Read Online Sterling's Way (Lawmen & Outlaws) by Sarita Leone - Free Book Online Page B

woman without giving her some hint as to why you’re doing it, you know.”
    Patrick reached a finger out and tapped her lightly on the chin. Then, he leaned close, held her chin and angled her face so their noses nearly touched. “I didn’t mean to stare,” he said softly. “I just couldn’t help but admire your loveliness, Kristen.”
    She saw what he meant to do a scant moment before he made his move. Her heart tripped double-time, the same way it had earlier during the shooting. Again, she felt cornered, with no good way out of the situation.
    Kristen swallowed hard, and then used the tactic that worked the best for her. She stumbled to her feet, nearly tripping over the hem of her dress. Patrick began to rise, but she took a step off the blanket before he had a chance to do more than push himself to him knees.
    Then, without once looking back, she ran as if all the foulest ghouls in the underworld were after her.

Chapter Eight
    Spurs jangled against the wide floorboards as the tall, muscular man uncrossed his ankles and heaved himself upright. A rivulet of perspiration snaked its way down one chiseled cheek. Kristen wondered how long he had been waiting.
    “Mr. Brown! I didn’t expect to see you here.” Her hopes of slipping into the boardinghouse undetected were smashed. Getting past him without stopping to chat was unthinkable. Her stomach was tied in knots but she put a smile on her face and stopped beside him.
    “I’m afraid I came to see you.” He removed his hat, twisting it in his hands. A wide white scar ran across the back of his left hand, beginning near the thumb and hooking around behind the pinky finger. It was not the type of scar a man got behind a desk. “And it’s Randall, remember?”
    “Right. I’m sorry, Randall.”
    Kristen recognized regret when she saw it. It was clear in his eyes, the deep set of his mouth and the sag in his shoulders. The man looked like he carried a wagonload of trouble.
    He met her gaze, and then looked away. “Not as sorry as I am.”
    With every passing moment, Kristen’s stomach knots grew tighter. Maybe not eating the picnic lunch by the creek had a silver lining to it. Thanks to Patrick’s overactive romantic leanings, their luncheon had been spoiled so her belly was empty—and she was very grateful that it was.
    “Whatever do you mean?” Fear shot up her spine, its probing fingers like razors against her conscience. The possibility he had found her out and divulged her whereabouts to her family brought her close to being ill.
    “I don’t believe you’re going to be pleased to see me when I give you my news.”
    Her suspicion of the man, and his business, grew. Still, Kristen remained calm—on the outside.
    “I cannot imagine what you could possibly say that might cause me displeasure. Why, your association, and the teaching position, are the best things that have happened to me since I disembarked from the stagecoach.”
    He shuffled his feet. The spurs beat an unsteady tune against the floor. What made western men so enamored with the fool things? They seemed silly on a man not astride a horse. Moreover, there was no saving a floor after it had been gouged by a careless cowboy’s spur.
    “I don’t think you’ll feel the same in another minute, ma’am…”
    “Why don’t you let me decide about that? Now, what’s got you twisting your hat into something for the rag bin?”
    He hurriedly unclasped the hat, straightening out its crooked brim with a shake of his head. The waning sunlight cast shadows across his face, so she could only half see the expression in his eyes when he looked up at her.
    Thankfully, the banker stopped procrastinating.
    “I’m so sorry to have to break the news. Do you realize a man was killed earlier today? Just down the street from the bank, by the saloon?”
    “I am.” What could the gunfight have to do with her?
    Brown cleared his throat, the sound like sawdust on creaky floorboards. “The, uh, gentleman