Charlene Sands by Bodines Bounty

Author:Bodines Bounty [Bounty, Bodines]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Emma was first to arrive at the diner. She’d left the hotel more than half past the hour, according to the clock in the lobby. She was late and Bodine wouldn’t be happy. But as she sat at a table in the crowded eatery and checked the room, Bodine was nowhere in sight.

She’d taken a little nap, the soft bed and lovely surroundings in her room too tempting for a woman who’d been chased, saved from a band of Indians, trapped in a snowstorm and romanced by a bounty hunter with just one name. Luckily, she’d woken up with a start and had left for the diner directly.

Mingling scents of onions and herbs and apple pies baking stirred Emma’s growing hunger. Her stomach grumbled. She gazed at the hand-printed menu on the wall and decided on Irish potatoes, fried chicken and warmed apple pie, the entire meal mouthwatering. If Bodine was so darn hungry, where was he? She’d been waiting now more than ten minutes, taking up space and getting hungrier by the second.

A man took the seat opposite her at the table. “I’m sorry,” she said, peering up, irritated by his gumption. “But I’m waiting—”

Emma stopped to stare at the man grinning before her.

Bodine?

“Amazing what a shave and haircut can do.”

Yes. That was his voice.

Emma continued to stare, clamping her mouth shut to keep it from dropping open in amazement. An hour ago, he had looked range weary and unkempt. If she thought him handsome before, with disheveled hair and a full beard, the clean-shaven Bodine with dark hair combed back and storm-cloud eyes gleaming, Emma couldn’t recall ever seeing a more appealing man.

Her heart pumped hard and her mind rattled with both caution and delight. “You…” she began, swallowing down. “You’re wearing new clothes.”

“Kind of you to notice,” he said, waving over an apron-clad waitress. “I’ll have steak with all the fixin’s and a tall glass of lemonade.”

Emma looked over his fresh plaid shirt and tan suede vest with concealed admiration.

“And you, miss?” The harried woman tapped her foot, impatient for Emma’s order.

Recovering from her surprise, she managed to give her order and return to look at Bodine. “You’re late.”

“Had things to do. I’d say I made darn good time.”

“You kept me waiting,” she said, still flustered by his appearance.

“Afraid I’d pilfer your cash, Emmy? I told you I’d be here.”

“Well then, what took you so long?”

By habit, Bodine ran his hand down his jaw, though the beard was gone. “Couldn’t quite get myself out of the tub. Felt too damn good.”

“You kept me waiting while you bathed?” she asked, lowering her voice to a hushed whisper.

“The opportunity presented itself, Emmy. Shave and haircut and a bath.”

“And you managed to get new clothes, too?” It seemed impossible to believe. But she knew her annoyance had more to do with his transformation than anything else. She would be forever thinking of him and the way he made her feel deep inside.

“Managed it, sure enough. Doesn’t take a man any longer to purchase a shirt than a bluebird to swoop down on a worm.

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