Ellie shifted on the hard seat of the ladderback chair and stiffened her spine. She laced her fingers together and squeezed one hand with the other to keep from landing a blow to the good Sheriff Jake Avery\u2019s face. His large hands gripped the front of his desk as the waves of his laughter slapped against her. He\u2019d blinked twice at her proposition to rob a train, and then\u2026 this\u2026laughter, so deep his tight stomach rolled and teardrops rested on long dark\u2013blond eyelashes. He even snorted a couple times.<\/span><\/p>\n Refusing to let the insult of his laughter humble her, Ellie never allowed her gaze drop to her lap or shift from his face. If he thought her insane, he had cause\u2014she\u2019d give him that much. Over the past week, she\u2019d called on Jake for everything from a cat stuck in a tree, one she\u2019d chased up that tree, to a broken fence she said her neighbor cut allowing her cattle to scatter. Jake spent all day and well into the night helping her round up the cattle she\u2019d let lose by cutting her own fence. These were just two of the awful things she\u2019d done, all to test Jake\u2019s patience, endurance and trustworthiness. And he\u2019d passed.<\/p>\n Oh, she\u2019d noticed the tick in his clenched jaw, the looks toward the heavens, and clenched fists. But Jake was a man who saw a job through, no matter how frustrating or distasteful. She\u2019d also been introduced to how quick he could open a safe without the combination when she \u201cforgot\u201d the combination to her husband\u2019s safe. And through a series of other mishaps, she\u2019d been schooled in his skill with armaments of any variation. She\u2019d heard the stories, now she knew the man. So, if he wanted to play the buffoon and howl with laughter for a few moments at her expense she\u2019d allow it\u2026this time.<\/p>\n But Lordy, she wished he\u2019d be quick about it, she was about to melt in a pool of blue satin from all the clothes she was layered in, from bloomers, to corset, to the indigo dress she\u2019d worn with the infernal feather hat to match. It was a dress her late husband brought back to her from his last trip to Australia. Jim saw her in it once when he took her out to a celebratory supper. He\u2019d fallen ill the next day, and the dress was hidden in mothballs until she aired it out two days ago for her meeting this morning.<\/p>\n The pain in her left hand alerted her that memories were causing her to clamp down too hard. She cleared her throat in an effort to speed things along. The sheriff\u2019s laughter died with a sputter as his gaze met hers and his right eyebrow hitched.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not laughin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it wasn\u2019t a joke, Sheriff Avery. I want you to help me rob a train.\u201d<\/p>\n Copyright Prairie Rose Publications, Kirsten Lynn, 2015<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords! Join Jake and Ellie on a wild ride! Outlaw Jake Avery is handed an ultimatum–hang for his crimes, or become the new Sheriff of Sheridan, Wyoming. When he chooses the … Continue reading ![\"The](\"http:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-Widows-Lawman.jpg\")
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