Free Joshua and the Cowgirl by Sherryl Woods Page B

passion. It warned her that her defenses were weak. She was not immune to Joshua’s rare combination of strength and gentleness. She needed to get out of this bed, into her clothes and back to the ranch where she’d have the protection of Casey, Mrs. Mac and a dozen cowboys to keep her from making yet another dreadful, weak mistake.
    She would do just that, too…in a minute. First, she wanted to take one last, lingering, intimate look at the man whose touch had filled her with life. His dark blond hair was mussed in a way that would probably have appalled his barber. The line of his jaw was shadowed with stubble, giving him a rakish, sexy look. Even in repose, his muscles were taut and well defined. The mat of hair across his chest arrowed down, narrowing to a faint line as it disappeared below the sheet that was tangled provocatively low on his hips.
    Lord he was gorgeous, she thought with a sigh. She tried to drag her gaze away but couldn’t. She was fascinated by the textures of his skin, by the play of light across his body. Maybe it wasn’t just Joshua. Maybe she would have been equally fascinated by any masculine form. It had, after all, been a very long time since Casey’s father had taken her to bed. Her eyes followed the line of Joshua’s out-flung arm, ending finally at his hand, a hand that she knew from experience could caress with daring, bold strokes or tease with utmost subtlety. Just the thought of those expert touches filled her again with dangerous yearnings.
    Irresistibly drawn to him, she reached out a hand, but when her fingers were no more than a hairbreadth from his chest, she jerked away. No. Maybe, if she’d been capable of viewing this as no more than a casual fling, she could indulge in one caress, but her defenses warned her against that much at least. Joshua had changed the rules by declaring his love. Such declarations weren’t worth the breath wasted on them, but the temptation to believe, to trust, was always there. Garrett had learned the danger of that the hard way and it was a lesson she was never likely to forget.
    Convinced that she dared stay no longer, she tried to slither through the nest of blankets toward the foot of the bed. Keeping one watchful eye on Joshua, she moved inch by inch to safety. As she crept, he turned restlessly, reaching for the space where she had been. She heard a softly muttered curse, just before she felt his fully alert gaze on her back.
    “Going someplace?” he inquired, stretching lazily.
    Evading his eyes, she said, “I thought I’d add some wood to the fire.”
    “If you’d crawl back up here, I’d keep you warm.”
    The seductive offer alone fulfilled that promise, she thought as flames instantly heated her blood. “Thanks, but I think I’ll stick to my original plan.”
    “Any special reason why you chose that particular route to leave?”
    “I was hoping not to wake you.”
    “How thoughtful,” he said skeptically, just when she was congratulating herself on her inventiveness.
    Since it was too late to sneak away undetected, Garrett jumped out of bed, grabbed the clothes that had been hung in front of the fire to dry and raced for the comparative safety of the bathroom.
    “Garrett,” Joshua said softly just as her feet hit the icy tile.
    She hesitated, her hand on the doorknob.
    “I’m ninety-nine percent certain that I didn’t store the wood in there.”
    She scowled at him and slammed the door behind her. The man was so damned smug and he had the uncanny knack of reading her thoughts, which meant it was more essential than ever that she get them off of him and back on practical matters such as getting back to the ranch, where she could put acres and acres and maybe a thousand head of cattle between them.
    She stood under a steaming shower, hoping to wash away the memory of Joshua’s caresses, but the slickness of the soap and water on her sensitized flesh had exactly the opposite effect. It was as if his hands were sliding