Covington, Cara - Love Under Two Lawmen [The Lost Collection] (Siren Menage Everlasting) by Cara Covington Read Free Book Online

her. Up until this afternoon when she’d arrived in Waco, Texas, no man ever had.
    It didn’t escape her sense of irony, either, that not just one, but two men had accomplished that feat. Two men who were already in love with each other.
    “Amanda has a point,” Caleb said. “Can you just…go?”
    Adam exhaled and fixed his gaze on Warren. When that man nodded, Adam shrugged. “I got a letter a couple of days ago from headquarters. I’ve been given a promotion to Major and transferred to Austin. They’ve given me a month to get my affairs here wound up.” He paused and looked from Warren to the Benedicts.
    “Everyone I care about is here. I don’t want to go to Austin.”
    “Adam and I have been talking for some time about getting a place of our own, farther from town. I’m not much of a rancher, but I could learn. Or maybe I could offer legal services—sort of like a traveling lawyer—to folks not near a city.”
    “How many times have I told you that we’ll gladly sell you some of our land? We have more than we need—” Sarah sounded frustrated, and Amanda could tell this was an old argument.
    “And we would gladly accept your offer if you charged us a fair price for that land and if we had the money to buy it.”
    “Stubborn.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Adam said.
    Amanda was impressed with the gentleness with which Adam answered her cousin. He shook his head, then looked at Amanda.
    “Maybe we won’t find that gold. But maybe we will. I have no doubt as to the authenticity of Gladstone’s account. I know the general area where he hid the bullion. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the three of us, on horseback, should be able to make the round trip in a bit more than a couple of months.”
    Amanda stared at Adam. “A couple of months ? On horseback ?”
    “Don’t tell me you can’t ride.”
    “Yes, I can ride. My mother arranged for me to learn to ride, and in fact, I’ve done so nearly every week for the past couple of years. But even I know that is a far cry from spending day after day in the saddle.”
    “Well, if you can’t do it—”
    “I never said I couldn’t do it! I can do it!” She narrowed her eyes at Adam. At this moment, the wonderful physical feelings this man caused in her didn’t match the degree to which he could fire her temper and get her mad.
    “We’d need supplies. Did you plan for that?”
    Oh, this man really did know how to stir her temper to epic proportions. “The journal wasn’t the only thing William Gladstone left me, I’ll remind you.” She nodded her head. In fact, she’d expected to have to hire guides as well as pay for supplies. “I brought one thousand dollars with me.”
    “Jesus Christ!”
    “What?”
    “You traveled alone , all the way from Richmond, carrying a thousand dollars? Are you crazy ?”
    Amanda opened her mouth and then shut it again. Sometime in the last couple of minutes, she’d gotten to her feet and now stood toe-to-toe with the Texas Ranger. It suddenly occurred to her that everyone else in the room was watching this exchange between her and Adam with all the attention of spectators at the opera. Or a bull fight. Warren wore a big smile, but the other three just looked intrigued.
    “I am not crazy,” she said between clenched teeth.
    “No? What would you have done if some yahoo had come up to you and threatened to rob you? Crowded close like I am now and demanded your money…and your virtue?”
    “I’d have shown him this.”
    The movement was smooth and swift from practice, because despite what the infuriating, gorgeous man in front of her thought, she did know to be careful and she did know how to take care of herself.
    That was just one more thing her mother had seen to.
    She bent slightly, lifted her right boot, and pulled out her knife, whipping it to within an inch of Adam Kendall’s face.
    Adam’s eyes widened as he took a step back. She had to admit it felt good to surprise him.
    Caleb whistled. “That is