At the sight of her, his heart missed a beat and he thought: You damn fool, you’re acting like a kid. She halted her horse at the top of the crest and waited for him to come up to her. He reined in and lifted his hat.
Carlotta saw a big lean man, Indian dark with lank black hair and eyes that looked almost black too. There was something hawklike and fierce about him as if he were powered by a strongly controlled energy, more force than should have been stored in one man. She should have been afraid of him, but somehow she was not and this puzzled her. She had never been less afraid of any man.
“Why, Mr. McAllister,” she said, displaying a coolness she didn’t feel, “this is a surprise.”
For once in his life McAllister didn’t know what to say. He looked at her as if he had never seen a woman before. She looked abashed at his hard stare and lowered her eyes.
He settled his hat back on his head and forced himself to speak.
“I’m taken a-back, ma’am,” he said. “I had a mighty pretty speech prepared for the next time we met. Can’t think of a durned word of it now.”
She frowned.
“I have been thinking of what I would say to you, too,” she said. “I heard what my brother did to you.”
“That ain’t between you an’ me,” McAllister said.
“It’s between the Markhams and the three men who run the MC Connected. We owe them a debt and it can never be paid.”
McAllister smiled.
“I wouldn’t say that”
“How can it be?”
“There’s only one way a beautiful women can wipe any debt out.” McAllister ground-hitched his horse and walked around to the side of the buggy. The woman looked alarmed.
“Mr. McAllister, what do you mean?”
“It won’t kill you an’ it will wipe out any debt you owe me.”
“Mr. McAllister, you come near me and I’ll scream. The whole town will hear.” He put a foot on the buggy step. “You know how men act when a woman has been molested in this part of the country.”
McAllister went still.
“I ain’t about to molest you, ma’am,” he said. “The debt can only be paid if’n you molest me.”
The blush started in her white neck and ran swiftly to reach her black hair.
“You’re impertinent and coarse.”
“I’m a man and you’re a woman and nothin’ much else matters.” He took his foot off the step and turned toward his horses.
She said: “It’s in broad daylight on the open trail.”
“I ain’t ashamed to be seen a-kissin’ you. I’d be proud.”
“But what about me?”
“They’d say Markham’s sister was human after all.” He turned and smiled at her. “She is human, ain’t she?”
In a low voice, she said: “She’s human.”
“Prove it.”
She tied the reins with a slow and deliberate movement, stepped down from the buggy and came toward him. When she stood in front of him, he saw that she was taller than he thought. She lifted her eyes to him and he saw that at close quarters her eyes were unbelievably lovely. She was breathing quickly; her breasts moved and the movement made the blood pound in his temples. She stood on tiptoe, put her hands behind his neck and pulled his head down to hers.
The lips she placed on his were soft and cool like the petal of a spring flower. He expected passion to overtake him, but instead he experienced an overpowering tenderness toward her. Surprised, he thought: My God, this must be the real thing.
He didn’t press his luck. As soon as her mouth relaxed under his and when her hands tightened behind his neck, he released her grip on him and held her off. She looked at him in a defiant, frightened way, he smiled at her.
“Well,” she said, “does that prove I’m human?”
“It proves the Markham girls pay their family debts. This’ll prove if you’re human.”
He put his arms around her and pulled her gently to him. For a brief moment, she resisted him, then as his pressure continued, she at first relaxed against him and then, as his mouth swooped to hers and demanded more of her, her whole body arched to meet his.
For a while, they both lost all sense of time. When they came apart, they were panting unashamedly. For a moment, she was silent, then she showed anger.
“Well,” she snapped, “are you satisfied? What have I proven now?”
“That you’re not only human, you’re a wonderful woman.”
“Now you despise me.”
“Now I admire you more than ever.”
“You think I’m a woman who would let any man kiss her.”
“I think if another man so much as looked at you I’d nail his hide to the barn door.”
“You think I’m cheap - ”
McAllister said: “Would you marry me?”
That stopped her. She gazed at him out of wide eyes.
“You don’t mean that.”
“What’s the matter with you, woman? Don’t you believe any good of yourself?”
She turned away. In a low voice, she said: “I didn’t mean to start anything like this. You could get yourself killed.”
“And Foley. He’s wanted me for years. Ever since we were down in Texas, he’s wanted me. He’s a dangerous man. You think because you made a fool of him the other day he doesn’t amount to much. But he could kill you. I know what he’s capable of.”
He took her by the arms and turned her.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with Foley or your brother or anybody but you an’ me,” he told her gently. “I’m courtin’ you an’ that’s all that matters.”
Her eyes were bright when she raised them to his.
“I believe you mean that.”
“Believe it like you never believed anything before. Just tell me I have a chance.”
She touched his face gently with her fingertips.
“You have a chance,” she whispered.
He kissed resoundingly. He laughed. He felt good. He felt ten years younger, like a green kid and he liked that.
“When will I see you again?” he asked.
“It’s too risky.”
“Do you ride?”
“Sometimes.”
“You know Squaw Canyon?” She nodded. “Meet me there mid-morning three days from now.” She nodded again eagerly. He walked her back to the buggy and helped her in. She leaned down and kissed him, taking his face between two cool hands to do so. He didn’t speak again, but walked to his horse, gathered up the trailing line and stepped into the saddle. Lifting a hand in farewell, he rode past her. She watched him go, smiling to herself, scared at what she had done, but knowing that she had never felt happier in her life. She watched him out of sight over the brow of the rise, then gathered up her own lines and drove on into town.