The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

guess Tucker took him away to jail?"
    "Yes. Can you believe he threatened me! My own brother said if I didn't quit hitting that boozer, he was going to haul me in with him."
    Rose smiled. "A Burnett brother threatening another?"
    Travis tried to grin, but his busted lip cracked, and he put his hand up to his mouth.
    "Let's get you home, so we can clean you up. That lip looks bad, and so does your eye," Rose said tenderly.
    He took her arm as they walked toward the door and glanced down at her. "I thought you did a real good job tonight. I haven't been to many performances, and none by Mr. Shakespeare."
    She smiled. "So you think it was worth me fighting you to come into town over?"
    He scowled. "We wouldn't have had that problem if you would just return the ring. You're free to go as soon as I get my mother's wedding band back. You know that."
    Rose stopped just outside the tent and stared up at him, disappointment almost overwhelming her. She had foolishly believed they were making progress, when in fact they were no closer to resolving this issue than they were when she arrived. He didn't believe her; he just didn't voice his disbelief quite as strongly as before."
    "I can't return a ring I don't have."
    His brown eyes gazed at her with as much frustration as she felt. "Is this another performance?"
    She dropped his arm and walked on ahead. "Believe what you want, cowboy. Nothing I say is going to change your mind."
    He hurried to catch up with her and took her by the arm and whirled her around to face him. "Look ... you were good tonight. I want you to know I think you did a great job."
    She stared up into his brown eyes. She could get lost in their mesmerizing depths, but she resisted. His accusations stung. "What is going to become of me, Travis? You don't want to let me go, but I can't stay here forever, and I don't have that ring."
    "I don't know. Right now I can't think about you leaving. Not until I find out the truth about the ring." He turned her toward the wagon and started walking, refusing to look at her. "Let's go home."

Chapter Sixteen

    The trip home was lively and fun, with Eugenia keeping the conversation going between Isaiah and Rose, while Travis drove the team of horses and brooded on the evening's events. Rose had been good, much better than he'd expected, and that frightened him. Somehow he'd hoped she would turn out to be a terrible actress, which would result in her being forced to stay in Fort Worth, with no place else to go.
    It didn't make sense, but then, nothing about his feelings for Rose had ever been logical. No matter what the little con artist had done, he felt drawn to her. Even though his mind pointed out her flaws, some deeper emotion overruled his reasoning.
    Just like tonight.
    When the drunk had yelled out Rose's name, he'd wanted to grab the inebriated man by the throat and slam him against the ground. The calming touch of his brother had been his last grasp of sanity, before he would have seriously harmed the man.
    It made no sense. Rose was just a woman, a damn good-looking woman, but nothing to go crazy over. She tantalized and tempted him, and made him look at things from a completely different viewpoint. She was an enigma, and he wanted her again so badly, he could almost feel her velvety skin beneath his fingers, smell the scent of lilacs in her hair, and taste the sweetness of her lips.
    He sighed. He couldn't have her. In fact, the time was coming when he could no longer detain her. How much longer could he restrain her, when he had no evidence she'd stolen his mother's ring? How soon before he was forced to let her go and watch her walk out of his life forever?
    His mind rebelled, saying it shouldn't matter. She meant nothing to him, and there were plenty of other women around more than willing to take her place. But some deeper inner voice warned him of impending doom. It didn't matter what his head was telling him, he didn't want her to leave. He didn't want to watch her go.
    And after tonight, he knew she would be departing soon. He'd known as soon as he saw how accomplished she'd become. He'd known it and tried to remind her of the ring, tried to show her he still thought she had stolen the band.
    All he'd done was make an ass of himself, first with the drunk and later with Rose. All in all, he'd been the one inwardly rebelling all night against the need to accept that Rose would soon sprout wings and fly out of his life forever. And he was doing a lousy job of