An Agent for Ruby (The Pinkerton Matchmaker Book 50) Read online

  She felt a hand on hers. When she looked up, she found Johnny smiling down on her. “Everything is going to be all right. I won’t be far away at any time.”

  A smile tugged at her lip. “Thank you.”

  Johnny seemed like a reliable fellow, and was every bit the gentleman she’d hoped an agent of the Pinkertons would be. They’d spent one day on the train, overnight in an inn where they had stayed in separate rooms, and then another full day on the stagecoach. When they arrived in Denver, it was just after sunset. The town was well-lit with gas lamps, and the music from the saloons spilled out into the streets. They were loud and rambunctious, and the volume heightened Ruby’s nerves all the more. They walked the short distance from the stagecoach office to the hotel where they would be staying after making arrangements with a porter to bring their luggage to the inn. Once they reached the inn, Johnny stepped up to the counter and asked for two rooms again. “Next to each other, please, or across the hall. I don’t want my sister too far from me while we are in this large a town.”

  “Yes, of course,” the innkeep said with a nod and barely a glance toward both of them.

  Johnny’s hair was dark, but his skin was nearly as fair as Ruby’s. He was quite handsome and about four years older than her and taller than most men. His broad shoulders held his suit jacket well, but his hands were rough and calloused compared to the men that she’d been introduced to in Connecticut. Still, his gentlemanly manners would put some in Hartford society to shame—Mr. Brown came to mind. Whether they appeared to be brother and sister remained uncertain to Ruby, but she didn’t question it.

  When they got to their rooms, they found them across the hall from one another. Johnny stepped into her room before she did and looked about, nodding before stepping aside and allowing her to enter. “Freshen up and then let’s get a quick meal in the dining area downstairs before they close for the night.”

  Ruby nodded, and then closed the door between her and her partner. She’d already began relying on him for security. Unsure when that had started, she found herself longing to get back to him as soon as possible. In this strange environment, she didn’t feel safe so far away from him and out of his sight. She’d feel better when they were back together again. After cleaning up and changing out of her traveling dress, she stepped out into the hallway, preparing herself to knock upon the door across from her. But the moment her door opened, so did his, as though he’d been leaning against it and waiting for the sound of the creak of the hinges upon her door. He immediately offered his elbow.

  She liked the way that he looked at her. He didn’t look at her as an object or with indifference. No, it was as if she were someone that he wanted to protect. He’d look at her as something precious, but strong—a true partner, and she liked that. Then he kept an eye on everyone and everything else in their surroundings as though anxiously awaiting some danger to lurk in the shadows. Together, they descended the steps. When they entered the dining area, all eyes were on them momentarily. Color tinged Johnny’s cheeks as he helped her to sit and then took the chair across from her. They ordered the evening’s special.

  “Just so that you know, the meatloaf here in the west is a bit spicier than the ones back east,” Johnny said with that soft, welcoming smile of his.

  She tilted her head. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had meatloaf at all. My mother tended to serve beef rarely.”

  He huffed a laugh. “Then this will be a unique treat for you. Beef is plentiful here in the west, especially in the south, like Texas.”

  “I don’t tend to be terribly picky when it comes to food, except for sweet things. I’m afraid I don’t have a terrible sweet tooth,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “It hurts my teeth to eat something that’s too sweet.”

  “You’re not a fan of ice cream, then?”

  She shook her head. “Cold and sweet is the worst.”

  “That’s different,” Johnny said with a smile. “What about chocolate? Or licorice?”

  With a nod, she lifted a brow. “I like both of those, but they tend to have a different flavor to them than just sweetness. Licorice has that slightly sour taste, and chocolate has a touch of bitterness to it, too.”

  “You’re right,” he said, both brows lifting toward his hairline as he took a sip of his water. “You have a refined palate, I assume.”

  She shrugged. “My mother says I don’t, because I’ll generally eat anything. My father says I have the palate of a dog.”

  He nearly spit out the water he’d taken a sip of. He choked for a moment, pounding his fist against his chest as he coughed and sputtered and then put a napkin to his lips. His eyes remained wide and fixed on her.

  “Are you all right, Johnny?” she asked, growing concerned.

  He nodded, wiped his lips and then took another sip of his water before setting down the glass and answering, “I’m fine. I just didn’t expect that your father would compare you to a dog... at all. Ever.”

  The thought of her father brought a smile to her lips. “My father is an affectionate man—do not misunderstand him—but he’s also prone to sharp comments and stating hard facts. He’s not been one to hold his tongue when a thought comes to him.”

  “What does your father do?” Johnny asked as the waiter came and set two plates down in front of them.

  She lifted a brow and picked up her fork to stab at the strange bit of meat upon her plate. Then she looked up and answered, “He’s a banker.”

  John Mark’s lips grew thin as his expression changed slightly.

  Chapter 9

  “A banker?” John Mark asked, his throat feeling tight again.

