Read Daring for Free Online Page B

about. Now, I just don’t care.”
    “At this moment, it seems he’s ready and you’re not.”
    “Deke Culver is the past. Bounty hunting is the future. No man tells me what to do. I’m an independent woman.”
    *
    The next day she walked down to the sheriff’s office before the scheduled time to put Caroline on the stagecoach to Zenith. She’d be home in two days with an adventure to talk about. She’d promised to let Ruby’s sisters know she was all right, though Ruby knew they would be angry she was bounty hunting alone. Thank God, they were both pregnant or else they’d come looking for her, insisting she come home, and Ruby wasn’t ready to settle down with a husband and babies. She enjoyed this life, though she was about to experience her first hunt without anyone’s help.
    Strolling down the wooden sidewalk, she meandered toward the sheriff’s office. She wanted to take a look at the latest wanted posters and see if she could make some quick money before she had to return home and help Annabelle and Meg.
    Pausing outside the jail, she gazed at the posters that were hanging on the wall. There were rustlers, bank robbers, thieves, and wayward women. There were also drawings of people who were missing. As she stared at the posters, Deke strolled up beside her.
    He chuckled. “Looking for a new bounty to hunt?”
    She gave him a sideways glance. “You can say that? I bet you’re doing the same.”
    Of all the people to run into today, she’d hoped to get out of town before seeing him again. They’d caught up, had a little fun snagging a criminal, and now she was ready to move on. Though she had enjoyed gazing at his dark hair, muscled chest, full lips and emerald eyes once again, looking was all she could do. Someday, a woman would capture his wayward spirit and enjoy every inch of Deke. Just not Ruby.
    “Need a new outlaw to chase,” Deke said softly. “Where’s Caroline?”
    “Packing. I’m taking her to catch the stagecoach at noon,” she replied.
    Turning toward her, he raised his brows and stared.
    “She agreed she needs more practice.”
    He sighed. “Thank God, we’ll all be a little safer now. After the second time her gun misfired, I knew we were in danger.”
    “She told me she closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger.”
    “It’s a wonder you weren’t hit,” he said, not looking at her, but staring at the notices on the wall. “Who are you going after next?”
    Like she would share that information with him. Did he think she was that much of a greenhorn? She darted him a quick glance and frowned. “Now, why would I tell you? You’d race after him and steal my bounty. I’m not disclosing anything to you.”
    Besides, she wanted to put as much distance between her and Deke Culver as she could. Few men made her feel safe, but with Deke, she felt sheltered and secure. She didn’t understand why, but with Deke, she almost felt protected. Still, she wasn’t willing to stick around and find out why. She didn’t have time to explore the baser feelings of life.
    He grinned and continued studying the public notices.
    Suddenly, the door to the sheriff’s office opened and the lawman stepped out. “Saw you two out here looking at the posters and realized I had a new set that just came in. Thought you might be interested in them.” He took a hammer and nail and pounded the first one up on the wall. Then he hammered a nail into a second sign, stepped back, and smiled. “Keep up the good work.”
    After he disappeared back into the office, Ruby and Deke stepped up to see the new bills. He tried to block her way, and she walked underneath his arm, coming up between him and the notices.
    “Get out of my way,” she said, pushing him back. “I was here first.”
    Deke chuckled and pulled her snug up against his chest; her head fit perfectly below his chin. “I think there are plenty of outlaws here for both of us.”
    “Maybe, but I’m wanting the ones that are local and will be