Charming Jo

by Laura Drewry

  “Who cares?”

  She snorted. “I’m sure the men I dance with will have a few concerns about it.”

  “Ah,” Levi nodded, then tipped her face up to his, wiping away some of the mud as he did. “Well, see, there’s the thing. I’m not about to let any other man get his grubby hands on you. If you go with me, you dance with me and no one else. And I don’t give a hot damn if you step on my toes all night.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re the one who insisted we keep all this quiet for a while. And now you want to parade me in front of the whole town?”

  “I’m not going to parade you,” he chuckled, then moved against her. “But if I don’t get to touch you soon, I’m going to bust.”

  “Travers--” she tipped her head back so he could nuzzle her just below the ear.

  “It’s Levi.”

  “Levi.” Her voice rasped between her lips; lips he quickly covered with his own, urging a long and passionate response from her. She shifted her stance so his thigh pressed between her legs, then wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Say it again,” he begged.

  “Levi.”

  “Say you’ll go with me.”

  She stiffened in his arms.

  “I swear I’ll keep my hands to myself. I won’t do anything that’ll make anyone – least of all, Mac – suspect a thing.”

  She blushed – right through the mud. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it? “Wish I could make you the same promise.”

  Levi groaned loud and long. “Dammit, woman, don’t say things like that to me.”

  “Why not? You said it to me.” She kissed his chin, then his mouth, the taste of her filling him completely.

  “That’s different,” he whispered.

  “No it’s not.” She kissed his Adam’s apple as it bobbed. “I want exactly what you want and if you’re allowed to say it out loud, then so am I.”

  “Sweet Jesus.” He tugged her arms from his neck and held her hands between his. “Just say you’ll go with me to this stupid dance.”

  For a long moment, she worried her bottom lip. Man, what he wouldn’t give to be the one chewing that lip. But if he went near her again, they’d both be in a lot of trouble.

  “But what if Peter’s there?”

  Levi lifted his hat, scratched his head, then jammed it back on. “Well, the last time I saw Carlson, he had my fist attached to his face. I’m pretty sure he won’t be a problem.”

  Jo’s eyes widened. “You had a fight with Peter? When? Why?”

  Damn. “Doesn’t matter. My point is Carlson will keep his distance, and if he doesn’t, I’ll sick Mac on him.”

  They both snorted over that. Then Jo sniffed and shrugged. But it didn’t look the least bit convincing.

  “You’ll never find a dress on such short notice.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at her and grinned. “You’d be amazed at what I can do in a short amount of time.”

  Joanna’s brow shot up at his insinuation, then she eyed him with frank disbelief. “You think you’re going to be able to find me a dress – that fits – in a week?”

  “Eleven days, actually, and yes.” God, but he hoped so.

  She aimed her finger at him. “It has to be a pretty one.”

  “Prettiest one this side of the Mississippi.”

  She still didn’t look convinced. “And nothing your friend Stella would wear to work.”

  Levi roared with laughter. She would think of something like that. “It’ll be respectable and pretty.”

  “And you swear I won’t have to dance with anyone else?”

  He tapped her on the nose, then tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. He just couldn’t keep his hands off her. “I’ll shoot the first man who tries to cut in.”

  A soft giggle escaped her lips. He’d never heard her giggle before. Laugh, yes. Snort, several times. But this giggle was a first. Who knew one little sound could shoot a man straight through the heart?

  “Is that a yes?” he asked, his throat suddenly very dry.

  “You’ll never find something on such short notice.”

  “But what if I do?”

  Her eyes almost sparkled, then dimmed. “You won’t. So unless you can rope yourself a miracle, it looks like you’ll be dancing with yourself and I’ll be sitting up in the barn loft counting the minutes until everyone leaves again.”

  “I won’t be dancing by myself.” He gave her his best smile, but it didn’t seem to sway her. “And you definitely won’t be sitting in a smelly old barn by yourself.”

