Chapter 7

“You sure you want to do this?” Chase asked as he and Ana walked to the barn.

“Absolutely.”

“But the doctor said that—”

“He’s wrong. I’m fine.”

“This is nasty work, Sassy.”

“Well, I’m a nasty gal,” she teased, earning a cocked eyebrow from him.

“Nasty, eh?”

“Hmmmm,” she murmured with a smile.

Chase shook his head. She had a way of turning his thoughts to sex even when she was burning breakfast. It was clear to him that no matter what he did, said or thought, Ana Stillwater had wormed her way into his blood and wasn’t going to be dislodged until he’d had his fill of her.

But right now, he had chores to do and since she’d insisted on helping, he figured he’d give her a job that would be sure to have her wrinkling that pretty nose in disgust and calling it quits.

He led her into the barn, stopping to take hold of a large wheelbarrow that had a pitchfork and shovel in it. He pushed it into the barn and parked it in front of the first stall. His mount, Whiskey, neighed in greeting and Chase opened the stall door to let him out.

“Morning, fella.” He rubbed the horse’s head as Whiskey nosed him in the chest. “This is Ana. Ana, Whiskey.”

“As in “Whiskey River”?” she asked, thinking of the song.

“You know that?” Chase was surprised. He hadn’t taken her for the country-western music type.

“You’d be surprised what I know,” she replied and stepped over to stroke Whiskey. “Hey, Whiskey. You sure are beautiful.”

Whiskey turned his attention from Chase to Ana as she gave him a kiss on the nose and blew softly into his nostrils. Chase watched her with interest. “Where’d you learn that?”

“What?” Her attention was still on Whiskey.

“Blowing your breath like that?”

“Oh!” She hadn’t even been consciously aware of what she did. It was second nature to give any new animal your smell. “My grandfather, I guess. He raised horses along with bull riding.”

“So, you know how to ride?”

“You betcha.” She turned to him with a grin. “Can I ride one of your horses?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “But not ‘til we get these stalls mucked out.”

She gave Whiskey a final stroke on the head and turned to grab the pitchfork. “Fine, you get all the fellas out to the pasture, and I’ll get started.”

“Don’t you want to know what you’re supposed to do?”

“I think I can figure it out,” she said and gave him a little push. “Get going, cowboy. You’re standing in the way of progress.”

“Okay. Damn!”

“What?”

“I need to make a run to the feed store.”

“So go.”

“I can’t leave you here to do this alone.”

“Sure, you can. Now go!”

Chase considered it for a moment. There was no way she’d be able to get all six stalls mucked out by herself. Chases were by the time he got back, she’d have given up and gone inside to play with her crystals or do more of that body-contorting yoga.

“Okay. You need anything while I’m gone, call me on my cell phone. The number’s on a pad beside the phone in the kitchen.”

“I’ll be fine, Chase.”

“Okay, I’ll be back soon. Oh, you need anything?”

Ana pursed up her lips and rolled her eyes up. “Hmmm, no. Yes. Yes. Do you have a blender?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then I need a bottle of distilled water, some oil. Almond preferably, but if that’s not available extra virgin olive oil will do. Let’s see… I have jasmine and myrrh… Do you have any lecithin or vitamin E capsules?”

“Uh, no.”

“Well then, I need both of those.”

Chase was trying to commit the list to memory, all the while wondering what in the world she needed those things for. “Is this for some potion or witch thing?”

Ana laughed. “No, skin lotion. It’s really dry here.”

“Well, why don’t I just stop by the drugstore and get you a bottle of lotion?”

“That’s okay. I’m used to making my own. But if it’s too much trouble, don’t worry about it.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He repeated the list back to her and she smiled and nodded. “Okay, then see you soon,” he said and turned to leave.

“Chase?”

He stopped to look back at her. “Thanks,” she said with a smile.

“Sure thing.”

“See you later.” She gave him a wave and turned to pick up the pitchfork.

Chase let the rest of the horses out to pasture and got in his pickup. “Water, oil, vitamin E and lecithin,” he mumbled to himself. “How the blue blazes is she gonna get skin lotion out of that. A greasy mess is more like it.”

The idea of greasy inspired lascivious thoughts. With a grin he headed for town.

* * * * *

Ana set to work, removing as much of the soiled straw and manure as she could with the pitchfork and tossing it into the wheelbarrow, then finishing up with the shovel. She pushed the wheelbarrow out, spotted the manure pile and dumped the load onto the pile. It took three such trips to finish the first stall.

“Okay, one down and five to go,” she told Cody who lay beside a stack of clean straw bales.

