by Nora Roberts
“You were right, Lucius.” Laughing, she laid a hand on her speeding heart when the music stopped. “I was?”
“Yes, indeed. You’re a fine dancer. And this is the best party I’ve ever been to.” She leaned over impulsively and kissed his cheek.
“Well, now.” His face turned beet red with embarrassed pleasure. “Why don’t I fetch you a cup of that punch?”
“That would be lovely.”
“Sarah!” Liza’s face was nearly as pink as Lucius’s when she rushed over and grabbed Sarah’s arm.
“My goodness, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing in the world is wrong.” Impatient, Liza dragged Sarah to a corner of the tent. “I just got to tell somebody or bust.”
“Then tell me. I’d hate to see you rip the seams of that dress.”
“I was just outside, taking a little air.” She looked quickly right, then left. “Will came out after me. He kissed me.”
“He did?”
“Twice. I guess my heart just about stopped.”
One brow lifted, Sarah struggled with a smile. “I suppose that means you’ve decided to let him be your beau.”
“We’re getting married,” Liza blurted out.
“Oh, Liza, really? That’s wonderful.” Delighted, Sarah threw her arms around her friend. “I’m so happy for you. When?”
“Well, he’s got to talk to Pa first.” Liza chewed her lip as she glanced toward her father. “But I know it’s going to be all right. Pa likes Will.”
“Of course he does. Liza, I can’t tell you how happy I am for you.”
“I know.” When her eyes filled, Liza blinked and sniffled. “Oh, Lordy, I don’t want to cry now.” “No, don’t, or I’ll start.”
Laughing, Liza hugged her again. “I can’t wait. I just can’t wait. It’ll be your turn before long. The way Samuel Carlson can’t take his eyes off you. I have to admit, I used to have a crush on him.” She gave a quick, wicked smile. “Mostly, I thought about using him to make Will jealous.”
“I’m not going to marry Samuel. I don’t think I’m ever going to get married.”
“Oh, nonsense. If not Samuel, there’s bound to be a man around here who’ll catch your eye.”
The musicians began to play again. A waltz. Half smiling, Sarah listened. “The trouble is,” she heard herself saying, “one has, but he isn’t the kind who thinks about marriage.”
“But who-” Liza broke off when she saw Sarah’s eyes go dark. “Oh, my,” she said under her breath as she watched Jake come into the tent and cross the room.
There might have been no one else there. No one at all. The moment he’d walked in everything had faded but the music, and him. She didn’t see Carlson start toward her to claim the waltz. Nor did she see his jaw clench when he noted where her attention was focused. She only saw Jake coming toward her.
He didn’t speak. He just stopped in front of her and held out a hand. Sarah flowed like water into his arms. She thought it must be a dream. He was holding her, spinning her around and around the room while the music swelled in her head. His eyes never left hers. Without thinking, she lifted her hand from his shoulder to touch his face. And watched his eyes darken like storm clouds.
Flustered by her own behavior, she dropped her hand again. “I didn’t imagine you would dance.” “My mother liked to.”
“You haven’t-” She broke off. It was shameless.
The devil with it. “You haven’t been by to see me.”
“No.”
He was never any help, Sarah thought. “Why?”
“You know why.” He was crazy to be doing even this. Holding her, torturing himself. She had lowered her eyes at his words, but she raised them again now. The look was clear and challenging.
“Are you afraid to see me?”
“No.” That was a lie, and he didn’t lie often. “But you should be.”
“You don’t frighten me, Jake.”
“You haven’t got the sense to be scared, Sarah.”
When the music stopped, he held her a moment longer. “If you did, you’d run like hell any time I got close.”
“You’re the one doing the running.” She drew out of his arms and walked away.
It was difficult to hold on to her composure, difficult not to fume and stamp and scream as she would have liked. With her teeth gritted, she stood up for the next dance with the first man who asked her. When she looked again, Jake was gone.
