Beautiful Bandit (Lone Star Legends) by Loree Lough Page A

times to understand the misery of each muddy step as the rain pelted their cheeks and the wind nipped at their ears. He felt a tweak of sympathy for them, because he knew only too well that no matter how well a man thought he’d covered himself, the water and cold always found a way to work themselves right down to his skin.
    He’d promised that Dinah would be safe with him, and he saw no point in making her ride through this miserable weather, especially after everything she’d already endured. It was after six at night when the clouds finally parted, and they went outside in the fresh air. “Twilight,” he said, “my favorite time of day.” And when she didn’t respond, he added, “We might as well take advantage of having a roof over our heads one more night.”
    As she stood beside him, staring silently at the sooty sky, he couldn’t help but notice how tiny she seemed, how vulnerable and childlike. Couldn’t help but wonder what had caused this sudden mood shift, either, because, up till recently, she’d been cheerful and chatty, no matter what. He remembered the terror in her eyes when the Rangers had ridden up. He had seen a lot of frightening things in his twenty-seven years, but nothing had scared him that much. Even now, just thinking about it made him want to wrap his arms around her, defend her from threats of any kind.
    He’d expected her to relax some once she realized the riders were lawmen. When she hadn’t, Josh had been left with two conclusions: She’d participated in a crime and feared punishment, or she’d witnessed one and had reason to believe the perpetrators’ retribution would be far worse. Either way, at least he had a partial explanation for the sorry shape she’d been in when he’d found her.
    She turned slightly to look up at him. “Hungry?”
    Josh patted his thigh. “Feed me now,” he said, grinning, “and in ten minutes, you can do it again.”
    The reminder of their earlier exchange inspired a smile—my, was she a beauty when she smiled!
    “Guess I’d better get busy, then,” Dinah said, heading for the cabin. “I’ll see what I can whip up.”
    “Did those fool Rangers devour all our grub?”
    “They left a few crumbs,” she said over her shoulder. “Maybe I’ll make soup and biscuits.”
    He wanted to ask what she hoped to put into the soup pot, but his stomach growled, as if on cue. “Sounds good.”
    He wanted to follow her, too, but he stayed put, intent on taking full advantage of this rare opportunity to get a good look at her, head to toe. Until now, she’d been sitting, riding, bustling around the kitchen area, or standing too near for him to see much more than her lovely face—not that he had a mind to complain about that.
    The top of her curly-haired head didn’t quite reach his shoulder. She’d taken to pulling the soft curls into a tight bun, worn at the back of her head. A time or two, he’d been tempted to pluck out the hairpins, just to watch her tresses spill down over her slender shoulders like a cinnamon-colored cascade. He’d resisted, of course, just as he’d struggled against the urge to find out if her full, pink lips felt as soft as they looked.
    She had feet so small and dainty that when he’d bought her a pair of boots, he’d had to shop in the children’s sizes. How they held up a full-grown woman was anybody’s guess.
    And full-grown she was, with attractive curves, a smile that could charm leaves from the trees, and eyes that twinkled like big, green stars.
    Stars—Sadie’s favorite of the heavenly bodies. An image of his wife materialized in his brain, and, with it, the memory of his last moments with her. “Don’t grieve too long,” she’d rasped. “Love will come along again, and, when it does, I want you to welcome it.” Ah, but she’d been something else, that bride of his. She’d clung to life like a drowning man might cling to a branch extended to tow him ashore. She’d made up her mind to hold on