Page 29 of Deadly Evidence
A little shiver slid down her spine when he briefly lifted his dark, mocking gaze to hers, then turned away, his mouth curled in a sneer.
Vicente barely noticed her and had little to say, butthiscowboy was almost like a phantom.
Right now he was trapped in the corral, working with that horse. But whenever she ran into him in a barn or up at the house, he disappeared into the shadows faster than she could say hello.
Sweat prickled beneath her pale-yellow crop-top and matching shorts. Her heavy hair felt hot against her back, but she stayed, watching the two men gentle the young horse, and felt oddly melancholy.
After four days here she still felt inept, out of place.
It wouldn’t be hard to leave this dusty wasteland behind.
Tomorrow she could head back to the real world, where she had a cool summer job lined up at a little boutique, and a scholarship starting with her summer term of college.
She and three of her all-time best friends had leased a sweet little apartment near school, and they’d all be moving in next week.
“Mia—telephone!” Anna waved to her from the door of the barn. “You can take it in here.”
Dante glanced up and scowled at her, and Mia savored the moment. Maybe he thought he was too special to be friendly, butheprobably didn’t get phone calls from New York. And tomorrow, she would leave this place behind.
Affecting a bored, nonchalant smile, she waved her fingertips and turned.
Stumbled.
Her feet slid sideways out of her sandals as they connected with the sleeping dog. She waved her arms trying to regain her balance.
Mojo yelped, struggled to her feet and bumbled into Mia’s knees.
With a startled cry she went down, pain lancing up her leg when she fell against scattered rocks and a low-lying cactus.
Dante stared. “I’ll betthathurt.”
“Mia!” Vicente called out. “You okay?”
She sat up and contemplated the small, bloody scrape and dirt on her knee. Almost invisible cactus spines burned her shin and the palm of her hand.
Tears of embarrassment welled in her eyes. Apparently it took aninjuryfor the old coot to even notice she was alive.
A warm, wet tongue slurped up one side of her face, and she found herself nearly eye to eye with Mojo, who stood over her with her head cocked.
The dog wagged its tail, then playfully crouched low and snatched the brim of Mia’s forty-nine-dollar straw hat.
In an instant she slipped under the corral fence and romped away, tossing the hat in the air and catching it like a favorite toy.
“No, Mojo!” she begged. “No—come here!”
The colt snorted and shied. Reared high. Then again, higher yet, striking out with its forelegs before dropping down to earth and dodging backward as the pup raced in circles at its feet.
Through the veil of her tousled hair, Mia saw Anna come running for the corral, and Lacey take off after the dog.
Dante and Vicente struggled to calm the frightened horse.
Mojo gaily dodged Lacey’s efforts to grab her as she raced in circles through the billowing dust with the floppy yellow prize still clenched in her teeth.
Dante released his hold on the colt’s lead rope and tackled the dog, gently bringing it to a quivering halt.
“Easy, boy...easy, now.” Anna moved into the center of the corral and snagged the rope. “It’s okay, buddy.”
Mia scrambled to her feet. “I’m sorry...”
