Jillian Hart Read Online Free

looking at her made him relax. She was beautiful. She liked log cabins. And best of all, the kindness in her smile was genuine, the attention she paid to his daughter as honest as daylight.
    Still, she was from a much finer lifestyle than he expected, finer than he could provide. "How do you like Montana Territory so far?"
    "I love it." Sparks lit her eyes, glinting like dawn. "It's beautiful country. And so free."
    "There aren't a lot of women in a town like this." He wanted her to know for sure what she was getting into. He didn't want to scare her off, but he couldn't mislead her, either. "A woman from St. Louis might not be happy here. We have no theater, no opera house. Not even a lady's club."
    "I suppose a woman from St. Louis just might miss those things." Unaffected, Miss Curtis shrugged one slim shoulder. "But it would make her darn stupid. Look at that sky. And the mountains. What more could a person want?"
    "That's just how I feel." Ben loved Montana, too.
    "We don't need no clubs and operas around here." Emily's adoring gaze never left Miss Curtis's face. "In the summer we can hunt for gold and in the winter we get snow. We can sled and make snowmen and snow angels."
    "Snow angels?" Pauline's voice rose, pleasant as a birdsong.
    "Do you know how to make them?" Emily asked eagerly.
    "I sure do. I always mess them up, though. Most of the time I can't get up without falling back on my behind. That really wrecks a snow angel."
    "Really badly," Emily agreed.
    It was perfect. Ben needed a wife. Miss Curtis needed a home. He could get along with anyone, but waking up to this beautiful woman frying his morning bacon would be pleasant indeed.
    What he liked best about her was that she was just a little distant, not radiating that neediness most women did. The one that let a man know the woman wanted love and romance, wanted to cling to him.
    Miss Pauline Curtis, despite her clothes, beauty and obvious social standing, looked like a sensible, practical woman. It was there on her straight mouth and in her unflinching eyes.
    She didn't look like a woman pining after romance, who was foolish enough to believe that something as fickle as love existed.
    Yes, she was more than he hoped for. And she seemed to be everything Emily needed.

        Polly was getting low on cash. She ought to be worried about it. But that handsome sheriff and his little girl kept filling her thoughts and troubling her conscience. She shouldn't have used them like that. She hadn't wanted to. If she hadn't succumbed to the harebrained idea to dress up in Pauline's clothes, then she would have her gun in hand. She could have at least had a chance when Bad Bart came looking for her.
    Now, she'd only gone and messed everything up. Well, she'd simply have to unmess it. She hadn't made any promises to Ben MacLain. She had tried hard not to mislead little Emily, yet she knew she had. Now all she needed to do was to get some money, buy a horse and leave town–even if her conscience smarted.
    Polly waited until she was certain Bart was nowhere in sight before she ventured from her room. The hotel was clean and cozy. The proprietor's son had personally shown her to their best room. The sparkle in his eyes and his charming manner hadn't fooled her.
    She knew what he was thinking about, what he wanted. And he wasn't going to get it. She might not have the position and education of women like Pauline Curtis, but she knew enough not to let some eager man separate her from her drawers.
    The street was quiet in the late afternoon heat. No trouble, no gunfighters, and most importantly, no sheriff. She felt bad fooling him and his sweet little girl the way she had. How could she make it up to him?
    The saloon was dark and hot. Cigar smoke blended with cigarette smoke and the sharp scent of cheap whiskey. Clutching her skirts awkwardly, she pushed through the batwing