Free The Cactus Creek Challenge by Erica Vetsch Page A

bounced on her behind, and made a complete fool of by a couple of morons. And in front of Ben.
    Boots thumped on the boardwalk behind her, and she knew who it was without having to turn around. She braced herself for Ben’s censure as she wrestled with the door to the jail. If he was going to laugh at her or chew her out, it was best done where the rest of the town couldn’t see.
    “Cassie, wait.”
    “I’m busy.” She put her shoulder into the door, but since she’d scrubbed both the floor and the door, the wood had swollen and stuck harder than ever. Humiliation burned her eyes. Couldn’t even get into her own jail.
    A large hand pressed into the wood just over her head and shoved. Giving way with an ease that disgusted her, it fell open, skidding along the groove in the floor.
    “Thank you.” She hurried inside before he could notice how wet her eyes were becoming. The strong smells of lye and carbolic greeted her, much better than the musty, hasn’t-been-cleaned-since-the-Lincoln-Administration miasma of earlier.
    Expecting him to follow her inside, she turned at the desk. Ben remained in the doorway, his hands on his hips. He blinked once, then again. She clasped her fingers at her waist and waited.
    “What did you do to my jail?” He eased into the office, doing a slow turn.
    “I cleaned it. And not any too soon? A hog would’ve backed out of this place and run.”
    He tipped his hat back and scratched his forelock. “Are those curtains?”
    “I was going to buy some calico and sew up a set, but then I remembered Mother had these from the old house. They didn’t work in the new place, and she didn’t mind if I brought them here. Honestly, I don’t know how you stood it before. If it wasn’t for the grime coating the windows, I’d have felt I was sitting in a fishbowl. Anyone could look in.”
    “That’s what the shutters are for.” He motioned to the heavy slabs of wood on either side, each with a gun loop cut through.
    “But they’re ugly. And it makes the room so dark with them closed.”
    Ben sent her a half-scornful, half-pitying look. “They weren’t built for beauty. The curtains have to go.”
    “They most certainly do not.” She jammed her hands on her hips, all thought of tears banished by his lordly manner. “I’m the sheriff for the month, so this is my office. If I want curtains, I’m going to have them.”
    “You’re being ridiculous.” He stepped toward the café rod she’d spent a long time hanging.
    She darted between him and the window, spreading her arms to protect the flowered calico. “I said they were staying.”
    His face was only inches from hers, and her heart hammered in her ears. From this distance, she could see the green flecks in his brown eyes and the dark stubble along his jawline. Not to mention his perfect lips.
    Cassie swallowed.
Don’t let him know how he affects you. Be mature. Stand strong
.
    His lashes fanned his cheeks in a slow blink, and her knees turned to water. He brought his hand up to her chin and tilted her face toward the sunlight. “I don’t think you’ll have a black eye, but that must’ve hurt.” Worry washed through his expression. “I knew this was a bad idea. What was your father thinking?”
    She shook her head, struggling to find her voice. He smelled like the mint toothpicks he liked to chew on, and sunshine, and grown man. “One of them clipped me with an elbow when I tried to get between them. That’s how I wound up knocked to the ground.”
    His lips hardened, and his eyes narrowed as he examined the damage. “I’m going to talk to your father. Where was Jigger during this little dustup? Didn’t he tell you to stay back and let them wear each other out first?”
    Though his expression was forbidding, his fingers gently brushed the hair away from her temple and grazed her cheekbone. Strangely, the sting under her eye had all but disappeared at his touch. Instead, a thousand sparrow wings flapped along her