CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IF IT WEREN’T for the promise of seeing flowers open to the sun, Josie would not be up before the crack of dawn, frying eggs and bacon, baking home fries and flipping pancakes. She’d still be lying in bed justifiably moping over Luke’s rejection. The man had a horrible sense of timing. He had no business ravaging her senses to the point she’d begged—begged!—him to take her. The memory made her cringe. And then to reject her under the guise of looking out for her best interests... Who did he think he was? He wasn’t her father or her guardian. He was the man she’d chosen to liberate her. And he’d rejected her.
She’d cried last night, but this morning? Oh, this morning she was furious. The man had no right to manipulate her that way. She was a grown woman. She knew her own mind. She didn’t need some Western lothario playing with her emotions. She’d had enough of that her whole life.
Opening the oven, she checked the home fries. Moist heat redolent with the scent of onions and garlic heated her cheeks. She slammed the door closed. Straightening, she wiped her hands on her apron.
Truth be told, she couldn’t figure out Luke’s game. She’d seen men play the love ’em and leave ’em game before. Jason had played a rather chaste version of it, stretching it out over five years, but in her admittedly observational experience the leaving part usually happened after they obtained the loving. Not in the middle of it. Damn him. She wasn’t sure what made her madder—his rejecting her in general, or the fact that he’d left her dangling from that sensual precipice.
“The home fries have offended you this morning?” Zach asked from where he sat at the table, enjoying a cup of coffee. It really should be illegal for a man to look that rakishly handsome at this hour of the morning. It should be more illegal for her not to be affected by it.
Her mother was right. A woman could not control whom she lusted after. And Dane Savage was right. A woman had to choose her own destiny.
Picking up her own coffee from the wooden counter, she took a sip. It was lukewarm. “I’m afraid I’ve got the oven too hot. I almost burned them.”
“It will not be a problem. Burnt offerings from a woman as beautiful as yourself will still be a delectable treat.”
She blinked. “Oh dear heavens.” Setting her coffee down, she asked, “Do women really fall for that?”
He cocked an eyebrow at her, smiling around his cup, and suddenly the nice safe man seemed not so safe. Her stomach did a flip-flop.
His eyes narrowed. “Other women are not a concern.”
“Oh.” She put the last pancake on a plate and brought it over to the table. He stood. She’d never realized how tall he was. “Are you flirting with me?”
Standing, he held out her chair for her. “Apparently not successfully.”
Oh, he was being successful. She just didn’t know what to do with it. She caught his scent as he tucked the chair in. He smelled of clean soap and expensive tobacco. It was a pleasant aroma. “You took me by surprise.”
Zach reclaimed his seat. “I am thinking I should have used my other line.”
Curiosity demanded she ask “What was that?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Your beauty will sweeten any meal until a man would only know the delectable taste of ambrosia.”
She choked on a bite of pancake.
Pushing her coffee closer to her, he asked with a too-innocent expression, “No?”
She shook her head, and cleared her throat, laughter bubbling. “Definitely no.”
Replacing his napkin on his lap, he sighed. “Ah well, I will have to work on it.”
“Please don’t. At least, not on my account.”
The amusement disappeared from his expression as fast as it had appeared. “But I insist.”
“On what?”
“On seeing your smile. You have a beautiful smile.”
Feeling very daring, she placed her hand over his. His hand was warm under hers, but the tingles she felt with Luke? They were markedly absent. “Thank you for making me laugh this morning.”
All pretense left his expression. His gaze met hers—intense, focused, dangerous...a trickle of awareness slipped over her senses.
“It was my pleasure.”
She slowly pulled her hand back. He returned to his meal, and she to hers, though more slowly now, as her mind caught up with reality. She had another suitor.
* * *
AT FIVE THIRTY that morning, Luke opened the back door to the kitchen, his hangover dragging along his mood like a ball and chain. The scent of pancakes and bacon swirled out to smack him in the face. His stomach lurched as he stepped into the room. His temper growled louder than his headache at the scene before him. Sitting at the table was Zach, looking content as a cat curled up in front of fire. But he wasn’t sitting in front of a fire, he was sitting at the table, the expression on his darkly handsome face intense as he watched Josie bustling around the kitchen. That inner growl rose again. If Josie was going to cook breakfast for anyone, it should be him. Today, she was dressed in a dull gray suit dress with a light bustle and she looked as pretty as the morning with her fresh scrubbed face and wisps of hair escaping from her braid at the temples. The red hue accented the creaminess of her skin and highlighted the blue of her eyes.
