she’d become too aware of his physique.
She looked him in the eye. “I don’t mean any disrespect. Honestly, I don’t. It’s just that…well, I’ve spent the past two months feeling terribly frustrated. I’ve done everything the Council has asked of me. I’ve answered a battery of questions. I’ve opened myself completely. Revealed my past. My present. My dreams for the future. I’ve confessed that I’ve spent my whole life building my e-commerce business, maybe to my own detriment since I have no husband or children of my own. I’ve revealed my financial situation. I’ve proved that building commercial Web sites is profitable. I’ve submitted to a physical. I’ve laid out my philosophy of life. I’ve told them all they want to know. I’ve pleaded with them. Told them that I’m willing to change my whole life in order to raise Lily. Explained that losing Amy and David has opened my eyes to what family means. I begged them, Gage, during meeting after meeting. For two long months. Yet they continue to thwart me at every turn.” Her tone grew nearly frantic. “I need some help. I need an ally. And I need one now.”
Suddenly, the sympathy Gage had shown for her situation seemed to have evaporated like morning dew under the heat of the sun. At some point during her explanation of her dealings with the Elders of his tribe—she couldn’t say exactly when—his entire body had gone rigid.
He’d transformed back into the hard-hearted man she’d met the day of the storm. This was the response she’d been expecting when she first thought to seek him out.
“The only reason you came here,” he accused, “is because I’m Indian. You think I can influence the Council in some way.”
Nearby, she heard one of the horses whinny. She didn’t dare break eye contact with Gage. Doing so would send the message that she was somehow ashamed of coming here.
Well, she wasn’t ashamed. Obtaining custody of Lily was her only concern. And she’d face a bevy of Councils to get what she wanted. She’d face one angry Lenape Indian, too.
Her niece needed her. And Jenna needed to raise her sister’s baby.
An ache wrenched her heart when she pondered the notion of forever losing the guardianship of Lily. But Jenna swallowed the pain. She had a cause to plead. And she’d better come up with a damned good argument.
She squared her shoulders. “I’m not going to lie to you, Gage,” she began quietly. “I am here because you’re Native American. Lenape, specifically. David was the only man from Broken Bow that I knew. I’ve done some work for Cheyenne-owned businesses. But I don’t know any of those people well enough to ask for their help now.”
“And you know me?”
“No. No, I don’t. But I’m desperate, Gage. One of the reasons the Council won’t let me have Lily is because I’m white. I might not like the position I find myself in, but I need help from someone of Native American ancestry. Someone from the Lenape tribe. Someone from Broken Bow. And you fit all those criteria.”
His expression turned stormy, and Jenna began to feel the first pangs of hopelessness. But she plowed ahead. “Lily and I need to be together. That baby is all I have left of Amy and David. I’m the only maternal relative Lily’s got left. And David’s parents aren’t able to care for her. Like I said, they haven’t been keeping Lily. She’s been living with the sitter, for goodness’ sake!”
Despite her determination not to look weak, utter frustration made her eyes well. A huge, watery tear rolled down her face. Feeling it tickle her skin, she lifted her hand and dashed it away.
“Please try to understand,” she whispered. “I love that baby!”
The muscles in his jaw constricted. Reaching up, he rubbed his hand over his chin, then scrubbed the back of his neck, his gaze drifting off toward the horizon.
Finally, he turned his gaze to her again. “Jenna, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. It’s just that…” He shook his head and looked away again, dragging his fingers through his long, glossy hair.
His hesitation lifted her spirits the merest fraction. Was there a chance she could make her plan come to fruition? Was there a chance she’d made him grasp the gravity of her situation?
Gage moistened his lips then, riveting Jenna’s gaze to his mouth. She wondered about his kiss. Would it be searing? Would it be sweet? Would it be soft?
A strange current danced through her. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply through her nose, exhaled through her mouth. Anxiety was wreaking havoc on her nervous system, making her entertain the most peculiar thoughts.
“Look, Jenna.”
The intensity of his black eyes jolted her.
“I just don’t see how I can help you. I do understand that you need someone to do something. You need someone—an Indian—to plead your case to the Council. You need someone to stand up for you. But this doesn’t have anything to do with me. It’s none of my business.” He pressed his palm flat against his chest. “I’d give you a character reference. But I don’t even know you.”
Oh, God. He was turning her down. Misery sank in her gut like a lead weight.
“It’s not a character reference I need, Gage.” She might as well come completely clean. What could it hurt at this point? “As I told you, one of the reasons the Council won’t let me have Lily is because I’m white. The other reason is because I’m single.”
Confusion knit his brow. Jenna bit back a frustrated sigh. He still wasn’t getting it. She was going to have to spell it out.
“What I need—” she spoke slowly and succinctly, “—is a husband.”
Chapter Two
Gage gaped at the woman standing before him. Staring was rude. His parents had taught him that long ago. But he couldn’t help it. The request Jenna Butler had made shocked the words right out of him and made him forget good manners.
“You’re looking at me like I’m nuts,” she said. “My idea isn’t all that crazy, you know.”
Nuts. Crazy. Perfect adjectives to describe her and her suggestion.
“For weeks, the Council has used my ethnicity as an excuse for why I can’t have Lily.”
Nervous agitation had her clenching and unclenching her fists. Gage could tell she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.
“I met with them last week. And that’s when they claimed that if I were to take her from Broken Bow,” she continued, “and raise her in the ‘white world,’ as they put it, that Lily would lose touch with her Native American heritage, that she’d forget who she is and where she came from. That she’d forget she was Delaware. I promised them I wouldn’t let that happen. But evidently, they don’t believe me.”
Gage’s gaze strayed over her lovely face. Her features were delicate—gracefully arched eyebrows, thick lashes framing almond-shaped eyes, a pert little nose. Her pale skin glowed with the iridescence of moonlight, fresh and shimmery. The noonday sun burnished her shoulder-length auburn hair, the ends curling softly and resting against the topmost part of her full, rounded breasts.
Awareness tightened deep in his belly and
