There was an edge of mistrust to his question.
I glanced over at the kid, who must be Damian. “I found him in my barn a couple times today. The second time he was hiding. I wanted to know where he came from.”
He flashed a look at the kid. “Is that true?”
Damian sighed. “It’s true, but I swear I didn’t mean any harm.” He turned to me. “Your animals are amazing. They look right out of Star Wars.”
I smiled. They sort of did. “I tried to talk to you, but you kept running away.”
“You had a shotgun.”
“Only the first time.”
The guy stopped, and his expression turned thunderous. “What the fuck?”
“I wasn’t pointing it at anyone,” I said. “It was at my side with the safety on.”
“But then you had a pitchfork the second time, didn’t you?” Damian continued in his posh accent. “I didn’t want to be stabbed either.”
“I wasn’t going to stab you with a pitchfork. I only had it there in case it was somebody else.”
“Oh really? Like who?” Damian asked.
I leveled my gaze on the guy who’d been cleaning my wounds moments ago. Our eyes met. He seemed taken aback at my silent message. “Me?” He pointed at himself. “You were going to use a pitchfork on me?”
“Look, I keep having intruders on my property. First you and your biker friends, then this kid.”
His brows rose. “So that was your place?” He took a moment and then nodded. “You’re right. I apologize for that incident last night. My friends got lost. Luckily, I wasn’t far behind.”
“That guy nearly broke my front door with all his pounding.”
“I’ll be happy to replace it.”
“Forget it.” I sniffed with indignation.
He turned to the kid. “Damian, you need to apologize too. You were trespassing.”
I studied them both. They sure had good manners for a bunch of bikers. Plus, why did this kid have a British accent? And how could they afford this super-nice house? Maybe they were rich bikers. Was there such a thing?
“I’m sorry,” the kid said. He seemed dejected. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
I considered him. I didn’t get the sense he was a bad kid. “Next time just come to my front door,” I told him. “I’ll give you a tour, okay?”
His entire demeanor brightened. “You will?”
“Sure. I’ll introduce you to my girls.”
“What are they called? The smaller ones.” He seemed energized now. “I’ve never seen anything like them before.”
“The large ones are llamas, and the smaller animals are alpacas. They’re very sweet and gentle, unless you get them angry.” I gave him a look. “Then they spit.”
His brows rose. “They spit?”
I nodded. “Mostly at each other, but sometimes at people.”
“I’ll try not to get them angry then.”
I chuckled. “Best if you don’t.”
The guy appeared to be taking my measure. “What’s your name?”
“Leah.”
“I’m Josh, and this is Damian.”
I nodded, glancing between the two of them. Damian must be his son, though they didn’t look much alike. “Nice to meet you both.”
There were footsteps outside the bathroom door, and a very pretty woman with shoulder-length brown hair entered. “There you guys are. We’re going to make s’mores. Do you want to join us?”
Damian shot up from the floor. “I do!”
Josh turned his head toward the woman. “Thanks, Nalla. I’ll be out there in a minute.”
She glanced at me, but didn’t say anything before leaving the room with Damian.
That meant Josh and I were alone.
He went back to cleaning the dirt off my wounds. I shifted position, suddenly aware of our close proximity and how strange all this was.
I studied my battered legs. “Why were you chasing me?” I asked again.
“I was trying to help.” His smooth voice echoed in the near-empty bathroom. “Damian said you followed him into the woods but never emerged. He was worried you were lost.”
Obviously I was lost, but I wasn’t about to admit it.
He glanced at me, a smile tugging on his mouth. “Did you really think I was a Sasquatch?”
I scoffed. “Of course not.”
His eyes met mine, and I could see the humor in his.
“I fell down.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I was dazed and confused.”
“Sure.” But I could tell he wasn’t buying it. “Can I ask you one more question?”
“What?” I eyed him warily.
“Why were you hiding outside in your underwear last night?”
Chapter Five
~Josh~
She squirmed at my question. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked it, but I was too damn curious.
That image of her last night had stayed with me well after we’d ridden off on our bikes. A gorgeous brunette hiding in the shadows wearing nothing but panties, a skimpy little top, and those tall black boots.
It had been quite a sight.
I’d seen a lot of crazy things over the years. I’d caught women hiding in the back seat of my car. Women hiding in my hotel room. I’d even had them jump out of closets or sneak into my shower after a concert. Some wore sexy lingerie while others were naked. During our recent tour in Australia, I found two chicks dressed in snakeskin leather hiding under my hotel room bed.
Over the years, I mostly sent them away.
Mostly.
Back in my twenties, I occasionally indulged myself, but I was thirty-five now and getting too old for that shit.
Of course, Leah here hadn’t been hiding in the bushes for me. She’d been hiding from me. A big difference and, I had to admit, a refreshing change of pace.
In fact, I suspected she didn’t know who I was.
“I was just checking on my animals,” she said. “After all the noise you guys made, I wanted to make sure they were okay.”
“And your husband lets you run around like that?” I didn’t know why I asked, but I wanted to know if she was taken.
“I don’t have a husband, so I don’t need anyone’s permission.” There was a fierceness in her words that belied the faint blush on her cheeks.
She had pretty skin. If I had to guess, she was close to my age. Long-legged and athletic. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her brown eyes were defiant.
“Guess you weren’t expecting company, huh?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
I nodded and finished cleaning her wounds. She soldiered through the sting of more antibacterial spray, her gaze on me the whole time. I bandaged the larger scratches and then started putting everything back in the kit.
“Thank you.” She peered down at her legs. “I appreciate you helping me.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Even though it’s your fault I fell down.”
I paused what I was doing. “Are you serious?”
“If you hadn’t been chasing me, I wouldn’t have tripped and fallen in the first place.”