“My intentions toward you are honorable. I’ve always been fair and honest with you. And now I’m saying that if Prescott touches you again, I’ll shoot him. I can’t be more honest than that.”
“You!” she gasped and gave a lunge that separated her from him. “What you want from me isn’t honorable. All you want is a…is for me to…” She was glad the darkness covered her red face.
“So what’s wrong with that? You didn’t seem to mind the last time. Ah, Chris, I don’t want to fight. We had a good time that night and, besides, I haven’t had any women since then.”
Chris was sure that her anger was about to make her explode. “You haven’t had any women—plural—since then? Am I supposed to feel sympathy for you? Am I supposed to do what you want merely because you’ve been on the run and haven’t had time to—”
“I had time,” he said. “I just didn’t want any that were offered.”
Chris sputtered for a moment. Was he actually asking her for sympathy? “So now you’re…and I’m supposed to…of all the dastardly, disgusting, repulsive things—I want you to know that Asher asked me to marry him. He didn’t ask for a quick assignation, he wanted to marry me, to live with me forever.”
“He wants to live with your father’s money forever.”
“So what’s the difference between you two? He wants my money and you want my body. Neither of you seem to want me. Well, let me tell you, Mr. Tynan,” she advanced on him, “I’m not sure I want either one of you. I certainly don’t want what you offer.”
He caught her arm. “Chris, you do want me. I know it. I can see it in your eyes. And I want you, so why not?”
She gave him a serious look, the muscles in her jaw working. “And do you plan to include marriage in your offer?” she asked softly.
He took a step back from her as if she’d just contracted a contagious disease. “Marriage? Chris, you know that’s impossible. Your father would send me back to jail on a life sentence and then you’d have no husband. I couldn’t do that to you.”
“Men!” she gasped. “What convenient memories you have. My father said that you’d return to prison if you touched me, yet you were more than willing to risk that because it was something you wanted. But now you hold it up to me when the matter of marriage is mentioned. Listen to me, Tynan, and listen good. I am not going to go to bed with you again and you can believe me.” She turned on her heel and started up the hill toward the spring, grabbing the bucket in anger.
“You’ll give in,” Ty said after her, “and you’d better not let Prescott touch you.”
“You hardheaded, vain…cowboy, I’m never going to let you touch me again!” She dug the bucket into the spring water, then, on impulse, stuck her face under the cold water. She wasn’t sure whether she needed cooling off from her temper or from Tynan’s kisses, but, whichever it was, her blood was steaming.
She stayed at the stream for a while before returning to the cabin and settling down beside Pilar to sleep. She woke repeatedly during the night, sometimes sitting up with a jolt and looking around her. Each time she woke, she saw that Tynan was still leaning against the post, still watching the old man.
By the time morning came, she felt as if she’d not been asleep at all. She sat up, rubbing her aching back and looked around her. Ty was gone from his post and Asher was in the yard in front of the cabin saddling his horse. She walked toward him.
“The old man’s giving Ty trouble,” Ash said in the way of a greeting. “We may have to tie him on his horse just to get him out of here.”
Chris stifled a yawn. “I hope he ties him face down over the saddle.”
Asher caught her arm and pulled her close to him. “This is the last time I’ll see you for a while. I hope you’ll miss me. I hope you’ll think about my proposal. I hope you’ll…” He began to kiss her neck. “I hope you’ll say yes.”
The next minute, Asher was on the ground as Tynan jerked him away from Chris. Ty stood over him, feet apart, fists ready.
“Come on, Prescott, get up. You’ve been asking for this for a long time. Or aren’t you man enough to maul somebody your own size? Do you only pick on women?”
“For heaven’s sake!” Chris said, going to Asher to help him up.
Tynan advanced on the man.
“If you touch him again,” she said, “so help me, I’ll ride out of here with him. What in the world is wrong with you?”
Tynan lowered his fists and there was a bewildered expression on his face. “I don’t know,” he said in wonder. “Prescott, you better go now so you can use all the daylight. The old man will go with you but you’ll have to watch him every minute. I think he understands now that we’re hiding out so he’ll do what he can to make money off that knowledge.”
As Asher stood, Tynan looked a bit sheepish for a moment, then he turned back toward Chris. “You wouldn’t go, would you? I mean, I’d have to bring you back and someone needs to stay with Pilar.”
Chris looked at him for a long moment. “No,” she said at last, “I won’t leave. Not if you don’t hit Asher again. Now, could you leave us alone? I’d like to say good-bye.”
Tynan didn’t move a step. “You can say good-bye right now. He has to leave.”
“If you think—” Chris began, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but a call from Pilar stopped her. “Yes, I’m coming,” she answered, then deliberately turned and put her arms around Asher, meaning to kiss him good-bye, and show Tynan that he had no right to give her orders. But her lips never reached Asher’s because Tynan pulled her away from him and held her to him, her back against his front.
“Get on your horse, Prescott,” he said in a deadly voice.