by Carol Finch
While she stood there, all smiles and cheery disposition, he stepped up beside her and bent his head to ask confidentially, “Who in the hell are you?”
“Evangeline Raven, of course. Really, J.D., you’ve been calling me Eva for weeks. Last night you swore I was the love of your life.”
“Ha, curse of my life is more like it,” he said and grunted. “Last night you interrupted a perfectly good drunk. And here you are this morning to ruin a perfectly good hangover. Be warned that you’re going to regret this little charade of yours, I guaran-damn-tee it, Eva.”
He wheeled around to tuck his Winchester rifle beside his saddle and she followed after him. Flashing an impudent grin, she said, “I told you that you hadn’t seen the last of me. You were warned, darling.”
“I thought you were a man-hater.”
“Can you think of a better way to get even with a man than to pretend to marry one of the worst offenders?” she countered in a syrupy tone.
“What the hell—?” came a startled voice from overhead.
Raven looked over the top of Eva’s auburn head when the stage driver’s gravelly voice boomed above him. From his elevated perch, the grizzled driver, whose bushy hair, long beard and mustache concealed most of his wrinkled features, stared at him in bewilderment.
“You’re married?” the driver croaked like a bullfrog. “To her? You must have more charm than I thought.”
Raven inclined his head to take a better look at the driver. He recognized George Knott, the man he had interviewed after a stagecoach holdup the previous year.
“He has oodles of charm,” Eva defended as she laid her hand on Raven’s forearm. “I’m honored to be his wife.”
Raven noticed the speculative glances coming his way again. This new respectability in white society beat anything he’d ever seen. One attractive female in calico, who testified to his charm and claimed to be his new bride, and wham! Suddenly he wasn’t the dangerous bastard everyone thought he was. He was considered almost human.
Eva tapped his hand, then lifted her full skirts so he could assist her into the coach. He took his cue. However, he gave her a bit more of a boost than she needed. She yelped when she nearly sprawled facedown on the other passengers’ feet. He noted that she reacted quickly and that she was agile enough to catch her balance. She eased a hip onto the seat and settled in for the ride. Raven expected her to glare daggers at him for the spiteful stunt but she grinned sportingly.
“How clumsy of me.” She tucked her skirts beneath her legs then scooted sideways to pat the empty space beside her.
Raven wedged into the space between Eva and the window. In the close quarters, it was impossible to rail at her without being overheard by the other four passengers. Presently, he was too irritated to keep his voice to a whisper so he held his tongue. He did what he always did during the rare occasion when he was forced to travel by stagecoach. He pulled his hat low on his head, crossed his arms and caught a catnap.
Unfortunately, visions of his impish bride kept intruding into his dreams and jolting him awake. And sure enough, she was still cuddled up beside him, smiling triumphantly at him.
He sighed inwardly, aware that he had lost control of the situation the instant she appeared in the stage depot to shock him speechless. He decided to give her high marks for ingenuity and let her enjoy her crazed charade for the first leg of the journey. But that was as far as this pretend marriage went.
Biding his time, he closed his eyes to nurse his headache and vowed to get even with Eva Whoever-she-was for trying to outsmart him.
Chapter Three
An hour into the overland journey Eva was still feeling exceptionally pleased with her ingenious scheme to attach herself to the stubborn bounty hunter. Of course, she wasn’t so smug to think that just because she had stunned and outmaneuvered Raven that he would take the assignment to avenge Lydia’s humiliation. She figured she had some fast talking to do before that happened.
However, he hadn’t shouted her from the depot, denouncing her claim. It was a start. Either she had caught him completely off guard while he was hung over or he hadn’t wanted to make a scene in public. Maybe it was a little of both. Whatever the case, he had kept his trap shut and they were sharing the same stagecoach that was headed south.
