you?”
That stopped him cold.
“I was worried sick about you,” she said. “I had to come.”
Her big, golden, long-lashed eyes met his. Again he noted the raindrops glistening like diamonds in her red hair. Most of all he fixated on that single sparkle that clung to the tip of her cute, upturned nose. She was wearing lipstick and eyeliner for a change.
“If you’re looking to get yourself seduced, little girl, follow cowboys like me home and then throw yourself at them.”
“You’re not like that, and we both know it. You’re nice.”
“Nice? You don’t have the gumption God gave a horsefly. Guys aren’t nice. They’re all out to get you.”
“Where’s Spot?”
“At the house.”
Her teeth chattered, and she rubbed her arms to warm herself.
“If your daddy catches us together here, he’ll get one of his bought-off judges to railroad me into some prison until I’m old and gray. Come back when you’re eighteen.”
“What if some other girl…like Wendy Harper gets you before then?”
He didn’t answer.
“I’m all wet and cold. You could offer me a blanket or your shirt or something.” She swallowed a quick breath, and he realized she was even more nervous than he was. Then she picked up the damp shirt that hung on the back of his chair and slipped her arms through the sleeves. When the long sleeves dangled many inches longer than her hands, she began to roll them up.
“Why can’t you ever do what you’re told?”
“Because then I don’t get what I want.” She paused, pulling his shirt close against her body. “Can I help it if I grew up spoiled instead of with a great big chip on my shoulder weighing me down?”
“What if I grabbed you and snapped you against my chest? What if I gave you a kiss or two, would you leave me alone then and go chase somebody closer to your age?”
She straightened up to face him. Beaming brightly, she puckered her lips. “Cross my heart and swear to die.”
“You’re hopeless. Girls are supposed to let the guy do the chasin’,” he said.
“That’s stupid. You’d never chase me.”
“You’re too young.”
“When I’m all grown up, eighteen, would you really want…”
“You’re a Kemble.”
“Kiss me,” she whispered in a low, hypnotic tone. “If my daddy runs you off like he said he would, this might be my last chance. Then I’d have to live my whole life without knowing…what you’re like.”
Hardly knowing what he did, he strolled closer, leaned down and pecked her cheek lightly with his lips. The kiss accomplished, he intended to jump free. “There. Now go!”
“That’s not the kind of kiss I meant, and you know it!”
Her gentle hands circled his wide shoulders, and she seemed to melt into him as she clung tightly. Even as he fought to loosen her grip, he heated where her warm breath brushed his cheek. He noticed that her damp body, although slim and petite, nestled against his huge frame, felt more like a woman’s body than a child’s. Damn her hide, she was a perfect fit.
His heart thudded painfully. He should burn in hell for this alone.
“On the lips,” she pleaded. “Kiss me like you kissed Wendy at the rodeo.”
“You little spy!”
“Just once—please.”
He yanked himself loose. Still, he admired the way she went after what she wanted. Nothing had ever been handed to him, either.
She put her hand to her cheek. “My skin burns where you…”
It was the damnedest, most unaccountable thing, but his lips burned from the chaste kiss he’d given her.
One taste of her sweet, velvet skin had rocked him. She was innocent but willing and utterly, utterly adorable.
He wished he was ten years younger so he could crush her close and not feel like he was Satan’s spawn.
He couldn’t stand another second of this, so he stomped out of the house and stood on his porch and watched it rain.
She raced after him.
“Now you really have to go,” he said roughly. “You promised.”
She shook her head. “That was only if you kissed me on the mouth.” Her voice fell so softly, he had to strain to hear it over the downpour.
Being protective of a Kemble was not a role he felt comfortable with. Not when she was so all-fired beautiful.
“Mia—”
When he turned and saw her backlighted by the porch lamp, he had to remind himself again she was jailbait. Standing there in her wet dress with her big eyes fastened on his mouth, she personified fresh, young sensuality and femininity.
“Go,” he said.
“How come you still wear that turkey feather I gave you in the brim of your hat?”
“That doesn’t mean anything, girl.”
His heart thudded. Inside his jeans, he was hard and swollen.
He wanted her. Even though it was wrong.
Before she could answer him, headlights flashed, and he heard a car down the road.
“Go to the kitchen. Don’t make a sound. If anybody finds you here, I could end up in jail. Do you understand how serious this is?”
For once she obeyed, and he shut the door behind her. Scarcely had she hidden herself, than his own father stormed up to the porch.
As usual he was drunk. His thick florid face was set in a mask of hatred as he stumbled up the steps. “I—I lost the ranch tonight…or what’s left of it…to Caesar Kemble. Because of you.”
Shanghai sank to his knees and fisted his hands. If someone had slammed a shovel against his spine, he couldn’t have felt more broken.
“It’s your fault.”
“Right,” Shanghai whispered. “Blame somebody else like you always do.”
His father weaved drunkenly. “You had to go over there and stir him up. He came looking for me just like you knew he would. And you just sat here and let him lure me into a game of cards. Entice me with the finest liquor. When it was over and he’d won Black Oaks, he told me you went to his house and strutted around like a
