The Lawman Said I Do Page 5

  “Darn!” she said, snapping a finger. “Here I was hoping it meant that I’m capable of paying for my own dinner.”

  “Well, bravo to you, Miss Braden. There’s nothing I admire as much as a good sport. To show you I’m the same, I’ll even let you pay for my dinner if you want to.”

  She gulped in surprise. “Are you serious?”

  “Certainly. I’m very comfortable in my own skin; I’ve got nothing to prove. That’s why firecracker females dressed in men’s clothing, bucking stallions, obnoxious children, and immature practical jokers don’t scare me.”

  She couldn’t help matching his grin. He was the good sport he claimed to be. “Welcome to Arena Roja, Mr. Fraser. I’m glad we understand each other.”

  His grin widened. “That we do.”

  “I don’t think the town’s ever met anyone like you before.”

  The room suddenly shrunk into an intimate corner booth that seemed to get even smaller when he leaned toward her and the full potency of his gaze focused on her.

  “Does that bother you, Teach?”

  She had backed herself into this corner, and she’d make the best of it.

  “I’d have to say Arena Roja is impressed. You appear to be a welcome fixture around here, Colt.”

  It worked. He leaned back. “This is a small, friendly community.”

  “But you’ve only been here for a day. You’ve hardly had a chance to get to know us.”

  “Since I’m going to be the deputy for a week, I spent most of it meeting the local residents. I’ve always wanted to be a lawman, and this opportunity will give me some experience in upholding the peace in a quiet little town.”

  “The town’s not so quiet when the hands come in Saturday night.”

  “That’s even better. The experience will do me good.”

  He raised his hand to attract Harry’s attention. “What would you like to drink? Wine? Perhaps a cordial?”

  “Nothing for me, thank you. But don’t let that stop you from having whatever you want.”

  He ordered a glass of beer, then studied her like a cat eyeing a bowl of cream.

  She was certain he hadn’t invited her to dinner just out of the goodness of his heart. If he was looking for a “good time” girl, he was in for a big disappointment.

  “Deputy, I hope you understand there are no strings attached to this dinner.”

  “Doggone it! I was hoping you had an ulterior motive.”

  “Very funny, Deputy Fraser.”

  Colt picked up her left hand in a warm grasp, and her pulse leaped to the touch. “I’m glad to see that there’s no ring on this hand, though.”

  “I am engaged.” She quickly withdrew her hand from his.

  “Really? Where’s the lucky man hiding?”

  “He hasn’t returned from the war yet.”

  With an amicable grin, he leaned back again. “His loss is my gain, because engaged or not, I’m enjoying the company.”

  She soon discovered he was a delightful conversationalist, and she listened to his amusing descriptions of the pitfalls to avoid when you’re too young to know what you’re doing, most of which he had committed.

  She found herself returning his entertaining chatter and disturbing grin with an amused chuckle or smile of her own.

  By the time coffee was served, a relaxed companionship had blossomed between them. Colt leaned closer.

  Cassie became very aware of huskiness in his voice, of his head bent attentively above hers as they talked quietly, and the warm pressure of his thigh against her own.

  A long time had elapsed since she’d spent an evening with a man as attractive as Colt Fraser, and she felt a desire for him that she’d never felt for Ted. Yet she had only met this man the previous day!

  Alarmed by her secret thoughts, when he slipped his hand to her thigh, she snapped, “I’m an old-fashioned girl, Mr. Fraser.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I am not promiscuous.” Cassie lifted his hand off her leg.

  Weighing her through shuttered lids, he took a sip of coffee. “I’m impressed.”

  She gave him a skeptical glance. “I just bet you are.”

  “Why would you doubt it?”

  “Do you have any idea how many times some passing cowboy has tried to get me to climb into the hayloft with him? Why do you think I prefer to dress in men’s clothing?”

  Colt burst into laughter. “Are you saying that beneath that men’s shirt and pants lurks the heart of a frightened female?”

  The amusement in his eyes was as compelling as his contagious laughter.

