Ain't No Angel by Peggy L Henderson Page B

necessities in those trunks that supposedly belonged to her. She could probably fake her way through a few weeks or even a month, but there were just some things she shuddered to be without.  What did women do when they had their monthly?
    Laney glanced to the side at the silent man next to her. She definitely couldn’t go to him for advice. He’d barely said a word since leaving the church after their brief wedding ceremony, and Laney had the distinct impression that he hadn’t wanted to get married any more than she did. He hadn’t even smiled or given her any sort of physical vibe that he was pleased about the whole thing.
    His behavior reminded her of the time one of her foster dads had to go in for a root canal. The man had literally turned white as a sheet when he informed his wife over dinner. Was that part of the reason she was here? The reverend thought Tyler needed to loosen up, and he’d hired a prostitute to get him to relax? She really wished she had asked more questions.
    Laney had barely heard the old man’s words as he presided over the wedding. Keeping a straight face when he asked her if she’d honor and obey Tyler, she’d quickly swallowed back the words she wanted to say in reply, and simply nodded.
    She’d faced Tyler, staring up and into the depths of his dark eyes while the reverend spoke the vows. He’d reached for her hand at Johnson’s suggestion, and his gaze had darkened while the muscles along his jaw tensed. His calloused palm swallowed up her hand, and his grip had been gentle, but strong. As the seconds passed, and the reverend spoke, Laney’s fingers tingled from Tyler’s touch, slowly creeping up her arm, and settling in the pit of her stomach. The confining dress seemed to constrict her air intake even more, and she swayed slightly on her feet. 
     “Well, I suppose since you two have only just met, it might not be the proper time to tell you to kiss your bride, Tyler. But you two are now man and wife.”
    The only witnesses to the ceremony, the four cowboys she’d seen earlier, whooped and hollered at the back of the church. One big guy yelled out for Tyler to kiss her, and Gabe McFarlain shouted, “let the shivaree begin.” Tyler instantly tensed. Laney vaguely wondered what a shivaree was.
    She glanced up at him, and for a fleeting second his gaze had softened, or had she simply imagined it? Her pulse had increased, and she wondered if he would kiss her, but then his eyes had returned to the same hard stare he’d worn before, and he released her hands.
    What would Tyler’s touch be like in the privacy of his bedroom? Recalling her reaction to him in the church, and his hands at her waist when he helped her up into the buckboard, Laney licked her lips with a sudden anticipation of what her wedding night might bring. Maybe he was just shy in public. She couldn’t see a guy who looked like he did, who was built solid and athletic, to not have a healthy appetite for sex.
    Think of something else, Laney . Where was a tall glass of ice water when she needed one? She focused her eyes on the backs of the horses as they trotted at an easy pace along the dirt road. The other part of her assignment came to mind.
    How was she going to figure out what was wrong with Tyler’s horse, and then try and help the stallion? What if his problem wasn’t fixable with massage therapy? A shiver ran down Laney spine. Would she be stuck here, in this time, forever? The reverend had said she was here for however long it took to fix the horse. And she had to keep its owner satisfied, too.
    “We’re almost there. Just over the rise.”
    Laney flinched at Tyler’s sudden words. They’d moved along in silence for so long, his voice startled her. She focused on her surroundings as the buckboard traveled up a slight incline. The road skirted a thick forest of pine trees and evergreens on the right, and a green, expansive meadow on the left. Tyler clucked to the team, and the two bays increased