Fit To Be Tied. Carol Finch

the elbow of his brand-spanking-new shirt. Swearing and thrashing, he tried to dislodge himself from the shrub.

      “Are you all right?”

      Devlin twisted sideways to see Jessica standing on the broken balcony, staring at him with a mixture of amusement and concern. When she broke into a full-fledged smile, the frustration seeped right out of him. Damn, she had an engaging smile that affected every feature on her bewitching face.

      He lay there, dazzled by the effect of her smile, wishing something besides his clumsiness was the cause of it. Despite his embarrassing position in the shrub, he grinned at her, hoping to assure her that he was capable of laughing at his own foolishness.

      For a few moments their gazes locked and they smiled easily at each other.

      Then, to his complete bemusement, her expression closed, her back stiffened and she stepped away from the broken railing.

      “I’d like you to leave, Callahan. I want to take a bath without being spied on. I want to go to bed so I can get some rest.”

      Devlin suddenly wanted to go to bed himself, but getting some rest was far down on his list—after seeing his neighbor in a totally different light. Damn, he couldn’t believe how quickly desire had hit him. Came right out of nowhere and nailed him the instant her face lit up in a dazzling smile. His perception of her changed in a heartbeat.

      “I hope I can count on you not to serenade me and my exotic animals with that hillbilly music tonight. I don’t think I can go another night without sleep.”

      Having said that, she wheeled like a soldier on parade and marched into the house. He heard the door slam shut behind her. Whatever ground Devlin thought he’d gained for that split second out of time was lost forever.

      Cursing the temperamental woman and his attraction—which was apparently one-sided and a total waste of time—Devlin squirmed out of the shrubbery, dusted himself off, then panned the area to see that dozens of pens and cages, shaded by groves of trees, sat a hundred yards from the house. When the goose honked at him, the caged animals struck up their usual racket.

      “To hell with this,” Devlin grumbled as he limped around the house to return to his truck. “The ball is in her court now. I tried my best to call a truce.”

      Propelled by self-righteous irritation, Devlin hopped in his truck and sped off, then remembered that he hadn’t unplugged the extension cord. He stamped on the brake, whipped around and backed into the driveway beside the pasture gate. Within five minutes he had disconnected the extension cord from the outdoor outlet on the electric pole, packed up the stereo and headed home.

      He had tried the direct, confrontational approach, then the charming, tactful approach with Porter. The only option left was to beg forgiveness. But Devlin had vowed seven years ago that he wouldn’t beg a woman for anything, not after Sandi had hurt and embarrassed him and left him to deal with smalltown gossip while she sauntered off to the big city on the arm of her new lover. As for Jessica Porter, she could sit on her forty acres and rot, for all he cared—as long as she did it quietly!

      JESSICA SCRUBBED her hands over her face and cursed herself soundly for freezing up the moment Callahan had flashed her an honest-to-goodness smile. It had made her protective armor crack wide open and her heart slam against her ribs—and stick there. Even worse, her reaction to him inspired dangerously reckless and tempting feelings. Being hurt and humiliated in the past, Jessica was wary of men, and she had a tendency to back off the instant her hardened resolve began to soften up.

      Reluctantly, Jessica smiled at the image of Devlin sprawled in the shrubs. She had to admit that his smile hadn’t seemed predatory, manipulative or cajoling. He’d seemed natural, willing to admit that he’d looked pretty silly. It was at that precise moment, when Devlin had looked his most vulnerable and human, that he became devastatingly attractive to her. In that instant she had liked him, liked the looks of him, reacted to his boyish grin.

      That was also the precise moment when Jessica felt most vulnerable, feared that a disaster was waiting to happen. Given her history with Rex, she knew she had a weakness for rugged, athletic men. She thought she had known Rex well enough to trust him, but she had been wrong. Humiliatingly, mortifyingly wrong. She knew even less about Callahan, except that he was persistent, that he could laugh at himself, that he didn’t always take himself so seriously.

      Yet Jessica suspected that Devlin had come by to kiss up to her, making an effort to mend fences. The fact that he probably had to put forth an effort made her leery—and yes, a little disappointed that it was such a chore for him to be nice to her. She couldn’t afford to feel anything, especially not fierce sexual attraction to a man who wasn’t totally honest and sincere.

      Jessica inhaled a steadying breath and discarded all thoughts of the handsome cowboy. She had a weekend jam-packed with strenuous work and she desperately needed rest.

      Jessica peeled off her clothes on the way to the bath and sank into the steamy water, letting her mind drift where it would. Her eyes popped open when Devlin’s smiling face materialized out of nowhere. She banished his image and scrubbed herself squeaky clean.

      Wrapped in an oversize towel, Jess padded to her bedroom and plunked on the bed. She fell asleep while mentally listing the chores that needed her attention this weekend…and she was too far gone to banish that cowboy’s smiling image when he followed her into forbidden dreams.

      THUNDER RUMBLED overhead as Jessica sped down the gravel road toward home. After mowing five acres of weeds and brush, she had changed into her business suit and made a hurried trip into town to restock microwavable meals. She had yet to hook the chain to her car and move the big cat cages farther west. If she didn’t complete the task quickly, she predicted she’d be mired in mud and forced to ask her nearest neighbor to pull her out.

      As if he’d lift a hand to help, she mused as she watched lightning spike from the low-hanging clouds. Last night had pretty much nixed her chances of a civilized friendship with Devlin. In spite of that, Jess detoured by his ranch to apologize for dismissing him so rudely and to insure Devlin hadn’t suffered serious injury in his fall into the shrubbery. He hadn’t been home to hear the polite apology she had rehearsed.

      Thunder rumbled again, and huge raindrops pelted the windshield. Jessica increased her speed, hoping to outrun the storm so she could feed her animals before the sky opened up.

      A half mile from home the rear tire blew out. Jessica gripped the wheel to steer toward the side of the road. “Great, just great,” she muttered, then glanced at her royal blue silk suit, matching pumps and panty hose. “What are the chances of changing the tire without ruining this suit?”

      Scowling at her damnable luck, Jess climbed from the car, then opened the trunk. Fat raindrops splattered on her back and hips as she bent to rummage in the trunk for the jack and doughnut tire. By the time she wrestled the tire from the trunk she had grime stuck to her jacket and skirt.

      Hunkering down, Jess groaned and strained to work the lug nuts loose with the tire tool, but the darn things wouldn’t budge. Bracing her feet, she tried to apply more muscle, but the tire tool slipped sideways, causing her to trip over large chunks of gravel.

      “Ouch! Damn!” Jessica hissed in pain when her ankle landed at an unnatural angle. She stared at her skinned knees and shredded panty hose, then glowered at the offensive tire tool.

      Pushing upright, Jessica tested her injured ankle. Minor damage, she diagnosed as she hobbled over to retrieve the tire tool and try again. Rain came down in torrents as she squatted to battle the lug nuts.

      It was a waste of time.

      Hope rose within her when she heard a vehicle approaching, but Jessica cursed colorfully when she recognized Devlin Callahan’s pickup. He rolled down the window to give her the once-over, taking in her soggy silk suit, muddy blue pumps and wet blond hair that drooped around her face like a stringy mop.

      “Having trouble, Blondie?” he asked around the wry smile that twitched his lips.

      “No, I’m doing this for practice,”