“Not in the mountains.Everyone here knows exactly how much money they have stored in that safe.”
Cassidy’s eyes roamed the town, and he appeared to take it all in.He didn’t seem like a man who missed much.And because Jayce was watching Cassidy, he saw the exact moment the other man lost interest in his debriefing.
Jayce turned to see what had hijacked his attention.
Not what.Who.
Malika.
She’d set up her table of pies on the boardwalk in front of the saloon.Cassidy couldn’t seem to pry his eyes off her, something Jayce should have foreseen.She stuck out like an exotic flower in a hothouse full of vegetables.
“Who is the beautiful young woman in the yellow dress?”Cassidy asked.
The question was more of an imperious demand.The Mexicans were going to love him.
“That’s Malika,” Jayce said.“The woman who lives with Mavis.She’s under my protection while her brother’s away on business.”
Malika, who loved being admired by men and had a sixth sense about it, glanced their way and waved.Jayce was annoyed.Normally, her flirting didn’t bother him because it was second nature to her.
Their guest, however, didn’t know that.He waved back.
“Introduce us,” he said.
Jayce didn’t want to introduce Malika to him, but he could hardly refuse.She was part of the story.
They rode up to the saloon.
“Morning, Miss Malika,” Jayce said.
Malika smiled up at him.The sea green of her eyes, framed by a dark fringe of lashes—lashes she liked to flutter like sheets on a clothesline in a strong wind—reminded him of just how appealing she was.
Appealing enough to grab the attention of a very rich, much older man, whose age would be no issue for her, because she’d spent her whole life expecting to marry a man exactly like this.Warning bells, red flags, and smoke detectors all sounded alarms.A rich older man wasn’t likely to care whether a beautiful young woman who’d caught his attention was ruined.
Not if he was intent on ruining her too.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Malika said.
They were both looking at Jayce.It took him a second to figure out they were waiting for him to make a formal introduction.
“Miss Malika, this here’s Robert Parker,” he said, giving her Butch Cassidy’s real name, because his outlaw name would have caused chaos in a Wild Western town, especially one with a bank.“He’s new to these parts.Mister Parker, meet Miss Malika George.”
Cassidy continued to stare at her in a way Jayce didn’t like—as if she were something he planned to buy.He’d spent a million dollars for a week’s adventure, and in his world, everything was likely for sale.
Sorry.Not Malika.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” she said to Cassidy, then proceeded to give him her life story.“You won’t want to be seen in my company, though.My brother promised me to a rich and powerful man, but I took a lover instead, and now I am ruined for a fine gentleman such as yourself.”Her gaze shifted to Jayce, and she fluttered her lashes some more.“In fact, I’ve taken another lover already.He’s magnificent.”
Flames bit at his ears and burned his cheeks.She sure knew how to rewrite a script, although her acting skills could use some fine-tuning.
He wasn’t suremagnificent loverwas a role he could pull off, either.Attentive, perhaps.Definitely sincere.But defining him as magnificent was going to give him performance anxiety for sure.Especially if the Mexicans caught wind of the ad-lib.Dave liked to talk.
If she’d shocked Cassidy, he managed to hide it.He might be an imperious jackass with Jayce, but with Malika, he was all charm.
If he kissed her hand, Jayce was afraid he might hurl.
“Your lover is a very lucky man, Miss Malika,” Cassidy said.
Jayce inched his horse in between them.“We should be on our way.”
