Her Bodyguard by Geralyn Dawson Page B

setting of a scene, always ready to play to an audience, Rory shrugged into his jacket, then shot his cuffs. He clasped his hands behind his back and leveled a solemn star upon the obviously anxious young woman. “You are a wonderful woman, Kat. You’re bright, you’re beautiful, you’re entertaining. You make me…happy.” He paused, frowned thoughtfully, then repeated, “Happy.”
    Kat blinked watery eyes. “You make me happy, too, Rory.”
    He cleared his throat. “This last month has been, well, it’s been wonderful. I love knowing you’re in the audience when I perform. You make me better, Kat, in many ways.”
    Luke folded his arms and scowled. Rory had always had a silver tongue with women, so he probably knew what he was doing. However, Luke thought he should get on to the leaving part.
    “You make me a more honest man,” he said, beginning to pace back and forth across the dull oak floorboards of the stage’s back space.
    Oh, brother.
    Rory picked up a prop, a silver-knobbed cane, and tapped it against the floor as he walked. “You make me a more sensitive man.”
    Luke folded his arms and took a couple steps back so he could lean against the doorjamb. What a load of sheep dung.
    “You make me more a more generous man.” Rory twirled the cane in a slow, showy circle.
    Luke couldn’t smother his snort at that. The one thing Rory didn’t need was more generosity where the ladies were concerned.
    “My dear Kat, being with you makes me the man I’ve always wanted to be.” Glancing at Luke, he added, “It’s true.”
    “Doesn’t matter.”
    “Rory?” Kat asked. “What is this all about?”
    Rory tapped the cane against the floorboard, once, twice, three times. “I’m afraid I must…I need to…” He stopped, dropped his chin to his chest and closed his eyes. “It’s all so difficult.”
    “Two more minutes,” Luke warned.
    Kat shifted anxiously in her seat. “Rory, you’re making me nervous.”
    “I’m rather nervous myself,” he murmured. “The idea of returning…” His voice trailed off.
    “Returning?” Kat’s eyes rounded. “Returning where? You’re not leaving Fort Worth, are you? You’re not leaving me?”
    Rory hesitated, fixed on the uneasy young woman. Following a long moment of silence, he slowly began to speak. “My situation has grown complicated, love. I am pursued by forces difficult to resist.”
    Kat turned to Luke. “Him? Rory, are you tangled up with outlaws?”
    Rory’s mouth twisted. “Am I tangled up with outlaws?” he repeated, walking toward Luke, tapping the cane against the floor as he approached. “Now there’s a question. What does the infamous outlaw Luke Garrett want with the likes of me?”
    Noting the faint edge in Rory’s voice, Luke went on guard. He straightened, flexed his fingers, watched the other man closely, paying special attention to the cane, a potential weapon. Not that he honestly believed Rory would resort to violence. That wasn’t his way. He’d lie, sneak, cheat and steal, but unless he’d changed dramatically in recent months, he avoided physical confrontation like the plague.
    “The answer is simple, my lovely Kat.” Rory swung the cane slowly back and forth. “Luke Garrett wants to send me…”
    Just being cautious, Luke reached to grab the end of the cane. Before he had a grip on the stick, Rory let go and the cane dropped to the ground. Luke bent to pick it up.
    He never saw the whiskey bottle until it crashed against his head.
    “Rory!” Kat squealed.
    Magician’s sleight-of-hand, Luke thought as his world went fuzzy and he dropped to his knees. I should have remembered .
    As if through a mist, he saw the young woman shove to her feet, her elbow brushing one of the candlesticks as she rose and rushed toward him. The burning candle teetered, fell to the ground, then rolled beneath the chaise. Luke tried to warn her and Rory, but his mouth didn’t seem to want to work.
    Everything went black.
     
    MARI