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I could see Lane’s lips twitch and I had to clear my throat to keep from laughing. “It pleases me to know you are so concerned about my… body. I assure you, I am hale and hearty and everything about my body is in perfect working order.”
It was her turn to clear her throat, but she looked away as well. For the first time, she wasn’t so sure of herself. Beneath all the bravado, she was an innocent. At least in the one way that counted. Although I did not count her virginity to be a requirement, I definitely did appreciate knowing Lane and I would be the first ones to see her discover the pleasures to be had between a woman and her husband. No, husbands.
“You are quite skilled at shooting.”
“That old buzzard?” she asked.
I lifted a brow at her description of the man who’d threatened her.
“I assume you didn’t start by aiming at people.”
She shook her head. “No. I have five brothers so it was a given I’d learn. They lined bottles up on a rail of a fence. I rarely shoot at people.”
I had to wonder how many others had been in an altercation with her and her weapon.
“Those five brothers,” Lane commented. “Ever shot one of them?”
She smiled then before remembering herself. It slipped away. “No. I never did, although I wanted to time and again. Harry shot Frank in the foot once, but it only took out the leather and nicked his little toe. He was aiming for a tree branch by the barn.” She shook her head. “He’s a terrible shot.”
I was quiet as I listened to her story.
“Are you planning on giving that back?” she asked, eyeing her weapon.
“We have some things to talk about first and I’d like to know I’m safe until we’re done.”
“It’s that bad?” she asked, biting her lip, all of a sudden worried. She looked around the stall and realized we were quite alone.
“On the contrary. I admit, Patricia… may I call you that?”
She bit her lip, then said, “While, um, my name is Patricia, I’m called Piper.”
Piper. An unusual name and it suited her more than Patricia. “I admit, Piper, that I’m quite surprised by you. And pleased that you are my wife,” I added when I saw the worry show on her face.
“Do you frequent saloons often?” Lane asked, leaning against the stall wall.
She looked to him and I saw her hands clench into fists at her sides. “I needed to earn some money,” she countered.
“Why is that?” he asked.
Piper crossed her arms over her ample breasts. My cock jumped at the sight. I was sure a spider web of small veins could be seen beneath such tender skin there. And her nipples? Perhaps a lush coral color. But would they be big or small?
Her chin tipped up. “You were not present when I arrived and was without much coin for food or lodging.”
“So you bested the men out of their hard-earned money?”
Pink tinged her cheeks now and her green eyes all but danced with fury, aimed directly at Lane. “They may have worked hard for that money, but I did not drag them by the ear into the saloon, nor did I force them to play. I earned that money from them. Based on the fact I had to shoot that man’s hat, I’d say it was hard-earned.” She barely breathed as she spoke, her words tumbling out. “Let me ask you, Mr. Haskins, if you’ve ever needed to shoot someone because while you won fair an
d square, they refused to have their ego bruised by losing to a female?”
“I’ll part with my money and anything else you desire, with pleasure. For both of us. No shooting involved.”
Her mouth fell open and I could see a straight row of white teeth. “You speak out of turn.”
Now she sounded like that prim miss again. Intriguing.
“And you behave out of turn. You will not go to saloons and gamble. Alone. You will not tempt fate with ill-mannered, dangerous men.”
Her green eyes turned darker and her cheeks flushed. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” she asked.
