“I like to think I was having an out-of-body experience when I agreed to marry him.”
Jo felt a noble impulse coming.Try as she might, she couldn’t sidetrack it.“Quinn, you can still leave tomorrow morning if you want.Now that at least one person believes you were here, I can use that to convince the bank the deal is on.I’ll just say you were suddenly called away.”
Quinn rubbed the back of his neck and stared into space.Finally he met her gaze.“I’ll stay a few more days.”
“Spoken like a true hero,” Emmy Lou said.
Jo had to agree.And heroes had been in short supply in her life recently.As she looked into Quinn’s eyes her heart took on a jerky rhythm she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.She wondered if she was risking more than she realized, if in the process of trying to save her ranch she was in danger of losing her heart.“I promise we won’t be too rough on you,” she said.
“Oh, I can take rough.”He grinned.“The way this is shaping up, I’m just hoping I make it through alive.”
ChapterEight
Quinn woke with a start.The house was dark, but somebody was knocking on a door across the hall, which must have been what woke Quinn in the first place.
“Jo!”called a man in a loud whisper.
Quinn threw the covers back and got out of bed.He’d heard that locking the house wasn’t always done out here in the neighborly west, so maybe neighbor Dick was back.Maybe Dick didn’t know the meaning of the termex-husband.Jo was probably out like a light after being up so many hours straight.Emmy Lou slept in a bedroom downstairs, but this joker had obviously slipped right past her.Jo’s safety was in Quinn’s hands.
Treading softly, he opened his door as quietly as possible and peered into the hall.Sure enough, a man was opening Jo’s bedroom door.Talk about nerve.
Quinn crept across the hall and through Jo’s bedroom door just as the creep leaned over Jo.“Oh, no, you don’t, lizard breath.”Quinn launched himself at the intruder’s knees.
The guy let out a screech, followed by a loud yell from Jo as both men tumbled into bed with her.
“Don’t worry, Jo!”Quinn wrestled with the guy as best he could, considering it was very dark and he wasn’t sure which arms and legs belonged to which person.“I’ve got him!”
“I think you’ve got me!”Jo yelled.“How many of you are there?Let go!Ouch!”
“Help!”cried the man, flailing wildly.“Help, murder, police!”
“Murder sounds like a great idea,” Quinn said, gasping.He made a grab for where he thought the guy was and encountered warm bare skin.Wonderful soft skin.“Whoops.Sorry, Jo.”He tried for the intruder again and caught the guy’s leg.
“What in hell is going on?”Panting, Jo struggled away from both of them.
“I’m protecting your honor.”Quinn got hold of the guy’s belt as he tried to squirm off the bed.“And where do you think you’re going, buster?What makes you think you can—oof!”Quinn lost his grip as the guy kicked him in the privates.Groaning, he sprawled across Jo’s legs.
The overhead light flashed on.“Everybody freeze or I’II shoot!”Emmy Lou bellowed.
“Go ahead,” Quinn said.“Put me out of my misery.But save a bullet for your friendly neighbor, here.”
“Don’t shoot, Emmy Lou!”the guy cried.
“She can’t, Benny.”Jo sounded thoroughly disgusted.“That shotgun’s not even loaded.”
“You’re not supposed to tell anybody that,” Emmy Lou said.
“It’s okay to tell Benny,” Jo said.
Quinn’s pain subsided enough for him to lift his head and gaze at Jo.She wore a plaid flannel nightshirt, which had become sort of twisted around as he’d tried to save her, and the effect was rumpled and very sexy.“Who’s Benny?”
“Me,” the guy said.
Quinn raised himself on one arm and glanced to the other side of the bed where someone who was definitely not Dick lay half on, half off the bed, staring at Quinn apprehensively.“Who the hell are you?”Quinn asked.
The guy flinched.“Benny,” he said again.“Emmy Lou, can I move now?”
“You can all move,” Jo said.“I don’t remember inviting a single one of you to join me in bed this evening.”
