'Not on your life, Lieutenant!' she protested. But he touched his lips
to hers again, sweeping her swiftly into realms she was just beginning
to discover, then righting her just as quickly and dropping his arms. He
cast his arm out, indicating the trail.
'After you, Miss. Stuart. I will always wait.'
'You'll wait until you're old and gray!' she snapped. She was jealous,
she thought. Anguished. It was painful to care like this, so deeply and
so quickly.
He smiled serenely.
'Will I?'
She managed to return the smile.
'Not all women are like Miss. Eliza, Lieutenant.'
'No? I had rather thought that they were--at heart.'
'You're mistaken.'
'Maybe you're mistaken. Maybe most women are hypocrites.'
'Oh, you are impossiblev' Tess cried. She swung around and began to
stride angrily toward the wagon.
But before she could reach the break in the bushes, he had pulled her
back.
She started to snap something to him, but the words caught in her throat
when his smoky gaze fell upon her.
'Tess, you are different.'
'Different from what?'
He smiled.
'From any other woman I have met,' he said softly.
Then he stepped past her and preceded her to the camp fire Jori had
burning with a welcoming warmth and light.
Chapter Six.
The delicious aroma of cooking was already filling the air as Tess
stepped toward the fire. She inhaled deeply as she tried to dispel her
immediate memories of Lieutenant Slater. The fire had been set in the
center of the clearing. A small animal roasted on a spit atop it. Jon,
on his haunches, turned the spit. On a bed of hot rocks surrounding the
fire sat a coffeepot.
Dolly was coming from the wagon with tin plates, and with mugs for the
coffee. She smiled at Tess.
'Rabbit! A nice, plump brown rabbit. Jon caught and skinned that thing
in minutes flat. I do declare, he's a fine provider!'
'Yes, he is,' Tess said, smiling at Jon. She strode past him and
daintily swept her skirts beneath her to sink upon the ground. Jamie was
coming across the clearing toward them, too. He sat beside her.
'You caught a big one,' Jamie acknowledged.
'Good.'
'We need some water for this coffeepot,' Dolly said.
'I'll get it,' Jamie and Tess volunteered simultaneously. 'Fine, you get
it,' Tess said.
'No, you can go.'
'But, Lieutenant' -- 'Jori, give me the damned pot, will you?' Jamie
said.
He started toward the brook, then paused, looking back.
