So if you will meet us in front of the Grand Hotel within the next hour, we won't delay your de-parture any longer than that. Until then, Mr. Ewing."
She passed by him with a nod of farewell and was gone before he could get another "but" out, not that one more would have done any better than the others. He was left standing alone on the boardwalk — and facing Colt across the street. Christ! What the hell had just happened? He hadn't actually agreed to es-cort the duchess and her party to Wyoming, had he? But he hadn't refused either.
His thoughts whirling, Billy didn't move from his spot. But now that he was alone, Colt crossed to him, still leading their horses.
"Mount up, kid."
Just like that. He wasn't even curious about Billy's conversation with the duchess, or if he was, he wasn't going to appease it. It would have been easier on Billy if Colt had yelled at him and called him ten kinds of fool for going near the woman. He certainly felt like a fool. The lady had talked circles around him, and now he had to try and do the same to Colt.
"We, ah… we can't leave just yet, Colt."
"Wanna bet?"
Billy groaned inwardly but plunged ahead. "I sort of agreed to take the lady to Wyoming with us."
There was a long silence crackling with tension as he waited for the explosion. When Colt did comment, his voice was barely a whisper. "As in, you sort of agreed to hire on with the Clantons?"
"Well, actually, she never gave me a chance to agree or not. She sort of took it for granted."
"Get on your horse, Billy," was all Colt said to that.
"But this is different! She's gone to her hotel to pack. She expects us to meet her there out front in the next hour."
Colt calmly mounted his horse before he replied, "Then she'll realize she's made a mistake when we don't show up, won't she?"
That was true enough, and the easiest way to get out of it, except.
"You don't understand, Colt. Those ladies are scared to remain here after what they witnessed. They mean to leave town today, with or without a guide. Would you really let them cross this country alone when they don't know anything about it, don't know what dangers to watch for, how to recognize Indian signs or anything else? They'll end up getting lost, or drowned crossing a river where they shouldn't, or robbed. You know there's hundreds of petty outlaws who operate in this area alone. All it would take is their asking directions of the wrong people to end up in a trap. They're tenderfoots, Colt, a hundred times worse than I am."
Something must have gotten through to Colt, for he lost his temper at that point. "Dammit, I told her I wasn't for hire!"
"But did you know she was going to Wyoming? And she says she pays very well. You might as well get something out of this trip for the trouble I've put you to."
Bringing Colt's thoughts back to the reason for his being there perhaps wasn't the wisest thing to do.
Billy felt flattened by the look he got, but then Colt yanked his horse — and headed for the Grand Hotel.
Chapter Eleven
Billy should have known that Colt wasn't so easy to talk around. He had no intention of seeing the duch-ess and her entourage north. As he put it, while they waited for her to appear outside her hotel, she'd been traveling for three years and was still in one piece. She had all the protection she needed in her own little army, and there were stage lines they could follow to keep from getting lost. If they had to have a guide, they could probably locate one in a matter of hours and still be on their way out of town today. What they did not need, and were not getting, was him, and he was there to make sure the lady was left in no further doubt of that.
How he intended to do that, Billy didn't know. Colt had said his piece and then said no more. But as they sat their mounts in front of the Grand Hotel, watching the baggage and trunks being loaded in the wagons that had been pulled up in front of the building when they got there, Billy was afraid that Colt was not going to be pleasant about it. And Colt could be very unpleasant when he wanted to be. But he also wasn't behaving in a normal fashion. As they waited, his jaw kept working as if he were gritting his teeth, he changed the angle of his hat a half-dozen times, and he seemed to tense each time the hotel doors opened.
If Billy didn't know better, he would think Colt was nervous, but that just couldn't be. There wasn't a thing alive that could intimidate Colt, as far as Billy knew. He just didn't have the same reactions to things as other men did.
Inside the hotel, there was no doubt about ner-vousness. Jocelyn was nearly trembling with it when she neared the hotel entrance. She had been told that Colt Thunder was outside waiting with his brother. She hadn't really let herself believe he would show up, but that he had didn't mean she would be getting what she wanted. Far from it. He had every right to be furious with her for the way she had manipulated his brother. He wouldn't have let her get away with it, and was likely there only to tell her what he thought of her high-handedness.
"Stop a moment and take a deep breath before you make yourself sick," Vanessa said in a stern voice, putting her hand on Jocelyn's arm to make sure she did halt, and motioning their guards back. "What's done is done. All you can do now is apologize."
"I could beg."
"You will do no such thing!" Vanessa snapped in-dignantly. "We aren't desperate for his help, and you aren't desperate for his body, not yet anyway. You're suffering a powerful attraction, but out of sight, out of mind. You will forget him sooner than you think."
"And remain a virgin forever," Jocelyn sighed.
Vanessa couldn't help it. She had to smile at such a forlorn expression. "That isn't likely to happen, dearest, and you know it. You forget that you have only just decided to take a lover. You were not actively seeking one before, but now that you are, you will be surprised how many men you will find appealing that you otherwise wouldn't have noticed."
"But I've made my choice."
"Your choice isn't being cooperative, dear, or did that escape your notice?" Vanessa said dryly, only to regret her words when Jocelyn flinched. "Now, none of that. There's probably a very good reason why these American Indians are called savages, you know. It's doubtful you would have liked his form of lovemak-ing, so be glad it hasn't worked out."
"He's not a savage, Vana."
"Reserve that opinion until after you face him. And best we put it behind us, so come along."
As they continued forward, the four guards Vanessa had motioned back moved up behind them again, and the two who had been stationed in the lobby fell into step beside them. The remaining six were already outside. They would have thoroughly checked out the area, even the buildings across the street.
If there was even one person of a suspicious nature anywhere around who couldn't be warned away, Jocelyn would not be allowed to leave the ho-tel. Hours could be wasted, and had frequently been wasted, on just such precautions. If Longnose ever hired a decent marksman, those precautions would be pointless, but fortunately, none of his hirelings had ever been competent with firearms, at least not from a distance.
Sir Parker was there to open the door for them with a ready smile. He adored Jocelyn, but only from afar. She was like an ideal to him, safe to worship, but he would never presume to make his feelings known to her. As if everyone didn't know, including Jocelyn. She was the stuff of dreams, whereas earthy creatures like Babette were reality, and Parker and half the guard frequently took advantage of the French maid's brand of reality. But it was amusing to watch Parker and Jocelyn both take such pains not to acknowledge his feelings for her.
It really was too bad he felt that Jocelyn was beyond his reach, Vanessa thought, for his age was per-fect at thirty, he owned considerable property in Kent, and he was quite the most handsome of the guards with his black hair and dark green eyes. The trouble was, he would never settle for just being her lover, even if she would consider him as a candidate. He wasn't ready to settle down — the reason he so enjoyed the job the duke had offered him — but if he thought Jocelyn would have him, he would offer for her in a minute.