  She nodded and then slowly cut a portion of her meatloaf off to place in her mouth. A banker. The one person in the world who John Mark detested was the man who held position of banker. A bit of tension squeezed through his shoulders, and he looked down toward his own plate. This young woman had likely lived a life of privilege. His mother probably would have scrubbed her mother’s floors instead of developing a friendship with the elder Mrs. Lockwood. And a man like her father was the one who called in the loan on his father’s farm when they were young children. He let out a slow breath as his heart squeezed in his chest.

  But then he remembered the sadness in Ruby’s eyes and looked up again, half expecting it to be there. But it wasn’t. Instead, genuine curiosity sparked in her eyes as she tried the meatloaf. Then a smile pulled her lip as she swallowed it and met eyes with him. “This is actually really good. It pretty much melts in your mouth when you take a bite, as if you have no reason to chew.” Then her eyes went wide and she reached for her glass of water quickly, downing two gulps before looking back up at him again. “It certainly has that kick of spice you were referring to, also. Phew!”

  He couldn’t help but laugh. She made him laugh even when he wanted to mad at her... well not that he really wanted to be mad at her, but he wanted to distance himself from her. The daughter of a banker? How had she ever ended up at the agency asking to work as a detective? How had Savannah? He shook his head as he looked back down at his plate. There was that sadness in her eyes before—he thought of it again. Those weren’t the eyes of a girl who’d lived a spoiled life of privilege. And a girl who had lived that kind of life wouldn’t want to spend days on a train or in a stagecoach in order to come out west and sign up for a job as a Pinkerton. Finally, he couldn’t help his curiosity, and blurted, “What made you decide to become an agent?”

  She swallowed the meatloaf bite that she’d had in her mouth and took another sip of water before answering, “Savannah did. She came home, telling of all these adventures that she and Lucas had been on in the last few months and how things were picking up again now that the winter had thawed. I hoped to follow in her footsteps and become the kind of independent woman who relies upon herself instead of her status.”

  John Mark blinked. The daughter of a banker was rejecting her status? Seemed much too good to be true. “Everyone is different, so Savannah’s experiences are hers and yours will be yours. You may decide you don’t like the real life that the Pinkerton agents have to go through. Some have to give up a great many things in order to stay in this position.”

  “Like you? What did you have to give up?” she asked, taking another bite of her food.

  He’d stepped right into that trap, hadn’t he? Admonishing himself for putting his foot into his mouth, he thought about it. Then he nodded. “I gave up my youth and my education. I joined the union in the war the moment I turned sixteen. I didn’t even finish school. And then, a couple months later, the war was over. And I was suddenly left a man with no future and no prospects. Then I ran into another soldier who had decided that he wanted to join the Agency. He told me about how they were looking for new agents in Denver, so we hopped on the train and made it out here specifically for that. Between this job and the war, I grew up much faster than most boys my age seem to.”

  “I believe it,” she said, eyes widened. “How do your parents feel about it? Your brother joined you here, too?”

  “Only recently,” John Mark answered. “My brother attended college at the University of Virginia and became a lawyer. He decided that being a lawyer in Virginia was a waste of his talents and wanted to come out west. But new lawyers have a hard time finding clients and getting started, and he, like me, wanted to send an income back to our parents. So, he joined me at the agency.”

  She blinked. “That’s noble of him. Of you both. You send a portion of your income back to your parents?”

  He nodded and chewed a bite of meatloaf he’d taken. “Almost all of it. The agency pays our expenses when we’re out on a case, and when we’re home in Denver, we get room and board. I don’t have many other needs.”

  “Wow,” she blinked an
d looked him up and down as if seeing him in a new light. “Are your parents doing well then?”‘

  “They are doing better. Because of my income, my mother was allowed to stop working and stay at home. My brother was able to attend university. My father continued to work, so my brother is here to do the same as me so that Dad can stop working in the mines and start a general store in our home town where there isn’t one.”

  “No general store? There are three here in Fort Worth, I saw. In Denver there were many as well. Back home in Connecticut, there weren’t any general stores but shops that have different specialties. They don’t have that in Virginia?” She tilted her head and furrowed her brow.

  “In the cities they do, but not in Buchanan. It’s a very small town with little more than a post office,” he said and then plopped another bite of food into his mouth. How was this woman able to draw out of him all the things he usually kept close to his chest? He shouldn’t have been telling her everything the way that he was, and yet, she seemed so open, so ready to receive it. And she didn’t have anything more than genuine curiosity. Unlike a spoiled girl who’d lived a life of privilege should have behaved. He would have thought her more judgmental of those who didn’t live like her, instead, she was just curious. It made her that much more appealing.

  When they returned to their rooms, Johnny turned toward Ruby with a smile, but his eyes were serious. “Once you get into your room, keep the door locked and do not come out or let anyone in. If you need anything, such as an extra towel or warmer water for the bath I arranged, order it now while I’m still here.”

