pain in his knee, cursing with each step.
“Taylor!” he shouted as he got closer to the bunkhouse.
He waited, panting a little, then continued around the side of the house to her door. He started pounding. “Tay-lor!”
She jerked the door open just as he was about to pound again. “I need your help.”
“You think you can insult me and then expect me to run to your aid—” Her words stopped abruptly and a look of horror formed. He reached up to his forehead and discovered where the blood was coming from.
“This is serious,” he muttered.
“Who did this to you?”
He ignored the question. “I need you to run to the end of the driveway and close the big gate. Now.”
She sucked in a breath, and just when he thought she was going to argue, she brushed past him and literally started running. He limped toward the middle of the driveway, trying to see if the cattle were still on the far side of the house. Once the gate was closed, Taylor jogged back to him. Before she could demand answers, he said, “And the gate to the field. That one needs to be closed, too.”
She gave him a pained look and went on her way. Cole shut his eyes, barely able to believe the way this was all going down. But at least Taylor was cooperating. He’d half expected some kind of a stubborn standoff, but no. She’d closed gates without demanding explanations—which gave him time to try to think of one that would allow him to save face.
It didn’t exist. He’d seen the half-buried wire days ago and had fully planned to dig it up, but since it was smooth and not barbed, he’d put it off.
His fault.
Taylor once again started jogging back toward him, then she dodged sideways, stifling a small scream as the heifer trotted around the house toward her. She stopped running, pressing her hand to her chest as calves trotted after the heifer.
“I see you got your calves.”
Cole let out a breath, gently cradling his injured wrist. “I got them. They got me.”
“What happened?”
“Long story.” She folded her arms over her chest. Cole looked past her for a moment, then met her gaze. “I tripped opening the gate.”
She sucked in her cheeks as she considered his very simple and very truthful explanation. “I guess there’s a certain danger factor involved in living alone on a farm.”
“That’s why I carry a phone.”
“Didn’t do you much good tonight, did it?”
Because it was on the seat of the truck instead of in his pocket.
“What if I hadn’t been here to close the gates?” she asked, jerking her chin toward the cattle now taking a turn around the barn.
“I would have managed.”
“You hope.” She dropped her hands. “How badly are you hurt?”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with her.
“Emergency room?”
He made a sputtering noise. “I don’t think so. I sprained my knee. It’s not the first time.”
“You might need stitches.”
“I’ll decide when I clean up the cut.”
“With your broken wrist.” She glanced meaningfully at his injured hand.
“It’s also a sprain.” He knew full well that it was probably broken—he’d heard the snap—but until that was proven, he was going with best-case scenario. “I can clean one-handed.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it?”
“Being hurt?”
“Needing help from others…especially when you’ve been so adamant about not helping others.”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again. This was not a conversation they needed to have now. Or ever. “I owe you,” he said.
“Yeah. You do. What are you going to do about your animals?”
At the moment he was going to be thankful that Jancey had given the calves a goodbye feeding so he didn’t have to deal with bottles until the morning.
“I’ll see about luring the heifer into the pen with some feed. The calves will follow. Even if I can’t get the heifer immediately, the calves are bottle babies. They’ll be easier to put back in the corral.”
“Bottle babies?” Another pointed look at his wrist and then she gave a small shrug and turned around, heading back to the bunkhouse, thus driving home the point that his life would be a lot easier if they worked together. It would also be a lot less solitary.
But tonight, for the first time, it didn’t seem like a total imposition to have Taylor there. She’d been a lifesaver, as hard as that was to acknowledge. He lifted his chin toward the sky and saw the first stars starting to shine through the twilight. Like she said, this situation sucked.
* * *
TAYLOR DEBATED WITH herself all the way back to the bunkhouse. Help with the cattle, or let Cole wallow in the mess he’d made? When she glanced over her shoulder, he was still standing where she’d left him, making her wonder if he could move. He caught her staring at him and started limping toward his house in a determined way.
He’d blown a knee and was going to need help, and she’d bet dollars to doughnuts that he wouldn’t ask until he was on the brink of desperation. No—he wouldn’t ask until he was truly desperate, as he’d been when he’d needed her to close the gates.
But what if she offered to help—in exchange for something she needed and he didn’t want to give her?
Taylor abruptly turned and walked back toward him, easily catching up with him. He was in full guy mode when she stopped a few feet in front of him, bringing him to a standstill. He actually looked relieved to not be moving, though he practically snarled as he asked, “What?”
“You need to try to sound more defensive. You’re not quite at maximum level yet.” His jaw muscles tightened, but she didn’t give him a chance to respond. “I’m going to help you into the house.” She slid in under his shoulder on the side, wrapping her arm around his back. “For purely selfish reasons, of course. This way I don’t have to keep checking to see if you made it home.” She glanced up at him, reminding herself of the times she’d done this when her track teammates had been hurt. Nothing personal.
But none of her track teammates’ bodies had felt like this. They’d been whipcord thin and wiry. For all his lean appearance, Cole was solid muscle. And he smelled good. He let out a breath as she eased her shoulder up under his, making her wonder if he was feeling the exact same thing as she was. Because she might drive him crazy, but she’d seen the way he’d reacted the few times they were close.
And now they were way too close.
“I can make it,” he said on a growl. “Like I said, this isn’t the first time.”
“Ready?” she asked as if he hadn’t spoken, cursing the husky note in her voice. She couldn’t help it. The guy pissed her off, but at a primal level, he also turned her on.
Stop being turned on…
As if hormones listened to logic.
“Taylor…”
“Here we go.” Taylor gritted her teeth and focused on getting Cole to the house rather than jumping him, curling her fingers into his hard side as he leaned on her. He was heavy, and she could only imagine how long it would have taken him to get to the front door under his own steam. He did his best to keep his weight off her as they slowly climbed the three porch steps, but he wasn’t all that