  “Hardly frightened,” she countered good-naturedly. “Merely bored with men who think I can’t tell what their intentions are. For instance, yours.”

  “Mine are clear, Miss Braden. I only have a week to get you into that hayloft before I leave town.”

  “Then you’re squandering valuable time on me, Deputy. It would be better spent with one of the girls at the Alhambra.” She stood up. “The dinner was delicious, but I must get back home.”

  “Of course.” He got to his feet and picked up the check.

  “We had an agreement. I’ll buy the dinner.”

  “Next time.”

  “What makes you think there’ll be a next time?” she asked.

  “You know as well as I do that there will be, Cassie.”

  “Is that a challenge?”

  “Honey, it’s been a challenge from the moment we looked at each other.”

  He’s right about that, she thought as he took her arm and they departed.

  Once again the intimate confines of the carriage’s front seat made her disturbingly aware of him as he drove to her home. There, he jumped off, lifted her down, and walked her to the porch.

  “I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock for breakfast.”

  Cassie didn’t want any further contact with Colt Fraser; he was too dangerous. “That isn’t necessary. I’ll be eating here with my sister.”

  “She’s welcome to join us. Will you extend the invitation to her?”

  “Colt, I just told you I don’t intend to have breakfast with you.”

  His deep brown eyes locked with hers. “Do you really prefer that I don’t attempt to see you again? Why are you afraid, Cassie? Nothing’s going to happen between us unless you let it happen.”

  The challenge again. “And you can be certain nothing will happen. I enjoy your company, Colt, but it would be wiser not to see you again.”

  “Why?” he asked softly, “Is it me or yourself that you don’t trust?”

  He was too intuitive for his own good, but she refused to be intimidated by that dark-eyed gaze of his.

  “As I told you earlier, Colt, I’m engaged to another man.”

  “So you are. You’re also a very lovely and fascinating woman, Cassie Braden. I want very much to see you again.”

  Mesmerized, she watched the slow, inexorable descent of his lips. He kissed her forehead—gently, tenderly and exquisitely excitingly, and then trailed light kisses down her cheek and claimed her lips.

  The kiss sent shivers of excitement to the pit of her stomach. All evening, with his head so close to hers, she’d wondered what his kiss would be like. Now she gave herself freely to the delicious sensation.

  “You really don’t want to say goodnight now, do you?” he whispered when it ended, his warm breath a tantalizing temptation at her ear.

  She was assailed with mixed feelings—anger toward him for being so aggressive and disgust with herself for allowing him to awaken desires that she had kept dormant for years.

  “I…ah…most definitely do. Thank you again for dinner. I hope the kiss was worth the cost of it.”

  “I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock on the dot.”

  Maybe that cocky confidence of his worked with other women, but he was dead wrong if he thought his will was stronger than hers.

  “Goodnight, Colt.”

  Cassie opened the door and went inside.


  Cathy was already asleep, so Cassie went to her own room. By rote, she got ready for bed. Every instinct she possessed warned her against Colt Fraser. Since Ted’s departure, she had found it easy to shun involvement with any other man—until now. She touched her lips, which still tingled from his kiss.

  Her attraction to Colt Fraser was a betrayal of her love for Ted.

  “And if I were ever to fall in love with someone else, it wouldn’t be a footloose womanizer like Colt Fraser.”

  With that determination, Cassie closed her eyes.

  Chapter 5

  The knock on the door promptly at eight o’clock the following morning came as no surprise to Cassie. She opened the front door with a firm intent to rid herself of the persistent Colt Fraser.

  He stood there looking handsome and virile in clean jeans, a white shirt, and a silver star pinned to his buckskin vest. There must have been better sights to view in the morning, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of one.

  His gaze swept over her, from her long braid to the toes of her boots.

  “Good morning, Cinderella. Eight o’clock and your pumpkin awaits to carry you to breakfast,” he greeted cheerfully.

  “My pumpkin? Now, Deputy Fraser, is that any way to talk about yourself?”

