by Carol Finch
He crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared her down. “Given that decent folks are rarely nice to me—except when they want something—and the scoundrels I encounter curse me to hell and back, that might serve as incentive. But I’m not inclined to tramp through West Texas.”
Her perfectly arched brows lifted quizzically and she smiled impishly at him. “Why not? Don’t you like the scenery?”
“I like it fine. It’s just that—”
An abrupt knock rattled the door. Jonah strode over to retrieve the tray of food Charley provided.
“I’ll settle up with you later,” Jonah promised as the man craned his neck around the door to check on Maddie’s condition.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Charley said compassionately. “I know Mr. Danhill was dreadfully worried about you.”
Jonah rolled his eyes in annoyance while Charley poured on the fatherly charm and Maddie left him basking in a radiant smile. Hard-hearted though he was, even Jonah felt himself responding to Maddie’s dazzling expression.
Definitely trouble, he reminded himself. If a man wasn’t careful and vigilant he could become intoxicated by those whiskey-colored eyes and bewitched by that smile.
Jonah planned to be damn careful and vigilant.
When Charley exited, Maddie levered herself upright to dive into her meal like a woman who had been on prison rations for days on end. She was halfway through her steak before she remembered Jonah had been about to tell her why he found West Texas distasteful.
“Why don’t you like my part of the country?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged impossibly broad shoulders, swallowed a bite of fried potatoes and said, “Long story.”
Exasperated, Maddie tossed him a withering glance. “I realize you are a man of few words, but you’ll have to do better than that.”
“Why do you care?” he asked between bites.
“Because I’ll be traveling with you,” she said matter-of-factly.
He glared at her. “I have not agreed to go.”
Maddie smiled confidently. “But you will. You didn’t want to rescue me from those thieves, either, but you did because that’s simply the kind of man you are.”
Jonah set aside his fork and glared flaming arrows at her. “Look, lady—”
“Maddie,” she corrected, flashing another charming smile.
He ignored that. “I’m no do-gooder. I do what I’m paid to do, which is fight outlaws and renegades. I have personal reasons for avoiding your part of the country. I don’t want to discuss them, I’m not going and that’s that.”
Maddie finished her meal, set aside her plate and surged to her feet. The room careened around her momentarily, but she inhaled a steadying breath, then reached beneath the mattress to locate the money. She felt Jonah’s intense gaze drilling into her, but he said not one word as she sorted the banknotes from his clothing. She noticed the moccasins among his belongings. A reminder of the past he’d been forced to leave behind, no doubt.
She stuffed the money inside the bodice of her soiled dress—save a few dollars to compensate Jonah for the meal and his assistance. Resolved to the inevitable, she pivoted toward the door. “Goodbye, Jonah. I hope your shoulder heals without complication.”
“Where are you going?” he demanded gruffly as she clamped her hand around the doorknob.
“Out of your life.” She tilted her head at a dignified angle. “I have obviously misjudged you. My mistake. The past six months have taught me to cut my losses and get on with life. I have learned that I have no one to depend on but myself. Dealing with you has reinforced what I already knew and simply allowed myself to forget while facing all this emotional turmoil.” She drew herself up, inhaled a determined breath and said, “I will handle this myself, as usual. Rest assured that I won’t inconvenience you again.”
And then she walked from the room and left him sitting on his bed with his plate on his lap.
Maddie had finally accepted the fact that she was wasting precious time trying to elicit Jonah’s cooperation. She had pleaded, demanded and even tried to charm him. Nothing had worked on that stubborn, ill-mannered, suspicious Ranger.
Time was of the essence and she had no choice but to gather her carpetbag, buy a horse from the livery and race home. If she departed during the night she might even gain a head start on those two ruffians.
