Read Online Her Sheriff Bodyguard by Lynna Banning - Free Book Online Page A

hunk of jerky. If he was gonna spend another night sleeping in the same room with Caroline and Fernanda, he needed a bath and some clean clothes.
    They hadn’t objected to sharing the room with him last night, but tonight he was dirtier and sweatier and so tired that rolling himself up in a quilt and sleeping on the floor in front of the door held less appeal, especially when a nice soft bed sat just six feet away.
    Both Caroline and Fernanda had been quiet throughout the meal, Fernanda absorbed in her steak and Caroline because she couldn’t seem to relax. She fiddled with her knife, her fork, her teacup, even the buttons on her blue dress. Maybe she was uneasy about the sleeping arrangements? She hadn’t seemed to mind his presence last night in Gillette Springs, but she’d just had the spit scared out of her by that note.
    Or maybe she was scared about tomorrow. She was making another damned speech at ten o’clock, this time at some ladies’ auxiliary hall down the street from the hotel. He drank the last of his coffee and studied her face.
    Hell, she looked nervous already. At the church the other night she’d looked cool and composed right up until she got that note. Now she looked like she had a case of stage fright so bad it would freeze up Sarah Bernhardt.
    He wanted to know why. Why did she persist when she was clearly frightened? He wanted to know a lot of things. Women were so unexplainable it was a wonder a man ever got close enough to marry one.
    The sound of guitars and banjos and a violin drifted from the ballroom. Then a low thump sounded, and Will Paine got up and went off to “keep order,” Hawk guessed. When he heard another thump and then a pistol shot, his first impulse was to back the man up. But his second impulse was stronger: sit tight and make sure no one got within striking distance of the two females under his care.
    Another pistol shot went off, and Caroline jumped and hissed air into her lungs. He looked at her face and swore under his breath. She’d turned another pasty shade of white.
    â€œYou about ready to turn in?”
    She was out of her chair before he could set his coffee cup down. He tossed bills onto the table, tore after her and caught her at the doorway.
    â€œWait up,” he ordered. “You don’t go anywhere without me, remember?”
    Caroline halted. “Oh. I was in such a hurry I forgot.” Well, no, she hadn’t forgotten, exactly. It was just that she could not sit still when a gunshot sounded, even with Hawk Rivera at her elbow.
    Oh, Mama, were you this frightened? How strong and calm you always seemed .
    And her mother had not had Hawk Rivera protecting her. She wondered if it would have made a difference.
    He took her arm and kept her close at his side, so close she could feel his chest move in and out with each breath. For one insane moment she wanted to turn into his arms and press her face to his chest, listen to his heartbeat. While her own pulse was ragged, she was sure his would be strong and steady.
    She shook herself out of the thought and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. The dance music grew fainter as they climbed the three sets of stairs up to the hotel room. When he unlocked the door, Fernanda marched inside, spun, and pointed to Hawk’s dusty leather saddlebag in the corner.
    â€œYou have clean clothes?”
    â€œYeah. What I’ve got on me could stand up all by themselves.”
    â€œThen take them off. I go find a basin to wash.”
    â€œNo.” He blocked the doorway. “I’ll have a bathtub sent up, one for you and Caroline, and another for me and my clothes.”
    â€œAh, no, señor . Is not proper.”
    â€œProper! Hell, I haven’t let either one of you out of my sight for two solid days, what’s ‘proper’ got to do with it?”
    Fernanda set her hands on her hips. “Is not proper for a man to wash his own