  “Feisty in the morning, aren’t you? Are you ready for breakfast?”

  Cassie kept her expression as impassive as she could. “I believe I made myself quite clear last night that I do not intend to go to breakfast with you.” She had no intention of peeking around corners to avoid him, so she had to make her position clear. “I told you I’m in love and engaged to another man, so there’s no purpose in continuing to see one another.”

  The corners of his dark eyes crinkled with amusement as he broke into a warm chuckle.

  “We’re only talking breakfast here, Miss Cassie, and that sounds like a pretty heavy decision to arrive at on an empty stomach. Are you saying you’ve given up eating breakfast? Have a cup of coffee while I eat.”

  “I’ve already eaten.”

  “I believe I extended the invitation to Cathy as well.”

  “Cathy was asleep when I came back last night, and I was sleeping when she left this morning. I’m sorry.”

  She closed the door. The man would have to be totally devoid of pride to ignore her rejection of him.

  Colt couldn’t help grinning as he returned to the hotel. Her attitude only made him more determined than ever to win her over and get her into bed. She was afraid of him—or was she afraid of her own reaction to him?

  As for her being engaged, this McBride fellow must either be dead, or he had decided not to come back, so it was every man for himself.

  Entering the dining room of the hotel, he was delighted to see Cathy Braden. Unfortunately, her brother was seated with her. Nevertheless, he went over to the table.

  “Good morning, Miss Braden.” He nodded to Jeff.

  “Mr. Fraser, what a pleasure,” she said. “Do sit down and join us.”

  Her personality was such a contrast to Cassie’s that it was hard to believe they were sisters, much less twins.

  Jeff, on the other hand, could be Cassie’s twin; his mouth was twisted in displeasure. “So Dad talked you into it.”

  Colt knew Jeff was referring to the badge pinned on his vest. “Only until the Santa Fe stage comes through next week.”

  Braden shoved back his chair and stood up. “See you later.”

  “I hope he didn’t leave on my account,” Colt said.

  “Jeff’s probably upset that Dad didn’t ask him to become the deputy.”

  “Why is that?” When Colt saw that Cathy was uncomfortable with the question, he patted her hand. “I apologize, Miss Braden. It’s none of my business.”

  Just then, Samantha Starr delivered a big plate of pancakes and bacon to him.

  “Morning, Belle,” he said.

  “Told you my name ain’t Belle,” she grumbled.

  “Good morning, Sam,” Cathy said pleasantly. “I didn’t realize you were working in the dining room now.”

  “Morning, Cathy. Just helping out today ’cause Billy Campbell has an attack of ague again that he picked up during the war. Where’s Cassie?”

  “She was asleep when I left.”

  “She’s awake now,” Colt said. “I saw her just before I came in. I asked her to join me for breakfast.”

  “Oh!” Cathy said. “Is she coming?”

  “She said no.”

  “Probably didn’t want to spoil her breakfast,” Sam said. She walked away.

  Cathy’s brows arched in amusement. “Did I detect some hostility there, Mr. Fraser?”

  “It’s Colt, please. And yes you did, Miz Cathy.”

  “Why? And it’s Cathy, please.” Her warm smile made him want to reach across the table and hug her.

  “Well, Cathy, it seems that in the short time I’ve been in town, I’ve made three serious enemies—your brother, sister, and Sam.”

  “You have to cut Sam some slack, Colt. The poor girl’s had a lot to overcome. She was only six years old when her father and her five siblings died from cholera. Her mother is the cook here at the hotel. Sarah Starr is a remarkable woman to have endured the grief she’s gone through. Have you met her?”

  Colt nodded. “Dan James introduced me to her yesterday. I’m sorry to hear about their tragedy, but that doesn’t explain Sam’s hostility toward me.”

  “That’s just her facade. Cassie and the James brothers are the only people she shows any affection toward. I think she thinks of Cassie as one of the older sisters she’s lost and the James boys as the brothers. So since you and Cassie clashed when you came to town—”

  “Hey, don’t blame me for that. Your sister was the one who declared war on me.”

