Free Reilly's Woman by Janet Dailey Page B

willingly. That puts us at something of an impasse, doesn't it? I won't go and you won't leave without me, so that means we'll stay here."
    "You're making a mistake." His eyes had narrowed into a lazy, measuring look.
    "I don't think so." This time it was she who brimmed with self-confidence.
    "All right," he nodded curtly in acceptance. "You can stay here. I'll leave in the morning."
    Here eyes widened in amazement. "What?"
    "It's probably the best solution anyway. I can make better time without you along and you can be here to signal the plane in case it flies back over this area again. If it doesn't, then within three day's time, at the outside, I shall have reached help and be able to send someone back for you," Reilly concluded, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.
    "You mean you'd leave me—here—alone?" Leah repeated in disbelief.
    "It's the logical thing to do. This way we can cover both possibilities for obtaining help." He paused, as if studying the idea more thoroughly. "I'll have to take the canteen with me, but you can use the pan to fetch water. You can keep the dried food with you since I won't have a water supply to depend on. I'll take the beef jerky, though."
    "No!"
    A black eyebrow shot up in surprise at her vigorous protest, a studied arrogance in the action. "I shall need some food," Reilly commented dryly.
    "I don't care about that," Leah frowned. "You aren't honestly going to leave me?"
    "Why not?" He tipped his head to one side. "Are you going with me?"
    "No."
    "Then you must be staying here," he shrugged, and turned away.
    Her fingers closed over the hard flesh of his arm, halting him when he would have walked away from her. She stared into his impassive face, lean and compellingly handsome in its proud, carved lines.
    "You really would leave me here by myself, wouldn't you?" Leah murmured.
    A faintly bemused smile crooked his mouth as if he didn't understand why she had doubted it. "Yes," Reilly answered simply.
    "Well, you're sadly mistaken if you think you're going to leave me here alone while you go traipsing off," she vowed. "If you go, then I'm going too."
    "But you were going to stay here to signal the plane," he reminded her with a wry shake of his head.
    "I'm going with you," Leah stated emphatically. "I don't care how practical it is. You can't make me stay here."
    The instant the last sentence was spoken, her teeth bit into her lip in angry memory. Only minutes ago she had been insisting that he couldn't make her go with him in the morning.
    "In that case," Reilly drawled, "I guess you'll leave with me."
    As he started to turn away, Leah caught the roguish glint in his eyes. "You tricked me," she hissed accusingly. "You never intended to leave me here by myself!"
    He paused, an eyebrow raising in a complacent arch, glittering eyes dancing over his face. "Did you really think I would leave my squaw behind?" he mocked with decided jest.
    She released his arm, and the open palm of her hand swung in an arc toward the deepening grooves beside his mouth. Reilly didn't attempt to check her slapping swing. He simply drew back so that she missed her target.
    When her hand had swished by, he captured her wrist in his fingers, smiling openly at her burst of temper. Leah tried to twist free of his steel grip. Her left arm was throbbing too painfully to be of any help.
    He held her easily. Her angry struggles only brought her closer to the firmness of his chest. A throaty chuckle rolled from his lips.
    "I don't think it's funny!" Leah tossed back her head to glare at him coldly.
    The amusement faded from his gaze as he stared down at her. The brilliant fire that leaped into his eyes dazzled her, halting her attempts to pull free. Her heart skipped a beat when his attention shifted lazily to her mouth.
    His thumb slowly rubbed the inside of her wrist. His other hand came up to absently smooth the hair from her face. It stayed to cup the back of her neck. A shiver of anticipation raced up her spine.