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determination—misguided thoughit probably was. With more gentleness than he realized he possessed, he eased Maddie’s limp body forward until she was draped over the saddle, her cheek resting against the horse’s neck. Keeping a watchful eye on her, Jonah led her horse off the beaten path toward a creek lined with cottonwood and willow trees.
    Leaving Maddie where she slept, he unrolled his pallet. When he pulled her from the saddle she didn’t wake up, just cuddled against him and sighed against his neck. The whisper of her breath was like a lover’s caress, and Jonah inwardly cursed when his contrary body responded and his imagination tried to run away with him.
    Thoroughly aggravated at himself, Jonah laid Maddie on the pallet and covered her with the quilt. If he had been a gentleman he would have bedded down on the ground a respectable distance away. But he was a practical kind of man who saw no need to freeze his tail off for the sake of propriety. Just because he intended to share the makeshift bed with Little Miss I’ll-Go-It-Alone-If-You-Won’t-Help-Me Garret didn’t mean they were going to gain intimate knowledge of one another.
    No, Jonah promised himself. He was not going to become physically or emotionally involved with this woman, even if his male anatomy was cursing his vow of abstinence.
    At Fort Griffin, he planned to hire a guide to take her deeper into what had once been the Comanchería. If she got herself in trouble on the far side of the fort, then she was someone else’s problem. Jonah was going to head back to Coyote Springs, check into thehotel and hibernate like a grizzly until he was functioning at full capacity once again.
    After unsaddling the horses and canvassing the campsite Jonah eased beneath the quilt. It occurred to him a few minutes later that he had never officially spent the night with a woman. Yes, he had shared a bed for an hour or two, but never actually slept beside a temporary lover. That implied a commitment Jonah was not willing to make.
    He cast a quick glance at Maddie’s shadowed face and told himself that the only commitment he felt toward his pretend wife was to get her out of his hair—for good.
    Wife? Jonah smirked caustically as he made the very practical and sensible decision to cuddle closer to Maddie to share warmth. Mrs. Jonah Danhill? That’d be the day, Jonah thought as he drifted off to sleep.
     
     
    Serenaded by chirping birds, Maddie came awake the next morning to see the first colorful rays of dawn spearing through the overhanging trees. Propping herself on her elbow, she glanced sideways to see her mare tethered to a tree. The dark horse and its rider were nowhere to be seen.
    Disappointed but hardly surprised, Maddie presumed Jonah had changed his mind about escorting her. His reluctance had been obvious in the way he behaved and spoke to her. And he had made no bones about the fact that he didn’t like her or trust her. Jonah Danhill was nothing if not plainspoken and straightforward.
    Pushing herself upright, Maddie raked her tangledhair from her face, then stared longingly toward the stream. She needed a refreshing bath to wash the fuzzy cobwebs from her brain and a clean set of clothes to restore her sense of self.
    The instant she sank into the stream a sigh of relief tumbled from her lips. She immersed herself completely, allowing the water to work its magic on her stiff neck and sore muscles. She allowed herself a few precious moments of pleasure by swimming in midstream before she brushed the matting of wet hair from her eyes and headed to shore.
    Maddie gasped in shock when she noticed the towering figure on the creek bank. She instinctively sank down until nothing but her head appeared above the surface of the water. Wiping her eyes, she recognized Jonah—and not, thank goodness, one of the two men who were anxious to part her from her money.
    “I thought you went back to town,” she said awkwardly.
    He frowned curiously. “Why