  “Well, Sam worships Cassie and will always champion her, no matter what the cause. As for Jeff, he still has some growing up to do. Cassie and I have probably been overly protective of him. He’s four years younger than we are, and our mother died giving birth to him. I think that weighs on him heavily. Cassie’s afraid that Jeff will push you into harming him.”

  “I understand your motives, Cathy, but you and your sister have to let him fight his own battles—especially when he’s the one who starts them.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “But I promise you, I won’t let him goad me into any fight.”

  She sighed in relief. “Oh, thank you, Colt.”

  Cathy was a tender reminder of home. Of his mother, who had died during the war. Of Emmaline, his brother Will’s wife, and of his sister Lissy, who had eloped with a Yankee. Cathy Braden had that same gracious manner, the same gentleness and sweet nature. It made him realize how much he missed all of them.

  And how much Cassie differed from all of them, riding about dressed in men’s clothing, snapping out orders and threats, with a gun strapped on her hip.

  “Cathy, I’m surprised a woman as lovely as you hasn’t been snatched up and married by now. I’m sure you’ve been asked. Haven’t you ever been in love?”

  “Only once,” she said, “but he didn’t love me.”

  “Then he’s a fool. And what about this man Cassie’s engaged to? Do you believe, as she does, that Ted McBride will come home?”

  Tears misted Cathy’s eyes. “I want to believe so…for Cassie’s sake. But I can’t deny that I sometimes harbor the belief he’s dead, or he would have come home by now.”

  “Was Ted as wild as Cassie?”

  “Cassie isn’t wild, Colt.” Her mouth curved into a loving smile. “She’s always had a streak of tomboyishness, but underneath all that swagger she’s no less a woman than I am. I think dressing up in men’s clothing and wearing a gun is her attempt to hide how vulnerable she really is.”

  “And does Ted McBride love the vulnerable woman or the hoyden?”

  “Ted is quiet and self-effacing. Very intelligent.” She suddenly stopped and stared, horrified, at his plate.

  “What?” he asked, and
glanced down at it. A large bug had just crawled out from under the remaining pancake on the plate.

  No wonder Sam had played waitress. First the frog in the bathtub, and now this.

  “And which one of our hoyden’s three buddies has a pet cockroach?” He shoved aside the plate as they broke into laughter.

  Shortly after, they left the restaurant, and Colt walked Cathy to her house, which sat on a quiet street with trees, occasional lawns, and backyard gardens.

  After saying good-bye to her, he cut back to the main road and found himself at the schoolhouse again. The door was open, so he went inside.

  Cassie was on a ladder painting the ceiling.

  “Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

  She turned her head in surprise. The quick movement set the ladder to wobbling, and white paint splashed over the side of the bucket. Cassie dropped the brush and grabbed for the bucket when it threatened to topple.

  Colt rushed over and steadied the ladder, then reached up for her. “Get off that damn thing before it collapses.” He grasped her around the waist and swung her to the floor. “What are you trying to do?”

  “Until you arrived, I was painting the ceiling—very successfully, I might add.”

  “Cassie, that rickety ladder is on the verge of collapsing.”

  “I had no problem with it until you snuck up and startled me. Now, if you’ll release me, I’ll scrub the paint off the floor before it dries.”

  Until then Colt hadn’t realized he was still holding her. For a long moment his gaze clung hungrily to the blue depths of hers. Her sweet fragrance teased his senses. “You smell tantalizing, Cassie—lavender and paint.” He slipped his hands off her waist and stepped back.

  And you smell just plain tantalizing. She grabbed an empty pail from the corner.

  Colt followed her out to the well.

  “Let me do that,” he said as he drew a bucket of water and filled the pail.

  Returning to the classroom, Cassie got down on her knees and began to scrub the smeared paint, while Colt climbed up the ladder and continued the task she had begun.

  “Couldn’t you have asked your brother to do this for you?” he asked.