Read Online Sagebrush Bride by Tanya Anne Crosby - Free Book Online Page A

together the events that would have brought her to
this ungodly predicament, but try as she might, she couldn’t remember anything.
She eyed him suspiciously. “St Louis?”
    Like
a stubborn weed, his annoying amusement returned and his grin swept into his
dark eyes, though he said nothing, only nodded, and Elizabeth bristled.
    Forcing
a calming breath, she peered down at the filth that clung to her skirts, taking
in the torn hem and her once white blouse, groaning inwardly at the thought of
presenting herself in St. Louis this way. She tried again, her nerves fast
reaching a breaking point, and said, “I don’t remember.” Her gaze challenged
him. “That is to say... I do recall
your offer, Mr. McKenzie... but I also recall telling you no thank you. But all
right... let’s say I did request your services... It was quite gracious —” she spoke the word with
barely contained fury”—of you to accept, but I find I do not need you
escorting me, after all. You can take me home now.” His smile deepened, and her
anger escalated. “Don’t you understand plain English? I don’t want you taking
me to St. Louis! I want you to carry me home this very instant!”
    Cutter
shook his head. “We’ve come too far to turn back. Besides, I was countin’ on
the dinero,” he said.
    Walking
over to pick up his hat, he tapped it against his leg to rid it of the dust and
grass seed that clung to it along with the dew.
    Her
eyes widened incredulously. “No?”
    “No.”
    “I
can’t believe this! You have to take
me back!”
    He
placed his hat upon his head, adjusting it until it sat comfortably, then made
his way toward his horse, which was waiting patiently, nibbling at the high
grass only a few feet away. “Izzatso?” he offered without turning.
    Lifting
her skirts, Elizabeth marched after him, stopping just before plowing into his
back. “Yes, it is!” she declared.
    “And
why is that?” He still didn’t bother to turn toward her. Instead, he busied
himself with straightening the saddle, tightening the cinches.
    Flustered,
she said, “Just because!” She didn’t quite know how to say it. Because you’re a half-breed, Mr. McKenzie?
Because there is no way I’ll get my sister’s child with you posing as my
husband? Because I feel uncomfortable
in your presence? Because you’re an infuriating mule’s ass! Because you’re much
too good-looking for my peace of mind? No, that would never do.
    She
looked at him crossly, frustrated, not really wishing to hurt his
feelings—he was Jo’s brother, after all—but she wasn’t about to let
him take her to St. Louis either. How in blue blazes had she managed to get
herself so liquored up that she wouldn’t remember hiring him? “Just because,”
she snapped again, much more irritated with herself suddenly than she was with
him.
    He
made some strangled sound. “You’re going to have to come up with a better
reason.”
    “Well!
I-I don’t have any money to pay you!” she said quickly. “How’s that for a
reason?”
    He
finally turned to face her. “You don’t plan on reneging on me, do you?” One
brow rose in censure.
    “No!
Yes—I mean... That is to say, I don’t have any money with me.”
    “Uh-huh.”
He returned his attention to the saddle. “You know what Johnny Law does to
double-dealers, don’t you?”
    “I-I—”
    “Look,
you can pay me when we get back, Miz Bowcock. I’ve got a few dimes we can spend
until then.”
    “But
I don’t have anything !” Elizabeth
protested. “No clothes! Nothing! I can’t go to St. Louis!” Not with you, she
added silently.
    “I’ll
buy you whatever you need. We’ll just add the cost to what you already owe me,”
he offered pleasantly. “How’s that for accommodating?”
    She
grated her teeth. “I don’t want a new dress!” she said, resisting the infantile
urge to stomp her feet like a wayward child. The man enraged her beyond reason!
“And I don’t want you to be accommodating! I just want to