by Stacey Kayne
He could still hear the soft, trickling sound of her laughter, see the light of her smile, the life that lit her eyes. He'd given her the freedom to let go and enjoy a moment of life. Give and take. It was called sharing. Surely Skylar saw it as such.
So why does she look so damn sad, he wondered as he drew closer. Skylar stood with the heavy pack in her arms, a frown firmly fixed on her face.
"I'll take that," he said, rushing forward and plucking the heavy sack from her grasp.
Solemn blue eyes flickered up before she quickly looked away.
"You're mad at me about last night," he said in a low voice.
"I'm mad at myself," she answered in a flat tone.
"It was my fault," he said, fully aware that he'd pressured her last night. "Listen, Skylar—"
"I tried that last night," she interrupted as she lifted her hat from her back and tugged it onto her head, hiding her face beneath the wide ivory brim. "Right now we have horses to drive."
Okay, so maybe I should keep my distance for a while. Tucker watched her walk toward the ornery spotted mare she'd taken a liking to. He turned and strode toward his pack-horses. After securing the pack, he glanced back at Skylar. Her eyes were staring back at him, blue lightning striking right into his veins.
Distance?
Hell. Tucker knew he'd be ticking off the minutes until he could hold her again.
Chapter 17
She was going to nip this wonder-lust in the bud. Perhaps with her marital tie to Tucker severed she'd be able to convince herself she had no business being in his arms.
While the others were busy with the horses, Skylar threw a fire together as quickly as she could, then plopped down beside the growing flames and opened her father's journal. She recalled a letter her father received a few months back from an old friend who happened to be a judge in a town that had recently built a new courthouse. A town in Northern Colorado.
Reedly, Freely...She tried to recall the name as she flipped through the journal, looking for the right sketch of terrain.
"Greeley!" Excitement bubbled up inside her as her finger tapped the dot marking the little town. They were close. A two-hour ride, maybe less. Surely Judge Simmons would be willing and able to clear up her marital bind to Tucker. By nightfall he'd be legally off-limits. And he'll have no legal claim to my horses.
"What'cha doin', sis?" Garret asked as he walked into camp.
"Help me saddle the Arabians," she said, slamming the journal shut and jumping to her feet.
Garret's expression pinched. "Sky, we just finished staking the stallions. Chance and Tuck are still roping off the mares."
"I'm getting the annulment today," she said as she hurried past him. "I know of a judge not far from here who can take care of it."
Garret shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," he said, following her toward their horses staked out in the grass.
Tucker and Chance walked into camp as Garret and Skylar returned from saddling the Arabians.
"Don't bother sitting down," she said to Tucker. "You and I are riding to Greeley."
Tucker's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "We are?"
Skylar bristled when he flashed a smile. "We're only a few days' ride from Wyoming territory. I want the annulment now. I know a judge in Greeley. The town can't be more than a two-hour ride from here. Being a friend of my father's, Judge Simmons shouldn't have any trouble granting an annulment."
"How can you be sure this judge is there?" Tucker asked. "I've been to Greeley a few times and I know for a fact that their judge travels to other small towns scattered around this region."
"I'll take my chances," she said. She needed their farce of a marriage annulled now. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back."
Tucker shifted his gaze toward his brother.
"Sounds like a fine idea to me," agreed Chance. "Garret and I shouldn't have any trouble. This area is crowded with clustered folks. You can't ride but a few miles in any direction without tripping over train tracks or running into some sort of settlement."
"I've already saddled the Arabians," Skylar said, motioning toward her horses.
"Keep your shirt on, boss lady," Tucker said as he turned away from her and started back toward the horses. "I need to pack a few things of my own."
Two hours later Tucker and Skylar were standing outside a big white courthouse, having just been told Judge Simmons had been called to Fort Collins the day prior and wasn't due to return for three to four days. Tucker felt a touch of disappointment for Skylar's sake. He knew she wasn't about to give up another full day of travel to track down Simmons.
