“A little outside of town, on the east side, away from the mine.”
“She lives close to the creek,” Tom said. “But, Jake, I don’t think—”
“Are you all right?” Jake interrupted, not wanting to hear one more word from Tom or Laura. Damn, he thought he was a good judge of characters, but this was despicable the way they treated Meredith as if she were making it up, as if she were...mad.
The moniker came back to Jake.
Mad Mere
.
Was she...?
Her eyes somehow widened all the more after Jake had asked if she was all right. Those otherworldly eyes, so beautiful, so unlike anything he’d ever seen, were full of pain, shame, and still terrified. Something had spooked her. And he was about to find out if it was real or imagined.
Meredith never answered, but kept her gaze glued to his.
“I’m goin’ to yer house and make it safe for ye.”
She blinked.
Hellfire, his brogue had come through. Couldn’t be helped. And hopefully she was the only one who’d heard it.
“I’ll go with you.” Her voice sounded so...weak and scared. Not the woman’s voice he’d met this morning.
He shook his head, knowing he should let go of the lapels of his coat, but not able to force himself to do it. “No. Stay here—”
“Yes, honey. Stay here. I’ll make a nice room for you upstairs.” Laura’s own voice sounded pleading.
Meredith shook her head. “I can’t pay you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Tom said.
Meredith’s dark feminine brows furrowed. “Thank you, but, no. I can’t. Mr. Cameron—Sheriff Cameron will make sure the man’s gone. I’ll be fine back home once the man is gone.” She straightened her wee posture and squared her little shoulders, barely visible in his coat. There was the lass he’d met, that fae woman who had stolen his breath when he first saw her.
Jake could guess she didn’t want to stay with Tom and Laura because they’d been dismissive about her being threatened, but he didn’t like it that she might be close if the threat persisted. Still, he wasn’t sure if being around Tom and Laura would be much good for Meredith’s heart. It was obvious she was hurt by how Tom and Laura had reacted. And Jake didn’t blame her.
Ach!
He sighed, thinking he’d keep Meredith far from her house, keep her safe, as he inspected her home. “Fine.”
Meredith smiled up at him, as if he was some sort of hero. He wasn’t, of course. But with a grin like that pointed at him, he wanted to be.
In one swoop he picked up Meredith, hating that her wee toes looked so painfully cold on the dirty floor. She made a startled sound but instantly wrapped her arms around his neck. That felted damned good. He marched out, vaguely hearing Tom and Laura make stuttering starts to halt him. But he wouldn’t be stopped. This was one way to find out just who Meredith Peabody was.
*
J
ake set Meredith on her horse, then told her to wait while he retrieved his horse from the livery. She merely nodded, her eyes still wide and so violet.
Through the velvet blackness of the winter night, the Montana frost was already settling in, making his breath cloud. But Jake clearly saw all the glittering stars above, a sure sign of no snow.
He rode close to Meredith’s paint, then extracted his plaid, hoping it didn’t smell too dirty. Tethering his horse to a pole, he lowered himself then extracted Meredith from her dappled horse without a word. She made another little noise, her eyes staring at him the whole time, but didn’t say much. Placing her on his horse, he then wrapped the plaid around her, trying to tuck the ends around her dainty feet. Once he felt the chill on her skin though, he stopped and tried to warm her with his hands. He glanced up to see her reaction, but she merely looked at him with those huge eyes of hers. No complaints, no words. But her lids fluttered, and her shoulders seemed to relax under his coat once he got her toes a little warmer. Satisfied that she wouldn’t get frostbite, he then secured the plaid around her feet again, tied her horse to the back of his saddle, then hefted himself behind Meredith.
She wiggled, and at first Jake thought she was trying to distance herself from him. But then he noticed her draping one leg around the saddle horn, ensuring he had room in the saddle, which was very snug with two people in it. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled the reins the direction she’d told him her house was located.
He’d have to say something to her eventually, but for the time being he was too distracted with the way she felt against him, the softness of her backside, the scoop of her waist in his hand. And the way she smelled—a mixture of vanilla and sweat pea blooms. He wasn’t sure if she applied the aroma or if it was her.
He swallowed, trying to regain his thoughts, trying not to nuzzle the back of her head.
She placed a cold hand over his. “I’m that house, down near the creek bed. I left all the lights burning.”
He nodded, but then realized she couldn’t see him. Jake tried to think of words, something to say, but could only concentrate on her palm still on him. He liked her little hand, so dainty.
She was here, in his arms because some man was prowling on her porch. Or she was mad, as Tom and Laura clearly thought. He needed to remind himself that he wasn’t taking a turn with the lady. He wasn’t here to court her. She needed him to protect her, and he’d better damned well do his job.
“You saw what the man looked like?”
She shook her head. “Well, I saw he wore a bowler hat, not a Stetson like you. And he had on a big duster. It looked dark. His back was to the window.” She shuddered. “He was looking at my...”
The hand on Jake’s moved, and he guessed it hovered over her pretty lips.
“Looking at your...?”
She turned slightly, trying to gaze at him in the eye. “I keep my bath out where the man was and my...device.”
He narrowed his eyes, not sure how to ask, “And what device would that be, ma’am?” She seemed so secretive about whatever it was.
Then she sighed and turned more into him, her shoulder cranking into his chest. “I like baths. Well, I’m sure everyone likes baths. But I
really
like baths. And when I first came here I liked taking a bath, but then...”
Jesus, why was she talking about taking a bath? Now, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking of her in warm sudsy water, a huge sponge gliding along her creamy skin and finding a few of her tiny freckles. Then the sponge would skim over her chest, right between her breasts—
He needed to stop fantasizing. Already he was tightening against her. Lord. He gained a little distance, trying to make sure she didn’t feel his excitement at her bath talk.
