On the far side, stones were still aligned for the fireplace, although time and weather had eroded most of the chimney. A sorrow came over her when she thought of all of the people, including Cord’s ancestors, who’d sacrificed everything to conquer this land but had ended up losing their savings, their dreams, and some even their lives.
A movement caught her attention. She focused on the round stones by the fireplace. She squinted into the shady corner and spotted a coil of red rope. Strange—what would it be doing here? She stepped closer, only to find herself face-to-face with a snake.
She jumped back. A lungful of air rushed up her throat and erupted in a scream. Cord’s large hand clamped over her mouth, cutting off the shriek. His other muscled arm wrapped securely around her middle. She pressed back against his solid chest. Her gaze never strayed from the snake.
“You’re safe.” He spoke softly next to her ear. “If I let go, will you promise no more screaming?”
She nodded, but she refused to take her gaze off the scaly reptile. Goose bumps raced down her arms. Had she forgotten to mention how much she really, really despised snakes?
Cord moved his hand from her mouth. His othe
r arm lingered around her waist, and she didn’t rush to pull away. Slowly, they backed away. Once safely by the doorway, she turned to find him smothering a chuckle, which necessitated a playful punch to his solid bicep. “This isn’t funny. What if we’d been bit?”
“He isn’t going to hurt us. There’s a saying you should learn. ‘Red and yellow kill a fellow, but red and black is a friend of Jack.’”
“What does it mean?”
“Remember how the snake’s red and black stripes were side-by-side?” When she nodded, he added, “That particular snake isn’t poisonous.”
“Who’s going to stand here long enough to check the coloring?” She grabbed his hand. His rough calluses rubbed over her palm as she pulled him back to the dirt road.
“Are you reconsidering putting a resort out here? Venomous or not, your guests might not take well to meeting up with all the critters slithering through the desert.”
Amusement twinkled in his eyes as his lips lifted, showing the dimples in his cheeks. How could one man be so sexy and at the same time so frustratingly annoying?
“If you think this is going to change my mind, think again. No snake is going to scare me off.”
“Really? Looks like it just did.”
She glared at him. “I need a drink.”
The smile lingered on his lips as she marched past him toward the vehicles. She grabbed a couple of water bottles from the cooler in the SUV and offered him one.
“You came well-equipped,” he said, peering into her vehicle. “A flashlight. A medical kit. You must have bought out the Hitchin’ Post. I bet you made Sam real happy.”
“I like to be prepared.” The snake may have caught her off guard, but when it came to business, she planned for the unexpected. “And Sam was quite helpful.”
She took a long, slow drink, swirling the fluid around in her mouth before swallowing and soothing her scratchy throat. The water tasted so good, she took another large swallow before screwing the lid back on and tossing the bottle into the backseat.
Refreshed, she followed Cord around Haggerty as he indicated the buildings in various stages of destruction, beaten by weather and time. In some instances, the only evidence a structure had ever existed was the foundation popping out from the ground.
“At one point in time, this was the General Store and the Pony Express stop. The most popular place in town, next to the saloon.” Cord paused in front of a dilapidated hitching post.
This setting definitely suited Cord. He’d make a sexy old-fashioned cowboy. In her mind, she added a holster with a pearl-handled revolver on each lean hip as a set of leather chaps trailed down to a pair of dusty boots with silver spurs on his heels.
She pictured him all dressed up and modeling on the resort’s billboard. Once they fixed this place up to resemble its former rustic charm, it’d be the perfect backdrop for the ad campaign. She took a couple of steps back to take in the full scene.
“Hey. Be careful.” Cord lurched forward, grabbing her arm and yanking her toward him.
What in the world? The unexpected collision of their bodies knocked the air from her lungs. She glanced up at his intense brown eyes. Her heart somersaulted.
“What’d you do that for?” Her gaze lowered to his lips, inches from her own.
“I didn’t want you to fall.”
Too late to worry about that.
He continued to hold her close. A fluttering sensation returned to her stomach. She didn’t move, didn’t turn away. She continued to stare at him, willing him to kiss her. It wasn’t logical, but she didn’t feel like being sensible at the moment. For once, she wanted to live in the moment.