“Sarah.” Carlson appeared at her side with a cup of lemonade.
“Thank you.” Her small silk fan was hardly adequate for the July heat. “It’s a lovely party, isn’t it?” “Yes. More so for me because you’re here.”
She sipped, using the drink as an excuse not to respond. “I don’t want to spoil your evening, Sarah, but I feel I must speak my mind.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“You’re stepping on very dangerous ground with Jake Redman.”
“Oh.” Her dander rose, and she fought it down again. “How is that, Samuel?”
“You must know him for what he is, my dear. A killer, a hired gun. A man like that will treat you with no more respect than he would a woman who was… less of a lady.”
“Whatever you think of him, Samuel, Mr. Redman has come to my aid a number of times. If nothing else, I consider him a friend.”
“He’s no one’s friend. Stay away from him, Sarah, for your own sake.”
Her spine shot ramrod-straight. “That doesn’t sound like advice any longer, but like a demand.”
Recognizing the anger in her eyes, he shifted ground. “Consider it a request.” He took her hand. “I like to think we have an understanding, Sarah.”
“I’m sorry.” Gently she took her hand from his.
“We don’t. I haven’t agreed to marry you, Samuel. Until I do I feel no obligation to honor a request. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like some air. Alone.”
Knowing she had been unnecessarily short with him, she hurried out of the tent.
The moon was up now, and nearly full. Taking the deep, long breaths Sister Madeleine had always claimed would calm an unhealthy temper, she studied it. Surely the moon had been just as big and white in the East. But it had never seemed so. Just as the sky had never seemed so vast or so crowded with stars. Or the men as impossible.
The breathing wasn’t going to work, she discovered. She’d walk off her anger instead. She’d taken no more than five steps when the shadow of a man brought her up short. She watched Jake flick away a cigarette. “It’s a hot night for walking.”
“Thank you for pointing that out,” she said stiffly, and continued on her way.
“There’s a lot of drinking going on tonight. A lot of men in town who don’t get much chance to see pretty women, much less hold on to one. Walking alone’s not smart.”
“Your advice is noted.” She stormed away, only to have her arm gripped.
“Do you have to be so ornery?”
“Yes.” She yanked her arm free. “Now, if that’s all you have to say, I’d like to be alone.”
“I got more to say.” He bit off the words, then dug into his pocket. “This belongs to you.”
“Oh.” She took the cameo, closing her fingers around it. “I thought it was gone. The Apache with the scar. He’d taken it. He was wearing it when-” When you killed him, she thought.
“I took it back. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but it slipped my mind.” That was another lie. He’d kept it because he’d wanted to have something of her, even for a little while.
“Thank you.” She opened her bag and slipped the cameo inside. “It means a great deal to me.” The sound of high, wild feminine laughter tightened her lips. Apparently there was a party at the Silver Star tonight, as well. She wouldn’t soften toward him, not now, not ever again. “I’m surprised you’re still here. I’d think a dance would be a bit tame for your tastes.
Don’t let me keep you.”
“Damn it, I said I don
’t want you walking around alone.”
Sarah looked down at the hand that had returned to her arm. “I don’t believe I’m obliged to take orders from you. Now let go of me.”
“Go back inside.”
“I’ll go where I want, when I want.” She jerked free a second time. “And with whom I want.”
“If you’re talking about Carlson, I’m going to tell you now to stay away from him.”
“Are you?” The temper that had bubbled inside her when one man had warned her boiled over at the nerve of this one. “You can tell me whatever you choose, but / don’t choose to listen. I’ll see Samuel when it pleases me to see him.”
“So he can kiss your hand?” The anger he was keeping on a short rein strained for freedom. “So you can have the town talking about you spending the day at his place?”
“You have quite a nerve,” she whispered. “You, who spends your time with-that woman. Paying her for attention. How dare you insinuate that there’s anything improper in my behavior?” She stepped closer to stab a finger at his chest. “If I allow Samuel to kiss my hand, that’s my affair. He’s asked me to marry him.”
