It’s another snippet from FOOL’S GOLD! Gosh, the anticipating is mounting. I reckon a knife or some sort of cutting implement could sever it… 🙂

Exhaling, Ethan turned his Stetson again in his hands. Christ, was there ever a man more fool than him?

He turned his contemplation to her. Still she sat there all stern, determinedly not looking at him, like there was a point to such when, in truth, they were stuck in the saloon together until the blizzard saw fit to break. Might as well make such moments pleasant. “Miz Pearl, it seems to me we’ll be spending a good while together as the wind out there howls. Perhaps we could pass the time with kind words and conversation.”

The grip she had on her hands tightened, though her face lit with a flirty smile. “What could we talk of, Mr. Garrett? Would you like to know the best way to kick your petticoats so as to display your limbs all the way to the thigh?”

The image of her baring her legs in such a manner flashed though his mind. Heat rushed through him, tightening his skin. “Maybe we could start with something less titillating.”

“Less titillating? My, I don’t know if my mind is wired in such a way. Hell, what is a less titillating subject?”

Images of her naked legs still dancing about, he cleared his throat. “Perhaps the weather?”

 
Christmas in Freewill

Christmas Eve, the Diamond Saloon is empty of its people, and Pearl la Monte has a hankering to retire early. A pounding at the Diamond’s door rids her of such a fool notion. Her irritation rises when she sees the prissy, polite-like Garrett standing outside.

Ethan Garrett has a powerful need to gain succor. When the saloon’s voluptuous redheaded singer scowls at him from the threshold of the Diamond, he doesn’t stop to think on how his ire at her has disappeared. Or how he just wants to spend some time in her company.

When a blizzard storms in, trapping them, will they spend their time arguing or find their irritation for each other disguises something more?