Without so much as a look in his direction, she turned and started walking toward their tethered horses, her gloved hands fisted at her sides. Her tan hat, hanging from the long chin strap, bounced against the back of her jacket. Tucker stayed a few paces behind, not certain if she was about to well up and cry or explode with pent-up rage.
When she had her guard up, the woman was damn impossible to read. She'd been an impenetrable wall of stern indifference during their long, silent ride into town. She obviously had her heart set on getting the annulment.
A streetlamp blinked on across the road, capturing Tucker's attention. Beneath the shining globe, a lamplighter walked from the pool of light toward the next lamp. Tucker shifted his gaze to the soft light fading on the edge of the western horizon.
With the dark cloak of night falling fast around them, he wasn't about to ride back to camp. Even if the judge had been in town to annul the marriage, Tucker had every intention of spending the night in town and taking Skylar out for a nice meal. Greeley had a number of fine restaurants. He glanced back over his shoulder at the hotel on the corner of the block.
"I'll head over to the hotel and get us a couple rooms for the night," he suggested.
"I'm not staying in town with you." Skylar stopped beside her horse. "I'm riding back to camp."
"I'm not. If you'll recall, I had the last night watch and have been up since midnight. I'm beat. No way my butt can handle two more hours in the saddle. If you're worried about expenses, I have more than enough to cover hotel rooms and supper."
She spun toward him, her hand planted on her hips. 'That's not the problem, and you know it!"
"Evening," said the lamplighter, startling Skylar as he stepped behind her, spilling light all around them by touching the flame on the tip of his pole to the wick of a lamp. Tucker smiled and gave a nod as the man continued past them.
Skylar's cheeks flushed as Tucker stepped toward her. Damn if she hadn't just admitted the power of her attraction to him. The reaction of Tucker's body was all that kept him from laughing at the desperation in Skylar's expression.
"You don't have to act so horrified. I don't have any plans other than buying you a nice dinner. The thought of bedding you hasn't even entered my mind."
She held his gaze for a long moment before her eyes trailed down the front of him. "Liar."
Despite his effort to fight it, a smile broke across Tucker's lips. Okay, so he was aching to bed her with every fiber of his body. Truth be told, he wasn't any more comfortable with the power she had over his mind and body, but watching her suffer from the same effects had hardened his body in a rush; not that he expected her to welcome him into her arms. Tucker couldn't have read her cold attitude toward him any clearer if she'd posted a No Trespassing sign on her forehead.
That didn't change his plans. But he wouldn't be getting her anywhere near a hotel if he didn't make his intentions official. "I give my word," he said. "I won't make advances, Sky. We can both have a warm bath and a nice supper. If you want anything more than that, you'll have to do the asking."
"I won't."
"Then you've got nothing to worry about." He walked the short distance to the hitching rail and started untying the horses. "The livery is at the end of this strip," he said, guiding the horses toward the street and pointing to the south end of town.
Skylar sucked in a long, silent breath as she
glanced down at the parallel row of shops and buildings. A block and a half away a thick wedge of light poured out onto the shadowed street from the open doors of the livery.
"Take our horses to the livery," Tucker continued, "and I'll head to the hotel across the street and get our rooms."
She still wasn't sold on the idea when he took her hand and wrapped it around the reins of their horses.
"You know you can trust me, Skylar," he said, giving her a nudge toward the street.
Oh, she trusted him all right. To be so damn irresistible she couldn't stand herself unless she was kissing him.
"Tuck!"
Hearing Tucker's name said in a high-pitched squeal, Skylar whipped her gaze toward the boardwalk. There beneath an ivory glow stood a short slender woman in a stunning gown of green and gold. She was beautiful, and Skylar suddenly felt quite ill. The golden thread embroidered into the dark velvet of the woman's gown twinkled in the lamplight. The fancy fabric parted at the center of the full skirt. Drawn back like drapes, the ends were tacked up at the woman's hips while black ruffles cascaded down the open triangle.
