Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series by Patricia Watters Page A

painful than a bull's horn in a butt."
    "Just stop here," Josh said. There was no humor in his voice.
    "Okay then," Genie replied. "Unwrap your hand from around my wrist and I'll pull the needles out." She wondered if he'd refuse, and mess up her trick, but he didn't. Instead, he released her wrist. Then just as slowly as she'd stuck the needles in, she pulled each one out, but when she looked at Josh's face, she not only saw a look of intense concern, she also saw a glossy sheen in his eyes. After she'd pulled out the last needle, she removed the handkerchief and set it aside then offered her thumb for Josh to inspect. He took her hand in his, stroked her palm with his thumb like he was trying to sooth her, which touched her in a way she hadn't expected…
    H e has a sweet and deeply caring side that makes me know he'd be a good husband…
    Genie saw that side , which made her feel a little guilty.
    S eeming to catch himself, Josh took a close look at her thumb and studied it with an intensity that had Genie almost breaking the magician's code to tell him it was nothing more than a basic magic trick.
    O nce he was satisfied that her thumb was okay, he released her hand, and said, with a hint of what she construed as embarrassment, "Okay, you pulled a fast one. How did you do it?"
    Genie shrugged. "It's magic and when you perform magic it heals fast. Haven't you heard about psychics who open people up with their hands and perform bloodless, painless surgery ? It's done in the Philippines and there's no sign of an opening. I'm sure you've also heard of firewalkers who walk over red hot coals and don't burn their feet. There's documentation of it all over the world. It's all about mind over matter."
    "I know about firewalking ," Josh said. "My brother's an archaeologist. He says the embers aren't good conductors of heat and since the firewalkers keep moving, it isn't long enough to cause burns and the ash on the coals also act as an insulator."
    "Then how do you explain that I don't have any needle marks in my thumb?" Genie asked.
    "You had a handkerchief over it so I couldn't see what was really happening," Josh replied. "That was part of the trick."
    " No," Genie countered. "I do that because the one time I did it without the handkerchief a woman started hyperventilating and passed out. It scared the daylights out of me."
    While Josh puzzled over that, Genie sat back and said nothing. Maybe another time she'd tell him how she did it, but for now, having grown up under the guidance of Sebastian Matthias, there was enough of the amateur magician in her to want to let Josh wonder.
    While they ate, Annie and Ryan and Genie chattered about inconsequential things, while Josh seemed distant and detached, not just from Genie, but from Ryan and Annie as well, and Genie again wondered what was behind Ryan's comment that Josh, hadn't exactly struck pay dirt in those areas , meaning in the areas of life and love, which she narrowed down to love. It hadn't occurred to her before that Josh was a guy who'd have any kind of serious love life. She also felt a little twinge of jealousy for the woman who might have captured his heart, and wondered how much sacrifice he might have been willing to make for her, if the woman ever existed.
    After they'd had dessert, and d eciding it was time to get back to the house and check on Abby, Genie said to Ryan, "That was a wonderful meal—the salmon, the beans, the grilled onions, the corn on the cob—and Annie, your fresh strawberry pie was wonderful."
    "Except that we couldn't bite through the crust," Annie groused.
    "Well, perfection in crusts will come with experience," Genie said, "but I think I need to get back and relieve your mom and dad of Abby." She went over and gave Annie and Ryan each a hug, then looked at Josh, who mentioned nothing more about going riding the next day, and said, "See you around." He shrugged, and she turned and left.
    The walk from Annie and Ryan's house to where the ranch