  “No,” she said, turning away from him. “I don’t imagine you’d be dancing by yourself. “I’m sure there’s more than a few girls – Carrie, for starters – who’d be more than happy to fill your dance card.”

  Could she be any more infuriating? With as much restraint as he could muster, he turned her back to him.

  “Men don’t have dance cards,” he said. “And even if I did, you’d be the only one on it.”

  Uncertainty streaked across her face. “It’s easy to say that now, Travers, when it’s just you and me standing here. But once everyone arrives and you see all those other girls in their fancy dresses and--”

  He silenced her with a long, slow kiss. “I don’t give a hot-damn about any other girl in any other dress.”

  Joanna took a long time to catch her breath. “Okay, so even if you do somehow pull off a miracle and find me a dress, why is this so important to you?”

  “Because.”

  Jo shook her head and stared him in the eye. “I told you why I wouldn’t go, now you tell me why it’s so important to you that we do go.”

  If only he had a good reason – one that sounded more respectable.

  “We could sit up in the loft together instead,” she suggested, a longing look in her eyes. “No one else goes in there.”

  A long groan escaped his throat as his chin fell to his chest.

  How could she be so infuriatingly tempting? And how much longer was he going to be able to resist her?

  “I’m not going, Travers, if you won’t tell me why you want to.” She put her foot in the stirrup, but couldn’t bend her knees enough to lift up into the saddle.

  After the third try, fighting a losing battle against the caked mud on her pants, Levi wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her into the saddle.

  Ideas began to form in the back of his brain. Would take some work, but with what he’d been imagining the last few weeks, and a little help from Ginny, he could do it.

  He took hold of the bridle and squinted up at her. Now that she was safely out of his reach, he could tell her. Then she could ride off and leave him to battle his own private torture.

  “I just want to dance with you, Joanna. I want to hold you in my arms and dance with you on that stupid floor you built. I want to see you all prettied up – for me – and I want you to have fun for a change.” When she didn’t say anything, he shrugged, feeling the heat rush over his face. “Stupid, huh?”

  “N-no,” she stammered out through a choked, strained voice. “I, um, well. . .”

  Silence fell between them for a moment before Joanna shook her head.

  “Damn it, Travers. Don’t start being nice to me now – I can’t stand people being nice to me.”

  He shrugged again, and grinned up at her. “I promise not to make a habit of it.”

  “Good.” She worried her lip again, and Levi thanked his lucky stars she was already in the saddle, out of reach, or he’d be sorely tempted to take her right there.

  “So what d’you say, Joanna? Will you go with me?”

  She inhaled a long breath. “A pretty dress?”

  He nodded.

  “Shoes, too?”

  “Of course,” he laughed.

  “I’ll only have to dance with you? No one else – especially Peter Carlson?”

  “Only me. And if he even glances your way, he’s a dead man.”

  “And you swear you won’t be nice
to me all night? I don’t like to be coddled.”

  “Yeah, I’ve gathered that.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “But can I be a little bit nice to you? Just a little – nothing so anyone would notice, mind you.”

  She seemed to consider that for a moment. “Okay,” she relented. “But just a little bit. Wouldn’t be good for Mac to be getting any ideas about us.”

  “No, of course not.” Levi tried to sound serious, but he couldn’t stop from grinning a huge stupid grin. Joanna was going to dance with him. And he didn’t care how much she hated it, he was planning on doing a lot more than coddling.

  If she was going to torment him with her touches, her kisses and the things she said to him, then he was damn well going to do his best to drive her crazy, too.

  “Fine.” Jo straightened in her saddle and lifted her chin a bit. “You get me a dress and some shoes and we’ll talk. No dress, no dance. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Holy mother of God, where was he going to find a dress at such short notice? Even if he could persuade Ginny to help, it was going to take more than a small miracle to make this work. It was going to take the help of every angel in heaven.

  And God knew, Levi hadn’t done anything to deserve their help.

  “Fine,” she said again, keeping herself rigid, while Levi kept grinning his stupid grin. After a moment, she kicked her horse into motion and they sprinted off toward the house, leaving Levi to stand and stare.

