The Accidental Cowboy. Heidi Hormel

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СКАЧАТЬ was more than a cute pixie-sized cowgirl. She was a woman with intelligence.

      “The college recently received the property and hasn’t funded any formal explorations, although the sites have been documented over the years.” She dropped the donkey’s lead rope. She pointed and said, “Right there, see?”

      He moved up beside her, close enough to touch. The hairs on his arms stood at attention. He looked over her head to faint white markings just to the left of the shaded overhang, stepping around her and forward so his back was to her. He stared at the drawings, mentally going through the list of British kings, starting with Alfred the Great. By the time he got to Ethelred the Unready, he had everything under control and could look at her again. “What do they symbolize?” He pointed to a zigzag pattern.

      She shrugged. “There’s been a lot of speculation. Water or maybe wind or the deity for one of those elements. There are researchers who think that the glyphs are astrological, like Stonehenge.”

      He snorted. Stonehenge. He’d not get started on that. “Are there more?”

      She nodded and moved into the shallow cave and the deep shadows. “It’s cooler here, too. This is where I planned to stop for lunch. You explore. I’ll get the packs from Reese.”

      Lavonda turned from him and wiped her palms down the sides of her jeans. Was she nervous? She didn’t seem like the kind of woman who was squeamish about bugs or animals that might be hiding in dark places. She nearly tripped on the uneven rocks on her way to the animal. Then she stopped, straightened her back and easily took off the smaller cooler tied to the burro’s saddle. That didn’t seem very Wild West, as he’d imagined it when he was a boy. Maybe because they weren’t in the Wild West. They had mobiles, satnav and sunscreen.

      He turned back to the wall with its faint but still-visible drawings. He moved farther to the right and closer to the end of the overhang where a shallow indentation had been made by someone. How old was it and what had this been used for? His archaeologist’s interest was piqued. He heard Lavonda talking to Reese. He walked slowly, not disturbing anything. Then he caught dull silver, glinting in the sunlight that barely reached under the overhang. A twenty-first-century drink can—or something older? He reached into his pocket for his mobile and the flashlight app. He shone it into the cave’s dark corners.

      “What did you find?” Lavonda’s hushed voice whispered over his skin.

      “Probably nothing, but I saw... Ah, just there.” He pointed a little to the right and up on the wall.

      Lavonda moved closer and a shiver of awareness skittered through him. Distracted for a moment, the flashlight beam swung wildly.

      “Did you see something?” She touched his forearm briefly, her small fingers leaving a heated impression.

      “Not yet,” he said calmly, as if he was in a lecture hall and not standing next to an enchanted pixie, maybe a leannán sí who’d taken possession of his body like a succubus out of a Scottish fairy tale. He concentrated on the beam of light and what had caught his eye.

      “There it is.” Her arm shot out to point. She leaned in farther. Her breasts brushed against the outside of his arm.

      It took all of his concentration to keep the light steady. “Yes.” He made himself move closer to the glint and away from her warmth, carefully moving his feet to minimize any disturbance of the site. Habit. He needed that habit to keep his brain working. Otherwise, all he would think about was the pixie hovering by him, her darkly sweet scent of molasses and...oats? He looked over his shoulder and noticed the little donkey, his ears standing up and watching the two of them. “Your animal. Is he loose?”

      “What?”

      He gestured with his head, savoring again the brush of her light touch on his arm as she turned to deal with the animal. As he got closer to what he’d glimpsed, he saw exactly what had been reflecting the light. Another niche, this one definitely enlarged by a tool. He ran his fingers over the surface, noting the notches in the stone. The mica and pyrite in the stone had created the flashes of light. The blackened spots made it clear a candle or other light source had occupied the niche. That made sense with the reflective—

      “Oh, that’s amazing,” Lavonda said, once again close.

      “This cave has been used before.”

      “Oh, yeah. Any place that gives you shelter from the sun has been used. If not by the Tohono O’odham or Pascua Yaqui, then by ranchers, missionaries or animals. It’s important to have shelter in the desert, even the high desert.”

      He nodded, lost in the crackling heat that surrounded her like the auras around the saint statues that filled every Arizona mission. Is that what the artists had been trying to portray? What was he thinking? This was not a divine feeling. This was the basest of urges. He stepped away from the raw, overwhelming urge that unbalanced him. “I’m sure the university has mapped and noted this location.”

      He’d traveled to Arizona to save his reputation and to finally be seen as his own man and not just the younger Kincaid brother. To do that, he needed to keep his distance from everyone, especially Lavonda. His secret could be discovered. He knew if she found out why he was really here, she would tell the college’s president. She was just that kind of woman—honest, forthright...a cowgirl. Remain aloof, separate, he told himself. Otherwise, he might just talk himself out of his plan. It would be easy enough to forget what was waiting for him in Scotland if he took her into his arms, if he kissed her like there was no tomorrow, if he... If he did absolutely nothing, they would both be better off, so that was what he would do.

      “What’s for lunch?” he asked, turning from her and toward the sunshine slanting into the darkness, highlighting the miniature donkey whose head was buried in the open cooler. “I believe that Reese has beaten us to it.”

       Chapter Three

      “Damn it, Reese,” Lavonda said as she raced to the front of the cave, away from Jones and the crackling heat between her and the Scottish Clint Eastwood. “Get out of there. You don’t like empanadas.” She yanked the donkey’s questing nose from the cooler she’d left open. What had she been thinking? Getting under Professor Kincaid’s kilt, that’s what. She dragged the donkey outside and into the shade thrown by the rocks, tying him to a small mesquite bush. “Stay here. I’ve got food and water for you.”

      “Will we need to return to the ranch?”

      “The food is good. It’s all wrapped up. Reese just gave it a good sniffing. You can keep exploring, and I’ll tell you when I have our lunch ready.”

      Jones stared at her, his exact expression unclear in the shadows of his hat. He gave a quick nod and moved away, gone and out of her sight before she could say anything, not that she had anything to say. She turned to the little burro. “Reese, kilts aren’t sexy, right? Plus, he’s the ‘strong, silent’ type, which is not my type, right?”

      The donkey’s ear swiveled at the sound of her voice, but he kept his back to her. Obviously, he was miffed she’d kept him from destroying their empanadas. She pulled out the small bag of feed and the larger container of water, getting the donkey set up for his own lunch. He moved in on his food, and she patted his withers as he munched. “You know what Jessie would tell me?” she asked the donkey, changing her stance to mimic her long, tall cowgirl sister. “‘Lavonda, don’t go messin’ with a man unless СКАЧАТЬ