For certain, she wasn’t waiting for the afternoon stage, knowing those two riders would follow closely behind it, awaiting the chance to attack and divest her of the money. Furthermore, Maddie was not going to risk involving other innocent victims in her problems. There was no telling how many stage passengers might be accidentally injured because of her. She couldn’t bear the thought of carrying more guilt on her conscience. She had plenty of emotional burdens trying to drag her down as it was.
Maddie made a quick transaction with the owner of the livery, who kept sleeping quarters near the front door of the barn. Within a few minutes she had a horse, saddle and tack at her disposal. Leading the mount around the barn, she wiggled between the dangling boards to fetch her satchel. She nearly leaped out of her skin when she emerged to see a looming shadow off to her left. She shrank back so quickly that she conked her tender head on the board.
“Ouch!” She hissed in pain.
“Nice accommodations.” Jonah smirked as he reached down to assist her to her feet. “You do travel in style, princess.”
She could have sworn she heard a hint of amusement in that deep baritone voice. Mr. Hard-hearted Texas Ranger had a sense of humor? She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t heard it with her own ears.
“Kinda makes a man wonder if you’re the wealthy heiress you’ve implied that you are.”
Ah, the sarcasm was back. Now that she recognized.
Gathering her dignity around her like a fur cloak, Maddie tied her satchel behind the saddle and pulled herself astride the horse. She deeply regretted that Jonah wouldn’t be accompanying her, but that adage stating that you couldn’t lead a jackass where it didn’t want to go certainly applied. Mule-headed Danhill had only followed her this far so he could harass her one last time for good measure.
Nudging the mare, Maddie veered around the barn and circled through the small residential area behind Main Street to reach the trodden path west. Behind her she heard the clip-clop of hooves and she twisted in the saddle to see Jonah sitting atop a horse that looked as black as the devil’s heart. Of course, it was dark, so she couldn’t be positively certain the horse was solid black, but that’s just the way she would have pictured Jonah’s mount—coal-black in color, irascible in disposition and as independent as a polecat.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” she commented when she reached the open road.
“I’m not. Just checking to see if this is another of your spectacular exits to milk my sympathy,” he said as he eased his mount up beside her. “Did you pack trail rations?”
“No, I’ll chew on my fingernails if I get hungry,” she said smartly.
“No canteen of water?”
“I’ll suck on a pebble if I get thirsty,” she assured him aloofly.
“Are you armed?” Jonah asked as she urged her mount into an easy canter.
“Yes, I can shoot off my mouth with lightning speed,” she insisted. “Now go away. I’m sure that soft mattress at the hotel is calling to you. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t like me and don’t believe me.”
Maddie was inordinately pleased and enormously relieved that he continued to ride beside her rather than reversing direction. She felt as if the heavy yoke of responsibility and desperation that had been bearing down on her shoulders had eased slightly.
Two miles later she glanced at Jonah and asked, “What made you change your mind?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said sourly.
She smiled in the darkness as a sense of comfort and satisfaction stole over her, easing her nervous apprehension somewhat. Jonah hadn’t turn
ed his back on her, after all. Despite his surly disposition, he had a good heart.
“Don’t get cocky,” he warned darkly. “I’m not here because I’m starting to like you or because I believe your story. I’m only here to see that you complete the first leg of your journey without mishap.”
“So…” she said, biting back a pleased grin “…you are going no farther than Fort Griffin?”
“That’s right. After that you’re on your own. I’m only doing this for the money. So don’t think you can gallop off without paying for my escort service.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Maddie frowned, bemused, when she realized her manner of speech had become as condensed as his. She would have preferred that something else about him might rub off on her. Such as his impressive fighting and survivalist skills. Fortunately, she was no slouch when it came to riding. Her father had taught both of his daughters to be accomplished equestrians.
The thought of her father melted the smile from her lips and caused the empty ache to expand in her chest. Six months ago Maddie hadn’t been overwhelmed with responsibility and hadn’t had a care in the world, except for dodging marriage proposals that didn’t interest her.