“But then...?”
She bit her bottom lip. “I made a shower. Um, what to call it? See, I have a lot of time on my hands. So I decided to invent a way to get clean with water spilling over my body.”
Should he place his hand over her mouth to make her stop? Now all he could think about was her naked with water running over her slick curves. He scooted back a little more.
“And the man was there beside my shower, is what I call it.”
Jake nodded and swallowed, thanking the Lord her house was close. In a thicket of pines, he stopped and got off the horse as fast as possible, trying to calm his thickening cock, trying to remind himself he was, in her eyes, a hero, and he needed to act like it.
He tied both horses to a branch.
“Ye warm?”
She blinked, but then nodded, and he knew why she looked at him with uncertainty. She kept shaking his thoughts, tempting him senseless without her awares, and he’d spoken with his accent once again.
He cleared his throat, reminding himself to sound more American. “Stay here while I scout your home.”
She nodded once more, and he extracted his Colt from his back. Her gorgeous eyes got even bigger at that.
“Try to keep the horses quiet for me.”
She nodded again. “You need something to see with? A torch?”
He shook his head and pointed to the sparkling stars. “I see fine with that.”
Somehow what he’d said made her smile. She gave him the kind of grin she’d given him earlier this morning. It was wide and carefree, as if he weren’t there to search her home for perverts, as if she weren’t in the least worried any more. And he liked it. Made his solar plexus stir with energy.
Before he got lost staring at her one more time, he turned and silently walked the direction of her house. The night air was already freezing, and it helped remedy his blurred thoughts.
He didn’t know what it was about her, but he liked her, like the way she looked, the way she talked, the way her huge eyes gazed at him. Liked all of it. And he wasn’t too sure what to do about that, about how his body wanted to touch her, keep touching her, kiss her neck...
Jesus, focus, he reminded himself.
He stayed close to the copse, letting it camouflage him, while he studied the ground. The frost was thick and fast, making his own boot prints standout like a red lantern in a city. A few feet from her porch, he stopped and saw dark skid marks along the pale frozen grass. Someone had tried to walk sideways, as if more concerned with looking into her house than making tracks.
God damn it. He knew it. Meredith wasn’t mad. Someone had been after her.
He crouched low and listened intently. The first noise entering his consciousness was something moving in her barn. Taking three quick breaths, he sprinted across her front garden, now dead from the season. Then he sprang open the barn’s door.
Two black kittens arched their backs, hissing and then scurrying away from him. A cow mooed, then another. Chickens began to squawk. Ah, hell.
He finally took another breath when he was sure he was the only human in the barn. Extending a hand, he gingerly crouched low, approaching where the little black cats had hidden behind some haystacks.
“Sorry, little ones. Sorry.”
One of the tikes immediately came out and twirled around his hand, easily forgiving Jake for the fright. The other stayed behind the hay, glaring at him.
Jake nodded, as if to comrades. “You see a man here, peeking in the windows?”
The forgiving kitten swiped his whole body along Jake’s hand. Without thinking, he scratched the cat along his feline jaw. After a beat, he stood and walked back toward the barn’s yawning door. A black shadow zipped in front of him, and stopped right where Jake would have kicked the kitten if he weren’t paying attention. He couldn’t help but laugh at the lovable black fur ball.
Stepping over the kitten, then beginning a dance where the cat kept trying to trip him, and Jake kept trying to get out of the barn, he finally saw the horse tracks. The bastard who had been watching Meredith had tied his horse close to the barn. After inspecting a little more around her drive, with a black shadow accompanying him every step of the way, he saw tracks. One set. Man’s boots. The tracks ran along the front garden and over the porch. The man had stood in front of a window for an extended moment, ensuring no frost where’d stood, transfixed by Meredith, Jake presumed. That confirmed it, damn it. Someone had been spying on her. The lurker also had walked several times around a large contraption on her porch, more than likely the shower she had spoken of.
Then Jake followed the prints back to the barn, where the man had obviously taken his horse and ridden...west. Back toward town or Great Falls, or, hell, anywhere but here, Jake hoped.
Yes, Meredith was definitely not mad and a prickle of fear tickled down his spine, making him worry about her in the trees yonder.
Picking up the tripping kitten, he opened his waistcoat for the fur ball, then strode toward Meredith at a clipped pace.
He caught up to her quickly. She sat still on the horse, her eyes so wide, her face so pale, even in the moonlight Jake could easily see that. Through it all though, she was bonny, and he couldn’t help but like the fact that she’d snuggled into his coat and plaid.
But as he neared, her head cocked, some of her rich brown curls poured over to one side. He noticed she was staring at his chest, where the kitten had decided to make a pincushion out of him. Wincing, he extracted the cat and handed it over.
“So—so, there wasn’t a man? It was the kittens?” She took the kitten, immediately cuddling it close. Her voice was wispy and too soft.
“No.” Jake got on the saddle behind her again, pulling her close. “Someone was watchin’ you. Watched ye for a long time.”
He turned the horse around, heading back to town.
“Wait. Where are we going?” She glanced at him over her shoulder.
“Back to Laura’s hotel. To keep ye safe.”
“I don’t want to—”
“I can understand why ye don’t want to stay there. I do. But your safety—”
She placed a hand over his and pulled the reins to stop the horse. Jake let her with a sigh.
Turning more into him, she said, “I really don’t want to.”
“I understand. I do.”
“Do you?”
Her eyes searched his, trying to find an answer, and Jake hated it, but mayhap he didn’t know how she felt, mayhap he didn’t understand.
She looked down at the kitten biting her hand. “Laura and Tom are good people. I know they are. But they think I’m crazy. They didn’t believe me.”