Daring (17 page)

After she’d shut the door, the woman took a seat behind her desk. “What the hell just happened? Do you want to work upstairs?”

As if this night couldn’t get any worse, Ruby knew the woman had the right to be angry with her. She’d walked off the job for a romp with the man who had intrigued her since she was a young girl. Well, now that itch was scratched, and it was time to move on.

After all, he’d even said he couldn’t offer her marriage, not that she was really searching for a husband, but she’d always been infatuated with Deke. Maybe it was time to move on.

The truth poured from Ruby’s lips. At this moment, she felt as helpless as a cow in quick sand. Yet, she couldn’t seem to stop the flow of words from her lips.

“No, I don’t want to work upstairs. I’m sorry. I guess I lost my head there for a moment. Deke and I met riding into town, and well, there has been something growing between us. When I saw Clara draped all over him, trying to persuade him to come upstairs, I sort of lost it.”

The woman laughed. “Get use to it, honey. Men stray.” She paused and carefully considered Ruby. “You’re more innocent than I expected.”

Men stray? More like they lied to get what they needed. This last week with Deke by her side, she’d begun to think maybe there was something good between them. Maybe just maybe he was the man for her. But no more. Nope, she was a strong, independent woman who needed no one.

“Yeah, well, men have wreaked havoc on my innocence.”

The woman leaned over the desk. “I’m going to let this incident slide. But Deke will owe me for the room and for bedding you in my bordello. You understand? And another incident in the saloon like the one tonight, and I’ll expect you to work upstairs permanently. Understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Ruby said contrite. The woman was right; she’d risked everything on a quick tumble with Deke. She could be in so much more trouble and could have even possibly lost her job—the job she needed until she caught Rivera.

Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly. She had to keep her focus on catching her man, her bounty, Rivera.

“Now get back to work at the tables. You’re costing me money.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” Ruby rose to leave the room, ready to get out of this small office that felt so confining.

“I have to go collect from your gentleman friend.”

Ruby felt her heart sink to her feet. “No, don’t. Just take it out of what you owe me.”

“Are you sure?”

The very idea that the madam would approach Deke about having to pay for the time they’d spent in the room was embarrassing. She didn’t need any more humiliation tonight. She’d suffered enough.

“Yes,” Ruby said and walked out the door. Tonight had been special until right after their time together. When Deke opened his mouth, he ruined everything.

*

That night when Ruby arrived back at the hotel, Hannah was sitting on the back steps waiting for her. The girl had changed out of her green saloon dress and wore a dark colored muslin dress, her red hair pulled up off her shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked, concerned the girl had taken such a risk coming to see her.

Hannah stared at her in the darkness, her lips turning up in a smile. “I’m fine. I was worried about you. You were the talk of the upstairs this evening.”

Ruby sank onto the steps. “I’m good. Tired, confused, and disappointed, but other than that I’m good.”

Hannah laughed. “So sex with that handsome man wasn’t what you’d hoped for?”

“It’s kind of complicated,” Ruby admitted. “The sex was actually very good. It was afterwards that made me upset.”

She couldn’t complain to Hannah. The woman’s life was way worse than hers, and she didn’t want to admit she’d been a virgin up until a few hours ago.

“Yeah, the girls said they heard raised voices. That’s why I had to come check on you. I wanted to make sure you were all right, and you weren’t packing to leave tonight.”

“You’re really not very trusting, are you?” Ruby told the girl.

Hannah shook her head. “No, would you be if you were sold?”

How could a woman trust any person, man or woman, after being sold into a brothel?

She watched the girl’s gold-green eyes gaze out at the pastureland behind the hotel. Ruby wanted more than anything to help Hannah start her life over, but first they had to get out of town.

“You’ve got a point.”

Crickets squeaked their lonesome sound, and a hoot owl could be heard in the distance. Morning would soon be arriving.

“Is it difficult having sex with different men every night?” Ruby asked. “I don’t have much experience in the bedroom, and I can’t imagine sharing yourself like that with men you don’t even know.”

