Annabelle Weston

by Scandalous Woman

  He unhooked his gun belt and set it on the bedpost. He stood a foot away. She bit her lip, excitement whirling through her limbs. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his broad, muscled chest. God, he was perfectly built. She reached out, ready to inflame his sinewy flesh.

  A knock on the door interrupted her.

  “Save some for the rest us,” a man’s voice said.

  “Go away,” Jed replied.

  She laughed. “Don’t scare away my customers, lawman.”

  His nostrils flared. “You don’t need them.”

  Carly realized what he was saying. “Just because you’re getting a free poke, don’t mean I can turn away others.”

  “Yes, you can.” His expression was serious, daring.

  She didn’t like the fantasies that flitted through her mind. She wasn’t that kind of woman.

  “I do have to work or I can’t pay my bills. You know I have a lot of people who count on me.”

  “Forget about those other men. Forget about the Lonesome.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I can’t and you know that.”

  His jaw muscled flexed. “So you’re telling me you’re gonna fuck some other cowpoke tonight?”

  “Honestly, Jed, probably more than one.” She was being brutal. And it hurt to make such an admission, because if she was being truthful with herself, she didn’t want to sleep with anyone but Jed ever again. The sheriff would do just fine for the rest of her days.

  Except love didn’t pay the bills.

  She could tell by his dark look, the angry flash in his eyes that he wasn’t going to give up. She straightened.

  “If I had my way, you wouldn’t have to do this kind of work ever again.” His voice was low, almost a growl.

  She should be flattered by his possessiveness. He wanted her all to himself. She’d not thought him the kind of man to be demanding.

  But the Lonesome was more to her than matter of survival.

  “Tell me you’ll give up the saloon.” He wasn’t asking, but commanding her.

  She snorted. “And do what?”

  “Open some other kind of business.”

  If that just didn’t beat all. “What kind of work do you think I’d be suited for?”

  His mouth twisted into a frown. Obviously, he couldn’t think of an answer.

  There could only be one explanation for this sudden behavior. He was trying to reform her, turn her into one of those straitlaced town ladies he could be proud to walk beside in public.

  “This life is all I know,” she said. “I won’t quit. You do understand what I’m saying?”

  He shook his head, frustration flashed on his face. Disappointment pulsed clear to her toes.

  When he spoke, his voice was gravelly, like he held back emotion. “I thought we had something special but I was wrong.”

  “Really? You don’t own me.” Anger simmered on the surface.

  He stood in front of her, bare-chested and balls straining against the buttons of his britches. “This is no life for you, Carly.”

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “I think you don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re smart. You’re about the prettiest thing I ever did see. There are plenty of ways for you to make up the money you take in by fucking any cowpoke that shakes his prick at you.”

  Now he was being crude and spiteful. How could he give her a compliment just to pull it back with vile words?

  “I think it’s time you left, Sheriff.” She had to suppress her urge to slap him, shove him hard in the chest.

  He didn’t protest, but shrugged on his shirt. “You think about what I said.”

  The nerve! “I already have. Now leave me alone.”

  He picked up his gun belt and buckled it on.

  What he’d said touched her more than she cared to admit. She didn’t want to be a whore for the rest of her days. He offered her hope but he had no idea how much his hope for her hurt. Because deep down, as much as she wanted to reach out and hold on tight to a future with him, she knew she couldn’t.

  She slumped back on her elbows. The bed creaked and brought his attention back to her. This wasn’t how she planned her evening. Why did he have to go and spoil everything?

  “I’ll be downstairs.”

  “Suit yourself,” she said defiantly.

  He snorted. “’We have business to discuss.”

  “Well?”

  “It’s hard for me to concentrate when you’re looking like that.”

  “You’ll have to try harder, Sheriff Poole.” Seduction crept back into her voice. This was her life and he’d better get used to it. She leaned back on her elbows, tucked her knees to the side, giving him plenty of view of her legs but hiding her wet cunny.

