Free Patricia Hagan by Loves Wine

never shoot unless I plan to hit what I’m aiming at.”
    If he felt any fear, it wasn’t evident. He continued to walk confidently toward her. He took another step, and another, and she fired, the bullet hitting squarely between his boots, kicking up a cloud of red dust.
    “Goddamnit, Holly, you’re going to kill somebody,” he yelled, but he stopped walking. “Hate me if you must. I can’t do anything about that now. I came to warn you that you may be in danger. You’ll have to hear me out.”
    “I’m listening,” she said.
    “I’ve got informants in town. There’s a rumor going around that there are people who want to run you off this land.”
    He had her attention. She moved the gun ever so slightly so it was not aimed directly at him. “Who would want to run me off? I haven’t done anything, and it’s my land.”
    “I haven’t been able to find out who they are, only that they resent a woman turning up her nose at the Union the way you’re doing. Did you tell Lucas Purdy to let your fish catches rot before selling to Yankees?” he asked accusingly.
    Holly nodded. “I meant it, too. I won’t do business with you bastards and nobody can make me.”
    “For your information, Mr. Locklear almost lost his job at the bank for giving you that loan.”
    She laid the gun aside and scrambled up to sit in the window. “It was a legitimate loan. He knows I’ll pay it back. Why should anyone care about that?”
    “The bank’s board of directors felt he gave you charity. After all, you didn’t have any collateral, and you won’t be able to pay it back.”
    “But he didn’t lose his job?”
    “No, Jarvis Bonham signed for your loan.”
    Holly gasped. “Damn him! I don’t need him interfering in my business. I can make it on my own, and you and everyone else in Vicksburg will find that out if you’ll just leave me alone. Now will you get out of here, please?”
    He snapped, “You should thank Jarvis for saving Locklear’s job, you inconsiderate little brat.” His nostrils flared. “Damn it, woman, who in hell do you think you are, always with a chip on your shoulder? The goddamn war is over. Now listen to me.”
    He moved closer. “It isn’t safe for you to be out here alone. A lot of people resent your attitude. Like it or not, there are those who just want peace. They don’t take kindly to the way you’re acting.”
    She pushed a strand of burnished copper hair back from her face. “Look, I mind my own business, and I’d appreciate everybody giving me the same courtesy. That includes you.”
    She twisted about in the window to reach for the gun, but Scott knew what she was up to and he was faster. Grasping her, pinning her arms at her side, he used his other hand to cup her face tightly. “You listen to me, you little spitfire. This is no place for a woman, especially a woman who’s raised the dander of redneck radicals who believe every Rebel sympathizer should be tarred and feathered. I want you to come back to town with me and move in with your mother. Stop courting danger, Holly.”
    She twisted futilely in his grasp, raging, “You lying Yankee bastard, I’ll blow your head off! You can’t come here and tell me what to do. If my daddy and granddaddy were alive, they’d kill you for what you did to me.”
    “Did to you?” He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, Holly, don’t play the scorned woman. You wanted it every bit as much as I did—and you probably enjoyed it more ,” he added, goading.
    How she ached to slap the arrogant smile from his face. “You took advantage of me, and you know it! I’d never been with a man before.”
    He shook his head, laughing softly. “You were ready to find out what it would be like. I just happened to come along. It could have been anybody, maybe Neil Davis. He’s sweet on you, you know. He wanted to come out here with me today, but I wouldn’t let him.”
    Holly continued to struggle. “Will you just get the hell out of here?”
    “Not until