The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress (13 page)

His dark brows swooped down and flattened over his glowing gold-green eyes. “If it makes you feel better I still think you're a pain in the ass. More now than before. You've given new meaning to
complicated,
damn it!”

“Why? I have asked nothing of you. Plus, I'm still paying you to help me find Gordon, who did deceive my sister and stole five thousand dollars of her money. She is beside herself with anger and embarrassment. I swore to her that I would keep the story quiet and would hunt Gordon down to retrieve her money.”

“And five grand is just a drop in the bucket to the Hallowells of Denver, right? Well, excuse me, your highness, but I prefer to know who I'm dealing with and this changes everything.”

She pressed the heels of her hands against his muscled chest and shoved him backward so quickly that he kerplunked in the pool. He had that coming, as far as she was concerned.

When his head reappeared above the water, she got right in his handsome face. “This changes absolutely nothing,” she said in a sharp tone. “I'm a paying client and you are my first lover. Those are the facts, like them or not.”

Clearly, he didn't because he was still glaring at her.

“I didn't trick you into what just happened between us and I didn't plan it, either. But I told you that I'm not making demands on you so don't panic and begin doubting my intentions and ulterior motives again.”

“Don't worry, firebrand,” he muttered as he wiped the water from his face. “I know I'm the last man you'd really want as a husband.”

A lot he knew. He was exactly the kind of man she wanted. A man who had desired her in a heated moment of passion…until she told him who she was and he ruined everything by retreating in outrage.

“Of course, Hoodoo's proposal is still on the table so that puts me down the list,” he added sarcastically.

“Feel insulted and whatever else you want to feel,” she stormed. “But it isn't my fault you can't handle who I am, although you can cope with everything else life throws at you. For some reason you enjoy being annoyed at me every chance you get.” She wagged her finger in his face. “But hear this, Jordan Daniel Raven, if you treat me any differently now than before I'll be tempted to shoot you. I've had my fill of men who see my money and never me. Do you hear me?”

“Who can't? You're yelling your head off. My assassin will know exactly where to find me.”

Scowling, Eva wheeled around and walked ashore to grab her discarded clothes. She didn't look back while she dressed, either. Then she clutched the shotgun and strode away.

Things between Raven and her had been perfectly fine during their passionate tryst. And then…wham! She had hoped he wouldn't recognize her name, but he had heard of her family. Now things between them were worse than before.

“Lunch is on!” Hoodoo announced while he stood on the stoop.

Eva glanced sideways to see Blackowl sitting atop Raven's pinto pony. His wry smile indicated that he thought it had taken far too much time for Raven to summon her for the meal.

When his gaze drifted pointedly to the secluded pool then back to her, she muttered under her breath. Blackowl could think what he wanted. She didn't care. Men! Damn them all.

 

That evening, Hoodoo sent Eva outside to pen up the chickens that had the run of the lawn during the day. She fed them grain then ambled back to the cabin. She stopped short when she noticed a new set of buckskin clothes and moccasins laid out on the table. She frowned curiously when Hoodoo walked through the front door, a step behind her.

“For you, little gal,” he replied to her unspoken question. “If you're headed to the rowdy mining camps then you gotta dress as a boy. It's safer for you. Besides, it'll take the pressure off your bodyguards. Too many men up there have been too long without a woman and some of them are short on morals and scruples.”

“So I've been told, repeatedly,” she murmured as she brushed her hand over the garments. “Thank you, Hoodoo. I've never had such a wonderful gift.”

“No? Raven said you have all a woman could possibly want already since you practically own Denver.”

She hugged the clothes to her chest and smiled appreciatively at him. “This is what I want most of all because you made the garments for me yourself. This gift is special and I shall treasure it always.”

A pleased expression settled on his scarred features. “Go try 'em on so I can see if they need alterations.”

Grabbing the moccasins, designed exactly like Blackowl's and Raven's, Eva bounded upstairs to put on her mannish clothes. “They fit perfectly,” she called down to Hoodoo. “There is no end to your exceptional talents…. Now when did you say we're getting married?”

Hoodoo chuckled. “You're damn…er, darn good for my pride, little gal. So, what about the moccasins? Comfortable?”

“They fit like gloves. I'm never taking them off!”

His chuckle floated up to her as she all but skipped down the steps to show off her new attire.

“Do I look like a boy?” she asked as she pivoted for his inspection.

“No,” Blackowl said bluntly, as he came through the door. “Too many curves in telling places.” He pointed to her belt. “Take that off and let the doehide hang loosely over your hips.” He waved his hand impatiently. “And do something about your chest. It's a dead giveaway that there is a woman beneath.”

“I thrive on your flattery,” she said sarcastically before she reversed direction to bind her breasts with the fabric from her petticoats.

“And wear this, too,” Blackowl called out.

A wide-brimmed hat sailed through the air then bounced off the wall. Eva scooped it up and tugged it down on her forehead. When she went downstairs to see if she met Blackowl's approval, Raven came in from working with the horses. He dodged her gaze, as he'd been doing since she told him her name during their tryst by the springs.

“Much better,” Blackowl declared. “But you'll have to smudge dirt on your face to disguise your sissy-colored skin.”

She started to take offense, but she noted the mischievous grin that twitched his lips.

“Blackowl has agreed to teach you to handle weapons tomorrow and he'll give you a few hand-to-hand combat pointers,” Raven said as he stared at the air over her head. “I'll work the horses so they'll be as ready as possible for our journey.”

“I'll look forward to it,” Eva enthused.

“You shouldn't. You might get roughed up again,” Blackowl replied. “I'm not going to go easy on you because you're a woman, Paleface.”

