Dustin tossed Jenna the ball. She took a shot. Perfect!
“Beginner’s luck,” she said with a grin. And it was beginner’s luck. She wasn’t much of a jock.
Ironically, as she started making the occasional basket, Dustin began to miss shot after shot. Unless he was letting Andy win.
How sweet of him.
But, she thought wryly, she didn’t have to let Andy win. She wasn’t that great a player, and most of her shots bounced off the rim.
Despite their good-natured fun, she was all-too aware when Dustin took off his shirt and she saw more proof of his strength.
Suddenly, she felt hot, breathless and shocked at her reaction to him. Mercifully, she’d thought to bring out three bottles of water. She grabbed one and took a long draw, desperate to cool herself and calm her racing pulse.
“Break,” she yelled, pushing her bangs off her forehead. She handed both of them a bottle of water. “Dustin needs to rest for a while.”
Dustin smiled his thanks, gingerly lowered himself onto a bench and took a long drink. Jenna could see his strong neck move as he swallowed.
She took another sip of water. Darn, it was getting hot out here …
Andy cupped his hands around his mouth. “Time’s up!”
Dustin stood up with difficulty. When he got the ball, he passed it to Jenna. She aimed and made the basket.
They gave each other a high five, but then Dustin’s fingers curled briefly around hers and an undeniable jolt shot through her body. It was nothing, she told herself.
She was overreacting.
Admittedly, she didn’t have much experience with men. She’d been a wallflower in high school, and her current lifestyle didn’t allow her much free time to meet anyone. That’s why her trip to Europe had meant so much. She’d needed that vacation for more than one reason.
Not only was it going to be a well-deserved vacation, but it would give her the opportunity to meet men.
For someone about to turn thirty, she hadn’t dated much at all. In fact, Jenna could count her dates on one hand—none of which resulted in a serious relationship.
As someone who wanted to get married and have a family, in that old-fashioned order, she hadn’t exactly had the time or the opportunity to meet many men.
But now she and Dustin were living together, so to speak, and she had the perfect opportunity to find out if she liked him as much as she’d always thought—and heaven knew she’d thought about him a lot throughout the years.
And she certainly wasn’t going to think twice about her brother’s silly command to stay away from Dustin, issued after her parents died when she was in her teens. Now, she could truthfully say they were acquaintances who only spoke when Tom was there to chaperone, come to think of it.
Dustin’s reputation and occupation spoke of experience with women. He’d always been a player, whereas she hadn’t even been in the game.
But she could change that. She remembered a magazine that she’d bought and stuck in her suitcase. It had advertised a specific article about how to catch a man and keep him.
Now, where did she put that magazine?
Dustin pretended to drop the ball, letting Andy retrieve it.
But his mind wasn’t on basketball. It was on Jenna and the increasingly obvious attraction between them. She’d ignored him in high school, but surprisingly, she was being nice now. And she’d changed so much. She seemed more relaxed and less stressed. He’d never lacked for female companionship, but this one girl from his past still had a hold on him—and she was the only one he could never have.
He couldn’t understand why he was noticing everything about her: the way her blond hair glinted in the desert sun. How her tank top lifted just an inch or so, showing a tanned, taut midriff whenever she threw the basketball. How her whole face lit up when she smiled.
Normally it might not be much of a challenge to use their close quarters as an opportunity to finally get her into bed, but she was Tom’s baby sister—and she was definitely off-limits. Even though they were the same age, that didn’t matter. She’d always be his best friend’s younger sister.
But he’d made his promise long ago. Maybe Tom had forgotten his edict by now. He must have, or else why would Tom push him toward recovering at the Bar R when he knew that Jenna would be there?
Dustin remembered back in high school when he’d told Tom that he wanted to date Jenna. Tom had squashed the idea in a hurry.
“Forget it,” Tom had said. “Jenna is something special—she’s not just another cheerleader. Keep your hands off her. Promise me.”
Dustin hoped that everything was cool with Tom. He knew that if he became involved with Jenna—even after all these years—it would be the end of his friendship with Tom.
He couldn’t blame Tom—after all, aside from Andy, Jenna was his only family.
It wasn’t worth risking Tom’s displeasure by dating Jenna, especially when they weren’t just friends, but business partners as well. They co-owned several rank bulls and broncs here on the Bar R.
He tried to concentrate on the game, but he missed his shot, and this time it wasn’t on purpose. Jenna was just too distracting.
Just then, she tripped on one of his crutches and fell into him. They both toppled into a heap on the blacktop.
“Are you okay, Jenna?” he asked after they both caught their breaths. He slipped a hand under her head to protect it from the hard surface.
“I’m fine. Just feeling a little clumsy.”
“These crutches …” he began. “It’s my fault.”
He continued to look into her eyes, her big, brilliant green eyes. It wouldn’t take much to close the distance between them and taste her full lips.
Something nagged at him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. All he wanted to savor right now was the unbelievable feeling of holding Jenna in his arms.
“I’m so sorry!” she gasped, leaping to her feet all too soon. “Oh, Dustin! Did I hurt you?”
Actually, it was a little bit of heaven. Her scent, her body close to his, her weight pressing on him. Nice. He didn’t give a hoot about the pain that throbbed around his ankle. “I’ll live.”
“That’s the second time you’ve been on the ground today. You must be—”
“I’m fine,” he said. But he wasn’t. He had parts that were killing him, and he didn’t mean the parts that were in the cast.
“Let me help you,” she said, brow furrowed in concern.
“Just hold on to my crutches, and I’ll use them to pull myself up.”
He did, but it took him four tries.
“Nice job, Andy.” He shook the boy’s hand, then hobbled over to the porch, and slumped into one of the rocking chairs. Looking down at the jeans he’d cut up to pull over his cast, he decided to get his mind off Jenna and think of something else.
Like his lack of clothes.
“Jenna, I’m going to get a ranch hand to give me a ride to my apartment so I can pick up some clothes and things.”
“I’d be glad to drive you to Tubac,” she said, taking a sip of water. “I don’t mind at all. Besides, Andy and I could both use a change of scenery. How about tomorrow morning?”
Dustin sighed. So much for trying to stay away from her. Still, there was no polite way to refuse. “I’m meeting with the ranch hands at the bunkhouse first thing in