Texas Rose TH2 (7 page)

"I can't think how we travel should matter to you," she said frostily. "I've told you all you need to know."

"You've told me a bunch of faradiddle, Miss Peyton. Shall I call you Evie?"

"I told you, you shall call me Maryellen. I have reason to hide my identity. If my brother-in-law should learn I was coming, he might do something desperate. I'll thank you to remember that."

"I shouldn't think your mother would be too happy to send her children alone into the wilds of Texas. This isn't an afternoon jaunt, Miss Peyton. I'd suggest you tell me the truth before I take you home again."

"My mother is dead, sir. Evelyn's marriage killed her. Do you have any more silly questions, or may I return to see if Daniel needs anything? If you haven't noticed, the dampness pains his leg."

"Where's Daniel's mother?"

That caught her by surprise. She arched her brows and studied Tyler's pleasant expression. "She died giving birth to Daniel. Our father was heartbroken. Does that answer your question?"

"I thought you said your mother died when Evelyn was married. Are you telling me you're younger than Daniel?"

Mischief glinted in her eyes as she replied, "Evelyn's mother was the only mother we ever knew. Evelyn was only fifteen when she married."

Without waiting to see how this outrageous lie went down, Evie turned her feet toward the stairs and Daniel. She had no obligation to tell Tyler Monteigne anything. Heaven only knew, he was as much a liar as she was, more so for all she knew. Her stories didn't harm anyone. His story had landed her in the same bedroom with him.

Tyler caught her elbow before she could make the first step. "What does Evie stand for?"

"Evergreen." Snatching her elbow away, she descended in front of him, leaving Tyler to hang over the railing and watch her go rather than be put in the position of running after her.

What difference did it make to him if she lied through her pretty teeth? He'd said he'd escort her to Mineral Springs. That task didn't require that he know anything at all about Maryellen
Evergreen
Peyton.

But instinct told Tyler she was big trouble.

* * *

His instincts were rewarded when they reached New Orleans and one of the passengers decided Evie would make an excellent addition to his bordello and attempted to carry her off. Tyler arrived in time to watch her feign a dramatic faint, trip the cad, and push him off the gangplank into the filthy waters of the river, to the cheers of everyone on the dock. He almost considered cheering himself, if he didn't feel quite so sorry for the idiot who had fallen for Miss Peyton's all too obvious allures.

Before Evie could sing a song and pass the hat to her audience, Tyler grabbed her arm and dragged her back aboard. Even Daniel managed to look relieved when he saw his sister firmly taken in hand.

"Your concern for my well-being overwhelms me, Mr. Monteigne," Evie murmured as he hauled her upstairs. "Where were you when that son of a female dog was trying to press chloroform over my face?"

"Son of a female dog?" Tyler couldn't help his lips from twitching as he figured out the reference. Maryellen Peyton might be a liar par none, but she was a lady right down to the point of her little tongue. And speaking of tongues, he very much wanted to taste hers, and he saw no reason why he shouldn't. He'd stayed out every night since they had left Mississippi so she could have her beauty rest undisturbed. It was her own damned fault that he'd been asleep when the boat docked.

Jerking her into a doorway, out of sight of the crowd hurrying to disembark, Tyler claimed payment for his fortitude. He pulled Maryellen into his arms and bent his head to taste her sweet lying lips again. She fit perfectly into his embrace, her breasts pressing just where they ought to against his chest, her waist neatly cinched by his hands. Her lips were soft and inviting, and he drank deeply of their heady nectar until he pressed too far, and she bit his lip and pulled away.

"I don't need to be molested by the man who is supposed to protect me. If you can't do any better than this, sir, you may stay here in New Orleans and we'll go on without you."

Evie brushed past him and stalked toward the stateroom with Tyler following close behind, cursing every sway of her cute little rump.

"Damnation, Daniel, if you don't keep her under lock and key, I will," Tyler shouted when the lad limped into his path, cutting off his access to Evie.

Daniel watched his sister's irate back as she kept on going. "If I could keep her under lock and key, we wouldn't be here now. That's your job."

"Fine, if that's my job, don't complain when I do it." Inexplicably as irritated with himself as he was with the impossible Peytons, Tyler skirted around Daniel and went after Evie.

When he caught up with her, he dragged her kicking and protesting into the stateroom, slammed the door, and trapped her against the wall with a hand on either side of her head.

Evie bit her tongue and forced her fury and fear back into their cages. She hoped her eyes weren't as wild as Tyler's right now. She had never been so frightened in her life as she'd been when she'd realized she'd been about to be chloroformed. She was doing everything she could to keep from shaking. She had thought that awful man she'd been talking to was the director of a traveling acting troupe! And now this bully was trying to terrorize her more.

To be fair, she had wanted Tyler's arms around her. She had wanted to curl up against his broad chest and weep hysterically, as if he really were the hero of her dreams. She had even welcomed his kiss as a balm to her shattered defenses. But she realized it wasn't comfort Tyler Monteigne was offering.

She clenched her fingers behind her back and glared at him, waiting for his lecture. She wouldn't give him the advantage of knowing she had just been scared half out of her mind. That wasn't fear for her in Tyler's eyes now. It was just plain male frustration.

"It's time for another little talk, Miss Peyton."

"I should have thought a little faster action would have been called for over talk, but you're the expert," she answered sweetly.

She was quite certain if she had been a man, he would have socked her one. To his credit, Tyler only pounded the wall.

"I'm not going one inch farther with you until you learn a few ground rules, Miss Peyton, a few things your 'mother' should have told you. Or your nanny. Or whoever was responsible for bringing up an undisciplined brat like you."

He was still too close for comfort. Evie could see the shining pearl buttons on his shirt. His hips were pressed uncomfortably close to hers. The crinoline that went with her new dresses only had a hoop in the rear. That made it much too easy for a man to get close to her front. And it was impossible to press backward against the wall any more.

