“If it hadn’t been for Lieutenant Covington, I would have been brutalized and blinded before I was murdered. He saved me, Dad. Isn’t there something we can do for him? Some way to thank him?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Could we have some sort of ceremony and give him a medal? We could invite him to dinner, too, couldn’t we?”
The speculative look her father gave her brought a telltale blush to Lindsey’s cheeks.
“You seem to have gotten along pretty well with this Covington fellow.”
“He saved my life,” Lindsey repeated.
“Hmm.”
Lindsey held her breath.
“All right. I’ll talk to Captain Rogers and see if a commendation of some sort is appropriate.”
“And we’ll invite him to dinner?”
“Sure. Why not?”
BURR SLIPPED A FINGER into the collar of his tuxedo shirt and tried to loosen it. He felt like a mustang running with a herd of high-priced Thoroughbreds. He was wearing black cordovan dress shoes instead of boots, and his hair had been trimmed so much it curled at his nape. There was no earring in his ear and the snake tattoo was far out of sight. Except for his broken nose, he looked like most of the other men in tuxedos who had been invited to the governor’s mansion for dinner.
Only, he was a fraud. They looked comfortable in the clothes they wore. They smiled and nodded and chatted with ease. He knew the moment he opened his mouth the wrong thing was going to come out. This wasn’t his milieu. He would always be more comfortable in alleys than on streets.
He had learned from the captain that this reception in his honor was all Lindsey’s idea, supposedly a way to repay him for what he had done.
“I was only doing my job,” Burr had protested.
The captain hadn’t been willing to take no for an answer. “You’re going to dine as the governor’s guest, and I don’t want to hear any more argument!”
SO HERE HE WAS, ALL DRESSED UP and fighting the bit to be somewhere else.
“Hello, stranger.”
Burr turned and his breath caught in his throat. He had forgotten how beautiful she was. She was wearing a dress similar in style to the one she had been kidnapped in, only this one was black. He wondered fleetingly if she was wearing a black merry widow beneath it.
She smiled at him as though divining the direction his thoughts had taken. The look in her eyes made him want to haul her off somewhere and kiss her silly. He settled for taking the hand she extended and holding it in his own.
His thumb caressed her wrist, and he felt her pulse leap beneath his fingertips. “It’s been a while,” he managed to force past his constricted throat.
“Three weeks and two days.”
“You’ve been counting?”
“Haven’t you?”
He grinned. “Three weeks, two days, and eight hours.”
“I’ve missed you.” Lindsey couldn’t take her eyes off Burr. The crisp white shirt contrasted against his tanned skin, and the black tux jacket emphasized his broad shoulders. He looked distinguished, but no less dangerous. For the first time in her very social life, Lindsey was incredibly nervous. She didn’t know how to act and took her cues from Burr.
Burr ignored her invitation to admit to feelings that were only trouble. The orchestra at the far end of the ballroom had just begun a waltz, so he asked, “Would you like to dance?”
“I’d love to dance.”
He led her into the waltz, a dance he knew because it was popular in country bars. But the count was the same, and she was as light on her feet as he was, so they moved easily around the dance floor.
“I didn’t know you could dance so well,” she said.
“There are lots of things you don’t know about me.”
“I’d like to learn.”
Burr took a deep breath and let it out. “There’s no time like the present, is there? Let me introduce myself. My name is Burr Covington. I’m a Texas Ranger. I grew up in Houston, but I’ve been assigned to the office in Austin for the past two years.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Covington,” Lindsey said with a shy smile.
“Please call me Burr.”
“I’d be pleased to…Burr. My name is Lindsey Major. People claim I have the bluest eyes in Texas, but they’re greatly mistaken. They aren’t blue at all. They’re—”
“Lavender,” Burr finished for her. “And what have you been doing to keep yourself busy these past few weeks, Miss Major?”
“Oh, please, call me…Blue Eyes.”
“Well, Blue Eyes?” Burr said, a tender smile teasing his lips.
“I’ve been talking to my father about going back to college. I never finished my degree in journalism, you know. I’ve decided to return to Baylor in the fall.”
“Then you can be the one to do the writing, instead of being written about.”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” she said with a mischievous smile.
“I just might be transferring to that area of Texas,” Burr said.
“As a Texas Ranger?”
“Yeah. One of my rewards for saving the governor’s daughter was my choice of assignments. And I got a raise. So I was thinking about settling down and finding me a wife.”
“Oh?”
“Would you by any chance be interested in the job?”
“Why, I think I might be willing to consider such a position. So long as you don’t mind getting up every morning to the bluest eyes in Texas.”
“No,” Burr said as he pulled her close and lowered his mouth to hers. “I don’t think I’ll mind that at all.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4542-0
TEXAS BRIDES
Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
THE RANCHER & THE RUNAWAY BRIDE
Copyright © 1993 by Joan Mertens Johnston
THE BLUEST EYES IN TEXAS
Copyright © 1995 by Joan Mertens Johnston
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.HQNBooks.com
Texas Brides: The Rancher and the Runaway Bride & The Bluest Eyes in Texas Page 20