by Tina Leonard
“Poor Mimi!”
“Yeah. She’s had it rough. We would have felt pretty sorry for ourselves if it hadn’t been for Mimi. She kept the pity party to a dull roar. At least we know why our dad left. His heart was broken, and he kind of lost it. We knew he was losing his grip. But Mrs. Cannady just left because she felt like it, and she abandoned a daughter and a husband who didn’t deserve to be dumped.”
“Maybe Hawk could track your dad,” Hannah suggested absently as she dug some pretzels out of a bag for Ranger.
“I could track him myself at this point, I guess. Or any of us could go looking for him, though I’m not sure where we’d start. But we came to the conclusion that if he wanted to be found, he would have let us know.”
He munched some of the pretzels she handed him. “You’re not so bad when you’re not trying to romance me,” she said.
“Yeah, well. I still fantasize about winning your shirt. I mean, what man wouldn’t?” His gaze skimmed over her before returning to the road.
“That’s kind of sweet, in a boneheaded sort of way.” She popped the tops on some Big Reds and placed them in the cup holders. “I’ve always been on my own.”
“Tell me something hard to figure out.”
“I wanted to say yes to you about the romantic interlude. But I got scared.”
He turned to cock a brow at her. “You should be scared.”
“I know. I am. I mean, how can I want a man who just wants to use me to chase off his boredom?”
“Well, it’s not only that. You’re cute, for a whacky girl. You disturb me. In a good sort of way.”
“But it would be better if you didn’t have me. That’s what you think your father’s advice meant.”
“No. I think sometimes things are not meant to be. And you are definitely not in the plans, obviously. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing or a bad thing. You’re just meant to remain an unknown in my life.”
“I thought men lusted after unknowns. Strived for them.”
“They do. But their common sense kicks in, too. It tells them some things are unknown and gonna stay that way, so head to a greener pasture.”
“Like you did with Cissy.” She nodded sagely.
“Look. You’ve got that a little skewed. Cissy is a nice girl, and what guy wouldn’t want to kiss her—”
“She’s about ten years younger than me.”
“Oh.” Ranger gave her a sidelong glance. “Don’t give me that innocent look. Now I know what the problem was all along. Hannah Hotchkiss, you’re pouting!”
“What?”
“You’re feeling sorry for yourself because you’re the older woman!” And he started roaring with laughter.
She started to say something to shut him up, to put him firmly in his place, but then changed her mind, popping another pretzel into her mouth instead.
And then she smiled.
RANGER DIDN’T LIKE IT when Hannah smiled like that. She was keeping a secret, and that wasn’t a good sign. Especially when he was supposed to have been winning their verbal volley. “Listen, maybe the riverboat isn’t a good idea for you.”
“Why not?”
She opened her eyes, big and innocent, and he gathered himself up to do more verbal battle. “You’re too delicate. Far too innocent,” he said importantly. “It sounds very dangerous to be an unchaperoned female on a boat where men will be, carousing and…and other things.”
Her stare had a twinkle in it. He pursed his lips and set the cruise control.
“Have you appointed yourself my guardian?”
“I told you we think of you as someone special,” he said gruffly.
“We?”
“And I just want to see you safe. Out of harm’s way. So naturally I’m concerned about you gallivanting off on a riverboat.”
“Maybe you should come with me,” she suggested.
His brows rose. The thought had occurred to him, but he wouldn’t have dreamed of suggesting it. He’d been hoping for an invitation, but now that he had it, he wanted to make certain her suggestion was sincere. “I think the military might be an easier assignment than watching a woman on a riverboat.”
“I didn’t say come and be my bodyguard,” Hannah said with a laugh. “Come watch me play.”
“Play?”
“Deal the cards.”
“Oh. And play the suckers.”
She frowned. “The casino doesn’t take bets for less than five thousand dollars.”
He whistled. “That doesn’t allow for suckers.”
“No, it doesn’t. Anyway, that’s why I invited you to come watch me.”
He thought about that. “You’re suggesting I don’t have the wherewithal for such a game?”
“I’m saying there’s no point in you losing that much money. Especially to act as if you’re keeping an eye on me, which I don’t need, by the way.”
Ranger was outraged. “First, how do you know I would lose?”
She shrugged. “Your face gives away every thought you’re having.”
“It does?” That disgruntled him. It’d be a lot healthier for him emotionally if this wiry-haired female couldn’t read his face.
“Pretty much. I know that right now you’re feeling testy about what I said. A few moments before that, you were thinking guardian thoughts, but not necessarily those of a brother.”
“How do you know that?”
She smiled at him. “Because you looked at my legs when you said that it might not be safe at the casino.”
He forced his eyes back to the road where she couldn’t read them. But bingo, she had him. The thoughts he was having were more of the possessive type. And for what? She’d thrown his ring in the dirt. He’d rather set his own hay bales on fire than admit she’d damaged his pride. In his pocket was the ring he’d scooped from the dirt, after she’d turned her back. He’d hoped to adopt a careless attitude about it, but it didn’t seem to be getting through to his head.
