Skyler Hawk: Lone Brave

She did for her students on occasion. A vegetarian who counted her caloric intake, Windy rarely indulged in sinful desserts. At the moment Sky reminded her of one of those treats. Mouthwatering and forbidden.

“I bake around the holidays. Pies at Thanksgiving. Cookies and brownies at Christmas.”

“Edith bakes for me,” he said.

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

Sky looked up and laughed. “You don’t want to know.”

Windy tried to guess. “Something with lots of chocolate? Mud pie or double-fudge cake?”

“Nope.”

She sent him a smug smile. “I can always ask Edith.”

“Honey, this isn’t something Edith knows about.” His raised eyebrow made him look wicked, especially with the cuts and bruises. “A pretty woman who smells like vanilla ice cream isn’t something I could tell the old lady to whip up.”

Vanilla ice cream? A pretty woman? Windy narrowed her eyes. “You’re teasing me because of my perfume.”

“Maybe.” He reached for the fruit salad, his lips working into a smile. “Then maybe not.”

She decided it was time to stand up to his machismo. “You’re a flirt, Sky.”

“Yeah.” The smile turned crooked. “I guess I am.”

She wagged her finger, reprimanding him like the modern schoolmarm she was. “I’m used to men flirting. So quit trying to embarrass me. It won’t work.”

Amusement slipped into his grin. “So it won’t embarrass you if I tell you that you remind me of Lady Godiva?”

Lady Godiva, the woman who supposedly rode naked on horseback? Although her heart had dived for her throat, she managed an unaffected shrug. “No.”

“She was the blonde, the one with all the hair who—”

Windy interrupted quickly “I know who she was.” For Pete’s sake, she didn’t need him mentioning the naked part.

Sky finished the last of the fruit salad and reached for his drink. “So, Pretty Windy, do you like to ride?”

“Horses?” Lord, no. She had fallen from one when she was a child. “I think they’re beautiful but I don’t ride.” That sounded better than saying she was too nervous to get back on.

Sky leaned forward. “I could teach you. Trail riding is something everyone should experience. A loyal horse and Mother Earth, there’s nothing else like it.”

He made it sound romantic. “I don’t know. I’m—” She chewed her lip. “I’m—”

“Afraid?” he interjected.

She nodded. Afraid of snakes, afraid of horses. She must have sounded like a basket case—a psychologist who needed her own therapist. “I was bucked off when I was little.”

Instead of the teasing retort she expected, his voice softened. “I’d be patient. Charlie has some gentle trail horses. But if you’re too afraid to mount up by yourself, you could ride with me. In my culture, horses represent power and wealth. And spiritually a horse could enable a holy man to fly through the air in search of Heaven.” His gaze sought hers. “We could take a trip to Heaven.”

Windy’s pulse hammered. Lord, he was beautiful. Did he know how enticing his offer was? “I need to think about it,” she said, telling herself to beware. He would only be in town for three months. A trip to Heaven might leave her yearning for more.

When the conversation lulled, they sat in awkward silence. She toyed with her napkin while he studied the kitchen walls. Now she understood why he flirted. Acknowledging their attraction was easier that way.

Quickly Windy hopped up and began clearing the table. Sky offered to help. As they busied themselves, her brain went into its rational mode. Flirting, even fantasizing was one thing, but falling prey to his charms was another. She imagined summer flings suited him just fine. They were not for her.

He rinsed the dishes, and she loaded them into the dishwasher, but when he glanced up at the window, a glass slipped from his hand. It shattered into the sink.

Windy jumped back, recalling the day her home had been vandalized—the broken china, smashed stereo and cracked television screen. For a brief moment, the fear and nausea returned.

She took a deep, cleansing breath. This was just an accident, that was…

She looked over at Sky. He stood gazing out the window, his hands trembling.

“Are you all right?” she asked, her own discomfort immediately forgotten.

“Huh?” He turned toward her, his eyes glazed, his voice mechanical. “There was a hawk outside the window.”

A hawk? Why would the sight of a bird make him tremble to the point of dropping a glass? “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. It just seemed weird that it came so close to the house. Startled me, that’s all.”

But why? “Are hawks dangerous?”

“No.” He smiled a bit nervously. “Not unless you’re a rodent.”

She peered out the tiny kitchen window yet saw nothing but the neighbor’s fence and the trees beyond it. “Do you think it was searching for food?”

“Maybe.”

He raked his hands through his damp hair, and she noticed they appeared steadier. Maybe he had the right to be jumpy. He had, after all, been in a fight the night before. Then again, a hawk? Maybe she should question Edith about it. Sky certainly wasn’t an easy man to understand.

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