LITMIR.BIZ

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Tyler moaned in his sleep. In sync, they turned their heads to look at him. He looked even paler than before. Deep lines of pain furrowed his brow. The bump on his head was taking on an ugly red hue.

      Not that bad a shape, ha!

      Skye fastened a hard look on her father, trying a new tack. “Think about this, Gus. We’re talking about Tyler Bradshaw, the man who dated three women on the same night in Little Rock. He barely got out of town one step ahead of an irate boyfriend and two bloodthirsty fathers. Do you really want to leave your own daughter alone with this man?”

      “Tyler?” Gus thumbed a gesture at his friend. “He’s too banged up to do anybody any harm.”

      Skye growled. “I thought you just said he wasn’t in that bad a shape.”

      Joey watched the exchange in wide-eyed silence, with all the wariness of a man who had two young daughters of his own at home.

      “Look, Skye,” Gus pleaded. “You’d be doing me a big favor. There isn’t anybody else who can help. I wouldn’t ask except Tyler’s an old friend. He’s like a—” Gus stopped himself, then glanced away, his cheeks flushing with color.

      Like a son, Skye silently finished for him, experiencing an emotion that felt suspiciously like jealousy. Gus had never kept his feelings for Tyler a secret. Skye had been a mere child when he’d taken Tyler under his wing. She’d watched with an envious eye all the attention her father had showered on the youth, showing him the ropes of bullriding, helping him earn his stripes as a top-seeded rodeo star. Tyler. had been his protege. The light Skye could never hope to compete with in her father’s eye.

      Appalled by these feelings, unable to admit to anyone—not even herself—that she was resentful of Tyler in any way, Skye gave a defeated sigh. “All right, Gus. If you really want me to help, then I guess it’ll be okay if Tyler stays at the ranch with me for a few days.”

      “The hell I will,” a deep voice interrupted them.

      Skye jumped, casting a startled glance at the bed. And caught Tyler’s stormy gaze.

      The patient was awake.

      

      “No way,” Tyler said, making his point clear. “I don’t need a nursemaid.”

      Especially not a nursemaid like Skye, he added silently.

      “Just how far do you think you’re going to get without help, Tyler?” Gus asked, his expression thunderous. “You’re as weak as a newborn colt. And just as wobbly, too.”

      Gus was right, of course. His head was throbbing. He felt each of his cracked ribs every time he drew a breath. The wrist was so sore and swollen, he could barely move his fingers. And his back...each movement brought a new spasm of pain zigzagging up and down his spine. Tyler had no idea how he was going to walk out of this hospital room, let alone cope on his own.

      “I’ll get by,” Tyler said, trying to sound stoic.

      “The hell you will,” Gus said, shaking his head in frustration. “If it isn’t at the ranch with Skye, then we’ll have to find you somewhere else to go. What’s the harm in spending a few days with Skye?”

      Tyler stared at him, wondering if his friend was really that naive. Skye was a beautiful, desirable woman. Wounded or not, any man’s willpower would be tested. The problem was, he didn’t know how to explain to his mentor the real reason why he didn’t trust himself to be alone with her.

      “Tyler, listen,” Skye said, her tone resigned. “I don’t want a houseguest any more than you want to stay at the ranch with me. But I don’t see that we have much of a choice. Granted, it’s not going to be easy sharing living quarters. But I’ll be working most of the time on my thesis. You’ll hardly even know I’m there.”

      Tyler cast a surreptitious glance over the tight-fitting tank top and the white cutoffs that hugged her generous curves. He frowned as he studied the smooth length of bare legs. Not noticing Skye would be like trying to ignore a ten-pound powder keg that was about to explode.

      Oblivious to his troublesome thoughts, she continued, “I promise, I’ll stay out of your way...unless you need me.”

      Need her? Tyler bit back a moan, wondering if a man could be condemned just for the prurient thoughts running through his mind.

      “You’ll be doing me a favor, really,” she insisted, forcing a smile. Her rosebud lips parted, revealing a set of even white teeth, and Tyler was instantly reminded of the kiss they’d shared. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly feeling dry, parched. “The ranch is kind of lonely. It’ll be nice to have someone to keep me company.”

      A lie if he’d ever heard one. The problem was, as far as he could see, Skye was forcing him to make the decision. If he turned her down, he’d be the bad guy. If he said yes, there would be hell to pay, for sure.

      “So what do you say, Tyler?” she asked. “Want to let an old friend help you out?”

      Since she’d put it like that, he’d sound like an ungrateful cad if he said no. Lifting his good hand, he rubbed the grit out of his weary eyes and sighed. “All right, Skye. I’ll stay for a couple of days.”

      “Great,” she said, her smile tightening. “It’ll be fun.”

      “Fun?” Gus asked, a vein pulsing at his temple. He looked as though he were having second thoughts. “Now look, young lady—”

      “What’s the matter with you, Gus?” Skye asked, laughing off her father’s latent streak of paternal protectiveness. “You’re the one who suggested he stay with me in the first place. Like you’ve said a hundred times before, Tyler’s like a son to you. Then that must make him like a brother to me. We haven’t seen each other for years. It’ll be nice to catch up.”

      A brother? She thought of him as a brother? Tyler scowled. The night was going from bad to worse.

      Joey lifted a hand to his mouth, hiding an amused grin, looking as though he were about to bust a gut to keep from laughing. He cleared his throat. “I think I’d better be going.”

      “Me, too,” Skye said. “I’ve got a lot of things to do before tomorrow.” She waggled her fingers in a goodbye salute, then shot Tyler an innocent smile as she followed Joey to the door. “See ya in the morning, Tyler.”

      “Right,” Tyler muttered. “Good night, sis.”

      Her step faltered. She gave him an uncertain look, then disappeared through the hospital door.

      Gus hesitated before following the pair. He narrowed his gaze, looking as unconvinced as Tyler felt at this newfound sibling relationship. “Don’t worry about a thing, Tyler. I’ll be checking in on you two as often as possible. Just to make sure Skye hasn’t taken on anything more than she can handle.”

      The warning was clearly noted. Touch Gus’s daughter and he’d die a slow and painful death.

      Gus strode from the room, leaving Tyler alone to stew in silence.

      He might have his faults, but stupidity wasn’t one of them. Not only was he going to have to suffer through his injuries from the bull, but he was going to have to endure an ungodly amount of torture. He was going to be cared for by a beautiful woman who swore she thought of him only as a brother.

      A brother, eh? It would be a hell of a challenge to prove her wrong.

      Chapter Three

      “Are you aiming for the potholes?” Tyler asked, clenching his teeth against the fresh pain each bump in the ride from the hospital brought him.

      Since Skye’s arrival at the hospital this morning, he’d been in a foul mood, not his usual cheerful self. He’d been thrown off a bull before, but he’d never felt quite this bad. And that was why he was feeling so ornery and out of sorts.

      Or so he told himself.

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