Miranda's Outlaw

The woman had more thorns than a briar patch and more contradictions than a television preacher. That didn’t stop some foolish part of his soul from wanting to know more about her. To unravel the secrets that she kept hidden behind those big gray eyes.

“Have a seat and warm up.” He stood and stared down at her, abruptly realizing that the top of her head barely reached his shoulder. She was so tiny. Any doubts he had about letting her find her own way to her cabin died. “I’ll be right back with the stew.”

He served up venison stew made from meat that he’d cured himself. Living on the mountain reaffirmed his belief in the man he’d become. He’d come a long way from his wild, roaming youth in the rodeo. A long way from the young man who’d watched his best friend die beneath the stomping hooves of a beast. Part of him still longed to prove to his father that he’d made a success of his life without his father’s land, approval or the hand-picked wife.

Now he had to deal with a city woman again. A lady with crystal eyes that gleamed with intelligence and fatigue. A lady who was used to control—she bristled at every order he issued—yet here on his mountain was oddly vulnerable. A lady whose body promised pleasure that would lead to trouble.

Why then did exhilaration make the back of his neck tingle? The same outlaw feeling as when he pushed his Harley to the limit. Wearing no helmet, using no common sense and obeying no rules. Just pure thrill and a fear he’d never admit out loud.

“Enough,” he said, not realizing he’d spoken out loud until his voice broke the silence that had fallen.

“What?” Miranda asked. The fire’s light played over her brown hair, picking out the red highlights and making her seem more untouchable than ever. An ethereal fairy sent to cast a spell over him and make mischief in his life.

“Nothing,” he replied gruffly. He forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand—finishing dinner and getting her safely out of his cabin. He tossed the remains of the cigar into the fire, unable to enjoy it any longer.

“How long will you be vacationing up here?” he asked, needing to know exactly when she’d be leaving so that he’d be able to hunt in her neighborhood again. He wanted to avoid her while she vacationed on his mountain.

“I’m not on vacation.”

Luke felt as if he’d been sucker punched by fate. Damn it all. When was life going to stop throwing these tricky little kinks at him? He should have learned that lesson long ago. “So when are you leaving?”

Her mouth curved down and she looked away from him. He heard her take a shaky breath before she glanced back at him. “I haven’t decided. A few months, maybe more.”

Luke stood and gathered the dishes, dumping them in the sink. The sooner he got her to her cabin the better. He wasn’t going to ask her any more questions, though he was tempted to get to know her better. He grabbed his slicker off the peg near the door. “I’ll be right back.”

The late April rain had let up a little and a sliver of moon lit the sky, the illumination not enough to brighten even a small distance in front of him. Luke cursed as he walked back into the cabin for a flashlight. He didn’t want her staying on his mountain tonight or any other night. He didn’t want to have to think of her sleeping in that old, decrepit cabin, a soft city woman in his domain. He didn’t want to think of those peachy pink lips, crushed beneath his, because if she stayed, he’d kiss her. The temptation was slowly eroding his defenses much the way Mother Nature had worn away the valley that he gazed at each morning. Slowly, but inevitably.

He scanned the room and found Miranda stretching in front of the fireplace. Her arms held high above her head, her breasts pushing against the cotton of her shirt, her eyes closed, and a smile of sensual delight on her face as the fire’s warmth played against her skin. Lust hit him—hard. He clenched his fists.

He had to get her out of here before his control snapped. Before he forgot that he didn’t want a woman in his life. Before he forgot that short-term affairs weren’t that fulfilling anymore. Before he forgot that he was a loner because life was safer that way.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice sounding gritty and deep to his own ears. It was a wonder he didn’t frighten her with it.

Her eyes snapped open. All semblance of relaxation vanished. She tensed under his watchful gaze.

“Is it getting worse outside?”

Her husky voice toyed with his mind, creating images he had no business thinking. Images of him and her on the quilt his grandmother had made for him. Clothed only in the fire’s light and a sheen of sweat. Luke closed his eyes and counted to ten. Control, he reminded himself. Ride the beast, don’t let the beast ride you. His father’s advice echoed in his head like the unwanted ringing from a hangover.

