She turned around and glared at him, remembering last night. “I’m here to marry your brother, not you.”
“The Apache keep it all in the family,” he told her. “When a warrior dies, his widow is expected to marry her husband’s brother.”
“I’m not an Apache, and neither are you.” But she wasn’t forgetting that he had lived like one.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked.
“No, I’m from…St. Louis,” she said nervously, remembering the tale Lucas had made up.
“How did you meet Lucas? He hasn’t been back East for a couple of years.”
She looked away. “Lucas can explain better than I.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
“Mr. Holt!”
“Don’t tell me it’s none of my business. After all, he’s my only brother and my only family.”
“I wish you had remembered that fact last night,” she said harshly.
There was a very slight shrug to his shoulders. “One’s got nothing to do with the other as far as I’m concerned. Like I said, you’re not married to him yet.”
It was too much to hope that he might regret his deplorable behavior. She should have known that. He stood up, his eyes growing brighter. She felt the same curious constricting in her chest she had felt last night, and she had to breathe deeply to get any air at all.
He started to approach her. “Stay away from me, Slade.” She held the steaming cup of coffee in front of her, the warning clear.
He stopped. “You’re going to put up a fight?”
“Every time,” she said.
“But you can’t win,” he told her plainly. “If you were holding a gun it would make no difference. Don’t you understand?”
His hand snaked out and took her wrist in an iron grip. He forced her hand to the counter, exerting enough pressure that she had to let go of the cup.
“I give you credit for trying, honey.” Was that amusement in his voice? “Just don’t try it again. And wear that pretty blue nightgown tonight.”
He kissed her hard and fast, then let go of her and walked out the door without a backward look.
Seventeen
“Mack?”
“Back here!” he called.
Sharisse walked through the barn uneasily, covering her nose against the odor. She found Mack in a large stall at the rear, where two young foals were nudging each other out of the way to get at the sweets Mack was offering them.
She was amazed at her daring in being there, but she had no choice. Slade’s threat was real. If she stayed, he would have her.
Lucas was the only one who could protect her. But it was too late in the day to send Mack after him, for it might be very late by the time Mack and Lucas arrived back at the ranch. She couldn’t take the risk.
“Can you prepare a horse for me, Mack?”
He eyed her skeptically. “Luke mentioned somethin’ about you never havin’ been on a horse.”
“That’s true, but he also said I would have to learn sometime.”
God, let him tell her there was an old buggy or something around. She was terrified of getting up on a horse.
