The Outsider Read Online Free PDF

interest in his stare. She prepared herself for a long defensive evening.
    As to Dodge, every moment at the Glade was treasured by this man who’d spent too much time alone. Since coming to Pride, he’d poured his energies into reviving the bank set up by Reeve’s half brother, Jonah. The establishment had closed with Jonah’s death and Reeve had called him down from Michigan to see what he could do about helping it, and the people of Pride, back on their feet.
    The hard part was getting the stubborn community to see him as something other than a forked-tongued devil come to steal their last cent. Like Starla, they winced at the sound of his voice, looking no deeper to discover what kind of man he was. If they bothered, they’d know he was as honorable as he was determined to succeed. He’d learned an important piece of advice from Reeve: the only way to win them over was one at a time. And tonight, the one he wanted to win was Starla Fairfax.
    His first assessment of her as a fluffy southern belle had been blown to hell during their first conversation. Now he was possessed by the need to discover just what she was. Intriguing, definitely. Gorgeous, beyond belief. And more than just a bit of a brat.
    She was determined to dislike him and now was intent upon pretending he didn’t exist as she steered their dinner conversation toward a past he didn’t share and people he didn’t know. She did it so skillfully, perhaps their hosts didn’t see her behavior for the snub it was.
    She’d glance at him while speaking, giving the pretense of including him in the conversation but the cold sheen in her stare might well have been a wall denying him access. He didn’t mind. He usually did so much talking, it was a relief to sit back over Fairfax Bourbon and simply listen and learn.
    And he was learning fast—learning that Starla Fairfax was a complicated piece of work, with as many convolutions as her brother. For all her flashy charm and animated gestures, if one paid attention, he’d see they were all for effect, for keeping others at a distance while she remained safely untouched by the world that moved around her.
    Most beautiful women loved to gush on and on about themselves, but that was a subject Starla avoided, deflecting personal questions like the surface of a mirrored pool—making it an irresistible challenge for Dodge to test the waters underneath. Would they be hot and agitated, or cool and murky with mystery?
    Only one topic seemed to stir a response in her, and Dodge noted with little enthusiasm that it involved another man.
    He’d heard of Noble Banning. He knew Banning had been Reeve’s best friend before the war, that his father was a ruthless manipulator in the political arena who owed no allegiance save to himself. And he knew Starla Fairfax lit up like a rocket trail when speaking about him.
    “Last I heard,” Reeve was saying, “he earned a release from Point Lookout Prison by joining up with the Frontier Brigade.”
    “Prison.” Starla’s bright eyes glossed over withreal dismay. “I hope it wasn’t terrible for him. One hears such rumors.”
    Reeve gave her a smile of reassurance. “Noble’s a born negotiator. He probably had the prisoners organized and petitioning for starched linens with every meal on his first day there.”
    Starla rewarded him with a wan smile. “Noble could sweet-talk an old maid out of her garters when he set his mind to it.”
    Seeing the wistfulness softening her expression, Dodge wondered, with a prick of irritation, if the southern paragon had ever tried charming her out of hers. Or if he’d been successful. Time to wade in, if he had any hopes of ever seeing those garters for himself.
    “Offering captured enemy officers a chance to serve in the Western Theater is a fairly common way to control the population since they stopped prisoner exchanges. If your friend was smart, he jumped at the chance right off.”
    Starla fixed Dodge with a quelling look, incensed