Drew (The Cowboys) (40 page)

“Why would they do that?” Jake asked.

“Let him up, boys,” Isabelle said to Hawk and Zeke. “Cole, this is my husband, Jake Maxwell, and his friend, George Randolph. This is Cole Benton.”

Reluctantly, and with growls of protest, Zeke and Hawk drew back. Cole got to his feet, dusted himself off, and offered his hand to Jake. “Pleased to meet you.”

“What’s this about you wanting to marry Drew?” Jake asked as he shook Cole’s hand. “She hates men. Says she doesn’t mean to have one on her ranch.”

“It’s a long story,” Isabelle said. “Why don’t we move inside out of this sharp wind? I’ll fix some coffee while Cole catches everybody up.”

Drew felt helplessly drawn along, especially when Cole put his arm around her. After the way she’d melted into his embrace, it seemed pointless to push him away. Besides, if she was honest—she hated it when she had to be
this
honest—she liked it there. His touch, his kiss, the warmth in his eyes, had undone all her resolution. She loved him. She couldn’t help it.

“That doesn’t sound so terrible,” Jake said to Drew when Cole finished explaining what had happened over the last few weeks. “You can’t blame him for following orders, especially when he didn’t know anything about you.”

Drew didn’t bother to explain she was just as angry at herself as she was at Cole. If she’d stuck to her principles, none of this would have happened.

“What happens now?” Isabelle asked.

“I want Drew to marry me,” Cole said.

“No.” Her answer was short and unequivocal.

“Why not?” Cole asked.

She couldn’t tell him she didn’t love him. She’d be doing what she couldn’t forgive him for, lying. Besides, after the way she’d kissed him, nobody would believe her.

“I told you from the beginning, I didn’t want to get married.”

“But that was before we fell in love.”

She wished he’d stop saying he loved her. It made it harder to stick to her resolution. “I still don’t want to get married.”

“Why?”

“I want to run my ranch without a husband telling me what to do.”

“I won’t interfere.”

“Yes, you would. Men just naturally feel they’ve got to tell a woman what to do. They can’t help it.”

Isabelle and Rose smiled up at their husbands. George smiled in return, but Jake’s expression remained serious.

“Besides, your mother doesn’t like me. She wants you to marry that Sibyl person.”

“I’m not marrying to please my mother.”

“I wouldn’t fit in with your rich friends.”

“I don’t know why not. If I’m any judge, your aunt is richer than just about anybody in Memphis. Not to mention Jake and Isabelle owning five or six valleys.”

“None of that makes any difference. Look, Cole, it just wouldn’t work. We’re too different.”

“You don’t really know anything about me. I enjoyed working in Texas. I don’t like Memphis society any more than you do.”

“She doesn’t want to marry you,” Zeke said. “Get on your horse and ride.”

“I make sure he go,” Hawk offered.

“I think we ought to hear more about him,” Jake said.

“This is not a group decision,” Drew said. “It’s between Cole and me. Since I refuse to marry him, there’s nothing more to be said.” She looked at Cole. “You might as well leave now.”

“I can’t leave without you.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t believe you don’t want to marry me. I think you’re still angry at me.”

“You’re damned right, I am.”

“Before long, you’ll stop being angry. I want to be with you when that happens.”

“Why? Nothing will be any different.”

“I believe it will. Besides, even if you’re right, I still can’t leave without you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re still under suspicion.”

“You said she couldn’t have committed the last robbery,” Jake said.

“I also said I’m not sure my captain will believe me. He knows I’m in love with her.”

“Do you know who the robbers are?”

“I think so.”

“Why can’t you prove it?”

“Because all the evidence points to Drew. They’ve been using her as a cover. I have to catch them in the act. If she doesn’t come back to the show, there won’t be any more robberies. They’ll get away with a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

Jake whistled. “That much?”

“Maybe more. We can’t be sure of all their robberies.”

“How did you figure this out?” Drew asked. “When?”

“In bits and pieces,” Cole replied. “Once I decided you weren’t the robber, I looked around to see who was the most likely culprit. It was obvious it was somebody in the Wild West Show. It was also obvious that the two masked robbers could be almost anybody, but I couldn’t figure out who the woman could be. You are the only sharpshooter in the show. One of the other women might have been able to shoot well enough to pretend to be you, but they were all either too old or had alibis.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this when we were on the boat?” Drew asked.

“Because I didn’t know any more than that. It’s not even a good theory, much less any sort of proof.”

“Well, who is the woman?” Jake asked.

“I think it’s Earl Odum.”

The noise Zeke made was coarse and contemptuous.

“He’s a man,” Drew said. “And he can’t shoot.”

“He’s a little man,” Cole said. “And he’s very pretty. With all the makeup and costumes readily available, it wouldn’t be much of a problem for him to dress up as a woman.”

“But he can’t shoot.”

“That’s what everybody thought,” Cole said. “Until you left.”

“What happened?”

“He was auditioning a new sharpshooter for the New Orleans shows. The man is nowhere near as good as you. He said your tricks were impossible, that he didn’t believe anybody could do them, especially a woman. Earl got so frustrated, he snatched up a gun and did one of the tricks himself. If I hadn’t been setting up the tricks, I’d never have known.”

“So arrest him,” Isabelle said.

“I can’t without proof. I need you to come back,” he said to Drew, “so he’ll attempt another robbery. We’ll be watching him. He won’t get away this time.”

Drew didn’t say anything.

