her, so she approached him, peering down at his prone body.
“A lady doesn’t swear,” he said, groaning again.
“And a man doesn’t fly around a room. I suggest you explain that particular magic trick before I decide to call the law on you, buddy,” she said sternly. “And don’t you dare tell me not to swear!”
He tried to sit up, but failed. “No law. Please.”
Well, she wouldn’t call the law on him—not yet—but she didn’t want him doing that weird levitation again. “Hey, do you want a drink of water?”
“Just take care of the baby,” he said quietly. And then passed out.
“Of all the nerve!” Auburn stared at both of them, sleeping like, well, babies, and a little pity slid into her heart. The man was too big to sleep on the tiny rental furniture, and he was pretty tangled up in that duster. He couldn’t be comfortable. Carefully, she tugged his legs off the sofa so that he was on his back, hanging over one edge, sure, but at least he wasn’t in a ball any longer. “You’re weird,” she told him, but he didn’t move. So she dragged the blanket and comforter off her bed and settled down on the floor beside the sofa next to the baby. “You have a scary daddy,” she told Rose, but the funny thing was, Auburn wasn’t really afraid of Dillinger anymore.
She was afraid for him.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER THE sound of knocking startled Auburn awake. If she hadn’t been deeply asleep, she might have thought twice about opening the door, but she was operating on autopilot. She woke up in a hurry when the security guard peered at her.
“You left your car lights on,” he said. “Thought you might want to know.” His gaze widened as he caught sight of the cowboy on her sofa and the baby on the floor.
“Yes, thank you,” Auburn said, hastily trying to close the door. “I’ll take care of it right now.”
He was mentally cataloging the strange scene in her living room. This was trouble, since she didn’t want any details left behind for an ex-fiancé, who surely had people looking for her. “Thank you,” she said again, more curtly this time, and closed the door.
Locking it, she took a deep breath. Closed her eyes. Wondered why simply running out on a bad idea like a wedding had to be so worrying. She should never have said yes in the first place, should never have allowed her parents to make her feel that she had to find her Prince Charming.
“What are you afraid of?” Dillinger asked, and Auburn jumped.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” she said, grabbing her keys from her purse. “What makes you say such a silly thing?”
He sat up, shrugged. “Just seems that I’m not the only one with secrets.”
“No, but you are the only one who can make himself spin around in the air.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She gazed at him. “Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
She circled a finger in the air. “Your levitation trick.”
He gave her a strange look, as if he figured she was crazy. “I’ve been asleep on the sofa.”
He didn’t remember. Chills ran over Auburn’s skin. Yet she hadn’t imagined it. “I’m going to go turn off my car lights. Then you and I should probably talk.”
Shrugging again, he pulled his hat low over his face. She took that as a masculine sign of agreement and left to turn off the car lights before her battery died. A dead car was the last thing she needed, because she had a prickly sensation that it was time to hit the road.
The only question left was whether she took companions with her or left them to their own confused journey.
She wasn’t sure she could do that to little Rose.
Chapter Three
Dillinger watched the woman walk out the door to go fix her automobile—or so she said. He wasn’t sure what the petite fireball was up to—maybe she thought she could make him think he was insane with that weird conversation about him flying around—but a woman like that begged for caution. Her quick, soft conversation with the man who’d come to the door worried him, and he hadn’t missed the gleam in her eyes when she glanced at Rose. If there was ever a lady looking for a baby, Auburn was it. It showed in her concern, and her careful handling and her distrust of him. He wouldn’t trust him, either, baby or not—but he could feel her longing for the infant like a man longed for peace and quiet. And she was on the run, another reason he didn’t trust her. Everybody had something to hide—he did, too—but a woman who was used to running might just decide to run with his precious bundle.
He’d looked into the eyes of thieves many a time. They carried a hungry, focused, almost desperate aura, all the while trying to fool you with their calm. He was in a strange place, with things he didn’t recognize all around him. All he knew was that he had to protect the one thing he had with him, which seemed to have brought him here, if he ever hoped to get back home again, home to his ranch and to the memories of Polly. Carefully, he wrapped up Rose’s things in a sack he found in Auburn’s kitchen, snuggled the baby in his arms and slipped out the door.
“Hey!”
He heard Auburn’s sweet-toned voice, tinged with some anxiety. She was at the elevator, not gone long enough to get to her car.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Leaving,” he said, deciding one of them had to be honest. “We’re in your way.”
“Not more than anything else,” Auburn said. “Please don’t go.”
That shocked him. He’d expected a protest from her, but not a gentle request. “We need to.”
“You don’t even know where you’re going, do you?”
He didn’t. Why admit it? “Rose and I will do fine.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, and he hardened his heart.
“You don’t really need to. We only just met you. You’re not our problem. I mean, we’re not your problem.”
She cocked her head. “You’re not a problem, really. Something’s wrong.”
The confusion in her pretty eyes was very alluring. When she wasn’t dolled up, and when she showed her soft side like this, she was quite fetching. She might not have Polly’s innocent beauty, but was enticing nonetheless. Dillinger didn’t let himself recognize the sudden stab of unwelcome attraction he felt for the woman.
“It’s better this way.” He wanted to walk past her to the elevator, to get away before Rose awakened and needed another bottle, but part of him seemed stuck to the floor.
“Hey,” Auburn said, her voice soft, “I really need you.”
His brows raised of their
