Deadly Fortune by J. R. Roberts

Author:J. R. Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

When Gigi had taken him to the wagon parked on the outskirts of town, Clint had thought she meant for them to ride out to whatever spot she’d been telling him about. After unlocking the rear door and stepping inside, however, it became clear that she wasn’t planning on going anywhere else.

Clint stood at the back end of the wagon. “We’re not driving this thing anywhere?” he asked.

Lighting a single lantern and twisting the knob so the flame was just bright enough to dispel a few shadows, she replied, “Did you see any horses hitched to it?”

“No.”

“Well, that answers that question, doesn’t it?”

The wagon was only slightly wider than something that any family might use to carry their household from one side of the country to the other. Small trunks lined one side and the other side was piled high with boxes of different sizes that somehow fit together like a massive puzzle. Gigi placed the lantern on top of one of the trunks and then turned toward the front of the wagon so she could root through another trunk.

“Do you sleep in here sometimes?” Clint asked.

Without looking back to him, she replied, “No, that’s what the house in town is for.”

“Considering how much sweet-talking you do for your customers, I’m amazed what a smart mouth you’ve got.”

“You’re not a customer.”

“That’s true. What are you doing?”

Gigi peeled off the first few layers of fabric wrapped around her hips. “Getting out of these rags and into something a bit more practical.”

Clint hunched over so he could step into the wagon and shut the little door behind him. “I don’t know,” he said. “I kind of like those rags.”

“Of course you do. Everyone does.”

“I’d think the men who visit you would be more partial to them than the women.”

“The men like them for obvious reasons,” she said while removing all but the last layer covering her lower half. As she unwrapped her upper body, she explained, “Women like them because they make me look like they expect me to look.”

“You mean . . . like a gypsy.”

“Exactly.”

“You look like a gypsy because you are a gypsy.” Furrowing his brow, Clint added, “Aren’t you?”

“Whatever you prefer.”

Clint reached out to steady himself using the stacks on either side of him. The top of the wagon was too low for him to stand completely straight, but he was able to get mostly there once he’d removed his hat. Thanks to the iron hoops functioning as arches above him, he was granted a bit more room than he’d been expecting.

Now that she’d removed her loose-fitting blouse and some of the scarves that had been wrapped around her shoulders and midsection, Clint could see the smooth skin of her back and neck. Squinting into the flickering light thrown off by the lantern, he approached her and placed his fingertip near her shoulder at a spot that was partly covered by her hair. “What’s this?” he asked while tapping a black circle that was about the size of a penny.

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