The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 by Debra Mullins Page A

on the train at Colorado Springs, we’ll never catch her!”
    “I’ve got it under control.”
    “What do you mean, you’ve got it under control? How can you have it under control if you’re here and she’s on her way to Colorado Springs?”
    His jaw tightened in annoyance. “I sent a telegram to an associate of mine who will be watching for her. He’ll stop her from getting on the train.”
    “An associate? You mean another marshal?”
    He winced. “Ah...not exactly.”
    Susannah tapped her fingers on her knee. “What do you mean, not exactly?”
    “Look, you’ll just have to trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
    “Trust you! You’re asking a lot, Marshal Brown.”
    He pulled up on the reins. The buckboard came to a stop and he turned to her, his sherry-colored eyes narrowed with anger. “Listen, you’re the one in trouble here, not me. All I was supposed to do was take you to Denver for your trial.”
    “Well, that’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”
    “Sure, in between keeping your neck out of Wayne Caldwell’s noose and trying to track down a witness so I can prove you didn’t kill your employer. If I were just doing my job, I would have had you on the train to Denver already.”
    “Well, don’t let me stop you from doing your job, Marshal Brown!” She glared at him, her heart pounding. Why was she fighting with him? She was grateful for his help and completely trusted him in the matter of tracking down Abigail Hawkins. But something was eating at her, something that made her want to rile his temper until he lost control.
    Jedidiah stared at her for a long, charged moment. He had never met a woman who exasperated him so much, even as she made him want her so badly he could hardly think straight. Her life was on the line, but all he could think of when she put on that snooty attitude was how much he wanted to get her between the sheets and work that sass right out of her.
    He was a U.S. Marshal, by God, and he had a job to do. His personal feelings had no place here.
    “Don’t start something you can’t finish, princess,” he warned, his voice low and controlled. “I’m putting my job on the line to help you out, but maybe I should just take you to Denver and wash my hands of you once and for all.”
    “That does seem to be the way you operate,” she replied, clearly offended. “Whenever someone gets too close, you hightail it out of town.”
    “I don’t have time for this.” He snapped the reins, and the horses moved forward once more.
    “My point exactly,” she murmured. “You’re a coward.”
    “What?” He jerked the horses to a stop and rounded on her, his face taut with affronted male pride. “What did you say?”
    “I said, you’re a coward. Emotionally, anyway.”
    He leaned toward her, his eyes narrowing. “Are you making this personal, princess? Because if you are—”
    “Deny it if you can,” she shot back. “You’re afraid of your own feelings.”
    He took her chin in his hand. Her smoky blue eyes sparkled with challenge, and her pulse pounded at the base of her throat. Her skin was so soft, her mouth so ripe. The woman got to him like no other woman ever had.
    She was dangerous. Luckily, he was an expert on how to handle dangerous situations.
    “I’ve still got those handcuffs,” he warned. “If you don’t behave yourself, I’ll have to get them out.”
    She jerked her chin from his hold. “You’d do it, too.”
    “Bet on it.” He picked up the reins and clucked at the horses to start them moving.
    She gave him a disgusted look and ignored him until the next town came into sight.
     
     
    Chalmers was a large, bustling town right on the cattle trail that boasted a real live hotel, several restaurants and rows of shops.
    Susannah caught sight of a dress shop that had her sighing with longing. She loved clothes. And wouldn’t that lovely blue sprigged muslin look wonderful on her? And, oh, that adorable little hat with the flowers on it in the