The Devil's Own Desperado Read Online Free Page B

breath before she turned her gaze to the man lying in her bed. He was in pain, he was in a strange place, and from the things she had heard him say in his delirium, he was on the run from someone, but none of those reasons was an excuse for his behavior. “You’re acting like a spoiled child, Mr. Evans.”
    Something very dangerous glittered in the icy depths of his eyes. “How do you know my name?” The quiet, even quality of his voice was more chilling than an angry shout would have been.
    “Saul went through your saddlebags and found a Bible with your name inscribed on the cover. At least, we assumed it was your name.” She neglected to mention Saul’s constant chatter about the man’s supposed reputation with a gun. “I’ve been reading your Bible while I watched over you.” Amelia knelt, and placed the shards of the bowl onto the righted tray. She slowly rose to her feet. “I’ll be back with a rag to clean the rest of this. Then I have chores to do. I’m afraid you’ll be by yourself for a while.”
    “Suits me just fine, lady.” He looked out the windows, though Amelia knew he couldn’t see much with the gingham curtains drawn to keep the harsh light and heat of afternoon out of the room.
    Amelia paused in the doorway, studying him. Her anger sparked to life, and this time, she didn’t quell it. “If you are always this rude and this uncivilized, it is no small wonder someone tried to kill you.”
    He turned his head to her in a deliberate motion and his gray gaze raked up and down her frame before settling on her face.
    Amelia had the uncomfortable sensation of being evaluated by a large predatory animal. She wanted to do nothing more than turn and flee the room. She forced herself to meet his gaze.
    He was silent for a long moment as his brow slowly arched upward. “You’ve got an awful lot of grit for such a little bit of calico. I bet you’ve got enough grit in you to take a shot at me right now and kill me.”
    Amelia forced a shiver away. That gaze could freeze a mountain lake in minutes. “Actually, Mr. Evans, I wouldn’t want to kill you. I have spent too much time over the last four days keeping you alive.” She backed out of the room and quietly pulled the door shut behind her.

Chapter Four
    Four days? She’d been taking care of him for four days? His often dormant conscience railed at him for his behavior. Colt made a mental note to apologize to her, but other concerns soon crowded out his guilt.
    How far was he from Red Deer? Had he put enough distance between himself and the Matthews brothers, or at least enough to give him a few days to regain his strength? He recalled at least three, maybe four sunrises on the painful, hard ride from Red Deer. He hoped a four days’ ride was enough, because at the moment, he doubted he could stand, much less ride. But once he could ride, he would really put space between himself and the Matthews.
    Colt shut his eyes for a moment, cursing whatever Fates were toying with his life. He was so damn tired of never staying long in one place, of forever looking over his shoulder, waiting for the inevitable to happen—a bullet in the back, or being a fraction of a second too slow. Like he’d been in Red Deer. That fraction of a second had almost cost him his life.
    His eyes flew open. Where had she hidden his gun? If the Matthews clan showed up while he was flat on his back in a bed and without his gun it would be bad. The Matthews weren’t known for their genteel treatment of woman. He sure as hell didn’t want to see the woman or anyone else caught in the cross fire between himself and the Matthews. He could handle himself in a straight-out gunfight, but if there were people who would be caught in the middle—he shivered.
    Even if the damned woman was stubborn and refused to listen to him when he said he wanted food, not broth, he didn’t want to see her get hurt. She’d spent four days taking care of him, keeping him alive, nursing him. He