She was stealing their eggs, then eating them. Murdering their offspring. Of course, they probably wouldn’t mind. Uh-huh, sure.
“See you in the morning.” He straightened and went to his pickup.
She couldn’t think of another excuse for him to stay and keep her company. Unless she wanted to rip off her clothes and throw herself at him. She wasn’t quite that desperate-yet.
Nikki could only watch him drive away. At least it wasn’t quiet anymore. No, now she heard all kinds of animals making noise, rustling in leaves. Critters. She missed the quiet.
She went inside and walked to the back door, then stared at the shadowed outhouse. She’d have to use the flashlight so she could see the path.
How much water would she need to take in to ward off dehydration but keep her from having to go to the outhouse as often?
Procrastination didn’t sit well with her.
With determination, she grabbed the flashlight and went out onto the back porch. She gritted her teeth and stepped off, then marched down the path. She could do this. It wasn’t as though she was made of glass. Anything Cal said she had to do, she would do. She was made of sterner stuff than he could even imagine.
She swung the door open and stepped inside.
Oh, Lord, it was worse than she’d remembered. Her eyes crossed as a shiver of revulsion made her tremble from head to foot. She clamped her lips together.
All she had to do was hold her breath. She swam at the gym pool all the time and she could hold her breath a long time. She jerked her skirt up and her panties down, then gingerly sat over the hole, careful not to get a splinter. That’s all she needed-an infected ass. Try explaining that one.
Oh, God, she needed to breathe.
Why the hell had she drunk so much water?
She hurried to finish, then yanked her panties up and her skirt down, opened the door, and was halfway down the path before she inhaled. Fresh air.
She stumbled to the back porch, falling across it as she inhaled mouthfuls of sweet air. She finally had her oxygen levels back up to normal and pushed to a sitting position, frowning.
This really sucked.
Bzzzzzz.
She waved her hand in front of her face.
Bzzzzzz.
A mosquito as big as a fly landed on her arm. Nikki swatted it, but his brother attacked her other arm. Great, she’d probably end up with West Nile virus on top of an infected ass!
She jumped to her feet and hurried inside the cabin, closed the door, and reached for the lock. Not that she thought the mosquitoes could open the door, but she wasn’t too keen on burglars or whatever they had in the country. Cattle rustlers, maybe.
No lock. It figured. Not that anyone would have trouble getting inside. Hell, sneeze and the place would probably collapse into a pile of toothpicks.
Marge had told her to come home if things got too bad. Maybe she would take her up on it. She collapsed in the chair, resting her head on the table. Who was she kidding? To leave would be running away and that wasn’t in her character.
So, she’d stay. At least for a while longer.
A bath would help. She felt as though she wore at least one layer of dirt. She leaned sideways and eyed the stove.
Hot bath?
Okay, she’d settle for a cold wash. How bad could it be? Especially if she hurried.
Real bad, she found out a few minutes later. The water was freezing. More so than city water. But she did the best she could, then quickly crawled beneath the quilt on the bed to get warm again.
She was physically and mentally exhausted. She only wanted to sleep. Tomorrow would be a better day.
It damned sure couldn’t be any worse!
She yawned, closing her eyes, then smiled as she immediately visualized Cal sauntering toward her. She snuggled deeper beneath the cover. Umm, nice dream.
“Cock-a-doodle-do!”
Nikki came straight up in bed. She was being robbed! Someone had broken inside her apartment and in the next minute, the robber would be in her room to do all kinds of bodily harm. Her gaze flew around the semi-dark room.
This wasn’t her apartment.
She’d been kidnapped. Drugged and brought to this…this dump.
Escape! She stumbled out of bed, dragging the quilt with her, and rushed outside, almost falling off the porch.
She caught her balance and whipped first to the right, then left. Okay, she hadn’t been kidnapped. She was at the cabin on the dude ranch. But someone had still screamed out…or something.
She had to get out of there. Where were her car keys? Where…
“Cock-a-doodle-do!”
She spun around, almost tripping herself as the quilt tangled with her legs. She kicked it out of the way and shoved her hair out of her eyes.
“Cock-a-doodle-do!”
This was her thief? Her intruder? A friggin’ rooster?
She looked at the sun, which was just barely peeking over the horizon, then back at the blasted bird. He thrust his chest out and pranced back and forth along the top rail of the wooden fence. Several chickens stood on the ground below as if adoring this wonderful spectacle of arrogant feathers.
She jerked the quilt around her shoulders more securely and glared at the feathered Romeo. He drew in a deep breath and let loose with another screeching yodel. The chickens cackled, apparently thinking he’d performed some grand feat.
Enough was enough. She usually slept until at least eight. Her gaze fell to the ground. She smiled, picked up a rock, and when the bird inhaled again, let it fly.
The rooster squawked, fell off the fence, kicked twice, and lay silent.
Oh, crap!
Her hand flew to her mouth. She hadn’t meant to kill the blasted bird, only scare it. In all her life, she’d never murdered anything.
She let the quilt fall and rushed over to the fence. The chickens glared at her. She squatted next to the rooster. Could you do CPR on a bird? She didn’t think she wanted to try. She’d have to live with her guilt.
How proud he’d been prancing along the fence rail, and with good reason. Up close, Nikki could see how magnificent he was. Feathers as bright as a brand-new copper penny, dark red, brilliant orange, emerald green. Sniffing, she gently touched him.
In a flurry of feathers, the rooster leapt up ushering loud noises and flapping his wings. Nikki screamed and jumped to her feet. The rooster turned toward her.
She stepped back.
The bird advanced, no longer prancing but with a slightly off-balance, drunken gait.
Nikki turned and fled back inside the cabin, grabbing the quilt as she went. She scrambled back in bed and pulled the covers over her head.
No utilities. The toilet was outside and smelled horrible. Taking a bath meant she had to risk her life and light the black beast of an oven or wash in ice water. The rooster from hell. Maybe even a ghost-not that she believed in them. She hated it here. She wanted to go back to the city, where toilets flushed and they had real burglars, not some crazy-ass bird!
Was she ready to admit defeat?
She sniffed. Damn it, she wasn’t. Not this early in the game. No, she refused to give up. She only needed a few more hours of sleep.
Life sucked right now, but she would get her story. Scrunching down farther in the bed, she pulled the blanket even higher. Her eyes drifted closed as she yawned.
She didn’t want to think about any of it right now. She wanted to sleep and dream about ivory towers and palaces. Vacationing where they had room service. She snuggled deeper into the feather mattress. Sunning on pristine beaches. Her eyelids drifted downward. She yawned.
And sex.
How long had it been since she’d had sex? Too long. Immediately a dark-haired cowboy with smoldering green eyes filled her mind.
He walked toward her wearing only a hat, cowboy boots and twirling a rope. There he was in all his naked glory. She snuggled the quilt closer to her. Oh, yeah. This was what she wanted to dream about. It was even better than her last dream-more X-rated.