As she turned to grab a towel, he gritted his teeth. He was going to have to reconsider his no-corset decree. Without the corset the camisole didn’t support her breasts as well. With every move, they swayed enticingly.
“Morning.”
Josie jumped and dropped the towel. “Good morning.”
“Morning, Luke,” Zach drawled as if he wasn’t sitting at the head of the table, coveting Luke’s woman.
Luke knew exactly what Zach was thinking when Josie bent over to retrieve the towel and her full breasts swelled against her bodice. He knew exactly what Zach was imagining when her breasts jiggled softly as she shook out the towel. Remembering how they’d felt in his hand, his fingers curled into a fist.
Luke took a seat across from where Josie had been sitting. Her breakfast looked barely touched. “Any of that coffee left?”
“Of course.”
She brought over a cup along with the pot. Leaning back, he let her pour. “Thank you.”
“Would you like some breakfast?”
“No, thanks.” After last night, just the smell was nauseating. “Coffee’s fine.”
She poured his cup and then just stood there awkwardly. “So what are you doing up this early?” he asked.
Josie cut Zach a nervous glance. The gentle smile he sent her in response gave Luke the urge to punch him in his freshly shaved face.
“I wanted to take some pictures,” she finally said.
“And I have agreed to escort her to where the wildflowers greet the sun.”
“I’m hoping to catch them as they open.”
Luke took a couple swallows of coffee and winced as the hot coffee set his head pounding. Ed was right. He was regretting the drinking of the night before. “Do you think the flowers are going to hold still for you?”
She shrugged and her breasts bobbed ever so slightly. His mouth watered. He should have tasted them when he’d had the chance.
“I have no idea. I hope so.”
“And you asked Zach to take you?” It came out in a growl.
She had the grace to look guilty. For all of two seconds. Then she just looked mad. Obviously, she was still annoyed about last night. That was understandable. So was he.
Zach, on the other hand, was remarkably unconcerned with the undercurrents. “It is my pleasure to accompany such a beautiful senorita on this journey.”
He just bet. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll tag along.”
Josie took the pot back to the stove. The set of her shoulders said she wasn’t happy. Glancing back, she muttered, “I suppose. If Zach is all right with that.”
Zach smiled over his cup at Luke. “I do not mind, senorita, if Luke tags along.”
He didn’t mind? Luke’s mood went further south. It’d be a cold day in hell before he’d need Zach’s permission to go anywhere. He rubbed his forehead. Damn, his head hurt.
Josie’s expression softened and gave Zach the smile she refused him. “Oh please, call me Josie.”
Zach inclined his head. “I am honored.”
Josie blushed.
Another man might’ve been uncomfortable in the situation sitting between two lovers, but Zach wasn’t for the simple reason Zach wasn’t just any man. He was a good man with a strong sense of loyalty, a fighter who went after what he wanted. A man of standards. And women loved him. If Zach wanted Josie, he was serious competition. With a lift of his own cup, Luke acknowledged the challenge. Catching Josie’s eye, Luke motioned to her plate. “You didn’t finish your breakfast.”
“Oh. I got distracted packing lunch.” She dismissed the food with a wave of her hand. “I’ll eat later.”
“You’ll eat now.”
“It’s cold.”
“No problem.” Getting up, Luke walked over to the stove and put a pan and a griddle on the burners. “Have a seat and drink your coffee.”
She stood there, fussing with her apron. She was clearly uncomfortable with him cooking for her. The woman was too independent by far. “Sit, Josie.”
She sat. The obedience was a good indication of her stress level.
He poured some batter into one pan and with his free hand, took an egg out of the bowl and cracked it into the center of the griddle. The pancake cooked and the egg sizzled.
From the table came a request. “No pancakes for me please.”
“Why?”
“A woman has to be careful of her figure.”
It was clearly an oft-repeated statement. Had that no-account fiancé of hers put that thought in her head? The bastard. Luke put another small pancake onto the griddle. Fuck him.
