Eleven
“Don’t you dare call me a bitch! I’ll tell your daddy on you!” Lynnie struggled to get away from him, desperate at the way his angry gaze was devouring her. All the men hurrying toward the creek were big-eyed as well. Not knowing what else to do, she sank her white teeth into his hand.
“Ow, you’re worse than a coyote!” He turned loose, waving the injured hand. She grabbed for her clothes as the young cowboys came running.
Ace was so stunned, he could only blink and stare in disbelief as she began to dress. He was both angry and dumfounded that the prim old maid was a naked temptress with a cascade of wet fiery hair. True, she might not be as generously endowed as the women he usually preferred, but when he’d held her softness against him, he’d had a split-second image of making wild, passionate love to her right there on the creek bank. Make love to Lynnie McBride? Lordy, had he lost his mind? He’d been too long without a woman. Now his disappointment turned to anger. “Lynnie, I ought to whip your bottom for this!”
“Don’t you dare, you brute of a Texan!” She was almost a temptress in her outraged manner as she struggled to get into her pants, hopping about on one foot.
The cowboys gathered on the creek, and abruptly, Ace didn’t want them staring with such eye-popping interest. “You hombres go back to camp. There’s not much to see; it’s just Lynnie McBride.”
“Well, I never!” She had her pants on now, looking about nearsightedly for a shirt.
Her breasts might be small, but they were perfect, Ace thought, and was annoyed all over again because his groin had tightened. He handed her a shirt, and she slipped it on as the crew gathered around them. Old Cookie blinked. “What’s going on down here?”
Ace reached out and began to button her shirt, even though she was slapping at his hands.
“Stop pawing me, Ace Durango.”
“Damn it, I’m not pawing you; I’m just tryin’ to protect your dignity.” Yes, she was almost attractive when she was mad, he decided.
“Is that what you call wallowing me all over the dirt, and me buck naked?”
The men circled them, eyes bright with curiosity.
“Nekkid?” Joe said, “Did I hear the word ‘girl’ and ‘nekkid’?”
“It’s just Lynnie McBride,” Ace said, but he couldn’t stop staring at her small, angry face. She looked like she might cry. He didn’t know if he was feeling relief that he wasn’t a nancy-boy after all, or anger with the sneaky female for her deception.
Comanche looked tousled and incredulous. “Lee Smith is a girl?”
Some of the others grinned. “We got a girl travelin’ with us?”
“Not that kind of girl,” Ace let them know quickly. He didn’t want anyone getting ideas about crawling into her blankets. Of course, he told himself, it was only because his dad and Uncle Maverick would be furious if any man laid a hand on her. Which was why Ace resisted the urge to grab her and shake her until her teeth rattled. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she squared her small shoulders as she brushed back the wet mop of fiery hair.
Pedro strode up, looking grim. “Ace, you responsible for bringing the señorita along?”
Ace was outraged. “If I was gonna sneak a woman on this trip, you think I’d pick her?”
Comanche scratched his head and yawned. “She looks purty good to me.”
“Comanch,” Ace said, “you’ve been on the trail too long.”
At that point, Lynnie kicked Ace in the shins for this insult.
While Ace hopped around on one foot, howling, Lynnie faced the others. “All right; I’ll admit it. I sneaked on this cattle drive because I’m trying to get to Dodge City for a women’s rights meeting. No man helped me; I was clever enough to dress like a boy, and none of you are too smart if you thought I was for the last couple of weeks.”
Pedro sat down on a big rock and stroked his mustache. “Señorita, does your brother-in-law know?”
“Of course not. You think Maverick or my big sister would have let me come? I’m independent; I thought this scheme up all by myself.” Now she could finally take her cameo pin from her pocket and pin her shirt closed.
“I ought to paddle your butt,” Ace said, and quit limping.
Lynnie drew herself up primly. “That’s not a nice thing to say to a lady. Anyway, you just try it, you big lummox.”
Pedro sighed. “This trouble I did not need. The question remains, señorita: what do we do with you?”