He gave her one short yip. She laughed and returned to her work. The gentleness Chase had displayed last night when she’d broken down had made a dent in her mistrustfulness. She had not needed to tap into Fergi’s psychic sense to know that he was genuinely concerned for her and had a strong sense of dislike going on for her husband for what he’d done.

Ana did not want Chase to hate Giovanni. She didn’t want him to think about Giovanni at all, because she didn’t want to think about him either. As far as she was concerned Giovanni no longer existed. She’d written him out of her life the day he hit her. He had not been the man for her. It had just taken something drastic to make her admit it.

Now Chase Hawks was another matter entirely. Ana knew to the bottom of her soul that he was the man for her. Whether he would come to that realization was up to him. As easy as it would be to nudge him in that direction magically, she could not ethically do it. And besides, she wanted him to want her all on his own, not because she had bewitched him. That wouldn’t be real, and she definitely wanted the real thing from Chase.

The man made her warm just thinking about him. Even now the crotch of her cutoff jeans was starting to feel damp from the arousal she was feeling.

She had to laugh. Maybe she wasn’t the only witch in these parts. Because sure as the moon rose, Chase Hawks had a spell on her.

* * * * *

Chase picked up the bottle of skin lotion and opened it up to sniff. Smelled good, but not like Ana. This was kind of citrus and that wasn’t her smell at all. He put it down and picked up another.

“Well, Chase Hawks. What in the world brings you here?” A female voice had him quickly replacing the bottle on the shelf.

“Hey, Mrs. Crossman.” Chase gave the older woman a polite smile. He should have known it would be a mistake to take a chance on shopping at the exclusive shop that specialized in bath and body products.

She picked up the bottle he’d set down. “You looking for something particular, Chase?”

“Uh, no. Just told a friend I’d pick her up some lotion and I’m not quite sure what kind to get.”

“Does she have dry or oily skin?”

“Uh…I don’t know. It’s soft.”

“Hmmm.” Mildred Crossman regarded him curiously. “Well, you know you can’t go wrong with this.” She moved over to a counter and picked up a bottle.

Summer Hill, the label read. From something called Crabtree & Evelyn. Chase smelled it. “It’s nice, but too flowery.”

“Hmmm.” Mrs. Crossman tapped her chin with a long-nailed index finger. “Well, what scent does she normally use?”

“I don’t know. I mean, she kind of smells like flowers, but not that kind. And there’s something else. Something…warm and…jasmine! That’s it, jasmine.”

“Well then, this is what you want.” Mrs. Crossman fetched a small bottle. “Savannah Gardens. It’s a blend of Savannah Jasmine, orange blossom, vanilla and hyacinth and has extracts of linden flower, aloe and honey.”

Chase liked the way it smelled. “But this isn’t lotion.”

“Well, honey, we have the entire collection. But if it’s just the lotion you want—”

“No. No, I’ll take one of each. And a bottle of almond oil if you have it. Oh, and a dozen of those candles over there.”

Mrs. Crossman smiled to herself as she gathered his order. Nearly three hundred dollars and ten minutes later, Chase left the store with a big bag advertising where he’d been shopping, loaded with the candles, almond oil, Savannah Gardens bath gel, eau de toilette—whatever that was—hydrating body mist, body lotion, bath soap and room spray.

He had not gone two feet before he came face-to-face with his twin half-brothers, Cole and Clay.

“Yo!” Cole slapped Chase on the shoulder. “What’s up, bro?”

“Just running errands. What’re you two doing home?”

“Decided to work on the ranch for Pop this summer,” Clay answered.

“You volunteered to work for Charlie?” Chase asked in disbelief. One thing their father was not, was easy to work for. All four of the boys had avoided it as much as possible their entire lives.

“He made it hard to refuse,” Cole said. “You know Pop when he gets his mind set. Besides, this is the last summer. After I graduate, I’m getting as far from Arizona as possible.”

“Amen, brother,” Clay agreed.

“If either of you reprobates ever graduate,” Chase joked. “What’s this? The fifth year? You on the six-year bachelor program?”

Cole laughed. “You know that’s Clay’s fault. If he hadn’t talked me into joining that fraternity, we would’ve had enough credits those first two years.”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh. The twins were a good time waiting to happen. Always had been. They had the best intentions and were both as smart as a whip, but just let someone suggest something that seemed like a good time, and they forgot everything else. He guessed they’d grow up one day, but it didn’t look like this was the day.

“Well, you boys try to stay out of trouble. I got to get back to the ranch. Catch you later.” He turned to walk off.

“Yeah, I can see you’re all burdened down with supplies there, Chase. You got a filly back at the ranch?” Clay’s comment had Chase stopping cold in his tracks.

