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"Well, if you need anything—all you have to do is ask The town isn't too far away, and neither a away

Barbara turned the knob on the front door and was extre into her own house left little appeal for her Looking around the dis would be in order Dirty clothes littered the floor, dirty dishes were piled up in a tub in the corner, and a layer of brown dust was everywhere, coating the sparse furniture in the small house

Barbara let out a whistle appraising the chores ahead of her It would take a while but it was a necessary task She thought clearer when her surroundings were clean, and she wouldn't be able to think at all until this place held soure out the next step to take in her life, and figure out exactly how she was going to sell this house

The coach took off suddenly, leaving her isolated at the lone cabin The horses whinnied and the wheels creaked as it moved back towards the road

There is no turning back now, she thought wistfully

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Chapter Three

Barbara cleaned for hours, scrubbing the wooden floors, dusting off the worn furniture, washing down the s, until she fell onto the bed, exhausted The quilted down comforter enfolded her in its warm folds She didn't ue consu before she drifted into a dreamless sleep

Darkness settled over the new frontier and went unnoticed by Barbara as she slept on the bed It was not until much later, she was startled awake by the sound of the door swing open and closed Heavy footsteps broke the silence of the night Her heart froze in fear as she realized she had forgotten to lock the door It was pitch black in the cabin, and so quiet she could hear the stranger's breathing across the rooe place A wild land, full of Indians and cowboys Outlaalked a everyone else freely The law of the as about who carried the bigger gun It wasn't safe for her to be alone like this What had she been thinking?

Silently she lay still frozen in place on the bed, agonizing over what to do next She couldn't see hiined it was his coat that just fell to the floor He sat down on the chair, loosening his clothing

Good Lord! He was undressing!

Barbara hoped he didn't plan to join her in the bed He didn't know she was there yet Perhaps if she was quiet she could slip out unnoticed Then she could go get the sheriff to throw the trespasser out Shenot to ined he just took off his shirt as she stood up in the darkness Revealing a bare chest that no lady of good society should be seeing on any man except her husband

The soft material barely an to whistle in the dark as he worked to undress One shoe hit the floor with a thud, and then another What was he doing now? Working at his belt perhaps? Goodness sake, she was going to be in the roo hit the floor with a clink There was not much left to remove but his pants, so she wasn't surprised when she could hear the sound of the s

Desperation hit her She had to get out of here now! This was incredibly dangerous Being alone with a er and naked was a recipe for disaster No one even knew she was here alone to worry about her if she wentThere was no one she knew that could help her Nowhere that she could go Stealthily she crept to the door and towards safety

The floor creaked under him as he stood up and came towards her Panic seized her heart and suddenly in a frenzy, she threw the door open, running for her freedom

"What the hell?” Vincent Waverly heard the door sla out of the cabin That wasn't the the wind His heart pounded with ain here? Why hadn't they spoken a word to hi to let that soet away from him

Barbara could hear hi after her His breath came hard as he pounded the soft earth behind her She pushed herself to run faster, lifting her skirt up out of the way of her feet Unrelenting he refused to allow her to escape

Suddenly he was upon her, his strong ar his bodyweight to knock her to the ground The soft earth and grass broke her fall, but it ainst his arain

"Let go ofunder his body

"You're a girl?” his deep voice said in disbelief His hands were on her ripe breasts, feeling the fullness of them as if to be sure of her sex

"Not a girl” She puffed out her chest indignantly, arching away fro oaf"

He wasn't about to argue with her there She was most definitely a woman, with very womanly curves However, he wasn't about to remove his body from hers until he had soet off her

His body was already responding to being in such close contact and she was a perfect stranger His powerful body pinned her to the ground, and in a entlemanly like manner This was not a situation he anticipated His conscience dictated that he should be re his body from hers, but there was still anotherhere in the first place?

He growled out, “Not so fast What were you doing in my house?"

She seenant when she responded, her voice lined with restrained anger, “Your house? It belongs to hter"

"Who?” He didn't recognize the nainally suspected She really did think she belonged here He turned her body over, kneeling above her Her disheveled hair was strewn about her shoulders His cock was hardening in response to her feainst the confines of his pants Vincent always had been a sucker for a beautiful woman There were too many women in his memories He couldn't remember half of their names, but this one

"Joseph Lane” Barbara paused a nize the naold mine here and built this house, and I have come to clai,” she gritted out between clenched teeth

The hter out here than in the house and he could see the resemblance now She looked like his old friend, Buster He stared deep into her stormy eyes Her eyes were a prettier shade of blue than her father's, only accentuated by her anger He let his gaze trail down her face to her heaving breasts,As if she sensed where his rowl

She was a spitfire, to be sure

"What is your name?” he asked

Her fighting spirit captivated hiive up her escape Her lips pursed in resentment of her confinement