Outlaw's Honor. B.J. Daniels

were the way they were. She had to deal with them.

      The clock was ticking. She’d been here too long. She couldn’t stay much longer. So what was holding her up? She knew staying here was dangerous. But she couldn’t leave without her bracelet.

      That was the only thing keeping her here, she told herself as Darby smiled as he took her drink order. She felt that tug at her heart, the one that told her she’d put off the inevitable too long. She had to end this.

      * * *

      IT WAS A busy night. Darby had spent it behind the bar, trying to keep up with drink orders. Mariah had kept up well with the demand on the floor. He had to hand it to her, she really was good at this.

      When she came in for a drink order, he slipped her a water while she waited. She looked surprised, took a drink and said, “Thanks.” For a moment their eyes met. That thrill he’d felt that first day rippled through him.

      He started to lift one of the drinks he’d made up to her tray. At the same time, she reached for it. Her fingers brushed against his. He felt a jolt and dropped the glass. It hit the edge of the bar and shattered, glass going everywhere along with the bright colored liquid.

      “Are you cut?” Mariah asked, looking alarmed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reached for it.” She quickly grabbed his hand, turning it this way and that to see if there was any blood. The bright red of the grenadine had splashed over his skin, but he could see that he hadn’t been injured.

      Still she didn’t release his hand. She turned it palm up. He watched her trace a finger along one of the lines and then another.

      “What do you see?” he asked, stunned by the shock of her touch. A current ran through his veins, racing toward his heart at a gallop.

      “You’ve never had your heart broken,” she said studying his hand with utmost seriousness. “You will have only one love.” Her finger traced a line across the center of his palm to his wrist.

      He felt a shiver he tried to rein in, but he knew she hadn’t missed it. Her gaze came up to meet his.

      “I see a long life if you aren’t foolish, if you don’t fall for the wrong woman before you find your true love.” She let go of his hand.

      “How will I know?” he asked pretending to play along.

      “The wrong woman could get you killed.”

      He nodded as he wiped up the broken glass and replaced the drink he’d spilled. “She sounds dangerous. But exciting. You’re sure she’s that wrong for me?”

      Her dark eyes locked with his. “Positive.”

      He placed the new drink on her tray and she started to turn away. “You do know that not all Romani are fortune tellers or—” she hesitated a moment “—thieves.”

      “So I shouldn’t put much stock in what you read in my palm.”

      “Oh, that was all true. Didn’t I tell you? My grandmother had the sight. It runs in my family.” With that she took her tray of drinks and left.

      He watched her go, his heart still pounding. She’d tried to warn him about her. He almost laughed out loud. He’d been doing the same thing himself. And yet, he found himself wanting her more than his next breath.

      Glancing down at his palm, he touched the skin where she had only moments before and told himself she was right. He’d be a fool to take this any further.

      So why did he feel filled with expectation and excitement? He’d never been one to take risky chances. Until now. He was completely enthralled by her. He wanted to know this woman in every sense of the word—no matter how dangerous it was.

      * * *

      THEY’D BEEN ABOUT to close for the night when the two men came in. Darby felt his stomach drop. Hadn’t he been expecting this? If not, he should have.

      He glanced behind the bar where Mariah was cleaning up the last of the glasses. She looked up at the sound of the door. Her expression mirrored his own. Trouble had just walked through the door. The question was, though, had she—unlike him—known it was coming?

      Her gaze shot to him and he thought he saw something in it... Oh hell. He felt his heart drop. This was her doing. She was finally going to take back her bracelet—one way or another.

      How foolish of him to think that she wouldn’t change the unwritten rules of this challenge and bring in reinforcements.

      The men were scruffy-looking, the kind he often saw hitchhiking through the state. They moved through the bar slowly, calculating every move. Darby swore under his breath. He should have closed fifteen minutes ago. But Mariah had distracted him. Now he thought he knew why.

      The second man closed the door behind him and locked it as the first moved to the bar and pulled a gun. He pointed it at Mariah.

      Darby’s heart began to pound. He’d been hesitant to keep a gun behind the bar. That had always seemed like a bad idea before. Instead, he kept a baseball bat where he could get to it. He’d thought the biggest worry he would have was breaking up a bar fight.