Read River to Cross, A for Free Online

us.”
    Elizabeth stiffened. “But I thought we were safe now.”
    “Far from it. When the major returns and finds his men dead and you gone, we’ll be the objects of one big Ranger manhunt.”
    “How would they know Rangers did it?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “If you were Texas, who else would you send?”
    She thought about that a minute. “There isn’t anyone, I guess.”
    In the half-light of dawn, she resembled her photograph: small face and nose, perfect mouth. What was going through her mind? he wondered. She was no bigger than a minute, but she wasn’t cowed. Her hands were folded, clasped in front of her like a nun, giving her an almost serene appearance. But that, he suspected, was for his benefit. Dead-white, the knuckles on her fingers gave her away. She was proud, and if she was afraid, she was hiding it. He’d always liked a woman with a little spunk. She had that all right. She also had—he searched for the word— class .
    Ruthie’s little voice echoed in his mind. Boo-ful . Indeed she was. Beautiful and intelligent, both qualities he prized in a woman.
    Elizabeth turned in the saddle, as if undecided how to swing her leg over.
    “Let’s get you down from there.” Jake hid a smile. “There is no ladylike way to get off a horse wearing a dress. So lift your right knee over the saddle horn as if you were sitting sidesaddle, then slide down the horse. I’ll catch you.”
    Facing him, she got her leg over the pommel, turned in the saddle, and reached for him.
    As she did, an early ray of sun filtered through the branches overhead and highlighted her hands. A flake of sunlight caught itself in the plain gold wedding band and glittered a thousand sparks into his eyes.
    His breath caught.
    She’s married .
    Briefly he closed his eyes and wondered how he’d missed it, why he hadn’t noticed the ring before. Usually it was the first thing he looked for. He hadn’t looked that night because it had been too dark to see.
    Her husband, whoever he was, had lucked out because one thing Jake Nelson didn’t do was fool around with another man’s wife or girlfriend. He’d been down that road before.
    A muscle ticked in his cheek.
    And now, ten years later, fate was giving him a chance to even the score.
    No thanks.
    She was married, and married women were off-limits.
    When her arms went around his neck, Jake closed his hands around a small, soft waist and pulled her against him.
    In that instant, all his good intentions about keeping his hands off married women rose and scattered like a flock of pigeons.
    Shaken by how quickly the thought jumped into his mind, he ordered it back.
    He heard a quick, sharp intake of breath as he slid her down the length of him. Her startled gaze shot up and locked with his. The pulse throbbing at the base of her throat was tripping like a baby bird’s.
    His arms, his chest, his legs tingled everywhere she’d touched him. He eased his breath out slowly, aware of his own racing pulse. Somewhere off in the back of his mind, a small alarm bell pinged, reminding him.
    She’s married .
    As soon as her feet touched ground, he dropped his arms and stepped back.
    Puzzled by his reaction to her, he went to his horse and dug into the saddlebag for the package of clothes the quartermaster at Fort Bliss had put together for her. He handed the package to her and jerked his head at an overgrown creosote bush a few feet away. He wrinkled his nose. Its pungent tar smell hung heavy in the air, but it was tall and bushy and its waxy green leaves would give her the privacy she needed.
    “You can change behind that hedge over there.” With an effort, he managed to keep his voice steady, not allowing the shakiness he felt to slip into it.
    Fred and Gus were already cleaning themselves up. He turned his back on her and strode over to the pack mule and pulled out a towel and a big piece of soap. He squirmed inside, guessing what he must look like with his face streaked with grease and soot.