“Here you go.”
He accepted the glass and drank deeply. “How much is all this work costing?”
“More than I want to think about.”
“Selling it while it’s like this will limit your buyers and lower your selling price.”
She rubbed her eyes. The idea of selling the building for which she’d had so many plans made her want to pound the wall in protest. Being a quitter was more repugnant than being the fancy woman Mr. Youngblood had thought her.
“You do realize you can’t have your school here?”
“Yes.” She hated it when someone pointed out the obvious.
“Do you have enough money to manage?” he pressed, “until you find a buyer?”
The personal nature of his question irritated her. She had no intention of discussing her finances with a man who a short while ago had tried to buy his way into her bed.
“I’m expecting a bank draft that will take care of my immediate needs.”
“Before coming here, I had our bank records checked and learned you have an account with us.”
A very small one, she thought wryly. “Yes.”
“When you receive the bank draft you’re expecting, I’ll personally handle the transfer of funds to your account. Just inform the teller who you are, and he’ll show you to my office.”
She bristled. “That’s hardly necessary.”
“Gideon Cade asked me to look after you, as a favor to his wife.”
“Well, I didn’t ask you,” Jayne said curtly. “How are you feeling? Did the water help? Do you think you’re strong enough to leave?”
“I have the impression you’re trying to get rid of me.”
Perceptive man. “I have a lot to think about.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Even you?” The question slipped out before she could stop it.
He inclined his head. “I make it a habit to avoid mistakes.”
Overbearing, conceited, pompous... She choked back the uncomplimentary but entirely accurate adjectives bubbling behind pursed lips. He sat in a shadowed corner so it was difficult to judge if the color had returned to his face. No matter what his condition, though, she wanted those long legs striding down the boardwalk.
She forced a conciliatory smile to her lips. “There was that itty-bitty mix-up about you thinking I was a fancy woman.”
That wasn’t what she meant to say! She’d been about to bid him a firm farewell.
“There was no error.”
“Hmm, yes, well....” It took a moment for his statement to penetrate her scattered thoughts. “What did you say?”
“There was no mistake. I remember you quite clearly from our previous encounters. I knew you weren’t a prostitute.”
He didn’t look as if he were joking.
“But you acted as if you thought... That is, you said...” She mentally reviewed his despicable behavior until the moment she’d brought him under control with the blow to his head. “You carried me upstairs, threw me on a bed and pounced on me!”
“All for a good cause. You needed to be taught a lesson.”
That he should sit composed before her after making such an outrageous statement, left her momentarily speechless.
“It was obvious from the way you handled the miner,” he went on, “that you had no idea of what a dangerous situation you were in. But we’ve already had this discussion,” he finished matter-of-factly.
Comprehension and anger grew. “But I thought you believed I was a good-time gal.”
“In that getup?” he gestured to her grimy apron. “You’re dressed for the poorhouse, not a cathouse.”
“But then....” Abruptly, she did understand. He’d known all along who she was and had deliberately made his obscene proposition in order to.... “What kind of lesson were you trying to teach me?”
After they cleared that up, she really had no choice but to hit him again. Perhaps she ought to invest in a firearm, after all. No judge would punish her for shooting Burke Youngblood. There had to be something in the law about extreme aggravation making it permissible to pepper a scallywag’s hide with buckshot. And, she was aggravated.
“This is the West. There’s a breed of man out here who acknowledges no law other than his own. He sees something he wants, and he takes it.”
“Give me back my glass of water.” She grabbed the drink and plunked it on a nearby table. Nails rattled and dust flew. Even as she battled to control her temper, the cold brutality of Youngblood’s words caused goose bumps to skitter across her skin. “I’ve proved I can take care of myself.”
“You got lucky.”
Her hands clenched into tight fists. “No, you’re the lucky one. If I’d known you had something on your mind besides a sordid interlude in my bedchamber, I would have hit you so hard you never would have wakened!”
“Calm yourself. If anyone should be offended it’s me.”
“What?”
“Do you think I’m the kind of man to buy a prostitute’s services?”
“Yes, that’s exactly the kind of man I think you are. Because, other than your money, you have nothing to recommend you.” She drew a deep breath. “And another thing, what gives you the right to take it upon yourself to teach anyone a lesson? Do you go around Denver acting out disgusting charades for the benefit of lesser mortals, or was I special? Just how feebleminded did I have to appear to warrant your interference? But then, perhaps you amuse yourself by storming into women’s bedchambers so you can issue uncouth propositions. Is that your principal means of entertainment?”
“Which question do you want me to answer first?”
As nothing else could have, his lazy drawl demonstrated his indifference to her fury. A red haze fell over her eyes. Three two-by-fours propped against a nearby wall caught her attention. Too unwieldy. She glanced to her left.
“If you’re considering violence again, I suggest you think otherwise.”
Her gaze swung back to him. “You kissed me!”
“Yeah, well, I apologize for that. Things got out of hand.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Do you want to hear it won’t happen again?”
“Of course I do!” Several seconds ticked by. She drew herself to her full height. “Well?”
“I’m thinking.”
“There’s nothing to think about. I have no intention of ever speaking to you again.” She searched for something more scathing to say. “I’m going to withdraw my money from your bank.”
“That will be a blow.”
The soft-voiced mockery had her, wishing for that gun. “Get out. ”
He slowly uncurled to his intimidating height. “You’re upset.”
She ground her teeth.
“Once you’ve cooled down, we’ll put our heads together about the best way to unload this property. Depending on what you get from its sale and the size of the bank draft you receive, I’m sure we’ll find another building that will suit you.”
“There