Dangerous to Hold by Merline Lovelace Read Free Book Online

empty bellies. “Only that we’re both going to experience a lot more sorrow thanwe can handle if we don’t keep a real cool head for the next few days.”
    A sharp splinter of hope pierced Sarah’s heart. “The next few days? Do you mean we’ll only be here a few days? Then you’ll let us go?”
    â€œI don’t know how long you’ll be here,” he replied flatly.
    The hope in Sarah’s chest exploded into tiny shards of a disappointment so painful she choked.
    His brows drew into a dark slash. “Look, Sister Sarah, if it was up to me, I’d put you and the kids on a packhorse right now and get you the hell out of Dodge. I’m not exactly thrilled to have the four of you on my hands while I’m trying to conduct a…business operation.”
    The hesitation was so slight that Sarah almost missed it. Bitterness and frustration curled her lip. “A business operation? Is that what you call it? There’s a word for people like you, you know, and it’s not entrepreneur. ”
    He rose to his feet and took a slow step toward her.
    Sarah swallowed, but refused to back away.
    â€œYou’ve got a real mouth on you, for a nun,” he commented softly.
    He was so close Sarah could smell the tang of healthy male sweat emanating from his chest. She stared up at him, seeing the hard line of his jaw under the stubble that shadowed it. She realized suddenly that tall and lean translated into overpowering and rather dangerous at such close quarters. Rubbing damp palms down the sides of her skirts, Sarah took a deep breath and summoned up the last tattered remnants of her courage.
    â€œIs that so? Just how many nuns do you know?”
    Something glimmered in his eyes. Sarah couldn’t tell whether it was surprise that she refused to let him intimidate her, or reluctant admiration at her stand, or amusement. The thought that her desperate struggle to contain her fear might amuse him sent her chin up another notch.
    â€œNot many,” he admitted. The ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “In fact, I’ve only met one other. She caught mesnitching fruit from the corner grocery store and whacked me over the head with her umbrella. When she marched me home, my staunch Methodist father agreed with the good sister that I needed a little more forceful guidance and took me out behind the garage. Since then I’ve tended to avoid your kind.”
    Waves of relief coursed through Sarah. She just might make it through this mess after all. Lifting her chin, she gave a disdainful sniff. “Obviously, both the whack over the head and your trip to the garage failed dismally to curb your ways.”
    â€œObviously,” he drawled, turning away. “Go eat. Then we’d better get what sleep we can before the heat gets too unbearable. I’ll string some hammocks for the kids, and we can make do with the bedrolls.”
    â€œYou’re going to sleep here? With us?”
    â€œRight the first time.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s either necessary or appropriate, Mr…. Gringo.”
    He didn’t even bother to turn around. “What you think in this instance doesn’t matter a whole lot, Sister Sarah. You see, that ferret-faced little runt out there who leads this band of so-called revolutionaries isn’t exactly pleased that I dragged you back here. He’s made me personally responsible for you, and I’m not a man who takes his responsibilities lightly.”
    Ignoring Sarah’s inelegant little huff of derision, he looped the end of a hammock rope around an exposed wooden roof support. “Go eat,” he ordered, in a voice that brooked no further argument.
    While he moved about the small hut, Sarah joined the children. They scooted aside to make room for her around the impromptu table. Remembering his warning about things that went boom in the night, she lowered herself gingerly onto the edge of the