Free Matt (The Cowboys) by Leigh Greenwood Page B

want to adopt Noah and Tess, you’ll listen to me.”
    She remained motionless for several moments.
    “I know you don’t trust me,” he said, “but I’m going to keep Toby and Orin if I have to tie you to this bed.”
    “You wouldn’t dare.”
    “Don’t try me. Believe me when I say nothing is more important to me than those two boys.”
    She struck a match and lit the lamp. She settled warily on the end of the bed, obviously ready to jump up at the slightest provocation. She kept the blanket pulled tightly around her. “I didn’t have to get married to get a woman into my bed. I got married so I could keep these boys. I’m not stupid enough to jeopardize that for a few seconds of juvenile fun.”
    “You grabbed me.”
    “Weren’t you asleep when it happened?”
    “Yes, but—”
    “So you don’t know exactly what I did. Look, I don’t deny I might have touched you, but I didn’t do it intentionally. I expect you’ll touch me before long.”
    “I won’t.”
    “Maybe not, but if you do, I promise not to jump to conclusions. Is it too much to ask you to do the same?”
    He couldn’t tell if she was considering his proposal or preparing to walk out. Her shadowy silhouette remained motionless. “I don’t know what your experience has been, but not all men make a grab for the first female within reach.”
    “I’ve seen you in the saloon,” she shot back. “You know that’s exactly what happens every night.”
    “Have I ever made a grab for you?”
    “No.”
    “Or anyone else you know about?”
    “No, but that doesn’t mean—”
    “Do you know any Maxwell man who grabs at women in saloons?”
    A pause. “No.”
    “Do you know one of us who lies?”
    “No.” The admission sounded reluctant.
    “Everybody, even my family, says all I care about is my ranch and these boys. If that’s true, do you think I’m going to risk it all for a bit of a romp in bed?”
    “No.” An even more reluctant admission.
    “You don’t have to like me, but you can trust me.”
    “It isn’t that I don’t like you.”
    “You’re afraid I think what Eddie Lowell said is true.”
    Silence.
    “I believe you.”
    “Why should you?”
    “Because I know what it’s like when people tell lies about you.”
    More silence.
    “Look, we both want the same thing and have gone to unusual lengths to get it. Neither of us is willing to risk it foolishly. If I touch you, wake me up and I’ll move away. If I keep doing it, I’ll sleep on the floor. But you can’t leave this room. It would jeopardize what we both want.”
    More silence. “Don’t you trust anybody?” he asked.
    “No.”
    “Could you learn to trust me?”
    More silence. And people said he didn’t talk. “Okay, I’ll sleep on the floor.”
    “You don’t have to.”
    “Yes, I do. Give me that blanket. It gets cold before morning.”
    “You don’t have to sleep on the floor. I trust you.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes.” She didn’t sound sure.
    “You promise to wake me right away if I touch you?”
    “I never met a man like you.”
    “You’re a beautiful woman. I’m sure hundreds of men want you. I just want something else more.” He’d probably made her angry, but at least she lay down.
    “I don’t understand you,” she said.
    “You don’t have to. Just remember I’ll do what I must to keep those boys and you won’t go wrong.”
    That wasn’t quite the whole truth, but he had to make her believe it was.
    Matt lay in bed, all desire for sleep gone. He ought to get up, feed the livestock, and start breakfast, but he didn’t move. He lay in bed with his wife. While she was his wife in name only, he found comfort in her presence. Her warmth reached his body. The soft sound of her breathing soothed him. Her presence banished some of the loneliness that had been his constant companion for so many years.
    But that wasn’t his only unexpected discovery. His body had responded to Ellen’s presence. Even more important, he