Free The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress by Carol Finch Page B

her hand and silently fumed while she sat at the table in the stage station. It seemed she had encountered one disaster after another since Gordon had deceived Lydia then stolen her carriage, her horse and her money. Now the scoundrel was trying to blast Eva off the face of the earth.
    She would dearly love to return the favor.
    Clara Morton, the other female passenger, halted to pat Eva’s hand consolingly. “Are you all right? You were jostled all over the place, even before the shooting started.”
    Eva rotated her tender arm—the one Raven landed on accidentally after he shoved her facedown. She had slammed her forehead into Irving Jarmon’s boney knee as Raven somersaulted from the coach to return gunfire. She had to admit it had been a rough morning—and she hadn’t even had lunch yet.
    â€œI’m a little shaken up but otherwise fine,” Eva admitted. “Thank you for asking.”
    Clara smiled down at her. “It must be comforting to have such a capable husband who will risk life and limb to protect you. I wish my husband was that attentive and—” She closed her mouth then patted Eva’s hand again. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
    Eva got the impression that all wasn’t well in Clara’s marriage to the army officer. Which made her wonder if Clara had taken her son to St. Louis so she could return to pack up and leave her inattentive husband at the fort.
    Delbert Barnes plopped down across the table from Eva and mopped his brow with his handkerchief. “Are you all right?” When she nodded he said, “I don’t mind telling you that the ambush scared ten years off my life. Mercy, that was too close for comfort. Honestly, I couldn’t believe you poked your head out the door after the first shot was fired.”
    â€œI was hoping to get a good look at the sniper.”
    â€œOne of your new husband’s sworn enemies, no doubt,” he remarked before he sipped the whiskey the waiter set in front of him. “It’s not my place to say, of course, but I fear you’ll be hounded constantly by Raven’s past—unless you pack up and move out of state. Of course, that’s no guarantee.”
    â€œAnd miss all the excitement that makes life interesting? Where is the fun in that?” she replied flippantly.
    Delbert couldn’t decide if she was kidding or crazy so she snickered lightheartedly and he smiled tentatively at her. When he noticed that Raven had entered the station house he got up, grabbed his glass of whiskey and walked over to join the other passengers, who had gathered around the larger table.
    It only took one glance into those intense green-gold eyes to realize Raven was displeased with her. So what else was new? she mused as she absently massaged her left wrist, which had been hyperextended during the shooting incident.
    Considering Raven’s sour expression—which she’d noted several times during the course of the day—she wondered if she brought out the worst in him. Or maybe bad moods were the order of all his days. She hadn’t known him long enough to say for certain.
    She would have thought he’d be looking exceedingly pleased. After all, he was leaving the stagecoach after lunch. He was hiking off to his secluded mountain cabin, never to see her again.
    He loomed over her in that formidable way he had about him. His thick black brows flattened over his slitted eyes. His lips were stretched thin and his jaw, covered with the thick black beard and mustache, was clenched tightly. His chest swelled up like a striking cobra. Eva could understand how he was able to intimidate outlaws. He could look absolutely ominous when he felt like it.
    However, she had discovered how tender and gentle he could be when he’d held her in his arms and kissed her until nothing else in the world mattered except the sizzling sensations he set off inside her. Whatever he said to the