Convicted felon. The words echoed in her mind, along with lying cheater. Mitch was just another example of what you see is not always what is true. She’d trusted the face he presented to the world. Just like she’d trusted Daniel, only to find out he didn’t want her, he’d only been using her to further his position in her father’s company. She’d trusted her father to back her up, and instead, he’d informed her he had no intention of letting a bad personal choice ruin his protégé’s promising career.
Hearing herself described as a bad personal choice was a knife to the heart she’d never let her father see. He would’ve preached about staying focused and not letting emotions get in the way—like her mother had. Which her mother would tell her was exactly why the marriage didn’t last longer than ten years.
Funny thing, she suddenly realized her father’s lack of support hurt more than Daniel’s numerous infidelities and lies. Her pride had suffered more than her heart, likely because she’d also been using him, as a way to gain her father’s approval. And it’d worked, until business got in the way, and she’d disappointed him once again.
No, he disappointed me.
Her gaze shifted to Joel’s broad shoulders. He reminded her of her father in his single-minded dedication to the job, yet protecting the animals was a noble cause she couldn’t condemn. The difference made her wonder, was there more to the bossy, arrogant jerk than she’d seen so far?
Chapter 13
She’d been awfully quiet the past couple hours. Which should’ve been fine with him, but instead, Joel wondered what was going on in that stubborn head of hers. Especially when she avoided his gaze whenever they had to stop to clear a fallen tree or loose rocks from the trail. Had she lied about her relationship with Levins and now worried about what kind of man she’d gotten herself involved with?
His jaw tightened at the thought, and how she’d been awful quick on the defense of her nice guy. He wondered what she’d say when she found out he’d done time for dealing drugs, and armed robbery. Much as he’d wanted to tell her more, those details would be up to Levins to reveal. He’d already walked a fine line telling her the guy had a record, and only because she’d made a good point that she had a right to know who she spent the night with.
And there it was again—were they really just friends? Unfortunately, he’d learned long ago, people lied all the time, even those closest to you. He kind of expected it at this point, though he sure hoped Brittany’s lie of omission last week was the end of her deception.
Ignoring the distracting attraction humming in the background, he could admit his original assumptions about her being a spoiled brat were off. She definitely had no problem pulling her weight in the work department. And he kind of admired her fierce independence, even if it mostly annoyed the hell out of him.
It was nearing four p.m. when the trail seemed to disappear in front of him. Joel brought Nobel to a halt, and he heard Brittany’s groan of dismay behind him. A rockslide had covered an entire corner of the switchbacks they’d been following to traverse the steep slope of the mountainside.
“How much further to the campsite?” he asked as they dismounted.
“We’re almost there. But I don’t see any way around this, so we’re going to have to move it all by hand.”
He’d reached the same conclusion and pulled a pair of gloves from his saddle bags to help her clear the rocks. A couple times he caught her lifting more than he thought she should and quickly stepped over to relieve her of the weight. The first time, he received a frown of annoyance; the second, he glimpsed relief to go with her quiet, “Thank you.”
Once they finished clearing a safe path for the horses, they continued to the overnight camp. He noticed she moved pretty slow as she pulled herself into the saddle, but when she didn’t complain, he attributed it to the physical labor that had even his muscles protesting.
She led the rest of the way, only stopping once they’d rounded a bend in the well-worn trail to see a camp right near a wide stand of pines. The small stream they’d crossed numerous times on the trail bisected the trees as it flowed from a clearing on the other side.
Joel moved ahead to the crude corral the ranch had constructed. He dismounted, made a mental note that the grass inside had been grazed within the past week, then turned to remove Nobel’s tack. From the corner of his eye, he watched Brittany move to get off her horse. Once her feet touched the ground, she held tight to the saddle horn and leaned her forehead against the leather.
Yeah, she’s hurtin’. He set his saddle aside and moved in behind her. “You okay?”
She stiffened and pushed herself to stand straight. “Fine.”
Her back was to him, but it sounded like she was gritting her teeth. He didn’t move away as she loosened the ties securing her saddle bags, then dragged them off her horse’s back. The moment the weight was in her hands, she let it drop with a gasp.
Joel moved forward as she swayed. “You are not fine. What’d you do?”
She pushed him away and swiped at her cheek. “I pulled my back.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“There’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I can help you,” he argued. Then it dawned on him why she’d kept quiet and guilt pressed heavy on his shoulders. “You’ve got nothing to prove, you know. I’m sorry if my past assumptions made you feel like you did.”
Her head lifted, surprise clear in her shimmering green eyes. He leaned forward, and heard her breath catch. His pulse skipped in respon
se, and he fought to keep from dropping his gaze to her mouth. Each time he’d kissed her had only lead to wanting more. If he wasn’t careful, she’d become an addiction he couldn’t resist.
When she sidestepped, it made it easier for him to undo the cinch on her saddle. He lifted it off with one hand, then bent to grab her bags with the other. He set her things next to his by the campfire ring, dug out one of her brushes, and returned to her side.
She held out her hand, her expression determined. “I can do it.”
In the time it took her to take care of her horse, he’d done the same for his gelding, lit a fire, and started dinner. He looked up as she approached. “How’s your back?”