Outlaw Hearts(35)

Jake held up the rifle and aimed it away from her, pulling the trigger. Another click. He rose and handed her the rifle. “You don’t know what you’d be asking. I just got done telling you about lonely men and beautiful women. After a while I’d be one of those lonely men.” His eyes moved over her. “I’d hate to ruin a beautiful friendship. Find somebody else to take you.”

Miranda took the gun from him. “I wouldn’t be afraid of you. You said yourself you respect a good woman.”

“Yeah? Well, being alone on a trail for weeks can alter a man’s thinking. You just give me a good breakfast in the morning and I’ll be on my way. As far as all the things you’ve done for me, you’re right. I owe you. I intend to pay you in cash before I leave. I expect you could use all the extra money you can get for your trip.”

Miranda struggled against tears, feeling more embarrassed by the second. She set the gun aside. “Thank you for cleaning my rifle,” she said quietly, turning away from him. “You’d better get some sleep. I’ll make flapjacks in the morning, if you like.”

“Sounds fine to me.”

He was standing close behind her, and she could feel the brawny power he emanated, feel the danger; but the danger lay not in anything bad he might have in mind, for she trusted him. Why, she wasn’t sure, but she did. The danger lay in her own attraction to him, these ridiculous feelings that were churning inside of her. “I hope you don’t think me too forward,” she said hesitatingly, staring at the fire. She laughed nervously. “I guess it was a pretty ridiculous suggestion, let alone how it would look to others.”

She felt his big hand on her shoulder then, realized he could break her in half if he wanted, but his touch was gentle. “Trouble follows me everyplace I go, Randy, and you don’t want to be along when it comes. If I wasn’t a wanted man, I think I’d consider it, but you’re better off without me around. Something tells me you’ll make it just fine on your own. You just keep that rifle handy.” He squeezed her shoulder, and then his hand was gone. He walked into the bedroom, and Miranda shivered at the realization that she would have liked to turn around and let him hold her, just for a moment, just for the comfort of a man’s strong arms around her again. But Jake Harkner’s arms? She wiped at a tear, outraged with herself for making the blatant suggestion that he take her to Nevada. What a fool he must think she was!

Jake closed off the curtain to the bedroom and laid back on the bed, deciding to leave his clothes on. He wanted to leave good and early, and there was no sense getting undressed. Hell, out on the trail he slept in his clothes most of the time anyway. Besides, he knew that if he got undressed and crawled under the covers tonight, he’d start fantasizing about Miranda Hayes being under there with him. Didn’t she know what she did to him? Did she realize the emotions she brought forth in him, things he had never felt before?

No way was he taking her to Nevada. Come morning, he was getting the hell out of the woman’s life for good. He really wasn’t ready to travel yet, but he didn’t dare stay near Miranda Hayes one day longer.





Six


Miranda watched Jake saddle up while she held the two gunnysacks full of supplies she had prepared for him. He gave Outlaw’s stomach a light punch. “Suck it in, boy,” he barked. “You don’t fool me, filling yourself up with air like that.” The horse’s belly contracted, and Jake tightened the cinch. “All I need is to be on a hard ride to get away from some marshal only to have my saddle slip on me.”

Miranda saw him wince, knew he was still in pain. “Jake, can’t you wait one more day?”

Jake kept his eyes on the cinch, thinking about the restless night he had had, lying awake and wondering what Mrs. Miranda Hayes would have done if he had gone out to her cot and planted his mouth on her sweet lips. “No, ma’am. Too dangerous for you having me here, what with that sheriff sweet on you and all. Hard telling when he might show up again.” He let down a stirrup and turned to meet her eyes. Was that a trace of tears he saw there? No. He would not believe that. “If you had any common sense at all, you would stay here and marry the sheriff and let him take care of you.”

Miranda stiffened with indignation, glad he had said something that made her momentarily forget about wanting to cry. “Why do all men think a woman needs ‘taking care of’? I’ll be just fine on my own. And if I did have common sense, you would be sitting in prison or hanging from a tree by now, and I would be five thousand dollars richer.”