McKettrick's Choice - Linda Lael Miller [55]
“Nice donkey,” Lorelei said hopefully.
“Don’t make any sudden moves,” Melina counseled.
Lorelei relaxed a little. “Hand me the rope,” she said in a pleasant tone, calculated to be soothing to the undecided animal. “Then walk away. If he starts bucking, there’s no point in both of us getting hurt.”
Melina stood on tiptoe to give Lorelei the rope. It prickled against her palm.
“Easy,” Melina whispered, backing slowly out of Seesaw’s range. “Touch your heels to his sides, but not hard. You don’t want to startle him.”
Lorelei held her breath and then did as she was told.
Seesaw ambled toward the creek.
Lorelei was overjoyed. She was riding! But then she tried to turn the creature to one side, pulling cautiously on the rope, and he plodded on.
“Stop, please,” Lorelei said brightly, afraid to raise her voice.
Seesaw plodded on, down the rocky bank and right into the water.
Fresh panic assailed Lorelei. She didn’t know how to swim.
The mule began to paddle in ever-widening circles, moving a little closer to the middle each time.
“Lorelei!” Melina cried, from the shore behind her.
“Stop!”
“I’m trying!” Lorelei shouted back, as exasperated as she was afraid.
Seesaw paddled around in a circle, and that was when Lorelei saw the McKettrick brothers riding full-speed toward the bank. Melina had to rush out of their way as they passed, and still they came, splashing up a glittering spray as they gained the water.
The mule brayed gleefully, and must have planted all four feet on the streambed, for he gave a great leap, and Lorelei plunged into the water. The weight of her skirts pulled her under, and she came up gasping for breath.
Holt leaned down from the saddle, extending his hand.
Lorelei clasped at it with both her own and held on for dear life, sputtering and choking as he dragged her up and set her down hard in front of him. She blinked, nearly blind with creek water, and saw Rafe catch hold of Seesaw’s halter rope and turn his horse toward shore.
Lorelei would have sworn the man was grinning, but she decided she must be imagining things. Surely the near drowning of a human being was not a source of amusement, even for ruffians like these.
Holt’s arm felt like a barrel hoop around her, and she took an improper pleasure in the hard wall of his chest, pressed against her back. Once they’d reached the bank, he set her on her feet and glared down at her, his hair and clothes dripping, his eyelashes spiked with water. His horse shook itself, and Lorelei’s vision blurred again, briefly, from the spray.
“Are you all right?” Holt demanded. His voice was low-pitched, with a raspy edge.
Lorelei tried to wring out her skirts. “Yes, thank you,” she said, not quite daring to look at him again, now that she’d averted her eyes. “Did you notice? I rode the mule.”
Rafe laughed, somewhere nearby.
“Oh, I noticed, all right,” Holt said dangerously. He got down off the back of that enormous horse and stood facing her.
“I’m sure once he’s over his tendency to head for the creek,” Lorelei babbled on, “Seesaw will make a fine mule.”
“He’d have to go some to be a better one than you,” Holt retorted.
Lorelei lifted her chin. “There is no need to be rude,” she pointed out.
“Apparently, there is,” Holt said, and took an ominous step toward her. “You don’t seem to understand anything else.”
“When have you tried any other approach?” Lorelei countered.
“I’ll be goddamned!” He took another step, and Lorelei didn’t back up, but not because she wasn’t alarmed. She wasn’t sure how close she was to the water, that was all.
“There is a very good chance of that,” she said huffily, and tried to go around him.
He stepped into her path.
“Don’t you dare kiss me again!” Lorelei cried.
“Believe me, I wouldn’t think of it!”
“The hell you wouldn’t,” Rafe put in.
Holt flailed at his brother with his hat but didn’t take his eyes off Lorelei’s face. “You stay out of this!” he roared.
“What do you want?” Lorelei sputtered furiously.
“An apology? All right, then—I’m sorry you had to get wet!”
“Is there any coffee?