Verrick's Vixen by Caroline Lee

Author:Caroline Lee [Lee, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Have you seen any signs of Baker following us?” Cora asked as she pulled her boots on.

Verrick might’ve rolled his eyes, had he been that sort of man. Instead, he concentrated on tightening the flank cinch around his horse. “Do you think I would’ve let down my guard so thoroughly last night, were that the case?”

From her place by the now-cold fire, she snorted. “You’re saying I distracted you?”

He straightened and turned, piercing her with a stare. “Yes,” he said simply.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Was it? He wasn’t sure anymore. Obviously she was distracting, and he’d allowed himself to be distracted, but was it a wise move? He needed to remember they were in danger from Baker. Being with her was not only a distraction, it was stealing his basic instincts from him.

I’m not focused.

His lips tugged down thoughtfully. Why did she have this power over him? Why was he giving her this power?

She rolled to her feet holding her jacket, and he couldn’t help but remember how good it felt to hold her in his lap just an hour ago. They’d fed one another leftovers, and he’d felt right.

“So are you sure he’s following us?”

Her question jerked him out of the memory. “What?”

She shrugged and crossed to him. “You left Sunset Valley so suddenly on Sunday, surely you couldn’t even be certain Baker followed you. That telegram said he would, right?”

“The telegram was from him, yes. He said he was coming for me.”

“So you left the ranch to force him to come after you?” She didn’t wait for his confirmation. “But he could’ve been held up some place. Maybe he didn’t even make it to Black Aces, much less the ranch. Or maybe…”

Verrick’s breathing had sped up while he listened to her conjectures, and now he forced himself to take a deep breath.

Calm. Detach. Focus.

“Maybe what?”

Her lips twitched as she smiled up at him. “I don’t know. Maybe it was just a ruse.”

A ruse.

Maybe it was just a ruse.

Verrick’s jaw tightened as he ran through the evidence. He had left the ranch as soon as he’d had word, knowing Baker would come after him. But would Baker know that about him? Could the gunslinger have used that information to manipulate Verrick?

If that was the case, it would explain why there’d been no evidence of Baker shadowing them, even though Verrick had been traveling at a leisurely pace as he looped around, leaving an easy trail.

Well, hell.

He closed his eyes on the conclusion staring him in the face. Baker wasn’t trailing them. He’d guessed Verrick’s plan and had used that information. Which meant…

“We need to get back to the ranch.”

He’d known being with Cora had shot his instincts all to hell, but this was intolerable. This was life-or-death, and he’d failed.

When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him with an expression which looked part concerned, part amused.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Verrick,” she said.

She was wrong.

“Load up,” he said curtly.

“Did you take the time to tell Lucas that Baker was on his way?”

No, he hadn’t.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.