Sam blushed at all the praise Irene seemed to be giving him, even if indirectly.<br/><br/>“Well honey it wasn’t the good guys who hated the Rangers.  We put a lot of bad people away . . . some permanently.  Some, I guess, maybe even their friends, took umbrage with my work.  I was set to join the Marshals.  But nearly dying took me off their list.  The judge is responsible for the job I have.  I owe him for that . . . he never gave up on me.  He gave me the job while I was still in bed and was going to be there awhile longer.”<br/><br/>He looked at their hands and then up at her and smiled.<br/><br/>“Honey . . . is this a job interview?  And are you trying to use our personal relationship to influence the outcome?”<br/><br/>Sam drew their hands to his mouth and he kissed the back of hers.<br/><br/>“You make a solid argument . . . and we don’t need to sort out everything right now.  I’m sticking here for a while darlin’ I’ve just found you, my love, and I ain’t leaving too soon.  Besides we have work to do here.  My only worry . . . is that you might be in danger traveling with me.  It’s not the cream of society I’m after . . . we’d be after . . . and . . . ”  He touched a couple of his scars . . .  “there are real risks out there.”<br/><br/>Sam propped himself up and kissed Irene tenderly.<br/><br/>“I like that one person everyday notion sweetie . . . I’m very ready for that too.  I never thought I would be . . . but only because I hadn’t found you yet.”<br/><br/>He listened to Irene talk about her responsibilities with the bar.  He nodded in understanding.  He was honest with himself that her lack of popularity with the ‘customers’ didn’t bother him a bit.  In fact he thought it only made her transition that much easier.  He’d back her up if there was any money needed to make it happen.<br/><br/>“Honey . . . I’ll get dressed and take the tray and dishes down for you.”  He grinned at her . . . a bath would be nice.  We could maybe make it just that a bath . . . maybe.”  He caressed her breast as he kissed her.  “I can get my clean clothes back too, while we’re done there . . . and I need to check on my horse.”