Free Hot and Bothered by CRYSTAL GREEN Page B

long-distance thing.
    â€œYou talk to Isaiah today?” Gideon asked as Boomer gestured toward a beer. Gideon waved it off. He wouldn’t be here for long. “Because you seem in a mood.”
    â€œYes, I talked to him, and, no, I’m not in a mood.” Kat picked up her cards, even though no one else was playing anymore.
    Boomer couldn’t resist teasing her again. “They’re talking about taking the big plunge.”
    â€œWe are
not
,” Kat said. “Jesus.”
    Jesse’s laugh was more like a grunt. But it was a laugh anyway.
    â€œBoomer,” Kat said, sliding him a saucy look, “if you don’t cut it out, I’m gonna ban you from the saloon.”
    â€œNo, you wouldn’t, darlin’.”
    â€œTry me. It’s not like you’re here often enough to make my coffers overflow anyway.”
    â€œBut when I am here, I bring so much more than riches. My charms are worth a million.”
    â€œYeah, a million grains of Mojave sand.”
    Then the tone changed as Boomer’s light blue eyes lost their glimmer and he gave Gideon a steady look. “Today, Kat and Isaiah talked about investing in silver hunting equipment since he thinks there’s a stash ’round these parts.”
    The table went quiet as Kat joined in that look.
    Jesse was the only one here who didn’t know how silver had become the bane of her existence when she was younger, even if it could help her out now. He didn’t know how a man had once seduced her, then got her into big trouble when she discovered that he was a silver thief and his partner had taken her out to the desert to make Kat reveal where the cache had been buried. Kat didn’t have a clue as to its whereabouts, and she’d come close to dying because of it.
    Just ask that ugly wound near her ribs.
    She was always on the lookout for another criminal who might wander into the R&T, dragging her back into that secret past she’d tried so hard to put behind her, and Isaiah had been the first person in recent memory to pass all her tests.
    Then again, they all had things to hide, didn’t they? What would Rochelle think if she found out how he’d gotten his own gunpowder burn mark . . .?
    Gideon thrust the subject out of the room, just as he always did. “I say let Kat and Isaiah take the big plunge together.”
    Boomer leaned back in his chair. “They’ve sure been plunging nice and slow. Kat, has he even plucked your cherry yet?”
    Kat actually laughed. “Ain’t no cherry to be plucked, smart ass.”
    Jesse finally spoke up. “You haven’t gotten close up and way personal with Isaiah?”
    Kat wasn’t a blusher, but as sure as pink lemonade, one crept up her neck and to her face.
    â€œWhy, my eye!” Boomer said. “And here I thought you two were making the creature with two backs on a regular basis.”
    Kat stood. “Hard to do that with a long-distance relationship. Besides, I’m not like you whores. I’ve got some discretion.”
    Gideon held up his hands. “Give her a break, you all.”
    Boomer pounced. “Because you’re afraid we’re gonna ask you if you’ve nailed Rochelle yet?”
    Kat seemed ecstatic that the heat was off of her. “I know you were friends because of her uncle Dennis, but the way you two looked at each other last night . . .” She stuck a finger toward her mouth and gagged.
    Gideon warned her off with a whole different kind of look this time. Next to him, Jesse cleared his throat, like he was afraid the questioning would come around to him next and he wanted to get out of here before then.
    Boomer wasn’t quite done with Gideon, though. “She’s a fine choice, if I say so. She’s beautiful, dresses like money, and . . .”
    â€œHas a creeper?” Gideon added.
    That was a signal as sure as any, and Jesse seized the moment