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She blushed. “I…He…he wants more than shares in the ranch. He wants…to marry me because of my inheritance.”
“And how is that my problem?”
The silence was tense as she looked at him with wide imploring eyes. “How can you be so indifferent to me? I made a mistake. I have tried to atone for it in so many ways, Elijah.”
She scooted off the stool when he prowled towards her. He looked down at her with a curious sense of emotional detachment. “Sheridan?”
“Yes?” She moistened her lips, hands gripping the blanket.
“You were lonely and I had an itch. We fucked. There is nothing more to it.”
Her face paled, but her head tilted at an even prouder angel. He almost smiled.
“I will tolerate no discussion on the matter. We will only discuss why you need my help and if I can give it. I already offered you a fair price for your shares in the ranch. Take it. I will take Beth and the baby to the Triple K.”
Her eyes flashed hot in defiance. “I am not selling! The reason you want me to sell is to avoid what simmers between us, Elijah. If you do not give me a chance to speak—”
“Test the truth of my words, Sheridan. I will return you tonight if you continue down this path.”
She remained silent for minutes glaring at him. He saw her need to press, but caution won out.
“Mr. Sullivan intends to return with the preacher tomorrow. I do not want him. I alone cannot stand against him. I need your help. I have held my own so far, but he scares me. Our cattle are being rustled. Beth and I are accosted when we travel to town in subtle ways. But they are all his doing. I made several reports in town but he owns them. His brother is the town’s sheriff and his cousin is the town’s mayor. I was not sure where else to go for help,” she murmured without a trace of bitterness, only a flat acceptance that rankled him.
“Hell.” As much as he hated to admit it, she did the right thing in coming to him. “I will deal with Jericho. I will provide protection to the stage coach when you are ready to leave.”
She frowned and stepped up to him. “I will not leave.”
The anger that colored her cheeks made her look tempting beyond endurance.
“Are you willing to marry?”
Hope flared in her eyes. “To you?”
He did not like her hopeful question or the ache that stirred in his heart “No,” he growled.
“Then no, I am not.”
“Then you sell.”
She stiffened. “Are you saying you are not willing to help me?”
“I will aid you. I will escort you safely to the stage, to which ever destination you wish. I will give you enough gold to establish yourself in another town. That is, in addition to what I will pay for your shares in the ranch,” Elijah promised, closing himself off from the panic lining her face.
***
Fear sat tight and hard in Sheridan’s stomach. Her eyes searched Elijah’s face frantically and the cool blankness frightened her more than Mr. Sullivan’s advances. Where was the gentle teasing lover that had taught her to ride? To swim? That had introduced her to pleasure with such patience? Anger surged in her. “Elijah, Thomas used our farce of a marriage to control my inheritance. The money that he has funneled into the ranch is mine, by God that land is mine as much as it is yours.”
She spun away from him, anger eating at her. How could he be so impervious to her pleadings? “It was not easy for me to come here to ask you for help, Elijah. And you have offered me no solution but buying me out. This is my home and I cannot sell. I need protection. I am wealthy and I fear Mr. Sullivan knows this.”
“Even more reason for you to leave, Sheridan.”
She suddenly realized what a fool she had been. How foolish had she been to think that he would want her to remain if she told him the truth. She swallowed as it dawned on her that she would really have to execute the plan she had concocted with Beth. But in truth, what did she really know about seduction? Nothing. Their first time together had been achieved with little effort on her part. In truth, she had been the one to be devoured by his shocking sensuality and expertise.
She made another stab at eliciting understanding of what she faced. “You don’t understand. Mr. Sullivan has decided he wants me. I believe he had Thomas murdered. He will not just let me leave.” Nothing betrayed Elijah’s surprise, but she must have stunned him despite his calm facade.
He moved closer. “Why do you suppose this?” His voice was bland but she could sense his sudden alertness.
“Mr. Sullivan visited the ranch several times. I believe they were planning some venture together. Thomas liked to brag. One night at dinner he bragged to Mr. Sullivan about how much money I was worth. He had always made my skin crawl with the looks he gave me. But after that his intensity changed. He stopped calling me Mrs. Galloway and he touched—” she swallowed and forced herself to continue. “He tried to kiss me several times. I went to Thomas and he offered no protection. I think because Mr. Sullivan was ignorant of your stake in the Whispering Creek, he plotted to dispose of Thomas, and then force me to marry him so he could control all I own.”
