Free Into the Arms of a Cowboy by Isabella Ashe

widened as she surveyed the cuts on his bare torso. “Oh, how awful! How did that happen?”
    “That damn bull kicked me. A glancing blow, or else I’d have broken ribs or worse.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”
    “No big deal? How can you say that?” She stepped closer, frowning. She lifted one hand and lightly stroked the wounds with her fingertips. Her touch ignited trails of fire across his skin and created a dark, heavy ache in his groin. Jess groaned aloud.
    She jerked her hand away. Her head snapped back, too. Her eyes were wide and innocent. “Oh, sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    Jess caught her hand and drew it back to his chest. He raked his gaze across Cassie’s face, studying her expression. Was she really so inexperienced, so naive, that she didn’t understand his response to her touch? He was willing to bet Cassie’s innocence wasn’t an act, but he’d been fooled before. Made a fool of, to be more exact. “You didn’t hurt me,” he whispered. “God, Cassie, don’t you know what you do to me?”
    “I--no, I--” She broke off, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue. The gesture nearly snapped the last thread of Jess’s self control .
    She was vulnerable. Troubled. A complete mystery. He shouldn’t kiss her. But he couldn’t step back, either. Some powerful force froze him there with her hand in his, her palm flat against his chest.
    “Jess,” she said. His name broke from her lips in a tortured sigh. She stepped closer. He felt her breath on his mouth. His eyes locked on hers. It would be so easy to close the gap, to gather her in his arms and crush her body to his. So easy to forget the many reasons he shouldn’t.
    He closed his eyes and turned his head away. The slight movement took every last ounce of his strength.
    “Jess?”
    “ Darlin ’, we can’t--”
    The throb of an engine and the crunch of gravel in the driveway made them both jump. Jess peered out the window just as the engine abruptly cut off. “Gus,” he said, half disappointed, half relieved by the interruption. He grabbed a shirt, balanced on one leg as he pulled it over his head, then glanced out the window again. “Looks like he brought us some groceries.”
    As it turned out, Gus was delivering two sacks full of food as well as more clean clothes for Cassie. She thanked him and, while the men unloaded the supplies, headed for the bathroom to change.
    “So, how’s it going with the little lady?” Gus asked, the minute Cassie was out of earshot.
    Jess rolled his eyes as he crouched down and shoved a head of lettuce into the crisper on the bottom of the fridge. “Figures that would be the first question out of your mouth. Aren’t you even going to ask me about my ankle and my head, or how I’m managing on these damn crutches?”
    “You look just fine to me.” Gus’s blue eyes twinkled. “How are you two lovebirds gettin ’ along?”
    “I told you, we’re not--I’m not--” Jess broke off, flustered, as he remembered the tender scene Gus had interrupted. “She’s just making sure I’m all right. She’ll probably leave soon.”
    Gus frowned. “You ain’t chasin ’ her off, are you, boy? I didn’t say nothing about all those other ladies who would’ve liked to call themselves Mrs. Logan over the last couple years, but then, none of them measured up to this one.”
    “Drop it, Gus,” Jess ordered, in a threatening tone. Much as he loved his uncle and mentor, his love life--or lack of one--was his own business.
    “I’m just sayin ’,” Gus said stubbornly, as he stowed a carton of ice cream bars in the freezer, “that you don’t want to let this one get away.”
    “What about you? I don’t see you rushing to get married again.”
    Gus shrugged. “Well, now, that’s different. I’d say the odds don’t favor me findin ’ another woman like Patty. Of course, if I were ten years younger, I might give you a run for your money with