Targeted damage.
He had just been thinking of her as little Elsie Garrett. And that was the problem. That’s what most men around here thought. But if they ever opened their eyes and looked...
Well, little Elsie Garrett wasn’t little anymore. She was cute, and she was after something.
Well, hell.
Yeah. All for the better that he was involved in this. All for the better that he was going to offer some guidance.
Sawyer would actually thank him if he knew. Not that he was ever going to know. But Hunter would. Because sending her out there with no breaks was a bad idea.
He was just going to pump those breaks, send her out a little bit strategic. Send her out a little bit prepared.
That was all.
He wasn’t going to be able to stop the storm, but he could provide an umbrella.
Hunter McCloud was usually a little more active in the cause of disasters than the prevention of them. But in this case, he would consider it his mission. To prevent an Elsie Garrett Level Disaster.
Luckily, this was his game.
And he was going to have no trouble taking her in hand.
* * *
THEY WERE HEADED off to Vancouver today, and Elsie was so excited she was having trouble focusing on her work. She wasn’t supposed to go over to McCloud’s until later, and she had promised that she would see to some chores at Garrett’s Watch. But that put her in potential proximity of Travis, and she was already so wound up over the trip that she had a feeling if she did see him, she was going to have difficulty keeping any kind of cool.
It was a pretty long drive up to Vancouver. Which meant that it was going to be a lot of hours in the truck with Hunter. But that was fine. They could talk more about everything. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. Travis. He wasn’t wearing a hat, and his curly blond hair was visible, shining in the sunlight like a golden halo from his position on the back of the horse.
Her stomach did a little twist, and she spurred her horse forward, moving in the direction that he was in. She had valid work reasons for approaching him. “Hey, Travis,” she said, trying to sound cool and casual.
“Elsie,” he said, grinning. “What’s going on?”
“I was wondering if there were still stragglers that needed moving down to the lower pasture. Sawyer wanted me to help with that before I headed out.”
“Nah, we got them all,” he said. “Thanks for checking. You’re awfully good with horses,” he added. She had taken quite a few compliments on her horsewomanship in the last few days, and she was deeply enjoying it. “Not so great with football, though.”
“That was all Hunter’s fault. He was a jerk.”
“It’s my impression Hunter kind of is a jerk,” Travis said.
“He isn’t,” Elsie said, feeling defensive. “He was being a jerk, that’s all. He’s actualy great, he’s...whatever. He’s just him.”
Travis looked at her speculatively. “Right. Hey, were you at the bar the other night?”
“I was,” she said. “I—I didn’t see you there.” She was lying. But she had a feeling that this was kind of what Hunter was talking about when he’d advised playing it cool. She was going to play it cool.
“Oh,” he said, and she could tell that he was taken a little bit aback by that.
And she felt like she had won. Or at the very least scored some points. And she hadn’t expected to score any points, not this early in the game.
“Yeah. I was just there to hang out with Alaina.”
“You danced with Hunter,” he said.
“Oh yeah,” she said, waving a hand. She was tempted to add that Hunter was like a brother to her. But then she didn’t. Let him wonder.
But Hunter is like a brother to you.
She swallowed hard, remembering when they had danced. It had been short and casual, but he was strong and solid. But they had danced together just teasingly at the bonfires and things before. There was nothing terribly groundbreaking about it. She remembered how rough and warm his hands had been.
And then there was the tackling.
And that time he’d touched her chin.
And she felt lit up like a beacon everywhere he’d touched. Like a roadmap of places Hunter McCloud had placed his hands had been imprinted on her body.
“Well, maybe next time I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice scratchy. “I’m going to be gone for a couple of days, though. Hunter and I are going up to Vancouver.” She smiled, then she turned the horse around and rode back toward the stables. And she couldn’t keep the grin from spreading wider and wider on her face.
For the first time in her life, Elsie Garrett felt like she might be a little bit mysterious. At least, to Travis. And she kind of liked it. She could barely contain her excitement about the interaction with Travis for the rest of the afternoon. She was still buzzing by the time she hefted her duffel bag into the back of Hunter’s truck, and got into the passenger seat.
She hadn’t ridden in his truck since he had gotten his new one. It was very nice.
She started fiddling with things on the dashboard, and then froze when he got in.
“Don’t break anything,” he said. “This thing is—”
“Fancy,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Well, Sawyer could quit driving that beater if he wanted to.”
“Sure.” She wrinkled her nose. “So could I, I guess.”
“Why don’t you?”
“I don’t go anywhere. My truck gets me from point A to point B. I don’t need to be fancy about it.”
“Don’t you ever want to be fancy about it?”
She shrugged. “If I want to, I will.”
He stared at her for a moment. “I suppose that’s true.”
“I talked to Travis today,” she said.
He started the engine and pulled out of the driveway, and they began down the long dirt road that would carry them out to the main highway. “Did you?”
“Yes. He didn’t mention this at Game Day, but he asked if I was at the bar the other night. I told him I didn’t see him at the bar. But he saw me dancing with you.” She left out the part where he’d called Hunter a jerk and she’d felt compelled to defend him.
His mouth curved up into a half smile. “See. There you go.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I did it. I’m mysterious.”