Kid Calhoun Read Free Page B

was why she had to talk Booth out of the robbery he had planned for the end of the week near Old Horse Springs.
    She knocked before she entered Booth’s hotel room. She had learned from experience that she might find Booth in an awkward situation. At least it was awkward for her. Neither Booth nor Sierra ever seemed to mind being seen in bed together.
    “Come in.”
    She entered and wasn’t surprised to discover Sierra Starr in the hotel room with Booth.
    “I was just leaving,” Sierra said. She was pulling on a pair of black kid gloves that completed an ensemble that could have come straight from
Harper’s Bazar
. Sierra wore a plume-trimmed bonnet that did little to subdue her glorious head of naturally red curls.
    In the green silk Polonaise gown, with its pristine white ruffle at the neck, the Soiled Dove from the Town House Saloon looked more a lady than most ladies Anabeth had seen in Santa Fe. Anabeth envied her because she was also a desirable—and desired—woman.
    Not even Sierra knew the truth about the Kid being female. Booth had said, “It’s best not to trust anybody.” It was clear from the way Sierra teased Anabeth that, despite their bed-play, Booth had kept her secret from the other woman.
    Sierra rubbed a gloved hand across Anabeth’s baby-smooth cheek and said, “I have a lovely new girl who might interest you, Kid. Why don’t you come by the saloon next time you’re in town?”
    Anabeth flushed scarlet. “I—I—”
    Sierra laughed, a light, friendly sound that bubbled up from inside her. The look in her green eyes was kind, if teasing. “Her name is Bonnie. Tell her I said you should look her up.”
    Sierra turned from a flustered Anabeth and crossed back to the four-poster bed where Booth was stretched out fully dressed on top of the quilt with a sketch pad in hand. She leaned over him to see what he had drawn, and found herself looking every bit as ravishing on paper as she was in real life.
    Sierra put her hands on either side of Booth’s face and leaned down to kiss him tenderly on the mouth. “Take care of yourself.”
    Booth grinned. “I could say the same.”
    “Good-bye, Booth.” Sierra said it as though she would never see him again. There was always the chance she wouldn’t.
    As many times as Anabeth had seen Booth and Sierra bid each other farewell, it still moved her to realize how much they seemed to care for each other. But Booth would never agree to live on what Sierra earned from her half of the Town House Saloon. And Sierra could never give up the security she had sacrificed so much to earn, only to be an outlaw’s bride. They often met and made love, but they apparently were not destined to spend their lives together.
    Once Sierra was gone Anabeth crossed and settled herself at the foot of the four-poster bed. She took out the makings from her vest pocket and concentrated on rolling a cigarette.
    “I don’t think we should do this job,” she said.
    “Why not?” Booth asked.
    “Just a feeling I have.”
    “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to change my mind.”
    Anabeth stuck the cigarette in the corner of her mouth. She raked a match across her jeans andsquinted her eyes against the smoke as she took the first drag. “In the past you’ve always taken your time getting to know all about a man before you let him join the gang. What do you know about this new fellow, Wat Rankin?”
    “He came to me with information about a rancher who’ll be carrying more gold than any of us have ever seen at one time.”
    “Doesn’t that sound the least bit suspicious to you? Why did Rankin share his information with us? Why not just steal the gold himself?”
    Booth shrugged. “There’s safety in numbers, I suppose.”
    Frustrated, Anabeth blew out a stream of smoke. “I don’t like Rankin,” she said flatly. “And I don’t trust him. How do we know his information about this Sam Chandler being on the stage isn’t just a ploy to set us up for the