Scarlet Lady Read Online Free

Mississippi.
    Without quite knowing how it happened, Katie found herself in Montana’s living quarters—still in his arms. After a long moment he let go of her knees, allowing her body to caress his inch by inch until her feet touched the floor.
    “I’ve lost a shoe,” she murmured breathlessly.
    “Silly shoes.” Montana held her close with the fingers of one large hand while he picked a wet feather from her shoulder with his other. “Silly dress,” he said, trailing the feather down her neck and letting it fall. “Let’s lose that, too.”
    The feeling of a strap being pushed from her shoulder jerked her back to the present. She let out a cry of alarm and pushed him away, feeling as though she’d just walked out of the darkness and into a very bright light.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
    “I’m not thinking. At this point thinking takes a definite backseat to wanting.” He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
    “Stop that!” She twisted her face away, moving out of the heat zone that seemed to surround Mr. Rhett Butler Montana. “Now what are you doing?”
    “Kissing you again,” he answered, “for starters.”
    “Put your hands on me once more, and I’ll scream so loud that the boat will turn over from the press of people coming to my rescue.”
    Taking a step backward, she held out her hands, palms up, creating an invisible barrier between them. “I didn’t come here for this. This definitely wasn’t part of my plan.”
    He leaned casually against the dresser while he caught his breath, studying her. “Plan? There was no way in hell anybody could have planned this,” he said.
Not even me. Certainly not me
.
    Slowly, he forced himself to regain control. He’d frightened her with the unexpected flare of desire. He’d frightened himself as well. He’d damned near lost his head and all control.
    No. He’d never been that overwhelmed by a woman. He’d never wanted to be, nor had he ever been so caught up in the heat of the moment that he’d overstepped his own boundaries. Not since he was eighteen. Not since Laura. Not since he’d lost the courage to love.
    At seventeen, Laura’d had no more experience with love and desire than he had. It was this same kind of passion that had cost him the woman he loved, his family, and his future. But Laura had lost more. Laura had lost her sanity and finally her life.
    Now, as he stepped back and took an honest look at the mystery woman in red who’d refused to give a name beyond Katie, he realized that she was no more experienced as a femme fatale than she was as a gambler.
    But, dammit, she’d gotten to him, and his emotions were still churning so violently that he was having trouble handling the situation.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, more gruffly than he intended.“I didn’t mean to scare you. This was too fast. Let’s start again.”
    His change to a slow, steady voice finally got through to her, and she began to look calmer, but she didn’t speak. He couldn’t tell whether it was because she had no answer or because she had lost her voice.
    To give them both a chance to regroup and start again, he walked over to the table beside his bed and picked up the phone. “Bring up a pot of coffee,” he said, looking over at her. “Unless you’d rather have something stronger?”
    She shook her head, pulled her gaze from the large round bed, which was covered by a red spread, and glanced down at her bare feet. “No, coffee will be fine.”
    “And some sandwiches.” He hung up the phone.
    Katie felt something hit the boat with a muffled thud. She shivered, sliding her hands up and down her hips. “About your jacket. I seem to have lost it, along with my shoes.”
    “No great loss. I have a number of them, all alike. It’s part of my uniform.”
    “Uniform?”
    “Everybody expects me to look like”—he could have said “my namesake,” but changed it to—“Bret Maverick or Doc Holliday. It’s good for