Read Online The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 by Debra Mullins - Free Book Online
Authors: Debra Mullins
Ads: Link
crept over her cheeks as she kept her eyes steadily on her task.
“Sure is a shame to cover up such a pretty sight,” he drawled.
“You are a hideous man,” she snapped.
“Now, princess, there are women from here to Texas who would disagree with you on that.”
“I really have no interest in your women, Marshal.” She set the carpetbag aside and made a show of adjusting her skirts as she prepared to lay down on the bedroll.
Good Lord, she was hard to resist when she was all snotty and in a temper. He reached out and took her hand. She whipped around to face him.
“What are you doing?” she asked haughtily, but he heard the breathlessness behind the question. Her fingers trembled in his. She wasn’t as unaffected as she appeared to be.
“Looks like I’m holding your hand,” he said.
“Well, stop it.” She tried to pull her hand from his, but he didn’t release her. “Jedidiah, let me go right now!”
He grinned at her. “Say that again.”
“Let me go?”
He arched his brows. “Not that. My name.”
She rolled her eyes.
He stroked her palm with his thumb. “Say it, Susannah.”
She sighed in exasperation. “Marshal Brown—“
“Not like that.” He turned her hand over and splayed open her fingers so that he could trace lazy circles over her palm. “Say my name, Susannah.”
She closed her eyes and whispered, “Jedidiah.”
“That’s right.” He pressed his thumb against the pulse at her wrist and found it racing. “I’ll take care of you, Susannah. You just have to trust me.”
Her eyes opened. “How can I?” she whispered. “You think I’m guilty.”
“I think you’re capable of doing it,” he corrected. “That’s a long way from guilty. I also think you’re too beautiful and too smart for your own good. And I think that we had both best go to sleep, or else Caldwell will find us easy pickings when he catches up with us.”
“Do you think he will catch up?”
“Eventually.” Jedidiah rubbed the fading red mark the handcuff had left on her wrist. “The problem is, no matter what story I spread around to cover our trail, everyone is going to remember you. And Caldwell doesn’t strike me as stupid.”
“Sometimes I wish I had been born ugly,” she said bitterly. “This face of mine gets me into too much trouble.”
“I think you’re putting too much store in your looks,” he said. “There’s more to you than pretty packaging.”
“No one else has ever called me smart before. Or strong.”
He paused in his massage of her wrist. “You can’t be serious.”
She nodded. “My entire life, all I’ve heard about is how pretty I am and how easily I’d be able to catch a husband. But what if I don’t want a husband? What if I want to do something with my life besides become some man’s ornament?”
“From what I’ve seen, you have the brains and guts to do whatever you set your mind to.”
“Why are you the only one who can see that?” she asked, her voice uneven with emotion. “Everyone has always been more preoccupied with the color of my eyes than with any opinions I might have. Sarah was always considered the smart one. I was the pretty one.”
He snorted. “No one in this world is just any one thing. You’re sister is as pretty as you are, just in a different way. And you’re both smart enough to give a man fits. Look at all the trouble you’re giving me.”
She raised her brows. “I beg to differ. I’ve been a model prisoner, Marshal.”
“You’ve been a pain in the— Suffice it to say that you are one hell of a woman, Susannah Calhoun.”
A blush of pleasure spread across her face. “Thank you.”
“That said, you’ll understand when I tell you that I don’t underestimate a woman of your considerable talents.”
He pulled the handcuffs from his pocket and closed one bracelet around her wrist with a final-sounding click. He locked the other cuff around his own wrist. “This is so you don’t get any ideas about
“Sure is a shame to cover up such a pretty sight,” he drawled.
“You are a hideous man,” she snapped.
“Now, princess, there are women from here to Texas who would disagree with you on that.”
“I really have no interest in your women, Marshal.” She set the carpetbag aside and made a show of adjusting her skirts as she prepared to lay down on the bedroll.
Good Lord, she was hard to resist when she was all snotty and in a temper. He reached out and took her hand. She whipped around to face him.
“What are you doing?” she asked haughtily, but he heard the breathlessness behind the question. Her fingers trembled in his. She wasn’t as unaffected as she appeared to be.
“Looks like I’m holding your hand,” he said.
“Well, stop it.” She tried to pull her hand from his, but he didn’t release her. “Jedidiah, let me go right now!”
He grinned at her. “Say that again.”
“Let me go?”
He arched his brows. “Not that. My name.”
She rolled her eyes.
He stroked her palm with his thumb. “Say it, Susannah.”
She sighed in exasperation. “Marshal Brown—“
“Not like that.” He turned her hand over and splayed open her fingers so that he could trace lazy circles over her palm. “Say my name, Susannah.”
She closed her eyes and whispered, “Jedidiah.”
“That’s right.” He pressed his thumb against the pulse at her wrist and found it racing. “I’ll take care of you, Susannah. You just have to trust me.”
Her eyes opened. “How can I?” she whispered. “You think I’m guilty.”
“I think you’re capable of doing it,” he corrected. “That’s a long way from guilty. I also think you’re too beautiful and too smart for your own good. And I think that we had both best go to sleep, or else Caldwell will find us easy pickings when he catches up with us.”
“Do you think he will catch up?”
“Eventually.” Jedidiah rubbed the fading red mark the handcuff had left on her wrist. “The problem is, no matter what story I spread around to cover our trail, everyone is going to remember you. And Caldwell doesn’t strike me as stupid.”
“Sometimes I wish I had been born ugly,” she said bitterly. “This face of mine gets me into too much trouble.”
“I think you’re putting too much store in your looks,” he said. “There’s more to you than pretty packaging.”
“No one else has ever called me smart before. Or strong.”
He paused in his massage of her wrist. “You can’t be serious.”
She nodded. “My entire life, all I’ve heard about is how pretty I am and how easily I’d be able to catch a husband. But what if I don’t want a husband? What if I want to do something with my life besides become some man’s ornament?”
“From what I’ve seen, you have the brains and guts to do whatever you set your mind to.”
“Why are you the only one who can see that?” she asked, her voice uneven with emotion. “Everyone has always been more preoccupied with the color of my eyes than with any opinions I might have. Sarah was always considered the smart one. I was the pretty one.”
He snorted. “No one in this world is just any one thing. You’re sister is as pretty as you are, just in a different way. And you’re both smart enough to give a man fits. Look at all the trouble you’re giving me.”
She raised her brows. “I beg to differ. I’ve been a model prisoner, Marshal.”
“You’ve been a pain in the— Suffice it to say that you are one hell of a woman, Susannah Calhoun.”
A blush of pleasure spread across her face. “Thank you.”
“That said, you’ll understand when I tell you that I don’t underestimate a woman of your considerable talents.”
He pulled the handcuffs from his pocket and closed one bracelet around her wrist with a final-sounding click. He locked the other cuff around his own wrist. “This is so you don’t get any ideas about
Similar Books
