Beverly Jenkins Read Online Free

for me?”
    “You are a muddy mess, do you know that?” His mustache twitched in amusement.
    “Thank you for calling it to my attention,” she told him stiffly. “If you would be so kind as to let me down, I’ll go get cleaned up.”
    “I think I like you with mud on your face.”
    This statement caught her off-guard, too. “Why were you looking for me?” she asked.
    “To apologize. I went back and questioned Worth again after I left you last night. He changed a few things.”
    “No!” she whispered in mock surprise.
    “Yes. He admitted that meeting you last night had been his idea, and you’d done nothing to encourage him. He also confirmed that you turned down his offer of marriage. Says he didn’t tell the truth originally because he wanted the men in the barracks to stop teasing him.”
    “About what?”
    “Being a virgin.”
    Cara blinked.
    The mustache twitched again. “He figured if he told them he had a beautiful woman wanting to marry him, they’d leave him alone.”
    “If Worth thinks I’m beautiful, he’s younger than I thought,” she quipped.
    “Oh, I don’t know,” he murmured. “I think he’s old enough.”
    Why, Chase Jefferson was flirting with her, Cara realized. For the first time in her life she wished she knew how to banter with a man. Well, she’djust have to give it her best try. “And so . . .” she prompted.
    “And so, what?”
    “You were going to apologize?”
    He chuckled. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”
    “No, I’m afraid not. In fact,” Cara added looking up into his handsome face, “if it weren’t so muddy, I’d insist you do it on your knees, but since I’m being gracious, and you did rescue me, up here will suffice.”
    “This more of that gift of yours?”
    She smiled.
    However, he shocked the smile right off her face when he took her hand and slowly raised it to his lips. He kissed the fingertips. “My deepest apologies, Miss Henson.”
    Cara managed to croak, “Apology accepted, Sergeant.” Every woman within sight was staring at him. Just as she was. She forced herself to remember where she was and what she was about. She pulled her hand free. “I . . . must go.” She wanted no one carrying tales about her behavior to the school board of Henry Adams. She desperately needed them to hire her.
    He guided the horse to the planks leading back to the hall with a skill that reminded Cara of her grandfather’s way with animals. Jefferson eased her down to the walk, and Cara tried to ignore all the interested faces turned their way. “Thank you again, Sergeant Jefferson.”
    “My pleasure. Thank you for being gracious enough to accept my apology.”
    Cara had no idea where the boldness came from, but she heard herself ask, “Is that the kind of woman you like, Sergeant . . . gracious?”
    “Sometimes . . .” he replied in a voice so softonly she could hear, “but sassy’s nice, too, I’m finding out . . .”
    Cara felt heat spread from her head to her toes as she stared up into his dark eyes. “How long will you be staying in Topeka?”
    “I’m heading to Texas day after tomorrow. And you?”
    “I leave later today, for the Solomon Valley.”
    There was a shared silence before he spoke. “I see. Then this is goodbye.”
    Their gazes locked. He was about to speak again when an attractive young woman interrupted. “Chase, where were you last night? I waited up half the night. Oh, hello,” she said to Cara.
    Cara noted that Jefferson had the decency to appear embarrassed. “Laura Pope, Cara Henson.”
    Cara in her mud-covered clothes felt like a beggar child standing next to the smartly dressed, dark-skinned woman, but nodded politely.
    The newcomer looked Cara up and down, wrinkled her little nose, then said, “You don’t mind if I steal my fiancé for a while, do you? My parents are having a dinner party tonight—”
    After the word “fiancé,” Cara heard little else. “By all means. The sergeant and I