  Well, he’d roped himself one miracle today, maybe he could rope another. All he had to do was convince Mac’s wife to help him find the prettiest dress in the world and somehow not go crazy in the next eleven days. Shouldn’t be too hard, should it?

  CHAPTER 11

  Two days before the fundraiser, they finished the fence with wire to spare.

  They celebrated at supper with one of Ginny’s best meals; a huge roast with boiled potatoes, carrots and rhubarb pie for dessert – made by Ginny, not Carrie. She even allowed the men a drink at the table.

  Mac eyed both Travers and Will with the same venom he had for the last few weeks. “You two’ll be moving on now, I suppose.”

  Levi’s gaze flicked from Joanna to Mac and back again. But before he could answer, she pushed back from the table and kissed Ginny quickly on the cheek.

  “You outdid yourself tonight, Ginny,” she said through a smile. “But the barn’s not going to clean itself.”

  She didn’t even glance Levi’s way as she walked out. Was that because she was afraid of Mac or afraid of what she thought Levi’s answer would be?

  “So will you?” Carrie asked, leaning closer to Will.

  “Will we what?” With a grin that big, he’d be doing whatever Carrie wanted him to do.

  “Be moving on, silly.” Carrie slapped his arm playfully. “To San Francisco.”

  “Uh, yeah,” he answered, then shot Levi a questioning look. “I think so.”

  Mac’s glare scorched Levi. He’d been dreading this conversation more and more every day, especially since he and Joanna hadn’t made any plans. But now he was going to be forced to take on Mac again, with or without her.

  After a long, low exhale, he turned to Mac. “Can I have a word with you?”

  “What for?” Mac snarled. “In a few days you’ll be nothing but a bad memory. No need for words now.”

  “Oh, but you won’t leave before the fundraiser dance,” Carrie almost pleaded. “You must stay for that.”

  “We’ll be here for a while yet,” Will nodded. “Still need to round up the herd and get them inside the fence.”

  “That won’t take long,” Mac stated. “What d’you think I’ve had Simon and Jimmy doing for the last few weeks?”

  “Oh.” Will’s gaze darted around the room before settling on Levi, silently pleading with him to say something. Anything.

  Carrie looked on the verge of tears and Levi wanted nothing more than to throw up.

  “Mac?” he said. “This’ll just take a minute.” He pushed away from the table, but Mac remained where he was until Ginny poked him.

  “Go with the boy,” she whispered. “Just hear him out.”

  “Waste of both our times since he ain’t got nothing to say that I want to hear.”

  Levi put his back to Carrie and Will so he couldn’t see their reaction to his next words. And so they couldn’t see his, either.

  “It concerns Joanna.” He offered a brief nod to Ginny and walked out of the kitchen onto the porch where he had more hope of breathing normally. Didn’t work. In fact, it got worse the second Mac stepped outside.

  “What is it?” he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

  Levi wet his lips and swallowed hard. Before he spoke, though, he offered up a quick prayer Mac wouldn’t take another swing at him because, by God, he’d be swinging back this time.

  “Well, the thing is,” he began, twisting his hat between his hands. “It’s that, well, I uh--” He blew out a long breath. “I love her, Mac.”

  All color drained from the other man’s face. His jaw twitched and his lips tightened into a thin line. But he didn’t make any moves toward Levi.

  “I do,” he continued. “I love her. And I mean to make her my wife.”

  “You what?” Mac roared, moving faster than a speeding locomotive until he was toe to toe with Levi. Chairs scraped the floor inside the house. “Don’t think for one goddam second I’m going to give you my blessing, Travers.”

  Shit. So much for this going well.

  “I’m not looking for or expecting it.” With every word, he felt the strength return to his voice. “I’m simply telling you as a courtesy. I love her and she loves me. That’s all that matters.”

  “Bull bloody shit!”