"I thought that was you," said the dainty woman. The excited kick in her tone was matched by the radiant smile lighting up her pretty face.
Tucker, on the other hand, looked as though he'd been hit in the face with a shovel. "Amanda" he said, his voice sounding strangled as he sidestepped toward Skylar. Not about to offer him shelter from the tiny woman, Skylar stepped farther into the street.
The woman lifted her hands to her heavily padded hips, accentuating her minuscule waist. Thrusting up her tightly bound breasts, she pouted prettily. "Don't tell me you were going to breeze through Greeley without stopping by to say hello."
"Well, I, ah..." Tucker clamped a hand over the back of his neck as he glanced at Skylar.
Annoyed by the tinge of red high on his cheekbones and not caring to witness Tucker's reunion with the embodiment of feminine primness, Skylar tugged at her horses and started toward the livery. She gasped as Tucker's long arm coiled around her waist and hauled her against his side.
"Honey, I don't believe you've met Amanda Lowery."
As her gaze collided with Amanda Lowery's, the woman's coffee-shade eyes flared wide. "Oh my," she said, pressing a lily-white hand to her chest. Light streaked from the diamond wedding band on her ring finger.
Skylar wondered if the black shawl draping over the bends of her arms and the black ruffles signified that she was a widow. The woman didn't look a day past twenty, the ivory skin of her flawless face young and radiant, the mahogany ringlets piled on her head completely void of gray.
"I beg your pardon," Mrs. Lowery exclaimed, obviously just as stunned by the unexpected introduction. "I didn't realize you were a—"
"Amanda," Tucker interrupted. But Skylar had the distinct inclination Mrs. Lowery was about to say "a woman." "This is Skylar—"
"Dairies," Skylar put in quickly, managing a slight smile as she shoved Tucker's hand from her side. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lowery," she lied. She truly could have gone a lifetime without meeting one of Tucker's mistresses.
"Likewise, Miss Daines," she replied, although her thin smile was a clear contradiction to her words. "What brings you to Greeley?"
"Horses," Skylar answered.
"I believe I mentioned back in July that my brother and I were starting a horse ranch in Wyoming," Tucker added.
"Yes, yes you did." The woman's expression brightened as she met Tucker's gaze. "I have a few new colts at my place. Perhaps you would like to come by later this evening and take a look at them?"
Skylar thought to tell the flirtatious woman that she had a nice little Colt of her own, bolstered at her hip.
"I appreciate the offer, Amanda," Tucker said as his arm curved back around Skylar's waist. "But Skylar and I have all the horses we can handle right now."
Skylar felt the blush rising into her cheeks as she stood stiffly against Tucker's side, uncertain of who had given her
the greater insult. Amanda Lowery for dismissing the possibility that she and Tucker could be lovers or Tucker for openly implying that they were.
Disappointment tightened the young woman's features. "I see. Well," she said brightly, "if you should change your mind, you know where to find me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must be going. Miss Daines," she said in parting, though she never met Skylar's gaze before she turned in a whirl of green velvet.
Still wrapped in Tucker's arm, Skylar held her tongue and her temper as Mrs. Lowery scuttled quickly down the walk. The moment the woman was gone from her view, she rammed her elbow into his ribs.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed, flinching away from her.
"Don't ever do that to me again."
"Do what?" he asked, rubbing at his side as he held her gaze with wide, innocent eyes.
"Stick me between you and one of your... woman friends."
"All I did was introduce you!"
"You used me to dodge that woman, Tucker."
"I was being polite," he argued.
"How many times did you say you've passed through Greeley?"
Tucker's jaw flexed with tension as he held her gaze for a moment before saying, "I didn't."
"Then I'm asking."
"Hell, I don't know. Maybe three times. Why?"
"I'll take that to mean there are at least two more women in this town I don't care to be acquainted with. I suggest you find one of them to take to dinner or you'll be dining alone. Once I get into a hotel room, I won't be leaving it till dawn."