  His nostrils flared with a mix of desire and anger. “Back to being a whore?”

  She hadn’t seen him so mad before. She took no pride in seeing him angry. “If it’ll help, I’ll put on a wrapper.”

  He stayed her with eyes blazing.

  “What’s got into you?”

  He buttoned up his shirt and tucked it into his britches. He was fighting for control, that was plain to see.

  The attraction between them was always at a molten level. No in-between. She was either screaming for him to come inside her or wanting to punch him—and then toss him to the ground where she could ravage him.

  “Let’s not fight.” She lay back on the pillows. “I’d much rather have fun.”

  “I’m a man. I find you to be hotter than hell. I can’t be with you without thinking how I want to take you to bed. How I want to take you home and wake with you in my arms each morning. But I can’t stop thinking about whose gonna come into this room after I leave. You’ve struck me, Carly. You’ve hit me hard.” He tapped his heart. “I’m so fucking jealous of any man who glances your way.” He picked up his hat and jammed it on his head. “So yeah, we’ve got some business to discuss and it’d be better for you to have some damn clothes on.”

  With his tirade over, Jed stalked to the door, opened it and slammed it shut behind him. Carly jumped.

  “What was that about?” She wished O’Dell were around so she could ask her what she should do. O’Dell always gave out good advice. But O’Dell wasn’t here. Carly’d been left to her own devices.

  His request had been unreasonable. She wouldn’t give up the Lonesome. The saloon was all she had. Was he trying to make her respectable? She shook her head. Maybe it was for the best they broke off their lovemaking before he started making too many demands?

  Damn. She had no idea how to proceed from here. She wasn’t sentimental. Her talent was to make the customer believe he was important to her. Jed Poole had turned the tables on her. She got the impression she was important to him, when he called her gorgeous and smart he meant it.

  He could arouse her with one look. She was melting just thinking of him. Yer getting soft in the head, she told herself.

  What was she supposed to do about the sheriff? She wished she could have a swallow of Dr. Baxter’s Eight-Day Elixir. Better to feel nothing than all this turmoil that roiled through her.

  * * * * *

  What the hell had he been thinking?

  Jed knew he was a total maggot for the way he’d just treated Carly. He’d let his jealousy run rampant and he’d said things he now regretted. He walked wearily up to the bar and held up his finger for a shot of whiskey. Alvin poured him a glass. He picked up the glass and looked around, wondering which one of these ne’er-do-wells would bed Carly tonight.

  He chugged the shot and motioned for another.

  Alvin filled the glass to the brim. He emptied the glass in one gulp. He again raised his finger for another. Better he drown his sorrows than think about Carly and what she’d said.

  He ought to go apologize, but for what? She didn’t see things his way. He shook his head and tossed down another shot of comfort.

  “Drowning your troubles, Sheriff?” Big Judith sidled up next
to him. Her breasts were beyond overflowing tonight. If she sneezed they’d hurt somebody.

  “Yeah.” Jed leaned on the bar.

  She chortled. “Maybe none of my business but a relationship with a dolly ain’t easy. You know, my man left me after a time. Liked that I was paying his way but couldn’t handle sharing me with other men.”

  He scrutinized the dolly as he downed another shot. Had she heard them arguing? Or was his love for Carly Buchanan that obvious?

  The whiskey was starting to taste a lot like water.

  “I appreciate what you’re saying but this is different.”

  She laughed, a loud and boisterous noise that came easily. “You got balls, I’ll give you that. Carly’s a beauty to be sure, and a heart o’gold, she has, but she’s got needs, Sheriff. And I don’t mean her naked self doing the nasty.”

  Big Judith laughed again, her entire body shaking, and then walked away, grinding against the men as she passed the card tables.

  Damn, his whiskey really was tasting like water. He glanced down at the shot glass. It was water.

  “Sorry about that, Sheriff, but it looked like you needed something other than whiskey.” Alvin wiped the spot where the glass had been.