Lynnie took a deep breath and looked around at all the curious male faces. “Thunderation, why do you need to do anything? I was carrying my share of the load as Lee Smith; you’ve got to admit that.”
The boys looked at each other and nodded.
“Lordy, girl,” Ace said, “that was before. It ain’t right and proper for a girl to be travelin’ with a dozen men.”
Lynnie snorted. “Ace Durango, a rogue and libertine, is lecturing me on what’s right and proper?”
His expression told her he was not certain whether he was being insulted. “Lynnie, you and your big words. None of us even know what a ‘libertine’ is.”
“Well, you’re a prime example, you irresponsible brute.” She bent and began to put on her boots. “I don’t see why I can’t continue just the way I was doing before.”
The young cowboys all looked at each other.
“Look, Lynnie,” Ace said patiently, as if he were talking to an idiot, “you can’t, because it would ruin your reputation.”
“Ha!” She faced him. “After you caused me to go to jail and lose my teaching position, do you think I’ve got any reputation left?”
The cowboys all looked at Ace with the kind of scornful contempt they might have reserved for some villain who had said, “Forget the Alamo.”
“Listen, Miss Priss,” Ace fired back, “as I recall, you got me thrown in jail.”
A gasp went up from the cowboys.
Hank said, “Ace, no true Texan would talk to a lady the way you’re doin’.”
“This lady,” Ace said coldly, “keeps gettin’ me in trouble, and then I have to take the blame.”
“Why, Miss Lynnie,” Comanch said, rushing to her defense, “is a sweet, nice girl.”
“Ha!” Ace snarled.
Pedro held up his hand for silence. “Hombres, none of this matters. What matters is that we are a long way from home. I don’t know what to do next.”
Ace said, “Why don’t we turn this herd around and go home? I’ve had my fill of Cookie’s food and sleepin’ on the hard ground when there’s eager girls at Miss Fancy’s—”
“Ace!” snapped another cowboy, “you shouldn’t talk about Miss Fancy’s in front of a nice girl like Miss McBride here.”
“Hush, hombres,” Pedro ordered, and gestured for silence. “I’ve got to think.”
Lynnie glared at Ace. “You’re an irresponsible quitter; that’s what you are. Here we’ve promised to take this herd to Dodge City, and you’d let Forrester and Purdy take their herd in while we quit, turn tail, and go home beaten? You’re more spoiled than I thought you were.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, you old maid. You’re the one puttin’ this drive in trouble.”
Cookie said, “Don’t you two ever stop yammerin’ at each other?”
“Pedro,” Lynnie appealed to him, “I’ve come this far and I’ve been a good hand. It isn’t fair to turn the herd around and disappoint everyone who’s counting on us to get these steers to Dodge City.”
The old Mexican nodded agreement. “Si. That’s true, señorita.”
The boys were all weakening, Lynnie thought with satisfaction—that is, everyone but Ace. He looked like he’d like to shake her until her teeth fell out.
“Please,” she whimpered in her best helpless-female tone. The others looked undecided and sympathetic.
“No!” Ace shouted. “Can’t you see how she’s playin’ all you hombres?”
She batted her lashes at all the men. “Now, could a weak, helpless little lady do anything to outsmart a bunch of big, strong cowboys?”
Hank nodded. “I say we let the little lady go on with us.”
There was a murmur of agreement from some of the others.
“Lordy, your fellas are dumber than a rock if you can’t see what’s happenin’ here.”
Lynnie managed to squeeze out a tear, which trickled down one cheek while she pretended to stifle a sob. “Oh, Ace, you are so mean. Isn’t there any way I could change your mind?”
Ace looked around the circle. Even Lynnie could see that he might lose in a vote. “Tell you what, Lynnie, suppose we have a contest, and if you lose, you go back without causin’ a lot of fuss.”
Lynnie considered. “What kind of contest?”
His eyes brightened, and he actually rubbed his hands in glee. “What about a game of cards? Pedro, you think that’d be fair?”
The cowboys set up a moan of protest. “Hey, Ace, that ain’t fair. No woman can best a man at cards, especially you.”
Pedro scratched his head. “Hombres, I don’t know what to do. I never had a problem like this before.”