“Clay, you know Chase doesn’t take his women to the ranch. That’s sacred ground. Remember? But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one stashed away around town. Remember two years ago when that filly from Amarillo was holed up in that apartment east of town and Chase decided he was tired of her, and she set the place on fire?”

The twins laughed it up over that. Chase didn’t. “Grow up,” he growled and stomped off.

Clay elbowed Cole in the side. “Bet Caleb knows what’s going on. He’s wired into everything that goes on in this place. What say we swing by the Circle R and take little brother for a few beers?”

“It’s half past nine,” Cole pointed out.

“So? We’re on vacation. Let’s grab a case, pick up Caleb and load up the Wave Runners, and drive up to Canyon Lake.”

“Not a bad idea,” Clay agreed. “By day’s end we’ll know what Chase is hiding.”

“Yeah, then we’ll give him hell.”

Laughing, they backtracked to their truck.

* * * * *

Chase stopped dead in his tracks when he entered the barn. He’d expected to find the stalls still in need of cleaning and Ana nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found her spreading new bedding in the final stall.

“Hey!” She turned to him with a smile.

She was dirty, disheveled, sweaty, and without a doubt the sexiest sight he’d ever seen. Her cutoff jeans sat low on her hips but were cut high enough to invite a man’s eyes toward the intersection of her thighs. The white tank top she wore was sweat-stained, allowing the dusky tint of her hard nipples to be slightly visible.

Ana felt his desire wash over her, mixing with her own and filling the interior of the barn with sexual energy strong enough to set the straw on fire if it grew any hotter. She didn’t want to think only of sex when she looked at Chase, but it wasn’t easy to do otherwise. His dark eyes were like pools of midnight, beckoning her to dive into the darkness and swim in the passion of their depths.

It took Chase longer than he was comfortable with to rein in the raw need that sang in his veins. “You did all this?” He gestured around the barn.

“Yep.”

“By yourself?”

“Well, Cody helped.” She gestured toward the dog, stretched out on a clean pile of straw, snoozing. “Poor thing wore himself out.”

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“So we can ride now?” she asked. She was eager to get on West Wind’s back, ride off some of the pent-up energy.

“Uh, you might want to clean up a bit first,” he suggested. Even from across the barn he could smell the horse shit on her.

“Oh, yeah.” She looked down at herself. “I am a mess. Okay, give me ten minutes.”

She ran out of the barn and to the well-house. She’d noticed a hose looped on the side of the structure, as well as a bar of soap. By the time Chase rounded the corner of the well-house, she had the hose held over her head with her face turned up to it.

The sight was enough to make him groan. Now that tank top clung to her in near transparency, the water running in rivulets down her body to all the hidden places he wanted his hands, mouth, and dick to be.

Ana straightened and shook her head as she lowered the hose. That’s when she saw Chase. A split second later a mischievous grin split her face and she turned the hose on him.

“Shit!” He held up his hands to ward off the spray, but it was too late. Squealing and dancing around, she drenched him head to toe.

“All right, you asked for it.” He went after her, wrestling for control of the hose while both of them got wetter in the battle.

Ana laughed and squirmed as he wrested control of the hose from her and held her with her back to him with one arm, drenching her and himself even more. “Uncle!” she gasped between laughs. “I give, I give!”

Chase released her and she turned to face him. The smile on her face transformed into a look that had him reaching for her again, this time to pull her to him for a kiss that was hot enough to boil the water.

Ana gave herself over to the kiss, exulting in the riot of sensations rocketing through her body. When he drew back and looked down at her with eyes smoldering with desire, she tossed caution to the wind, grabbed his shirt, and ripped it open, sending buttons flying.

Her hands started on his chest, moving over the wet flesh, squeezing, and stroking their way down his rippled abdomen. By the time her hands reached for the buckle of his belt, her mouth was on his skin, licking, sucking, and tasting him from chest to navel.

Chase hauled her back up as her tongue worked its way toward the waist of his jeans. With one swift move he grabbed her tank top, yanked it over her head and lifted her with one arm to latch onto a hard nipple. Ana moaned, fisted her hands in his wet hair and arched back, pressing her breast harder against his mouth, wanting more of the sublime sensation that was cascading down from her nipple to her belly and then lower into her sex, making her throb with need.

She climbed on him, securing herself to him by wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her sex against him. His free hand moved beneath her to hold her up by the ass, squeezing her flesh and pulling her against him tighter. Their lips met, hot and wet, each vying for dominance.

They were so caught up in each other that neither heard the truck stop in front of the house, or the men get out. It was not until a rowdy yell came from the barn that they realized they were not alone. Chase was concentrated on Ana’s left nipple and the feel of her pumping her sex against him.

