Texas Bride. Kate Thomas

granite to mind. “Then I’ll get out of your way,” he said stiffly. “May I use your phone to call a tow truck?”

      “Sorry.” She shook her head. “No telephone.”

      “Can you give me a lift to town, then?” Icicles dripped from every word.

      “No wheels, either,” Dani confessed, flashing a rueful smile.

      “You mean, you’re stranded out here? In your condition?” Josh looked as if he didn’t know whether to sit there stupefied or jump up, furious. “Are you crazy, woman?”

      “Just a little unlucky, that’s all.” Dani willed herself to believe it. But that darned backache kept coming back and the baby still hadn’t moved. What if something was seriously wrong?

      “Unlucky?” Josh croaked, those beautiful eyes wide with disbelief.

      He was still sputtering when heavy knuckles made contact with the door. Dani seized the interruption. “Who’s there?” she called.

      “County sheriff,” came the answer in a deep West Texas twang.

      Terror-stricken, Dani turned to Josh. “Please,” she whispered. “Please. Tell the sheriff I’m with you. Tell him—anything. Except my name.”

      For one long moment, Josh gazed at her, his eyes narrow slivers of glacial ice. Then a corner of his mouth quirked and he shook his head derisively. “I never did learn to ask the right questions at the right time,” he said softly.

      Dani closed her eyes to gather her strength. She was going to need it. The visitor knocked again.

      “Just a minute!” Josh shouted, then lowered his voice. “I owe you my life, Dani,” he said, “but I’m an attorney. Aiding a felon is grounds for disbarment.”

      “I haven’t committed any crime,” she snapped, rubbing her back.

      “Then tell me why you’re hiding.”

      Dani chewed her lip but she had no choice. She knew whose side the sheriff would take if he discovered her identity. This stranger was her only chance; she had to trust him. Simple but scary. She hadn’t trusted anyone since...Jimmy, who’d proven himself untrustworthy in the end.

      Taking a deep breath, Dani said, “My husband was killed by a stray bullet when a fight broke out at the bar that had become his second home. His parents blamed me for his lack of ambition, his choice of friends, and his death. And now they want custody of their grandchild. I’ve refused, of course, but they’re wealthy and have contacts all over the state. Obviously I can’t even hold a job right now....”

      Josh suddenly towered over her, his hands on his hips. “Sounds as if they can offer the child more than you can.”

      “I’m not giving up my baby,” Dani retorted, balling her hands into fists. “I don’t care what things they can give it, this baby is mine!”

      Those turquoise eyes flared into blue fire, then Josh touched her cheek gently with one fingertip. She could feel it all the way to her toes, even through the backache gripping her now like a bulldog on a bone.

      “Okay, sweetheart, okay.” Josh jerked his hand away. “I guess I can perjure myself this once.” He crossed the cabin in one stride.

      Pulling open the door, Josh leaned a broad shoulder against the door frame and greeted the beefy, leatherskinned man standing on the porch. “Morning, Sheriff.”

      “B’lieve it is,” the man drawled, hooking his thumbs in the service belt of his khaki uniform. He looked sleepy and slow, but Dani doubted it. Law enforcement in rural counties only meant dealing with fewer people, not less complex ones.

      “Name’s Lopez,” the sheriff announced, removing his wire-rimmed sunglasses and hanging them by one earpiece from his starched shirt pocket. “And you are?”

      “Josh Walker...and wife.”

      After a brief, searching look, Lopez said, “Quite a storm last night. Been out since dawn, checking on damage. That your car down in the creek?”

      “Yes. My wife and I barely got out in time. We took refuge here last night.” Josh did his granite-jaw exhibition again. “Hope that isn’t a problem, Officer.”

      The sheriff shrugged. “Real problem’s gonna be gettin’ yore vee-hicle outta that arroyo,” he drawled. “Don’t know if Vern can get his tow truck close enough to—”

      Dani didn’t hear the rest. A fresh fist of pain hit her, then—a gush of warm wetness between her legs. Her knees threatened to go on strike and she blindly clutched at Josh for support.

      His arm instantly wrapped around her. “Wh-what is it, Dani? What happened?”

      Before she could answer, Lopez chuckled. “As the father of five, I’d say the lady’s water broke.” Pushing the brim of his Stetson up with his thumb, he addressed Dani. “You havin’ pains yet, ma’am?”

      She managed to nod. “I—I guess I’ve been having them since I woke up this morning, b-but...” She bit her lip.

      “But what?” Josh demanded.

      His arm still crushed her against his side. Dani didn’t resist; she needed his strength right now. She wanted this baby so much, but—“Th-the pains aren’t right!”

      The sheriff whipped his sunglasses out of his pocket, snapped them open with a flick of his wrist and slid them on his face, his sleepy demeanor instantly replaced by cool efficiency. “They got a clinic in No Lake. I’ll hustle on down to the car and radio the doc. You bring yore wife.”

      As the sheriff spun on his heel and disappeared down the trail, Josh turned to Dani. “What do you mean, not right?” he demanded, his hands wrapped around her upper arms, his azure eyes hot and intense.

      “They’re in my back, not here.” Dani’s hand covered her abdomen.

      Josh’s grip eased. “My sister-in-law had back labor,” he said. “Twice. And both babies were perfect.”

      This is normal. Relief dissolved the fear washing through her, and without thinking, Dani aimed a thank-you kiss at Josh’s cheek.

      As her lips neared the beard-roughened surface, she caught a faint whiff of pine and a unique male scent she instinctively recognized as his. Then Josh turned his head and mouth met mouth—one warm and soft, one cool and firm. A momentary hesitation...then someone deepened the kiss. Stars exploded. Volcanoes blew apart. The earth shifted on its axis—and babies and back pains were forgotten for one eternal second while heat and passion consumed her. Someone moaned, the sound deep and throaty. Dani thrust her fingers into Josh’s thick, silky hair. He wrapped her braid around his wrist—

      Reality finally intruded. I’m having a baby. Jimmy’s baby. “I—I’m sorry,” she whispered as she pulled back. “I just... Thank you for telling me about your sister-in-law.”

      “Any time, lady.” Josh gave a ragged laugh as he raked shaking fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath. “Except now, that is. We’ve got places to go.”

      His briskness told Dani that the errant kiss hadn’t affected him. A tendril of pain helped her ignore the desire still racing through her veins. “I n-need to get the b-baby’s things,” she said.

      Josh growled. “Where?”

      She pointed to a yellow quilted bag; he snatched it up. Then the darned man scooped her up, too. He carried her out of the cabin and down the path with long, swift strides, placing her in the sheriff’s car as if she were fine Austrian crystal.

      He balked, however, when the sheriff ordered him into the back seat, too. “Look, I’m not—Just take her to the doctor, okay? I’ll, er, wait here.”

      “You’re the reason she’s in this condition, son,” the sheriff snapped. “Seems to me, you oughta finish what you start.”