“Hell fire, woman. I didn’t even see you snatch it off the table.”
“Maybe I had it under my pillow like you suggested,” she cooed.
“Christ. You’re in a mood.”
“Yep, a bad mood. If you were smart, you’d say yes darlin’ when I told you I wanted to mount my horse and head back to Doc’s.”
Then he loomed over her. “Like hell that’s happening. You wouldn’t even get there until midnight.”
“I can tell time,” she snapped. “And I know you’d follow me regardless if I told you not to, which means you wouldn’t get back here until one a.m. and I know you have to get up and check cattle early. So I’ll stay. But I’m mad at you. Go to bed and leave me alone. I’ll come in when I’ve worked off my mad, but I’ll be sleeping in Jonas’s bed, not yours.”
Silas growled at her.
She pointed at the open door with the gun. “Now get in there before you get bug bites on your pecker.”
His eyes narrowed. “Where’d you hear that term?”
“From a friend.”
“I’m leavin’ the door open,” he groused, giving her a great view of his tightly muscled rear end before he disappeared into darkness.
Dinah watched the stars, trying to empty her mind.
But it didn’t work. She hated that Zeke had done what he’d promised: made it so not a day went past that they didn’t think about him.
When she couldn’t quit yawning, she padded back inside and quietly closed the door. After setting her gun on the table, she cut to the left and climbed into Jonas’s bed. She didn’t really want to sleep there, but she had to stick to her guns.
That phrase made her smother her laughter in Jonas’s pillow.
But her hysteria gave way to tears.
Almost immediately, she found herself airborne and then tucked into a warm male body.
“I’m sorry, darlin’. I tried. But you belong in my bed, next to me, not across the damn room.” He nuzzled her ear. “I especially can’t listen to you cry and not have you in my arms.”
“Silas.”
“Am I the cause of them tears?”
“No.”
“Thank god for that.”
After she’d found a position that hurt neither her arm nor the knife wound, she nestled her cheek against the downy hair on his chest. His scent, his strength, the way he tended to her needs was everything she’d ever wanted. He cared for her enough to give her the independence she needed, but in doing that he compromised his protective nature and that in turn was hard for him. That gave her the courage to tell him the decision she’d come to when she’d considered what they were truly up against.
“What’s churning in that brain of yours?” he said softly.
“That I’m scared.”
“Me too, darlin’.”
It was a big step that he’d admitted that to her. “Our fear—our future—is worth more than money.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Fulfilling my work promise to Doc isn’t more important than the promise I’ve made to you. The money I’d earn in the next year teaching and working for him would help us, but not as much as us being together will give us peace of mind that money can’t buy. You can’t protect me from thirty miles away. I know that it’s eating at you, Silas, that Zeke can get to me when I’m in Labelle. So the logical solution is to get married as soon as possible—we’ll be together and able to protect each other all the time.”
Silas shifted to stare into her eyes. “You mean it?”
“I do. We’re stronger together than we are apart.”
“Yes, that we are.” He kissed her with such love and tenderness her eyes welled up again. “Christ, woman, I do love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Tomorrow after cattle check, we’ll hitch up the wagon and get your things from Doc’s. We’ll swing by the Crook County Courthouse and see about getting a marriage license. Doubt we can get it tomorrow, bein’s Mondays are their busiest day, but you’ll be Mrs. McKay this week for sure.”
Of all the decisions she’d made today, this one had been the easiest. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.” He blew in her ear and expelled a cocky chuckle when she shivered and moaned. “Now get some sleep, because as soon as you’re my wife, we ain’t gonna get much sleep when we’re in this bed.”
Chapter Nineteen
The day had gone to hell from the start.
Silas had awoken before Dinah—not unusual. He’d done his morning business, washed up, and made a pot of coffee. He’d poured Dinah a