Free NotoriousWoman by Annabelle Weston Page B

collect the eggs,” Kate snapped.
    Jolie pointed with self-satisfaction to a half-dozen brown
eggs in a wire basket. Kate exhaled noisily. Her sister ignored her and gave
the pot another stir.
    She stalked from the house in a temper. Obviously, the two
of them were up to no good.
    Jake was waiting for her. Lips pressed together, she held on
to the brim of her hat to shield her eyes from the sun. He was so incredibly
manly. The rising sun spilled searing light behind and made him appear heaven
sent. She suppressed an agitated snort. He was nothing special. Just a
man who, she would be quick to remind him, worked for her.
    “Howdy, Kate,” he said.
    She frowned at his familiar use of her name. She’d given him
leave to use it but she was reminded of how he’d called out her name in the
bunkhouse while he pleasured her. For sure, he was a smooth talker.
    He pushed his hat back on his head. The bump on his forehead
had yellowed but didn’t appear all that bad, but the side of his jaw was marked
with ghastly patches of black and blue.
    It must hurt but he sat astride his mount, grinning.
Apparently, the injury hadn’t soured his disposition.
    He herded the bawling calves in the corral and she shut the
gate.
    “You’re up early,” she said peevishly.
    He shook his head. “Have to be in this line of work.”
    She grimaced.
    “Brought some spring calves down from the range. Appears to
me they haven’t been branded yet.”
    “We’ve had other things to take care of around here,” she
said. She didn’t want to admit she’d neglected them.
    He leaned on his pommel and his grin widened. That grin.
Ugh. “When did you expect to take care of putting your mark on their hides?
There’s desperadoes in these hills who’ll rustle your herd and no one would be
the wiser.”
    “I’m aware of cattle thieves,” she sputtered. He was giving
her a hard time because of last night, no doubt. Kate took a calming breath.
“Now that you’re here, the three of us will see to the branding.”
    “Good. We can start this morning.” He dismounted in one easy
motion. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his
bandana. His wet hair stood up straight. He combed it back with his fingers
then wiped them off with the bandana before tying it back around his neck.
    Kate should head for the house. Every bit of good sense told
her to run. She had a notion of what he was up to. He was giving her a glance
at the goods. Even though she liked what she saw, she wouldn’t give him the
satisfaction of knowing he could distract her from her duties.
    “I’ll go find the irons,” she said.
    He led his horse and walked beside her. “Darlin’, we need to
talk about that bull of yours. I’ve had a good look at him. He’s past his
prime.” His voice was silky smooth but his words irritated her. She’d told him
funds were tight. She’d no money to buy stock.
    She didn’t correct him for calling her darlin’. She didn’t
want to start a fight first thing in the morning. She liked that they could be
friendly, that they didn’t always have to be locking horns.
    “General gets the job done,” she said.
    “Silas Purdy’s got more prime bulls than he needs. He might
consider selling one.”
    Kate bit her lip. She probably couldn’t afford whatever
Silas would charge and there was considerable bad blood between the Crowleys
and the Purdys. Was he only saying that to get on her nerves? Or did he truly
not know? She shook her head. There was no way he hadn’t heard about how she’d
accused the Purdys of being behind Pa’s murder.
    Everyone in the territory had an opinion about the feud
that’d sprung up. Maybe Jake had just given away the reason he was here—could
he be one of Purdy’s spies? She wouldn’t put it past Silas Purdy to send one of
his men over to see how the Crowley ladies were managing.
    Well, in that case, she wouldn’t let on that she had no
money to spare for a new bull; it would only give Jake