“How about this? You handle the eating, and I’ll handle your figure.”
She gasped. “You will not!”
He flipped the first pancake. “In case you haven’t noticed, I pretty much do as I please.”
Zach shook his head. “It would be my pleasure, Josie, to take him out back for you and remind him of his manners.”
Her “No” came out choked.
Zach was undeterred. “The offer is sincere.”
The foreman was getting on his nerves. “Shut up, Zach.”
Josie’s gaze bounced between them with the hunted expression of a rabbit caught between two predators. Transferring the egg to a plate, adding the still-warm home fries and flipping the second pancake, Luke figured she was probably right to feel hunted. As he’d told her before, they’d entered Montoya territory. Many men would be pursuing her. He just intended to be at the head of the line.
He wasn’t worried about the vaqueros, but Zach? He was going to be a complication. Luke was reasonably sure Zach hadn’t kissed her yet. She didn’t react to the man like a woman comfortable with his touch, which meant Luke had an edge. One he fully intended to exploit. He placed the food in front of Josie. Meeting Zach’s gaze over her head, he answered the other man’s challenge with a calm smile.
Zach was just wasting his time.
* * *
LUKE WASN’T SURPRISED to see that it wasn’t only Stefano, Zach and himself accompanying Josie. Six additional guards were lined up by the wagon. Men and horses drooped in a sleepy expectation. As one they perked up when Josie came out of the house. They greeted her with smiles and questions. Josie perked up, enjoying the attention.
Zach led Chico over.
“Thanks.” Luke took the reins, watching the interaction.
“She is finding her feet,” Zach observed.
“Yes.”
“You are not mad.”
It was a statement not a question. “I’m not an ass.”
“Not a total one anyway.”
Swinging up into the saddle, Luke asked, “Is there something you want to get off your chest, Zach?”
“I have an interest in the little photographer.”
“Too bad.”
“Until she declares a preference, she is fair game for pursuit.”
“Uh-huh.” Sensing his tension, Chico pranced and tossed his head. Luke reined him in. “I don’t have a problem with that as long as you don’t have a problem with the consequence.”
“You think I fear a threat?”
The cigarette in his pocket whispered Luke’s name. His fingers twitched. “Nope.”
He squinted against the sun as Stefano called Josie’s attention to the pose the vaqueros were striking, claiming it would make a good picture. Josie laughed and smiled and teased them back. She was finally getting to feel what it was like to be a beautiful woman in the company of men. As much as Luke wanted to wrap her up in the soft sweet comfort of cotton wool and take her away to a place where she couldn’t be hurt, he couldn’t bring himself to end her pleasure. Every woman should get to feel desirable.
* * *
THE CLIMB OUT of the valley was rough. The wagon bumped and swayed along. Luke watched Josie carefully, noting Zach did, as well. Her banter faded first. Then her smile. The next casualty of the constant motion was the pink in her cheeks. When her color went ghastly, he moved Chico up alongside. “Is your stomach bothering you?”
“A little.”
Zach rode up on the other side. Raising his hand, he called for a halt. “I think more than a little.”
With a flick of his hand, Zach summoned Stefano. When the young vaquero reached them, he indicated where she sat. “Switch places with the senorita.”
“I’m fine.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “No, she’s not.”
“This I can see. My horse is yours, senorita.”
With a hunch of her shoulders Josie confessed, “I don’t know how to ride.”
“Then now would be a bad time to learn.” Zach’s smile was pure wolf. He held out his hand. “You may ride with me.”
Startled, she glanced over at Luke. The question in her big blue eyes smoothed the edge off his temper.
“She’ll ride with me,” Luke countered.
“Is that your preference, Josie?” Zach asked.
There was a long pause before she nodded.
“Then come here.” Luke held out his hand. It was a long second before she took it. But when she did, it was with confidence.
She made the transfer from the wagon to the horse like an old hand. Swinging her leg over in one easy movement. “You’re getting better at that.”
Excitement laced her agreement. Her arms slipped around his waist. “I am, and on my second try, too!”
He shifted her hands up for no other reason than it was an excuse to touch her. “Practice makes perfect at most things.”
“So it does.”
