Eve twisted aside, all but falling to the ground as she pulled free of Reno’s knowing hands.
«No!»
For a few tense moments, Eve thought Reno was going to pull her right back onto his lap. Then he let out an explosive breath that was also a curse.
«It’s just as well, gata. If I keep touching you, I’ll have you.» He shrugged. «I don’t want to take my fancy lady into my sister’s home.»
Eve drew her jacket together with fingers that shook, but it was anger, not passion.
«That won’t be a problem, now or later,» Eve said.
«What?»
«My being your fancy lady.»
Reno’s eyelids flinched at the bitterness in her voice, but all he said was, «Going back on your word so soon?»
Eve’s head came up and her eyes burned as hotly as the fire.
«I agreed that you could try to seduce me,» she said tightly. «I didn’t guarantee your success.»
«Oh, I’ll succeed,» he drawled. «And you’ll be helping me every inch of the way. It will be the most fun you ever had paying off a debt.»
The white flash of Reno’s smile infuriated Eve.
«Don’t count on it, gunman. No girl wants a man who makes her feel like a slut.»
6
The change that came over Reno when he rode into the wide valley where Caleb and Willow made their home astonished Eve. The narrowed eyes and predatory alertness dropped away from him, revealing a man who was relaxed and quick to smile. She had thought Reno to be over thirty; now she decided he was years younger and worlds less hard.
Reno’s transformation alone was enough to make the valley appeal to Eve, but there was more. The setting itself was exceptionally beautiful, for the valley was open rather than crowded between towering mountain flanks. A silver-blue river glittered between banks graced by cottonwood trees. On the far side of the wide, lush valley, a cluster of mountain peaks rose in stark grandeur against a sapphire sky.
The snake-back rail fences that divided part of the valley into pastures looked as though they were only a season or two old. Fat cattle grazed calmly as Eve and Reno rode by, followed by the three packhorses. From a nearby pasture, a muscular red stallion trumpeted a call and galloped over to the visitors with his tail raised like a banner.
As the stallion approached, Whitefoot flicked his ears uneasily and stepped up his pace to hurry past. Reno’s mare wasn’t the least bit worried. She lifted her head to whinny an enthusiastic greeting to the red horse.
«Not this year, Darlin’,» Reno said, smiling as he reined in the dancing mare. «You’re the best dry-country horse I’ve ever had. Time enough for you to have Ishmael’s colts after I’ve found Spanish gold.»
Darlin’ chewed the bit resentfully, snorted, and made a halfhearted attempt to unload her rider.
Laughing, Reno rode out the mare’s displeasure with the same deceptively lazy ease he did so many things. Then he spurred Darlin’ lightly, sending her galloping up to the big log house where a woman wearing a white blouse and a full green skirt was just running out into the yard.
«Matt?» she called out to the rapidly approaching rider. «Is that you?»
«It’s me, Willy,» Reno said.
He reined the mare to a dancing stop and added dryly, «If it weren’t, Cal would have emptied Darlin’s saddle while we were admiring your Arabian stallion.»
«That’s a fact,» Caleb said, stepping out from the house.
«Still being bothered by Comancheros?» Reno asked, noting the rifle in the other man’s hands.
Caleb shrugged. «Drifters, Comancheros, gold hunters. Even had a pack of lords and ladies through while you were gone. Country’s getting too damn crowded in the summertime.»
«Lords and ladies, huh? Bet Wolfe didn’t think much of that.»
«Wolfe and Jessi weren’t here,» Willow said. «They’re still out seeing the sights.»
Reno smiled. If he had been Wolfe, he would have done the same thing-taken his beautiful young bride off in the wilderness and spent a lot of time alone.
«We heard they were over to the west,» Willow continued, «somewhere down in that maze of stone canyons. Jessi swore the honeymoon wouldn’t end until she had seen all of Wolfe’s favorite hideaways.»
«Maybe I’ll run into them in the red rock desert,» Reno said. «What about Rafe? Is he back yet?»
Willow shook her head, making her blond hair gleam in the high-country sunlight.
«He’s still off yondering, looking for a way through the canyon Wolfe told him about, the one so wide and so deep only the sun can cross it,» Willow said.
«How old is that news?»
«Just last week,» Willow said. «A drifter who had met him on the Rio Verde stopped by here yesterday.»
«He was after some of Willow’s biscuits,» Caleb added wryly. «Said he’d been told they were worth riding a hundred miles out of his way to get.»
«Damn,» Reno muttered. «I was hoping to sign Rafe on for a little gold hunting.»
Willow looked from her brother to the packhorses and the slender rider who were just now coming into the yard.
«Did you hire a boy to help you?» she asked.
The change in Reno’s expression was noted instantly by Caleb.
«Not quite,» Reno said. «That’s my, uh, partner.»
Eve was dose enough to hear Reno’s words. She reined her tired horse next to his and took over the introductions that he was plainly reluctant to make.
«My name is Eve Starr,» she said quietly. «You must be Reno’s sister.»
Willow’s cheeks pinked and she laughed. «Oh, my. I’m sorry, Miss Starr. Yes, I’m Willow Black, and I should know better than to assume everything in pants is a male. Jessi and I both wear pants when we ride.»
Caleb looked at the worn, ruffled gambler’s blouse and faded black twill pants on Eve, and knew that he would never have mistaken her for a man. There was something too essentially feminine about the shape beneath the loose clothes for any man to mistake it.
«I’m Caleb Black,» he said to Eve. «Get down and come inside. The trail over the Great Divide is long and hard on a woman.»
«Yes, do get down,» Willow said quickly. «It’s been months since I had a woman to talk to.»
Willow’s generous, welcoming smile was like a balm on Eve’s pride. Her answering smile included Caleb, who was as big as Reno but seemed a good deal more gentle, especially when he was smiling as he was now.
«Thank you,» Eve said. «It was a long ride.»
«Don’t get too comfortable,» Reno said curtly as she dismounted. «We’re only staying long enough for you to switch horses.»
Caleb’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the tension just beneath the other man’s calm voice, but he said nothing.
As always, Willow said what was on her mind.
«Matthew Moran, where are your manners? Not to mention your common sense!»
«Someone might be following us,» Reno said. «I don’t want to bring him down on you.»
«Jericho Slater?» Caleb guessed.
Reno looked surprised.
«Men don’t have much to talk about out here except other men,» Caleb said dryly. «One of my riders has a Comanchero, er, friend. Her brother is Slater’s tracker.»
«Not much gets by you, does it?» Reno muttered. «Yes, it’s probably Slater on my trail.»