Ace sneered. “Lynnie McBride, you’re a yellow-bellied chicken if you don’t pick up that dare.”
Lynnie ran her tongue over her lips nervously. “What—what kind of cards?”
Comanch objected. “Don’t you do it, Miss Lynnie. Ace is the best in all Texas.”
Lynnie sniffed. “I imagine he’s had plenty of practice, the kind of places he hangs out in. All right, Ace Durango, I accept your challenge.”
Ace’s eyes gleamed like a crafty fox. “I get to choose the game?”
Cookie shook his head. “Don’t let him, Miss Lynnie.”
All the cowboys were glaring at Ace for taking advantage of a nice, innocent girl.
Lynnie stuck out her hand. “Done. You pick the game.”
Ace stepped back involuntarily. It was obvious that he didn’t want to shake hands with a mere girl. In the meantime, the cowboys were grumbling among themselves at his lack of chivalry He grinned. “I say poker. None of those sissy lady games like whist.”
The men all groaned aloud. One of them whispered, “It ain’t right for a cardsharp like Ace to take advantage of an innocent little lady like that.”
Poker. He was walking right into her trap. Lynnie controlled her smile while looking about innocently. “Poker? Maybe some of the boys will tell me the rules.”
Ace made a sweeping gesture. “All right, back to the fire. We’ll get this game goin’ pronto. I’ve got a deck.”
Cookie started out in the lead. “I’ll make a pot of coffee if we’re all going to stay up.”
“Aw, not that,” one of the younger men whispered.
“I heerd that.”
Back at the fire, Ace got out a deck of cards, and they all gathered around a big, flat rock. He shuffled the deck and handed it to Lynnie.
She looked at it as if mystified and slipped on her gold-rimmed spectacles. “What am I supposed to do?”
The cowboys gave her pitying looks, but Ace grinned even bigger. “You cut the deck.”
“I’m not sure I know how—”
“Here,” Comanche reached and took it from her. “You do it this way, miss, so they’ll be mixed up good.” He handed the deck back to her.
While smiling innocently, Lynnie ran her thumb down the edge of the cards. Just as she had suspected, this was a marked deck. She could feel the indentations that had been made with a thumbnail on certain cards. “I think I’d like a fresh deck, please.” She smiled demurely.
“What?” Ace said. “What’s wrong with these?”
Lynnie gave him her widest-eyed look through her spectacles. “Well, these have been played with quite a bit and they’re filthy. I think I’d have to wash these off before I’d want to handle them.”
The cowboys laughed, and Ace sighed loudly. “Somebody got a nice, clean new deck so the little lady won’t get her hands dirty?”
“I do,” said Comanch, and ran to get them. He handed them to Lynnie.
“Now, this is more like it,” she said, took the joker out of the deck, then began to shuffle the cards expertly. She glanced up and enjoyed the look on Ace’s rugged face as she handled the cards. His dark eyes showed first disbelief, then amazement. He had that shocked, deer-in-the-lantern-light expression. Still, she was certain that with his smug masculine superiority, he didn’t believe a woman might be a pretty good poker player. “Now, Ace,” she said as she handed him the deck to cut, “what’s your pleasure? I hear you prefer five-card stud.”
A cowboy laughed softly, and some of the others began to grin. Ace, for once, seemed speechless. “What—whatever you choose.”
“Deuces wild, okay?”
Ace only blinked and nodded as he handed the deck back.
Lynnie smiled. “Cut for first deal?”
Again he only nodded, still blinking. He reached and took a card: three of diamonds. Lynnie smiled and took a card: queen of hearts.
“Well, now,” she said and shuffled the cards again. She began to deal the hand expertly, one card facedown for him, one card facedown for her. Then she flipped him a card faceup: jack of diamonds. Her next card was a ten of spades. She kept dealing, and as she dealt, his smile grew bigger. He had two jacks and two queens showing. She picked up her cards, wondering what his bottom card might be.
“All right, Miss Priss, now I’ll show you how to play poker.” He looked at his bottom card and grinned, then began to chew his lip.