He could feel her smile against his back. Even better, Zach could see it.
“Enjoy your ride, senorita.” With a tip of his sombrero, Zach wheeled his horse around, and waved the group on.
Stefano clucked encouragement to Glory, who now sported a brand-new hat. Glory tossed his head, but then ambled forward.
“Do you think I hurt his feelings?” she asked quietly.
“No. Zach is tough.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved. And for the moment, he didn’t care. He had Josie’s arms wrapped around his waist, those gorgeous breasts pressed up against his back. It felt like a new beginning.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Do you mind if we don’t talk?”
Normally that wasn’t a problem, but right now he had a couple questions he wanted to ask her. Some points he wanted to make. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the vaqueros easing closer. Sam was right. There was no privacy on Rancho Montoya.
“No, I don’t mind.”
There was always later.
* * *
DESPITE HIS DOUBTS, Luke had to give Zach credit. The spot he’d chosen was perfect. He’d expected Zach to bring them to a big field where wildflowers waved in the breezes, but instead Zach had chosen a spot halfway up a small mountain where wildflowers clung to rocks in little bursts of beauty contrasted against an otherwise harsh environment. It was that dissonance that had Josie leaping off Chico as soon as Luke pulled him to a halt. It actually wasn’t so much a leap as it was a tumble, but she hit the ground animated. All signs of nausea clearly gone. Lifting her skirts, she all but ran to her wagon. Along the way, she found Zach. Grabbing his boot, she smiled up at him. Her happiness shone as bright as the sun.
“I don’t have to ask if you approve.”
“This is just perfect. Thank you so much.”
Zach’s smile softened his face. “It is my pleasure, Josie.”
As fast as she’d landed, Josie was off again. The door of the wagon clanked as she threw it open.
Sitting in the calm of her wake, Luke realized he’d never seen Zach smile such a natural smile. The kind that started on the inside and worked its way out. It was definitely a different side of the man, and seeing it, he couldn’t resent his infatuation. When Josie let her defenses down, she had a genuine appreciation for the moment that brought happiness to those around her. It was a rare quality anywhere, but more so out here in the West, which took quite a toll on women, often resulting in more sadness than smiles. With a nudge of his heels, he directed Chico over to Zach.
“Luke.”
Luke pushed his hat back and motioned to the flowers. “Thank you for this.”
“I did not do it for you.”
“I know, but thank you.”
Zach smiled. “I like your woman.”
“Now you’re wandering into dangerous territory.”
Zach shrugged, unconcerned. “But it is clear she is your woman. Whether she acknowledges it or not, she has made her preference known.”
The knowledge settled deeply. “Yes, she has.”
Zach sighed. “There is, of course, no accounting for taste.”
“Uh-huh.” Leaning on the saddle horn, Luke asked. “So how did you find this place?”
“I could say I know exactly what a photographer would like...”
“But?”
“I found it when I was scouting for new sentry posts. I chose it because I can see anyone approaching for miles.”
“And it’s safer.” He would have done the same thing. “So it would appear I have another thing for which to thank you.”
“It is my job to protect all those who come to Rancho Montoya. No thanks are necessary.”
“Just out of curiosity, what would you have done if Josie hadn’t liked it?”
“I would have then pretended ignorance, but if she liked it, ah—” he smiled “—I would then be a hero and maybe she would take a picture of my brothers and me in gratitude.”
That was probably a given. “So this was a means to an end?”
Another of those laconic shrugs. “I prefer to think of it as an opportunity.”
Luke could buy into that. “Be careful, Lopez. I might just end up liking you.”
“Do not do me any favors.”
Luke chuckled.
A series of crashes came from the wagon.
“It sounds like she’s emptying the whole wagon.”
“It is best we help. She can be careless when she rushes.”
Luke thought of the ether. “I’ll handle it.”
“Good. You deal with her and I will deal with the men.”
Dismounting, Luke led Chico over to the back of the wagon. Josie was balanced on the edge, wrestling with a large wooden box. In a second, she and it would both end up in the dirt. Dropping Chico’s reins, he hurried over.
“Slow down a minute and I’ll help you with that.”
He reached up. She spun around, her elbow hitting him in the face. He grunted. “I have it.”
