Mac crossed his arms over his chest and let his gaze travel over her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Yup, real easy on the eyes. He glanced at Kane, who was watching him watch her. A look jumped into the captain’s eyes warning Mac away from her. Funny thing was, Mac could swear that the other man didn’t even know it was there.
So that’s how it was. He looked from one to the other and sighed, grateful there was no woman who made
him
look mad enough to chew nails when another man looked at her. Never would be, and that was a fact.
Truth was, he felt sorry for Kane. The pretty schoolteacher was a distraction he didn’t need right now. With Indians on the rampage, he should have a clear head.
Kane stared at Mac, warning him not to say anything. Then he stood up. “Come in, Miss Tanner.”
She closed the door and moved into the room, her skirts swishing like a whisper of wind. Mac got a whiff of flowers that floated from her. She smelled almost as pretty as she looked. He slid a gaze to his dusty trousers. He knew he smelled as bad as hell on house-cleaning day and looked a whole lot worse. He’d been to perdition and back, so it made sense. But in a lady’s presence, it made him damned uncomfortable.
Mac hadn’t planned to, but when she stood beside him, he got to his feet. He towered over her, she was such a small thing. Couldn’t help feeling a pull at his insides, something that made him want to keep her from harm.
“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced, ma’am.” He took his hat off and curled the floppy brim as he held it in both hands.
“No, I’m sure we haven’t.” She smiled and held out her hand. “Cady Tanner. And you are?”
“McKenzie Thorne.” He freed his right hand from his hat and brushed it down the side of his wool trousers. Some good that did. He spent so much time in the saddle, it would take a lifetime of washing to get the trail dust off of him and his clothes.
He looked at her small clean hand and then at his own, streaked with dirt and grease. He sent her a lazy grin that he knew would make Kane’s blood boil. “Sorry, miss. I’ll have to owe you a proper hello till after I’ve had a chance to clean up.”
“That’s all right, Mr.—”
“It’s lieutenant. But just call me Mac. Unlike the captain here, I’m not much on formality.”
She shot Kane a look that said she’d come to words with the captain about his straight and narrow ways.
When Mac glanced at Kane, a dark look smoldered in the other man’s eyes. Mac felt a grin scratching inside him, but he didn’t let it out. Still, he couldn’t resist having a little fun at the expense of his commanding officer. He’d like to see Kane turn loose of his starched-collar control.
“Miss Cady, ma’am, after I get a hot meal and a bath and a shave, I’d be honored to make your acquaintance a bit better.”
“I’d like that too, Mac.”
“Cady.” Kane’s voice was full of buckshot and ready to let fly. When the muscle in his cheek quit twitching, he went on. “Was there something you wanted?”
“Yes. I have a favor to ask you.”
Mac had a feeling this was a good time for him to leave. “I’ll let you two talk.” He put his hat on and looked at his commanding officer, then down at Cady. “I can hardly wait to clean up. Just got back from the Superstition—” As soon as the word was out, he wanted it back.
Cady’s chin jerked up, and her eyes glittered with sudden keen interest. “The Superstition Mountains? My brother Jack is prospecting there. Do you know him? Did you see him? Is he all right?”
Mac darted a look at Kane and saw the other man shake his head. It was a small movement, and if he hadn’t been waiting for it, Mac knew he might have missed it. But the captain was reminding him to keep Tanner’s trouble to himself. And now that he saw the lady, he understood Kane’s instinct to protect her. If she knew her brother was up to his ass in alligators, there’d be the devil to pay.
“No, ma’am. I don’t know your brother. I came by way of Thompson’s Canyon.”
She glanced from him to Kane, concern puckering the smooth skin of her brow. He could have kicked himself for saying anything about the Superstitions.
“Is Jack in some kind of trouble?”
The two men exchanged another communication that said keep it quiet. Mac cleared his throat and met her gaze. He grinned with what he hoped was a look that would put her at ease. “Nothin’s wrong, ma’am,” he said.
That we can’t handle
, he silently added.
“I’m so relieved,” she said on a long breath.
“What’s the favor you wanted?” Kane asked, obviously trying to distract her.
“Time for me to go,” Mac said.
“You don’t have to. This isn’t private.”
