Brazen Read Online Free PDF

stable, though, and while I was there, I met a
very interesting gentleman."
    "A gentleman? In Hard Luck?" Anne was surprised and
curious. "Who was he?"
    "His name was Nick Paden, and he was fresh off the
stage from back East. You should have seen him. He was
all dressed up and real handsome, too an Eastern
dandy."

    "I wonder who he came to see."
    "He didn't say. He was more interested in the fact that
I was wearing pants."
    Anne smiled wryly at her. "He may be a gentleman on
the outside, but he doesn't sound much different from
any of the other men around here. I see how they all
watch you whenever you're in town, and I've heard their
talk."
    "Well, I'm glad I give them something to talk about,"
Casey said jokingly as she took out her list.
    "You're impossible," her friend teased.
    "Pa tells me that all the time."
    They laughed easily together and started to pick out
the supplies she needed.
    "Michael! You're back!" Fitz came out of the stable to
greet him.
    "Hello, Fitz." Michael shook hands with the heavyset
stable owner.
    "I'm sorry about your pa," Fitz sympathized. "Tell him
I'm thinking of him."
    "I will."
    "You back home to stay?"
    "I'm not sure yet."
    "Well, it's good to see you. You need anything else, just
let me know."
    "I will. We'll get the buckboard back to
probably tomorrow," Michael told him as they climbed up to the
driver's bench. He took up the reins.
    "That'll be fine. I know I can trust you."

    They left the stable, stopping only at the telegraph office to wire Nick's father that they had arrived safely and
then at the stage depot to load their trunks. That done,
Michael was more than ready to head home.

     

so it was you," John McQueen said as he came
inside Lawson's store. "I thought I saw you."
    "Why, John Casey responded as she looked
up from where she was standing talking with Anne to see
the handsome rancher walking their way.
    John greeted Anne. He found the blond, shapely Anne
attractive, but Casey was the one he was really interested
in. "This is a pleasant surprise, Casey. Whatever brought
you in to Hard Luck today was good luck for me."
    Casey laughed at him. "You are such a charmer, John
McQueen."
    "I try," he returned.
    Anne couldn't believe Casey's luck. John was the most
eligible bachelor in these parts and quite good-looking.
He never flirted with her that way. She moved off to wait
on another customer, giving them some time alone.

    John was glad for the moment of privacy with Casey.
He gave her his undivided attention and smiled down at
her with his most ingratiating smile. "1 wanted to tell you
what a nice time I had with you at the box dinner."
    "I had a good time, too, John. It isn't often I get to
socialize that way."
    "I'd like to see more of you," John told her. He kept his
tone cordial, but his thoughts were on how much of her
he really wanted to see. He loved that she wore those
pants, but imagining her without them excited him even
more.
    "That would be nice."
    "I'll try to come by the Bar T for a visit."
    "I'm sure Pa would be glad to see you."
    "What about you?"
    "It's always good to see you, John," she assured him,
completely unaware of the direction of his thoughts. She
considered him only a neighbor.
    When Anne returned to join them, John made his excuses and left.
    Anne was smiling in delight over what had transpired.
"My, my, my! Is John McQueen really courting you? How
often have you been seeing him?"
    "Anne-" Casey was embarrassed. "John's not courting
me."
    "You want to bet?"
    "We just happened to eat together at the social at
church, and he was telling me he had a nice time. That's
all."
    "He came in here just to talk with you, Casey Turner," Anne pointed out. "There are a lot of girls in Hard Luck
who would give anything to have John seek them out that
way."

    "Then those other girls must live very pitiful, boring
lives," Casey said, dismissing her friend's insinuation.
    "Don't you like John?"
    "John's nice