  “Still here? Are you going somewhere?” Her heart squeezed in her chest as she thought about him leaving her alone.

  He nodded. “I’m going to make the rounds at the saloons. We need to see which ones have need of a new singer. We want to make as big a splash as possible so as to attract the abductors to the saloon where you’ll be singing. I will go out and order a few drinks and possibly play a game or two of cards.”

  She frowned. “I thought that gambling was against the Pinkerton code.”

  “It is,” he said with a soft smile. “I’m not going to be gambling as much as losing, just enough to play up our covers. We need to look as though we are settling into the society here in town, making friends where we need them.”

  Her frown deepened, but she nodded and stepped inside her room while he remained on the threshold. Somehow, she didn’t mind his eyes watching her. He didn’t seem as though he was constantly trying to worm past her defenses the way that other men made her feel when they watched her. Instead, she felt protected and safe when he was around and watching. He didn’t once look at her in a lustful way, although she’d thought she’d seen something in his eyes akin to affection when she’d first descended the staircase with Marianne in her wedding dress. The look in his eyes had made her heart flutter then, as it fluttered now at the memory of it. Heat rushed to her cheeks and she turned away from him in the hopes that he wouldn’t catch it. After taking a few breaths, she stepped behind the screen to the bath and found it full of water at a slightly warmer temperature than she was comfortable dipping her hand in. A sigh escaped her. It was perfect. Exactly what she’d needed to get the dirt and grime off of her skin from the day-long journey on a stagecoach.

  “Is everything to your liking?” Johnny asked from the doorway.

  Ruby dried off her hand on the towel that hung nearby and then came back from around the screen. “Very much. Yes.”

  His smile made her heart skip a beat again. “Great. Then come over and lock this door so that I know that you are safe while I make the rounds at the saloons.”

  “Is it possible to visit all eight of them in one night?” she asked.

  He huffed a laugh. “No, but I’m going to try to catch as many of them as possible before they close up for the night.”

  The thought of him drinking and smoking and gambling in those places where women poured drinks and offered services of an unchristian nature made her stomach turn a bit. Did he enjoy that sort of lifestyle?

  The mirth in his features fled and turned to worry as he met eyes with her again. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.

  He lifted a brow. “I’m not sure if going undercover is going to be the best position for you, considering that you’re a terrible liar.”

  She blinked up at him, her jaw dropping a tad. He could tell? How? Her parents never seemed able, nor her sisters, but Johnny seemed to read her like an open book. Then she closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll have you know that my university held three musical plays while I attended. I held the lead role in two of the three and played a major part in the third. I’ve been told that I’m an stellar actress.”

  That brought the smile back to his lips. “I bet you were. Good. Then use those talents here. And don’t worry about me. I know how to stay safe. I know how to order alcohol and give the appearance of drinking it without actually consuming any. I know how to play enough hands of cards and lose just enough that people want to play with me again next time because they see me as an easy target. That is my goal for this night, to not drink a drop of alcohol, though I will order many drinks. And not gamble, because I intend to lose. Does that relieve your concerns?”

  Even though she fought it, a smile played on her lips. His gaze was drawn to it and it made him smile wider, so that crinkles formed at the side of his eyes. She wanted to reach out and touched them, but she fisted her hands to stop herself from doing it. What was coming over her? She’d never felt the urge to touch a man in such an intimate way before. She’d never felt so close and comfortable with any man in a mere two or three days, but with Johnny, she did. He made her feel comfortable and content. Was this how it was always supposed to feel with a man who was supposed to be her husband? He didn’t treat her as if she were something to be possessed or shown-off. And for once she was beginning to understand what it might feel like to just be normal. To just be Ruby. But what if things were this way simply because he wasn’t attracted to her?

  “Then will I see you in the morning?” She licked her lips, knowing that his gaze was still focused on her smile. And just as she’d hoped, it made him slightly flustered. Good. At least she knew that he was attracted to her and wasn’t just being this way because he felt nothing.

  He cleared his throat and gained composure before nodding. “Yes. I’ll need to sleep in just a bit, so will eight-thirty be a good time?”

  She nodded. “I’ll expect you promptly then.”

  “I’m always prompt.”

  That made her smile even more. She believed it of him. If Johnny was nothing else, he was responsible. “Then I’ll see you at eight-thirty.”

  He nodded and then backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet and catching himself. She closed the door before stifling her giggle. He made her feel giddy, too. If she didn’t know any better, she was falling for the soft-spoken man who was her training agent... no, he was her husband. And for once, that title didn’t cause her dread. Instead she was beginning to see marriage as the jewel it could be under all the filth that she’d been distracted by before. Perhaps, if she polished it just right, she’d see a jewel worthy of hanging upon her neck—if Johnny placed it there. Her heart fluttered again at the thought. Could she really be developing feelings for the man after three days?

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, promptly at eight-thirty, a knock sounded at Ruby’s door. She’d already been completely ready for more than a quarter hour, but still called out, “Just a minute!”