“How do you think? This is supposed to be our honeymoon, and so far all we’ve done is search for you guys. I’m ready for us to settle down, spend some time together, and begin a family. Hell, I didn’t even get a proper wedding night.” She sighed, and her eyes looked dreamily at Beau.
God, the woman was incorrigible. She was telling a bunch of outlaws she wanted the two of them to start working on getting her pregnant. What the hell was she thinking?
William chuckled. “Why did you marry Beau so quickly?”
A smirk filled her beautiful full lips, and her sapphire eyes twinkled. “Well, my pa caught us kissing in the barn, and the next thing I knew we were standing before a preacher.”
“You got caught, Beau,” William said with a smile. “It happens to the best of us.”
“That’s why I’ve been missing. It was get married or be put to bed with a pick and shovel.” Lord, this woman was good. Damn good at twisting a story to fit her needs. He’d have to remember how well she could spin a yarn.
“What’s your pa’s name, Annabelle?”
“John McKenzie,” she said innocently.
William frowned. “I once had a bounty hunter named James McKenzie chasing my ass. Any relation?”
She smiled and nodded. “That’s the crazy branch of the family—my father’s brother. Those people are as loony as sheepherders, and since there have been times we’ve had to straddle both sides of the law, we avoid them like an outbreak of the plague. We don’t need that kind of trouble.”
Beau held his breath as he watched William thinking about what Annabelle had just told him. If the man didn’t believe her, they were as good as dead. And he didn’t know if he could outdraw William. The man was fast as lightening with a gun.
William smiled at Annabelle. “Nice to meet you, Annabelle. As long as Beau can find the money, we’re good.”
A quiet sigh of relief whooshed from Beau’s lungs. It appeared the outlaw was buying her story. Once Beau made it to Fort Worth, he was going to check out the McKenzies and see what he could learn about Annabelle’s family.
“Oh, he’ll find that money. Our share is going to set up our home. And then he’ll have to earn more.”
The men all laughed. “Welcome to married life.”
Beau nodded and took the good-natured ribbing. Annabelle had done well. For a moment there, he’d been afraid they would recognize her family, but she’d turned that to their advantage. He was pleased with how well she’d done. Even he was beginning to believe her sisters were bounty hunters.
“I guess I’m hogtied with matrimonial ropes,” Beau said, giving Annabelle a teasing smile.
“Oh, honey,” she said. “You’ll be doing good if those ropes aren’t real.”
The woman could play the game. Now, if he could just get the two of them out of here safely.
*
Darkness had fallen, and Annabelle hated the fact she didn’t move more than five feet away from Beau. The men gazed at her like they could see right through her clothes and knew the size and shape of her pantaloons. The situation was making her nervous, and she knew Beau was watching them, so she’d stayed close to her make-believe husband.
She’d added some canned peaches to the outlaw's meal, and they’d looked at her like she was a goddess for about five minutes, and then the mood had returned to them watching her and Beau. A chill had spread itself into her bones, leaving her jumpy and as nervous as a dog dreaming of catching a rabbit.
She feared that once they located the money, they’d both be dead.
“Annabelle, do you have any sisters?” Tom asked.
She licked her lips, fear for them chugging through her veins like whiskey. “Nope, I’m an only child.”
Beau frowned and she smiled. “My maw she died when I was real young, and my pa, he never remarried. So I’m alone.”
Her sisters couldn’t be far behind, but she wasn’t about to endanger her family. She’d lie to protect them and hope they rode in and saved her from the Harris gang, but most of all Beau. He was tempting as sin on a Sunday morning. And she was doing her best not to let her heart think about the contours of his muscles and the way he smiled when he was pleased or his large emerald eyes. He was heartache with a side dish of misery.
“Darn shame. We’d go back to Zenith and find your sisters if they’re as pretty as you are.”
She smiled. “Sorry to disappoint you, gentlemen. Tell me about your wives. What can I expect when we get to Crockett?”
Anything to keep them from talking about her or noticing her. Maybe by thinking of home, they would remember their own wives and girlfriends.
