Before he could respond, she looked at the young cowboy, who had apparently been eavesdropping. He was fiddling with his own stirrup.
"Breanna White." She introduced herself with a nod. "From Wyoming."
"Theo Johnson. I'm from Idaho." The boy glanced behind. "That's my brother, Archie."
"Want some help?" Breanna asked.
The youth mumbled, "Naw."
Breanna shrugged and went to her gelding to mount up.
She sat tall in the saddle, much more prepared for today than he was. Beautiful, with the first rays of sunlight turning the sky into a rainbow behind her.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Not a lick.
But he gave a nod anyway.
By midmorning,Breanna expected Adam to ask for a break from the saddle, but he didn't. He bore his sore muscles with white-faced stoicism that she couldn't help but admire.
She couldn't forget his words from last night.Learn who I am—and judge me for myself.
So far, everything she’d learned about the man made her admire him more.
But that couldn't change things. She was still determined not to go to Philadelphia. She was considering using the five-hundred-dollar prize money to travel. Adam's stories had whetted her appetite for adventure. She'd always wanted to visit California. Ma was going to be disappointed in her, anyways, for turning down someone like Adam. For going on this race. Why shouldn't Ma be disappointed further if Breanna chose to travel on her own?
As the morning wore on, Scar-face and his yellow-haired friend moved in and out of the periphery, making certain she knew they were watching her.
Her revolver was loaded. She'd checked it first thing this morning, before she'd woken Adam. No telling when a ruffian might get the idea to catch her unawares.
She'd overheard a few crude comments during her days in the schoolroom. And she had seven older brothers. Pa couldn't ride herd on them all the time. Men could be crass creatures.
But she'd never before been frightened like this.
Oh, Scar-face and his friend had only made the one vague threat last night. And she supposed it could be innocent, the way each man kept riding just into her field of vision and then out again. But somehow, she knew they meant something sinister.
She would be vigilant. Not allow them to find her alone, not for one second.
She considered telling Adam that the men made her uneasy. Last night, he'd claimed she was treating him like the boys from back home. Maybe she had been yesterday.
She'd been restless last night, though she should've fallen into bed and slept like the dead. Adam's demand that she judge him for himself had irritated like a burr under a saddle.
She could resist the boys from Bear Creek. Maybe she'd once felt a spark of initial attraction for Tommy, but that was long doused after his part in the prank.
Adam was self-assured. And he had a right to be, if all his stories were true.
And that was dangerous, because she couldn't dismiss Adam easily, like she could Tommy.
But Adam didn't know the truth about her childhood or the reason she'd been adopted. If she told him, perhaps he'd lose interest in her and return to Philadelphia. But there was a part of her, a selfish part, that enjoyed his attentions that didn't want him to know.
And she couldn't figure out why he hadn't kissed her last night. She'd been braced for his kiss, prepared to bear it, ready to try to hold back the crazy rush of emotion she could expect when he held her close.
Only to be left bereft.
Was it a trick? Had he done it so that she'd spend all day wondering why he hadn't, wishing that he had?
She didn't wish that. At least, she didn't think she did.Double or nothing for tomorrow. If he finished tonight's ride, she would owe him two boons.