"I'm certain it was my fault that whelp of an unmarried mother tried to abduct me," she asserted coldly. "Won't you please tell me where I went wrong?"

Whelp of an unmarried mother.
Tyler had an irresistible urge to smile, but as soon as he did, she would be on top again. He couldn't keep letting her get away with it.

He wasn't at all certain what "it" was, but Maryellen Peyton had plenty of it.

"You're damned right I'm going to tell you," he said forcefully.

"Your language, sir," she admonished with a sweet smile.

"Bitch, bastard, hell, and damn!" he shouted in frustration at his inability to get through to her. "They're words, Evie, not weapons. They won't kill anyone. Now shut up and let me finish."

She regarded him with those sloe eyes, and Tyler felt himself going under. Shoving away from the wall, he paced the room, carefully keeping his gaze away.

"Men outnumber women three to one in Texas, and they're not the type to politely carry you off when they take a fancy to your pretty ass." He heard her gasp but ignored it. "They're tough, undisciplined men, and they carry guns. They'll respect a lady, but damn it, Evie, they're men. You go flaunting that swinging rear end of yours and winking those big dark eyes, and they'll do what men naturally do. And you're not going to like it one bit."

He swung around to see how she was taking this. She looked pale enough to faint. Pushing her down in the chair, Tyler poured a glass of his bourbon, mixed it with some water, and shoved it in her hand. "Drink it slow."

Evie sipped and grimaced, then handed it back. "Poisoning me won't help."

Tyler threw back the contents and immediately felt better. "Knocking you out until we get there would make me feel better," he replied as he set aside the glass.

"I didn't do anything. I was just standing there. Why are you blaming me?"

"Damn it, Evie, you know perfectly well what you do to men when you pout those little lips of yours. I've watched you do it on purpose. Your flirting will get you in even bigger trouble one of these days. You have to promise me you'll stop it, or I refuse to take responsibility for you any longer."

She pouted. Her little chin trembled. Lashes fluttered over her big blue-black eyes and he could swear he saw a tear trickle down her cheek. But Tyler knew damned well she hid laughter behind those lashes.

With a swift jerk, he pulled her out of the chair and threw her down on the bed. Obviously the devil had created this hell just to make him burn right here on earth. He fell on top of her and began to scatter kisses across her cheeks.

"I'm going to do this every time you play that game," he warned.

Evie struggled against Tyler's greater weight. Since she had never been in close contact with a man, she had never thought of them in terms of their greater weight or strength before. She didn't like the feeling of vulnerability created by his heavy weight pinning her from the waist down. She was used to men dancing to her tune, but force was beyond her circle of knowledge. She didn't like the feeling one bit, but she couldn't keep her gaze from straying to the firm lips hovering tantalizingly above hers.

"You're going to crush my dress!" she responded, ignoring the instinct demanding she throw her arms around him and pull his head down and kiss him until both their heads were spinning. Tyler worked on a woman's instincts like that. She wouldn't let herself be one of the many women who fell into his wicked trap. Tyler Monteigne definitely wasn't Ivanhoe, or even a Pecos Martin. She'd have to keep remembering that.

"I'm going to crush a damned sight more than your dress if I don't have your promise, Evie. I'll put you in sackcloth from head to toe. I want your word, Evie. I want you to swear on whatever in hell it is that you respect the most. No more flirting."

Tyler lowered his head and bestowed one of his kisses dangerously near her mouth, and one of his hands developed a tendency to wander. Evie caught her breath as his thumb stroked lightly at the side of her breast. This was why ladies weren't supposed to be alone with men. What was keeping Daniel?

She had forgotten what she was supposed to say as Tyler's mouth moved inexorably closer to her own. She wanted to feel his lips again. She wanted to taste his tongue, feel it probing for hers. The place where his hips were pressed against hers was beginning to burn, and she even had the urge to turn so his thumb would do more than just caress the curve of her bodice.

"Promise, Evie." Tyler's voice was soft and coaxing.

"I promise," she managed to repeat, just before his mouth closed over hers.

He was supposed to get up now, Tyler thought mindlessly as his tongue did a slow exploration of forbidden passages. He was supposed to get up and leave the brat lying there feeling like he did every time she teased him and left him hot and bothered. Instead, he feathered kisses across her delectable mouth and felt her breathe a sigh of relief. She wanted this as much as he did, he told himself. There was no reason why he should stop.

But a pounding on the door warned Tyler there were at least two very prominent reasons why he had to stop. No doubt both of them were standing outside the door right now.

Reluctantly, Tyler stood and pulled Evie up with him. She wasn't laughing at him now. She was staring at him with bewilderment. Lord, she was as innocent as she looked. If his mother were here, she would smack him silly.

Running his hand through his hair, Tyler shouted at the door, "What do you want?"

"The captain wants to apologize to Evie, to Maryellen, that is." Daniel's voice stuttered through the door.

Tyler grimaced, glanced once more to the stunned girl in the pink confection, and reached for the door.

If he had any sense at all, he'd get off right here in New Orleans and never look back.

* * *

Sunlight glistened through the open draperies, sparkling off the silver lamp base and throwing rainbows through the polished crystals dangling from the shade. The colors danced across a desk covered with scattered papers, but none of the men present noticed.

"I'm sorry about your ma's death. She was a good woman." Hale, the lawyer behind the desk, ran his hand through hair already going thin, though he was no older than the two brothers facing him.

Jason Harding, the elder of the brothers, paced the cluttered office as if the confinement of being inside was more than he could tolerate. He was a tall, well-built man with thick dark hair and a dent in his chin that women sighed over. His features weren't so much handsome as they were strong and determined.