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

go home!” she told
him firmly.
    Apparently
finished repairing saddle damages, he turned to her with a determined gleam in
his eye. “Trouble is, Doc... Jo’s already wired St. Louis to say we’re on our
way. They’ll be expecting us. We have to go.” He nodded toward his mount, his
jaw set stubbornly. “Now, get on. Let’s cut some dust.”
    He wasn’t going to take her home.
    It
took Elizabeth a full minute to recover from that shocking revelation. She
opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it again.
    “Jo?”
she asked finally.
    “That’s
right. Where do you think you got that ring on your finger?”
    At
his declaration, Elizabeth glanced down at the simple silver band that now
graced her left hand. Her shock was physical. Try as she might, she still
couldn’t recall a single thing. Surely she wouldn’t have just up and married
the man? She didn’t even know him, for mercy’s sake! She moaned, the sound
anguished. “We’re not... we didn’t... good night!”
     
    The
look that passed over her face was anything but complimentary. She looked
downright spooked by the thought of actually marrying him, and it struck a raw
chord in Cutter. “Don’t go getting yourself all full of prunes, medicine woman.
We’re not married, just playing at it,” he said curtly.
    “Full
of prunes? Oh! You! How dare you speak to me that way! You have no right!” She
lifted her chin, meeting his hard gaze straight on. “If—if you won’t take
me home, I’ll—I’ll simply walk! The good Lord didn’t give me two good
feet for nothing!” she informed him acidly.
    Cutter
merely shrugged.
    Her
chest puffed, and Cutter fixed his gaze on her face, trying not to notice the
luscious swell of her breasts. Her body was actually trembling with anger, her
eyes blazing amber fire. “Just tell me which way to go!”
    She
watched as he settled in the saddle, taking his sweet time before turning to
her. And then he smiled. “Don’t you know?” he asked, reaching back casually
into his saddlebag. He lifted the unbound flap and slipped his hand within,
retrieving a shriveled slice of jerky. Ripping it in half, he slid one dark
strip into his mouth, holding it firmly between his teeth as one would a
toothpick. The other half, he held in his hand, intending to offer it to
Elizabeth.
    Her
indignant expression was too much for him. He chuckled. “That way,” he
relented, and further obliged her by indicating the correct direction with a
brisk wave of the jerky. He was confident in the fact that they were too far
for her to cover the distance on foot. As he saw it, she’d grow tired enough to
listen to reason before too long. Sore feet had a way of doing that to a body.
    Her
expression smug, Elizabeth made a big to-do of brushing off her skirts and
hands, as though to rid herself of his presence once and for all. Slapping discreetly
at her backside, she then turned haughtily in the opposite direction from that
which he had indicated.
    Cutter’s
jaw actually dropped a little as he watched her march defiantly in the very
direction they were headed. And he almost burst out laughing when he spotted
the dusty print of her small hand planted firmly on her left rear, but the
laughter died on his lips as he suddenly envisioned himself placing his hand
over that print... thought of how her bottom would feel under his palm.
Sweeping off his hat with a frustrated gesture, he shook his head, as though to
shift his wayward thoughts.
    “You
think I’m that gullible, don’t you?” he heard her mutter. “Well, you can think
again, Mr. McKenzie!”
    “Well,
I’ll be hanged,” he swore softly. And then he chuckled suddenly, amused that
the little she-wolf had actually thought he would lie to her. Briefly he
contemplated whether he should correct her choice of direction and the answer
brought a devilish grin to his lips, because he sure as the dickens wasn’t about
to. They’d ridden good’n’ hard this morning, and his horse was ready