A Cowboy Christmas. Janette Kenny

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СКАЧАТЬ fact she was here in the saloon told him she was the type who took matters into her own hands. And dammit all for thinking that because his body jolted again at the thought of her taking him in hand. Shit!

      “It seemed silly to wait when I could just as easily find you and we could be on our way.”

      There was more to it than that. The spark of panic in her eyes hinted she had another reason that she wasn’t ready to divulge.

      That alone was enough reason for him to send her on her way here and now and save himself a passel of grief. God knew he’d surely suffer misery in Miss Cade’s company, for his thoughts were anything but gentlemanly around her. But he’d have a hellish time finding a suitable woman to replace Mrs. Leach at this late date and in this ungodly weather.

      He blew out a disgusted breath at being caught between a rock and a hard place. “Then by all means let us collect your baggage and be on our way.”

      Her sigh was a fitting reaction, but the wide eyes glittering with relief, coupled with those soft lips trembling into a smile, went too far. Yep, this little woman roused feelings in him best left dead.

      Reid shrugged into his jacket and motioned to the door. “Stay here while I fetch the sleigh from the livery.”

      “I don’t mind walking with you. It’ll save time.” She click-clicked across the wood floor like a spirited filly and out the door into the bitter cold.

      Reid tossed five bucks on the bar and started after her. He would have preferred to lose ten minutes and regain his equilibrium, but it was obvious Miss Cade would rather tramp through the snow than spend another second in the Roost.

      “You’ve got your hands full with that one,” Mallory said.

      “She doesn’t appear to be the troublesome sort to me.”

      “Unlike yourself, Mr. Reid Barclay. For all that cultured talk you spout on a whim, I know you’ve got the heart and soul of an Irish rebel.”

      “What if I do?” Reid paused at the door and stared at the man who’d watched him go from rebellious boy to respectable rancher.

      “Her type won’t give you a roll in the hay and then go her way with a smile on her face. Remember that.”

      Reid inclined his head. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

      “Will you? You always were a cocky bastard. But then you have the blood of nobles flowing in your veins.”

      Mallory, the wily old goat, knew the truth Reid held close to the vest. He was an English nobleman’s by-blow, disowned by his father long before Reid’s mother died giving him life.

      “I’m still a bastard, Mallory.” If Kirby Morris hadn’t cut a deal when he had, he’d be a dead one by now.

      “Aye, you did ’em wrong, boyo. They ain’t coming back.”

      His mouth stretched into a grim line. He’d given his brothers just cause to hate him, and damned if he knew how to right the terrible wrong he’d caused so long ago.

      Guilt was a bitch to live with.

      “Perhaps I’ll have the luck of the Irish after all.”

      “More likely you’ll have the devil’s time of it,” Mallory said as he splashed whiskey into a shot glass, “when your past charges into your life with guns blazing.”

      A possibility Reid hoped to avoid. He stepped out and let the wind blow the rest of Mallory’s dire predictions back inside.

      No matter how much he groused about his fate, he’d made the right choice. Never mind it’d been the only one at the time. If his skin felt a mite tight for him at times, so be it.

      He was ready to live up to his end of the bargain now. Or had been until he’d hired a fetching house cook that had him thinking of dishes best served warm in bed.

      Reid squinted against a punishing sun, searching for Miss Cade. He spotted her easily down the street, thanks to a royal blue cloak snapping in the wind like a bullfighter’s cape. He hadn’t known her hair was the color of whiskey until now.

      The back of it was caught up in an intricate weave of sorts and that touch of red glowed in the sun.

      Reid headed toward Miss Cade, his blood running thick and hot with need. He had a fondness for fair-haired women.

      She tugged the full hood up and ended his ruminations of taking the pins from her hair and running his hands through it. By damn, but the lady was a sparkling gem amid a blanket of white. She’d be living in his house, a constant temptation for him to take what he wanted and damn the consequences.

      He paused to let a buckboard churn by, the bed laden with goods and squealing children huddled down in a bed of straw. He knew the whole family worked their behinds off on their ranch due north of his, yet he’d never seen a happier brood.

      Simple pleasures.

      He’d never known what it was like to have the love of family until he’d lost it. Now there was no getting it back.

      Reid caught a glimpse of Adam Tavish plowing through the muck in the street. He, too, seemed arrested by the sight of Miss Cade.

      Though the U.S. Marshal swore he was on the trail of the Kincaid gang, Mallory told him that Tavish had been asking an awful lot of questions about Reid. It wasn’t the first time a lawman had inquired about his past.

      The fact remained that Reid had left word everywhere, all but begging his brothers to come back to Wyoming. He’d also baited a trap for the man accused of killing Lisa True, letting it be known that Slim was at the Crown Seven as well. But so far the only one sniffing around was the lawman.

      As for Ezra Kincaid? He’d likely be watching.

      If the old outlaw was out there, he was holed up planning his move. That worried Reid the most.

      Truth be, he was relieved Tavish was dead set on stopping the old rustler who surely must be drooling over Reid’s thoroughbreds. But that didn’t mean he wanted to be on close speaking terms with Tavish.

      Considering his past, Reid was careful to keep his distance from the local sheriff and the marshal. But with Tavish reaching Miss Cade first and guiding her into the livery, he couldn’t very well do that today.

      Ice crunched underfoot as he made his way to the livery. He wrenched open the door, finding Miss Cade and Tavish squared off inside.

      He knew the feeling.

      Reid gave the livery boy a nod to ready his sleigh.

      “I see you’ve met the marshal.” Reid stopped beside Miss Cade, sparing Tavish a dismissing glance but feeling the man’s curious gaze skewer him all the same. Was that annoyance he saw in her eyes?

      “Yes, he was just assuring me that this is a quiet, lawful community,” she said.

      Tavish favored Miss Cade with his good-ol’-boy smile that didn’t fool Reid one bit. “You never did tell me what brought you to Maverick, Miss Cade.”

      She СКАЧАТЬ