Folding her hands in herlap, she said nothing.
Frustration gripped him.“Don’t look at me like that. Not like before. Not with nothing inyour eyes. You were smiling and now—” He smashed his fist againstthe bed. The plates jumped, crashing into each other.“Goddamnit!”
Dispassionately, shewatched his emotion.
“Do you wantme to go?” he finally said.
Slowly, she shook herhead.
Agony consumed him as thesilence between them stretched.
“I knew,” shealmost whispered.
Time froze.“What?”
“I knew,” sherepeated, her voice strengthening. “I knew you rode withCallihan.”
She knew? She knew, andshe never said— “How?”
“It was inthe report my secretary compiled on you. It was one of the reasonsI chose you.” She met his gaze. Emotion rioted, so much he couldn’tpin any of them down. “Why did you ride with him?”
He raked a hand throughhis hair, feeling as if a hundred pounds weighed him down. “BecauseI was seventeen, and an idiot. Because the war had ended, and Ididn’t know if I were a hero or a villain. Worked out thedifference pretty damn fast. Weren’t more than a month afore I ranoff from the gang, and it was sure I was Callihan would come afterme, like the bogeyman he is, but somehow he let me be, and it werethen I dedicated myself to finding men like him, finding the badmen and bringing them to justice and— Christ, Hope. I wish I’dstarted with him. I wish I’d borne him to the law, but I didn’t,and... Your family...” Jaw working, he looked away.
A wealth of silence fromher. “Do you have anything else you should tell me?” she finallysaid.
“No.” He mether gaze. She was pale, paler than normal, her eyes huge.“Darlin’…”
With that one word, shebroke, and his heart broke along with her. Great racking sobs torefrom her and she collapsed in on herself, her shouldersshaking.
“I don’t knowwhy I’m crying,” she gasped. “I knew, Jake. I knew you ran withhim.”
Hauling her into him, hecrooned against her temple. “Darlin’. Darlin’, shh. I’ve got you.I’ve got you.” In his arms she felt fragile, small, with a thousandconcerns weighing her low. But he knew her strength, knew herdetermination. “We’ll get him, darlin’. You and me. We’ll get him.I’ll find him for you.”
She dug her forehead intohis shoulder. “I know.”
“And if, whenthe time comes, you need me to do it, I will.” He would. Forher.
Shakily, she exhaled, herbreath a wash over his skin.
His arms tightened aroundher, his own chest a mess with emotion. He’d held this burden solong, pushing it aside time and again, and now it was gone.Determination took its place. He’d never been able to bringCallihan to justice, had given up, but this woman had never backeddown. He would follow her, and he would help her, and when it wasdone, when she had vanquished Callihan, he would continue to standby her, for as long as she would let him.
He was hers. From thisday to his last day.
He was hers.
ChapterSeventeen
KNOWING HE WORE A damn fool smile, Jake cut into hiseggs. Yolk oozed out, the eggs cooked just as he liked, and hemopped it up with thickly-sliced toasted bread. Breakfast was hisfavourite meal of the day, and it was all the sweeter because he’dpassed the night in Hope McElroy’s bed.
She’d been so sweet lyingagainst the sheets, her pale eyes closed and barely-there lashesresting against her cheeks. He’d wrestled with the powerful need tokiss her forehead before he left and he’d lost that battle, herskin warm and smooth beneath his lips. The trek to his own room wasone he always dreaded and he’d wished he could stay with her, watchsunlight play over her features as she awoke to greet him with afaint smile that would tempt him to taste. Her arms would lazilycircle his neck as the kiss deepened, as she took his tongue as shewould take his cock, warm and wet and welcoming...
Christ, and now he washalf hard. Shifting, he took a bite of his toast, and thoughtinstead of the day ahead. He’d taken to escorting Hope around thetown as she went about her business. She might not be mindful ofthe danger posed to a respectable woman in a town such as Ironwood,but he were. There was no way he was allowing her to put herself inharm’s way because she had need to send a telegram to her people inSacramento. She never commented on his presence, and he’d passed itoff as a desire to stretch his legs, but she weren’t dumb, hisHope. She knew what he was about, and maybe she would level hergaze on him, and maybe she rolled her eyes some, but she were safeand well and free from harm. She could make as much fun as shewished as long as she was well.
“MrWade.”
At the sound of hervoice, pleasure shot through him. Schooling his features, he lookedup to find Hope dressed for another day around town. Rising, hepulled out the chair opposite. “Miss McElroy.”
Nodding her thanks, sheseated herself and folded her hands as was proper in her lap. Thedichotomy drove him crazy. She sat there, all prim and proper, andthe folks around him would think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth,while he knew her taste, her scent, the way she gasped whenhe—
