group of men speechless. Whiskered jaws dropped. Eyes popped. Weapons sagged in the men’s hands. In synchronized motion, the would-be settlers’ stunned gazes swung to Tremain, who stared at her with that poker-faced expression he wore so well.
“Your fiancé?” the crowd crowed in unison.
“That’s right,” she confirmed, as she turned her back on them and walked up to Tremain. “My fiancé.”
She cast him a please-don’t-deny-it stare, then slipped her hand into his before she pivoted to face the baffled men. She noted that Muriel had arrived on the scene, along with another dozen men. The recent arrivals looked as shocked by the announcement as the first group.
Muriel didn’t appear the least bit surprised, however. She stifled a grin of wry amusement and hung back from the congregation of men.
“That true, horse trader?” someone called from the middle of the crowd. “You proposed and she accepted your offer over everybody else’s?”
Josie held her breath, wondering if Tremain planned to humiliate her in front of their captive audience, or play along with her impulsive announcement.
“Didn’t she just say so?” he asked, his deep, resonant voice carrying over the crowd.
She nearly swooned in relief, but tried her damnedest not to let her reaction show. Her relief turned to amusement when the men quickly switched their attention to Muriel, who flung up both hands and said, “Don’t look at me as a potential wife. I accepted Commander Holbrook’s proposal an hour ago, while we were riding.” She flashed a beaming smile. “Josie and I are planning a double wedding after the land run.”
Beside Josie, Tremain leaned down as if to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. “Are you proposing to me? Isn’t that unconventional in white society?”
“Where is it written that a woman can’t propose?” she challenged quietly.
“Nowhere I know. It’s what I’d expect from a misfit like you … so I accept.”
He draped his arm over her shoulder, drawing her closer. Ordinarily, she was inclined to step away when a man crowded her. She’d learned early on not to accept displays of affection, because suitors always wanted more than she intended to give. Oddly enough, however, she didn’t object to Tremain’s feigned interest. She felt safe and protected after her run-in with the foul-smelling drunkard, who would have molested her if Tremain hadn’t shown up when he did.
“Does Holbrook know he recently became engaged?” Tremain murmured against the side of her neck, causing goose bumps to pebble her skin.
“I don’t know,” she replied, her voice a little on the unsteady side. “Muriel and I didn’t have a chance to discuss anything privately. Four men approached the minute we dismounted in camp.”
“You know this is going to cost you, don’t you?” Tremain whispered devilishly. “Muriel, too, I suspect.”
“How much, Tremain?” Josie asked, when she saw the wicked gleam in his sea-green eyes and the ornery grin twitching his lips. “I’m saving my funds for improvements on my homestead, if I manage to stake one.”
“We’ll work something out, trust me.”
She flashed a smile for the benefit of the attentive males watching their every move. Then she said in a low voice, “Just so you know, I don’t trust any man’s intentions….”
Her voice trailed off when Tremain’s raven head came slowly and deliberately toward hers, as if giving notice that he was going to kiss her in front of God and everyone watching. Not only that, but he was staking his claim on her. Josie waited, unsure if she wanted to know how he tasted, to know if he kissed the same way he fought—roughly and forcefully.
“You’re a smart woman not to trust a man’s motives,” he murmured, his lips a hairbreadth from hers. “I myself don’t trust anyone’s motives, yours included. Just so you know …”
Then he kissed her, satisfying her curiosity—and stirring something wild and hungry deep inside her. She hadn’t expected tenderness from a man who had reminded her of the flapping buzzard of doom a quarter of an hour earlier. Yet tenderness was what she received from Solomon Tremain. Though he was amazingly gentle, molten fire simmered beneath the surface. It seeped into her blood, bringing it to a quick boil, triggering white-hot sensations she hadn’t wanted—or expected—to feel.
She didn’t realize she had curled her arm around his neck to inch closer until she was there, enjoying the feel of his powerful body meshed familiarly against hers. She found herself wanting something she couldn’t explain, and until this very moment hadn’t realized existed.
Josie was sorry to admit she was dazed, dumbfounded and aroused by the gentler side of Solomon Tremain. Desire thrummed through her, raising her temperature another ten degrees. When he lifted his head and let loose a dimpled smile, it knocked her for another loop … until he looked over her head at the crowd of men and grinned in cocky male triumph.
“And you are going to pay for that, Tremain,” she warned as she tossed him a smile for appearance’s sake.
“Then we will have to owe each other, won’t we, blue eyes?” he murmured huskily.
He dropped a featherlight kiss on her lips, then stepped away to quick-march her assailant to camp. The rescue squad fell in behind him, leaving the two friends alone together.
“Well,” Muriel said. “I hope this scheme of yours doesn’t blow up in our faces.” She stared curiously at Josie. “What did Tremain say when you proposed to him?”
“I didn’t actually propose.” Josie shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other and avoided her direct stare. “It just sort of popped out of my mouth that he was my fiancé, after my ordeal with the drunkard.”
Muriel gasped in amazement. “You gave him no warning? Just blurted it out in front of everyone?”
Josie nodded her tousled head. “You and I discussed the possibility this morning. Tonight seemed the perfect time to set the plan in motion,” she reasoned. “The news will buzz around camp this evening and tomorrow we can enjoy some peace and quiet. For once.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have yielded to the same reckless impulse,” Muriel said worriedly. “Now I have to ride out to the garrison at night to confer with Holbrook … and face possible rejection. The captain might not play along the way Mr. Tremain did.”
“You could send Tremain to propose for you,” Josie suggested.
Her friend’s shoulders slumped in relief and she bobbed her head. “I hope he’ll agree to speak in my stead, because I’d rather not face Holbrook. I hope your pretend fiancé can square it with mine.” There was a long pause as she stared anxiously at Josie in the gathering twilight. “Do you think we might have acted too irrationally with this scheme of desperation?”
“Most likely,” Josie admitted. “But what’s done is done. Hopefully, we have resolved the problem of so many unwanted proposals.”
Her friend inhaled a bracing breath, squared her shoulders, then spun on her heel. “I’ll go ask Tremain to be the bearer of surprising news.”