Cady turned to Kane and pulled herself up to her full height, which was less than considerable. Her shoulders went back, her spine straightened stiff as the barrel of his rifle, and her eyes spit challenge until Mac almost felt sorry for Kane.
She took a deep breath. “Captain, I’d like you to teach me how to use a gun.”
“
I really think I should know
how to handle a weapon. Please,” Cady added politely.
Kane couldn’t help smiling. She was trying to be tough as a rawhide thong, but she just couldn’t quite turn her back on good breeding.
He wanted to say no. He didn’t want her anywhere near a weapon, not by herself. They were dangerous even in experienced hands. He studied her delicate intertwined fingers. A woman like her should have a man to take care of her and protect her. She shouldn’t have to know how to use a gun.
“Kane, I promise I’ll do everything you tell me. In spite of what you think of me, I learn fast and I’ll be careful.”
He finally nodded. “All right, I’ll teach you how to shoot a pistol.”
The only indication that his answer had surprised her was a slight widening of her eyes and an almost imperceptible lift of her chin.
The determined look on her face had convinced him she would do it on her own. That would be more dangerous. She could shoot herself or someone else. Someone she didn’t mean to, that is.
“What about a rifle?” she asked.
“One step at a time.” He held his hands up as if to slow her down. “If the army does its job, you won’t need a rifle. If we don’t, a pistol for your own protection is the weapon of choice.”
He glanced at Mac Thorne, still standing beside her, watching her with a gleam in his eye. It was obvious he found her spunk appealing. He was showing far more than casual interest. Kane didn’t like it, not one damn bit. He had a good mind to send the man back out on patrol. It made perfect sense for a number of reasons.
No one knew where the Apaches would strike next. But Mac had a knack for figuring out what the Indians would do and more courage than common sense. It was a dangerous combination, but he managed to get the job done. He was valuable to have around.
As long as he wasn’t around Cady.
That would be another good reason to give him traveling orders: to get him away from her. Kane had spent a lot of time with McKenzie Thorne, and it didn’t take much to see that the ladies liked him. The way Cady looked at him told him she could be susceptible to Mac’s charm. Kane wondered if he should warn her and keep her from getting hurt. Mac Thorne
would
hurt her, there was no doubt. He wasn’t the settling-down kind any more than Kane was. But until Mac and his men rested up, he couldn’t send them back out. For the thousandth time he wished that Jack Tanner had not gone off and left a pretty little sister in his care.
Still, he was glad Tanner hadn’t taken her along to the Superstitions. With Indians on the rampage, Kane
wanted her at the fort. Jack had managed to get himself in a pile of trouble. Kane would do everything in his power to see that it didn’t touch Cady.
That was the other reason he’d agreed to teach her to shoot. And this was the more important of the two. Mac’s information about the renegade Apaches convinced him that she should know everything she could to take care of herself. He wouldn’t rest easy until the Indians were back on the reservation and peace was restored.
Mac spun his hat through his hands. “Miss Cady, Captain Carrington looks busy. But I’ve got some time. I’d be happy to show you how to shoot. If you wouldn’t mind, that is.”
Kane’s gut clenched with rage. What the hell was Mac Thorne up to?
Cady glanced from one man to the other. “I don’t have any objection—”
“I’m not that busy,” Kane said sharply.
Kane was angry—at her, for being so easily taken in, and at himself. He wanted to grab Mac by the shirtfront and tell him in no uncertain terms that Cady had asked
him
first. He felt as if he were still in short pants and sweet on a girl for the first time. He glared at Mac. It was a warning, as loud and clear as Kane could make it, and the only one Mac would get. If the other man was as smart as he thought, he’d steer clear of Cady Tanner.
“Guess when you get cleaned up, lieutenant, you’ll be on your own,” Kane said.
The other man grinned back, a look that said he knew Kane was telling him to stay away from Cady. That devil smile also told him Mac was glad that
he
didn’t jump at the swish of a petticoat.
Finally Mac said, “Another time then, Miss Cady. I’m sure there
will
be another time.”
“As a matter of fact, tonight is the first meeting of Fort McDowell’s newly organized literary society. I’d be pleased if you could be there.”
“I’d like that, ma’am.” Mac shot Kane a challenging glance.