Lynnie said nothing. She had two tens and two eights showing. Not so good. She looked at her bottom card and almost yelled for joy. Then she remembered she must not let him know what a great hand she held. “Okay, Ace, what’s the bet?”
“You—you played this game before?” His expression told her he refused to believe that he might be about to be taken by a woman.
“A time or two with the boys in the bunkhouse.” She grinned at him, and around them the cowboys chuckled.
It was easy to see that Ace was off his game, unable to concentrate. Lynnie kept her face grim. He must not guess how good her hand was. “What’s your bet?” she asked again.
“My gold watch.” He took it out of his pocket and laid it on the rock.
“All right, I’ll take that bet—your gold watch against my best cameo pin.” She reached up, unpinned it from the neck of her shirt, and laid it on the rock.
Ace snorted. “Now what would I do with a lady’s jewelry?”
“I don’t know—maybe give it to your favorite whore at Miss Fancy’s.”
Ace choked audibly. “Ladies don’t know about things like that.”
“Oh, don’t be so stiff-necked,” Lynnie scolded. “I’ve spent too much time around cowboys.”
He snorted. “Obviously, the wrong cowboys if they taught a lady about poker and Miss Fancy’s. You know, with my bottom card, I might have a full house. A full house is—”
“Don’t explain,” she said, “I know what a full house is. Are you calling me?” The cameo had held her shirt closed. Now she leaned so that he got a good look down the front of her shirt.
It was evident he was so rattled, he couldn’t keep his mind on his cards. He looked at his hole card again and began to chew his lip. That told her he was bluffing; the bottom card was worthless. “Yes, I’m callin.’”
She turned over her bottom card, and the cowboys took an audible breath. “Full house,” she said triumphantly, “Read ’em and weep. You got anything better?”
Ace blinked, looking at his hand, and shook his head dumbly as he stared at her cards. “Two pair,” he admitted, and tossed in his hand.
“Thought so.” She raked the watch and cameo to her and tossed her cards in. “Your deal, and let me caution you, I know about dealing from the bottom of the deck.”
“You ain’t accusin’ me of cheatin’?”
She looked at him in wide-eyed innocence. “Now, did I say that?”
Ace shuffled the deck, but his hands were trembling uncertainly. It had to be evident to all concerned that he was off his game. “Cut it.”
Lynnie cut the deck and handed it back to him. It was so quiet, she could hear the crackle of the fire, and some of the cowboys breathing.
Ace dealt the hand. She had an ace, king, queen, and jack, all of the same suit: hearts. She sneaked a look at her hole card and frowned as if it were a bad card.
Ace looked down at his face cards. He had three aces and one king showing, different suits. He turned up the corner of his hole card and began to chew his lip again.
Lynnie picked up her cards and watched Ace. If he had a king as a hole card, he’d have a full house; but watching him, she knew he was bluffing, because he was so tense he was chewing his lip. “Let’s make this worth while and get this over with.” She looked into his eyes, taunting him by running her tongue over her lips.
“Stop that,” he muttered, “you make it hard to keep my mind on the game.”
“What?” She fluttered her eyelashes innocently.
“Damn it, you know what I mean.”
She ran her tongue over her lips again, this time even more tantalizingly. “I say let’s make the bet a big one. Let’s bet our bedrolls.”
The cowboys set up a chorus of moans. “No, Miss Lynnie, he’s mean enough to take it and make you sleep on the ground.”
“What about it, Ace?” she taunted him.
“My bedroll?” He sounded a little desperate, and sweat broke out on his handsome face. She studied him, reading him like a book. He was bluffing, all right. He didn’t have that king he needed.
“Maybe I’ll raise the stakes a bit,” Lynnie said, and leaned forward a little. Without the cameo holding it, the top of her shirt gaped open, and she knew it. “What about letting me come along on the trip, our bedrolls, and shutting up about how dumb women are?”
He looked at his hand again and grinned. “And if I win, I get your bedroll and send you home?”
She nodded.
A murmur of dismay went up from the cowboys. “Oh, Miss Lynnie, watch out. Ace is the best poker player in the county.”