Eva glanced discreetly at Raven. She knew he wasn’t sleeping at the moment. He was like a lounging panther, intently aware of his surroundings, ready to pounce at the first sign of danger. Beneath those long thick black lashes, she could see a slash of golden green.
Although she knew he wasn’t going to let her completely off the hook for duping him, she enjoyed her reprieve and played her new role to the hilt. She even spun the simple gold band on her finger—the one that had belonged to her departed mother—calling the other passengers’ attention to the ring that implied marriage.
She smiled cordially at the woman across from her, who looked to be a few years older. The thin brunette with the sad smile also wore a wedding band.
“Are you meeting your husband, ma’am?” Eva asked.
The brunette nodded. “He’s an officer at the army post near Canyon Springs. I’m returning from a visit with my family in St. Louis.”
Within five minutes, Eva knew her fellow travelers by name. Clara Morton had left her seven-year-old son with his maternal grandparents for a month. Delbert Barnes, the effeminate little bookkeeper, wore thick, wire-rimmed spectacles. He had a bald spot on the crown of his head and a cleft in his chin. He was on his way to Pueblo to begin his new job as an accountant with a coal smeltering company.
The other two men looked like gamblers, judging by their frock coats, brocade vests, snappy black hats and expensive pocket watches that dangled from gold fobs. Eva reminded herself that gamblers were a nickel a dozen in the area. They frequented saloons that catered to miners. One look at the rings on Frank Albers’s and Irving Jarmon’s fingers suggested their hapless opponents at gaming tables had lost their bets and paid their debts by surrendering their jewelry.
Irving Jarmon had a long, horselike face and large horselike front teeth. His tuft of hair reminded Eva of a horse’s mane. Frank Albers was average height and slim build. His blond head seemed too large for his thin-bladed shoulders.
Frank Albers and Irving Jarmon—if those were their real names—claimed they were headed to Mineral Wells, before venturing to the mining towns in Devil’s Triangle. According to reports, visitations to the numerous bawdy houses, gaming halls and saloons were the order of the day in Mineral Wells.
She wondered if that’s where she’d find Gordon Carter—con man, shyster and God knew what else. She suspected he planned to lay low in the isolated mining camps before reappearing in society to fleece another young, unsuspecting heiress.
“Stage stop ahead. We’ll exchange horses,” George Knott called down from his perch.
Eva stirred on the bench seat, eager for a reprieve from the jostling ride that left her posterior numb and cut off the circulation in her arms, which were jammed between Raven’s broad shoulders and Frank’s narrow ones.
The instant the coach rolled to a stop, a plume of dust rose around it. Like a great cat surging to its feet, Raven exited then pivoted to clamp his hands around Eva’s waist. The instant he touched her, strange fissions of heat rippled through her body. Stunned, she glanced into his hypnotic eyes as he slowly, deliberately lowered her to the ground.
Eva cleared her throat. “Thank you, dear.”
“Anything for you, my sweet,” he purred. “We’ll partake of a cool refreshing drink and enjoy a private moment alone.”
Eva wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with him just yet. He might strangle her and toss her behind a tree as a snack for wolves, mountain lions and such. Nevertheless, he clamped hold of her hand and strode off swiftly, forcing her to scurry to keep up with his long-legged strides.
The reckoning, she predicted as he led her out of earshot. She expected him to chew her up one side and down the other—and
he was entitled because she felt a little guilty about the deception. But she wasn’t one to give up easily. Especially when it came to an important cause like avenging Lydia’s shame and recovering Hodge and the money Gordon had extorted.
Her thoughts trailed off when she noticed the unhitched buggy sitting behind the stage station. Eva thrust out her free hand excitedly. “That’s it!” She set her feet, only to be uprooted by Raven’s superior strength. “That’s my sister’s carriage. Gordon has been here.”
“Good for Gordon and good for you for finding the first piece of the puzzle,” Raven muttered caustically. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I have a few choice comments to make to you. And be warned, none of them are very nice.”
