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him into what could be hostile territory, especially after what had
happened to them less than a couple of hours ago.
He recognized Nellie s coming up on his right, watched as James
tipped his hat to the handsome brown woman sitting out on the porch.
She returned his silent greeting with a warm smile and a nod.
Troy and Chris followed suit but didn t meet nearly the reception
that James had, receiving a piercing glare from the woman instead.
Might that look be a warning? Hurt our marshal and we ll hurt
you?
Troy could understand the woman s protectiveness and mistrust.
He and Chris were strangers, after all. White strangers.
When they didn t stop at Nellie s, Troy wondered where they
were heading but refused to ask. He didn t want to seem on edge.
They rode several or so miles past the outskirts of town before
James turned off the main road and slowed down.
It wasn t until he brought the horse to a complete stop to dismount
the animal that Troy noticed the house they had all stopped in front of
a sturdy A-frame house with an adjacent corral and barn. Several
horses and cows grazed in the nearby field and drank water from a
water trough under a tall, shady oak.
Troy and Chris looked at each other then at James, who at that
moment dismounted his horse and took the animal by the reins.
Three Men and a Bounty 111
 Come on in and set for spell. I won t bite&  James turned then
to wiggle his eyebrows at the two of them.  Not unless you want me
to.
Chris laughed and threw one leg over his horse before
dismounting and walking his horse over to where James stood.
Troy watched them for a moment, thinking how right they looked
together before he followed suit and dismounted.
They didn t just look right, but their looks perfectly
complemented each other James tall, dark, and powerful, Chris
smaller, fair, and fresh-faced. The kid wasn t powerful at a glance, but
Troy sensed in him a well of inner strength that had only been hinted
at before now. That strength attracted Troy as well as Chris pretty
looks and obvious need.
Troy caught James glance, and James reached out a hand to
welcome him over. He didn t even know when his feet started
moving, but in seconds, he found himself by James s side with Chris,
and the three of them glanced up at the house.
 Yours? Troy asked.
 Lock, stock, and barrel.
Troy heard the pride in the other man s tone, and he remembered
how he had felt when he d first opened Barrow s for business. It
wasn t the fanciest place in town, though it surely proved the most
profitable. And it belonged to him, something he had built from the
ground up.
His one regret about the saloon remained that his mother and
father had not lived to see him make a decent living for himself.
However, knowing the God-fearing people they had been, they might
not have approved of the set-up.
Troy dragged himself from his past to look at James.
The idea that the marshal had invited him and Chris into his
corner of the world, obviously a very special place to him, filled Troy
with a fair amount of wonder.
Did he even deserve the lawman s consideration?
112 Gigi Moore
 I built it a few years ago, figured I d need a place to settle down
once I stopped gallivanting all over the territory catching outlaws.
Troy figured it only right that a man of James years would think
about settling down eventually. Most men his and James age were
already settled down with a woman and maybe a few head of kids.
Most men weren t him and James, though, not that Troy knew of.
Most men didn t love other men and, beyond being cowboys, didn t
want to spend their lives with other men.
Troy realized right then he wouldn t be reluctant to spending his
life with James and Chris if given the chance. More than likely, he d
have to take the chance.
He vowed to himself that he would take it.
Three Men and a Bounty 113
Chapter 10
Chris hadn t felt at home with anyone in a long time. Even with
Cooper, he d never allowed himself to think further than one day at a
time. He knew they were just passing through in each other s lives.
Admittedly, he d latched on to Cooper for the protection he could
provide, and Cooper used him for sex. Sure, there had been some
affection mixed in with the manipulation and necessity, but Chris
hadn t fooled himself to think they had anything lasting.
With Troy and James, he dared himself to believe that there could
be more than just the older men using him for physical pleasure. He
wanted to believe that they cared about him for him in the same way
he had grown to care for them.
He knew it was kind of soon to be mapping out a future like that.
None of them had known each other all that long. Out here in the
territories, though, a few days could seem like months, especially
when he was never sure where his next meal was coming from or
whether he would even live to see another day.
That James had a house of his own, one he had invited Chris and
Troy to, made Chris feel right secure and protected, like he finally
belonged somewhere. Maybe he jumped the gun feeling this way, but
he could help it nonetheless.
 So what do you think, Chris?
He turned to James and grinned.  Did you build all this?
 Sure did.
 I think it s the most beautiful house I ve ever seen.
James chuckled.  If you feel that way about the outside, you ll
plumb love the inside, then. He put an arm around Chris shoulder to
114 Gigi Moore
lead him up to the front door right before it flung open and an
attractive colored woman came out to stand on the threshold.
 Well, it s about time you showed yourself since you been back in
town a spell. She wiped her hands on the front of the apron she wore [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]