“Wouldn't expect you to. I'll try to keep the crying and whining to a minimum.” She glanced at Raven, who was doing a spectacular job of pretending she was invisible, then she returned her attention to Hoodoo.

“Thank you so much for the thoughtful gift,” Eva said again, then walked over to hug the stuffing out of Hoodoo.

“Here.” He pulled a new voodoo doll from his pocket and presented it to her. “I gave it my best Cajun curse.”

She chuckled as she appraised the miniature effigy of Gordon Carter with pins sticking through his torso. “Wherever he is, I'm sure he's feeling the effects of your curse.”

“I'm camping out with the horses tonight and I'll keep watch for our sniper,” Raven announced as he grabbed his bedroll from the corner. “Blackowl, you can sleep in the cabin.”

When he walked away, Eva wanted to call out to him, but she held her tongue. She'd like to shake him until his teeth rattled, but she doubted it would change his attitude toward her. What she preferred was to revisit that realm of incredible pleasure that Raven had revealed to her.

Murmuring a quiet good-night, Eva went upstairs to bed, knowing she would have no opportunity to share Raven's passion unless she initiated it. Plus, she was leaving on her crusade to find Gordon soon and privacy would be at a premium.

She frowned thoughtfully when Hoodoo's comment about taking the pressure off her hired bodyguards, by wearing men's clothes, came to mind. It troubled her that she had placed Raven and Blackowl at risk to serve her cause. At first, it was just about hiring a guide and gunfighter to locate Gordon. Now it was personal because she knew and liked both men and didn't want to see either of them hurt.

Setting aside her new garments, she slid into bed and wished Raven would join her. But she knew that wouldn't happen. He didn't even want to be in the same cabin with her.

 

The next evening, after an intense day of working with the horses, Raven ambled onto the covered porch. He stared into the sunset, wrestling with a dozen emotions, none of which he wanted to feel in the first place. Guilt over taking Eva's innocence needled him constantly. Discovering she was an heiress frustrated him to no end. The possibility of Eva getting hurt during her crusade to find Carter tormented him. Not to mention that forbidden desire was eating him alive.

Overall, it had been a tortuous day.

“There's a storm brewing in the mountains,” Blackowl announced as he stepped outside after supper to join Raven.

“I know.” It rivaled the storm brewing inside Raven. “The sniper will have more trouble finding his footing in the mud and keeping his balance on slippery boulders, while trying to bushwhack us. It will make the trip to Purgatory Gulch sloppy but safer for us.”

Raven could feel his cousin's intense gaze on him.

“Thanks for spending the day teaching Eva to shoot and to defend herself while I worked with the horses,” Raven said to fill the stilted silence.

“She's a quick learner…. Why have you been ignoring her?” Blackowl asked.

Because guilt, frustration and sexual torment had a fierce, unrelenting hold on him. Of course, he wasn't particularly surprised that his cousin noticed how distracted he'd been and how he'd distanced himself from everyone, especially Eva. Very little got past Blackowl.

“Because she is Evangeline Hallowell, that's why. Her family owns half of Denver. Her father was one of the first to strike it rich in Colorado and he invested in several lucrative businesses. Practically everything he touched turned into a gold mine.”

“So she's good for the money,” Blackowl remarked, a smile in his voice. “I should have asked for triple the going rate for survival training and travel guide.”

“This isn't funny,” Raven muttered sourly.

“It is from where I'm standing. Watching you wrestle with the newfound knowledge and seeing how you're reacting to it is even more amusing.”

Raven rounded on him. “Don't you get it? She owns the bank where I stockpile my bounties. She owns my favorite restaurant. And hell, she even owns the London House where I stay when I'm turning over my prisoners to the city marshal.”

“Then thank her kindly for providing good accommodations when you're in town,” Blackowl teased. “Maybe you should have done that instead of what you were doing at Phantom Springs when you were
supposed
to call Eva to the cabin for lunch yesterday.”

Raven glanced away from his cousin's all-too-knowing grin. “I should leave her to you for the trip and remain at the cabin with Hoodoo.”

“You should but you won't,” Blackowl predicted. “She won't back off until she finds her fugitive and you won't let her endanger her life more than necessary.”

Raven huffed out a breath. “She's making me crazy, Blackowl.”

“Crazy looks good on you…temporarily, at least. But that doesn't change your destiny,” he said as he ambled into the darkness. “I'll be bathing at the springs. Don't disturb me.”

Raven watched his cousin vanish into the distance then pivoted to study Eva and Hoodoo through the window. They were washing and drying dishes, noticeably comfortable in each other's presence.

The older man had cut himself off from the world and from women years ago. However, he'd acquired a new lease on life after meeting Eva. She had a special knack of rebuilding Hoodoo's self-confidence in his appearance and restoring his faith in women. For that, Raven was grateful.

Unfortunately, she was tying Raven in a dozen different knots. She dominated his thoughts and affected his male body fiercely. Pretending indifference in her presence was damn near impossible.

“What the hell am I going to do about her?” Raven asked, glancing skyward.

The reply was a distant rumble of thunder. “So much for the white man's divine guidance,” he mumbled as he walked off to shelter the new saddle horses in the shed behind the cabin.

Eva's tantalizing image was there to greet him in the darkness. The thought of her stirred forbidden memories of the wild passion they had shared. His traitorous body hardened with hungry need so quickly that he groaned uncomfortably.

One tryst with Eva was enough, given who she was, given the vast difference in their backgrounds. Hell, once with Evangeline Hallowell was one time too many, he reminded himself. He could name dozens of reasons why they were mismatched, but he couldn't talk himself out of wanting her again, even if she was Denver's version of royalty.