Wild At Heart Read Free Page B

he thought of all the beautiful sights just waiting for him to discover and to draw.
    A tickle, as if a broken egg had been spilled on Adam’s head and was running down the sides, forced him to scratch his head again. The lady across from him gave him an odd look and hugged her sleeping son a bit tighter. She probably thought he had lice or some other infestation.
    He’d had enough. Grabbing his hat, Adam thrust himself up. He held on to the back of the wooden bench to keep from losing his footing as the train rocked down the track at an amazing speed. Looking around, he realized with a sigh that the only available seats were either next to the woman in the hat or directly across from her. Evidently, most other folks on the train were steering clear of that pesky bonnet, too.
    A rugged cowboy, slouched with his leg across the seat opposite the woman, gave him a disgusted look as Adam motioned that he wanted to sit beside him. The man scowled but slowly slid his leg down and straightened in the seat. He glared at Adam as he stood, almost looking eye-to-eye. Holding his ground, Adam kept his expression neutral. Suddenly, the cowboy grinned and then plopped down beside the woman. Surprise engulfed her countenance, and she hastily gathered her skirts to keep them from touching the dirty cowboy.
    Adam eased down, glad that the confounded feathers would no longer pester him. He much preferred looking at the citified gal and couldn’t help wondering why she was traveling alone. He laid his hat on the seat beside him and relaxed, glad to have solved that problem. The woman scooted as close to the window as possible, and guilt stabbed at him that he’d caused her to have to share her bench. The cowpoke slouched back in his seat, allowing his left thigh to ease closer to the woman than was proper. Adam glared at him, but the man wasn’t intimidated.
    Fancy Feathers pulled a lace hankie from the cuff of her sleeve and discreetly held it to her nose as she stared out the window. The cowboy had reeked of body odor and cows when he’d stood. Adam considered offering to swap seats but figured the man wouldn’t want to move again.
    Adam’s gaze drifted to the right. Soft wisps of light brown hair had pulled free from Fancy Feathers’s oval face, making her look young and innocent. She couldn’t be much older than twenty. Her navy travel suit was wrinkled and dusty. A pretty gal like her shouldn’t be traveling alone. How far had she journeyed? Was she going home or perhaps visiting someone?
    “Been traveling long?” The words were out before he could rein them in.
    “Pardon me?” Her coffee-brown eyes darted in his direction.
    His stomach flip-flopped. He hadn’t realized how pretty she was until she lowered her hankie and turned her full attention on him. He cleared his throat. “I said, have you been traveling long?”
    She nodded, looking a bit suspicious of him. “A few days.”
    I’m harmless
, he wanted to say. His drawing hand tingled. He didn’t encounter many women of her caliber around Medora. He must have stared too long, trying to memorize her features until he was free to sit down with his paper and pencil, because she blushed and looked out the window again, the lace hankie firmly hiding all of her face except those expressive eyes.

    Mariah tried not to squirm under the man’s steady gaze. She refocused on the boring landscape, hoping he’d get the idea that she didn’t want to talk. At least the flat farmland had given way to some hills now and then.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she peeked across the aisle. Given a different time and circumstances, she might have liked getting to know the handsome man, but she’d recently sworn off men. His tanned complexion made her wonder if he was a rancher or farmer, though he currently resembled neither. His gray Western suit perfectly fit his broad shoulders and blended well with his black hair and boots. Vivid blue eyes emanated kindness and curiosity, and he