Caught by Surprise Read Free Page A

recreation time.”
    He tilted his head back and looked at her from under the brim of his hat, his eyes sleepy and teasing. “What game do you want to play, love?”
    She shook her head in mild disgust and motioned toward the cell door. “We’ve got a lounge with a TV and a pool table. There’s also a fenced-in yard with weight equipment. You can amuse yourself until dinner.”
    He sat up, swung his long legs off the side of the bunk, and tossed his hat across the room. It landed precisely on the dresser. “Can I stay put? I’ve got some thinkin’ to do.”
    Millie gave him a puzzled look. “You don’t want to sit in this cell all the time, do you? It’ll be a long two months.”
    “Gonna be a long two months no matter how I cut it.” He looked toward the window, his jaw set tightly. “I grew up in the outback. During the five years I’ve lived in the States, I’ve spent most of my time on the road playin’ gigs. I guess I’m used to being about as free as a man can get.”
    Millie studied the unhappiness in his face, and a traitorous feeling of sympathy lightened her stern attitude. “We’ll keep you busy,” she told him. “You’ll get put on work details, just like any other prisoner.”
    “I’m the only one in the pokey. Why don’t you go arrest somebody to keep me company?”
    “Oh, we’ll find some other n’er-do-wells to share the jail with you, don’t worry.”
    He turned to look at her, cocked his head to one side, and said in mild accusation, “So, my fine Sheila, you’ve got no heart for me and think I’m a bad guy.”
    His Australian accent had a way of turning the end of sentences up, as if he considered everything a question. He talked out of the side of his mouth in a way that she found mesmerizing. For a second she didn’t answer, but simply stood there and looked at him. A woman could lose herself in the sturdy contours of that well-lived-in face. Get a grip on yourself, she ordered silently, and took a deep breath.
    “Lots of people think you’re a bad guy,” she informed him. “You attacked a man for no good reason.”
    “Oh, I had a good reason.”
    “Hmmm. I’m not going to play judge, McKay. Let’s not discuss it any—”
    “It was over a woman,” he said in a wicked tone. “Everybody knows that. You’re just too polite to poke me for information yet.”
    “I don’t care about your love life.” It was a lie, but she would never admit
that
to him.
    “She was worth fightin’ for. Otherwise I wouldn’t have walloped that fellow in the Tennessee state senate. Punched him right in the rotunda.”
    Millie could picture the kind of woman who’d inspire such violence. She’d be tall, tall and delicate. Men didn’t beat each other up over short deputy sheriffs. She shook her head to clear away thoughts that were distinctly envious.
    “Let’s change the subject. The word you said when I, er, rammed you in the stomach—
strewth
—what’s that mean?”
    “Just a little oath.
God’s truth
, shortened. Aussies like to cut sentences down. Saves energy talkin’.”
    “Why’d you call me Sheila?”
    “It’s an Aussie word for a prime girl.”
    “Oh.” She frowned at him. “Blarney.”
    “Blamey?” he echoed.
    “Irish word. Means bullfeathers.”
    “Hmmm.” He let the insult pass without comment. “You Irish?”
    “Nope.”
    “I’m part Scotch, meself. Great-great-great-granddaddy was a pure Scotsman.”
    “How’d he end up in Australia?”
    Brig grinned. “Came over on a convict ship.”
    “How appropriate.”
    “He was only fourteen. Stole a ham from a fat Englishman, and the English courts sailed him off to the penal colony.”
    “Hmmm. My great-great-great-grandfather was a pirate. French. He used to attack Spanish ships, and he retired to Paradise Springs after the Spanish ceded Florida to the United States. He was safe here.”
    “Hurray!” Brig stood up and applauded. “Pirates and convicts! We’re a bonzer pair then,