  Levi took a few steps back as mockingbirds scattered from the trees around the house, and though he couldn’t actually see them, he could sense Ginny and Carrie at the doorway.

  “You are not going to marry my niece!”

  “Yes, sir, I am.” He forced breath in and out. “If she’ll have me.”

  “She won’t.” The vein in Mac’s neck bulged. “You’re the bastard son of a whore, Travers. You don’t know the first thing about being in love. And you sure as hell don’t know what it’s like to be loved.”

  “Yes, I do.” Levi swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. “Joanna’s shown me what it’s like.”

  “Why you sonuva--” Mac made to move toward him, but Ginny’s voice cut through the air.

  “Samuel Arthur McCaine! Don’t you even think about it.” She stepped out into the moonlight, with Carrie at her heels.

  “Get back in the house, Ginny,” Mac snarled, his fist lowering, but still clenched. “This ain’t got nothing to do with you.”

  “It most certainly does.” She moved between the two men, her grey eyes snapping like lightening. “Joanna is just as much my niece as she is yours. Do you think I like to see her upset? No, I don’t. But she loves Levi – that much I can see. It’s just a pity you can’t.”

  “Joey’s too smart to fall for a bastard like Travers.”

  “No, Mac.” Ginny laid her hands on his arms. “Joanna’s too smart not to fall in love with a man like Levi.”

  “What?” For the first time, Mac tore his glare from Levi and focused on his wife. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means she was raised by good people who taught her right from wrong. She’s a strong woman with a good sensible head on her shoulders.” Ginny squeezed his arms, but Mac didn’t look the least bit convinced. “She’s not going to do anything stupid.”

  Mac snorted. “What do you call him?”

  Fury blasted Levi in the heart. “You listen to me, you miserable old man,” he closed the short distance between them, but stopped at Ginny’s outstretched hand. “Joanna’s not done anything she should be ashamed of – you hear me? She’s not nearly as stupid as you must think she is, and I’m not about to do anything to compromise her that way.”

  Another snort. “You, T
ravers? Since when have you ever been concerned about a woman’s virtue?”

  “My only concern is Joanna.” He leaned closer as Ginny pressed one hand against each of them and tried to force them apart.

  “That’s right,” Mac seethed. “You’ve got no concern for the Pearson girl at all, do you?”

  “No,” he snapped back. “I don’t. I’ve never touched that girl.”

  “That’s not what she says.”

  “I don’t give a hot damn what a spoiled brat like LeeAnna Pearson says.” Levi leaned over Ginny, until his nose nearly touched Mac’s. “I know what I did and didn’t do.”

  “You want me to believe that while you were out working for Pearson, you suddenly got particular about the girls you poked, is that it?”

  “Mac!” Ginny’s cry went ignored by both.

  “Believe whatever the hell you like,” Levi ground out. “Seems you had your mind made up long before I set foot out here.”

  “Damn right I did.” Mac’s face bordered on purple. “No one earns a reputation like yours without some of the stories being true. And with your upbringing--”

  “Stop it,” Ginny pleaded. “Just stop it.”

  For a long moment, neither man moved or blinked, just pressed against Ginny’s hands as she kept herself wedged between them. But for the first time in his life, Levi was not going to let his past dictate his future.

  Finally, with another small roar, Mac jerked away and took a couple steps back.

  “Damn you, Travers.” He swiped his huge palm over his face. “Why our Joey? Of all the girls in the county, why her?”

  “Why not her?” Levi forced his breathing to return to normal, inhaling long slow breaths and releasing them in the same way. “I’ve never met anyone like her.”

  “She’ll boss you around your whole life.” Mac paced the short width of the porch.

  “She’s even more beautiful when she’s bossy.”

  Ginny’s weary face broke out into a smile at his words.

  “She’s mean,” Mac continued.

  “No, she’s not.” Levi shot Ginny a quick wink when he was sure Mac wasn’t looking. “She just doesn’t take shit from anyone.”

  “She dresses like a man, for God’s sake.”

  “And works twice as hard.”