Her left calf tickled as if something had crawled up under her jeans. Probably nothing, but she leaned down and rubbed through the denim anyway. “I’m Annie Corrigan, by the way.”
He hesitated. “Luke. Where you headed?”
“Hasting’s Corner. Well, actually to my aunt’s ranch on the other side of town.”
“What’s her name?”
“Marjorie Wilson.”
“Oh, yeah, the widow woman.”
“You know her?”
Either he hadn’t heard her or he chose to ignore the question. He opened the truck’s passenger door and waited until she climbed in, then closed it before stowing her bag in the back and getting behind the wheel.
“She’s in the hospital,” Annie said. “Having some tests done.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“So you live around here?”
“Used to.” That’s all he said.
Fine with Annie. She didn’t feel like talking, either. She was tired, sticky hot from the humidity, and a little worried about what she’d find when she got to the ranch. She knew it wasn’t a big production. From what she remembered, besides the cows and chickens and a few stray dogs, Aunt Marjorie sometimes used to board horses. Hopefully, Chester had everything under control. It wasn’t as if Annie could do much, unless given direction.
God, she should’ve ignored Aunt Marjorie and headed straight for Houston. She should’ve called Chester from there, made sure everything was all right and then gone to be with her aunt. Generally, she was more rational than this acting first and thinking later business. Of course, it wouldn’t be too late to go to Houston in the morning. Provided she got the dumb rental car out of the ditch.
She glanced over at Luke. He kept his gaze on the road, his brows slightly puckered. His mind was definitely somewhere else. Maybe she’d made him late for something. Probably a hook up; he was a real hottie. Perfect eyes, perfect lips, the lower one fuller than the top one, just the way she liked them.
And, oh, mama, she’d seen the way he filled out those faded jeans. With his hat and cowboy boots, he definitely had the whole thing going on. Lisa would have been all over him by now.
“I really appreciate you stopping,” she said, after staring at him for too long. “I’d been standing there a while.”
He looked over at her, almost as if he’d forgotten that she was sitting there. How flattering. Then he gave her a lazy, sexy smile and all was forgotten. “No problem, darlin’. Happy to help a pretty lady in distress.”
“Oh, brother.”
He cocked a brow at her.
She coyly put a hand to her mouth. “Oops. Did I say that out loud?”
His lips curved and then he laughed, a full rich sound that resonated in the cab of the truck and warmed her in uncomfortably intimate places.
She turned back to the road and gripped the dashboard. “Look out!”
Caught by the headlights, a deer stood frozen in the middle of the road. Luke swerved, but clipped the animal on the hind end. It started to dart but fell to the pavement.
“Shit!” He stopped the truck, threw it into Park and got out.
The doe got to her feet and then dropped her hind end again.
Annie climbed out behind Luke who’d already knelt beside the animal.
“Steady, girl,” he whispered. “Let’s take a look here.”
The deer jerked, and tried again to get up.
“What can I do?” Annie asked.
He ignored her, his attention solely on the doe. He gently touched the animal’s flank and whispered something Annie couldn’t hear. The doe seemed to calm down enough for him to probe her leg, his large tanned hand stroking the area, prompting a surprisingly lusty reaction from Annie.
His fingers were long and lean, his nails clean and nicely squared off. Easy to imagine them roaming over a woman’s body. Her body. She cleared her throat.
At the sound, the doe started. Then she leaped to her feet and darted into the trees.
Luke got up just as suddenly, and Annie didn’t have time to step out of his way. To keep them from colliding, she put a hand on his shoulder. As he straightened, her palm slid down his forearm. Firm rounded muscles lay beneath the blue Western-cut shirt. The man was definitely athletic. She let go, hoping her reluctance didn’t show too much.
He dusted his jeans and stared after the deer even though she’d disappeared. “She’s bruised a little, but stunned more than anything else. She’ll be okay.” He lifted his hat and swept a hand through his longish sun-streaked hair before setting the hat back on his head. “If she stays off the road, that is.”
Annie followed him back to the truck. “That was amazing how she calmed down for you.”
“She knew I was no threat.”
“How?”
He put the truck back in drive. “Around these parts, I’m known as the deer whisperer.”
“Really?”
After a brief silence, he burst out laughing. “Where are you from?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. Damn it. She was a good cop because of her good instincts. No one would ever dare consider her gullible. “And here I was just starting to think you were a nice guy.”
“Don’t make that mistake.” He stretched his neck from side to side, grimacing with the effort, and then tipped his hat back slightly. “We’ll be hitting town in a couple of minutes. Guess you want to go straight to your aunt’s place.”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Nope. You got any folks there that can give you a ride in to town tomorrow?”
Annie rested her aching head back against the seat. Today had been only her third time on a plane. She hated it. Way too stressful. After today, if she never left New York again that would be fine with her. “I don’t think so. Maybe Chester.”
Luke let out a laugh. “That old buzzard’s still kicking, huh?”
Annie snorted. “What a nice way to put it.”
He shrugged his good shoulder. “I’ve known the old guy since I was knee high to a mule. He and my granddad used to play cards every Saturday night. Made me fetch their beer and chewing tobacco when they ran out.”
“Is that where you’re going? To visit your grandfather?”
His mouth tightened. “He passed almost a year ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
Luke gave an abrupt nod, then made it clear he didn’t want to talk anymore by rolling down his window and staring hard off into the darkness. “I’m gonna make a quick detour. Won’t take but a minute.”
She should have been scared, or at least concerned. She didn’t know this man. But her gut told her it was okay and she always trusted her gut. Except when it came to men and it was personal—then her instincts sucked. The fiasco with Steve Witherspoon was proof enough.
They turned down a dark side road, mostly gravel judging by the crunching of the tires. But they’d only driven a few feet when Luke stopped the truck and muttered a soft curse.
“What’s wrong?”
Shaking his head, he squinted hard toward the glow of a faint light filtering through the trees. Without a word, he threw the truck into Reverse and sped backward all the way to the main road.
She