Kane gritted his teeth. He’d trust McKenzie to watch his back in a fight, but when it came to a woman—this woman—he wouldn’t trust him as far as he could throw him. He told himself his determination to keep her away from Mac was only to keep her safe. And that included safe from unwanted romantic attention. But was it unwanted? The way she was smiling at Mac would give any man ideas.
“Literary society doesn’t sound like something you’d take to, Mac.”
“I’ve been eating dust and slapping leather with my—” He glanced at Cady and stopped. “I’ve been gone a long time. The prospect of a book and the company of a pretty lady is mighty appealing.”
“Why, thank you, lieutenant.” She smiled and Kane felt an emotion pull tight and hard in his gut. He was uneasy when he realized the most accurate name he could give it was jealousy.
“Why have you been gone so long, lieutenant? Is there some trouble?” she asked.
“Cady, I’ll have Halladay saddle our horses. We’ll go out a little way from the perimeter to shoot so we don’t disturb the fort and cause another false alarm. Meet me back here in thirty minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” She stood up straight and saluted smartly.
The sound of Mac Thorne’s laughter filled the office. He walked to the door and opened it. “I’ll see you tonight, Cady.”
“Seven-thirty. In the mess hall.”
“I’ll be there, ma’am. Captain,” he said, looking at
Kane with a cocky grin. He nodded and walked out the door.
Long ago Kane had given up trying to get Mac Thorne to salute a superior officer. He’d never thought it was worth the aggravation. Today he wasn’t so sure. “If he didn’t have such a nose for Indian fighting—” He ran his fingers through his hair. “If he keeps sticking that nose in where it doesn’t belong, he’s liable to get it bloodied.”
“Something wrong?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” He stared at her. “I gave you thirty minutes to get ready. You’re down to twenty-eight.”
“Yes, sir,” she said again. She turned and walked out quickly.
Kane sighed. If this shooting lesson went the way her demonstration of starting a fire had gone, one of them could end up dead. If they both survived, he figured he’d probably kill Mac Thorne at the literary society meeting.
Cady followed Kane’s example and reined Prince in beside Soldier Boy. They’d gone only about a mile. Her saddle creaked as she turned to make sure she could still see the fort. She nodded her head, satisfied that if there was trouble they could get back easily. On her daily rides, she’d gotten in the habit of checking her distance from home.
Funny, she’d only been at Fort McDowell a month and was already thinking of it as home. The unique beauty of the desert fascinated her. The Arizona sky was beautiful, looking darker blue than she’d ever seen it because of the way the vivid red rocks butted up on the horizon. Glancing around, she recognized the
ocotillo cactus that Halladay had pointed out and, in the distance, Indian paintbrush and paloverde trees. The heat wasn’t nearly as bad now as when she’d arrived. It was late afternoon and the air was cool and comfortable.
She noticed a reddish-brown prairie dog poke its head up from a small hillock that covered its burrow. A jackrabbit rustled the mesquite nearby as it hopped away. These creatures were furry and harmless. But she remembered the warnings Halladay had patiently given her about deadly gila monsters, snakes, scorpions, and spiders. Kane had her in such a hurry to meet him, she’d almost forgotten to shake out her boots to dislodge any unwanted creatures the way she’d been shown.
Kane dismounted and turned to help her down. After she eased her leg over the pommel, he put his hands around her waist. In spite of his riding gauntlets and the heavy material of her split skirt, she felt the contact through to her skin. A shiver of awareness went through her.
“You’re not cold, are you?” he asked, looking at her strangely.
“No.”
She stiffened, trying to keep her body from betraying her. She cared about him, but he’d made it clear that he didn’t return her regard. With little effort, he lifted her down and her heart beat wildly. She took a step back, out of his reach, afraid he could feel her reaction to him. If she couldn’t keep Kane from knowing he affected her, she would make a fool of herself in front of him again. She’d rather fall into a prickly-pear cactus.
Cady raised her gaze to his face. Beneath the shadow of his campaign hat, his dark eyes held an intensity that made her breath catch. His mouth still turned up
slightly at the comers, but the tension in his arms told her he wasn’t amused. His square jaw and the hard planes of his face gave him an air of seriousness that made her uneasy. Again she wondered what he’d been talking about with Mac when she’d interrupted them. Ever since leaving Kane’s office, she’d had a bad feeling. The look that had passed between the two men had not escaped her notice. And Kane had agreed to her favor far more easily than she’d expected.