Now her father was gone, cattle rustlers were depleting ranch profits and Christina had been snatched up while she’d been taking an afternoon ride on her favorite mount. The world had caved in on Maddie, testing her spirit, her emotions and her strength of character. She was almost afraid to ask herself what else could possibly go wrong, for fear that it would sound like a defiant challenge and more tormenting blows she’d be dealt would send her reeling.
The prospect that her life might get even worse before it got better was a depressing thought that caused Maddie to slump in the saddle. In addition, the dull throb in her skull tempted her to close her eyes and catch a catnap. Willfully, she thrust back her shoulders and tilted her chin. She was not stopping to rest until she’d placed several miles between herself and those scoundrels.
A few miles later Maddie felt her eyelids drooping and her rigid posture sagging. She was exhausted, and the adrenaline high that had sustained her the past two days was fizzling out. Despite her firm resolve, her chin bobbed against her chest and she fell asleep in the saddle.
Jonah grabbed Maddie’s arm the split second before she cartwheeled to the ground. Although this headstrong female annoyed him to no end, he reluctantly admired her determination—misguided though it probably was. With more gentleness than he realized he possessed, he eased Maddie’s limp body forward until she was draped over the saddle, her cheek resting against the horse’s neck. Keeping a watchful eye on her, Jonah led her horse off the beaten path toward a creek lined with cottonwood and willow trees.
Leaving Maddie where she slept, he unrolled his pallet. When he pulled her from the saddle she didn’t wake up, just cuddled against him and sighed against his neck. The whisper of her breath was like a lover’s caress, and Jonah inwardly cursed when his contrary body responded and his imagination tried to run away with him.
Thoroughly aggravated at himself, Jonah laid Maddie on the pallet and covered her with the quilt. If he had been a gentleman he would have bedded down on the ground a respectable distance away. But he was a practical kind of man who saw no need to freeze his tail off for the sake of propriety. Just because he intended to share the makeshift bed with Little Miss I’ll-Go-It-Alone-If-You-Won’t-Help-Me Garret didn’t mean they were going to gain intimate knowledge of one another.
No, Jonah promised himself. He was not going to become physically or emotionally involved with this woman, even if his male anatomy was cursing his vow of abstinence.
At Fort Griffin, he planned to hire a guide to take her deeper into what had once been the Comanchería. If she got herself in trouble on the far side of the fort, then she was someone else’s problem. Jonah was going to head back to Coyote Springs, check into the hotel and hibernate like a grizzly until he was functioning at full capacity once again.
After unsaddling the horses and canvassing the campsite Jonah eased beneath the quilt. It occurred to him a few minutes later that he had never officially spent the night with a woman. Yes, he had shared a bed for an hour or two, but never actually slept beside a temporary lover. That implied a commitment Jonah was not willing to make.
He cast a quick glance at Maddie’s shadowed face and told himself that the only commitment he felt toward his pretend wife was to get her out of his hair—for good.
Wife? Jonah smirked caustically as he made the very practical and sensible decision to cuddle closer to Maddie to share warmth. Mrs. Jonah Danhill? That’d be the day, Jonah thought as he drifted off to sleep.
Serenaded by chirping birds, Maddie came awake the next morning to see the first colorful rays of dawn spearing through the overhanging trees. Propping herself on her elbow, she glanced sideways to see her mare tethered to a tree. The dark horse and its rider were nowhere to be seen.
Disappointed but hardly surprised, Maddie presumed Jonah had changed his mind about escorting her. His reluctance had been obvious in the way he behaved and spoke to her. And he had made no bones about the fact that he didn’t like her or trust her. Jonah Danhill was nothing if not plainspoken and straightforward.
Pushing herself upright, Maddie raked her tangled hair from her face, then stared longingly toward the stream. She needed a refreshing bath to wash the fuzzy cobwebs from her brain and a clean set of clothes to restore her sense of self.