“And there are very thick layers inside your head,” she said.
He jerked around to stare at her.
“Very thick skull,” she clarified. “You’d best keep your eyes on the road, cowboy.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?” he demanded. “And for the record, my thick skull was a boon in rodeoing.”
She smiled sublimely. “I didn’t know what you were thinking. I was talking about gambling. You don’t have a poker face, and you have a very thick skull. Gamblers are usually more easygoing, at least on the outside.” Her smile grew broader. “You’re always tense.”
“You make me that way!”
She tapped him on the arm. “You make yourself tense. I don’t think the military will want you. No poker face, no easy spirit. You should get married, Ranger.”
His jaw went slack for a moment. “How would that help?”
“It would relax you, for starters.”
“You don’t relax me.”
“Yes, but we’re not married.”
“Even when we were, you didn’t relax me.”
“I inoculated you from the phobia of bad luck, though. You said so yourself. The Curse of the Broken Body Parts? Remember?”
He didn’t want to talk about that, so he declined to answer.
“You became immune to your hypochondria when you married me. So marriage is good for you. Not to me, because I don’t want to be married. But marriage to someone.”
“Just about the only other single woman I know is Cissy,” he said sneakily.
“I don’t think so,” Hannah replied without looking at him. “She’s in love with someone else. Plus she’s married, so that’s a problem for that plan.”
“Whoa. Hang on there. Cissy is married?”
“Yeah. That’s one of the reasons she’s traveling with me. Her husband up and disappeared two years ago, and she fell in with Marvella for employment. She’s got some younger siblings she supports. But she wanted to have a different life than she can have with Marvella, so I invit
ed her to my ex-fiancé’s riverboat.”
Ranger felt his teeth go on edge. All this talk of ex-fiancé’s and disappearing husbands was enough to make him nervous. “I don’t understand how she’s married but in love with someone else. Not that I should be saying this, but Tex had a major itch going for her last month at the rodeo.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. But she’s too elegant for Malfunction Junction. Anyway, what about the disappearing husband?”
“Well, apparently, the police told Cissy that her husband was involved in some illegal matters that he never bothered to share with her. Had Cissy known, she would have given him the very hard boot. Remember, she had siblings to support. She didn’t need any bad examples in their lives. But she didn’t know any of this until he came up missing.” Hannah sighed. “The police think they’ll only find his body if they ever do find him.”
“Wow. That was some unsavory stuff he must have been involved in.”
She nodded. “Drugs. Dealing, mostly. But he told Cissy that his family was privately wealthy and that he’d take care of her nine siblings if she married him. He wanted a wife for respectability, because the stakes were high, I guess. But it all turned out badly, and Cissy says she’s never marrying for convenience again. And certainly not for money.”
“Marriage of convenience?” Ranger asked slowly. “As in, they never…”
She shook her head. “Never. So now she’s looking for a new job, a new way of life. Her mother is wheel-chair-bound, but has been watching the kids while Cissy worked for Marvella.”
“And now on your riverboat.”
“It’s not my riverboat.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I like it. You were safer with Delilah.”
She cocked her head at him. “Have you already appointed yourself my bodyguard?”
He shrugged that off with a frown. “How long are you planning on staying on this job? I might point out that you seem to be a bit flighty.”
“This from a man who rolls down a hill nearly nude.”
He gave her a stern look. “We’ve talked about my family, we’ve talked about Cissy. It seems to me that we talk about everything except you, Hannah Hotchkiss.” He turned back to look at the road but his mind was working hard. “Did you deliberately occupy my brain so I wouldn’t ask anything personal about you?”
“No. Your brain appears to be permanently vacant.”
Okay. He’d set himself up for that. “Wisenheimer, could you please fill me in on your life?”
“Is that why you’re taking the scenic route? And driving thirty miles an hour? I could get there faster if I walked.”
“I couldn’t. I think I’ve still got some needles in my feet.”
“Do you want me to drive?”
He shook his head. “You talk. And keep me awake.”
“Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
Not with her sleeping down the hall. All he could think about was her warm body under the covers. “Don’t deviate from your assignment.”
“My life story won’t keep you awake. It’s not as interesting as yours. In fact, it’s downright boring. Let’s choose another subject.”
“Hannah, I’m a captive audience. Try out my attention span.”
She shifted in the seat next to him. “What do you want to know?”
Everything. “Why do you wear toeless tennis shoes?”
“They’re different.”
He digested that. “Why do you color your hair that way?”
“I like to be different. Do you like it?”
He nodded. “Surprisingly, I do. It suits you. So, do you mind me asking about your folks?”
“They’re…different,” she murmured.
“I know, everything about you is different. So tell me.”
“They’re faith healers, for starters. And hippies, for the big finish.”