The last thing she expected was to be hauled off her feet so that her slippers dangled several inches from the ground. “What did you say?”
“I said he asked me to marry him. Put me down.” He gave her a shake that sent hairpins flying. “I warn you, Duchess, you think long and hard about marrying him, because the same day you’re his wife, you’re his widow. That’s a promise.”
She had to swallow her heart, which was lodged in her throat. “Is a gun your answer for everything?” Slowly, his eyes on hers, he set her down. “Stay here.”
“I don’t-”
He shook her again. “By God, you’ll stay here. Right here, or I’ll tie you to a rail like a bad-tempered horse.”
Scowling after him, she rubbed the circulation back into her arms. Of all the rude, high-handed-Then her eyes grew wide. Oh, dear Lord, she thought. He’s going to kill someone. Flinging a hand to her throat, she started to run. He caught her on his way back, when she was still two feet from the tent.
“Don’t you ever listen?”
“I thought-I was afraid-”
“That I was going to put a bullet in Carlson’s heart?” His mouth thinned. So she cared that much, to come running to save him. “There’s time for that yet.” Taking a firmer grip on her arm, he pulled her with him.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you home.”
“You are not.” She tried and failed to dig in her heels. “I’m not going with you, and I’m not ready to go home.”
“Too bad.” Impatient with her struggles, he swooped her up.
“Stop this at once and put me down. I’ll scream.” “Go right ahead.” He dumped her on the wagon seat. She scrambled for the reins, but he was faster.
“Lucius will take me home when I choose to go home.”
“Lucius is staying in town.” Jake cracked the reins. “Now why don’t you sit back and enjoy the ride? And keep quiet,” he added when she opened her mouth. “Or I swear I’ll gag you.”
Chapter Ten
Dignity. Despite the circumstances… No, Sarah thought, correcting ‘herself, because of the circumstances, she would maintain her dignity. It might be difficult at the speed Jake was driving, and given the state of her own temper, but she would never, never forget she was a lady.
She wished she were a man so she could knock him flat.
Control. Jake kept his eyes focused over the horses’ heads as they galloped steadily and wished it was as easy to control himself. It wasn’t easy, but he’d used his control as effectively as he had his Colts for most of his life. He wasn’t about to lose it now and do something he’d regret.
He thought it was a shame that a man couldn’t slug a woman.
In stony silence, they drove under the fat, full moon. Some might consider it a night for romance, Sarah thought with a sniff. Not her. She was certain she’d never see another full moon without becoming furious.
Dragging her off in the middle of a party, she fumed, trying to give her orders on her personal affairs. Threatening to tie her up like-like a horse, she remembered. Of all the high-handed, arrogant, ill-mannered-
Taking a long, cautious breath, she blocked her thoughts.
She’d lose more than her dignity if she allowed herself to dwell on Jake Redman.
The dog sent up a fast, frantic barking as they drove into the yard. He scented Sarah and the tall man who always scratched him between the ears. Tongue lolling, he jumped at the side of the wagon, clearly pleased to have his mistress home. One look had him subsiding and slinking off again. She’d worn that same look when he’d tried to sharpen his teeth on one of her kid slippers.
The moment Jake had pulled the horses up in front of the house, Sarah gathered her skirts to step down. Haste and temper made her careless, and she caught the hem. Before she could remind herself about her dignity, she was tugging it free. She heard the silk rip. “Now see what you’ve done.”
Just as angry, but without the encumbrances, Jake climbed down from the opposite side. “If you’d have held on a minute, I’d have given you a hand.”
“Oh, really?” With her chin lifted, she marched around the front of the wagon. “You’ve never done a gentlemanly thing in your life. You eat with your hat on, swear and ride in and out of here without so much as a good day or a goodbye.”
He decided she looked much more likely to bite than her scrawny dog. “Those are powerful faults.”
