High Country Hideout. Elle James

knee and braced his other leg out to the side.

      She moaned and stirred.

      “Reggie.” He touched her shoulder. “Tell me you’re all right.”

      She pushed against the floor and rolled onto her back, raising her hand to cradle the back of her head. “Ted?”

      “Not Ted. It’s Angus. What happened?”

      “I’m not sure.” She closed her eyes. “Something hit me in the back of my head.”

      Angus glanced around for a fallen object and found nothing. He recalled the shadow outside the barn and almost jumped up and chased after it. But with Reggie lying at his feet injured and possibly concussed, he couldn’t leave her. Not with the distinct possibility that whoever had attacked her might come back to finish the job.

       Chapter Four

      Reggie stared up at the man leaning over her, blinking into a blinding light. “Do you mind not shining that thing in my eyes?”

      “Sorry, darlin’.” He placed the flashlight on the ground beside her and laid his hands on her leg. “Other than the back of your head, are you hurt anywhere else?” His fingers worked their way up her calf, knee and thigh, igniting a trail of electric tingles all the way.

      Shocked at her body’s response, she pushed his hands away. “I was hit in the head, not on the limbs.”

      “The fall could have caused more damage.” He ignored her protests and swept his hands up the other leg and moved to her arms.

      She stopped him just as his knuckles skimmed the side of her breast. “I said I’m fine, except for the splitting headache and overzealous first-aid care.” Her blood hummed through her veins and places low in her belly came alive. Anxious to put distance between them, she sat up. “Really. I’m okay.”

      “Whatever you say, boss.” He stood, collected the flashlight and extended a hand to her. When she hesitated, he shook his head. “It won’t hurt to let me help you a little. Unless you’re afraid. I promise, I don’t bite.”

      “I’m not afraid.” Nor was she in a hurry to touch the man whose hands had so easily stirred her blood.

      “Well, you should be.”

      She frowned, the movement causing more pain to her already hurting forehead. “Why would someone purposely hit me?”

      “Why would someone put a fake snake in your path?”

      “I don’t know. This is all ridiculous and too much like a conspiracy theory.” She gingerly touched the lump rising on the back of her head. “Ouch.”

      “Are you going to take my hand or not?” He held it steady, daring her to take it.

      Reluctantly she accepted his help and Angus pulled her to her feet.

      Immediately, her vision blurred and she swayed.

      His arm came up around her and he handed her the flashlight. “Hold this.” Before she could protest, he shoved the light into her hands and scooped her up into his arms.

      “Put me down!” She wiggled to free herself from his hold, but he refused to let go.

      “You’ve had a head injury. Let me get to the house. We might need to call the doc.”

      “I tell you, I’m fine and I can get myself to the house.” She clutched the light with one arm and held on around his neck with the other as he limped toward the house. “You can’t carry me around. You’re limping. Put me down.”

      His lips thinned and his hands tightened around her. “I can, and will, carry you to the house.”

      She could sense the unspoken words of even if it kills me. The tight set of his jaw and the determined look in his eyes made her still and let the man carry her, despite the lumbering gait and the slight hesitation when he reached the stairs.

      One slow step at a time, he climbed the stairs, the lines deepening around his eyes and forehead. He was totally concentrated on getting her into the house.

      “What’s wrong with your leg?” she asked.

      “Nothing.”

      “Look, you’re my employee. If something should happen, I need to know what to expect.”

      “Not your concern. It won’t affect my ability to do the work.”

      “Everything and everyone on this ranch is my concern.” Damn, the man was stubborn. Almost as stubborn as she was. Reggie leaned down, twisted the knob on the back door and swung it open. “Especially when you insist on carrying me.”

      Without responding, Angus strode through the kitchen and into the living room, where he deposited her on the couch. “There, I’m not carrying you anymore.”

      Reggie opened her mouth to argue the point, but Tad entered the room, his eyes widening.

      “Mamma?” He ran forward and stood in front of her. “You’re hurt.” He stared up at Angus. “Did you hurt my mamma?” His little fists clenched and he appeared to be ready to throw himself at the ranch hand.

      “No, Tad. Angus didn’t hurt me. I...fell and hit my head in the barn. Angus was good enough to carry me all the way into the house.” She added the last part through gritted teeth, still unhappy about that particular fact.

      The boy’s face brightened and he hugged Angus’s leg. “You are a cowboy.”

      Angus’s face reddened. He quickly bent to loosen the boy’s hold and held his hands as he stared down into the child’s upturned face. “As the men in the house, we have to take care of the womenfolk. And right now, we need to wash the wound.”

      “I know where the bandages are. Mamma keeps them in her bathroom for when I have an owie.” He ran from the room, his face excited.

      Angus glanced down at Reggie. “I’ll be right back, too.”

      “I told you, I can take care of myself.” She started to rise.

      Angus pressed a hand to her shoulder. “And disappoint your son when he’s all set to take care of his mamma?” He shook his head. “Stay put.”

      Reggie didn’t like taking orders from anyone, especially the stranger in her house. But the way he’d handled Tad and taken the opportunity to teach him to care for others made her sit back and accept the help.

      “Fine.” She crossed her arms. “For Tad.”

      Angus left the room and strode down the hallway to the bathroom. The sound of water running reached her ears, as did Angus’s deep voice and Tad’s childish one. Unable to hear their conversation, it was all she could do to remain on the couch. What was he saying?

      Tad led the way into the living room, proudly carrying the box of bandages with cute little dinosaurs printed on them.

      Reggie smiled. This was her little man. The spitting image of his father. Her heart swelled and she reached out to take his hand. “Thank you, sweetie.”

      “Angus is gonna clean the booboo and I’m gonna put the bandage on.” He glanced up at Angus as if to confirm.

      “That’s right.” Angus gave her son a serious nod. “It’s an important job.”

      Angus leaned over Reggie and dabbed carefully at the cut on her forehead. Her senses picked up on everything about the man. The breadth of his chest...so close to her face. The bulging muscles of his arms in the blue chambray shirt...the trim width of his hips in the faded blue jeans. He smelled of leather and outdoors, the two scents she found most attractive on a man.

      She closed her eyes to block out the cowboy, but she couldn’t stop breathing. Each breath she took only added to