“So he thinks,” she said, and didn’t smile.
Ace leaned back against a rock. “I think you’re bluffin’, missy. I call you.”
She smiled. “You gotta know when to hold them and know when to fold them.” There was a sharp intake of breath as Lynnie laid her cards slowly on the flat rock. “All I’ve got are this ace, this king, a lady, and what do you call this one?”
Ace’s eyes were wide with shock. “A jack.”
“Oh, and a number card.” She laid down the ten of hearts. “Is it important that they all are hearts?”
“A royal flush,” Cookie whispered in disbelief.
Ace began to curse under his breath, and the cowboys chuckled and nudged each other.
Lynnie batted her eyes at Ace again. “Does that mean I win?”
Ace tossed his cards down, swearing mightily. “Yes, damn it, you win. I can’t believe I’ve just been beaten by a girl. You must be the luckiest player in the world.”
She smiled. “Or maybe one of the smartest, even though I’m just a woman?” She stood up, putting the gold watch in her pocket and pinning the cameo at the neck of her shirt to protect her modesty.
She got no answer, because Ace got up, so obviously angry that he kicked their rock table and then hopped about on one foot, howling and swearing.
“It just goes to show,” Lynnie said, brushing off her pants, “that a woman is equal to a man and ought to have equal rights, including the right to vote.”
“You stacked that deck!” Ace snarled. “You cheated.”
The cowboys’ mouths dropped open. “Ace, a true Texan would never accuse a lady—”
“With you doing the dealing? No, you low-lifed varmint,” Lynnie said, “you tried to give me a deck of marked cards. Now admit it.” Lynnie, confronting Ace, looked up at him towering over her. “I was clever enough to beat you fair and square.”
Ace closed his eyes and groaned aloud. “You hombres see what you’re lettin’ us in for? Forget the cards; I vote we send this sneaky little old maid home if we have to cancel the drive.”
“Why, you cheat!” Lynnie snapped, angry at the injustice of it all. “You’re a rotten sport, Ace Durango, besides being a spoiled woman-chaser. I’m not only a better poker player, I’ve been doing my share of the work, and you just don’t want to admit that a woman might be your equal.”
He towered over her. “Ain’t no bit of skirt my equal, and if we had to have a woman along on this drive, Lynnie, you wouldn’t be my choice.”
“Ha, the kind of woman you’d chose never gets off her back!”
The cowboys chortled with laughter at her spirit. “She’s a sassy piece, ain’t she?”
“‘Isn’t she?’” Lynnie corrected primly. “What about it, Pedro?”
The old Mexican sighed, then nodded. “She won fair and square, and Ace, you made the deal yourself. Besides, she’s been pullin’ her share of the load without complaint.”
Ace howled in protest. “I say no; N-O. We ain’t turnin’ this cattle drive into a petticoat outfit. Why, the Forrester bunch will laugh themselves silly when we pull into Dodge with a girl along.”
“Coward!” she shot back. “You afraid of being laughed at?”
“Lady,” he said coldly, “in Texas, when you call a man a coward, you better be able to fight.”
She doubled up her fists. “Oh, you’d hit a lady, would you? Very well, put up your dukes!”
Ace looked around at the other men helplessly. “You see what we’re dealin’ with?” Then to her, “Lynnie, you know I can’t fight no girl; I’d be the laughingstock of the Lone Star State.”
“Put up or shut up,” Lynnie commanded. “You’re the one who made the bet when you thought I didn’t know the game. By the way, when you’ve got a bad hand, you chew your lip, even though you’re smiling. Any good poker player should spot that. You’ve been outplayed and, better yet, outsmarted.”
“Of all the sassy women in the world, how was I unlucky enough to end up with you on this drive? I ought to whip your butt and teach you proper respect,” Ace growled.
“Just try it, mister.”
The other cowboys looked at each other.
Hank said, “The little lady’s got spunk. You know, Texans like that in their women. She beat Ace; we all saw that. Pedro, I think we should let her finish the drive.”
