Free Someone To Watch Over Me (Harlequin Super Romance) by Roz Denny Fox

training in military special ops had helped cultivate senses the vast majority of people no longer relied on for survival. Those same keen senses let him appreciate nature’s bounty—and had him crouching and spinning almost before Isabella set foot in the copse of trees.
    “I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, her voice husky, possibly because Gabe’s fierce expression alarmed her.
    He relaxed instantly, all sign of his panther-like stealth dissolved. “I saw two elk. One with fuzzy antlers, one without.” His joy was reflected in his wide smile.
    “Elk? Probably not, city boy. Not this low in the hills. It’s too late in the season. Any elk herds would’ve moved on to higher feeding grounds by now. It was probably someone’s range cattle gone astray.”
    “Who are you calling city boy? I can tell an elk from a cow, I’ll have you know.”
    Tilting her head to one side, Isabella let herself really look at him for the first time. Oh, she’d given him a fast inspection at Summer’s reception. Now she studied him feature by feature. Broad shoulders. Solid chest. Flat stomach hidden by a knit, short-sleeved shirt. Narrow hips still encased in slacks rather than blue jeans. And polished loafers, mud-spattered from his recent trek.
    “You look like a city boy of the highest order,” she said without inflection.
    “Looks can be deceiving.” Although as the words fell from Gabe’s lips, he doubted their truth, especiallyin Isabella’s case. With her ravaged, empty eyes, she looked like hell. He’d wager that assessment was pretty accurate.
    “They were elk,” he said with firm assurance. “I take it you’re ready to drive back to town?”
    “Yes.” She turned to lead the way. A hundred or so yards upstream, near a bend where sprinkles of sunlight filtered through the trees, Gabe’s two elk lumbered out of the trees, as if on cue. Coats dark against the backdrop of gray trunks, they lowered their magnificent heads to drink from the stream. Isabella stopped on a dime. She drew in a deep breath of awe and grabbed Gabe’s arm to keep him from stepping on a broken branch that lay in their path. For several seconds they stood beside each other. Their shoulders might have even brushed.
    “Your range cows,” he murmured so close to her ear that his warm breath sent a shiver up Isabella’s spine. The pale skin beneath her fringe of bangs wrinkled faintly as she frowned at him. The slight turn brought her lips into very close proximity with his smooth-shaven cheek. Flustered, she jerked her hand back, and quickly took two giant steps away from Gabe.
    Her foot landed squarely on the branch. Its crack in the quiet glade sounded as sharp as if a rifle had fired. Once more the elk bounded into the thicket.
    When Gabe tore his eyes from the spot where the animals had been, Isabella had widened the gap between them. In fact, she’d moved into the clearing, head down and steps determined. He had to run to catch up.
    In normal circumstances, Gabe would have needled her until she verbally acknowledged that he’d indeedseen an elk. The minute he noticed the array of headstones fanning out beyond the silhouette of the van, he was reminded that no relationship with this woman could be classified as normal. He watched her climb inside the van, then walked slowly to the passenger door.
    But again she surprised him. He felt her gaze on him the whole time it took him to buckle his seat belt.
    Her voice somewhat muffled by the growl of the van’s engine, Isabella said, “I’ll retract my hasty judgment of you, Poston. You may dress like a city boy, but you do know an elk from a range cow.”
    “Thank you. I hope it didn’t cost you too much to admit that.”
    She didn’t bother to respond.
    As she jockeyed the van around a small graveled area in order to head back down the narrow road, Gabe pressed his nose to the side window to see where she’d placed the two bouquets. He spotted them right before she succeeded