in the firelight. Julia had the insane impulse to run her fingers through those shiny strands to test their thickness and texture.
Where had that ridiculous thought come from? she asked herself. She had just met this man. Because she found him intriguing wasn’t important at the moment.
Julia gave a mental shrug, presuming the shock and turmoil caused by Adam’s ambush this evening had turned her emotions topsy-turvy. That was the only plausible explanation for her curious fascination with the rugged bounty hunter. She wished she possessed his unflappable composure and gunfighting talents so she could resolve the problems facing her.
“Despite this supposed favor I owe your brother, I already have an assignment. I’ll be busy for the next few weeks,” Lone Wolf informed her. “I have a saddlebag full of bench warrants that I picked up from Sheriff Danson this afternoon. I have a long ride to Colorado in the morning to track down the three thieves that robbed one of the banks in Newton, Kansas.”
When he turned away, she grabbed his arm. “You aren’t going anywhere until you come home with me,” she burst out, frantic for his cooperation. “I made a promise to my brother, and I intend to keep it.”
He half turned to stare pointedly at the fingers clamped around his elbow. When she didn’t take the hint and release him, he sent her a steely glance and peeled off her fingers one at a time. “No. I can’t take your assignment until I finish what I’ve started.”
Julia groaned in frustration. Somehow she had to make this man understand that she was desperate and that he had to come with her. Now.
“I watched my brother get bushwhacked this evening. I don’t even know if he’s still alive because he made me promise to fetch Doc Connor, and then come to get you. He insisted that I leave him in the care of our ranch foreman and the other cowboys.”
She stared pleadingly at him. “If this turns out to be my brother’s last request to me, then I intend to honor it. I will make it worth your while if you’ll agree to come with me, as he asked.”
Lone Wolf studied her determined stance. He also marveled at her resilience. He had to admire the woman’s spirit and gumption, even if he did have to turn down the assignment.
Learning that she had been an eyewitness to her brother’s ambush explained her rapid mood swings and fiery behavior. And he was impressed by the way she had pulled herself together and by her relentless attempt to gain his assistance. She had defied danger by riding straight through the wrong side of town and clattering over the bridge to reach his camp.
The thought made him frown disapprovingly.
“You should have swerved around the wrong side of Dodge to reach my camp, even if you were in a rush to find me.” He flashed her a stern glance. “You took one helluva risk. The south side of the tracks is the last place decent folks should be, especially at night. Especially if you are a woman. Even your boy’s clothing is no guarantee against trouble. Don’t do that again.”
He saw her shoulders stiffen, saw her delicate chin tilt upward. “I told you that my brother was bushwhacked.” Her voice wobbled, but to her credit she shored up her jumbled emotions and went on. “I didn’t want to face any delays taking the long way around to reach your camp, because I’m anxious to check on Adam. He wants to hire you until he gets back on his feet.”
He peered into those mesmerizing green eyes and felt himself caving in.
Well hell, he reckoned that she deserved something for all the trouble of looking him up. The least he could do was accompany her back home to check on her wounded brother.
He pivoted on his heels. “Okay, I’ll saddle my horse and make sure you get home safely.”
“Thank you.” Her voice quavered and he thought he heard a muffled sob. “Now I owe you a tremendous favor.”
Chapter Two
A few minutes later, Lone Wolf mounted his piebald pony and watched Julia swing gracefully into her saddle. “Which direction are we heading?” he asked.
When she pointed east he took the lead to use the cross-country shortcut that bypassed town. Considering what a skilled rider she was he didn’t think she would have trouble keeping her seat while moving over the uneven terrain.
“I’m sorry if I seem as much of a nuisance as Harvey Fowler,” she said as she followed behind him. “My brother keeps telling me that I don’t know when to shut up and back off. I didn’t mean to sound so pushy and demanding, but this is very important to me. My brother is all I have left.”
“What’s your name, daredevil?” he asked as he reined his gelding into a rock-strewn ravine.
“Julia Preston. My brother is Adam.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
So, why am I riding off into the night with you? he asked himself bewilderedly. There was no question that he had other places to go, come morning. He could use some shut-eye. But the damnedest thing was that Julia had impressed the hell out of him when she had faced off against that pesky kid. Plus, no one had ever stood up for him before. Ever.
It was that one unexpected deed of courage that refused to let him send her off alone in the darkness. He might have earned the reputation of being the toughest son of a bitch in the state—which was probably the reason her brother wanted to hire him—but he wasn’t so hard-hearted that he could completely disregard a desperate woman.
It was a fact that Julia was the prettiest female he’d ever laid eyes on. Her admirable character traits and strength of will appealed to him as much as her physical attributes. She was pure and wholesome and he found that altogether irresistible.
Nothing would come of his temporary fascination, of course, but she was easy on the eye.
“Just one thing, Miss Preston.” He drew his horse to a slower pace so she could ride beside him.
“What’s that?”
“Although you proved yourself to be daring more than once tonight, don’t plant yourself between me and a potential threat again,” he said. “If that drunken brat named Harvey had decided to draw down on me—with the firearm that he probably didn’t think I saw tucked in the waistband of his breeches—you could have gotten your head blown off. That wouldn’t have done your brother much good.”
Julia sighed heavily. “Sorry. I haven’t been thinking straight since Adam got shot two hours ago.”
She still wasn’t thinking straight, he decided as he studied her shadowed profile. Because of her situation, she was treating him as an equal, a potential friend. Her kind usually regarded him as a second-class citizen and steered clear of him. Ordinarily, he could have cared less, but he had the instinctive feeling Julia was one of a rare breed of woman.
Damn good thing he wasn’t planning to spend more than a couple of hours with her. Even if she was a one-of-a-kind female he had no intention whatsoever of getting emotionally attached. Not to her or anyone else. He had accepted his life for what it was and he was comfortable with it.
He cast his shapely companion a sidelong glance, then decided a short-term diversion wouldn’t hurt before he rode off to Colorado tomorrow.
“How
