Baby Love Read Free Page B

the rent in her sleeve. After a moment of breathless waiting, Maggie thought she heard him curse, but the clack of the train was so loud, she couldn't be certain.
    "You're all right now, " he assured her in a louder voice. "And so is your baby. I checked him over good.

    16 CATHERINE ANDERSON
    The bastards didn't hurt him, and they aren't going to. I promise you that. "
    The gruff vibrancy of his voice curled around her like warm tendrils of smoke, and the gentle caress of his hands eased away some of her fear. As her panic subsided, Maggie's thoughts went instantly to Jaimie. She shifted to peer around his arm to where her baby lay at the opposite end of the boxcar. She kept remembering how Jaimie had rolled from her lap onto the floor, and despite the cowboy's reassurances, she couldn't help but worry. Oh, God. If her baby was hurt, she'd never forgive herself.
    To her surprise, the cowboy seemed to understand how concerned she was and loosened his hold on her. Maggie drew back, fumbling with her blouse. She jumped with a start when he brushed her hands aside and made fast work of refastening the buttons for her.
    He smiled slightly, his mouth tipping up at one corner. Even in the shadows, she could see the amused twinkle in his eyes.
    "Better?"
    Though she couldn't imagine why, she did feel better. And if that wasn't sheer madness... He was the kind of man you didn't want to meet in a dark alley.
    He reached to smooth her hair back from her face. "Go check on your baby while I get rid of these bastards before they start coming around. "
    While he got rid of them? Maggie had forgotten all about the other men who lay around them.
    She cast a worried glance at them now. Surely the cowboy didn't mean to just toss them off.
    the train? A hysterical urge to laugh struck her. Of course he didn't.
    "It'll be all right, " he said, gathering up her jacket and sweatshirt, then thrusting them into her arms. "Go see to your baby. I'll handle it. "
    Handle it? Maggie wasn't about to ask what he meant. Right now she had worries enough just watching out for herself and Jaimie. Besides, after what those men had BABY LOVE 17
    tried to do to her, they deserved whatever they got.
    Quivering with delayed reaction, she collected Jaimie, quickly checked to make sure he was all right, and then went to sit in the left front corner of the boxcar. Only seconds later, she heard the faint thud of the cowboy's boots over the sound of the train as he followed in her wake. He stooped to retrieve his hat and coat, then turned slightly to regard her.
    "Here, " he said as he extended the coat to her. When she hesitated, he dropped it in her lap.
    "That wind-breaker and shirt won't keep your baby warm. Put it on, " he ordered gruffly as he settled the Stetson on his head. "It's big enough for two men and a boy. It'll cover you both with room to spare. "
    The warmth of the sheepskin over Maggie's legs felt heavenly. She was freezing; there was no mistake about that. The thought of the thick wool all around her was tempting. But it seemed wrong for her to be warm while he suffered the cold with nothing.
    He resumed his seat in the opposite corner, snorting with impatience as he settled his broad shoulders against the wall. "Do I have to come over there and stuff you into it?"
    Maggie shook her head and laid Jaimie lengthwise in the cleavage of her upraised thighs as she drew on the coat. When she tucked her baby inside and pulled the woolly leather closed, warmth immediately surrounded her icy body.
    "Thank you, mister. "
    He shifted to get more comfortable and tugged the hat down over his face. His voice gravelly and muffled, he said, "No problem. Just don't grow attached. I want it back when we part company at the next stop. "
    Maggie gnawed the inside of her cheek. "Not just for the coat. Thank you for—" Her voice trailed away like a talking toy that had wound down. She gulped and tried again. "Thank you for—for helping me. You risked getting badly