Read Online California Caress by Rebecca Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B

miners’ way of thinking, the Swede won the fight fair and square,” she said, her voice filled with contempt. “Who knows? Maybe if the two men hadn’t been so new to the mines they would have known that cheating is a way of life to most prospectors. But they were new, they didn’t know. They fought a gentleman’s fight with a man who was as much a gentleman as a cast iron skillet is a teapot, and they lost their lives in the bargain.”
    Shaking her head in disgust, she turned back to the window. “I still don’t understand it. The Swede had size and strength on his side. He could have whipped his smaller opponents without even working up a sweat. He didn’t. He cut them down instead. And all I could do was stand there and watch.” She cleared her throat and wiped what looked suspiciously like a tear from her cheek. “The Swede passed by me, on his way to the saloon afterward. I heard a friend ask him why he’d bothered with the knife. ‘I was winnin’ the card game,’ he said.” She gave an emotionless chuckle. “He killed the two men quick so he could get back to a goddamn game of cards!” her fist hit the window casing, and the force of the blow surprised even Hope. “Sometimes, in the middle of the night when I can’t get to sleep, that voice still haunts me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” She turned to Frazier, who was watching her intently. Her dark brown face shimmered with desperation. “I can’t let that happen to my brother. Not if I can stop it.”
    He lowered the glass from his lips. “Your brother is a big boy. I think he can take care of himself.”
    “No.” she shook her head vigorously. “You don’t understand. Luke will fight fair. He might be a bit slow with things, but he’s a southerner born and bred. He’ll fight like a gentleman and expect his opponents to do the same. He won’t know what to do if the Swede pulls a knife, or tries some other dirty trick.”
    Drake eyed her long and hard, then turned his attention away. His voice, when it came, was hard and uncompromising. “Your devotion is admirable, but you’re asking a hell of a lot from me. My price still stands, sunshine. You want my cooperation, you pay the price— my price.”
    She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath as her heart plunged. Reluctantly, the words formed on her tongue, but she had to push them forcibly past her lip. “All right,” she said, her voice shaking almost as badly as her hands. “I’ll do it.”
    There, she had said it, she had agreed to the impossible. So why don’t I feel any better? she wondered as she inched her way to the door. Why did she feel like a mouse cornered in a trap of its own making? Deep down, she knew why, but she pushed the answer away, banishing it to a hidden corner of her mind as her hand rested on the doorknob.
    The feel of a hand on her cheek made her jump and spin around. She hadn’t heard Frazier leave the chair, hadn’t heard his silent tread as he crossed the floor. That he had done it so swiftly and stealthily was, of course, the reason for the sudden racing of her heart. Or so she told herself—repeatedly—as her lids flew open and her gaze was so captured by intense, searching sea-green eyes.
    Her throat constricted until she felt as though she would die of suffocation. Surely he wouldn’t demand payment now . Yet, as his lips slowly descended toward her own, she found that prepayment was exactly what Frazier expected.
    “No.” she cried, turning her face away to that his lips landed harmlessly on her cheek. Well, not quite harmlessly. Her flesh was sizzling beneath the tender caress of his mouth.
    “Don’t play games with me, sunshine,” a husky voice whispered in her ear as he buried his face in the sweet-smelling softness of her hair. The silky smooth tresses had the distinctively enticing aroma of blossoming lilac petals. A rare scent to be had in these parts to be sure, and one that Drake found he thoroughly