“That’s different from a man who has whiskey for breakfast, lunch, supper and a bedtime snack.”
Eva crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently. “Who then, if not you?”
Raven raked his hand through his long hair then shrugged impossibly broad shoulders. “Try the Rocky Mountain Detective Agency.”
“That is not an option,” she said in no uncertain terms.
He studied her curiously. “Why not?”
She refused to meet his green-gold eyes and stared over his wide shoulders. “I have my reasons. I want you and apparently you can’t think of anyone good enough, either, so it’s settled. We will leave in the morning and I’ll pay you half your fee then. You’ll receive the second half when the fugitive is brought to justice.”
“We?” He barked a laugh. “That wouldn’t happen. If by some remote chance it did, it would cost you double because I’d have to babysit a tenderfoot sissy like you. No thanks. I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
Frustrated, Eva stamped her foot. “You are exasperating and infuriating!” she muttered.
He flashed a mischievous grin. “Part of my charm.”
“Charm?” She scoffed as she raked him up and down, trying exceptionally hard not to become sidetracked by his rippling muscles and bronzed flesh. Not to mention those fascinating eyes and the seductive gap at the waistband of his breeches. Try as she may, she couldn’t keep her gaze from straying to the dark furring of hair that disappeared into his buckskin breeches.
He unstrapped the dagger tied to his thigh and tossed it on the nightstand. She watched him cautiously, wondering if he was going to drop his breeches in front of her, wondering how she was going to react to seeing her first naked man.
Despite her bravado, the only person she had seen naked was herself and she didn’t think it was going to be at all the same.
“I’m not taking your case,” he declared as he heeled off his moccasins. “I’m going to bed because I’m about as worn out as a man can get. So take a hike.” He bent at the waist to untie his leather leggings. “I’m through talking to you.”
Eva noticed the scars on his muscled back. Two long, deep strips of discolored skin resembled claw marks. The other scars must have come from a whip, she speculated. It left her to wonder at the torture he’d endured as he passed back and forth between Cheyenne and white culture.
Her thoughts scattered like buckshot when he did the unthinkable and shoved his breeches down his lean hips. Her face went up in flames and she whirled away before he disrobed completely and she received an education she hadn’t anticipated.
She heard the low rumble of his chuckle as she faced the wall. The bedsprings squeaked, assuring her that he had sprawled out. She hoped he had covered the lower half of his torso with the sheet and bedspread. But no matter what, she wasn’t going to allow this contrary rascal to get the best of her. She had made a pact with herself three years ago that no man would ever put her at a disadvantage again.
Drawing herself up to full stature, she gathered her courage and spun around. She was greatly relieved that he had covered his torso with the sheet. Even as he reached for the whiskey bottle, she noticed the look of surprise on his rugged face. Clearly, he thought she’d bolt and run.
“You can try to dismiss me, but you haven’t seen the last of me, J. D. Raven,” she assured him.
He settled back against his pillow and cushioned his head on his linked hands. Muscles rippled over his arms and down his washboard belly. “Thanks for the warning, sugar.” He took a swig of whiskey. “This is your last chance to climb in bed with me.”
“Thank you but no. I also sleep naked and I’d likely be cold because you probably pull covers,” she countered sassily before she turned to leave.
“We won’t need covers for what I have in mind,” he drawled suggestively. “And I have every intention of warming you up, sweetheart.”
Eva flashed him a go-to-hell glare as she swooped down to retrieve her discarded hat. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob—and wished it was his throat. He tossed her another scampish grin and waggled his eyebrows.
J. D. Raven might have won this skirmish but she wasn’t one to give up easily. This bounty hunter and legendary gunfighter was exactly the kind of man she wanted to track down Gordon Carter. She wasn’t taking no for an answer and that was that. All she had to do was sit herself down and figure out how to convince Raven to take this assignment, for which she would pay him a premium.
Eva pulled her hat down to shield her face then descended the steps. She detoured over to pay the hotel clerk for Raven’s rented room before she exited. Raven didn’t know it yet but he was on her payroll—starting now.
“Where have you been?” Lydia questioned the moment Eva strode past the bedroom suite.
“I’m in the process of making arrangements to hire a highly trained bounty hunter to track down Gordon,” she reported as she came to stand beside Lydia’s canopy bed.
Lydia blinked her dark eyes. “My goodness. Already?”
“Well, we are still negotiating terms,” Eva hedged. “But I will be monitoring his activities to ensure I get my money’s worth. I’ll be gone a few days.”
“You’re leaving me here by myself?” Lydia wailed. “You know I can’t go out in public ever again after the embarrassment I’ve suffered.”
“First off, no one but the two of us knows what happened and we’ll keep it confidential. But the next few days will determine what you’re made of,” she told her sister. “You will appear in public and answer questions about where Gordon got off to by saying you decided to go your separate ways.”
Lydia shuddered and clutched the sheet to her chest. “I’m not sure I can do that. I’m too ashamed.”
“If you say that you are no longer interested in sharing his company that won’t be a lie,” Eva pointed out.
For Eva, she hadn’t had the luxury of voicing a pat comment because Felix had used her to introduce him to another wealthy heiress. He had turned his attention to a younger and less independent-minded woman. Then he had paraded her around in public and married her five months later, leaving Eva feeling like a cast-off bride candidate.
“I told Roger and Sadie that I was going to be out of town and I asked them to stop by here to check on you. You can always count on our friends.”
“Thank you,” Lydia murmured. “I’m sorry that I’ve been such a burden to you the past six years since Papa died.”
“You are not a burden,” Eva contradicted. “You are my sister and sisters stick together. Also, they stick up for each other.” Eva patted her arm affectionately. “Now get some rest so you can walk out to face the world and convince the high society of Denver that you couldn’t care less about Gordon.”
Eva turned toward her room. For all her words of encouragement, she had yet to figure out how to convince Raven to take this assignment. He didn’t back down easily, but then neither did she.
A
