Give Me Tonight

times. But how, how could Ben have done it? There must be two men living in his skin.

'Look over there,' Caroline said, and Addie saw a rider approaching them at an easy canter. Even before she saw his face, she knew it was Ben by the familiar tilt of his low-crowned felt hat. The front of the brim was angled low over his forehead in a way that meant business. Only a tenderfoot or a dandy wore his hat on the back of his head.

Ben rode his horse parallel to the buggy and slowed to a walk, touching the brim of his hat in a respectful gesture as he nodded to Addie and Caroline. 'Well, if it isn't the two prettiest women in Texas.'

'Hello,' Caroline said, smiling sunnily, while Addie pretended interest in the scenery on the other side of the buggy. 'What are you up and about this mornin', Ben?'

'Work as usual.' He smiled raffishly. 'But if I had the time, I'd take you to town myself and buy you the tallest glasses of lemonade you've ever seen. '

A full-blown simper appeared on Caroline's face in less than five seconds. 'Oh, you slick- tongued rascal. Isn't he a honey, Adeline?'

Addie turned her head to regard Ben impassively. He looked impossibly virile, clad in the standard uniform of Levi's, boots, and a worn shirt. The sunlight glowed in his eyes and along the edges of his cheekbones. He was one of the few men on the ranch who shaved every day, but his beard was so dark there was always a shadow of bristle on the lower half of his face. She wondered how his jaw would feel against her fingertips-smooth in one direction, sandpapery in the other. It was part of what made him so dangerous, his vibrant attractiveness. Why couldn't he have been ugly?

'Aren't you supposed to be working?' she asked curtly.

'Adeline, how rude,' Caroline said in protest.

'Well, around this time he's usually roping, dehorning, or debogging something. Are you taking a rest today, Mr. Hunter?'

Ben smiled and reached in his shirt pocket to pull out a white slip of paper. He handed it to the cowboy at the front of the buggy. 'Watts, this is a list of supplies for you to pick up in town. Just charge them to the General Store account.'

' Alrighty.' Watts pocketed the list.

'Mrs. Ward,' Ben said to Caroline, 'it's going to be a hot day. Are you sure you're up to it?' Which was a tactful way of referring to her pregnancy. As he addressed Caroline, his manner was so friendly and concerned that Addie was surprised and perhaps even a little resentful. He never behaves that way with me. He was always mocking her. Just once I'd like him to ask me something in that tone of voice!

'I'm just fine, thank you,' Caroline replied, daintily twirling the silk-wrapped handle of her sage-green parasol. 'Just eager for a change of scenery. Don't worry 'bout me.'

'In that case, I'll be getting back to work. But I have to leave you with a warning, Mrs. Ward.'

'Oh?'

'Keep a close eye on your sister. She's mighty hard to keep track of in town. She'll disappear before you can blink twice.'

'Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't,' Addie said. 'It depends on the people I'm with.'

Ben smiled sardonically while his eyes made a thorough study of her. He noticed the hat perched on top of her piled-up hair, a frilly little hat decorated with artificial strawberries and pale pink netting. Slowly his gaze wandered from the little white collar of her dusty rose princess dress to the rows of tiny folds that demurely emphasized the fullness of her breasts.

There was a spark of challenge in her eyes and disdain in her expression. Did she know when she looked at a man like that, it made him want to tame her? If the two of them had been alone together that very minute, he might have shown her a remedy for her haughtiness.

Knowing herself to be the object of such an overt inspection made Addie indignant and strangely warm. She forced herself to stare right back at him, her eyes dark and velvety above her pinkening cheeks. A lock of hair, the glistening color of brown sugar, blew across her face, and slowly she reached up to pull it aside. It was a purely feminine gesture, unconsciously alluring. And Ben was aware of that, as he was aware of everything about her. Every move she made set something alight in him, like flame and dry tinder. It filled him with powerful consternation.

Women had never been a mystery to him. He was the kind of man who instinctively understood a woman's needs, and he'd always made good use of that knowledge. An impudent girl just out of her teens shouldn't be able to have this effect on him. But Adeline was a mystery, and he was drawn to her even as he resented her hold on him.

'I'll see you later,' he said abruptly. 'Behave yourselves.'

'We'll try,' Addie replied, her voice withering, and she and Ben exchanged an unsmiling glance before he touched his hat and rode off.

'He's quite a man,' Caroline murmured, watching Ben's departure with admiring eyes. 'If I weren't married, I just might have given the women of Falls County a run for their money.'

'I don't think he'd want a respectable woman.'

'I've heard he visits a woman in Blue Ridge pretty regular.'

“ A lonesome widow?' Addie asked sarcastically.

'I don't know. That's a good question. Do you suppose-'

'I don't care to suppose anything about him. We've got better things to talk about. '

They changed the subject and began to discuss other things, and their animated conversation lasted throughout the day. They had a pleasant time in town, shopping and talking to people they passed on the sidewalk. After her initial shyness, Addie discovered she and Caroline had a similar sense of humor, as well as a similar way of looking at things. It became much easier to think of Caroline as her sister.

They could talk comfortably about almost anything, even the most private matters. With each minute they spent together, Addie felt herself confiding more and more. When they arrived back at the ranch, they were still deep in conversation, and they decided to sit in the front-porch swing, unwilling to go inside just yet.

'I don't see Ben anywhere around here,' Caroline said, her eyes twinkling. 'Guess it's safe to stay around you a little longer.'

'What do you mean?' Addie rested her feet on the porch while the swing rocked and creaked gently.

'Only that my nerves are frazzled whenever you're near each other.'

'Why?'

'Why? Because I'm always ready for an explosion between you and Ben. You were terribly rude to him this momin', Adeline. And the way he looked at you why, I'm surprised your hat didn't catch on fire!'

Addie laughed. 'He was just trying to intimidate me by glaring.'

'No, that wasn't glaring.' Cautiously Caroline glanced around and lowered her voice. 'That was looking. Peter used to look at me like that before we were married. Believe me, there's no doubt about it. Ben's taken with you.'

'Don't be silly. I'll admit he likes to argue with me, but-'

'He'd like to do more than argue with you. I tell you, Adeline, if you tried bein' nice to him once in a while, you'd have him eatin' out of your hand.'

'I don't want him eating out of my hand. I don't want him anywhere near me. '

'This isn't the first time I've noticed him lookin' at you like that, either. I've seen it before today.'

Addie's nonchalance dissolved rapidly. 'You have?'

'Mmmn-hmmn.'

Suddenly Addie was intensely curious. Underneath his sarcasm and coolness, did Ben really harbor some kind of romantic interest in her? The thought should have appalled her, but somehow she was