Kane had hardly said two words to her since they’d left the fort. He was angry about something; instinct told her whatever had put the scowl on his face was directly related to her. Every few minutes he’d look at her as if she’d ripped the epaulets from his dress uniform and ground them under her heel.
He stood beside her, scanning the desert for a place to shoot. A pleasant breeze stirred the yuccas and creosote bushes around them. The scent of sage and juniper mixed with something else that she recognized as bay rum. Cady glanced sharply at his face. She didn’t remember smelling this when she’d been in his office just a short time ago. The room was very small. If he’d been wearing it, wouldn’t she have noticed? Was it possible that he’d put it on after she’d left? For her?
The thought stirred a fluttery sensation in her stomach. He stood so close that her shoulder brushed his upper arm, sending ripples through her that settled in her breasts. The last time he’d been this close, he’d kissed her.
Cady tried to control her racing pulse. She was here to learn how to shoot, and that was serious business. She was the student; he was the teacher. If she didn’t pull herself together quickly, she wouldn’t be able to hold a gun, let alone shoot it without hurting herself.
She stepped away from him. “Let’s get to it, captain.”
He nodded, then pointed to a six-foot saguaro cactus with bushes around it and a big rock to the left.
“Over there. You’ll have something to shoot at.” He started walking toward it.
“That rock’s pretty big. Maybe I can hit it.”
He stopped, turned, and looked down at her sharply. “Don’t ever aim at a rock. The ricochet could be deadly.”
Cady’s chin came up. “I was joking.”
“Guns are serious. If you don’t treat them with respect, you could wind up dead.”
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
He moved toward the cactus, and stopped when he was about twenty feet away. “Rule number one, don’t point a gun at anything or anyone unless you’re prepared to fire.”
She thought about that and decided it made good sense. “What’s rule number two?”
“Always check your weapon to see if it’s loaded.”
He lifted the leather flap on his gunbelt and pulled his pistol out. “This is the grip and this is the barrel.” He indicated the handle and the long thin part of the gun. “Hold it by the grip. The barrel is where the bullets come out.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not an idiot.”
“I never said you were.”
“You think just because I set my dress on fire that I can’t—”
“This is an army issue Colt Forty-five.” He held the pistol away from him. When he flicked something, she could see a small round hole. “This is the chamber. You put a cartridge in there and turn the cylinder. Put another one in and turn it. Keep doing that until all six chambers are full.”
She looked at him and sighed. It seemed the stalwart captain was brave enough to face a band of Indians, but
he’d changed the subject abruptly so he wouldn’t have to talk about that night. If she knew what was good for her, she’d forget it too. Maybe someday the memory of their kiss would lose its power over her. But right now—
“Cady? Are you listening?”
“Of course.” She pointed to the circular part. “That’s the cylinder. The chamber inside there is where the bullets—I mean, cartridges—go.”
She stood beside him, so close that she could feel the bunching and releasing of the muscles in his upper arm as he checked the gun. The scent of man, of Kane, filled her head and trailed down inside her.
The clink of bullets dropping into his hand brought her back to the present.
“This is how they go in.” He pushed a bullet into each hole in the chamber and snapped it closed. He worked efficiently and confidently. She could hardly breathe with him beside her. How could she possibly learn anything?
Kane handed the gun to her. With a deep swallow, she took it. “It’s heavy.”
He nodded. “Hold it and aim at that cactus over there.”
She did as he instructed. The weight seemed considerably more as she extended her arm; the barrel lowered as if it had a mind of its own even as she worked to keep it steady on target.
Kane watched her efforts, then moved behind her. “Let’s try something.”
“What?” she asked. Her voice had a breathless quality; she wondered if he noticed.
He put his arms around her. With his front pressed close to her back, she felt the solid wall of his chest, the contour of muscle that flexed as he put his hands on her
upper arms. She could hardly draw a steady breath. Yet he was all business. She found that extremely irritating.
He moved his hands up and down her arms. “Loosen up.”
“I am loose.”