Free Capture The Night by Geralyn Dawson Page A

at him, and nodded.
    The woman can say more with her eyes than anyone I’ve met before , Brazos acknowledged. Right then, she was telling him to go to hell. “It’s kinda nice having the wind fall away for a day, isn’t it? The sea looks like a sheet of glass. Funny how it can change. The last couple of days, it was downright angry—roaring surges, the ridges of the waves all roughened and broken into foam. Now, today the mood’s gone calm and peaceful. Nice to know things can change, right?”
    The look in her eyes clearly proclaimed him a fool, but she chose not to answer him aloud. Ease into it, man , he told himself. She’d been just as close-mouthed that first day, and everything had worked out all right. Sort of.
    “Did you see the whale that swam with us a bit today?” he asked. “Simply fascinating. I’ve never seen such a magnificent animal. And the porpoises are always fun to watch. A sailor told me they’re attracted by the Uriel’s copper sheathing. You think that’s true?”
    She didn’t even bother to look at him. Watching as she lifted the baby into her lap, Brazos allowed himself a frustrated sigh. “I swear, Maddie. I’ve never met a woman so accomplished at ignoring a man.”
    Dryly, she replied, “And I’ve never met a man more deserving of being ignored.”
    He couldn’t stop the grin, rueful though it was. “I’ve a far piece to travel, don’t I?”
    She lifted an eyebrow.
    “I’m here to apologize, Madeline. I didn’t mean those things I said to you the other morning. They were ugly and mean-spirited. You deserve to be treated better than that.”
    He paused, gauging her reaction. Well, he’d known it wasn’t going to be easy.
    “I’m here with my hat in my hand—or I would be if I still had a hat—to beg your forgiveness. I brought a little something for Rose as a way of saying I’m sorry.” He held out the burlap-wrapped package.
    Madeline looked at the gift, then looked at him, then looked at the gift again. Brazos could tell she wanted it. He also figured she wasn’t ready to let bygones be. He tried flashing her a winsome smile.
    She wrinkled her nose at him, and Brazos laughed. “Ah, Maddie, you’re an all-standing tough old gal.”
    “Pardon me?”
    “That’s high praise for a woman in Texas.” He motioned with the gift. “Here, Beauty, open it. Let me have Rose. My arms have been aching to hold her these last few days.”
    That one worked, he told himself, observing the softening of Madeline’s eyes. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner? And it was nothing more than the truth. Rose, with her smiles and charming little giggles, had wiggled her way right into his heart. “Come here, Miss Magic,” he said, trading the package for the child. “Wait till you get a gander at what your Mama’s unwrapping.”
    While Rose busied herself with pulling at the lobe of his ear, Brazos watched Madeline’s suspicious delight as she turned the gift this way and that, sniffing and measuring and guessing. The lady liked presents, he noted, satisfied he’d chosen well in this next step of his strategy.
    He’d figured Madeline would cotton to a gift for her baby. The saying went that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Personally, Brazos had always felt it was lower than that. Anyway, the counterpart to that adage was, in his theory, that the way to a woman’s bed was through kindness to her children.
    He’d never put the idea into practice before—in truth he’d thought of it only yesterday. But as Madeline slowly unwrapped the twine from around the gift, he decided he was right on target.
    “It’s something wooden,” Madeline said, nodding with certainty.
    “Come on, Maddie. At the rate you’re going, we’ll hit Galveston before you get it open.” Her answering smile was a burst of sunshine that packed a wallop to his gut. Think platonic, Sinclair. Only platonic. A warm place to sleep for eight hours straight .
    Madeline finally removed the