Hannah hung her head and leaned back against the railing. When she raised her gaze, there were tears in her eyes. “I hate it. I hate sex. When I leave here, I never want to sleep with a man again.”

Though she’d been angry with Deke when she left the room, she had enjoyed them being together. She’d loved the way he made her body thrum like music, the melody building until the crescendo. But she was certain you didn’t experience that being a whore.

“But Hannah, what if you meet someone you fall in love with? What if a man treats you kind and falls in love with you? Don’t you want children?”

“No decent man is going to want me,” she cried. “I’m soiled. I’m scared I’ll catch some horrible disease, or even worse, I’ll get pregnant and have no idea who the father is.”

Ruby could understand her hesitation, her fears. Would a good man ever consider Hannah now, even though she’d never wanted to be a soiled dove? Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.

The two women stared out into the darkness.

“I’m sorry.” Ruby broke the silence. “Tonight was my first experience with sex, and I enjoyed it.”

“Yeah, I went into the room looking for you and saw the blood stained sheets. I hid them.”

Fear and embarrassment surged through Ruby. She’d never even considered she’d left signs of what had happened on the bed.

“Oh,” Ruby said, wanting to kick herself. She’d taken such a chance tonight and for what?

“I didn’t want Mrs. Hutchins to learn you’d been a virgin.”

“Thank you,” Ruby said with a sigh. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“Do you care about this man?” Hannah asked.

Ruby stared out in the night, wishing she could be truthful with Hannah, but then again, her own emotions were like scrambled eggs all torn up. “Like I said, it’s complicated. I’ve known him for a while. Years ago, I wanted him, when I was just a young girl. But tonight was the first time we’ve ever lain together, and while I thought it would make things easier between us, it’s just entangled things even more. I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you love him?”

Ruby thought long and hard about Deke. Hadn’t she always cared about him? But did she love him? No, she just couldn’t. If she admitted to loving him, he would break her heart, again.

“I could. But he doesn’t make it easy. One moment he’s hotter than a firecracker and the next it feels like he’s pushing me away. I don’t know.”

And if Ruby was honest with herself, one moment she wanted him and the next she was pushing him away as well. Ruby didn’t want a man telling her what to do. She liked her independence. That’s why she didn’t want Deke to feel like he had to offer marriage. She wanted to live her life to the extremes; with or without a man, it didn’t matter. But she would never marry just to satisfy the dictates of society. If it wasn’t love, she’d live her life on her own without a man.

“I have no need to worry about that,” Hannah said. “Some men may come in and ask for you by name, but most are just looking for a woman. Any vessel will do.”

For this reason, Ruby would help this woman escape this life and begin anew. No one should have to live doing something that was against their nature, something they hated. No one.

Ruby sighed. “We’ve got to get you out of there.”

“Yes,” Hannah said. “I can’t live like this any longer.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do once you leave?”

“I’ve dreamed about it for the last six months,” Hannah said with determination. “I’m going to find my stepfather and kill him. And then I’m going to return and free all the other girls in the saloon.”

Ruby turned in the darkness and stared at her. “You’re going to need some help and some training. After we leave here, I’ll teach you how to shoot and how to earn a living. Not to kill your stepfather, but to hand him over to the law and let justice take care of him.”

“Why are you helping me?” Hannah asked in the dark. “Most women wouldn’t care about a girl who was a whore. Most women look the other way, fearful this life will rub off on them.”

How did she respond to Hannah? It was more than the fact that she’d been trapped into this situation.

Ruby cherished her self-sufficiency so much she couldn’t imagine having it taken away from her. She couldn’t be the woman who had to obey her husband and answer to his every whim. In fact, maybe she’d refuse to marry if this was how it would be with a man. She’d dreamed of so much more, but maybe she was better off without Deke or any man.

“Well, maybe that’s the problem with our society. If we all helped each other, maybe women would have more control. Have more say in how we were treated. I couldn’t live without being in control of my destiny, and I will do everything I can to help any woman obtain control of her own future. That’s why I’m helping you.”