  Jed glared at the barkeep, who didn’t make any apologies. Instead he tended to another cowpoke at the end of the bar.

  “What kind of saloon is this?” He spoke loud and slurred his words. His mind was too muddled to care.

  “Thought I threw you out of here.”

  He turned to see Carly standing behind the bar with a pitcher of water. Her eyes twinkled with humor. He hadn’t even seen her come down the stairs.

  “How long you been standing here?”

  “Long enough to see you rotting your guts.”

  “I’m drinking whiskey tonight.”

  “Why Sheriff Poole, Alvin always serves law enforcement our best.” She leaned close enough for him to smell her perfume. “The whiskey that hasn’t been cut.”

  He set the shot of water down, tossed his Stetson on the bar and then dragged his fingers through his hair. The change in her was remarkable. The firebrand who could charm a man out of his good sense had returned. Was he just another customer to her?

  She was wearing the dark-red satin dress over that fancy corset she set so much store by. The dress was his favorite. The color reminded him of the desert heat. So did the touch of her skin.

  He didn’t need any false courage to admit how glad he was to see her. He needed to make amends. “I don’t know how to say this, but—”

  “Shh…” Carly placed her finger on her lips, and brushed up against him. “You don’t have to explain.”

  He didn’t move. Her gown was cut low enough to show off that body. He pulled her finger away, holding her hand in both of his. Flirting came natural to her, he had to admit. Even acknowledge. There was no way he would be able to change her.

  “I have something to say.” He’d never get another moment like this. “I acted like a rutting boar upstairs and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. The truth of the matter is, I let my jealousy get the better of me. Carly, I’m—”

  “Don’t. I heard what Judith told you. She’s wrong. There’s no more to me than what you see. I’m a whore and not ashamed to admit it. So I’m not the type of girl you can settle down with.”

  “I shouldn’t have called you that.” Jed’s heart was about to rip from his chest at the look of pain that flashed through her eyes.

  “Why not? You’re an honest man, Jed.”

  “Forgive me, please.”

  “I’m not the type of woman anyone can trust or hold on to. You’ll just get hurt in the end.” She smiled, to show no hard feelings, he reckoned, and pressed her other hand to his cheek. “But I am the type of woman you can have fun with. And Jed, I do have fun with you.”

  He smiled in return but halfheartedly. She sure had a way about her.

  Carly placed a kiss on his lips. Brief as the touch was, it left him intoxicated.

  “I’d like to keep having fun with you.” Her voice was low, sultry.

  Jed nodded. He’d laid down what he needed from her tonight but she’d rejected him. Except she had come after him. She hadn’t let him leave thinking he meant nothing to her.

  And maybe, just maybe, he could convince her that they could be together, that she was the type of woman a man could hold on to.

  She pulled her hand from his and walked around the bar so she could stand beside him.

  “You came upstairs for a reason, and not to stare at my cunny.” She looked at him expectantly.

  “It wasn’t a social call, that’s true.”

  “It will be by the time you’re finished with what you came to say.” She lifted her skirt, showed him her fine, shapely legs were bare. So were her creamy thighs, so was her honeypot, which he’d romanced without regret and intended to do so again.

  Jed cleared his throat. She tortured him with that body. Jed allowed she could have her way with only a look.

  “What were you saying about some business?” she asked sweet and playful. Jed was about ready to bust out of his britches.

  “I have some questions about the Crowley case.”

  Her eyes widened and she shifted her feet. Her kohl-blackened lashes fluttered.

  He had a hunch she didn’t want to talk about Crowley. Could she be dreading what his next words would be?

  “I haven’t found those men who murdered him.”

  She winced for a fraction of a second. “They must be long gone. Good riddance.”

  Jed jumped on the telling signs. She knew something. “What can you tell me about them?”

  She looked away briefly and then returned to face him bold as brass. “What makes you think I know them?”

