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that why you dress like a man?” Desperado challenged. “So the hired hands will take you seriously?” He thumbed his hat back and let his heated gaze slowly roam over her curves. “Let me tell you, lady, it ain’t working. You’re too damn provocative in those tight trousers to be mistaken for anything but a beautiful woman. I’m surprised a man hasn’t put you in your place.”
    “And just where is that place, Mr. Jones?” Chloe challenged. “Are you deliberately goading me?”
    “Why, ma’am,” Desperado drawled, letting his gaze linger on her heaving breasts, “why would I goad you? Everyone knows a woman’s place is in the home, taking care of her man and raising his children. A real woman doesn’t prance around in tight trousers, trying to run a ranch like a man.”
    “Why you despicable…half-breed!” Chloe flung out. “How dare you ridicule my mode of dress or the way I live my life! You’re a hired gun, a man who kills for a living. You have no business finding fault with me. For your information, I don’t need a man. I’m perfectly content with my life. Having someone telling me how to dress and what to do doesn’t appeal to me.”
    “What does appeal to you?” Desperado whispered in a sexy-as-sin voice. “Doesn’t
anything
about men please you?”
    “Very little,” Chloe retorted. The look she gave him dared him to prove otherwise.
    Desperado was just the man to answer her unspoken challenge. Before she realized what he intended, before she could reach for her gun, he tugged her into his arms and held her captive against him. He heard her gasp as her breasts came into heated contact with the hard wall of his chest, but that was the last sound she made.
    Chloe stared into his face, stunned by what she saw. His eyes were narrowed, his lips full and soft. His nostrils were flared as if he was aroused by the scent of her. Awareness slammed through her as she sensed his sharp desire, and the knowledge that he wanted her sent heat surging through her veins. He enthralled her. Mesmerized her with his animal magnetism. His dark face was stark with hunger and sexual arousal, and she suddenly knew what being prey for the hunter felt like. She realized what was coming the moment his head lowered toward hers, but the strength of his arms prevented her from reaching for her gun.
    No! This can
’
t be happening
, her mind cried out. No man had touched her since…And that had been such a horrible experience, she’d vowed she’d let no man touch her again. Yet here she was, caught in a web of seduction so powerful she felt like a female for the first time in over three years. She made a feeble effort to shove him away, but her strength had suddenly deserted her.
    Then his mouth was gliding smoothly over hers, prodding her lips open with his tongue, tasting her and letting her taste him. His taste was intoxicating. Delicious. Manly. Without realizing it, she stopped fighting him and gave herself up to the kiss. She wasn’t aware of what his hands were doing until she felt them slide beneath her jacket to cup her breasts.
    Determined to put the gunslinger in his place once and for all, Chloe broke off the kiss and managed to shove him away. “Don’t you ever do that again!”
    Desperado stepped back and stared at her. Her eyes glowed beneath her mask of fury. Her breasts rose and fell with her ragged breathing. He gave her a slow, dimpled smile. “I don’t need to. I just proved that you do need a man.” His smile grew wider. “I knew there had to be
something
you liked about men.”
    Enraged beyond speech, Chloe hauled off and slapped him. Then she whirled on her heel and stomped away, her hips swaying in time to her jangling spurs.

Chapter Three
    During the following days Desperado reacquainted himself with the ranch and land that should have been his. The more he saw, the deeper his resentment grew against Norie Sommers and her daughter. He began to understand just how much he’d been