Though the old man had died fifteen years ago, Luke had never reconciled with him and felt his father’s presence as keenly as he felt the absence of the land he should have inherited. He felt it fitting that his father still tried to control his life from beyond the grave. Fitting because he’d had the chance make peace with his father but chose instead to stay silent. A father should believe in his son always.

“Yes, but I’ll get you to your cabin.”

She nodded, sliding her feet into worn deck shoes. Her feet were long and slender with high arches and a delicate peach tint on her toenails. The color only a shade lighter than her lips.

Get busy, he ordered himself. He grabbed a canvas laun dry sack from his days on the road with the rodeo, tossing her wet clothes into it. “Do you need anything else from the car for tonight?”

“Yes,” she said, slinging the strap of the overnight bag over her shoulder. “I’ll go to the car with you.”

He realized she didn’t have a raincoat. The next time he saw Edgar Jennings he was going to kick his old, gnarled butt down the mountain. Why couldn’t he rent his cabin to someone who knew how to pack for this kind of weather? Someone who didn’t show up in the middle of the rainy season in a car without four-wheel drive. Someone who looked like Edgar and was about as friendly as a hungry alligator.

But the poncho leaked and the rain showed no sign of letting up. He shrugged out of his slicker and handed it to her. He had a duster upstairs in a box somewhere.

“Use this. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He climbed the stairs with a carefully measured stride and paused at the top. She stood in the middle of the room staring up at him from those brilliant crystal eyes. “If you go outside, take the flashlight from under the sink.”

Luke refused to acknowledge the small tightening as anything other than anger. He grabbed the duster from the bottom of the old cardboard box and ignored the items that spilled onto the floor. He stalked back down the stairs. Picking up her overnight bag and the laundry sack, he went outside.

Miranda stood by her car with a large bag slung over her shoulder and her grocery bag. “This is all I’ll need for now.”

The spring rain made the roads impossible even for the Suburban. The mountain was treacherous and malevolent toward the foolish and the stupid. Something Luke had learned the hard way. He took the grocery sack from her.

“Thanks.”

“Let’s go,” he said between clenched teeth. The path between his place and Miranda’s was difficult in full daylight, at night it was downright dangerous, but not impassable.

Luke cursed under his breath as a wet tree branch smacked against his shoulder. The rain had slowed but the water hung suspended in the leaves, showering them with a cold blast whenever the wind blew.

He shifted the overnight bag to his left hand where he held the flashlight. He reached back to help Miranda over a fallen log. She glanced at his hand, then at his face before placing her hand in his.

She would be happy to be rid of him. But he couldn’t leave her to fend for herself. He’d take care of her, whether she wanted him to or not. The thought of her lost out here haunted him like the memory of past mistakes.

A quarter of an hour later the ramshackle old hunting cabin came into view. The lack of light made the small wood structure look like a fright house at the fair. Luke knew from experience that it didn’t look much better during the day. But it was fairly sturdy.

He played the light over the front porch, checking for rodents. He glanced at Miranda wondering if she’d change her mind now. If she’d agree to go back to his place and then let him escort her off the mountain in the morning. He expected to see some sign of disappointment or revulsion.

“At last,” she said. “Just dump that bag inside the door.”

Luke was sure that the fatigue from the long day must have caught up with her. She’d brought a sack of junk food and had only two bags of possessions with her. She stared at that damned eyesore as though it was...home.

He didn’t think the run-down cabin was much of anything, but if his alternative housing was a small convertible he guessed he’d be more excited about the shack in front of him.

“Let me check inside,” he said gruffly. He didn’t want to like her, but he admired her grit. It was the one city trait he could relate to. He figured it was a kickback to Neanderthal times when humans had been forced to carve a place for themselves in the world—only the trappings had changed and the corporate world demanded as much from its challengers as Mother Nature did.

“That’s okay. I’ll take care of it. I’m sure you want to be on your way.”

“This place has been empty since last June. There could be all kinds of critters inside.”

“I’ll take my chances,” she said firmly.

He gritted his teeth. Luke had the feeling he’d just been dismissed. God save him from bossy women, he thought.

“Fine,” he said, but hesitated.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked.

Common sense to kick in, he thought wryly. “You to go inside.”