William shrugged, his eyes lingering on Annabelle. “Only two of us are married. Now three,” he said, glancing over at Beau. “You’ve never lived in Crockett with the rest of us, have you?”
“No, the time we’ve been together has always been on the trail.”
The discussion swung away from wives and girlfriends. Still, Annabelle didn’t feel any better about the conversation. Why did it seem to revolve around her and Beau just like the outlaws’ gazes seemed to focus on the two of them? A tingly sensation of danger was never far from her.
William laughed, but his smile didn’t reach his cold dark eyes. “Tell me again, what banks you robbed. I’ve forgotten.”
“I told you when I first joined the gang,” Beau said, his voice tough.
“So remind me,” William said. “I want to hear it again.”
“Dublin, Wichita, Fort Griffin, and Tyler. That last one about got me killed. It was either join up with a group of men or die trying to make a living,” Beau said, staring at the fire.
His jaw twitched, and for a moment, she wasn’t certain he was telling the truth. There was something about his story that didn’t seem right. Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Did she want him so badly she hoped this was all just some big misunderstanding?
God, she was a hopeless romantic, and it would serve her well to remember Beau Samuel was a man wanted for robbery. A man she intended to turn in and collect the ransom for, if they made it out of here alive.
“That’s quite a record. How come I’d never heard of you before?”
“I don’t know. A wanted poster is hanging in almost every town I go in, offering a five hundred dollar reward.”
Yet, the Beau she’d come to know was different from the rough and rugged men who sat around the campfire. These men’s eyes were cold. Their dark expressions never changed, and if any man had a sweetheart waiting for him, she’d be surprised. What had made them the cruel, ruthless killers they obviously were?
Maybe she didn’t want to know. Sometimes there were things that were better left alone, and these were the type of men she avoided. Their souls were so damaged only God could salvage them. She prayed Beau could get them out of here before these callous men decided they no longer needed them.
“The wanted poster is in my saddlebags,” Annabelle volunteered and then quickly realized there were other posters besides Beau’s in there. She didn’t need them finding those.
“No, sugar, I used it to start last night’s fire,” Beau said, with a smile that told her he had read her mind.
“That’s right. After that downpour, we couldn’t find any dry kindling.”
“Five hundred. That’s impressive,” William said, an evil grin spread across his face and Annabelle felt a shiver go through her. “That would make a nice haul along with the bank money if we were to turn you in.”
Beau shrugged like it meant nothing, but Annabelle could see the way his body tensed. He was trying to keep calm. It was all she could do to keep from running, jumping on her horse, and riding away. She didn’t like these men. She didn’t want to stay here a moment longer.
“It would. But I figure it’s best we all stay out of jail. That way, no one is spilling the beans about locations and who all is involved in the hold-ups,” he warned.
William picked up a stick and pulled out his knife. In less than a minute, he’d fashioned himself a toothpick. “Keeping information to yourself is always good if you want to live.”
Silence hung dark and heavy around the campfire. Annabelle noticed that one of the men was staring at her more than the others, his dark eyes piercing her as if he’d like nothing better than to knife her. It was almost as if his gaze was stabbing her with his hatred and suspicion.
“Where did you get those peaches?” he finally asked, the frown on his face filled with loathing.
“My pa has peach trees on his farm. He sent them with me for our new home,” she said, trying to keep the nervous tremor out of her voice. Why would he be angry about peaches?
“That farmer we killed last night, he served us canned peaches with our dinner. Those peaches tasted exactly like these.” He spit on the ground at her feet.
Annabelle’s heart skipped a beat, and then she smiled at the man. “Really? I couldn’t tell you the first thing about canning peaches. My pa refused to let me in the kitchen after I burned it down. He did all the cooking, and he loved canning peaches.”
The men around the campfire chuckled.
“You see what you’re getting yourself shackled with, Beau. The woman can’t even cook,” William said, as he pulled out his gun, pointed it at Annabelle, and pulled back the trigger. “Where did you get those peaches, girl?”
Her heart slammed into her chest, and she gasped. Within thirty seconds, anger flooded her. She put her hands on her hips and stared at William’s gun. Her heart was galloping as fast as a racehorse. Her hands were shaking, but she’d hidden them by putting them on her waist.