“Faults?” She lifted a brow and stepped closer. “I haven’t begun to touch on your faults. If I began, I’d be a year older before I could finish. How dare you toss me in the wagon like a sack of meal and bring me back here against my wishes?”
She was stunning in the moonlight, her cheeks flushed with anger, her eyes glowing with it. “I got my reasons.”
“Do you? I’d be fascinated to hear them.”
So would he. He wasn’t sure what had come over him, unless it was blind jealousy. That wasn’t a thought he wanted to entertain. “Go to bed, Duchess.” “I have no intention of going anywhere.” She grabbed his arm before he could lead the horses away. “And neither will you until you explain yourself. You accosted me, manhandled me and threatened to kill Samuel Carlson.”
“It wasn’t a threat.” He took her hand by the wrist and dragged it away from his arm. “The next time he touches you, I’ll kill him.”
He meant it, Sarah realized. She stood rooted to the spot. The ways of the West might still be new to her, but she recognized murder when she saw it in a man’s eyes. With her shawl flying behind her, she raced after him.
“Are you mad?”
“Maybe.”
“What concern is my relationship with Samuel Carlson to you? I assure you that if I didn’t wish Samuel, or any man, to touch me, I would not be touched.” “So you like it?” The horses shied nervously when he spun around to her. “You like having him hold you, put his hands over you, kiss you.”
She would have suffered the tortures of hell rather than admit that Carlson had done no more than kiss her fingers. And that the only man who had done more was standing before her now. She stepped forward until she was toe-to-toe with him.
“I’ll risk repeating myself and say that it’s none of your business.”
The way she lifted that chin, he thought, she was just asking to have it punched. “I figure it is.” He dragged the horses inside the shed to unharness them. “You figure incorrectly.” Sarah followed him inside.
Dignified or not, she was going to have her say. “What I do is my business, and mine alone. I’ve done nothing I’m ashamed of, and certainly nothing I feel requires justification to you. If I allow Samuel to court me, you have no say in the matter whatsoever.”
“Is that what you call it?” He dragged the first horse into its stall. “Courting?”
She went icily still. “Have you another name f
or it?”
“Maybe I’ve been wrong about you.” He took the second horse by the bridle as he studied Sarah. “I thought you were a bit choosier. Then again, you didn’t pull back when I put my hands on you.” He grabbed her wrist before she could have the satisfaction of slapping his face.
“How dare you?” Her breath heaved through her lips. “How dare you speak to me that way?” When she jerked free, her shawl fell to the ground unnoticed.
“No, I didn’t object when you touched me. By God, I wish I had. You make me feel-” The words backed up in her throat. Sarah dug her fingers into her palms until she could choke them free. “You made me feel things I still don’t understand. You made me trust you, and those feelings, when it was all a lie. You made me want you when you didn’t want me back. After you’d done that, you turned away as though it had meant nothing.”
Pain clawed through his gut. What she was saying was true. The hurt shining from her eyes was real. “You’re better off,” he said quietly as he led the horse into a stall.
“I couldn’t agree more.” She wanted to weep.
“But if you think that gives you any right to interfere in my life, you’re wrong. Very wrong.”
“You jumped mighty fast from my arms to his.”
Bitterness hardened the words even as he cursed himself for saying them.
“I?” It was too much-much more than she could bear. Driven by fury, she grabbed his shirt with both hands. “It wasn’t I who jumped, it was you. You left me here without a word, then rode straight to the Silver Star. You kissed me, then rubbed my taste from your mouth so that you could kiss her.”
“Who?” He caught her by the shoulder before she could rush back outside. “Who?”
“I have nothing more to say to you.”
“You started it. Now finish it. Whose bed do you have me jumping in, Sarah?”
“Carlotta’s.” She threw the name at him with all the hurt and fury that was bottled up inside of her. “You left me to go to her. If that wasn’t enough hurt and humiliation, you told her to hire me.”
