Lisa Kleypas - Give Me Tonight

"A decent man wouldn't be interested in such things!" May snapped, and Addie quieted, understanding it would distress her mother to hear any more. There was silence between them, and then May spoke wearily. "I guess you plan to marry him."

"Yes."

"I suppose you've taken time to figure out he's after the ranch as much as anything else."

"He'd end up with Sunrise anyway. Daddy's planning to make him trustee in the new will."

"I know. That would put him in charge of the ranch. But by marryin' you, he'll own the biggest piece of it. "

"He would marry me if I were a pauper."

"Are you certain of that?"

"I've never been more certain of anything."

May looked at her daughter's serious eyes and stubbornly set jaw, and her own face wrinkled with unhappiness. It was difficult for her to accept defeat in this, of all things. "You've never looked so much like your father," she said, and left the room.

Addie sat alone, massaging her temples. An abnormal quiet reigned over the house and the ranch, the silence after the storm. She waited until she heard Russell's office door opening and the sound of subdued voices. Warily she crept out of the kitchen and stood in a shadow, watching as Russell went up the stairs to catch an hour of sleep before the beginning of a difficult day. Ben stood at the bottom step, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to leave. He saw her but made no move as she walked toward him.

"Did he listen?" she asked softly.

"Some." He sighed with a mixture of weariness and worry. "I don't know how much."

She reached up to him and smoothed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. "He always respects what you have to say."

As he felt her drawing closer to him and saw the tenderness in her face, Ben froze. He'd never turned to anyone for comfort before. He'd been raised to bear his burdens alone, and he'd always managed to get along just fine without anyone's help. The last thing he needed was a woman's solace. And yet… he had an irresistible urge to pull Addie close and pour out his frustrations to her. Here she was, confronting him, forcing him to include her in his private feelings.

Addie saw the indecision in his face and understood it more than he could have imagined. Until she'd met him, she'd fought to keep the same distance between herself and everything that threatened to come too close. But whether he admitted it or not, he needed her. She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips grazing his unshaven jaw.

"Try to keep me at a distance," she said huskily. "I won't let you."

He was still for a moment, and then he bent his head and kissed her, his hand fitting behind her neck and tilting it back. Addie sighed and gripped his shoulders tightly. Weariness and doubt scattered like leaves before the wind. When he buried his mouth in the curve between her neck and shoulder, she slid her arms around his back and felt the tenseness of his muscles.

"Me the first part of the night, then the fence cutters," she whispered. "You haven't had any rest at all."

"You tired me out a hell of a lot more than the fence-cutters," he muttered, his hands wandering over her slim body.

"Will you be able to get a little sleep?"

"It's only an hour until dawn. Pretty soon I'll have to get the men started, make sure they know what they're supposed to be doing for the day. I might as well stay awake." Taking it for granted that she would stay with him, Ben picked her up and carried her into the dimly lit parlor. As he settled into a slick horsehair sofa, he pulled her into his lap and they shared another smoldering kiss.

"I was worried about you," Addie confessed, pushing past his shirt to lay her cheek against the bare skin of his chest.

"Me?" He strained his fingers through her hair and coiled a lock of it around his hand. "No reason to be, darlin'. The shooting was over long before I arrived on the scene. "

"When I heard you were taking the body to town, I was afraid someone would take a shot at you."

Ben half-smiled for the first time, turning his face down until their noses touched. "I think I like having someone worry over me."

"You're not the only one I'm worried about." He sobered instantly. "Russ."

"I don't like the position he's put himself in."

"I admit he'll have to be careful from now on, but I don't think there's as much cause for concern as you seem to-"

"I think it's more serious than that," she said earnestly. "It's obvious he'll fight until his last breath to keep the fence up. If you were the Johnsons, or any of the other people who are losing money and property because of it, wouldn't you think the only thing to do is get him out of the way permanently?"

Ben stared at her silently, denial hovering on his lips.

"He's in danger," she said. "I know it."

"I'll talk to him."

"He has to be protected." Though she tried to sound matter-of-fact, her voice was strained. "Maybe I sound overdramatic, but I'm not certain he's safe in the house."

"Addie, don't start borrowing trouble when-"

"Would you think about having someone watch the house at night? Please."

"Are you serious?" Ben shook his head in bemusement. "Honey, no one would get past the line riders on the border of the property. And even if someone did manage that, do you actually think he'd have the balls to sneak into the house? And if he got that far, how's he supposed to find the room Russ sleeps in? And if-"

"What if it was someone who knew the ranch well?"

"If you're going to spend your time worrying, there are plenty of more likely things to worry about."

"Please." Unconsciously Addie clutched handfuls of his shirt. "Have someone watch the house every night." She searched for the right words to say, something that would make him agree. "Please… I'm afraid."

Her last words affected him visibly. "Addie," he said, cradling her face in his hands, his eyes searching, "have you seen or heard something?"

"Not exactly. "

"I can't help unless you tell me."

Tell you what? That I lived in the future for twenty years and found out how my father was murdered? Oh, and not only that, but I helped plan it, although I don't happen to remember what the plan was. And by the way, if I hadn't fallen in love with you, I'd still consider you a suspect, and probably would anyway if I didn't know how much you care for Russell. Just how am I supposed to tell you all that?

"Just do as I ask," she begged. "And don't let Daddy know, or he'll put a stop to it. He thinks he can protect himself."

"Don't know why he'd think that. He's only lived thirty years on the range with hardly a scratch on him."

"Are you going to post a man outside the house?" She frowned until he nodded reluctantly. "Is that a promise? You aren't just telling me that to keep me quiet?"

Ben stared her down, his voice ominously soft. "I'd never lie to you, Adeline."

"I didn't mean to imply that. I'm just-"

"Afraid," he murmured, stroking the side of her face with a fingertip. Despite the gentleness of his touch, she shivered with apprehension.

"You're angry."

"I'd wring your little neck if I thought I'd find out what's happened to make you feel this way."

"It's not important."

"It is to me."

"I'm just concerned about Daddy, that's all. And now that I know someone will watch the house, I feel much better."

But Ben wasn't placated, and he continued to scowl, even as she decorated his face with invisible kisses.

"That's not helping, Adeline."

Addie stopped and looked at him, aware that her attempt at playfulness had fallen flat. She was still afraid and they both knew it. Time was drawing nearer, bringing with it an unavoidable sense of doom. She was frightened for Russell, and for Ben. He'd been blamed for Russell's murder before: he'd fled Sunrise and wandered for fifty years. She'd seen him, a pathetic old man without a home. The opposite of everything he was now. The image was dim, but still it lingered in the back of her mind, haunting her.