His brows went up. “You sound as if you disapprove.” He couldn’t resist a peek at her expression, which was very unhappy.
“As a child, I wasn’t allowed to see doctors.” She shrugged. “I developed a medical condition in my late teens involving my female organs. My parents felt everything could be healed with prayer, and that I must not be praying hard enough. Believing hard enough. Being good enough. In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore. I left home; I went to several doctors, who all agreed there was nothing to do but remove everything that was ruining my life. For me, that also included my parents.”
“Hannah—”
She shook her head. “It’s fine now. I had the surgery, and I started living my life over. Not with my parents, of course. I couldn’t survive in their world.”
His lips compressed. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’d like to say it’s okay, but it wasn’t. I was the only child, so one day…I think I’ll have to go home and forgive them. I’m just not ready to. I call them every once in a while. But our worlds are just too different, and I can’t have children, so we don’t have much reason to forge a future. Except that they’re my parents…”
He was sorry he’d made her talk about it. “I shouldn’t have asked. Let me change the subject.”
“It’s all right. You told me about your father.” She patted his arm, and her hand lingered for a second before moving away. “You’re the only person I’ve ever told about my parents, except for my almost-fiancé.”
Instantly, he couldn’t help worrying that this ex-boyfriend meant more to her than she was letting on. And then he told himself not to be so insecure. He should be glad she’d had someone to lean on.
He wanted it to be him. “Hannah, I wish I’d known you then.”
“No, you don’t. I’m just now settling down. I’ve been a rebel all my life.”
“And you don’t want to get married.”
She shook her head. “I really can see no purpose in it for me.”
“But you like me.”
The smile she gave him melted his heart. “I do, cowboy. Sort of. Keep your eyes on the road.”
“Okay, so I’ll just come with you for a while and amuse myself on the riverboat. And protect you from leches.”
“And when you get bored?” she softly asked. “Because you will. You’re not suited for just hanging around.”
“I’ll jump overboard and swim back to shore. Then head for the military.”
“Just a break in your action?”
He matched her light, airy tone with a shrug. “Sure. Why not? It’s great weather. You’re fun. You beat me at strip poker.”
“Ah. You associate me with diverse things.”
“I associate you with weirdness. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry you again, so keep it cool, wild thing.” He kept his tone light in a desperate bid to be smooth.
She nodded. “No marriage.”
“No broken body parts. Just fun.”
“That’s right. Something different.”
And then Ranger stopped the truck. “I’ve driven so many back roads that I’ve lost my sense of direction.”
Hannah cocked a brow at him and put the window down, sticking a bare foot out into the breezy air as she reclined. “I’ll figure out the map if you crack me a soda.”
“You’ll figure out the map?”
“You got us lost. Should I trust you further? I do have a boat to catch,” she pointed out. “He leaves tomorrow.”
Ranger’s head swiveled so he could stare at her full-on. Big brown eyes meeting inquisitive ones. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”
“It wasn’t important. Was it?”
It was important to Ranger. They were lost. They could stay lost. The riverboat could leave without them. More importantly, the boyfriend could sail off without Hannah.
Her eyes were luminous as she tried to outthink him. But he worked on that poker face, keeping his dishonorable thoughts to himself. When they’d left Lonely Hearts Station, he’d kept an eye on her in the rearview mirror while she frolicked in the back seat with Arch
er. Even then, he’d itched to know more about her. His gaze wanted to be on her every second.
What he was thinking now was tantamount to…well, girlnapping, he told himself sternly. It would be like days of old, where the scoundrel took his young maiden at will.
They’d both agreed to have fun with each other. Nothing deep, nothing dangerous. But something about this girl made him think like a caveman. He had married her in a cave….
But he wanted her in this truck—or, actually, anywhere he could have her.
“Ranger,” Hannah said thoughtfully, “you have suddenly developed a damned convincing poker face.”
Chapter Nine
“And we both like it that way,” Ranger said. “Don’t we?”
“I’m not sure.” Hannah stared at the new Ranger evolving in front of her. “I think you’re scaring me. I like the you I could figure out. Bring him back at once and never go schizo on me again.”
He laughed at her, tugging at her hair. “Now, Hannah, you are the elder in this truck. You are the card dealer who can figure out her customers at a glance. Surely you have this all figured out.”
And then he pulled her into his arms, kissing her as if her lips were his final destination in life. She groaned, leaning into him to get closer. Her lips seemed to have a life of their own; her body wanted to go places she would have denied herself. Warmth spread over her, turning to sizzling heat. “More,” she gasped when he pulled back for a moment to stare into her eyes. “Don’t stop. I haven’t been kissed like that before, cowboy. I want my eight minutes in the saddle.”
“Seconds,” he corrected, his gaze amused.
“I want minutes.”
He laughed and pushed her gently back into the seat. “Hannah, I think we should change your last name.”
