Branded by a Callahan. Tina Leonard

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СКАЧАТЬ North star always guides us.”

      “I must have missed that lesson.” Ana took off her shirt, tore it in half, bound up her feet for protection. “What are you staring at? It’s a sports bra.”

      He was staring because being this close to heaven might just kill him. Sports bra or not, she was a tantalizing twist and slope of delicate curves and just-right softness. Tiny little waist. Athletic body. He swallowed, tore his eyes away with effort. A huge effort.

      Dante cleared his throat even though it felt as if it was suddenly made of industrial rubber. “You ran pretty dang fast for a girl who was barefoot. I’m sorry.” There’d probably been burrs or sticker grass in the sand loam road.

      “Sorry for what?” Ana glared at him. “I can take care of myself. I can take care of you, too.”

      He smiled. “You are the most precious little thing I’ve ever come across.”

      “And you may be the biggest donkey I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Her glare deepened. “Has it ever occurred to you that not every female is just waiting for you to bring your big muscles and your annoying chauvinism to rescue her?”

      A grin split his face. “You like my big muscles?”

      “Yes, I do. Can we discuss your manliness another time?”

      “It’s never a bad time to discuss that,” Dante said, and they began walking toward the west, staying well out of sight of the main road. “Because I was thinking,” Dante said, “if you like the muscles you can see, I’ve got some others that may—”

      “Save it for later,” Ana said. “I don’t want you to blow a fuse.”

      “Pretty sure my fuses are fine.” He was enormously pleased with the turn of events. Ana was awesome, just like he’d always suspected, and the best part was that the woman of his dreams wanted to have his baby.

      It couldn’t be denied that he was catnip to the sweet thing. “I’m going to take good care of you, Ana.”

      “Keep talking, and you’ll probably find yourself in trouble,” she said sweetly, and he said, “I like trouble. Trouble is a good friend of mine,” before taking her hand in his as they hurried to make their escape.

      * * *

      THEY FOUND A SMALL, run-down motel in a one-horse town that didn’t look as if it ever had much traffic. They were still in Texas, but hundreds of miles east of Hell’s Colony. The owner was friendly and offered them breakfast in the morning if they were willing to get up early. “I like to start my knitting at eight, and once I start, I don’t like to stop,” she said with a genuinely friendly smile. “If I’m on my quilting, I definitely don’t quit.”

      Ana looked at Dante, figuring he’d go for the breakfast over sleep. He shrugged at her, so she said, “I think we’ll be gone by eight, Mrs. Adams. But thank you.”

      “I’ll put together a couple of sack breakfasts, then.” She waved them to a room upstairs and told them to sleep comfortably and not to mind any rattling they might hear. “It’s just the air conditioner,” she said helpfully, and Ana closed their bedroom door with a little relief.

      “I thought she was going to say she had a ghost,” Ana said. “These small towns always have a ghost, don’t they?”

      She pulled off the new moccasins Dante had bought her in a small outpost trading store. They were soft and comfortable, but they weren’t as cute as her cork sandals.

      “What have you got against ghosts?” Dante asked, lounging on the bed, hands behind his head. “Rancho Diablo’s got ghosts.”

      “So I hear.” She didn’t believe it. Every once in a while Fiona got wound up about the ghosts and spirits that hung around the ranch, and Ana just listened to the tales, not about to give credence to one thing Fiona said. “I’m going to shower.”

      “Ladies first.” He grinned, a sexy devil, and Ana wondered why he didn’t seem more concerned about the fact that she had her eyes on him for a baby.

      “While I’m in here, you can ask that nice Mrs. Adams if you could use the phone,” she suggested.

      “For what?”

      “To call home, E.T.” She sighed. “Dante, we don’t want to walk all the way back to Hell’s Colony.”

      “Oh. That.” He shrugged. “I’ve got my mobile in my pocket.”

      She blinked. “Is there a reason we’ve been walking for miles and you haven’t called for a pickup?”

      “I like your company, sugar.”

      He was so aggravating that Ana wondered for a split second if she’d chosen the right man to give her a child.

      Lord, yes. She had no second thoughts about that. She’d waited over a year to cross her professional boundaries and finally succumb to the die-hard attraction she had for this man. “I like yours, too, Dante,” she said, trying to hang on to her temper. “But I think we’d like each other’s company so much better if we weren’t running from goons.”

      “Safer this way.” He shrugged. “We’ll wait another day before we call. I’ve got my mobile when we’re ready, got my wallet, got you, doll.” He grinned. “What else does a man need?”

      “Okay.” She went into the bathroom, turned on the shower. Callahans were known to be wired differently, so she couldn’t say she was surprised that he’d choose walking across the state of Texas in dirty clothes preferable to calling for family pickup. She opened the door again. “Do you think you ought to let your family know we’re fine?”

      “They know. I texted them immediately once you untied my hands.” He grinned, the biggest rascal on the planet. “You didn’t notice because you were trying to protect me from our kidnappers as we walked. I just let you think you were doing all the work, angel.”

      She closed the bathroom door with a bit of force. “The apple didn’t fall far from his brother apples,” she muttered, stripping down.

      A knock on the door made her jerk a towel to cover herself. “Yes?”

      “Just wondering if I should scope out the bathroom for you this time.”

      She glanced around the tiny bath. “Think I’ve got it under control.”

      “Good to hear. If you don’t mind, if you won’t be nervous being left, I think I’m going to go scare us up some food.”

      Why had he mentioned her being afraid? She was a bodyguard, her job was to protect, and technically, she was protecting Callahans, under which labeling he could be claimed. But he seemed to think she was just a girl, an ornament, and probably figured her main worth was cooking and cleaning.

      He’d be really surprised when he learned that she couldn’t cook and didn’t clean a bit. She was a girl who worked, and she hadn’t gone to bodyguard training to jump when a big lug like him snapped his chauvinistic fingers at her.

      “I’m fine,” she said, somewhat curious that he hadn’t bothered to slip into the shower СКАЧАТЬ