Saving the Gunslinger

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

"How's your hand?" Zachary's sudden question drew Samantha's attention from the flowing long grasses around them and the mesas in the distance. Her eyes went to him as he rode strong and tall in the saddle of his black gelding.

"It hurts," she replied honestly as she flexed her fingers and felt the tightness in her red knuckles.

"I'd say so. That was quite a punch."

Samantha felt her cheeks redden. She was aware of just how horribly the entire town must be speaking of her as they gathered at the church service and discussed the way she had knocked the preachers' wife's head off right there on main street. "Yes, well, I was quite angry."

A low chuckle rumbled from Zachary's chest. "I'll do my best to never make you angry. I'm not sure my glass jaw could handle one of your fists."

Samantha didn't have to fake the surprise she felt. "Zachary Marston, was that a sense of humor?" She smiled. "I wasn't aware you had one of those."

Zachary's eyes met hers and he flashed another slow lazy smile, identical to the one he had shown her nearly a week ago when they'd been standing outside the train station. Once again, the sight of that smile, the dimples it placed in his cheeks, the light it put in his eyes, stole her breath. "I don't."

Samantha found herself laughing and it felt good. She felt so lighthearted and free in that very moment and she had Zachary to thank for it.

But she knew the lightheartedness couldn't last. She had to tell Zachary the truth about herself, why she'd run to Hackney, who she was running from, and why being around her could be dangerous for him. The man had a right to the truth and if that truth made him walk away from her—Samantha would simply have to go back to a life with no real hope for a future—the life that her father and Clinton Matthews had chosen for her.

She didn't want to do that right now, however. Right now she wanted to enjoy his company at least a little longer. "What brought you into town today?" she asked him instead.

Zachary picked at a tangle in Blaze's black mane, his gaze locked on his task. "You. I mean.. I uh wanted to see you."

Samantha bit her lip as her stomach fluttered a bit. "Oh."

"I've missed you, Sam."

"Sam?"

Zachary shifted in the saddle and suddenly appeared so awkward that Samantha nearly laughed. "I'm sorry... I..."

"Don't be." She steered Athena around a large boulder. "I've never been called Sam."

"I won't do it if you don't like it."

Her face flamed red as she bit her lip and averted her gaze. "I like it." Then she smiled. "And I missed you too."

Samantha knew she had to tell him the truth about her past. She had to let him know his very life could be in danger if they continued spending time together. After their near kiss on main street, (the thought of which had a heat spreading low in Samantha's stomach and causing her to squirm a bit), Samantha knew that there was an attraction and a growing something between them—but if Clinton Matthews did find her, Zachary's life could be in danger simply because they were growing closer.

It would be best to tell the man and end this now, no matter how badly her heart ached at the thought of watching Zachary ride out of her life.