Tucker frowned as she shoved past him. He wasn't about to give up his plans for the evening. "Guess I'll go get our room."
"Separate rooms," Skylar clarified.
"Right. Separate rooms." As he watched her walk away,
an unexpected cold wave of emotion covered his conscience like a dark cloud. "Hey, Skylar?" He rushed after her and took her arm.
Skylar yanked herself from his light hold then batted a dust-filled chunk of hair away from her face as she glared at him. "What?"
"I am sorry about that."
"I'm sure you are, but if you get lonely in that room all by yourself, you know where to find some company." She flashed a smile sharp enough to cut steel.
"I'm trying to apologize about Amanda and you know it!"
"And I do wish you'd stop." She turned away and continued down the street. "No need to apologize for being yourself, Tucker."
What does she mean by that? Cursing under his breath, he stomped across the street and onto the boardwalk. This evening wasn't working out at all how he'd planned it, and the truth in Skylar's assumptions about his visits to Greeley bothered him more than it should.
"What do I have to feel guilty about?" he grumbled under his breath. He thought he'd handled the situation with Amanda quite well. It wasn't as if he could control who they ran into on the street!
Tucker quickly checked them in to separate rooms then went to help Skylar with the horses. By the time he made it to the livery, Skylar had already removed both their saddles and supplies and was grooming the horse he'd ridden to town. Judging by her soft, unguarded expression, it was a chore she found relaxing. Her lips bore the hint of a smile as she brushed out the chestnut stallion's shiny brown mane.
He loved watching her work with the horses. Lord, she was beautiful. Even in her dusty trail clothes and dirt smudged across her right cheek, she was attractive as hell.
"Stop staring at me."
Skylar's biting tone pulled Tucker from his thoughts. She's still mad.
"Did you get our rooms?" she asked, keeping her attention on the horse.
"Yep. You want some help with the black stallion?"
"No. I'll finish here and find my own way back to the hotel."
"You have two of the finest horses I've ever seen," he said, his gaze moving over the chestnut. Flecks of orange gleamed in the Arabian's coat as Skylar led him into the narrow stall. "How long have you had them?"
"About two years," she
said as she latched the gate.
"Do they have names?"
"That one is Araba," she said nodding toward the chestnut. "The black is Zarad."
"Do you know how rare they are here in the States?"
"I've been told," she said, turning her back on him as she went to tend the other horse.
She clearly wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"I'll take the gear," Tucker said, walking toward the saddlebags Skylar had slung over the side of the stall. "I'll drop these off at our rooms. Go straight through the lobby, to the end of the hall. Your room is on the left and mine's directly across the hall to the right. If I'm not in my room when you get to the hotel, I'll be at the bathhouse. It's just around the corner from the hotel. There's a restaurant—"
"You don't need to give me a detailed account of your plans for the evening," she interrupted, glancing over her shoulder.
"I thought we—"
"All I care about is meeting in this livery at sunrise, I don't intend to see you again until then."
She wasn't going to cut him an inch of slack. Well, he didn't plan to cut her any, either. She'd be seeing him a lot sooner than sunrise, he'd make sure of it.
Tucker grabbed their saddlebags, slung them over his shoulder and started toward the door. She couldn't be reasonable when her dander was up, so he'd wait until a warm bath had slicked back her ruff.
Chapter 18
Goodness, I could get used to this.
The longer Skylar soaked in the tub of warm water, the sweet scent of roses filling her senses, the more Tucker didn't seem like such a bad guy. How could she stay mad at someone who treated her to such luxuries?
Why had she been so angry with him anyhow? She'd seen Tucker for what he was the moment she'd laid eyes on him. He charmed everyone he met, a personality trait as natural to him as his smile. Nor could she begrudge others for admiring the same qualities in Tucker that appealed to her.
So why had she been ready to claw that woman's eyes out after her suggestive remark?
Because part of me wants to have Tucker all to myself, she silently admitted.
Not smart.