Catching her by the waist, he lifted her off the wagon. Her start shivered up his arms. “You, my darlin’, need to understand something.”
“What?”
“I’m no longer being your friend.”
As she hesitated, he took the box from her hands.
“Where do you want it?”
She pointed to a spot on the ground. “Right there is fine for now. Just be careful, that’s got the ether.”
Wonderful. He was carrying the bomb.
“It’s not going to blow up on you.”
“How do you know?”
“It needs air for that.”
“Seems to be a whole lot of air around here.”
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed his concern. “It’s more complicated than that.”
Before he set the box down she was back in the wagon tugging at a folding table. Again he caught her by the waist and plucked her off the wagon bed, before taking the table. “Where do you want this?”
“Right beside the box.”
She followed him over. It was simple to set up. When he was done, she was still standing there looking at him. It was his turn to ask, “What?”
“What are you being?”
“Huh?”
“If you’re no longer being my friend, what are you being?”
That she needed to figure out for herself.
“Apparently, the beast of burden.”
The uncertainty of her smile brought back what Ed and Sam had said last night—Josie didn’t have a clue what a relationship between a man and woman looked like. And until she determined what she wanted out of one, he couldn’t be anything to her. Certainly not anything of the depth he desired.
“So what’s next?” he asked.
She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“From the wagon. What else do you need?”
She pointed to a couple more trunks. He set them with the others.
As soon as she had her supplies laid out, she became all business. Watching her work was like watching a well-choreographed dance. The difference between Josie the photographer and Josie the shy wren never failed to fascinate him.
Leaning against the wagon, he watched her line up the tin plates. “What are you doing now?”
Without looking up, she said, “The plates have to be prepped.”
“And then?”
“And then I take the pictures.”
“For which you need light.”
She nodded.
“But you don’t need light when you develop them.”
“No. That would ruin everything.”
“How long does it take to develop them?”
“It depends on the effect I want and how long they’re exposed.”
“It sounds more like art than science.”
That brought her head up. “Thank you. So many don’t appreciate that.”
He wasn’t sure he did, either, but the amount of equipment she needed was impressive. “All this...it must be expensive.”
She nodded as she slathered a solution on the individual tins. “It is, but I’ve managed to make some money off it.”
“Doing what specifically? Portraits and such?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You really don’t want to know.”
Yes, he did. He wanted to know everything about her. “I asked, didn’t I?”
“The undertaker sends me a lot of work.”
“What?”
“A lot of people want a last picture of their loved one, so I take it. Of course, they don’t know it’s a woman doing it. They’d never hire me if they did, but it’s turned out to be good money.”
He couldn’t be hearing her correctly. “Are you telling me—”
“I take pictures of dead bodies.”
“I see.”
She laid the tins out. “At least they don’t move.”
“No, I don’t suppose they would.” He paused and considered what she’d told him. “I think I’m impressed.”
“And appalled, I bet.”
“That, too.”
She shrugged. “The money’s surprisingly good and it allows me to do the work I really love.”
“Do you do a lot of portraits, too? Of the living, that is?”
“I would like to but people don’t trust a female photographer. I have started a new line taking pictures of hunter’s trophies.” She cut him a glance. “They don’t tend to move as much as people.”
The laughter caught him by surprise.
“I’m adding innovative to the list of adjectives I’ve mentally jotted by your name.”
“Do I want to see this list?”
“It’s not all so flattering.”
“Then I’ll pass.”
Folding his arms across his chest, he watched as she mixed her solutions. Gone was the shy disorganized woman. He loved the sight of her in her element. “You’ve changed a lot since you came here.”
“I know.” She looked up. “I like the West.”
“Most women find it intimidating.”
“Oh, it is that. And big and scary, but it’s wide-open with possibilities in a way back home can’t be. You could fall flat on your face, of course. And something could squash you when you’re down there, but at the same time, you can be anything you want to be and for someone like me, that’s pretty exciting.”
He felt the same way when he looked at the horizon. He’d just never heard someone put it so succinctly, before. Picking up her camera case and hitching it over his shoulder, he cupped her elbow in his hand. “You know what, Miss Kinder?”
“What?”
He steadied her over some loose rock. “We might just make a Texan of you yet.”