“You saw me kiss him,” he repeats. “You see…anything else?”
“No,” I say quickly. “I didn’t stay long. I mean, Ididn’tstay at all. I only meant to go down by the water, and then I heard you both arguing. You were saying that I couldn’t stay. That it was too much and—”
Aiden pulls me to him, holding my face in his hands in much the same way he had last night. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I was—amconcerned about what it means for you to stay with us. It’s not a life that a lot of people would choose.”
“You did,” I argue. “Cy did.”
“We did,” he agrees, glancing at Cypress. “But it’s not…it’s not a comfortable life, Cora, if that’s what you’re wanting.”
“It’s not,” I reassure him. “That’s not what I want.”
He smiles softly, tucking a few strands of my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, beginning to think it isn’t.” His gaze goes to Cypress again, then falls back. “You only saw us kissin’?”
“Yes.”
“Not what came after?”
“What came after?”
“Perhaps her next lesson?” Cypress says with a grin, stopping beside Aiden to grab a fistful of his hair, yank his head back, and kiss him soundly on the mouth before moving on as if nothing had happened. “Maybe tonight?”
Aiden looks after him, seeming slightly dazed before he yells, “We said we’d go slow.”
“Yousaid,” Cypress throws back before climbing into the wagon to start organizing supplies. “Cora and I have a differingopinion.”
Aiden’s eyes close, muttering to himself something that sounds a lot likeChrist, help mebefore he turns his attention fully back to me.
“Are you angry?” I ask him, even though I think I already know the answer.
“Wrong emotion,” he confirms, smiling wryly as he brushes his knuckles across my cheek. “No, I’m glad you know.”
“You are?”
“Was never meant to be a secret,” he says, sounding a little sad. “Didn’t used to be, but given how we make our living, it’s become a habit. Figured out pretty quick that when people know you have a weakness, they’ll try to hit it. Especially when they think it might get them back what they’ve lost.”
“Someone hurt you?”
“They hurt Cy,” he says lowly, like it still upsets him. “He took someone’s money, and in return, they pulled a knife on me. Or at least, they tried to. Cypress stepped in the way. Fortunately, he’s got nine lives, so he walked away with only a wound to his right shoulder. Took a long time for him to recover, though. As I’m sure you can guess, he’s a pretty terrible patient.”
I laugh, thinking of that scar and of Aiden trying to keep an injured Cypress at bay while it healed. Likely not an experience anyone would want to repeat. “So because of that you hide?”
“I hide, so if someone tries to hurt him, they won’t see me coming,” he says, the threat he poses clear in his voice though it only makes me burrow more firmly against him. “And they haven’t ever since.”
“Didn’t yesterday,” I agree, listening to his heartbeat as I rest my head against his chest. “Is that why you didn’t want me going to the saloon? You were afraid it would happen again?”
He wraps his arms around me, rocking gently. “I don’t want to lose him. Or you. I haven’t…I haven’t had a lot to call mine in mylife, Cora.”
I sigh. “I understand.”
“I know you do.” He leans back, tilting my chin up with his hand so I’ll look at him. “I didn’t even notice your tracks the other night…”
I smile. “You were distracted.”
“I was,” he replies, cocking his head to the side. “And what were you, Cora? Were youdistractedwatching us?”
“Yes.” I blush. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he reassures me, kissing the tip of my nose. “You don’t have to worry about being caught watching us.”