Lady of the Gun by Faye Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

been very busy." She couldn't add that she'd sent the sheriff out to the Lazy T to ask questions about his father's possible part in her family's murders. Now, with Ramsey looking down on her, all golden hair and friendly smiles, she felt a little guilty.
    Ram sey watched the color rising in her cheeks. He'd heard the stories about Cassidy's revenge. His father had written him about it. But even the twin Colts strapped to her thighs couldn't convince him she was as dangerous as Hunt had claimed. Stepping even closer to her, he leaned over slightly, creating a feeling of privacy. "You've become a very beautiful woman, Cass," he breathed intimately.
    Cass glanced up into his eyes, startled by such a revelation from a man she hardly knew. "I don't know what to..to say," she stammered.
    "Don't say anything. Just accept the truth when it's told to you." He squeezed her hands.
    Warning bells went off in Cass's head as he tightened his grip on her. Why would Ramsey Tylo get down off a stage after not having seen her for five years, and not even knowing her that well to begin with, and act as if they'd been close friends before he left town? This was too much, too quick. And it was making her uncomfortable. "I . . . ah . . ." she started to pull her hands from his grasp.
    "Excuse me, Cass." Brett spoke coldly as he stepped closer to the couple. "I don't mean to interrupt your reunion, but I'd like to meet your friend."
    Ramsey looked up from Cass's face to see a tall, dark man with steel-gray eyes sizing him up. He instantly stiffened, "Yes?" he said coolly.
    Cass looked from Ramsey's golden countenance to the dark, attractive features of the marshal and could feel the tension between them. Opposites, she thought. Taking her hands from Ramsey's, she stepped back, "Marshal Brett Ryder, meet Ramsey Tylo," she stated simply.
    "Tylo?"
    "Yes," Ramsey affirmed. "Of the Lazy T, You probably know my father."
    "No. I only just arrived in Twisted Creek this morning."
    "Then that would explain why my father never mentioned you in his letters."
    Cass watched this seemingly innocent exchange and felt the animosity between the two men grow with every word. She looked from one to the other and could see no reason they'd be at odds when they'd just met. Then Ramsey took a small step in her direction and placed his hand softly at the base of her spine. Raising her brow in surprise, she glanced up at him, then at Brett.
    Brett's gray eyes had taken on the color of storm clouds, and she could see the anger behind them, ready to explode like a summer deluge. Ramsey's eyes now glowed with the fire of his temper, a temper she remembered from childhood.
    "Does Twisted Creek have need of a marshal, or are you just snooping around?" Ramsey asked, an innocent tone barely masking the rudeness of his question.
    Brett smiled, a feral stretching of his lips. "I'm here on business," he answered.
    "Really? Do te ll. I love small-town gossip. What dangerous criminal are you chasing down?"
    Brett transferred his gaze purposefully to Cass. "Actually, I'm here to investigate the Lady of the Gun," he explained softly.
    Cass's eyes widened. He couldn't mean her, could he?
    "The Lady of the Gun?" inquired Ramsey"
    "Yes," answered Brett, not taking his eyes from Cass's face. "And what I've found so far has me very intrigued."
    R amsey looked suspiciously from Brett to Cass. His father had never told him she'd acquired a title to go with her reputation. "You don't mean . . ."
    Brett glanced only briefly at Ramsey. "Yes. Cass is the woman I was sent here to find. Now that I've found her, I'll be sticking very close to her for a while."
    Cass cou ld feel Ramsey's fingers stiffen at her back.
    “I do hope you're not planning on being a nuisance when I take her to dinner this evening,"' Ramsey murmured.
    Cass's eyes jerked upward as she fixed Ramsey with a startled glare. "Dinner?"
    Ramsey met her expression with a confident smile . "Yes, Cass. As soon as I saw you again, I