave him before she thought to refuse.
    Blaze followed him out to the porch, watching as he walked down the steps to where a silver-grey horse stood. He mounted with the ease of a man who’d been doing it all his life, plucked his hat from the saddle and put it on.
    ‘So if it wasn’t the headlines that brought you out here, what did?’ Blaze asked before he could leave.
    Mac’s slashing black brows collided above his nose. ‘One of my guys, a jerk named Pete Woodall, was mouthing off. I fired him and thought he might have headed over here looking for trouble.’ He glanced at the watch on his broad wrist, and Blaze looked away. His powerful hair-sprinkled forearms below the rolled-up sleeves of his blue shirt made her insides shiver, and she needed to keep her mind on the important stuff. ‘He still might,’ Mac continued. ‘And he’s likely to have had a skinful. If he does show up, call me.’ He handed her a card from his wallet.
    ‘I can handle drunks,’ she shouted after him as he turned his horse towards the road.
    ‘Call me.’
    Blaze didn’t have to deal with any drunks that night, but it did occur to her that, even with Paddy’s committed defence, she was pretty exposed out here. If there was a threat, even if she could get to the phone, it would take an absolute minimum of fifteen minutes for anyone to arrive from Rosmerta – and the best part of an hour from town. Country