Carol Finch - The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress

Eva adjusted her cockeyed hat and smiled reassuringly at George. “I’m fine,” she insisted as she dusted herself off.

“This is one of the drawbacks of marrying a man who has a target on his back,” the driver slurred. “Somebody’s always gunning for him, I reckon.”

“Then I’ll have to take extra good care of J.D., won’t I?” she murmured as she stared adoringly at him.

Raven studied her blankly. He couldn’t recall anyone offering to take care of him. A moment later, he remembered that her comment was part of her act and he shrugged off the pleased sensation that had no business taking root.

“Are we going to be ambushed again?” Delbert Barnes asked warily as he readjusted his drooping spectacles. “I haven’t begun my new job and I could be dead before I start.”

“Relax, Delbert,” Raven said he as brushed off his buckskin breeches and black shirt. “Stay inside each station along the way or in the coach and you’ll be just fine.”

Flustered, the little man fidgeted from one foot to the other, glanced apprehensively toward the stony peaks of the mountains then dashed headlong toward the coach.

Raven had expected a reaction like that from Eva. She, however, was amazingly unruffled by her near brush with disaster. Another blossom of admiration unfurled inside him as he watched his pretend wife walk purposely toward the stagecoach. She halted halfway then turned to wait for him to catch up.

“Surely you aren’t going to pick a fight with me so soon after I was nearly gunned down, are you?” she murmured as he strode up beside her.

“No, but I’m leaving eventually so don’t think I’ve changed my mind,” he said gruffly.

An impish grin spread across her bewitching face. “Of course not. I’m your proverbial pain in the ass.”

“Exactly right and don’t you forget it.”

And he better not, either.

His tone wasn’t as sharp as it should have been, not if he hoped to convince her that he considered her a nuisance. To his dismay, she noticed the lack of intensity in his voice and looked excessively pleased with herself.

“Help me into the coach, will you, darling? Being knocked off my feet during the ambush affected me more than I first thought. I feel a bit shaky.”

Shaky? This ironclad daisy? Ha! Nothing shook her up that he could tell. Not his terse rejection, his intimidating threats or flying bullets. Raven gave his head a marveling shake as he assisted his wife into the coach.

Wife? The word rang through his mind like a clanging gong. She was not his wife and she never would be, he reminded himself realistically. Let her have her fun while it lasted. By nightfall, he’d be long gone and she could track Gordon by whatever means available—as long as it didn’t include him.

Raven continued to chant that mantra, even when she held his hand and smiled up at him so sweetly during the next leg of the journey. Eva? Sweet? He chastised himself for getting soft when she poured on the feminine charm. He didn’t want to warm up to her. But when he stared at her enchanting face and gazed into those twinkling brown eyes he knew she was getting to him. He’d better put a stop to it quickly if he knew what was good for him.

“Damn, I knew she’d come after me.” Gordon Carter spewed a string of foul expletives as he watched Evangeline and her brawny bodyguard pile into the stagecoach.

He’d botched the perfect opportunity to remove that female thorn in his side…permanently. But his aim had been slightly off the mark. Now, instead of disappearing for a few months to live on the money he’d swiped from Lydia, he had to deal with Eva breathing down his neck.

Gordon had expected as much from that willful woman, which is why he went to roost in the rocky terrain near the line of stage stations that flanked the mountains. He hadn’t considered that she would hire that half-breed bounty hunter called Raven to help track him down. Gordon knew he had to strike suddenly and quickly because getting hold of Eva and making it look as if she had an untimely accident had just become more difficult than he originally planned.

Scowling, he tugged on the reins and led his confiscated horse along the mountain trail. Too bad he hadn’t been able to resolve his problem with one well-aimed shot, he mused sourly. Next time, however, he’d take his time and make the bullets count. On that cheering thought, he mounted the chestnut gelding and trotted off.

“In all the excitement of the ambush I forgot to ask if you gathered any information about the man who stole your sister’s carriage,” Raven whispered in Eva’s ear five miles down the road. “And no, the attendants haven’t seen the horse named Hodge that you described to me.”

“That’s because Gordon rode off on Hodge last night, after selling the buggy to the stationmaster and buying a saddle,” she murmured against his bearded jaw. “I bought back the buggy, of course.”

“If you leave it sitting where it is for too long the owner might sell it twice,” he warned.

“That’s why I left a message to be delivered home so my friend can pick it up.” She squirmed to find a more comfortable position in the cramped space. There wasn’t one.

Raven smirked. “What if the agent isn’t honest enough to forward the message? Let me tell you something, sugar. You won’t get far in this world if you’re too trusting. Cheaters, backstabbers and liars are as thick as mosquitoes.”

Eva stared pensively at him. Cynical and wary though she had become—after dealing with a long line of gold diggers who tried to smooth-talk her out of her inheritance—she couldn’t hold a candle to this bounty hunter. No doubt, chasing bloodthirsty renegades distorted his perception of everyone.

Taking into account Raven’s mixed heritage, she suspected he had encountered racism, bigotry, brutality and who knew what else. The scars on his back indicated that he’d endured difficult times and he’d lost his faith in humanity. Raven had become isolated because of his Native background and insulated by his indifference to other people’s opinion of him.

As much as she wanted to probe into Raven’s past to understand what made him the hard-edged, mistrusting man he was, this wasn’t the time or place. In the coach, whispering in his ear was the extent of the privacy between them. And so, she scrunched down the way Raven had and closed her eyes to catch up on the sleep she’d lost while making last-minute arrangements for this trip.

An hour later, someone poked Eva on the shoulder. Groggily she opened her eyes, shocked to find her head on Raven’s chest and her hand flung across his abdomen. She nearly recoiled to sit upright but she remembered she was playing a charade. Cuddling up to her supposed husband wouldn’t be considered improper.

A shiver of unexpected pleasure riveted her when Raven’s warm breath caressed her neck. “Better move your hand off my lap before you embarrass both of us. I’m going to need a cold bath if you plan to sprawl all over me until lunch. Good thing the relay station is up ahead.”

Heat suffused her face. She shifted her hand and arm then levered herself upright as casually as she knew how. The fact that she felt innately secure and comfortable with Raven disturbed her. She supposed that since he was straightforward and assured her that he considered her a nuisance she wasn’t as leery of his intentions. She couldn’t say the same for the men who moved in her social circle, however. They told her what they presumed she wanted to hear to draw her interest. They relied on effusive flattery to win her affection.

That wasn’t a problem with Raven.

How refreshing to encounter a man who wanted her out of his hair rather than schemed to part her from her fortune, she mused as she silently appraised him.