The Lady and the Lawman by Jennifer Zane Page B

He couldn’t stand a crying woman. There wasn’t anything
worse. It was up there with a bar room brawl and a town hanging.
    Waiting
for her sobs to subside, he brushed a hand through her hair, trying
to comfort her. Her soft body had no more tension, her fight gone. It
was hard to resist touching her, to caress her face and run his
fingers through her silky hair. He noticed how long her dark lashes
were against her flushed cheeks. Realization sank in as he put all of
the puzzle pieces together. It was like being doused in a stream at
spring thaw. What whore, who had a man right where she wanted him,
started to cry inconsolably?
    “ Croft
didn’t put you up to this, did he? You really are a virgin, aren’t
you?” Grant’s voice was harsh.
    He
looked at the woman pressed beneath him in a new light. The evidence
was obvious now. The slap, the naïveté, the kisses. Erotic as they
were, it was clear how tentative and unsure they'd been. Untried.
    She
closed her eyes, and he saw her try to catch her breath and contain
her tears. “No,” she sobbed, tears starting anew.
    Now
he was perplexed. He exhaled slowly, trying to calm his raging need,
although a gun to his face had helped quite a bit. He had to focus on
her and whatever Croft had done to her. “All right. You're not a
virgin, but you're no whore.”
    She
shook her head no, but hiccuped out, “Men will think so!”
    The
tears started once more. Between her muffled sobs, he was able to
pick up the words soiled, escape, and something not very positive
about men in general.
    “ Maggie,
I'm sorry.” He tilted her chin up, forced her to look him in the
eye. Croft had given her to some man before him. Soiled would
definitely be a word some would use to describe her if that were the
case. “I thought Croft used one of his women to get him out of a
bad card game.” Embarrassed with his randy behavior, he tucked her
breast as best he could back into her corset, providing her with some
modicum of modesty while she squirmed in obvious embarrassment. “I
wouldn't have done all...you know...that, if I’d known the truth.”
    She
gave him a questioning look. Her face was blotchy red, her green eyes
glistening with unshed tears, her look unsure. And damn if that
didn't bother him. No woman should look at him that way. Fearful,
tentative, scared.
    “ I
don't force myself on women.”
    He
climbed off of her, hoping his words rang a little truer without his
weight pressing her into the mattress. The distance seemed to help.
She collected herself enough to stop the tears, wiping her eyes with
the red coverlet.
    “ Really,
I'm not like Dalton and the others. I don't touch a woman unless she
wants me to.” Just like he'd ultimately touch her at some time in
the future, he wanted to add, but was afraid she'd cry all over
again. “Come on, sit up. I promise I won't do anything.”
    She
must have sensed he told the truth, because she did just that, back
ramrod straight and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Like a lady.
    “ I'm
guessing from your lack of...um, experience that you haven't been
here very long.” Stupid, stupid statement. Man, he sounded like a
complete idiot.
    She
blushed again at his words.
    He
enjoyed watching her cheeks turn pink at his mild comments. Hopefully, easy conversation would calm her
nerves and reduce his urge to grab her and kiss her. Everywhere.
Doubtful, but it was worth a try. “How did you end up in a hole
like this?”
    The
color quickly drained from her cheeks. “I...I can't say.”
    “ Why
not?” He knew the answer as soon as he asked the question. Furious,
he moved to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. To hell
with keeping his distance! “What did Croft do to you? Who did he
give you to first? Were you forced? Has he hit you before like he did
downstairs?” he asked as
he cupped her chin and his gaze roamed her face and body looking for
marks.
    She
didn’t look at him, but stared over his shoulder, remaining