Chase raised his head from Ana’s breast and turned, still holding her aloft. There stood his brothers, all three of them, grinning like hyenas and cheering.

“Shit on a stick,” he cursed and lowered Ana to the ground. She cupped her breasts with her hands, watching curiously. “What the hell are you no-accounts doing here?” Chase asked as the men approached.

“Just paying a call on our bro,” one of them, the youngest, replied, grinning at Chase then giving Ana an appreciative once-over. “Aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

Chase blew out his breath. “Ana, these are my brothers, Caleb, Clay and Cole. Fellas, this is Ana Stillwater.”

Caleb, the one who’d spoken, stepped forward first with his hand extended. “Caleb Russell, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.”

Ana looked from his extended hand to her own hands cupping her breasts and laughed. “Nice to meet you, Caleb.” She looked at the twins. “And who is who here?”

Cole stepped forward. “I’m Cole. The good-looking one.”

“You mean the knucklehead.” Clay bumped Cole aside. “Clay Russell, at your service, ma’am.”

“Nice to meet you…all.” She nodded with a smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go finish cleaning up.”

She cut Chase a look. His expression was like a thundercloud. Clearly, he was not happy to see his brothers. She did not understand why but wasn’t disposed to hang around and find out. The testosterone in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Chase nodded at her, and she hurried to the house.

“Well, well,” Cole addressed Chase. “Big brother’s got himself a new filly. Surprised to see her here, though. Thought this place was off-limits to your women?”

Chase did not respond but bent over to turn off the water that was creating a nice river at his feet. “You got a reason for showing up?”

“Actually, we just wanted to see if it was true,” Clay answered.

“What was true?”

“Well, the way I hear it, you ran some filly down in town, sat beside her hospital bed all night then brought her home with you,” Caleb said. “Rumor has it that you’re scared she’ll sue you for running over her and are trying to charm her into letting you off the hook.”

“And it looks like you were doing a fair to middling job of it, from what I saw,” Cole added.

Chase blew out his breath in frustration. He should have known better than to hope word would not get around of what happened. “Blow it out your ass, Cole. Yeah, I did hit her. But it was an accident. And she never threatened to sue. She just fell on some hard times and I’m trying to help her out ‘til she gets back on her feet.”

“Looks like she ain’t the only one on hard times,” Caleb jested. “From what I saw.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, boy!” Chase snapped. “What you saw was supposed to be private. And I expect you to keep it to yourself. You get my drift?”

Caleb backed off and backed up a step. “No need to get riled, Chase. Just funning with you. I won’t say anything.”

“You better hope you don’t,” Chase warned and looked at the twins. “That goes for you, too. I find out you’ve shot your mouth off to Charlie, and you and I are gonna go ‘round. You get me?”

“Hey, chill!” Cole lifted his hands, palms out. “We aren’t going to say anything, Chase. Just chill.”

“Fine.” Chase backed off a bit. Normally when his brothers gave their word it was solid. “So why are you here?”

“Wanted to find out if you wanted to go up to Canyon Lake for a couple of days of camping?”

“Sorry, got too much to do. But you boys have fun. I got to change.”

“Well, maybe it isn’t a good idea anyway,” Caleb said behind Chase’s back. “You know Charlie will be fit to be tied if we all duck outta work. Why don’t we just hang out here with Chase, drink some brew and chill.”

Chase stopped dead in his tracks and turned. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not? We’re already here and we’ve got plenty of beer. Besides since Miss Ana’s just a friend you’re helping out, I might like to get to know her better myself.”

“Oh shit!” Cole muttered as Chase advanced on Caleb in long, determined strides.

“You listen up.” Chase looked down at his brother, who was a half a head shorter. “All of you.” His hard eyes raked all three of the brothers. “She’s off-limits. You got that?”

“You already staked a claim on that, have you?” Cole, being the farthest away, felt bold enough to ask.

Chase realized his blunder. Now there was no way out. “Yeah.” He met Cole’s eyes with a look hard enough to drive in nails. “I have.”

“Hey, no problem,” Cole replied. “Right, boys?”

“Absolutely,” Clay agreed while Caleb gave a vigorous nod in the affirmative.

“Good.”

“So we can hang out?” Caleb asked and winced when Chase gave him a look annoyed enough to have a non-related man backpedaling.

“Fine, do whatever you want,” Chase relented. “I’m going to change.”

“Cool,” Caleb grinned. “Meet you on the back porch with cold brewskies in ten.”

Chase threw up one hand as he walked to the house. The way things were going, he was never going to get to satisfy the itch he had for Ana.