delightful,” he murmured close to her ear as he carried her to his horse and gently put her sideways in the saddle. Mounting up behind her, he shifted her so her bottom was partly cushioned against his thigh.
“It’ll have to do until we get back,” Jack said when Hallie gave an awkward wriggle and winced.
She nodded, not looking at him. She could hardly tell him it wasn’t the pain in her backside making her uncomfortable now, but the closeness to him. With her bottom snuggled up against his thigh and his arm firmly around her waist, holding her against his chest, she was more disturbed by the intimacy of their position than by the cactus pricks, in a way she’d never expected.
The feel of him against her gave her an unsettling sort of pleasure. She liked it. And at the same time, as the horse started a slow lope across the grass, she wanted to get away from him and the rhythmic press and slide of his body against hers. It didn’t make any sense, but right now she hurt too much to try to figure it out.
One thing was for sure, she didn’t need any more trouble, of any kind. But living with Jack Dakota, she had the feeling that was exactly what she was going to get.
Chapter Four
In all Hallie’s memory, the ride back to the ranch house had never seemed so long. With each step Jack’s horse took, a different part of her body reacted.
“Not much farther.” Jack’s low voice rumbled against her ear. “How are you doing?”
Hallie shifted, not sure which demanded more of her attention, the unforgiving saddle leather or the rub of his thigh against her backside. “I never knew sitting in a saddle could feel like torture.”
“Ah, well, try riding for two weeks straight with only a few hours sleep every day.”
“Mmm, that sounds like a story,” Hallie said, glancing over her shoulder at him. “Take some poor fool’s last dollar only to find out he had brothers, did you?”
Jack laughed. “Something like that. Let’s just say it’s hard to live on your luck for so many years without a few close calls.”
Letting herself relax a little, Hallie found it easier on her bottom to lean against Jack’s chest. He made it hard not to like him when he was doing his best to be accommodating. And the new feeling he gave her—of being protected, even coddled a little—Hallie discovered she didn’t mind so much.
She could even get used to it. “Tell me your story, would you?”
“It’s not much of a tale. It happened when I was too green and too full of myself to know when to bury my aces instead of laying ’em down. That was the first time I took Redeye Bill Barlow’s winnings, and if he’d caught up with me it would’ve been my last.”
“You knew Redeye before?”
Jack didn’t realize his arms had tightened around her until Hallie wriggled a bit. He forced himself to relax his hold on her. “Longer than I want to remember.”
She thought about that for a minute, and Jack wondered if she’d push him to say something more. Instead, she surprised him by murmuring, “I hope Serenity doesn’t need help with supper. Standing at that stove doesn’t sound too appealing right now.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Hal, I’ll help her, if it comes to that.”
“You?” Hallie started laughing. “Are you asking me to believe you found time to learn to cook between women and games?”
“Don’t insult my cooking until you taste it.” Jack paused a moment, then added in a voice he deliberately kept light, “My pa wasn’t one to cook for or keep up with a boy he thought was old enough to fend for himself. I’ve got many talents that might surprise you.”
“Rolling dice doesn’t count.”
“I’ll have you know, darlin’, I’ve had my share of respectable jobs in my time.”
“This I would like to hear,” Hallie said, deliberately teasing him because she wanted to know more about him. She’d pegged him as sweet-talking and shallow. But from the few things he’d said about his past, she was beginning to get a different picture of him.
He’d managed to smooth over and bury a good part of himself beneath layers of fine manners and fancy clothes. Except once in a while, the boy in him showed through, and Hallie guessed it was a boy with a rough and unstable start in life, perhaps much like his own son.
She closed her eyes a moment to concentrate on the rise and fall of his chest against her back, a pang of sympathy pricking her heart. There was more to Jack Dakota than met the eye, that was for certain.
“Let’s see,” he was saying, “I worked in a mercantile for a few months, I washed dishes in a restaurant and I played piano in several hotels. You should hear my rendition of ‘Old Coon Zip.’”
“To do that, you and I would have to pay a visit to the Silver Snake.”
Jack leaned over to look at her. “Do I want to know why?”
Hallie sighed and fingered a frayed edge of leather on the reins. “You know Lila Lee,” she said, referring to the woman who owned the saloon. “I sold her my ma’s piano after Pa died. She’s sweet on Tenfoot, so I got a good price.”
Jack didn’t have to ask why. He knew Hallie had scraped together every dollar she had to try and buy Eden’s Canyon back from the bank. It was obvious from the empty places in the sprawling ranch house that she’d sold most everything but the clothes on her back to pay off her father’s debts.
He knew from the gossip in town that Jim Ryan had lost his money and his ranch at the card tables. It was no wonder Hallie resented Jack, a professional gambler, buying Eden’s Canyon out from under her.
Ace lurched sideways over a patch of rough ground and Hallie grabbed for the pommel to keep her balance.
At once, Jack’s arm swept around her waist, pulling her up out of the saddle and hard against him. His forearm brushed the underside of her breasts as Ace found his footing again.
Hallie angled herself away from Jack the moment she felt she wouldn’t fall out of the saddle. The last thing she needed right now was more of his touch.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “Sorry, I didn’t see that coming.”
“It’s not your fault. And the damage can’t get any worse at this point.”
“It will if you don’t stay off your feet for a while.”
Hallie’s shoulders shifted. “Serenity can’t do everything. Besides, I’ve had my share of scrapes and bruises. They never stopped me from doing what needed to get done.”
“You’re a damned stubborn female, Hallie Ryan,” Jack said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“Stubborn I’ve been called many a time,” Hallie agreed. “Female’s the part they usually leave out.”
She expected Jack to come back with some teasing retort. Instead his arm around
