The Passionate Lover. Carole Mortimer

her from the moment Kenny had brought her back to the ranch from the airport. It wasn't that the older man was actually rude, but his contemptuous amusement whenever he spoke to her was enough to let her know he didn't like her and saw no reason to make an effort to be polite to her.

      But if Kyle Whitney didn't like or approve of her he came as something of a shock to her too. She had assumed he would be in his early or mid-twenties, as Kenny was, instead he was in his mid-thirties, hard and cynical, seeming to view everyone and everything through a jaundiced eye. He was also one of the most handsome men she had ever seen, his body lean and muscular in the faded denims and thick shirts he usually wore, his hair almost black although run through with strands of grey, dark brows over piercingly light grey eyes, a hawklike nose, and a mouth that looked as if it should have had a sensual curve to it, but which was habitually set in a thin straight line of disapproval.

      It was set that way now as he continued to look into the fire, and after the way he had verbally attacked her after forcefully entering the cabin she was loath to remind him of her presence, the door bearing evidence of having been repaired, something he would have had little patience with.

      But as if becoming aware of being watched he suddenly turned in her direction, his eyes narrowing in steely acknowledgement as he saw her looking at him in return. He stood up slowly, moving with the natural grace she had come to associate with him. ‘Coffee?’ he questioned with the minimum of effort she had also learnt was usual for him.

      She sat up, forgetting any idea she might have had of pretending she was still asleep. ‘Please,’ she nodded acceptance, moving to sit in one of the two chairs placed either side of the fireplace as he handed her a steaming mug of coffee. She drank it thirstily, needing its warmth despite the heat that now permeated the room from the roaring fire.

      Kyle still stood over her, dark and threatening. ‘Perhaps now you wouldn't mind answering the question I asked you a short time ago, namely why I had to break my way in here?’ he drawled with disdain.

      Shelby couldn't prevent the hot colour that flooded her cheeks, mumbling into her coffee mug.

      ‘What did you say?’ he bit out impatiently.

      She looked up at him with blazing green eyes, her reddish-gold hair falling just below her shoulders in silky waves as she bent her head back. ‘I thought you were an animal of some kind,’ she repeated resentfully.

      His mouth twisted. ‘What kind?'

      She sighed. ‘A wolf, or a—a bear. I just didn't know!’ she added irritably as he began to smile, a smile full of that contemptuous amusement he viewed her with.

      ‘We don't have either in this part of Montana,’ he told her dryly.

      ‘Well I wasn't to know that!’ she snapped.

      ‘Lady, you're a walking disaster,’ he lowered his long length into the chair opposite her. ‘You wandered off to God knows where thinking you could be eaten alive! What are you, stupid, or just plain dumb?'

      ‘Neither!’ she flashed at his derogatory attitude. ‘I didn't let you in, did I?'

      ‘No,’ he acknowledged ruefully. ‘But if I had been a bear, perhaps a hungry grizzly, maybe I would have found you delectable enough a morsel to stick a paw through the window and drag you outside.'

      Shelby repressed the shiver of revulsion and fear as he put into words what had been going through her mind only minutes earlier, knowing he wanted to frighten her. ‘I just forgot to put the shutters up—–'

      ‘They wouldn't have stopped a hungry grizzly.'

      ‘Then why bother to have them?’ she snapped, noticing they were shut now.

      ‘To keep the warmth in and the cold out,’ he mocked her stupidity.

      So that was the reason for the added warmth in the room. She had a feeling this man was always right, that he was never made to feel the fool that she was now. ‘How did you find me?'

      ‘With extreme difficulty!’ he rasped grimly.

      Too late she realised her change of subject was even more inflammatory than the original one. Damn the man, couldn't he see she had had a scare? Kenny would have been comforting her by now instead of berating her in this way. ‘I'm sorry,’ she muttered, resentful of his coldness.

      Kyle looked unimpressed with her apology. ‘I've had a dozen men out looking for you ever since Kenny came back to the house and told us what had happened,’ he bit out. ‘I hope to God they've all had sense enough to go back home!'

      She could see that he had a right to be angry with her, although she hadn't deliberately set out to get lost. She couldn't help wishing it had been one of the other dozen men who had been the one to find her! ‘I didn't need you to come looking for me,’ she told him quietly. ‘I could have found my way once the blizzard calmed down.'

      Contemptuous grey eyes raked over her mercilessly. ‘Could you really?'

      ‘Yes!’ Her eyes flashed again.

      He gave her a look that spoke volumes. ‘And just when do you expect the blizzard to stop?'

      ‘I don't know,’ she shrugged. ‘But I'm sure I could have managed until it did—–'

      ‘You didn't even know where the water supply was!'

      ‘I—–'

      ‘Did you?’ he rasped forcefully.

      She had been wondering where he got the water to make the coffee, but she was too proud now to tell him so. ‘I can melt snow as easily as you did—–'

      ‘Always supposing you got up enough courage to open the door,’ he cut in again with cold derision. ‘And I didn't melt the snow. There's a sink over there—–'

      ‘But no taps,’ she said hastily. ‘I've already looked.'

      ‘There's a lever just above it,’ he told her in a calm voice. ‘It will give you all the water you need. It's pumped up from an underground stream.'

      ‘You seem to know this cabin very well,’ Shelby snapped her resentment of his contempt.

      ‘I should do,’ he drawled. ‘It's on Double K land.'

      She should have realised that! She had got lost on Double K land, so it stood to reason, with the thousands of acres they owned, that she hadn't wandered off it. She felt even more foolish than ever. ‘What is this place?'

      ‘My men use it during branding, it saves time if they don't have to ride out each day,’ he explained with barely concealed impatience for her naïveté.

      She resented his use of the word ‘my’ men, knew that he and Kenny were joint owners of the ranch. Although Kenny didn't seem to mind that his cousin gave most of the orders, had probably learnt from experience that Kyle was a man who simply didn't take or obey orders from anyone.

      ‘When can we get out of here?’ she asked abruptly.

      He shrugged, very relaxed as he leant back in his chair. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.'

      Shelby gave him a sharp look. ‘What do you mean?'

      He tilted his head towards the door. ‘Hear that?’ he quirked dark brows.

      ‘The wind?’ she frowned.

      ‘The wind,’ he nodded mockingly. ‘The weather report forecast it will continue all night, possibly during tomorrow too.’ He gave her a meaningful look. ‘And while the wind keeps howling we keep sitting here.'

      Shelby had gone very pale, swallowing hard. ‘You mean we could be—be snowed in here?'

      ‘I mean we already are snowed in here. Even if another drop of snow doesn't fall we're still stuck.'

      ‘There's no need to be sarcastic—–'

      ‘There's every need, damn you!’ Suddenly the relaxed pose had gone,