When he halted by the creek, she was surprised that he allowed her time to cup her hands and sip the refreshing drink of cool water from the stream before he launched into his scathing lecture. Apparently, he wanted to wet his whistle, too, before he laid into her.
Rising, he fisted his hands on his hips and widened his stance. His thick brows swooped into a sharp V and he glowered ominously at her. “You think you pulled a fast one on me because I didn’t call your bluff, don’t you, Eva? If that truly is your name.”
“It is,” she confirmed. “What does J.D. stand for?”
“Jordan Daniel.”
“Your white father’s name,” she presumed.
“Yes, not that it’s your concern,” he snapped curtly.
“Jo-Dan,” she mused aloud. “That’s the pet name I’ll use for you.”
His bearded face puckered in a scowl. “No, you won’t. I hate it. Furthermore, I’m not taking this case, even if you did spring for my hotel room. I pay my own way. Always have. I’ll not be kept by a female.”
“It was the least I could do since I interrupted your evening.” She smirked. “After all, I did interrupt your designs on your whiskey bottle. Any of it left, by the way?”
“Yes.” He waved her into silence. “Now listen, lady, this marriage you concocted is a bad idea. In order to remedy that problem, we are about to stage a big argument and you aren’t going to speak to me again.
“I’m going my way to my mountain cabin to train a new horse and you’re going to Canyon Springs…or wherever,” he instructed. “Our disagreement should gain you sympathy from the driver, guard and passengers. Especially if you work up a few crocodile tears. After I abandon you, you can annul this pretended marriage by waving your magic wand of a parasol.”
She lifted her chin rebelliously and said, “No, I like being married to you. It’s convenient.”
He barked a laugh. “Not as convenient as you might think if I continue to ride the stage line until we have to bed down for the night. We’d have to sleep together to keep up appearances, sweetheart.”
Damn, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. When she winced, he noticed. Those green-gold cat eyes missed nothing.
“What? This isn’t the grand love affair you’ve made it out to be for the benefit of the passengers?” he taunted.
Eva drew herself up to full stature. He wasn’t going to intimidate her with that snarly scowl and threats of intimacy. She was sorry to say that she couldn’t resist a challenge. It was one of her many faults.
“I can endure sleeping together if you can, sweetheart,” she countered defiantly.
He gave a sarcastic snort. “I’d hang around until tonight to find out just how far you’d take this charade, but I’ve had enough companionship for one day. I’m heading west after we stop for lunch.”
“Fine, but do me one favor,” she negotiated. “Check the barn to see if a chestnut gelding is stabled there. Maybe Gordon traded the thoroughbred for a mountain pony to make the next leg of his journey. Meanwhile I’ll question the stationmaster about the buggy…. Turn around please.”
He frowned, bemused. “What for?”
“So I can retrieve the money I stuffed down my dress. I want to buy back the carriage,” she explained. “The horse, too, if Hodge is here.”
He grinned scampishly and shook his head. “Being married and all, there’s no reason for me not to watch.”
She rolled her eyes in annoyance then reached into the bodice of her gown to fish out the money she’d brought with her. Despite the blush that splashed across her cheeks, while she watched him stare deliberately at her bosom, she didn’t turn away, either.
He was still staring at her gaping gown when he said, “Checking on the horse is all the effort I’m putting into this case. I’m still taking time off to train a new horse. Maybe you can hitch a ride with your two new friends, Irving and Frank, to check the mining towns for your sister’s missing boyfriend. If you really have a sister and you aren’t making up this tale the same way you made up the story about our marriage.”
It was plain to see that Raven didn’t trust easily. Besides, she hadn’t offered conclusive evidence. But still…
He wagged a lean finger in her face. “No matter what, sugar, I’ll be gone this afternoon. No more of your clever charades. I’m fresh out of patience and this headache and hangover are hard on my good disposition.”
