HisBootsUnderHerBed Read Free

the blood from me!”
    “Medicine’s advanced beyond the Dark Ages, Pop, so stop acting like such a baby. You can get along without whiskey for one night.”
    “Are you telling me you didn’t bring me whiskey?”
    “I bought it like you asked, but I accidentally broke the bottle. I don’t have any more money to replace it.”
    “And that thieving bartender wouldn’t be trusting us for the cost of another bottle!”
    “I didn’t ask him. We had words again over my refusing…to work one of the rooms.”
    Paddy clenched his fist and shook it in the air. “That heathen son of the devil! When I get out of this bed, I’ll be telling him so.”
    “Now don’t get yourself all worked up, Pop, or you’ll start coughing again.”
    A twinkle returned to his eyes. “Maybe there’s a few drops left in me bottle to soothe the tongue of an ailing man, darlin’?”
    Rory went over to the table and turned the whiskey bottle upside down. “Sorry, Pop, not a drop.” She went back to the bed, tucked in the blanket, and bent down and kissed his forehead. “Get some sleep now. I’ll talk to Mo tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll give me a bottle on credit. Good night, Pop.”
    “Good night, darlin’.” He sighed. “But how’s an ailing man to sleep without his medicine?”

2
    G arth clutched his aching head, sat down on the bed, and took off his boots. He unbuckled his gun belt and slung it over the bedpost, thinking about the night ahead with the spunky little blonde who’d saved his life. In the dim glimpses he had of his rescuer, he’d recognized the blonde he’d seen at the bar in the Grotto. Who could forget those blue eyes?
    He remembered going upstairs with a redhead named Shelia, who most certainly had lived up to his expectations. But things got hazy and bizarre after that.
    Granted he had drunk a little too much, but that whiskey had been so watered down that there was no sting to it—or at least he thought so at the time.
    He remembered leaving the Grotto, but everything got foggy from that point on. His aching head and body made it clear he hadn’t escaped unscathed but at least he had escaped. The one thing he remembered clearly was that those two SOBs who jumped him had intended to shanghai him, and most likely would have killed him if this woman hadn’t come to his aid. It took a lot of courage for her to do that. Those two men were rattlesnake mean. Lord knows what they might have done to her if they’d had the chance. He owed the gal a damn sight more than just a thank you.
    The thought of making love to her now had his groin aching; he’d wanted her the first time he looked at her. He stretched out and closed his eyes. What was keeping her? She didn’t have to fancy up for him. His head might be hurting, but the rest of him was at full attention and ready for duty.
    It’s no wonder he liked women so much; what was there not to like? God sure had the right idea when he created a woman—even if she got her and Adam’s rear ends kicked out of Eden.
    Of course, he had good cause to feel as he did. Garth thought warmly of his beloved mother, of his adorable sister Lissy; the fortitude of Emmaline, his brother Will’s wife who had lost her youngest and oldest sons during the war. Then he grinned, recalling the image of Becky, the irrepressible Yankee his brother Clay had married. Amazing women, all.
    Especially the two ladies he’d met tonight, he thought with a smile, then yawned.
    What in hell was keeping that woman? he wondered as he slipped into slumber.

    Rory was surprised to discover Fraser fast asleep on her bed. She supposed it was just as well, though, with those two scoundrels undoubtedly hunting for him. More than likely they’d return to the Grotto, or try to find out if he’d rented a room in town for the night. Since she and Fraser hadn’t exchanged even a word at the Grotto, this would be the last place they’d look for him.
    She picked up the boots he had tossed aside and tucked