The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

across her body, effectively trapping her in his arms. He was so close, she felt pinned beneath him, unable to get away from his steely gaze.
    His voice was rough and scratchy. "What kind of con are you playing this time, Rose? Every time I think I know what you're going to do, you choose a different direction. Every time I think I know what you're about, you change or add some new dimension. Tell me, what are you really up to? Why didn't you run?"
    His face was mere inches from her, yet there was no softness or gentleness in his features. He still believed she had no morals. He still couldn't think anything but the worst about her.
    "Have you ever considered that I might be innocent? Have you ever thought that you could be all wrong about me?"
    He was so close, and with his hard body laying beside hers her mind seemed to go blank for just one seductive moment. To think of nothing but the sensations his nearness was evoking. She gazed at his full lips and ran her tongue across her own. God, she wanted him to kiss her. They'd almost died together this evening, and right now all she wanted was to feel his lips against hers, his arms around her, the safety and security of being held in his embrace.
    His eyes narrowed, and for a moment she thought he was angry again. "I made up my mind about you the first night we met, and everything you've done has only proven me right, except for tonight. So what kind of con are you playing this time, Rose?"
    ***
    Travis spent the next day resting, taking it easy, and thinking. What a fool he was to have gone to the bunkhouse while Rose had been packing in the house. The fire was his own damn fault, and he so much wanted to blame it on his little gypsy. She had given up her opportunity to escape and instead had raced into the burning barn to save his horses. Animals she didn't even like.
    Why? What had prompted her to run into a burning barn?
    The fire had started when he had gone to the bunkhouse to find Isaiah, to ask the man to talk sense into Rose. The sound of the horses crying in alarm had sent him rushing back just in time to see Rose go into the blazing barn.
    The sight of her entering that blazing inferno had terrified him. And even though he wouldn't wish anyone harm, why had seeing Rose in peril given him so much anxiety? He wouldn't want even a liar and a cheat to die that way. But she was, after all, an easy woman, who tricked innocent people out of their money and had probably lain with more men than a body had a right to.
    She was a con artist! An actress playing a part. A thief who had stolen his mother's wedding ring. A woman of easy virtue who had managed to send his sexual urges into full gallop. All he needed was the signal, and he'd be all over her like flies at a Fourth of July picnic.
    But last night she'd acted highly insulted that he would consider that she was anything less than a lady.
    Yes, he wanted Rose in a big way and had resisted the urge until now. But maybe it was time to sample the little con artist. Taste her wares, get the urge out of his system, find the ring and then take her for an extended visit at his brother's boarding house, otherwise known as the county jail.
    For once he'd drunk from her nectar, surely this attraction would fade away and die. Surely once he'd experienced her, he could get her out of his mind.
    Once he'd had his fill, she would be as forgettable as every other woman he'd ever met. Wouldn't she?
    One thing was certain: He was attracted to Rose. He never expected to feel so drawn to her, never meant to think of her as a woman, a woman he couldn't get out of his mind. He wanted her. And for the first time he couldn't help but wonder if that was really such a bad thing.
    ***
    Rose's throat ached the next day, and she knew it was from all the smoke she'd inhaled. She still couldn't believe she'd run into a burning building, after animals she hated and that belonged to a man who hated her. Yet he instilled within her a sense of wholeness and dependability such as she'd never experienced in her short life. Sheltered in the safety of his arms, she felt as though nothing could ever harm her again. It was a feeling she couldn't remember ever experiencing before.
    Yet Travis thought the worst of her. Thought she was capable of stealing, whoring, and other vile crimes. Her life had not been the purest, but even she had not stooped to the lowest levels of behavior that Travis obviously thought her capable of.
    She must be going crazy.