Free Cowboys 08 - Luke by Leigh Greenwood Page A

privilege, position, and the comforting belief that they were the most favored of God's creatures.
    For a long time Valeria had accepted that belief without question. Even the revolution and the deaths of her parents hadn't entirely destroyed her faith in the system that had upheld her family for more than a hundred generations.
    The first man to ask for her hand had been a drunk, a womanizer, a gambler, a liar, and completely incapable of inspiring anything but disgust in Valeria. She felt fortunate to be marrying Rudolf, even if it meant coming to America. At least he was young and attractive. She had had every hope she would learn to feel admiration for him, if not affection.
    But that was before she met Luke Attmore.
    Even though she'd disliked him immediately, she now understood that she had also recognized in him the kind of man the founders of the house of Badenberg must have been. Except for his looks. If all the gloomy portraits that adorned the walls of the various palaces where she'd grown up were any proof, no one in her family could claim half the looks Luke Attmore possessed. After their first encounter, Valeria had tried to tell herself looks didn't matter, that nothing could compensate for a personality as cold and rude as Luke Attmore's.
    But she couldn't get him out of her mind.
    He'd held an entire town in his control, yet no one appeared to be afraid of him. He hadn't killed anyone or raised his voice. What was it about this man that caused everyone to pay such attention to what he wanted?
    The search for an answer plunged her so deep in thought she didn't notice that two hours had passed until the coach turned and headed toward the river. It came to a halt within a hundred feet of the dappled shade of those trees with the rustling leaves.
    "You have thirty minutes to rest," Luke announced. "Don't waste it sitting in the coach."
    Chapter Six
     
    Valeria didn't have to wait for him to open the door. Hans practically fell out of the coach, then scrambled to his feet to offer his assistance.
    "Next time you'd better let me do that," Luke said. "You're liable to break your leg. You wouldn't want me to have to set it for you."
    Hans blanched.
    Valeria knew Hans wasn't a man of physical strength or courage, but his loyalty was unquestionable. "At least he's a man of honor," she said to Luke.
    "I yield to no one in my admiration for Hans," Luke replied.
    Valeria didn't know what to make of that. As far as she could tell, Luke didn't respect or value anyone. "Please help Elvira down," she said to Hans. "She's suffering more than I am."
    "Then I'd better get you both in the shade as soon as possible," Luke said.
    Cactus unlike anything she'd seen until now and grass thicker than she'd seen since her train rolled out of San Antonio filled the space separating them from the shade. She couldn't possibly drag her skirts through all of that.
    "What are you waiting for?" Luke asked.
    "I can't wade through all of that," she said, gesturing at the uneven ground and thorny vegetation.
    "Unless you come down off your high horse, you won't be able to leave that ranch house until they carry you out in a coffin," Luke grumbled. Then, without warning, he swept her up in his arms and started toward the trees.
    "Put me down!" Valeria cried.
    He put her down right between a towering cactus with several upstretched arms and a big bush covered in tiny, greenish-gray leaves and an unbelievable number of thorns.
    "I didn't mean here," she said.
    "You said to put you down. I did."
    "You shouldn't have picked me up."
    "I thought you wanted to reach the shade." "I do, but-"
    He swept her up and headed off again. "You've got to learn to say what you want the first time. Not everybody is going to stand around while you dither."
    "I suppose you mean yourself."
    "You're paying me to stand around."
    "I hadn't noticed you standing anywhere for more than a few seconds. Do you always snatch up women before they can make up their minds?"
    "No,