“I wouldn’t.”
He gave a curt nod. “I wanted to go someplace where people had never heard of him. I wanted to make a name for myself, knowing I had earned the recognition because of me, not him. Does that make any sense?”
She nodded with complete understanding. “Where would you have gone?”
He shook his head slowly. “Never got that far in my thinking. Once I … Once I met Becky, the thought of leaving went straight out of my head.”
“She became your dream then.”
He stopped walking, leaned one shoulder against the side of the building, and brought her close. “No. No, she didn’t. She just made me stop thinking about it.” He trailed his long fingers along her jaw. “You made me start thinking about dreams again.”
He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers. “You make me think about a lot of things. You have from the first moment I realized you weren’t a boy.”
He settled his mouth over hers, drawing her up onto her toes. Her feet crept over his boots, taking her higher. His arm came around her, holding her close while he cradled her cheek with his other hand and tilted her head back. He trailed his hot mouth along her throat.
“Sweet, sweet Loree. God, I need you,” he rasped.
Heat swirled through her, around her, over her. Her head dropped back. “Tell me … tell me what you would have done to make a name for yourself.”
“I woulda—”
He made a guttural sound and stumbled back. Loree went flying off him and landed hard on her backside.
“You goddamn murdering son of a bitch!” a man yelled as he slammed Austin into the brick building.
Austin grunted and slid in a heap to the ground.
“They shoulda hanged you!” The man kicked him in the side. Groaning, Austin curled into a ball.
“No!” Loree screamed as she crawled toward one of the shoes Austin had dropped. She threw it at the man, hitting him squarely on the side of the head.
The man jerked back. She heaved the other shoe at him, grateful to see him run into the shadows.
Loree scrambled across the boardwalk. “Austin?”
He moaned as she rolled him over and gently placed his head in her lap. She felt the warm, sticky wetness coating her hands and released a bloodcurdling scream.
Chapter 12
“Ican’t get the blood off,” Loree ground out A through clenched teeth as she washed her hands in the bowl of warm water that the doctor had brought her.
Austin heard the tremor of panic in her voice, watched the way she scrubbed viciously at her hands, and was afraid she was going to peel off her skin. He moved away from the doctor who was examining his head.
“Hey, young fella—” Dr. Freeman began.
Austin held up a hand. “Just a minute.”
He crossed the room and took Loree’s hands. She snapped her gaze up to his, and he could almost see the horrific memories mirrored in her golden eyes.
“I can’t get the blood off,” she rasped.
He remembered how she’d continued to scrub herself the night Digger had died, even though she’d washed away all the blood. “I can get it off,” he said quietly. He dipped his hand into the water, then slowly, gently trailed his fingers over her clean hands. Tenderly, he wiped them dry. “There, see? The blood’s all gone.”
Her brow furrowed, Loree glanced at her hands, then lifted one to touch the back of his head. He grabbed her hand before she could get blood on it again. Tears welled in her eyes. “Someone hurt you.”
He kissed the tips of her fingers. “I’m gonna be all right. You go sit in the front room with Dee.”
She nodded before leaving the room, closing the door in her wake. He wished he’d been able to spare her the sight of his blood. Austin crossed back to the chair and sat. He grimaced as the doctor dabbed something against his head. “Damn! That burns.”
