Montana Sky

brag on. I don’t.”
    He grinned then. “We sure do like them. You might make a nice trophy yourself. You’re a pretty thing, Willa. I believe that’s the first time I’ve said that to a woman over bear guts.”
    She recognized his warped way of being charming and refused to be drawn in. Over the last couple of years, refusing to be drawn to Ben McKinnon had taken on the proportions of a second career. “I don’t need your help with the bear or the ranch.”
    “You’ve got it, on both counts. We can do it peaceable,or we can do it adversarial.” He gave Charlie an absent pat when the dog sat down beside him. “Don’t matter much to me either way.”
    There were shadows under her eyes, he noted. Like smudged fingerprints against the golden skin. And her mouth, which he’d always found particularly appealing, was set in a hard, thin line. He preferred it snarling—and figured he knew how to bring that about.
    “Are your sisters as pretty as you?” When she didn’t answer, his lips twitched. “Bet they’re friendlier. I’ll have to come calling, see for myself. Why don’t you invite me to supper, Will, and we can sit ourselves down and discuss plans for the ranch.” Now her eyes flashed up to his, and he grinned hugely. “Thought that would do it. Christ Almighty, you’ve got a face, and nothing suits it better than pure orneriness.”
    She didn’t want him to tell her she was pretty, if that’s what he was doing. It always made her insides fumble around. “Why don’t you save your breath for getting this carcass up to bleed out?”
    Rocking back on his heels, he studied her. “We can get this whole thing over quick. Just get ourselves married and be done with it.”
    Though her hand clenched on the bloody knife, she took three slow, easy breaths. Oh, he was riding her, and she knew he’d like nothing better than to watch her scream and shout and stomp her feet. Instead she angled her head, and her voice was as cool as the water in the nearby stream.
    “There’s about as much chance of that as there is of what’s left of this bear rearing up and biting you on the ass.”
    He rose as she did, circled her wrist with his fingers, and ignored her quick jolt of protest. “I don’t want you any more than you want me. I just thought it would be easy on everybody if we got it out of the way. Life’s long, Willa,” he said more gently. “A year isn’t much.”
    “Sometimes a day’s too much. Let go of me, Ben.” Her gaze lifted slowly. “A man who hesitates to listen to a woman with a knife in her hand deserves whatever he gets.”
    He could have had the knife out of her hand in three seconds flat, but he decided to leave it where it was. “You’d like to stick me, wouldn’t you?” The fact that he knew it to be true both aroused and irritated him. But then, she usually managed to do both. “Get it through your head: I don’t want what’s yours. And I don’t plan on being bartered for more land and more cattle any more than you do.” She went pale at that, and he nodded. “We know where we stand, Will. Could be I’ll find one of your sisters to my taste, but meanwhile, it’s just business.”
    The humiliation of it was as raw as the blood on her hands. “You son of a bitch.”
    He shifted his grip to her knife hand, just in case. “I love you too, sweetheart. Now, I’ll hang the bear. You go wash up.”
    “I shot it, I can—”
    “A woman who hesitates to listen to a man with a knife in his hand deserves what she gets.” He smiled again, slow and easy. “Why don’t we try to make this business go down smooth for both of us?”
    “It can’t.” All the passion and frustration that whirled inside her echoed in the two words. “You know it can’t. How would you take it if you were standing where I am?”
    “I’m not,” he said simply. “Go wash the blood off. We’ve got a ways to ride yet today.”
    He let her go, crouched again, knowing she was standing over him fighting to regain control. He didn’t fully relax until she’d stomped off toward the stream with his dog happily at her heels. Blowing out a breath, he looked down at the exposed fangs.
    “She’d rather a bite from you than a kind word from me,” he muttered. “Goddamn women.”
    While he finished the gruesome task, he admitted to himself that he’d lied. He did want her. The puzzle of it was, the less he wanted to, the more he did.
     
    I T WAS NEARLY AN HOUR BEFORE SHE SPOKE AGAIN . THEY