Blackstone's Bride Read Free

For the kids’ sake.
    He took a deep breath. “Guess I’d best go inside and get acquainted.”
    She nodded. “You’ll do fine. Good-bye, Jarrod. Good luck.”
    “Where are you going?”
    “Back to town.”
    He glanced through the oak grove and saw the rays of the setting sun. “You can’t get there before dark. It’s too dangerous to travel at night.”
    “It’s a chance I’ll have to take.”
    “Why didn’t you wait until morning to deliver the kids, if you couldn’t get out here and back before dark?”
    “I thought I could. They’re nervous and upset and needed to be settled as soon as possible. I figured I’d have just enough time. But when we arrived and the house was empty, I just couldn’t leave them here alone.”
    “So now that I’m here, you’re going to dump them in my lap and hightail it back?”
    “Yeah.”
    He took her arm. “I don’t think so. This is the last time you drop something on my doorstep and leave. Besides, what kind of host would I be, not offering you a place to stay for the night? I don’t want to come across what’s left of you when the coyotes get finished. You can leave at first light. Not before.”
    Abby felt the strength in the hand gripping her upper arm. He didn’t hurt her, but she couldn’t break his hold without struggling, and probably not even then. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her try.
    She met his gaze directly. “Please release me,
Mister
Blackstone.”
    Something flickered in his gray eyes, a flash of respect, she thought. Or maybe it was more personal than that, but it was gone before she could tell. She didn’t want to know anyway. She just wanted to go back to Hollister. Jarrod Blackstone made her nervous. He always had. Not because of his intimidating size. He wasn’t the only man several inches over six feet she’d come across. It wasn’t even because he was handsome as sin.
    She was uneasy around him because of the fluttery feeling she always got in her stomach when he was nearby. Her palms grew sweaty and her knees weak. A man who coulddo that to her was a man to stay away from. Besides, even if Jarrod Blackstone hadn’t made it clear that he had no use for her or any other woman, she had no time for that sort of thing. Knowing his feelings like she did, his insistence that she stay the night came as a surprise.
    When he didn’t let her go, she looked at his fingers, then back into his eyes, and lifted a brow.
    Amusement flashed across his face as he loosened his grip and dropped his hand.
    “Thank you,” she said, resisting the impulse to rub her arm.
    Those gray eyes of his, fringed by dark lashes, were piercing, unnerving. It was as if he could tell what she was thinking and found it funny. His jaw was strong, square, with an indentation that made her want to touch it. A high-crowned black hat covered his brown hair, but the collar of his plaid shirt touched long strands that needed trimming. They were wavy, she noticed, and her heart skipped a beat.
    “You’re welcome,” he said in a deep voice that caused tingles to skitter up her spine and over her chest. “Now, about staying here for the night. Are you going to argue that some more?”
    She wanted to. It annoyed her that she couldn’t. He was right about the danger of traveling at night. It also irritated her that he ordered her to stay, as if she were one of his ranch hands. He seemed accustomed to having his commands obeyed without question. How she would have liked to defy him. But only a fool would travel through that rugged land in the dark, and she was no fool.
    “I’d like to—thank you for your invitation.”
    “Good.” He started into the house, then turned back to her. “I can see why Gib calls you ‘Firecracker’. And it’s got nothing to do with that red hair.”
    “Look, Jarrod, I appreciate your hospitality. But if you think that gives you the right to make fun of me, I’ll just take my chances with the coyotes.”
    “That