Outlaw's Honor

“I was hoping you might have a job opening,” she said as she took out a tube of lip gloss and applied it to the deep pink of her full lips.

Darby stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. “You want a job?”

She gave him an amused look before she glanced around the bar, taking it in with a professional air. “I have experience.”

He just bet she did. Was it possible she didn’t remember him from yesterday? He certainly remembered her. No, he thought, she knows exactly what she’s doing. “Experience? As what? Bartender, waitress, barmaid?”

Her gaze settled on him with an intensity that made his pulse jump. “All three.” She said it with such confidence that he had to call her on it. Most of his patrons ordered a draft beer, a glass of wine or possibly a margarita. Every once in a while, someone would order something more upmarket, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know his cocktails or how to make them.

“Great,” he said. “Step behind the bar and make me a...mojito.”

She laughed, a pleasant tinkling sound that filled the empty room. “You call that a challenge?” she said, slipping off the stool to come around the end of the bar, forcing him to move down a few feet.

He watched as she nimbly picked up a clean glass, spun it in her fingers and reached for the fresh mint he had growing in the window. She adroitly used a pestle to muddle the mint to release its flavors, then added sugar and fresh lime juice, squeezing the lime with one hand as she poured rum with the other.

She didn’t measure the alcohol but he could see that it was dead on. Just like the soda water she added as well as the ice. As she poured the mixture into a shaker and gave it a few hard shakes, her gaze returned to him. Bartenders hated mojitos because they were time consuming, but she’d managed to make it in no time without even one misstep.

He watched her pour the drink into a glass, add the slice of lime garnish as well as another mint leaf, and set it on a bar napkin in front of him.

Her questioning gaze rose to his. “Aren’t you going to try it?”

“I don’t drink.”

She cocked her head at him, surprise in her expression.

At the sound of car doors slamming, they both turned as three twentysomething females came in. “Is it too early to get a drink?” one of them called out.

He started to say they didn’t open for another hour or two, when he felt her touch his arm. She motioned the women in with, “We don’t open for a while, but I could make you something.”

She moved to take their orders, performing the task with such efficiency that he couldn’t help but be impressed. He noticed that she also had a way with the customers. She was a born con artist, he thought, reminding himself how they’d met and what was at stake. She was only here for her bracelet.

The smartest thing he could do was to go upstairs, get her bracelet and send her on her way.

“So do I have the job?” she asked as she came back down the bar to where he stood.

Was that the way they were going to play this? He couldn’t help but be intrigued. His earlier feeling of excitement had reached a fevered pitch. He was having fun and enjoying himself.

She picked up the wet cloth, wrung it out, wiped down the bar and turned to look at him. Those dark eyes were killer. As his blood suddenly ran cold, he reminded himself that this woman could be something more dangerous than a pickpocket.

And yet, he knew he was looking at the most exciting woman he’d ever met. His heart pounded. His skin tingled. His pulse thrummed under his skin. This woman fascinated him and that was no small matter. All he could wonder was how far she would take this.

No way was this one of those stranger-than-fiction coincidences. She’d come here with only one thing in mind. Getting her bracelet back. So why not waltz in here and simply demand it?

Because, he thought as he looked into her eyes, she preferred subterfuge. She was a game player, and this was one game she apparently thought she could win. The woman had grit, he’d give her that.

His every instinct told him not to do it. “You want a job?” he repeated, knowing he’d be a damned fool to hire her. He’d have to watch her all the time to make sure she didn’t carry off the place. Or cut his throat in the middle of the night.

“You won’t be sorry.”

He wouldn’t bet on that. “I can only offer you four days a week, but no promises,” he said, telling himself he was taking one hell of a risk. “Let’s just see how it goes. Swing by tomorrow before noon and you can fill out the paperwork and start the next day.”

“Mariah Ayers,” she said holding out her hand.

“Darby Cahill.” He felt a jolt as he took her warm, silken hand in his. Her grip was strong, self-assured—just like her.

She smiled, her eyes glittering with challenge.

The game had begun. As he let go of her hand, he feared he was a poor opponent compared to her. But at the same time, he felt as if he’d been waiting for this—for her—his whole life. Bring it on, he said to himself as he returned her smile. He felt more alive than he had in years.

* * *

MARIAH’S HEART THUNDERED as she walked out of the bar. She’d done it. There was no doubt that he’d recognized her right away. She’d seen it in his gray eyes—and his reaction. But he’d still hired her. Either the man was a fool or crazy like a fox. Or both.

She kept her back straight, her head high, knowing that he would be watching her from the window. With practiced ease, she swung a leg over her motorcycle, adjusted her backpack and kick-started the engine. It rumbled under her, throaty and loud just the way she liked it. She hit first gear and took off in a cloud of dust and exhaust. She desperately wanted to look back, knowing the cowboy would be there watching her, wondering what she was up to.

Instead, she concentrated on the narrow paved road that curved through the rolling hills toward town. She hadn’t gone far when she saw the for-rent sign. Unfortunately she’d been going too fast to get to a stop in time.

She hit the skids, sliding a little as she got the motorcycle stopped and turned around to go back. The bike throbbed as she slowly pulled in front of the old log cabin—and the for-rent sign. Shutting the engine, she climbed off and peered into one dusty window.

The cabin was what some might call rustic. She called it cheap and quickly dialed the number printed under For Rent. The call was answered on the third ring.

“I’m inquiring about the cabin you have for rent, the one outside of town on the Maiden Canyon road. What are you asking for it?” She listened. “I’d like it. How soon can I move in?” She frowned and stepped to the door. Just as the woman on the other end of the line had said, the key was under a rock by the door. “I’m new to the area but I just took a job at the Stagecoach Saloon.”

Mariah listened to the woman go on about how nice Lillie and Darby Cahill were, how good the food was and how convenient the cabin’s location would be for her.

She interrupted her to ask, “Do you take cash?”

* * *

“YOU HIRED ANOTHER WAITRESS?” Lillie asked, frowning as she perused the schedule and then her brother.

He kept his gaze elsewhere. “With things picking up this time of year, I thought we could use her. She’ll work the nights I work and Kendall will work with you.”

Lillie’s eyebrows shot up. Since Kendall Raines had been hired, Lillie had hoped that her brother would ask the woman out. She was blonde, blue-eyed, cute as a button, a great waitress and loved by everyone. Well, almost everyone. When asked, Darby had said she wasn’t his type. Kendall was every red-blooded American man’s type.

“Has Kendall done something wrong?” she asked, afraid whatever had happened, that Darby planned to let her go. “You do realize she is a favorite around here. If she leaves—”

“Nothing happened. I don’t want to lose Kendall either. I just want to give this woman who came in looking for a job a chance.”

Lillie realized her brother hadn’t made eye contact once. She studied him openly for a long moment. “Why do I feel like there is something you aren’t telling me?”

He chuckled as he came over to take the schedule from her and put it back on the wall of the kitchen. “Because you have a suspicious mind.”

“True,” she admitted.

“Did I see the old man’s Jeep parked in front of his cabin?” Darby asked frowning. “I thought he was still up in the mountains.” Most of the time, when their father came down, he headed straight for the bar and trouble. That’s how they found out he was in town—their brother Flint would call her to let her know so she could bail him out.

“I haven’t seen him.” The whole family was worried about Ely. Flint was convinced their father was losing his mind, although most people in the county thought he’d lost it years ago. Ely still claimed that in 1967 he was abducted by aliens.