Free Taken by the Cowboy by Julianne MacLean Page B

the heavy rhythm of his heart. His
hand cupped the nape of her neck, and she slid her arms around his
waist.
    “I thought he was going
to come in here and shoot me,” she said.
    He rubbed his chin over
the top of her head. “I won’t let that happen.”
    Suddenly conscious of
the emotion rising up within her, she drew back slightly, gripped
his coat lapels in her fists, and looked up at him with parted
lips. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted it very badly.
    He frowned—as if he
were angry that she had lured him, against his will, into holding
her like this and caring about her safety.
    She opened her mouth to
say something, but he gently pushed her away before she had a
chance to speak.
    "I heard a window
break," he said.
    She pointed. "The other
room."
    He took her by the hand
and led her down the hall to Angus’s room.
    Sharp slivers of broken
glass covered the floor. Sheriff Wade stepped carefully across the
braided rug, while Jessica waited in the doorway, still shaken by
her fear and the unexpected intimacy they’d just shared.
    Crouching down on his
hands and knees, he reached under the bed and pulled out a large
stone with a note tied around it. He read the note, then frowned at
Jessica.
    “What does it say?” she
asked.
    Without a word of
explanation, he handed her the note as he passed by her on his way
out of the room.
    She stood in the
doorway, reading it with eyes that refused to stay focused.
    HAND IT OVER OR
DIE.
    "Sheriff Wade!" She
quickly followed him down the stairs. "Where are you going?"
    He was already halfway
out the door. "I should be strung up and left to rot.”
    “Why?” She followed him
out onto the porch.
    "You just lied to me
again, didn’t you?” he asked as he untied the leather reins from
the bottom post. “About not shooting Lou."
    "No!" she insisted,
feeling the sting of his words more than she cared to admit. "I
don't know what this note means. You have to believe me."
    He looked up. "Think
hard. They want something you have. What is it?"
    She was more confused
now than she had been the night she arrived. "I don't know! Maybe
the reward money? Maybe
they
killed Lou."
    He bowed his head so
that she couldn’t see his face under the brim of his hat. "I don’t
know when to believe you, and when not to. It feels like you’re
always hiding something."
    She knew she couldn’t
continue to lie to him, because it was pointless. He could see
right through her.
    “Okay,” she admitted at
last. “I am keeping something from you, but it’s not what you
think.”
    His shoulders lifted
noticeably.
    “But I can’t tell you
what it is,” she added, picking up her skirts to move down the
steps.
    “Why not?”
    “Because you’d never
believe it anyway. All I can say is that my secret has nothing to
do with Lou. Honestly, I didn't shoot him." She approached Wade and
laid her hand on his arm, hoping to keep him from riding away from
her when at that moment she needed him more than ever.
    "Why'd you say you did,
if you didn’t?"
    "Because I wanted to
get out of jail,” she explained. “Angus said it was the simplest
thing to do."
    Sheriff Wade removed
his hat and raked his fingers through his hair. "Either way, you
lied to me, and it’s not so easy to trust you now."
    "Please trust me,” she
pleaded, “at least about this. I didn't kill Lou or anyone else for
that matter. I swear it on my life."
    He stared at her a
moment while he considered it. "I know this much at least. Lou’s
gang didn't shoot him."
    "How can you be
sure?"
    "Because these guys
have a keen appreciation for easy money. They would've come forward
for the reward, and everyone knows you don’t have it yet."
    "But they're outlaws,
aren't they? Maybe they didn't want to get arrested."
    He shook his head.
"They're not wanted for anything at the moment. The governor gave
them a pardon for trading information about Lou a while back."
    She regarded him
keenly. "So they were his enemies… Doesn't that give them a