  “You were quick to come to the conclusion there was more than one killer out at the Crowley ranch.”

  He watched her. She didn’t appear jolted by what he’d just said. Either she was an expert liar or he was wrong about her involvement with the killers.

  “That don’t mean anything.”

  “You’re telling me it was a lucky guess?” He spoke with contempt. He hadn’t believed in luck since he’d lit out of Denver with two dollars in his pocket and the notion he’d make a good lawman.

  She frowned. “I don’t know why I said what I said. Could’ve been one man or two, four or a dozen.”

  “You don’t know who they are?”

  “Why don’t we go upstairs?” She put her hand on his chest, branding him with her touch. “I don’t want to talk about who killed Mr. Crowley.”

  “I’ve work to do.” He’d asked her point-blank and didn’t get the reply he’d sought after. He could tell she was hiding something. Had he misjudged her?

  He hadn’t believed any of the palaver about her being the wrong kind of woman for him. Could he have got it all wrong?

  She wiggled closer, full of sass. “Is that the way it’s going to be?”

  “That’s the way it’s got to be.” He lifted her chin, thought about kissing her and decided against it. One kiss was never enough with Carly.

  He picked up his hat, satisfied they had at least mended their fences, and walked out of there.

  Chapter Ten

  Carly collapsed into a chair, sure Jed hadn’t believed her when she told him she didn’t know who the killers were. She rested her head against her fist, trying to think. What was she supposed to do now? She could go after him and tell him about overhearing the men talk murder. He’d understand, wouldn’t he?

  The way he’d looked at her just now confirmed her worst fear. He didn’t trust her. No surprise there. It was that way with everyone she got close to. When they found out what kind of person she was, they were disappointed. It didn’t take long before they left her high and dry.

  Alvin turned his head as the doors swung open. Her heart took an extra beat. She sat up and craned her neck. Had Jed come back?

  “Why if it ain’t Dr. Baxter,”
Judith said.

  Dressed in a top hat and tailcoat, Dr. Baxter looked like a gentleman, Carly mused. As long as she didn’t look too close. His frayed cuffs needed turning and there was a button missing on his coat.

  Carly licked her lips. The terrible headaches and shakes that kept her up at night had begun to fade into dull thundering but the craving for some of his elixir never did. Her heart sped up and blood thrilled through her veins, and not because she was thinking about Jed or any man, but in anticipation of a drink. Dr. Baxter’s Eight-Day Elixir was something she could rely on.

  “Doc, I got a terrible pain right here.” Judith rubbed her ass and gave out a belly laugh that would’ve shaken the plate-glass window if Carly still had one.

  “Just the man I’ve been waiting for.” Carly rose from her chair and sauntered toward the good doctor.

  “I’m looking for Big Jim,” he said.

  “Sorry, but Big Jim has gone to his reward.”

  Dr. Baxter removed his hat and pressed it to his heart. “I’m real sad to hear such news.”

  “I’m the owner of the Lonesome now.” Carly spoke with a measure of pride and protectiveness.

  “Is that a fact?” His curly eyebrows lifted.

  She could see he was impressed.

  “Why don’t you come on over and take a load off?” She took him by the arm and led him to the table.

  “I’m here on business, ladies. Important business.” He sat and grabbed hold of the lapels on his coat. Carly knew full well the nature of his business.

  “Came all the way from Santa Fe. The good citizens begged me to stay but I told them I had obligations to my friends here in Tucson.”

  Judith slapped her knee and guffawed like a man. “You don’t say?”

  “More like you were run out of town.”

  Carly spun around. Jed stood in front of the doors, a scowl that could turn a sunny day black and forbidding. The doors still swung on their hinges behind him.

  Jed was probably right about why the man left Santa Fe. Damn, Jed was always right.

  “Have you met the new sheriff, Dr. Baxter?” She spoke sweet as honey, trying to bring Jed’s temper down a peg.

  “No ma’am, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” He bowed and remained rooted to the spot.