Hunted Love Box Set: Big Game, Bounty, Captured Read Online Free PDF Page B

course she wasn't. Whatever caused that limp wasn't going to let her keep up with him on the trail. If need be, he'd let her ride out a couple hours, and send her home when she got tired.
    She shrugged, the movement tightening her shirt across generous breasts, and reminding him of the potential benefits of playing nice. "I'm prepared. We'll see if you can keep up. And I don't have a husband or boyfriend to get upset with me for going after a lion. ATVs? Or should I have the men catch up some more horses? Of course, your horses will be well cared for while we're gone."
    Bingo! No significant other to worry about. Jakob let himself relax a little against the rails to work out his course of attack. "I have no doubt. But truthfully, not only are my horses trained to work with the hounds, they're rock-steady in gunfire, or with predators nearby, and they're surefooted as mountain goats. And they'll run your cowponies into the ground in both speed and distance."
    His bold claims brought a derisive little snort. "Right. They're high-strung, better suited to the show ring than a hard trail with real horses. And what the hell is with the mule?"
    Her question caught him by surprise. "Jack? Besides being an excellent riding animal, he's even tougher than the horses, and if all else fails, he'll kick the lion to death. He's also along for entertainment value." As if aware he was being spoken of, the long-legged mule twisted himself into an impossible contortion to bite at an itch inside his hind leg. "See?"
    Kate's face lit up with her smile and took his breath away. Makeup would have marred her natural beauty. Full lips begged him to lick and nibble. "So I see. The fact remains, these animals aren't suited to this terrain."
    Inspiration struck. "Wanna bet?"
    The tempting smile turned into a calculating grin. "What do I get if I win?"
    The urge to tell her, in explicit detail, nearly prevailed, but Jakob caught the words back in the last instant. "My Metallica CD?"
    Her quick nod betrayed her relief. "And if you win?"
    Jakob paused as if searching for something worthy. "You listen to my Metallica CD. With me. While we have dinner together."
    Kate extended a small hand to confirm the wager, and Jakob closed his much bigger one around it. "I'd rather seal the bet with a kiss."
    Thick-lashed blue eyes went wide with alarm, but she quickly regained her composure and mischief turned the corners of her lips upward.
    "Miss Kate? You doing okay?" An old timer rounded the corner of the barn.
    Every hint of anything more than business disappeared from her face like a switch had been flipped. "Of course, Ray." She started toward the old man, clearly expecting Jakob to follow. "Ray Johnson, Jakob Barger. He's come because Frank couldn't."
    Jakob extended his hand. Apparently it was up to him how much he wanted to tell about Uncle Frank. No use hiding it. "Ray, good to meet you. Uncle Frank spoke of you often. He passed away a couple weeks ago."
    "You're little Jake? Hell boy, you could walk right under them crazy horses of his last time I saw you. I hate like hell to hear Ol' Frank's gone. He was a good man."
    "Yes he was." Relief settled in. Apparently he'd passed that test too. "Ray, tell me, what do your men know about this lion? Miss Kate has told me a little."
    "Join us for some coffee, Miss Kate?" The old man led the way into the cool dimness of the barn. Part of a cross-alley had been commandeered to serve as a break-slash-loafing area for the men. A pair of worn bench-style truck seats flanked a narrow table laden with a coffee pot, transistor radio—the necessities for rainy afternoons mending tack, or gathering to receive the day's orders.
    Kate followed them, and dropped to a seat rather than offer to take the female role and pour coffee. With a hidden grin, Jakob ignored his own inclination to be polite, and sat beside her. The way his size dwarfed her on the old narrow seat was impossible to ignore, though, and sent all sorts of