John laughed, exposing his rotten teeth. “Did Chandler get tired of you so soon? Damned shame you’d rather be that cripple’s whore than my wife, but you can bet I won’t make the mistake of extending that offer again.”
“Well, you needn’t worry,” Sarah exclaimed, her anger at his words outweighing her caution. “I’d rather starve than be your wife.”
“Why, you little—”
John’s words broke off, and Sarah lifted her startled gaze to find Luke looming behind her.
“Let her go.” Luke’s voice vibrated with fury. He stepped forward, putting himself between Sarah and the hulking blacksmith.
John released her with a vicious curse, and she stumbled away, rubbing her numb arm. Tears of pain and embarrassment pricked her eyes, and she blinked furiously, determined not to let anyone see how close she was to breaking.
“What the hell is going on?” Luke glanced at Sarah, and she shrugged, too embarrassed to repeat the words John and the other townspeople had thrown at her.Whore.Prostitute. Heat crept into her cheeks and she looked away.
John laughed and held up his hands. “My mistake, Chandler. I didn’t know you still wanted her. I was just offering my services, in case she was in need of a new protector.”
“The lady doesn’t need any protection from you. Not now, not ever.”
John gave Sarah one last seething glare and then turned away.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Luke turned to look at her, his handsome face dark with concern. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, too ashamed to look him in the eye. “He thinks I’m your whore, Luke. They all do.”
He skimmed his fingertips over the reddened skin on her arm where John had grabbed her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
She loved it when he called her sweetheart. She met his tender gaze, and the look in his beautiful blue eyes took her breath away. “Don’t blame yourself. I shouldn’t have come with you today. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have realized something like this would happen.”
He moved his hand from her arm to her face, tenderly stroking the curve of her jaw. “It won’t happen again, Sarah. I won’t let it.”
Someone cleared their throat. Sarah stepped away from Luke, only to find herself face-to-face with the women from the store.
“Well, I never...” The one from the restaurant turned up her nose and hurried down the walk, as though it disgusted her to be on the same street as Sarah.
Sarah watched them go and then sighed. “Can we go home now? I really don’t think I can bear to stay here another minute.”
For the first time, Luke noticed Sarah was empty-handed. “Didn’t you find anything you liked at the mercantile?”
A hurt look flashed in the emerald depths of her eyes. “The atmosphere in there wasn’t any better than it is out here.” She glanced after the two old busybodies who’d just passed them. “In fact, it was downright frigid.”
The anger he’d so recently released began to simmer once again. “Are you telling me those old bats made you feel unwelcome?”
Sarah nodded, and his gaze was drawn to her clenched fists. “It’s all right. I don’t mind. I’d just like to go home.”
“Not yet,” he muttered, taking her arm and steering her toward the front door of the mercantile. “You need some new clothes, and we’re not leaving here until you get some. Besides, I promised you a meal at the restaurant.”
Sarah dug in her heels at that. “Oh, no,” she said defiantly. “I am not going to step foot in that restaurant. They’ll probably refuse to serve me, and then they’ll have me tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.”
Luke laughed bitterly, dragging her along. “No, they won’t. Not while you’re with me.”
When she continued to resist, he stopped and met her horrified gaze. “I won’t let anyone treat you as anything less than the lady you are. We haven’t done anything wrong, and I refuse to act as though we have.”
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Sarah muttered. “Today.”
Luke grinned, imagining her in his arms once again. “I don’t care what they think,” he stated, more at peace with himself than he’d been in years. “I really don’t.”
He held the door of the mercantile open. After a pause, she preceded him through it. Once inside the dimly lit interior, he guided her toward the ready-made articles in the front window. There was a lilac gown that looked as though it would fit her to perfection.
“Do you like this?” He held it up, but her gaze skittered away toward the bolts of cloth in the back of the store.
