He simply followed her, and when she tried to escape, he leaned close and pinned her to the porch railing in a most scandalous fashion. “Give me your ticket, Maggie,” he said in a voice as intimate as a caress, “and I’ll get your money back.”

Maggie moved to squeeze past him, but instead felt greater pressure both from Reeve McKenna in front and the porch railing in back. Her pulse leapt and her breath quickened, as the whole situation was most embarrassing. “I need my ticket,” she said in barely more than a whisper. “I’m going back to Sydney on the omnibus.”

“You’re going back to Sydney with me,” Reeve said flatly.

Maggie couldn’t free herself, so she squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to blot Reeve McKenna from existence. He simply remained where he was, pressing close to her in that indecent way, and when Maggie was finally forced to open her eyes, he was watching her with amusement.

“You gave back my papers, remember?” she pointed out when she could trust herself to speak. “I’m a free woman and if I want to go back to Sydney by myself, I most certainly will!”

“Papers?” Reeve echoed stupidly. And then he reached into his shirt pocket and drew out a packet of documents, documents he had to have taken from Maggie’s reticule while she slept. “These papers?”

“Damn you.” Maggie gasped, pushing at Reeve’s chest with her hands. “You’re not only a seducer, you’re a thief!”

Reeve threw back his head and laughed at that. “A seducer? Maggie, Maggie—what quaint words you use.” He arched one dark eyebrow and then went on. “May I remind you that I made every effort to keep my distance after I got into bed with you last night? You were the one who insisted on touching me.”

Maggie was at a loss for words and, further, she was worried that someone would see her in this compromising position. She tried to look around Reeve’s shoulder, certain that she’d die on the spot if anyone had overheard their conversation.

Unexpectedly, Reeve relented a little and stepped back so that Maggie could breathe a bit more freely. “Come home with me, Maggie,” he said, his voice gruff and yet oddly persuasive. “We can go to Sydney in the morning.”

“That,” Maggie blustered, trembling all over because she was so angry and because a part of her wanted to go home with Reeve McKenna and let him do what he would to her, “is an indecent proposal!”

“You weren’t worried about indecent proposals this morning,” he pointed out.

The reminder of their shameless behavior in the wagon stung its way through Maggie’s veins like poison. She drew back her reticule to strike him, but he only took it from her and set it down on the rough board floor of the porch.