Who the hell knew the schoolmarm had a body full of delicious curves and tits that would haunt his dreams for the next year? Not to mention her responsiveness, which was beyond amazing. Not many women reacted to a man’s touch with such heat, such passion.
Of course his experience with women in bed was limited to whores, but some of them had been good girls doing what they had to do to survive. He had always done right by them, no matter what their circumstances. However, none of them had heated as quickly as the woman inches from his yowling cock. God, and it had to be Eliza for pity’s sake. Why couldn’t it have been a woman he could fuck and leave?
It dawned on him that he had actually left her the day before, and a long, hard ride was between them. So how in the hell was she lying by his fire snuggled up against him as if they were an old married couple? Was she a witch who flew through the air to taunt him with her curvy body? Or was he simply insane with thoughts of her that he called her to his side without meaning to?
Grady sat up and got a good look at Eliza in the murky light. She looked absolutely tempting, and it was a good thing he didn’t like her or he might be doing more than scowling at her. Her dark hair was tousled as if she’d been well loved in a bed, and her eyes were heavy lidded with arousal.
Son of a bitch.
Grady stood and backed away from her. “Fix your clothes.”
She smiled. “That was a lovely way to wake up, Mr. Wolfe.”
He almost swallowed his tongue. There was no way she could be pleased with what had just happened. “Are you loco? I almost took you like a common whore on the cold ground.”
“I beg to differ. There was nothing common about that. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” She sat up, and one breast popped out of her gaping shirt.
“Jesus Christ, woman, put your damn tits away.” He sounded gruff because he was beyond angry. In fact, he was furious with himself and her.
This time her smile disappeared, and he almost regretted snapping at her. She had it coming, though. Stupid female creature didn’t have a lick of common sense.
“Well, that’s not very polite of you.” She buttoned up as she met his gaze.
Without glasses, Eliza’s eyes were clear for the first time since the moment he’d met her. They shone like sapphires, accusing him of being the bastard he was. She had no idea just how much of a bastard he could be if he had a mind to.
“I ain’t a polite person by nature, so don’t expect me to be otherwise.” He frowned as he noticed her old damn horse happily munching grass by his bay. “Now we start with the questions, Eliza. How did you find me, and what the hell are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “After you left, I regretted the fact we hadn’t discussed a deal. I had thought perhaps we could travel together. There are many advantages to sharing our journey.”
“That didn’t answer all my questions, lady.” He squatted down and stared hard into her innocent looking face. “How did you find me?”
“Your horse has a nick in the rear shoe. It was easy to follow your tracks.” She sounded so matter of fact, as if every person in the world would notice the nick much less follow it thirty miles through the rough terrain.
Grady frowned harder. “You a tracker, then?”
“No, but I read a book about tracking.” She picked up her spectacles from a rock nearby and brushed at her dress. “I’m afraid this outfit is nearly ready for the rag pile.”
He decided it had been ready for the rag pile before she’d even put the damn thing on. “A book. Of course, a goddamn book.” Grady paced for a few minutes as she sat there prim and proper with an innocent expression. He stopped and pointed. “So why did you follow me?”
She picked at the dirt on her skirt. “Well, as I told you I am traveling west and truthfully, I’m in need of a companion. A woman alone can be in danger.”
Grady threw back his head and laughed, something he hadn’t done in a very long time, if ever. Now she says she could be in danger. Who did she think he was, a Sunday school teacher? She was a completely confusing mix of smarts, innocence, and annoyance. He had to admit, though, she had more courage than most men, not that he’d tell her that.
“Are you planning on paying me? I ain’t cheap, lady, and sure as hell ain’t free.” He didn’t expect her to actually consider his services, no matter what the price. She didn’t know him from a killer who would leave her for the coyotes.
“Of course I would expect to pay you. What would you charge to escort me to my relations, for perhaps a week or two?” She got to her knees and poked at the fire with a stick.
Grady wanted to poke her with the stick. What the hell kind of joke was this? No woman in her right mind would act like Eliza. Maybe she really was loco and she’d leave him for the coyotes. He dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his mind. Grady had an ability to read people, and although Eliza confused him, she was definitely not a physical danger to him or anyone.
“You couldn’t afford it.”
She calmly put more wood on the fire and stoked it. When she reached into his saddlebags for the frying pan, he could hardly believe his eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Making breakfast of course. I noticed you had some cornmeal, so I thought I’d make some corn pone and coffee.” She blinked up at him like an owl. “Is that not acceptable?”
Truth be told, Grady had never had a woman other than his mother make him breakfast before. That sure as hell was a thought for another time. He didn’t want to think about his mother at the moment, or ever really. She’d done enough damage to his life.
“It’s damn odd, that’s what it is.”
She continued stoking the fire. “I am used to taking care of others.”
Grady didn’t doubt that for a minute. She sure as hell took care of herself.
“As to your price for being my escort. Well, would you consider payment to be my, ah, cooking and keeping camp for you?” She sounded hopeful, and it made him cringe. He didn’t want the woman to be pinning her hopes on him, that was for damn sure.
“Cooking and cleaning, eh? You don’t know much about offering yourself do you?”
Surprisingly, she blushed, telling Grady in no uncertain terms that she’d never offered to pay a man in services before. “I would be happy to discuss details.”
Grady snorted. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not buying. Anything.”
She nodded, and although he expected her to argue, she turned back to rifling through his bags and started fixing breakfast. The woman confounded him at every turn, and he couldn’t decide if she was doing it deliberately or not.
The one thing she did well was cook. He sat down and watched as she expertly made coffee and corn pone. He’d planned on buying supplies before he set out, but by the time he’d left the saloon in Tolson, the store had been closed. Then he’d spent all day running from the woman who ended up in his bedroll with his hands all over her surprisingly sexy body.
It was like he’d entered a new world, one he was unfamiliar with, and it angered him to feel that way. Eliza might well have come with a warning pinned to her blouse that said “Dangerous.”
She handed him coffee in the only cup he had, which meant she was used to being the last served. He took the cup without comment, and she busied herself looking around for something near the trees. When she found a plant with big green leaves, she picked two of them and poured water from the canteen, then patted them dry with her skirt.
Damned