Samantha James by Outlaw Heart Page A

steady. She couldn’t look at him—she just couldn’t. His grip on her wrist started to tighten; he abruptly checked himself when he realized her change of heart. He released her with a scowl.
    “Don’t stand around here in the street,” he said curtly. “Why don’t you wait in that restaurant there.” He pointed to a window next to the general store. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
    Abby didn’t linger after he left. In the general store, she replenished what supplies they’d used, chatted briefly with the storekeeper and left. In the restaurant, she ordered coffee. After nearly half an hour passed, she decided she’d better order a meal before they sent her on her way. The ham and biscuits smelled delicious, but when they finally arrived Abby found she was too on edge to eat more than a few bites. More than an hour passed before Kane finally showed up to collect her.
    She jumped up from the table. “Did you find out anything?”
    He shook his head. Abby’s shoulders sagged but she refused to let her spirits sag. There was enough daylight left to ride a little longer; the western sky was aglow with the purple blush of twilight when they decided to make camp for the night. Kane chose a tree-sheltered clearing near the stream they’d been following.
    Kane unsaddled his horse, promptly settled his back against a tree trunk and stretched his legs out. He covered his face with his hat and laced his fingers across his abdomen. Ten minutes later when Abby returned from rinsing her hands and face in the stream, he hadn’t moved so much as an inch.
    She walked by and caught the distinct odor of smoke and strong drink. Squaring her hands on her hips, she fixed him with a glare. She was both disappointed and frustrated that he had nothing to report about Stringer Sam or Dillon, especially after the fuss he’d made about her going with him. Thinking he was asleep, she spoke her mind.
    “I have to wonder, mister, if it was really information you were after in that saloon.” She muttered her indignation. “Maybe it was just a good excuse for a chance to tip a whiskey bottle again.”
    She’d scarcely turned her back when she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle, as if in warning.
    “Maybe,” intruded a quiet male voice into the silence, “you’d like to repeat that.”
    Abby turned slowly to face him. The air between them was suddenly crackling. “Obviously you heard me quite well,” she said stiffly. “But if that’s what you want, I’ll say it again. I think you’re awfully fond of your bottle, Kane.”
    His mouth twisted. Lord knew he had enough reason to seek comfort in drink. But he’d learned long ago that whiskey didn’t change what he was—and what he had done. It only made him forget … but only for a while.
    Bitter fury seeped through him, like a cloud creeping across the sun. No, he thought. There was no ease to be found in the bottom of a bottle.
    There was none to be found anywhere.
    But she had no right to preach to him, this woman who’d no doubt never known a day of hardship in her life—no right at all.
    He rose slowly to his full, considerable height. “You just won’t do it, will you? You just won’t give an inch. You think I’m the scum of the earth and you’re determined I’ll know it. Who the hell are you to judge me?”
    “I—I wasn’t.” Praying he wouldn’t guess her sudden nervousness, she watched him warily. She tried to step back, only to find her way blocked by a massive tree trunk. “I was just trying to—”
    “The hell you weren’t. You thought I was good enough to help you save your husband’s hide. Ah, but you forget that when it’s convenient, don’t you? Well, I haven’t forgotten, sweetheart. And you know what? I think it’s time for the payoff.”
    Abby’s throat seemed to close off. “Wh-what do you mean?”
    His smile was not a nice one. “You said all I had to do was name my price. Well, it’s time we settled up,