Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist [141]
Though he was talking to Georgie, Bettina curled into a ball.
Georgie frowned. “Stop it, Bettina thinks you’re serious.”
“I am deadly serious.” His entire body shook.
She smiled at the telltale sign and placed her mouth next to Bettina’s ear. “He’s not serious. It’s nothing but male bluster. He’d never lay a hand on me with anything but the sweetest, most gentlest of touches.” She looked up through her lashes. “Isn’t that right, Lucious?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tell Bettina it’s bluster. She needs to be soothed.”
“She does, does she?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not bluster.” He handed her the pistol, then strode back toward the bend in the road.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To get . . . Comer. He’s waiting for me down by the house.”
Kissing Bettina on the top of her head, she helped the girl to her feet. “Come on. Let’s drive the hack down so Luke won’t have to walk back.”
By the time they were settled and on their way, Luke and Comer were hiking up the hill. She tilted her head, noting Comer walked as if he’d had a bit too much to drink. When they were within a couple of yards, she pulled to a stop.
Instead of taking Comer round back, Luke stopped next to her. “Georgie, I’d like you to meet—”
“Comer,” the man slurred, his face swollen, his eyes heavy. “Name’s Comer.”
Sorrow etched Luke’s features; then he nodded. “Frank, this is Georgie Gail. She’s . . .”
She smiled. “I believe we’ve met, Mr. Comer. You robbed a train I was on.”
He nodded. Though his eyes were glazed with pain, their color was so much like Luke’s she drew an unconscious breath.
“I ’member,” he said. “The tel’fen operator. The boys here ’bout died when they saw ya step outta the car.”
Eyes widening, she turned around. “Y’all were there?”
The men tucked their chins, mumbling indecipherable answers.
“Well, for heaven’s sake.” But when she turned back around, Luke was leading a weaving Comer to the wagon bed to join the others.
“What happened ta him?” Duane asked, indicating Comer.
“He ran into the butt of my rifle.”
Duane grimaced.
Luke secured Comer, jostling Necker in the process.
Necker gripped his knees, leaning against them. “What happened while I was out?”
Blesinger propped him up, while Duane filled him in on all he’d missed.
Georgie kept their pace leisurely so Mr. Ragston could keep up and had Bettina use her lap as a pillow. Stroking the girl’s hair, she scanned the trees for birds, listening to every song and puzzling out its owner.
Luke nudged his horse close to her. “I was thinking.”
She turned to him. “Yes?”
“Well, I was wondering, I mean.”
When he said no more, she gave him a strange look. “Wondering what?”
He pulled at his collar. “I was, um, wondering if you’d like to be my partner?”
She lifted her brows. “Why on earth would you want a partner who can’t shoot and who makes you so mad you want to feed her to the buzzards?”
The men in the back quieted.
Luke rubbed his forehead.
Sniggering, Duane leaned forward. “I don’t think he meant that kinda pardner, Miss Georgie.”
“Oh.” Her lips parted. “What kind of partner did you mean?”
Luke scratched underneath his chin. “Same kind as the cardinals?”
A tiny germ of excitement began to bubble inside her stomach. “Cardinals mate for life.”
He turned an intense gaze onto her. “Yes.”
She pulled the hack to a stop. “Are you proposing to me, Lucious? Right here in the middle of nowhere with a group of men in the bed of the wagon?”
Scowling, he straightened. “I’m not sure when I’ll see you next. I have to take them down to headquarters and talk to my captain. Your answer will determine what it is my captain and I discuss.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, if you agree, I’ll be turning in my badge. If you don’t, well . . . I don’t know.”
She stared at him. “But you love your job. You told me you did.”
Resting his wrists on the pommel, he scanned the horizon. “Not as much as I love you.”
She bit her lip. “Can’t you have both?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My job keeps me on the trail too much. I’m going to want something closer