his skull. “I meant, why were you alone in the first place? Most women travel west with their parents or husbands.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Parents are the people who give birth and raise you. A husband is a man a woman marries when she’s ready to start a family. A family—”
“I get your message.” Flags of scarlet decorated her cheeks.
Satisfaction warmed him. It was time Miss Amory understood how it felt to be treated like a simpleton.
“And?” he prompted.
“And what?” she snapped.
Logan realized he wasn’t making much headway in establishing a bond of trust between them, but at least she didn’t look as if she were in imminent danger of fainting.
“Why are you traveling alone?”
“It didn’t start out that way.” Her vibrant green eyes looked into the distance. “I was to make the trip with another family. Their oldest son was going to manage the team. At the last moment, however, their plans changed.”
Her explanation told him little. “Why did you decide to leave your home in the first place?”
Victoria’s already flushed face turned a brighter shade of pink. Logan sensed his question had struck a deep chord.
She was lying. That caught him off guard. She didn’t look like the kind of woman to prevaricate about anything. “And your parents let you go?”
“They. accepted my decision.”
There were a lot of things she wasn’t telling him. He sensed that leaving home had been painful for her.
“And your husband?” He was baiting her now, and he knew it.
She puffed up like a furious little red-feathered bird.
“I do not have a husband.”
“Fiancé?”
“That is hardly any of your business, Mr. Youngblood.”
“Call me Logan,” he commanded softly. “I intend to call you Victoria. It’s only fair I allow you the same privilege.”
She blinked at him. She’d done that before when something he said surprised her. The very feminine gesture appeared to be her way of getting her bearings.
“How do you know my first name?”
“You must have written it in every book you own.”
“Oh.” She studied him gravely. “Under the circumstances, I suppose it would be foolish not to be on a firstname basis.”
Such a well-bred, reluctant concession.
He liked the way her lips shaped her words—so precisely, so daintily. They were inviting lips—shaped with delicate fullness. Despite her mouth’s soft beauty, she didn’t look like the kind of woman to invite a kiss. Instead, she projected a directness that dared a man to cross the boundaries she’d set.
He pulled his gaze from hers before he did something totally asinine, like find out how those delectable lips tasted.
“Well, Victoria, what’s your answer?”
“My—my answer?”
“Are you engaged, married or widowed?”
Has any man been able to break through that formidable facade of yours?
“Mr. Young—”
“Logan,” he corrected firmly.
“Logan, ours is strictly a temporary association, and as I stated before, there’s no reason for you to know whether or not there’s someone. special in my life.”
“When this is over, suppose a man shows up, claiming you belong to him, and he demands to know what happened between us?”
“First of all, no such person exists.” Exasperation laced her cultured voice. “Second, the only thing that’s going to happen is that we’re going to reach Trinity Falls alive.”
It was hard to accept that the woman next to him was bound to no man. It was obvious from her independent manner that she felt no need to justify her single state. He tried to guess her age, which was no easy accomplishment.
A frown scrunched her lips. Her delicately proportioned chin was thrust at a disapproving angle. Her lashes were a golden red, reflecting the same tawny highlights that burnished her bound hair. She might have been eighteen, but her bearing was that of someone older, maybe twenty-four or twenty-six.
He scowled. She had no business being on her own, in the
“I get your message.” Flags of scarlet decorated her cheeks.
Satisfaction warmed him. It was time Miss Amory understood how it felt to be treated like a simpleton.
“And?” he prompted.
“And what?” she snapped.
Logan realized he wasn’t making much headway in establishing a bond of trust between them, but at least she didn’t look as if she were in imminent danger of fainting.
“Why are you traveling alone?”
“It didn’t start out that way.” Her vibrant green eyes looked into the distance. “I was to make the trip with another family. Their oldest son was going to manage the team. At the last moment, however, their plans changed.”
Her explanation told him little. “Why did you decide to leave your home in the first place?”
Victoria’s already flushed face turned a brighter shade of pink. Logan sensed his question had struck a deep chord.
She was lying. That caught him off guard. She didn’t look like the kind of woman to prevaricate about anything. “And your parents let you go?”
“They. accepted my decision.”
There were a lot of things she wasn’t telling him. He sensed that leaving home had been painful for her.
“And your husband?” He was baiting her now, and he knew it.
She puffed up like a furious little red-feathered bird.
“I do not have a husband.”
“Fiancé?”
“That is hardly any of your business, Mr. Youngblood.”
“Call me Logan,” he commanded softly. “I intend to call you Victoria. It’s only fair I allow you the same privilege.”
She blinked at him. She’d done that before when something he said surprised her. The very feminine gesture appeared to be her way of getting her bearings.
“How do you know my first name?”
“You must have written it in every book you own.”
“Oh.” She studied him gravely. “Under the circumstances, I suppose it would be foolish not to be on a firstname basis.”
Such a well-bred, reluctant concession.
He liked the way her lips shaped her words—so precisely, so daintily. They were inviting lips—shaped with delicate fullness. Despite her mouth’s soft beauty, she didn’t look like the kind of woman to invite a kiss. Instead, she projected a directness that dared a man to cross the boundaries she’d set.
He pulled his gaze from hers before he did something totally asinine, like find out how those delectable lips tasted.
“Well, Victoria, what’s your answer?”
“My—my answer?”
“Are you engaged, married or widowed?”
Has any man been able to break through that formidable facade of yours?
“Mr. Young—”
“Logan,” he corrected firmly.
“Logan, ours is strictly a temporary association, and as I stated before, there’s no reason for you to know whether or not there’s someone. special in my life.”
“When this is over, suppose a man shows up, claiming you belong to him, and he demands to know what happened between us?”
“First of all, no such person exists.” Exasperation laced her cultured voice. “Second, the only thing that’s going to happen is that we’re going to reach Trinity Falls alive.”
It was hard to accept that the woman next to him was bound to no man. It was obvious from her independent manner that she felt no need to justify her single state. He tried to guess her age, which was no easy accomplishment.
A frown scrunched her lips. Her delicately proportioned chin was thrust at a disapproving angle. Her lashes were a golden red, reflecting the same tawny highlights that burnished her bound hair. She might have been eighteen, but her bearing was that of someone older, maybe twenty-four or twenty-six.
He scowled. She had no business being on her own, in the
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