The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides) by Sylvia McDaniel Read Free Book Online

asked.
    He stared at her in the darkened shadow.
    “Don’t worry about it.” He ran his hand through his hair. “If I hadn’t pushed the barrel of that gun, you wouldn’t have been shot. It was my fault.”
    “It was an accident. You should blame it on the bandit who held up the stage.” She waited a minute, tilted her head, and asked, “Why did you prevent that bandit from getting shot?”
    Tanner stared out the window. How could he tell her the truth, that he needed Sam Bass alive? That he’d saved Sam’s life and hurt her in the process? He sighed. Would the number of people he’d managed to hurt in his lifetime ever grow smaller in number instead of larger?
    “I thought there had been enough bloodshed,” he acknowledged. “If we’d shot Sam, they wouldn’t have hesitated in killing us all.”
    She reflected on his comments a moment and then said, “You’re probably right. I guess we should be grateful that any of us came out alive.”
    “The Bass gang is a dangerous gang of robbers,” Tanner said, inwardly cringing. They were renowned, and he was one of them.
    The sun was beginning to peek over the eastern horizon, streaking the sky with orange and blue. The dawn was breaking, and he suddenly felt like a caged animal, restless and edgy. He had to get out of this hotel room, if only for a little while. He needed some distance from the beautiful Miss Anderson before he gazed at her luscious, full lips one time too many and decided to find out for himself if they were as succulent as they appeared.
    “I’m going to go downstairs and get us some grub. Then I need to run some errands. I’ll send the maid up with your breakfast and ask her to arrange a bath for you.”
    “Thank you.” She gazed at him, her hazel eyes bright in the early-morning light.
    He seized his gun belt, strapped it on, grabbed his hat, and was halfway out the door when he stopped and looked back. He couldn’t rush out without saying what really was bothering him.
    “Look, I’m sorry you got robbed on that stage. Don’t worry about anything except getting well. I’ll take care of you.”
    And he would help her, he had to, even though he could possibly lose his life in the process. He was in no hurry to catch up with the Bass gang. Besides, he had no choice. Although the tattered remains of his honor wouldn’t let him leave her, he knew he could be sacrificing his freedom at the least, his life at the most. But then again, his life had been a hellhole for over ten years. Why would it matter if it ended now?
    She looked up at him from the bed, her eyes wide and filled with concern. “Don’t feel responsible for my getting shot. It was an accident.”
    He shrugged. “I’m not going to argue with you. I just want you to get well.”
    Tanner shut the door behind him. How would she feel if she knew it was the gang he’d recently joined that had robbed her?
    ***
    Beth awoke at the sound of a noise she recognized and feared. Her eyes opened to the sound of a revolver spinning, the hammer being pulled back. She watched as Tanner held his Navy Colt revolver in his hands, a small can of oil on the table beside him, a rag in his hand. He held the gun intimately, stroking the barrel like a man well acquainted with the revolver. His hands moved swiftly over the open chamber, polishing and cleaning.
    She watched as he tipped the can of oil against the cloth and then twisted the edge of it into the holes of the gun, swabbing it with the rag. His face was intent with a purpose, though he looked as if his thoughts were elsewhere, his mind miles away.
    He was a man who had done this enough times, for it was clearly repetitious work, and he did it automatically. How many bankers knew how to clean a gun?
    Bankers were smooth and polished, with no rough edges, Beth knew, because she’d dealt with more of them in the last few years than she wanted to think about.
    Tanner didn’t fit the mold of a banker.
    He carried himself as though aware