Colorado Heart (9781101612026) Read Online Free

and the appaloosa spooked, taking off up the trail toward Dan and Randy, who quickly cut the horse off and grabbed its reins. Libby trotted a few steps away and turned to watch.
    Jake jumped from Skip’s back and jabbed the business end of the rifle in the chest of the kid who lay sprawled in the snow.
    â€œOw,” a much more feminine voice said. Jake used the tip of the rifle to push the hat away from his . . . no, her face. The moonlight spilled down on delicate features and skin that looked like it should be on a porcelain doll. Her mouth was pursed into a pout that made his lips twitch with the urge to press a kiss against their fullness. Lush lashes formed crescent moons on her cheeks before she opened them to stare up at him with accusing blue eyes. Her pale hair was short and wispy, and stuck out in every direction like tufts of grass.
    â€œWho the hell are you?” he asked.
    â€œLanguage,” she said as she pushed the rifle away.
    â€œWhat are you, a Sunday school teacher?”
    In the next instant Jake was lying on his back in the snow and she was standing over him with a .45 pointed at his chest. He heard Randy and Dan chortling in the background. He had to admire her. Tiny as she was, she’d managed to sweep his legs right out from under him with one of the slickest moves he’d ever seen.
    â€œI’m the owner of that donkey that you stole,” she said vehemently.
    â€œI didn’t steal her. She came to me.”
    She raised a skeptical eyebrow and the pistol she held in her left hand did not waver a bit. She was so petite he wondered how she could get her hand around it, but she did, and it was obvious she knew which end meant business.
    â€œYeah, Libby is madly in love with him,” Dan said.
    â€œYou’re fired,” Jake said. He didn’t take his eyes off the woman. He wasn’t worried for his life and he knew Dan wasn’t worried about his job. Jake was aware his two men could take her out if they wanted to and were just cutting up, as he was, to put her at ease, so she didn’t do anything stupid.
    She raised the gun and took her finger from the trigger. “You do know her name . . .”
    â€œAnd now you do too,” Jake said. “That doesn’t mean you knew it before.”
    Her pale eyes changed. “What is that supposed to mean?”
    â€œDo you mind if I stand up? My ass is freezing.”
    â€œDo you always talk like this?” she asked with a sigh.
    â€œOnly when someone tries to rob me and then dumps me in the snow.”
    Randy and Dan snorted with laughter. The woman backed up a few feet but kept a tight hold on the pistol as Jake clambered to his feet and made a production of brushing the snow from the back side of his duster. She picked up her rifle while Jake cleaned himself off, and stuck the pistol in the pocket of her oversized coat.
    â€œYou can put the rifle away too,” Jake said as she stepped far enough back so that she could keep the rifle leveled on all three of them. “If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already.”
    â€œWell excuse me if I’ve heard that before.”
    Jake found his hat and brushed the snow from it. “Lady, I don’t know who you are or where you are from but I can tell already that you have an attitude problem. So I suggest we both go to town and clear this up.”
    â€œI’m not going anywhere with you,” she said indignantly.
    â€œThen tell me who sold you the animal.” If she said Jim’s name he’d gladly turn Libby over to her. But he wasn’t about to give the donkey up just because some woman waved a gun in his face.
    Her tone turned defensive and her hold on the rifle slackened. If Jake wanted to, he could jerk it from her hands. “I got her last fall from the livery in town. I don’t know his name, as it was a friend of mine who bought her.”
    â€œWell that sure does prove a