WildOutlaws Read Online Free PDF Page B

kind of work is it that she does now?”
    “She’s in the teaching business,” Constance stated proudly.
    Buck rubbed his rough beard, stroking the prickly hairs as if he thought he had some length added to the short growth. “Whereabouts does she teach?”
    Jared stood back and took it all in, behaving as if he were trying to decide whether or not Constance was telling them the truth. Tuff wondered what was on his mind. He hadn’t said a lot since they’d arrived in Cripple Creek and Jared was typically fully of knowledge and quite opinionated when he had the floor.
    Constance, evidently as naїve as Tuff originally suspected, took a minute with her reply. Finally, she said, “In case you haven’t heard, Mary Margaret is in high demand. Why, she can teach anywhere. She can do anything she wants to do. She’s a marvelous teacher. In fact, I learned everything I know from her.”
    Jared grinned. “Is that right, hon? Well, I tell you what,” he said, working his swagger as he stepped to the front of the line. “If we can’t find Mary Margaret, we’ll come back and see if you can’t give us a sample of what you’ve been taught. What’d you say?”
    She narrowed her gaze. “I ain’t interested.”
    “Good thing. You ain’t his type, baby,” David said, stepping right back into smart-ass mode. “He likes ‘em old and decrepit.”
    Constance looked utterly confused. “Mary Margaret has some age on her but she’s far from feeble. Why she’s only thirty-five and she still looks like she’s nineteen.”
    “That’s a relief,” David said, evidently satisfied now after he’d tested the waters.
    “And quite an exaggeration,” Tuff said under his breath. Mary Margaret was a beautiful and voluptuous woman. If Tuff didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought Mary Margaret was a proper lady, a woman of substance. Her experience must’ve inspired her confidence, and her self-assurance was part of the appeal, certainly half her charm.
    “I hope it’s not much of one,” David said. “I didn’t ride across rough terrain to meet an average woman.”
    “She’s beautiful, really, but she looks her age,” Tuff informed him.
    “Mary Margaret is a lot prettier than any of the likes of you,” Constance remarked, defending her friend.
    Creed winked. “It takes more effort to dish insults than issue compliments, woman. You might do yourself a favor and remember the free advice in the future. Now, where the hell is Mary Margaret?”
    “I do not know.”
    “If she hasn’t told you goodbye, then she hasn’t left yet, right?” Tuff asked.
    “No, but—”
    “Mary Margaret!” Tuff yelled, walking down the hall. The others did the same, pacing back and forth. When no one opened up any of their rooms, Tuff waved one hand off to the left, the other off to the right. “Find her.”
    Constance gasped. “Wait a minute. You can’t enter our rooms. Those quarters are private!” When the men split off from the group, Constance grabbed Tuff by the sleeve. “You lied to me!”
    While the others searched for Mary Margaret, Tuff did his best to reassure Constance before her imagination ran wild and she screamed her bloody head off. “We just want to talk to her.”
    God help them all if he had to stand witness to another one of the gal’s blood-curling screams. She had some lungs on her and he wasn’t sure he could endure another round of her theatrics.
    “What do you want to discuss?” Constance pressed. “Teaching?”
    “Why sure,” Tuff drawled, glancing up at the others. “Come to think of it, that’s an excellent idea. We have a job to offer her.”
    “We do?” Jared asked, arching a brow.
    “Yes indeed we do,” Tuff said, searching Constance’s eyes. “Now save us some time. Which room is Mary Margaret’s?”
    “That one over there,” she said reluctantly, pointing across the hall.
    “Thank you,” Tuff said politely, heading that way without wasting a moment.
    “What are you