The Mercenary's Kiss. Pam Crooks
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Название: The Mercenary's Kiss
Автор: Pam Crooks
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Историческая литература
Серия: Mills & Boon Historical
isbn: 9781472040763
isbn:
“They took my son, damn you!”
“They kill for the sport of it.” Jeb clenched his jaw. “You think you’re going to find them by yourself?”
Green eyes flashed. “If it’s the last thing I do.” She halted, her bosom heaving.
“Like hell you will.” Jeb released her. He didn’t want to be affected by this woman. He didn’t want to be needed by her.
Instead, he thought of honor and integrity. Of patriotism. He thought, too, of leaving the country he’d just come back to. One more time. And his plans for California disintegrated like smoke in the wind.
“I’ll help you, damn it.”
She gaped at him. For a long moment no one spoke.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I can. And right now you have no one else.”
“I don’t even know you!”
“You will by the time we get to Mexico….”
Praise for new Historical author
Pam Crooks
“Pam Crooks brings every character, every danger, every ordeal to life through her vivid descriptions and snappy dialogue. This is one author whose star is rising fast.”
—Romantic Times on Hannah’s Vow
“Pam Crooks writes westerns like nobody’s business! They grab you from the start, and you better hang on for the ride!”
—The Best Reviews on Broken Blossoms
The Mercenary’s Kiss
Pam Crooks
MILLS & BOON
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To my agent, Paige Wheeler.
Thank you.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Prologue
Texas, 1896
“L a-adies and gentlemen! What a singular pleasure it is to bring to your fair city the most dazzling, the most thrilling, the most renowned extravaganza this side of the Missouri! Doc Charlie’s Medicine Sho-o-w-w!”
The audience packing the wooden benches inside the canvas tent whooped and clapped, their enthusiasm as palpable as the sawdust beneath their feet. Men whistled. Women and children cheered. The calliope player banged the keys in a chaotic medley of earsplitting notes, all to perpetuate the excitement and anticipation of the entertainment to come.
As always, Elena Malone was filled with her own excitement of yet another performance to a crowd who had traveled from miles around to watch.
A crowd with money in their pockets, of course.
The medicine show was her father’s production. Doc Charlie Malone carried the responsibility of the entire troupe on his shoulders. As pitchman for his own elixir, Doc Charlie’s Miraculous Herbal Compound, it was up to him to sell enough bottles after every performance to support them all.
And there wasn’t a better pitchman than Pop.
Oh, but she never tired of watching him. He always dressed impeccably in a smart suit and crisp white shirt, kept his mustache trimmed neat and his graying goatee combed and stylish. He had eyes that were sharp and straightforward. His booming voice inspired confidence. Honesty. Doc Charlie Malone was the picture of professionalism.
A medicine man the crowd could trust.
And why not? He touted his elixir with pride, and while the results he claimed didn’t always happen to everyone, most times they did. Elena was shrewd enough to know there wasn’t a cure around that could single-handedly conquer the world’s ills.
But Pop’s elixir came close.
She roused herself from her musings and realized that Jake, the show’s blackface comedian, had finished his opening routine. The crowd’s laughter attested to their enjoyment of his jokes and his success in delivering them. He was still taking his bow when a trio of jugglers appeared in the ring, plates spinning in the air as they ran.
Elena’s gaze swept the crowd and noted the rapt expressions on the people’s faces, their happiness and delight. On cue, the performers abandoned the plates and switched to fiery torches. Everyone seemed to wait with bated breath at the jugglers’ dexterity, at the danger, fearful they might be burned and fascinated by the possibility.
Everyone except one.
Her СКАЧАТЬ