Read Online A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey - Free Book Online Page B

darkness.
    â€œNo one ever tell you you can get killed waking a man in the middle of the night? Someonehalf-asleep wouldn’t have taken the time to notice you’re a woman.”
    He released her, and Courtney nearly crumbled to the floor.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she began. “I—I had to see you. And I was afraid to wait until morning—afraid I might miss you. You are leaving in the morning, aren’t you?”
    She fell silent as a match flared. He picked up her candle—how on earth had he seen it in the dark?—and it came to life again. He set it on the small chest of drawers, and she saw that beside the chest were his saddlebags and saddle. She wondered if he had bothered to unpack and put away his things at all. She doubted it. He struck her as a man who would be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
    She had been in this room hundreds of times to clean it, but tonight she was seeing it differently. The large woven rug had been rolled up and set out of the way against the wall. Why? And why had the rug by the bed been kicked under the bed? The towels and water she had brought earlier had been used, the towels hung over the washstand bar to dry. The single window was closed, the curtains drawn, and she imagined the window was locked. The cast-iron stove in the center of the room was cold. The straight-backed wooden chair beside it was hung with a clean blue shirt, the black vest and neckerchief he had worn earlier, and one belt. The gunbelt hung by the bed, its holster empty. His black boots were on the floor.
    The sight of his rumpled bed mortified her, started her backing up toward the door. She had woken a man from his sleep. How couldshe have done something so thoroughly improper?
    â€œI’m sorry,” she apologized. “I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”
    â€œBut you did. So you’re not leaving until I know why.”
    That sounded like a threat, and as it registered, she realized that he was bare-chested, wearing only pants, incompletely fastened, revealing an indecent amount of navel. She noted the wide mat of dark hair that stretched between his nipples and formed a T with the straight line of hair that ran down the center of his belly, disappearing into his pants. She also noted the short, wicked-looking knife stuck through one of his belt loops. His gun was probably tucked into the back of his pants.
    No, he wouldn’t have taken any chances before opening the door. Men lived by a different set of rules in the West, she knew, and men like this one never relaxed their guard.
    â€œLady?”
    She cringed. There was no impatience in his voice, but she knew he must be fed up with her.
    Hesitantly, she met his eyes. They were as unrevealing as they always were.
    â€œI—I had hoped you might help me.”
    As she had thought, his gun was on him. He reached behind him for it and moved to the bed, returning it to the holster. Then he sat down on the bed, staring at her thoughtfully. It was too much for Courtney, the rumpled bed, the half-dressed man. Her cheeks began to burn.
    â€œYou in some kind of trouble?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen what?”
    â€œWill you take me to Texas?”
    She said it in a rush, before she could change her mind. And she was glad.
    There was a brief pause before he said, “You’re loco, right?”
    She blushed. “No. I assure you I am serious. I have to go to Texas. I have reason to believe my father is there, in Waco.”
    â€œI know Waco. There’s more than four hundred miles between here and there—half of it straight through Indian lands. You didn’t know that, did you?”
    â€œI knew it.”
    â€œBut you weren’t thinking of going that way?”
    â€œIt’s the quickest route, isn’t it? That’s the route I would have traveled four years ago with my father if—Well, never mind. I know the dangers. That’s why I’m asking you to