Gold Rush Bride. Debra Lee Brown

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СКАЧАТЬ guess. Give the lady a gold star.”

      “Of all the—” She struggled beneath him, but was no match for his size and strength.

      Crockett jerked her arms higher, forcing her back to arch and her breasts to press upward into his chest. His body radiated heat like the pig-iron furnaces in Clancy Street back home.

      “Are you done, now?” He relaxed his grip on her, and she yanked her wrists free.

      “Done with what? And get off me!”

      He rolled off her, and she scrambled to her feet.

      “Done trying to kill me. There’s a law against that kind of thing, you know. A wife kills her husband—well, that’s a hanging offense here in Tinderbox.”

      “Husband, indeed!” She dashed to the lantern sitting on the countertop and lit it as Crockett got to his feet. An open window explained the cold, and how he’d gotten in. She swung it closed and latched it tight. “What the devil are you doing here?”

      The soft lantern light played across his even features and reflected back at her from those black eyes. “I could ask you the same thing. You’re supposed to be at Vickery’s.”

      “Oh, aye, and let ruffians break into my store in the night and steal me blind, I suppose?” She stepped toward him with the intent of chewing him out. Just who did he think he was, letting himself in and—

      His gaze raked over her shift-clad form, and for the barest moment she read something in his eyes that made her heart stop. In a flash, she retrieved her shawl from the other room and pulled it tight around her body.

      She could swear he was grinning somewhere under that stony expression of his. She took in his muddied boots and garments and his wild hair, which looked as if it hadn’t seen a comb since he left Tinderbox.

      “Shouldn’t you be on the riverboat?”

      His eyes grew cold again. “Any man in his right mind would be. But I’m not, am I?”

      “But your ship, the steamer north…I thought that you—”

      “There’s another one in a month. And that one I’ll be on, come hell or high water. Bet on it.”

      “A month!”

      He was supposed to sail now, this week, and be gone forever. That had been their bargain. That’s what he’d said, what everyone had been telling her for days. She wouldn’t have married him at all had he meant to stay on.

      “What, exactly, do you intend to do for the next month?”

      He moved toward her, his gaze pinned on hers. The tiniest spark of fear balled inside her. She backed toward the door leading to the street. “Su-surely you don’t think to…”

      A dozen random thoughts raced through her mind. She realized that she knew nothing about him, only what little Mei Li and Mr. Vickery had told her. He could be anyone—a criminal, a murderer or…

      He reached for her and her breath seized up in her chest.

      “Stand aside.”

      “W-what?”

      His dark eyes narrowed, and she realized he wasn’t looking at her, but past her at the door. She breathed again and scooted sideways out of his light.

      “Looks like there’s plenty to do around here for a month.”

      “What do you mean?” Her gaze followed his and when she saw what he’d been eyeing she gasped. “Someone’s tried to jimmy the door!”

      Crockett fiddled with the loose latch. “You haven’t seen Leon Packett around here, have you? Or his brother, Jed?”

      Landerfelt’s men. The ones Will and Matt had thrashed the day before. Well, almost two days now. It was well past midnight. “No, I haven’t seen them. Why?”

      Crockett shook his head. “Damned stupid.” The self-deprecating edge in his voice surprised her.

      Then she noticed the blood. “You’re hurt.” Without thinking, she reached out and touched her finger to his temple.

      “Yeah. Thanks.” He brushed her hand away. “Lucky your aim is as bad as your judgment.”

      She felt bad about the incident. Nevertheless, it would have been his own fault had she killed him. What was he doing snooping around, looking for Jed Packett? She supposed she should be grateful. Clearly someone had been in the store.

      She sniffed the air, remembering the kerosene. Padding to the dark corner, she peered at the open tin. She knew she’d closed it after filling the lamps. It wasn’t the kind of thing she’d forget to do.

      Voices sounded from up the street, drawing their attention away from the fuel. Torchlight played off the glass of the storefront window, and a second later Matt Robinson’s concerned eyes peered through the glass. Two others huddled beside him, their guns drawn.

      Crockett opened the door. “What’s wrong?”

      “We was just about to ask you—er, Mrs. Crockett—the same thing.” Matt eyed Crockett’s rumpled clothes and the blood trickling from his temple. “We heard shots.”

      “Just an accident.” Crockett retrieved her father’s pepperbox from the floor. “Miss Denning—Kate, I mean, was cleaning her pistol.”

      “At two in the mornin’?” Matt cocked a tawny brow at the both of them. It was clear he didn’t believe it. “You two okay?”

      “Fine,” they both said in a strained show of unity.

      Matt Robinson wasn’t buying any of it, but the cautionary look in Crockett’s eyes kept him from probing further.

      “That’s that, then.” Matt tipped his hat to her. “We’ll be gettin’ back to bed.” As he turned to leave, he shot Crockett a wicked grin. “So, ya decided not to go, after all.”

      Crockett’s face hardened. He grunted some unintelligible response and kicked the door shut behind them.

      Kate had had enough.

      In a confrontational pose that had always garnered excellent results when questioning her brothers, she crossed her arms over her chest and tipped her chin at him. Crockett looked at her as if she were some mildly amusing annoyance.

      “What now?” she said.

      His gaze flashed on her bare feet. “I think it’s time we both got some sleep. I’ll just—”

      “No. I want to know why you’re back, and exactly what your intentions are.”

      He stared at her for a full ten seconds before answering, those black eyes fixed on hers. By God, if he thought he was going to intimidate her, let him think again.

      “My reasons are my own business,” he said evenly. “As for my intentions…” He broke their deadlocked stare. “It’s a month till the next steamer north. СКАЧАТЬ