The instant she sank into the stream a sigh of relief tumbled from her lips. She immersed herself completely, allowing the water to work its magic on her stiff neck and sore muscles. She allowed herself a few precious moments of pleasure by swimming in midstream before she brushed the matting of wet hair from her eyes and headed to shore.
Maddie gasped in shock when she noticed the towering figure on the creek bank. She instinctively sank down until nothing but her head appeared above the surface of the water. Wiping her eyes, she recognized Jonah—and not, thank goodness, one of the two men who were anxious to part her from her money.
“I thought you went back to town,” she said awkwardly.
He frowned curiously. “Why would you think that?”
His gaze was so intense that Maddie squirmed, wondering if the clear water made it as easy for him to appraise her as she had assessed him when he’d stood up in his bathtub. Modesty might not be a problem for him, but it was for her. She didn’t gad about unclothed in front of anyone.
“Why would you think I left for good?” he prompted impatiently. “Answer the question.”
“First off,” she said, reeling in her wandering thoughts, “you don’t like me. Secondly, I’m interfering with your vacation. I simply presumed that you’d changed your mind.”
“No, I went to fetch breakfast.” He gestured toward the small campfire, where a rabbit roasted on a spit. “I don’t have all day, princess. Come eat so we can hit the road.”
Maddie raised her arm and flicked her wrist in a shooing motion. “If you’re in a hurry, then turn your back so I can come ashore.”
One thick black brow arched and he grinned scampishly. “No. You’ve seen me naked. Turnabout is fair play.”
“Very amusing,” she muttered. “If I thought for one minute that I could shock you as speechless as you shocked me, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I’m willing to bet the ransom money that nothing shocks or surprises you. And if this is some kind of test to determine my integrity or my habit of prancing around naked in front of men, you might as well know that I don’t. Ever. You aren’t going to be the first, either.”
Maddie was pretty sure that it had been a test of some sort, because Jonah stared at her for a long, pensive moment before he turned and walked uphill to the campfire. She glided sideways to come ashore near the bush where she had draped her clean clothes. Dressed in the riding breeches, boots and linen blouse that she’d hurriedly purchased in town—when it had become apparent that she’d have to make a ha
sty ride on horseback to outrun the two men—she hiked up to join Jonah.
When his assessing gaze flooded slowly and attentively over her Maddie’s breath jammed in her throat. This man had a unique and unsettling way of looking at her that provoked unfamiliar stirrings inside her. For reasons she couldn’t begin to explain she was attracted to this abrupt-mannered, distrustful Ranger.
It would have done wonders for her self-confidence if she thought he was the least bit attracted to her. But with Jonah it was difficult to tell, because he wore an unreadable expression. He could be coldly furious or uproariously amused and she doubted she’d ever know which.
“You gonna stand there woolgathering or are you gonna eat?” Jonah waved a skewer of meat at her. “By the way, those skintight clothes are not a good idea,” he added grouchily.
“Why am I not surprised that you object to my wardrobe?” she mumbled before tasting the tender meat. “There is very little about me that you do approve of or appreciate.”
“I would have appreciated seeing you naked,” he replied, the barest hint of a smile on his chiseled mouth.
With a bite of meat poised a few inches from her lips, Maddie glanced bewilderedly at Jonah. It seemed that he was teasing and flirting with her. He wasn’t very good at it, but it pleased her to realize that he wasn’t an accomplished womanizer whose goal in life was to charm every female out of her petticoats.
It also made her wonder about his background and upbringing. Given his heritage she imagined his life had not been easy. Maddie decided to overlook his lack of social skills, because the simple truth was that Jonah Danhill intrigued her and she wanted to get to know him better.
“So you like seeing women naked,” she said belatedly. “What else do you like, Danhill?”
“Being left alone, for the most part,” he said dismissively. “Enough chitchat, Garret. Let’s hear it.”
Completely bemused, she gaped at him. “Let’s hear what?”
“Your story.” He chewed and swallowed another bite of meat. “That whole abduction, cattle rustling, thieves hot on your heels thing.”