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that, Samantha thought wryly. It was something she wouldn’t have done if the bridge under here had been solid, because heights didn’t ordinarily bother her.
    There were no guardrails, and the planks over which they bumped felt about as secure as toothpicks. She supposed that’s why the gorge they were crossing seemed much wider than it probably was and the river at its bottom an unnerving distance below them.
    “Don’t worry, folks,” their young driver assured them from the front seat. “There’s a brand-new steel structure supporting us. The boards are just temporary until the crews get around to pouring the floor and installing the rails. Now, the old bridge this one replaced…that was something to worry about.”
    He had been cheerfully informing them of the progress of the road’s reconstruction ever since he had collected them from the airport in his sturdy SUV. That had been miles ago. Long miles through a spectacular mountain wilderness of dizzy ascents and breathless turns.
    The Morning Star Ranch, where the other drovers were waiting for them, was their destination. It had been purchased by a company that was developing the property into Colorado’s next ski resort. The company was responsiblefor the new road and this hellish bridge that was making her giddy, Samantha thought. Would they never finish crawling across its length?
    “You okay?” Roark asked beside her. He had to have noticed how rigid she was.
    “Couldn’t be better.”
    Oh, you’re just great. If you can’t handle this, what are you going to be like piloting a couple of hundred longhorns?
    But she didn’t want to think about that. Not until she had to. Anyway, it wasn’t just the condition of the route that had her on edge. Her companion squeezed in beside her was partly to blame for that.
    With every jolt in the road, every sharp bend, his solid bulk had come bumping up against her side. Making her far too aware of the heat of his hard body, of the distinctive scent that she already associated with him—a masculine blend of faint musk and the stronger odor of a woodsy soap. Heady stuff, and on him far too arousing.
    “Sorry,” he kept apologizing, though she wondered if those contacts were sometimes deliberate.
    She might have challenged them, except the SUV was carrying so many supplies from town, along with their own gear piled beside the driver, that she and Roark had a minimum of space on the back seat. And with so little room for them to occupy, she could scarcely blame him for his closeness, even if it did leave her light-headed.
    Samantha was able to breathe easier when the vehicle reached the other side of the gorge. The bridge behind them, they traveled another half mile along the rough gravel and then were halted where the crew was working with heavy equipment that blocked the road.
    “Looks like we’ll be sitting here for a few minutes,” their driver indicated.
    “Care to stretch your legs?” Roark asked Samantha.
    She welcomed his suggestion. It would be a relief to escape the disturbing intimacy of their position on thecrowded back seat. They left the driver with the car and strolled back along the road, away from the dust and roar of the machinery.
    There was a gap in the evergreens, and they stopped at an overlook that commanded a view of the mountains. Along the lower slopes were groves of aspen, their thick ranks so golden with autumn tints that the sight was almost blinding.
    For a moment they were silent, their attention focused on the dazzling display, and then Roark turned to her and said quietly, “Want to talk about it?”
    Stretching their legs had been just an excuse then, Samantha realized. He had sensed she was worried, that the closer they got to the ranch the more troubled she became.
    “What’s bothering you?” he persisted. “Besides this god-awful road, I mean? It’s the risk of the cattle drive, isn’t it? The fear that someone wants you out of the way and that this drive could give