A Love to Cherish Read Free Page B

at him. “I don’t wanna fight with you, mister.”
    “I can see that. You prefer to abuse women too weak to fight back. You’re scum, Dinks. Get out of here and don’t come back. Mrs. Henderson doesn’t need your business.” The air thickened with his anger. “And if you ever, I repeat,
ever
lay hands on this woman again, you’re a dead man. Do I make myself clear?”
    Dinks scooted backward toward the door, staring at Casey in abject fear. He wasn’t a slouch when it came to defending himself, but he sensed something dangerously lethal in this man. Something about his eyes hinted of ruthlessness and a willingness to carry out his threats.
    “I’m going, mister, don’t get your dander up,” Dinks said as he staggered to his feet and slunk out the door.
    Belle hoisted herself from the table, still trembling from her encounter with Dinks but in full control now. She couldn’t afford to show fear. She didn’t know this stranger, and for all she knew he was of the same ilk as Dinks. Just because he had sent Dinks fleeing didn’t mean he wouldn’t launch an attack of his own once he had dealt with the miner.
    During her years with Naomi, Belle had seen men of all sizes, shapes, and sexual persuasions. She hadlearned that good men were few and far between. Her own father, though he had loved her, had easily succumbed to the lure of wine, women, and cards. Tom had been the only good man she had ever known, and he was gone.
    “Are you all right, Mrs. Henderson?”
    “Yes, thank you, Mr. Walker. I’m grateful for your intervention. Pike Dinks has been pestering me ever since he came to town. The only times he’s actually assaulted me, though, was when he was too drunk to know what he was doing.”
    Casey went still. “You mean this isn’t the first time?”
    Belle gave an inelegant shrug. “No, nor is he the first man to think he could take liberties.”
    “What in the hell is a defenseless woman doing in a rough gold camp with no one to protect her? Didn’t I hear Dinks say you had a son? You must be crazy to stay here amid so much violence.” Casey couldn’t imagine why he was being so protective of a woman he hardly knew.
    Belle’s stubborn little chin lifted and her brown eyes darkened with anger. Casey thought her magnificent. He saw now that her hair wasn’t really a true brown but a rich sable, so shiny it nearly blinded him. Except for her lameness her body was perfect. Slim and sinuous, she was also round where it counted, with a hint of long, supple legs hidden beneath her skirts.
    “You’re quick to find fault with someone you hardly know,” Belle tossed back at him. “I’ve been in Placerville over a year and have managed quite nicely, thank you.”
    Casey gave a sarcastic snort. “It didn’t look to meas if you were managing. If I hadn’t been handy Dinks would have raped you.” His eyes narrowed and the searching look he gave her was almost insulting. “Unless I interrupted something I had no business interrupting. Are you in the habit of providing services to your customers after hours?”
    Before she had time to consider the consequences, she lashed his cheek with the flat of her hand. “How dare you!”
    Casey’s jaw clenched. He supposed he deserved that. But something inside him had snapped at the thought of Belle selling herself to crude miners. He stepped closer, grasping her shoulders and bringing her hard against him. He was so startled by how good she felt pressed against him that he immediately pushed her away.
    Belle tried to remain calm, frozen in place by the mesmerizing power of his strangely beautiful, mossy green eyes. Every part of him where she was briefly pressed against him had been hard and unyielding. Intuition told her that Casey Walker could be utterly ruthless. He was so honed and lethal, so swift and sure of himself, that it frightened her.
    “I’ll forgive you this time,” Casey growled. “I had no call to say what I did.” The urge to pull her