“You’ve got to clear your name,” Cole said. “All the evidence we have points to you. I’m positive Earl is the thief, but right now the captain considers it an unfounded suspicion. Unless we can lay a trap for him, you and your brothers are still the prime suspects.”

“It looks to me like you don’t have any choice,” Jake said. “You can’t leave that sort of thing hanging over your heads. It’s not fair to Zeke and Hawk.”

Drew felt as though she were sinking into quicksand. She knew she ought to refuse, was certain she wanted to refuse, but Cole had fixed it so she couldn’t without appearing callously indifferent to the reputations of her brothers. “Is that all you’re trying to prove?” she asked.

His gaze didn’t waver. “No. I want the chance to prove you love me so much you can’t take a chance on losing what we could have together.”

“I’ll only come back if you promise to leave me alone.”

“I won’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t.”

Hell! She couldn’t accuse him of lying to her now. He had laid it on the line right in front of everybody. But that didn’t upset her as much as her reaction. Her heart beat faster; she could feel a flush in her cheeks. Regardless of what she believed in her mind, the rest of her was eager to give Cole the chance he wanted. She felt as if she were being torn into two pieces, each unable to tolerate what the other wanted.

“Okay, I’ll go back.”

“Zeke and Hawk will have to come, too,” Cole said.

“We come,” Hawk said.

“But I’m warning you now,” Drew said. “You take one step in my direction outside that arena, and I’ll shoot your ears off.”

“Get your rifle ready,” Cole said, that damned irresistible smile on his lips. “I never could stay away from you.”

Chapter Twenty-three

“I don’t understand why you don’t want to marry him,” Drew’s aunt said. “He’s a charming young man, and he adores you.”

“He lied to me before. He could be lying now.”

“You can tell by the way he looks at you he’s sincere.”

“Cole is an accomplished actor. It’s one of the reasons he’s so good at his job.”

“I think you’re being much too hard on him.”

It was getting harder and harder to resist Cole’s entreaties. He’d convinced nearly everyone he was desperately in love with Drew. They were equally certain she was just as deeply in love with him. She was, but she wasn’t about to admit it to anyone. It was her own stupid mistake, but that didn’t mean she had to share it with the world.

She’d known the minute she returned to the show that she couldn’t stay in the hotel with the rest of the performers. That would keep her in constant contact with Cole. She was a strong, determined woman, but she wasn’t strong enough to withstand that much temptation. Dorothea had learned the Wild West Show was going to New Orleans. She was comfortably settled in a luxurious suite when Drew arrived. Drew decided to stay with her aunt rather than Jake and Isabelle. Not only did that save the cost of an extra hotel room, it saved her from being dropped into the middle of her parents’ social schedule. Besides, Dorothea wanted nothing more than to spend all her time with Drew.

Unfortunately, she’d spent most of it trying to convince Drew to marry Cole. Drew had refused to see Cole except during the show, but Cole had made several visits to see her aunt. Dorothea was an enthusiastic convert after the first visit.

“Even Jake and Isabelle think he’s the perfect young man for you,” her aunt said.

“He lied to me, Aunt Dorothea. I can never forget that.”

“Of course you can. I thought you were a sensible young woman, not one of these females who gets a foolish idea in her head and can’t get it out again.”

“I’m not being foolish.” Jake and Isabelle had said the same thing. She was getting tired of everybody ganging up against her.

“The young man had a job to do that required him to keep his purpose secret. You can’t hold that against him.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s foolish, and you’re not a foolish woman. He deceived a stranger for a perfectly good reason. When he fell in love with you, he told you the truth.”

“Not all of it.”

“He might have, if you hadn’t been thrown into the river. Admit it, Drew, this has nothing to do with believing he loves you. You
know
he does, and it scares you silly.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You think if you marry him, it’ll be like your parents all over again.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? He’s running away from his parents. I’m running away from you.”

“You’re not running away from me. You’re running
away
from the life I lead and
to
that ranch of yours. Besides, it won’t be the same. You’re both more sensible than your parents. I loved my sister dearly, but she was a scatterbrained ninny. And your father was an idealistic fool. Neither one of them had an ounce of common sense. I doubt I’ve ever seen two more badly mismatched people. I thought you’d managed to avoid inheriting any of that. Now I begin to wonder.”

Drew had endured a rough week since she’d gotten back to New Orleans. Cole’s publicity efforts and the story of their surviving being thrown into the Mississippi had turned her into the star of the show once again. In addition to sold-out performances, she’d been called on to do interviews and hold shooting demonstrations. Cole had been present at every one, supporting her, protecting her, doing everything he could to make it easier for her. When reporters asked stupid questions, he deflected them. When they asked personal questions, he cut them off. When they seemed to doubt she could do what her press notices claimed, he handed out passes to the show so they could see for themselves.

She had endured this for seven days without the slightest indication that Earl—if it was Earl behind the robberies—was going to pull off another robbery. Cole had enlisted the members of the crew to help watch Earl. A second undercover agent had been sent to watch Earl’s helpers, but Cole couldn’t arrest anyone until he caught them in the act.

So Drew was forced to keep working with him, seeing him, talking to him,
wanting
him. The one time they’d found themselves alone together, she’d backed away from him.

“You don’t have to run away,” he’d said. “I love you, and I want to marry you, but I’m not going to force myself on you. I want you to want me as much as I want you.”

He’d been as good as his word. So good, in fact, Drew wondered if he really did love her as much as he said. It nearly drove her crazy to be around him and not touch him, not let him hold her and kiss her. He didn’t seem to be having any problem keeping his distance. Even Zeke and Hawk had relaxed their guard.