She saw where he was going with this and cut him off. “A farm is not in the wilderness with bears or mountain lions or whatever lives here that has teeth big enough to rip a person to shreds.”

Another sigh. This one parted her hair.

They were getting nowhere arguing. Someone had to make peace.

“I’m sorry, I’m just…” Her teeth chattered. Her head felt like an explosion waiting for a fuse. She hugged her middle, ready to make another stab at convincing him to take her with him.

His fingers curled around her arm again, but this time he pulled her to him and wrapped her up against his chest.

Yes, yes, and oh hell yes.

She didn’t care right then if he’d seen a mole on her thigh. That argument could wait for tomorrow. Life had sent a curveball flying at her and she didn’t know if she could dodge it.

She needed to be held and feel safe, if only just for a minute.

His hand rubbed along her back, up and down, soothing her.

Hunter might not be as coldhearted as she’d thought. She pressed her face to his chest, feeling his heat through the shirt. He tightened his hold and cupped her head to his chest. She hadn’t realized how wide his shoulders were until now.

Not exactly the wastrel she’d pegged him for at the party.

She had a feeling he hadn’t earned this body through tennis or swinging by the gym once a week to chew the fat with the guys. He had to have a kicking metabolism to be so hot without an outdoor jacket in this temperature.

Little by little, the anxiety knotted in her shoulders seeped out until she stopped shivering and drew a long breath.

He smelled rugged and male. Not cold at all.

Inviting.

She felt his shoulders move, then his lips touched her hair. He kissed her on top of her head.

With anyone else she would think the act nice and assume it was no big deal. But she had a feeling Hunter didn’t show much affection.

The simple kiss was endearing.

If she acknowledged it in any way he’d probably turn into a bear again. Best to act like she hadn’t noticed the kiss.

“Better now?” His voice came out rough but tender.

She didn’t want to end the moment, but they couldn’t stand here all night. “Yes. I won’t freak out.”

When he chuckled his chest moved. His hand brushed over her hair and down her shoulder.

She shivered. Not from cold this time, but he must have felt it.

He rubbed her arms briskly in a warming motion. “I’ll take you with me, but I have to carry you until you get shoes.”

Her feet hadn’t been cold until he said that, but now she felt the icy ground through two layers of socks. “Okay.”

He hoisted her fireman-style and carried her over ground that went up and down. She was starting to wonder about this vehicle ten minutes into the walk when he stopped and pulled a car door open. He dropped her on a vinyl seat and flicked on an overhead light. She was in a Jeep truck, an early 1980s model that had been refurbished. The inside smelled worn and manly.

When Hunter slid in behind the steering wheel, he pulled the keys from somewhere under the dash and tried to start the Jeep. The engine ground over and over in a slow roll, trying to catch. He cursed softly, pumped the gas and tried again.

“Pop the hood.” She looked over at him.

He gave her a you-can’t-be-serious look.

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Pop. The. Hood.”

“Why?”

“I did grow up on a farm. This is a Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler. I have an idea what’s wrong with it.”

They faced off for several seconds then he made a sound she interpreted as tolerating her fantasy of having any idea what to do. He got out and opened the hood, laying it back on the windshield, then climbed behind the wheel again.

She jumped out before he could say a word about her shoeless feet, but damn, the ground was cold and her socks were getting wet. She stomped her feet while she felt around until she found the butterfly valve and covered it with her palm, shouting, “Try it now.”

The engine rolled a couple times, then caught with a growl of power. He must have pulled the choke out. The motor ran steadily with a high pitch.

Hunter appeared next to her. “What’d you do?”

“Covered the butterfly valve.” She stepped back while he closed and secured the hood. “The butterfly valve won’t close all the way when it’s cold, which affects the fuel-to-air mixture-”

He scooped her off her feet before she could finish explaining.

“I can walk four steps,” she complained.

Dropping her on the seat, he drew her legs around to face him and pulled her socks off. “I’ll give you a towel in a minute you can wrap your feet with.”

“I’m not one of your fragile playmates, Hunter.”

He pushed her legs inside, turning her toward the dash, but she still faced him. When he lifted his head, the interior lights picked up the creases at his eyes.

She had no idea what he’d been doing in the past twenty-four hours, but she doubted sleeping had been involved.

Before he could move away, she caught his arm.

He was eye-level with her. “What?”

The sharp tone didn’t make her jump this time. She’d figured out this man would not harm her. He may irritate the hell out of her at times, but he would not hurt her. “Thanks for holding me.”

“You’re welcome. Truck’ll be warm soon.” He rattled that off quickly, clearly not wanting to put this on any personal level.

Why did he turn into a grouchy beast? To keep her off balance or intimidate her into following orders? Maybe if he realized he was wasting his time, he’d warm up to the point where she could find some middle ground he’d meet her on so that she could convince him to take her back to be with her mother.

“You know what?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “You don’t scare me anymore.”

“If you had a lick of survival sense you’d rethink that statement.”

“All that posturing doesn’t work on me.” She smiled at getting under his skin with that one. “And I’m not buying any of your baloney about having met me before.”

He didn’t say anything at first, but she could see him calculating something.

She probably should have stopped there, but she wanted him to know she wasn’t going to just fold and follow his rules. “I’d have remembered at least kissing you… if kissing you was memorable. Then again, you’re really attractive, almost too good looking. You might not even like girls-”

Hunter leaned in, cupped her face, and kissed her.

His mouth fit the man, hard and hot.

He liked females and she could see why they would like him.

She considered pushing him away for a nanosecond, just on general principles, to let him know he couldn’t do as he pleased when it came to her, then realized something. He wasn’t serious about the kiss.

Just letting her know he was in control.

That she had better toe the line when he said so.

Hunter didn’t like being told he’d lost his edge over her. Thought he was being sly, huh?

She’d fix that. Abbie lifted her hands to his shoulders and slid them up his neck and into his hair. She leaned into the kiss, opening her lips to sweep her tongue into his mouth.

He hesitated for a heartbeat, just enough to confirm she’d surprised him. His hands moved around her hips, his fingers molding to her body when he reached up to clasp her waist and pull her to him.

She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, holding on in the middle of a torrential kiss he took control of, demanding more. His fingers slid up her neck, behind her ear, driving into her hair.

At some point he’d turned her into his arms. She tucked her legs closer, twisting against the urgent heat building low. Just when things were getting so hot she was sure ice was melting on the truck, he broke the kiss, muttering something low in unintelligible words.

Like he’d cursed at himself.