Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) Read Online Free

move quickly.

     

San Antonio, six months later
    "All right, everybody, quiet down!" ordered Bill
Clark, the bartender and owner of the Six Gun
Saloon. "It's time for Miss Opal to perform!"
    A rousing cheer went up.
    The men had been waiting all evening for just this
moment. They all turned and eagerly faced the stage
at the back of the room. They were more than ready
to see the blond beauty whose reputation had spread
far and wide in the few months she'd been working
at the Six Gun. Even the saloon girls turned their
attention to the stage.
    Everyone loved Miss Opal.
    The curtain parted. An expectant hush fell over
the crowd. And then Miss Opal made her entrance.

    She was the epitome of the seductress as she
moved gracefully to center stage. She wore a red
satin gown that, though demurely cut, clung
enticingly to her perfect figure. The men shouted
their approval as she stopped before them.
    "Good evening, gentlemen," Crystal greeted them
in a throaty voice, smiling warmly in welcome. She
had taken to using the name Opal since she'd come
to San Antonio some months before. No one knew
her real name, and she intended to keep it that way.
    "Evenin', Miss Opal!" they shouted back.
    The piano player began the first melody, and she
started to sing. Her voice rang out pure and sweet.
    These men were a rough-and-tumble bunch, but
they knew true talent when they heard it. Miss Opal
had the voice of an angel, and they were enchanted.
When she finished her first selection, they roared
their approval and clamored for more. She obliged
them.
    "Hey, Bill! This new singer of yours is one pretty
woman, and she's as good as everyone's been saying.
Where'd you find her?" Joe Meyers asked as he
shoved his empty glass toward the bartender for a
refill. He had been drinking heavily all evening, and
he didn't intend to stop.
    "Opal found me," Bill answered as he poured Joe
another drink. "She came in here about two months
ago looking for a job. When I heard her sing, I hired
her on the spot. It was one of the smartest things I
ever did. Business has been booming."

    "I can see why. What's she do besides sing?" Joe
asked hopefully. A lecherous gleam lit his eyes as he
imagined himself spending the rest of the evening
with her, upstairs in one of the private rooms. He'd
make her warble real good.
    "Nothing." The bartender's answer was firm.
    "Nothing?" Joe repeated, surprised. In his
experience, the women who worked in saloons were
willing to do just about anything to make money.
    "That's right. Opal is a lady."
    Irritated that he would have no chance to seek his
pleasure with the beautiful singer, Joe turned his
attention back to the stage to listen to the rest of her
performance.
    Crystal had learned long ago how to keep an
audience entertained. She flirted openly with her
admirers. She wanted each man to believe she was
singing) ust for him.
    Crystal didn't know what made her glance toward
the front of the saloon, but as she did a tall, darkhaired stranger appeared through the swinging
doors. She was sure she had never seen the man
before, for she certainly would have remembered
him. He was ruggedly handsome, and he had a
compelling aura of power and command about
him. There was also an element of danger-in the
way he wore his gun low on his hip and the way he
moved. Attractive though he was, Crystal made it a
rule never to get involved with any of her cus tomers. With that rule in mind, she started to force
her attention away from him.

    And then he looked her way.
    Their gazes met across the crowded room, and a
surge of sensual awareness shot through Crystal
unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Her
reaction to him took her completely by surprise.
Wanting to maintain her composure, she quickly
looked away and continued to sing to her adoring
fans. She couldn't afford to be distracted.
    Brent Hunter had come to the Six Gun Saloon because
he needed a drink, and that was