Hunter's Woman. Lindsay McKenna

ball, she’d reminded him of a fine-limbed Thoroughbred in top form. She’d been much thinner, but then she was still growing up, a twenty-year-old full of life, her red hair a banner streaming across her proud shoulders….

      Ty remembered sitting on the sidelines, in uniform, not caring if they knew he was watching them. Just seeing Catt play, her intensity, her focus, her drive and competitive spirit, completely captured him. He’d never met a woman like her in his life. She’d overwhelmed him with her athletic ability, her beauty and her incredible presence, which shone like a million sparkling suns that day. He remembered how his heart had pounded, underscoring how drawn he was to her vitality, her raw, unbridled beauty. She reminded him of the wild mustangs that lived in the deserts of Colorado. It was her untamed spirit, her challenging, deep blue eyes, her determined smile, that had entrapped him. That still made him stare at her in wonder, even now.

      “What’s this?” Catt demanded as she glared up at Hunter, who held some sort of document in his hands.

      “The paper…the orders.”

      She held his vulnerable brown gaze. Oh, she remembered those eyes, all right. Grabbing the paper, Catt tried to focus her attention on the words that blurred before her. It was impossible. Ty Hunter was too close, too virile, too damned powerful for her. Her wildly beating heart cried out that she could not bear to be embraced by him again. The thought made Catt turn on her heel and walk about ten feet away, just to escape the overwhelming sense of protection she felt radiating from him. Oh, Hunter was good, all right. He always had made her feel cared for, protected and supported. But she knew now it was all a sham. When things got dicey, he jumped ship. He’d abandoned her once, and she would never forget that day, that single defining moment of her life. Nothing had ever been so traumatic since then. Nothing.

      Steadying her breathing, she held the paper with both hands. At first glance, she saw that it was on OID stationery and it was signed by her boss, Casey. As she read the terse paragraph, Catt scowled. She read and reread the document, which apparently was her newest set of orders.

      Ty Hunter is to act as your immediate subordinate in all activities. He will be your assistant during this epidemic outbreak. I’ve sent him because he can potentially help you in difficult situations you may encounter. Use his talents. He will be your second-in-command.

      Slowly turning around, Catt raked Ty with a glare, from his booted feet to his close-cropped hair. Damn him for being so handsome in his own rough kind of way. If anything, in the intervening decade, Hunter had grown far more handsome than when she’d known him. Back then he’d been a naive twenty-one-year-old. Although the clothes he wore hid his athletic prowess, Catt knew he was hard and well muscled. There was nothing soft about Hunter. There never had been. But that baby face of his was gone. In its place was the face of a man who’d seen and done a lot. Now his features had character and plenty of it, judging from the crow’s-feet at the corner of each of his intelligent eyes, the lines across his forehead and the indentations bracketing his mouth. His mouth…Whether Catt wanted them to or not, memories of him kissing her slammed through her.

      Stop it! I can’t do this to myself! I just can’t! Nostrils flaring, Catt walked over and thrust the paper back at him. “Since when did you get epidemic and lab training, Hunter? Last I heard, you were up to your ass in alligators, with the president of the United States flying into your little naval air station.” Her voice was taut and choked with feeling, but Catt didn’t care what she sounded like. She wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt her. She couldn’t stop herself from lashing out at him, even though she knew it was wrong. This was one of the few times in her life that she felt helpless. It was an emotion Catt hated and tried to avoid. Being around Hunter was like being out of control, and she was panicking because of it. She never wanted anyone to make her feel that way again. Yet, as Ty stood motionless, the paper in his hand, his eyes containing that curiously gentle and understanding look, that’s exactly how she felt.

      Angrily, Catt fought the emotions roiling inside her. After ten years she didn’t want to think anything except anger, bitterness, hurt and hate were left between them. “You hear me?” she demanded finally, her voice dropping an octave.

      “I hear you,” Hunter rasped, purposely keeping his voice low and unruffled. He folded up the paper. “A lot has happened since we last…saw one another.”

      “Obviously.” She sized him up with a withering look. “I don’t care who signed that paper. I don’t need you. You got that? You can crawl back under whatever rock you came out from.” She took a ragged breath and gestured toward her stunned teammates, who stood off to one side watching them. Catt felt embarrassed. They’d never seen her fly off the handle at anyone like this. “I’ve got people I can trust to do the job. I know they won’t run out on me when things get a little hot in the kitchen.”

      Her words were like fiery barbs. Each one hurt like hell. Ty compressed his lips. In Catt’s eyes, he’d abandoned her. Well, that wasn’t exactly what had happened, but he’d be damned if he was going to air their personal laundry with strangers standing by, hanging on every word fired between them. No, right now he had to be the one to tame her, calm her down and get her focus back on what was important.

      Pressing the orders back into the pocket of his shirt, he said, “You look stranded here. I thought a tug was supposed to take you down to the Juma village?”

      Rubbing her brow, Catt took a step back. Obviously he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. And she couldn’t make him leave. Her heart sagged in her breast and she felt panic mingle simultaneously with rage. This mission was dangerous enough to them physically. Now Catt was feeling like it was her emotions that were going to take the brunt of the beating, with Hunter showing up so unexpectedly. What twisted karma was at work here? She almost mouthed the words, but didn’t.

      Hunter was right to bring the focus back to the matter at hand. What was important right now was the fact that people were dying. She clung, almost panicked, to the thought of the mission. If she got busy, she could block his presence from her mind—from her crying heart, which longed for him still. Angry with herself for feeling anything for him, Catt whispered, “The tug captain bailed out at the last minute—just like you did, Hunter. He was worried he’d get whatever that bug is out there, die and leave his family without a provider. I guess on that last point, that’s where he isn’t like you.”

      The words were a slap in the face. Ty knew better than to try and defend himself. Especially in front of this group of people who didn’t know him. Wrestling with the hurt of her unfair accusations, he said, “Okay, let me see what I can do.”

      She placed her hands on her hips and arrogantly lifted her chin. “Oh, yes, go handle this situation like you handled ours. If that’s the case, I don’t have to worry about you being around, do I? Out of sight, out of mind. You won’t come back now, just like you never came back then.”

      Ty gave her a grim look. He didn’t like her flaunting their private past in front of her team. Maybe they already knew about him—and them. Maybe not. Smarting at her bitter words, he thinned his mouth and turned away. “I’ll be back,” he growled over his shoulder as he headed up the slight incline toward the awaiting cab.

      Catt tried to gather herself together. She suddenly felt embarrassed by her wild reaction to seeing Hunter again. As the cab drove off toward Manaus, she took a shaky breath and tried to calm her shattered nerves.

      It was Andy who was the first to approach her. “You okay, Catt?” He laid a hand on her shoulder.

      Closing her eyes, Catt nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay, Andy.”

      “Ghost from the past?” he guessed gently.

      She opened her eyes and stared sightlessly toward the muddy Amazon. “You could say that.”

      Allowing his hand to slip off her shoulder, Andy looked around, running his fingers through his blond hair. “Well, if he can find us a tug and a captain, then we can get back on track.” He rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

      She heard the hope in his voice. “If I know anything about the bastard, it’ll be the last we see of him,” Catt breathed