Two Wanted Men [Badlands 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) by Elle Saint James

your patients over here to guarantee you wouldn’t kill them.”
    “What?” Miranda’s cheeks heated in anger. “That is unfair. I’ve only given the very best care to each and every person who has come here for treatment.”
    Mayor Harris’ hands came up in supplication. “Now you and I know that, but the general population is never going to allow you to be the permanent doctor here in town. I’ve had more than one citizen come to tell me they would quit and leave town rather than have a woman doctor. I’m sorry, but I just can’t allow you to stay on as the town’s doctor.”
    Miranda sent a glare over to Ben. His smirk was permanently placed. She had no doubt that he was one who’d threatened to quit. Probably the only one who had threatened, the bastard.
    “So you’ve pretended to let me practice all the while you waited for your new doctor to show up and replace me. I think that’s despicable.”
    “Now I hope you’ll extend a courtesy to the new doctor and show him where he’ll be working once you move.”
    “Move?” Miranda put a hand to her mouth to stop a vulgar word from escaping. “I don’t understand. This is my home. The only one I’ve had since I was five.”
    Mayor Harris sighed. “Your father came here and agreed to work for a little salary paid by the town as long as he had a place to practice and a home for his family. The house has always belonged to the town.”
    “Tell her the rest of it, Mayor. She needs to know.” Ben crossed his arms and the smile he sported didn’t bode well for her future.
    The mayor harrumphed a couple of times. “I’m sorry to inform you, Miss Miranda, but the house and all its contents belong to the township. You may remove your personal items and clothing, but as of the arrival of our new doctor, you’ll have to find another place to live.”
    Miranda fairly swooned on her feet. She gripped the doorframe, still having failed to close the door after the three had trooped in. “Where do you expect me to go?”
    Ben’s crossed arms dropped and he took an aggressive step closer to her. “Your father is going to jail unless he can pay what he owes to the two saloons in town. Since you took over for him as doctor, I figure you can share in the debt, too.”
    “Now, Ben, there is no need to be mean. The bar owners should have known better than to let old Silas run a tab in the first place.”
    “Don’t matter. The law is the law. Doc Herrington owes upwards of four hundred dollars between the two saloons.”
    “Four hundred dollars! That’s half a year’s wages. How could he have spent so much?”
    “He’s been putting it on his tab for almost two years.”
    “That’s crazy.”
    “Crazy or not, you don’t have too many options here, Miranda.” Ben’s low calculating voice spelled trouble for her. He obviously had a plan in mind and she didn’t think she’d like it one single bit.
    “I’ve spoken to the mayor and the two saloon owners and we’ve come to an arrangement. I’ve agreed to pay your debt.”
    “My debt?” In her mind that was still up for interpretation. “You’ll pay in exchange for what?”
    “Your hand in marriage.”
    If he’d announced to the assembled few that he wanted to dance naked around the civil war cannon residing in the town square, she wouldn’t have been as surprised as she was at hearing his proposal of marriage.

Chapter Nine

    Miranda curled in a ball in the center of the strange, uncomfortable bed and tried to think of a reason to get up. After being kicked out of her home with barely more than the clothes on her back, her life had changed irrevocably only a week ago when her father died.
    Her father, having been summarily cut off completely from his steady supply of liquor, hadn’t lasted. The “new doctor” said it was likely his heart. Miranda mourned him and the man he used to be for the better part of a week and still her tears came.
    The funeral had been quick, small, tasteful and poorly