Ace slapped his forehead in frustration. “No!” he protested. “This woman has been the bane of my life ever since my folks made me take her to that dance. She’ll make my life a livin’ hell all the way to Dodge City.”
Lynnie grinned at the thought. She’d be delighted to fulfill that dire prediction.
The other cowboys mumbled among themselves and began to nod. Cookie said, “She won fair and square.”
“Sí,” Pedro said, “and Ace made the bet.”
“Can’t you see what she’s doin’?” Ace looked around the circle in frustration. “Lordy, are you hombres loco? We can’t treat her like an equal; she’s a petticoat.”
Lynnie let her eyes fill with tears that ran down her cheeks. “You’re just plain mean, and me a defenseless woman. Worse than that, you welsh on a bet.”
He was speechless on that one. “Well,” he stammered, “the bet didn’t count, ’cause you’re a girl.”
“I’m a Texas girl.” She turned in mute appeal to the men. Texans believed in fair play.
Now all the men turned and glared at Ace—even Pedro. “Hombre, stop picking on the poor little señorita.”
“She started it,” Ace said. “How come she keeps gettin’ me in trouble but I get the blame?”
Lynnie cried some more.
“Enough!” Pedro thundered. “Hombres, we let the señorita go along to Dodge City.”
The boys cheered, but Ace groaned aloud. “We’ll regret it. You fellas just don’t know Lynnie McBride like I do.”
Cookie yawned. “I think it’s time we all get some shut-eye. Mornin’s comin’ purty soon.”
The others got up and started for their bedrolls.
Lynnie wiped her eyes and grinned at Ace.
“I knew it,” he growled. “Like any woman, you’ll use tears to get what you want while whinin’ about equal rights.”
She sniffed primly and turned to go.
“You are sneaky.” He walked along behind her.
“And smart?”
“Well, I reckon you’re that, too,” he admitted grudgingly.
“Hah! I never thought I’d hear you say that. You yelling ‘calf-roped’?”
In Texas, “calf-roped” was admitting defeat.
“Not on your tintype, Lynnie.” He grabbed her arm and whirled her around. “I want to be there to say, ‘I told you so’ to this crew when they get sick of havin’ a girl along.”
She tried to pull out of his grasp, but his big hand was too strong. They were standing close together—too close. She could smell the hot male scent of him and see the full, sensual lips. It stirred something inside her that startled her. “Oh, by the way, you bet your bedroll, remember?”
He gasped and let go of her, his eyes full of horrified disbelief. “You’d take a man’s bedroll and make him sleep on the hard ground?”
“You were planning to do it to me. You welshing on this bet?”
“It’s not that; it’s just the ground’s pretty hard—”
“You welshing on the bet?” She was standing too close to him, but to step backward would be to admit defeat. She kept looking into his eyes, knowing that if a man had said that, Ace probably would have killed him. There were some advantages to being a girl.
“Don’t push me too hard, Lynnie. I’ve had about as much as I can take of you.”
He was towering over her, standing so close, his muscular chest was almost brushing against her breasts. She crossed her arms across her chest. “Admit I’m smart.”
“Okay,” he conceded, “for a woman, you’re smart.”
“No qualifiers,” she insisted.
“What?”
“That means”—she said it slowly and patiently as if talking to an small child—“admit I’m smart as you are.”
He shook his head.
“Then give me your bedroll.” She held out her hand.
“All right; you’re almost as smart as a man.”
She raised one eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe you’re as smart as some men.”
“Maybe? ” she laughed. “All right. I’ll consider you’ve yelled ‘calf-roped’ and let you keep your blankets.”
“I didn’t yell calf-roped.”
“Yes, you did, in so many words. Oh, by the way, I don’t have any use for a gold watch, so I’m generous enough to return it.” She tossed it to him and started walking back to the fire, humming in satisfaction.
“I did not yell ‘calf-roped’!” he yelled after her.
Lynnie grinned to herself and kept walking. She knew she could only push him so far, but this evening had been a triumph for all women against all arrogant male brutes. She’d hold up her end of the work, all right, but if she could make Ace Durango’s life miserable the next few weeks, she vowed she would surely do it.