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She froze. “Oops.”
The gun had blasted a hole in the porch near his foot. He stared at her silently for a moment.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing with my gun, woman?” he spat out when he could finally gather his wits about him again.
She looked down at the pistol in her hand, mouth wide open in shock. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go off. Seems a bit more sensitive than my old shotgun.”
“Yeah, because these guns are actually worth a damn. Just what are you doin’ going around grabbin’ the gun out of a man’s holster?”
Her cheeks flashed red, and her eyes quickly darted to an area much more central than his holster—the double meaning in his words registering.
His anger wavered for a second. He liked a woman with a naughty mind on her. But that wasnotthe point at that exact moment.
She straightened her spine. “Well, what are you doing sitting around the house with loaded guns on your hip?”
He looked at her, incredulous. “I’m a gunfighter, darlin’. It wouldn’t do me much good if they were empty.”
“Retiredgunfighter,” she retorted.
He glared at her throwing those words back at him. “Well, since everyone else around me doesn’t seem to want to let me retire, I figured better to be safe than sorry.”
“Well, likeIsaid, I’m sorry,” she said, holding the gun out to him between two fingers.
He scowled and yanked it from her grasp then gave the butt of it a little shake in her direction. “You’re a menace, that’s what you are.”
She folded her arms and stuck her stubborn little nose in the air, her lips working like she was chewing on words she couldn’t release. Finally, she said, “I didn’t realize you could move that fast.”
He just blinked at her. “I can move fast enough with the proper motivation.”
She grumbled under her breath, “Maybe I should shoot at you more often.”
“I heard that.”
She blinked up at him innocently, and he scowled. “I guess it’s just a good thing my reflexes kicked in or I’d have a hole through my foot right now.”
She snorted. “I didn’t think you had any reflexes lef—”
“All right,” he said, cutting her off. “First you shoot me, then you insult me. I’m startin’ to understand why you’re not hitched yet.”
“Oh,” she said with a forced laugh. “You don’t want to get me started on all the reasons it’s apparent whyyouaren’t hitched.”
“I never said I wanted to be hitched.”
“Well neither did I!”
“Why are we arguing about getting hitched?”
She threw her hands up. “I don’t know. You started it!”
“I did no— Ow!” He jumped out of the way of a small goat that was getting ready to headbutt his leg again. “What the devil is that thing?”
Mercy glared at him. “Be nice to Lucille. She’s only upset because you’re yelling.”
He closed his eyes, his head pounding, and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. When he looked at her again, she was watching him with narrowed eyes, like he was a snake getting ready to strike.
She started to argue, but he held up a finger. “Shh.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You can’t shush me.”