“Didn’t know you had one,” she couldn’t help but sass. When he pulled a face and muttered something under his breath that she didn’t ask him to repeat, she frowned curiously. “For the life of me I don’t know why this bothers me, but why don’t you like me? Is it because you don’t find me particularly attractive? Because I talk too much to suit your tastes? Because I’m headstrong and pushy?”
“All of that, plus you’re a royal pain in the ass,” he told her bluntly.
“Maybe I am, but I can’t let a thing like that get in my way while I’m serving a noble purpose and I need your help.”
“I’m not helping and the very last thing I need is a wife, pretend or otherwise. Especially one like you.”
Even though his comment stung her pride a bit, she angled her head to peer up at him. “How do you know you don’t need a wife? Have you had one before?”
“No, but I travel light. A wife is extra baggage that might get in the way or become another hazard in my profession. As it is, your charade will cause complications. When I return to Denver, everyone will have heard the news. It’s your job to quell the rumors when you get home.”
“I intend to pretend to be married for a good long while so get used to the idea,” she said stubbornly.
Considering her place in high society, having a pretend husband, especially one with J. D. Raven’s legendary reputation, would discourage insincere proposals from fortune hunters. She should have hired a husband impersonator earlier, she mused. It would have solved dozens of problems.
“Lady, you are loco,” Raven said with a marveling shake of his shaggy black head.
She tossed him a teasing smile as she handed back the comment he’d made to her. “Part of my charm.” She lurched toward the station to inquire after the stolen buggy. “And don’t forget about looking for the horse.”
“Nag, nag.”
“No, Hodge is a gelding,” she insisted, grinning.
He frowned darkly. “I wasn’t talking about the horse.”
Raven stared after the bundle of irrepressible spirit wrapped in calico. He didn’t recall having this much trouble winning arguments until he clashed with a woman who possessed an incredible amount of fortitude and determination.
Muttering under his breath, Raven raked his hands through his untrimmed hair then hunkered down to drink his fill from the clear stream. Despite his irritation with the madwoman, he was unwillingly impressed by her uncanny ability to draw information from the passengers without seeming nosey.
She had even mentioned Gordon Carter offhandedly then inquired if anyone knew him. She had discovered quickly that the passengers didn’t reside in Denver. They were passing through and no one had heard of the con man.
Glancing this way and that, Raven decided to take advantage of the privacy and sink into the cool water. If nothing else, the quick bath eased his han
gover and helped to curtail the inappropriate thoughts that hounded him after being nestled beside Eva in the coach.
Watching her dip her hand into her bodice to retrieve her money intensified his unwanted awareness of her. Hell, even their lively debates stimulated his interest. She intrigued and aroused him all too easily. He didn’t want to like her or give her a second thought.
This was going to be a very brief acquaintance, he promised himself. Wife indeed! That had bad idea written all over it. If his longtime associate, Hoodoo Lemoyne, and his only surviving cousin, Blackowl, got wind of this, they would laugh themselves into comas.
The thought of Hoodoo Lemoyne, the crippled man who lived at Raven’s mountain cabin, while he tracked notorious criminals, made him grin. Raven hadn’t been able to get rid of that chattering Cajun any easier than he’d gotten rid of Eva.
Raven just sort of inherited the gabby older man who had been his father’s acquaintance. In addition, Raven thought, now he had a pretend wife and she had more grit and gumption than most men he knew.
Raven blew out his breath, shook off the cold water and dressed hurriedly. He hiked to the barn to watch the stage attendants trot out fresh horses. He glanced around the stalls but there wasn’t a chestnut gelding in sight.
“Did you happen to see the man who left the carriage behind the station?” he inquired.
“No,” the first worker replied. “I showed up for work this morning at seven and the buggy was already here.”
“Same for me,” the second man chimed in. “You might ask the station owner. He’s around all the time.”
The first worker surveyed Raven’s attire. “You’re Raven the bounty hunter, aren’t you?”
