Lone Star Lover Read Online Free PDF Page B

and over while she used a cool cloth to bathe Jake’s sweaty forehead and throat. This was her fault that he couldn’t open his eyes. She should never have shoved him so hard. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. He seemed like a nice man. Not like those awful Rangers. He’d even told her to call him Jake.
    Jake Malone.
    It was a good name, she decided, thinking back to when she was small and living back East. A neighbor boy was named Jake. He’d sometimes pulled her pigtails, but only in fun, and played tag with her and James. The memory of her brother struck a sharp blow. Funny how she should think about Mama and Pa now without crying, but not James. Poor, sweet-faced James.
    She used her sleeve to dab at her eyes, and then went back to the task of bathing Jake’s face. He’d quit sweating but his chest and shoulders were still damp. She dipped the cloth into the basin, wrung it out and placed it back on his forehead. She hesitated a moment, and then drew the cloth gently down one side of his stubbly face.
    He didn’t stir, just lay there with his lips slightly parted, his dark lashes resting against his sunburned cheeks. From being exposed to the sun and chill air, his lips had blistered but they were better since Rebecca had applied some cactus sap on them. Kitty had remarked on the swiftness of his healing, but Rebecca had not said a word, for fear her friend, like Doc Davis, would not approve of her medicine.
    Thinking of Kitty gave Rebecca a start. How long had she been gone? Most likely she’d found that she had a customer waiting. Rebecca shuddered at the thought. Although Kitty didn’t seem to mind, and she took care of business real quick, especially when it came to her regulars.
    Rebecca reached for the cloth draped across Jake’s forehead, but she didn’t pick it up right away. Instead, she stayed quiet and listened to him breathe, first studying the deep dimple in the center of his chin and then watching for movement under his lids. Satisfied that he was truly asleep, she glanced over her shoulder toward the door. Kitty always stomped her boots before entering so Rebecca would have a bit of warning.
    Drawing her lower lip between her teeth, she turned back to Jake, and trailed her fingers over his jawline. He didn’t move so she boldly traced the outline of his lips, careful of the healing blisters. His skin felt cool so that was a good sign. And if he hadn’t tried to sit up, he’d be gaining his strength back all the sooner. Were all men stubborn? She had such little experience. She did know that they were not all this beautiful.
    Her gaze went to his flat brown nipples, showing just above where the sheet ended. His skin was smooth, a golden tan color, not white and pasty like some men, or leathery and brown. He had a sprinkling of hair in the valley between his nipples. Not so much to make her nose wrinkle with disgust. Just enough to make her curious about how far down the trail went.
    Did she dare look?
    Her heart thundered behind her breastbone as she picked up the cloth and dunked it in the water. She wrung it out and then slowly peeled back the sheet to the middle of his flat belly, ridged with muscle. The stream of hair had stopped at his chest and then started again at his navel. Doc Davis hadn’t needed to take off Jake’s jeans so she could see no farther down. A flash of disappointment shocked her, quickly followed by guilt and shame.
    She pulled the sheet back up to the middle of his chest, and then used the cloth to bathe his shoulders. Though she longed to feel the rounded muscle beneath his nipples with her fingertips, she refrained. She kept her spine straight, her hand fisted around the white cloth and concentrated on washing him.
    A few minutes later when she heard Kitty on the other side of the door, Rebecca was actually relieved. Too bad he wasn’t awake to sip his broth, but she’d heat it later. She returned the cloth to the basin just as the door opened.
    She turned to her