Noelle Marchand - The Runaway Bride

His arm lay across her stomach barring her from flight. He made no effort to remove it. Instead, they stared at each other as they both took in gasping breaths. A few days’ worth of golden stubble covered the base of his jaw and met just above his mouth. A slight sunburn trailed down the bridge of his nose drawing more attention to his unsmiling lips. Hints of gold and light hues of green shimmered in his eyes like the sunlight reflecting off of a slow-moving creek. Despite the disapproval she found there, her heart gave a familiar thump.

What was he doing here? He couldn’t be here of his own volition. That would be too unbelievable. More likely, he had been sent by her father to bring her home. Well, that was not going to happen. She would not stand passively by as he wrecked her plans. She glared at him.

The dashes of his dark gold brows lowered into a frown as he rose onto his elbow to look down at her with a maddening smirk and finally spoke. “The good news is you made it out alive. The bad news is you didn’t get away.”

“I wasn’t trying to get away. You frightened me by appearing out of nowhere. I responded as any normal person would.” Somehow she found herself lifted into his arms as he stood and swept her up to his chest. She kicked her feet. “Put me down. What are you doing?”

“You’re in no condition to walk.”

“Yes, I am. Put me down. What is wrong with you?” She could count on one hand the number of times he’d purposefully touched her. Now, he wouldn’t let her go. She kicked her legs again. “I said, put me down!”

“Hold on, you wildcat—”

A warning shot rang through the air. Lorelei screamed. Sean froze, then whirled around to face his adversary. She peered through her wild chocolate-colored curls to get a glimpse of Pastor James standing broad-legged and determined. He cocked his gun again and aimed it at Sean. “You heard the lady. Put her down.”

The tone of his voice was deadly. Not at all what she expected from the gentle man she’d gotten to know over the past several days. She bowed her head so neither man could see the smile that curved her lips. She allowed her body to completely relax even as she felt Sean’s arms tense beneath her legs and arms. He carefully lowered her legs to the ground but trapped her against his side in a one-armed embrace entirely too close to be proper.

This man was determined to meddle with her head. She was too smart for it this time. She wouldn’t let his protective instincts or plain orneriness put ideas in her head or a silly feeling like hope into her heart. He could hold her as uncomfortably close as he liked, but from the looks of James’s rifle, this situation was about to become just as uncomfortable for Sean. She vowed to enjoy every moment of it.

* * *

Sean kept Lorelei tucked against his side so close he could feel her shaking. Was she shivering from her plunge in the river? The water hadn’t been that cold. Perhaps she quaked from fear after nearly drowning to death. He glanced down at her and found the answer in her mirth-filled eyes. She was laughing at him.

He narrowed his eyes to stem her mirth, but that only seemed to increase it. She dropped her head so the preacher couldn’t see her smile as her body continued to shake in silent suppressed laughter. Annoyance led his hand down to his revolver. It probably wasn’t any good as water-soaked as it was, but it was nice to have some reassurance while staring down a shotgun. He widened his stance to stare at the man intent on defending Lorelei from him. “Look, I don’t know who you are or how this is any of your business, but the only protection this woman needs is from herself.”

That got her riled up. She gave a pretty fierce little growl for a woman her size and in her situation. He tried to fight back his smirk but wasn’t quite successful.

“I am Pastor James Brightly and that woman is under my care. I insist you release her this instant.”

“This instant, huh?” Sean glanced down at Lorelei. Her dark blue eyes stared back at him, making him realize there was a lot of sanity in doing just what the preacher commanded. He let go of her. She took a few wavering steps away from him but somehow managed to stand on her own.

The preacher waved his shotgun. “Now, be on your way.”

Sean shook his head. “Oh, no. I’ve been searching for this woman for days. I’m the sheriff of the town where she lives. I’m not trying to hurt her, but I’m not leaving until she and I have a little talk, Preacher.”

“Lorelei, is this true? Do you know this man?”

He met her gaze squarely. He watched her tilt her head thoughtfully as she considered her next step. He could almost read the thoughts running through her head. All she had to do was tell the preacher that little two-letter word. If she did, he’d be dodging bullets and receiving a nice little prayer for safe travel courtesy of the preacher. Her smile grew.

He frowned at her. “Oh, come on, Lorelei. I just saved your life. The least you could do is save mine.”

Her expression changed to one of reluctant resignation. “I know him, Pastor James, but I’d also like to know what he’s doing here.”

Sean hid his relief when the preacher lowered the rifle to his side. Lorelei didn’t bother to hide her disappointment when the two men shifted into a less combative stance. She frowned at him. “Well?”

“You know very well why I’m here.” He shook his head like a wet dog, then pinned her with a look. “Your father and Lawson sent me to bring you home, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Lorelei stiffened. “Oh, no, you won’t!”

“Oh, yes, I will.” He stepped closer to her. “Do you have any idea how worried your parents are right now?”

“I left them a note.”

“That only compounded their fears. They knew that you were traveling alone with very limited finances, no supplies and hardly any idea how to get to California, let alone reach your great-aunt’s estate.” He caught her arm, hoping to somehow transfer a little good sense. “Anything could have happened, Lorelei!”

She wrenched her arm from his grasp but lowered her voice. “Don’t you think I’ve realized that?”

“Then come home with me.”

She crossed her arms. “No. Not when I’m so close to getting away from—” she seemed to catch herself and changed the sentence “—getting to California.”

“Have you looked at a map lately? You aren’t even close to making it out of Texas.”

Her hand made its way to her hip. “I will. Marissa and James are paying me a fair wage. As soon as I have enough saved up, I’ll take the train.”

“Alone? Haven’t you been preyed on enough?” He nodded in response to her suspicious look. “I know all about your reticule being stolen. That just proves I’m right. A young woman traveling without protection will warrant the attention of every outlaw and charlatan from here to California.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“That’s not enough.”

“Well, it will have to be enough because I’m certainly not leaving with you!” She flipped her wet hair away from her face and stormed off.

He’d nearly forgotten the preacher was still there until the man spoke. “Do you know why she ran away?”

“I know enough to say she should stop this foolishness and go home. Like I said, I’m Peppin’s sheriff, it’s my responsibility to keep the town’s citizens safe—even when they’re being too pigheaded to see sense.”

James nodded patiently. “I understand that you’re trying to do your duty, but that is her choice to make. You can talk to her about it, but you can’t force her to return. In the meantime, you may want to think more carefully about trying to bring her back to the situation that was uncomfortable enough to make her leave.”