Breathless(4)

He nodded and a glint of amusement lit his eyes. “How’ve you been?”

She found herself slightly mesmerized by his handsome face and teasing gaze. “I’ve been well. You?”

“Can’t complain. Good seeing you again.”

“Same here.” When she first came to live with Rhine and Eddy in Virginia City, she’d been twelve years old. He been six years older and the bartender at Rhine’s saloon. She hadn’t paid him much attention, except when he called her Duchess, which annoyed her to no end. The passage of fifteen years had turned him into a man taller than she by at least a foot and with shoulders wide enough to block the sun. Her eyes strayed over the worn gun belt strapped around his waist and the butt of the Colt it held. Snug denims on muscular legs were covered with trail dust as were his boots, single-breasted gray shirt, and black leather vest. She heard he’d gone back East to medical school. With such rugged good looks, he certainly didn’t resemble any doctor she’d ever met.

“You’ve grown up.” His soft tone grabbed her attention and touched her in a way that made her feel warm, female.

She blinked. “Um, yes.”

“Is your uncle here?”

Realizing she was staring, she shook herself free of whatever his eyes were doing to befuddle her so totally. “Yes. He’s inside. This way, please.”

She waited while he tied the roan to the post and reached for his saddlebag. Tossing it easily over his shoulder, they set out, his heeled boots echoing against the wooden walk. She got the feeling that he was eyeing the sway of her blue skirt, but she was so overwhelmed by the air of maleness he exuded, she kept walking and tried to ignore his effects on her usually unflappable self.

Her uncle’s office was in the same building that housed her own, so she led Kent back to the breezeway and past the giant oaks and flowers enhancing the landscaping.

“Nice place you have here,” he remarked as he looked around.

“Thank you. We like it.”

“When the man in Tucson gave me directions to the hotel, I expected something more like the hotels back East or in Virginia City, not a spread like this. Looks more like a ranch.”

They approached the door. He reached around her to open it. His arm gently grazed her shoulder and Portia jumped nervously.

“Sorry. Not trying to scare you,” he said apologetically. “Just wanted to get the door for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, looking up into his face. She wondered if he remembered how uneasy and fearful she’d been around men when she and her sister first came to Virginia City. Because of Corinne’s way of life, Portia had imagined herself fair game to any man in a pair of trousers, and as a result she’d been as afraid as a tiny mouse in a world filled with large feral cats.

He held the door aside. “After you.”

She inclined her head and entered.

The coolness of the interior’s air always offered relief from the blazing Arizona heat. “My uncle’s office is this way.”

She led him past the large sitting room filled with elegant dark wood furniture. The white adobe walls were adorned with framed brightly hued paintings and plants stood in large colorful floor pots.

“Feels like Mexico,” he said.

“We’re not that far from the border.” She stopped at her uncle’s closed door and knocked.

He called, “Come on in.”

Kent entered behind her and when Rhine, who was seated behind a big fancy desk, saw him, his jaw dropped and he slowly got to his feet. “Where in the hell did you find him?” There was a smile of wonder on his face.

“Outside on a horse,” she said with a grin. “I’ll leave you two to your visit.”

Kent turned to her and said in the same soft tone he’d used earlier, “Thanks, Duchess.”

“You’re welcome.” Forcing herself to break his captivating gaze, she turned and exited.





Chapter Two




“Fifteen years is a long time.”

Seated in one of the leather chairs in Rhine’s office with a tumbler of fine scotch in his hand, Kent thought about all he’d seen and done since they’d parted ways in Virginia City. “Yes it is.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

He smiled ruefully and sighed. “The long and short of it is, I bedded the wrong man’s wife and spent three years in a Mexican prison for it.”

Rhine showed his shock.

Kent explained. “He was a don. Pretty powerful, too. After he caught me in his bed, he convinced the local police I was responsible for a series of robberies in the area. Even supplied witnesses who swore they’d seen me at the scene. I was young, stupid, and full of myself. Not anymore.” He slowly swirled the liquor in his glass. Memories rose of the hell he’d lived through and he turned his mind away.

“Does Doc know?”

He thought about his father, Oliver. “He was so upset about my not finishing medical school, I didn’t have the heart to write while I was in prison, not that I had access to stationery, but once I was released, I did send him a letter detailing my sins. We’ve corresponded on and off since and in one of his letters he mentioned you and Eddy were here in Arizona Territory.”

“What have you been doing since your release?”