Free Dangerous by Sylvia McDaniel Page A

jarring.
    “Saddle weary?” Beau asked.
    “A little,” she said.
    “You know, you haven’t slowed me down much. I’m surprised. You must do a lot of work around your farm,” he said, glancing over at her with admiration.
    “Since I’m there most of the time by myself, I don’t have much choice,” she responded.
    “I thought you had two sisters.”
    “They’re out bounty hunting, so we can keep the farm.”
    He shook his head and laughed. “Oh, yes, the bounty hunter sisters. I’m not certain I believe they’re real. Kind of like that husband and sheriff you mentioned the other night.”
    Maybe he had a small point about her husband and sheriff. But she couldn’t wait to see her sisters again. “When you meet them, you’ll know it’s real.”
    “I grew up on a farm,” he said.
    “Really?” she said, unable to imagine him working in the fields. “What made you decide to leave?”
    “We lost the farm and had to move into town.”
    A frown furrowed his brow, and she could see the memory wasn’t a good one, but she couldn’t feel sorry for this man. She had to keep her barriers up between them.
    They rode along the trail, meandering around some tall scrub oak. She glanced over and saw a small lane. At the end of that wide trail, a house sat. She could see smoke spiraling from the chimney. “Hey, there’s a farmhouse. ”
    Part of her was ready to get off the trail and the other part of her didn’t want to leave him. Both parts knew it was best if they separated from Beau. There was a powerful attraction between them, and it could only lead to heartache.
    He glanced over at it and nodded his head. “Yeah, I saw it a ways back.”
    “Aren’t we going to stop?” she asked.
    “Nope.”
    “What do you mean nope? You couldn’t wait to get rid of me yesterday.”
    “I’ve changed my mind.”
    “Oh, no.” She pulled her horse to a stop as hot white anger rushed through her blood, shocking her. “I’m not going any further. First, you told me you would tie me up and leave me on the trail. Then you told me at the first farmhouse we came to you would leave me, and now, you’re saying nope. Well, I’m the one who’s putting an end to this little adventure we’re on. I’m done. I’m calling it quits.”
    He glanced over at her, a daring glint in his emerald gaze. “What happened to getting your five hundred dollar bounty?”
    Like a teakettle, the pressure was mounting, and she was about ready to explode. “I’m still going to get it. But I’m going to wait until my sisters catch up to me, and then we’ll go after you together.”
    A smile graced his face. “That’s my smart, sassy mouth girl. I knew you wouldn’t give up on getting that reward.”
    “Hell no, that reward will make the farm ours.”
    “I’m real happy for you. But I’m not going to leave you with strangers at a farmhouse that might be attacked by the Harris gang. I’m not having your dead body on my conscience.”
    Aargh . She wanted to leave him behind. She wanted to get away from his boyish charm and his sweet, tempting mouth and his hard chest. She wanted to find her sisters and then come after him with a vengeance. But the thought of dying like that farmer and his son was terrifying.
    “And that’s better than being attacked on the trail in your company? Don’t you think they’ll kill you and me both if we’re found together?”
    “Maybe. But you saw what they did to that farmer. Is that what you want? Do you want to take a chance? I can protect you better than a sodbuster.”
    Annabelle’s emotions felt like a broomtail flippin in the wind in a cornfield, blown in every direction. Part of her longed to stay with the farmer, part of her wanted her sisters to find them on the trail, and part of her wanted to stay with Beau and for his lips to explore hers once again. “I want my sisters to catch up and help me wrangle you to the nearest sheriff.”
    He grinned at her. “I can’t wait to meet these