“Good grief,” she said. “If this is the kind of thanks I get for sharing my pa’s peaches, then I’ll just keep the next jar to myself. What farmer are you talking about?”
Though she’d seen Beau move his hand to his gun, he hadn’t said a word. She glanced at him. His eyes had darkened, and she knew he was angry. If he lost his temper, then they were just as good as dead. Oh, they’d keep him alive until they found the money, but they’d kill her in a second, and he wouldn’t be long afterwards.
William slowly put his gun back in his holster, shook his head, and sighed. “Don’t worry about it. He was a jackass who didn’t want to share his horses. So we took them.”
Annabelle smiled and took a deep breath. “I just hate jackasses. They’re so dumb.”
They’d shot that poor farmer over his horses and then burned his home to the ground. These sadistic savages would just as soon shoot a man if they thought he would betray them. She swallowed, her stomach tight with fear and nausea. Her and Beau were in so much danger.
“Beau, honey, don’t you think it’s time we called it a night? I’m kind of missing the feel of your sweet arms around me,” she said, as she stared at him with a smile. She had to get him to smile or act like nothing was wrong. If he stayed angry, they were going to die.
The men snickered.
“You better take advantage of her wanting to spend the night with you. As soon as the honeymoon is over, she’ll be complaining and pushing you out of bed. Enjoy it while you can,” William said, watching the interaction between the two of them.
Annabelle’s knees were knocking beneath her skirt. She knew she had to appear like she was unafraid, but she didn’t know how much longer she could continue this charade.
Beau stood and walked to Annabelle’s side. “Night, gentleman.” His voice was curt, and he didn’t respond to William.
They walked a short distance from the fire.
“You newlyweds don’t go too far,” William said. “I’m setting up a sentry to keep guard. We don’t need any surprises during the night.”
Annabelle knew the sentry was protecting all of them, but mainly making certain her and Beau didn’t slink off in the night. William may not seem too bright, but he was a cautious man—a man who didn’t leave anything to chance. And he wasn’t about to let her and Beau slip off in the middle of the night. It was a subtle warning, but a warning just the same.
“You can’t get angry,” Annabelle whispered, slipping her arm around his waist as they walked away from the circle of men. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.
Beau’s mouth had a hard edge around it, like he was gritting his teeth. “The man pulled a gun on my wife. What am I suppose to do? Sing and dance?”
“Your make-believe wife.” She watched as a muscle twitched in his jaw. “You pretend nothing is wrong, or we both die. Your choice.”
He made a snarling face at her. “I don’t like anyone threatening what’s mine.”
She laid her hand on his arm and gazed up into his green eyes like he was the man who had stolen her heart. She could be a consummate actress when their lives were on the line. And right now, she knew one wrong move and they’d both be dead.
“Honey,” she said and ran her hand over Beau’s chest, leaning in close. “They’re watching us. They’re making sure we’re a happily married couple who are going to sleep in each other’s arms tonight.”
Together, they made a spectacle of spreading out their one-and-only bedroll.
“That being said, I want you to put a blanket between us tonight. Don’t even think about cuddling up next to me,” she whispered.
“The hell I’m not,” he said, standing close to her ear. “We’re newlyweds. We’d be all over each other like a bear to a honey tree. And there are no extra blankets.”
“But we’re not really married.”
“You have to pretend,” he said, and his lips turned up in a smile.
For a moment, she wanted to double up her fists and hit him, but she knew it wouldn’t look good for a couple of newlyweds to already be fighting.
“Damn you, Beau,” she said real sweetly with a smile on her face. “It’s not nice to throw a woman’s words back at her.”
He laughed softly in her ear. “Do you want to live?”
She nodded, knowing it was true. Her life was ahead of her. She wanted to have a good man’s arms around her, get married, and have a family. Hell, she even wanted to return to the farm and raise her children there and talk to the chickens again. They’d probably stopped laying eggs because she wasn’t there urging them to get their business done.
“Then keep playing the game. We’ve got to convince them we’re a happy married couple.”
“When this is over, I’m going to insist my sisters have my brain examined for being crazy.”