High-Riding Heroes Read Online Free PDF Page A

it is.”
    “What exactly is wrong with the jailbreak?”
    Growing impatient with his nonchalance, she snapped, “Why don’t you just watch the shows for a couple of days? If you’re half the man Buck says you are, you’ll see for yourself.”
    “Fair enough.” He found it amusing that she doubted it.
    He continued to sit and look at her. It was a thing he could get used to in a heartbeat.
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    High-Riding Heroes
    “I watched the stagecoach robbery very closely. It certainly needs work.”
    Bristling again, Victoria sighed loudly. She had been the one to choreograph that. What did the big man have to say about it? “So?”
    “Thieves wouldn’t run off from a woman with a derringer. Especially after she had fired the two rounds.”
    “Oh.” Damn. It was so simple yet she had overlooked it. And the men? They were probably laughing at her behind her back.
    Very annoyed, Victoria reached for the washcloth that was by her knee and tossed it in his general direction. She was glad she missed when she watched him cut his eyes from the cloth, then back to her.
    She watched him rise and bend down to pick it up. Water dribbled soundlessly from the cloth to the floor. Slowly, he carried it over and kneeled down by the tub.
    The audacity! The unmitigated gall! Oaf! “What are you doing?” she demanded, jerking sideways, sloshing water over the edge of the tub.
    Eyeing her directly from only inches away, he smiled. “You want me to wash your back, don’t you? That could be the only reason you threw this at me.” He let the wet cloth dangle from his fingers.
    Victoria snatched it from him and submarined it into the water. “Out,” she ordered with more grit than she felt.
    He glanced down at his watch and, still smiling, slowly stood up and turned for the door.
    Hesitating as he reached for the doorknob, he glanced back once more and shot an amused wink her way. “Been an interesting day. Water must be getting cold.” He sauntered out of the room, pulling the door shut, hard, behind him.
    Wes chuckled when he heard the wet slap of the washcloth thud against the wood of the closed door.

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    27

    Joey Light
    Victoria hadn’t realized how tense she was until, alone again, she relaxed her muscles. She growled through her teeth. Who the heck did he think he was? So now things are more complicated than they were yesterday. Another male for her to contend with. Was there no end to the fight she would have to prove herself able to be a partner in Glory Town? Well, maybe they had a lesson to learn themselves. New resolve grew in her. It wasn’t nice being somewhere you weren’t wanted, and she had never been in a situation like it. She felt they could all eventually get along quite easily and happily. Didn’t they realize she had a lot to offer the town? And that she didn’t give up so easily? Besides, she had nothing to go back to in Virginia. Nothing but an overbearing mother who was still terribly insulted that she hadn’t made her marriage to David work. Nothing but her mother’s country club friends all bent on supplying her with new prospects.
    She squeezed her eyes shut tight. She felt totally worthless back home. This chance was like an unplanned escape route. She wanted it to work. She needed it to. With the toe of her right foot, she flipped the hot water handle on and lay back.
    It was then she heard him jog down the stairs instead of going into his room as she had expected. It had been obvious that he was going to bathe and, she assumed, turn in for the night. She wondered where he was going…and then put the thought from her mind. It was absolutely none of her business. And neither was the beige-on-dark-brown robe that still lay in a heap on the floor.
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    Chapter Two
    The barn had been left to go too long. Once the host of some raucous barn dances, it now stood abandoned and from the looks of it was used for a shed or a