AN: I apologize for the cheese to come...

Lily May had read the same sentence three times amongst the midday camp chaos when someone sat down next to her. Out of the corner of her eye she sees it's a man but that's not a big shock. She'd seen nothing but men and three women for three months. When he doesn't move even his lips for talking in the time it takes her to read the next sentence four times she turned her head. The first thing she notices is that this is very attractive cowboy, the second thing she notices is that this very attractive cowboy is staring at her.

He ambushes her with bright blue eyes the same shade as the rio grande river that sucked her in no differently than a raging river might. Her fingers tighten around the dirt smeared, sun faded paperback cover of her book, her mouth suddenly becomes dry as sandpaper but she can't even think of the pouch of water sitting at her feet.

"Hi."

She blinks, suddenly startled. "Hi."

When the corners of his lips flip up into a warm grin she finds that's almost as nice as his eyes. It also draws her attention to the thin blonde stubble along his jaw that catches the sun. He's got a nice jaw. She resist the urge to lick her lips and waits for him to speak again. He does when he realizes the half challenging look she's giving him is a question.

"I'm Kit."

"Lily May." She puts her thumb in between the pages, even though she's not sure what's even happening in this chapter anyway, and offers him her hand.

He stares curiously at her left hand and changes hands to shake hers comfortably. The lightness of her feminine hands is surprising after months of nothing but men but it is welcome. The palms of her hands are rough and scared just like his causing an interesting sort of friction. "Oh I know who you are. Everybody here knows you."

And there it was. The light around the handsome, maybe friendly man tinged in Lily May's eyes. Her face hardened in annoyance, her eyebrows knitting together and eyes narrowing in a way he blamed on the sun. "Well that's funny considering you're the first person here in two months whose shook my hand." She flipped back open her book and focused her eyes on a random sentence. But the pretty faced cowboy didn't move.

"Well it's hard not to know who you are. Not many women go round tryin to be rangers." She turned the page without knowing how the other one ended. "Not many women go round yellin at Austin either."

A snort of a giggle broke out before Lily May could stop it. Kit smiled fealing a little more victorious even if she was still studying her book. "Didn't get me anywhere though did it?"

"You're working in the medical tent right?"

"Nurse Houston. Doesn't exactly have a ring to it does it?"

He shrugged his shoulders at her bitter twang but still kept the same grin on his face. "Can't be that bad can it?"

"Oh no its a hoot." Her sarcasm was not missed by the ranger who watched her tuck back flyaway hairs and curl up her lips showing off teeth and a dimple. "It's all antiseptic and gangrene and yelling soldiers with bad attitudes and pinching fingers." Her enthusiasm was something admirable. He chuckled to himself but was smart enough not to do so out loud. He had a feeling this woman may be crazy.

"Better than getting shot at."

"Still, it's not exactly what I was expecting."

"Well," he dared to ask the obvious question, "what were you expecting."

She opened in her mouth in outrage then clamped it back shut. She narrowed her eyes at him, he stared right back. She felt defeated by nothing but the simple question. What had she expected? For Stephen Austin to welcome her into the rangers with open arms and not a hint of unfair sexism in his voice or eyes.

No, she wasn't delusional. But something more than threading up soilders like quilts; some respect maybe.

"I was expecting to protect Texas. It's my land and my home too, my family lives here. I've got just as much reason to fight for it as you and every other man."

He started at her with a thinking look back behind his blue eyes. When he didn't say anything for a second she threw herself back into her earlier position with over dramatic movements and flung her book back open scanning the page. Against her stronger feelings of anger and frustration she flicked her eyes back to him with less subtlety than she had hoped for every few seconds. When he came back from the deep thoughts that had so thoroughly entertained him he noticed. A small smile crept its way across his face that he tried to keep firm and respectful.

"You're right "

"Excuse me?"

"You're right. You've got just as much reason as us to be fighting."

Her green eyes widened slightly but she hurriedly relaxed herself to stay calm before the only person besides herself and her daddy who actually saw the reasoning in her fighting as a Texas Ranger. She squared her shoulders but couldn't wipe the tooth showing, dimple digging grin off of her freckled face. "You're damn straight I'm right."

He laughed a full body laugh that threw him back against the steps of the general's tent behind him. It was deep but full of a light sort of amusement that reminded her of the sun. If she had less control, or was one of those giddy girls with hearts drawn round her eyes she might have blushed. She waited for him to come down; rereading another line again. "So what are you reading anyway?"

"Oh, its." She paused and thought for a moment. She flipped the faded yellow cover around in her hands, thumb still tucked it, and read the cover aloud. "Five Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

He gave her the side eye but retained the judgment from his voice. "You didn't know what book you were readin?"

She gave him an amused smirk that left no room for challenge. He liked the way her eyes lit in the sun. He wonders if they did that just when she thought something was funny and briefly wonders if he can make her laugh again to test his theory. "You try readin in all this!" She gestures wildly to the camp with her book clutched hand.

There were men yelling across tents to each other, horses speaking freely, wagons being unloaded, pots being slammed together back at the mess, and an assortment of other sounds that's direction couldn't quite be placed. "Ya, I see whatcha mean."

"Acklin!" Karnes shouted from across the camp adding into the noise. "Get your ass over here!"

Kit peared easily over the top of Lily May's head and nodded at his captain. He then looked down at the crazy, tiny blonde who had been reading a book she didn't know the name of for an hour and nodded to her respectfully with a small smile just as his momma had taught him. "That's my call. I'll be seein you nurse."

Lily May opened her mouth to yell at him but he was already runnin off before she could get a word out. She pursed her lips as she watched him until he and Karnes and the other rangers had gone off for some mission while she sat there like a bump on a log. Examining the book in her hands, running over the faded bold black leaders on the thin yellow cover and waterlogged pages just barely strung together she sighed and tossed it behind her before moving inside the tent.