Hannah reached out and wrapped her arm around Ruby. “Thank you. You will have my undying friendship and loyalty for the rest of your life. If ever you need help, I’ll be there.”

Ruby felt her eyes prick with tears. She’d never had a friend like Hannah. Only her sisters. Somehow she felt like she’d just found another one.

“Thanks, Hannah. That means a lot. Now, you better get back before they discover you’re gone.”

T
he next day, Deke waited outside of Ruby’s room. He’d known it was late when she came in, but he had to speak to her. But what was he going to say?

Sorry, I was shocked you were a virgin? Sorry for not thinking you could possibly still be innocent after all these years? Sorry for not offering you forever?

What an awkward situation he found himself in, and for the second time in days, he wanted to just get on his horse and ride. Yet, he couldn’t go off and leave her in this town where she could disappear and no one would notice.

Finally, she opened her door and stepped outside.

“Good morning,” he said, gazing at her, noticing she wore her riding skirt. Was she planning on going somewhere?

She stared at him, her blue eyes bright. “Good morning.”

Oh, that look was one that said, you may think everything is just fine, but I’m so mad you’ll be lured into thinking everything’s fine and then I will take you down. Somehow, he had to ward off disaster.

“Could I buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got errands to run. But thanks, maybe another time,” she said and swept right on past him as if they were neighbors, not lovers.

“Ruby,” he said, clearly frustrated.

She turned and gazed at him. “What?”

“Things can’t be this way between us,” he said.

Licking her lips, her eyes widened in that innocent look that he wanted to kiss off her face. She was trying to act like this meant nothing. She was trying to pretend what they’d done last night hadn’t mattered. But it’d meant so much to him, and he couldn’t believe it hadn’t to her.

“What are you referring to?” she asked, shaking her head. “Last night?”

“Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have questioned your—”

She gave him a look that silenced him. Standing in the hall of the local hotel was not the place to talk about her virginity.

A smile spread across her beautiful face that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Oh, honey, you may have been my first, but it’s okay. You won’t be my last.” She patted him on the cheek. “Now, I’ve got to run. Maybe I’ll see you later tonight at the saloon.”

With a wave of her hand, she strolled down the hall of the hotel toward the stairs that led outside. Her skirts swished back and forth, her cute little derriere twitching like a ship’s beacon.

The puppy whined at Deke, and he glanced down at her at his feet. “Yeah, I know she was playing me,” he said. “But don’t worry, she’s not going far. And sooner or later, we will talk.”

*

Mrs. Hutchins sat in a hard wooden chair in the sheriff’s office. She glanced around at the wanted posters hanging on the walls. Many of the men were frequent visitors to the saloon, but they’d never be apprehended in her establishment. She wasn’t stupid. She knew her clientele didn’t sing in the church choir on Sunday mornings.

They were lucky to still be walking on Sunday mornings and not sprawled out in the street somewhere either drunk or dead. The law wanted many of her regulars. But in this town, the law was loose and mainly kept order in the town. As long as you didn’t cause trouble, the sheriff left you alone.

Wyatt hurried into his office. “Emily, good to see you. What are you doing out and about today?”

She smiled at him. They’d been friends since she’d bought the saloon, and she liked to make sure that kept him supplied with the best whisky and finest cigars and personally, sex. It was the least she could do to help her establishment run smoothly. And if he took care of a problem for her, there was always a nice bonus for him. The arrangement worked well for both of them. She even enjoyed entertaining him once a week.

“What have you heard about Ruby? Any answers to your telegrams?”

There was something about this girl that just didn’t make sense. She dealt cards in a saloon, but she seemed more like an innocent. Something about Ruby’s story wasn’t true, and Emily meant to find out what.

“So far, just one. It was from a sheriff in Zenith. He said he’d never heard of any women bounty hunters before.” The sheriff sat in the chair behind his desk. “Has she caused more trouble?”

Emily laughed and shook her head. “Not exactly trouble, but last night she had the saloon in an uproar. She took that man named Deke upstairs.”