lead once again. She trailed behind him just as she had for the last
eight hours. She didn't say another word for a long while, until
curiosity got the better of her.
"Cole? " "Yes? " "Were you disappointed? " "About what? " "That I
wasn't talking about sex."
"No, " he snapped. "I wasn't." Her shoulders slumped, and she felt an
acute wave of disappointment.
"Then you never once thought about it. . . with me? " He couldn't
believe they were having this conversation. Didn't she realize the
effect she\was having on him? Probably not, he decided. It was
apparent she was innocent, but she wouldn't be for long if she kept
asking him such personal questions.
"Yeah, I thought about it."
"And? " "And what? It isn't gonna happen, Jessica."
"No, of course not, " she hastily agreed. "But I've thought about it
too, several times, as a matter of fact." He almost fell off his
horse. "Will you stop talking about it? ! " "You don't have to yell
at me. I was just being honest with you. You're very easy to talk to,
at least you were until you got upset, and admitting that I've thought
about making love to you isn't a crime.
I'm not going to act on it. I wouldn't even know what to do."
"Then I don't have to worry you'll do anything stupid."
"Like what? " He didn't answer her. He swore he wasn't going to say
another word, and he definitely wasn't going to look back at her, at
least not until he had gotten rid of the notion of dragging her off her
horse, pulling her clothes off, and making love to her.
"I hope the water's warm, " she remarked.
He hoped it was cold . . . icy cold.
The last mile seemed like twenty to her, and by the time they finally
arrived, she was bone weary.
Cole helped her dismount. His hands stayed around her waist much
longer than necessary, and she leaned into him, thankful for his
assistance.
Her legs were so shaky she was sure she would have fallen flat on her
backside if he hadn't held on to her.
She glanced up to thank him, noticed his clenched jaw, and quickly
moved away from him. He was obviously still irritated by her
inappropriate remarks.
She decided to ignore him until he was in a better mood. Her
surroundings enthralled her, for everything was so lush and green. She
worked the stiffness out of her legs by walking along the bank of the
basin. The waterfall wasn't anything like Rockford Falls. It was much
smaller and not nearly as grand, yet just as enchanting. A steady
stream of water poured across a jagged ledge above, and as it spilled
into the pool below, the drops of water, like prisms, caught the
sunlight and refracted it into a sparkling rainbow of colors.
While Cole took care of their horses, she prepared their camp. After
gathering sticks for the fire, she laid out their bedrolls and the
picnic Josey had prepared for them.