NotoriousWoman (3 page)

Again the picture of a whip-wielding nude temptress came to
mind. He dragged in a deep breath. The way to tame Kate was not going to be by
enticing her into bed. It was by gaining her trust.

Those women
needed
a man, no matter what Kate said.
And he would fill that role…hopefully in more ways than one.

Chapter Three

“Are you sure you want to work for the Crowley women?” A
tall man wearing a six-shooter and a frown came out of the mercantile and stood
next to Jake. He was also wearing a badge. “Kate Crowley is skilled with a
bullwhip and doesn’t think twice about using it.”

“Jake Madden.” He extended a hand.

“Jed Poole.” The sheriff shook with a firm grip.

“What’s put a burr under her collar? I’ve never seen a woman
so mean-tempered.”

“Kate’s taken on a big responsibility since her pa passed
on.”

“What are two women doing trying to run a ranch?” Jake
asked.

The sheriff shrugged. “I guess they’re too stubborn to call
it quits.”

“Sounds like they need me.”

“They need someone, Jake. That they do.” He stared off into
the distance. The buckboard had disappeared. “Can I give you some advice,
Madden?”

“Sure.”

“I reckon most women are as capable as any man. Kate has to
figure that out for herself. She needs a friend to help her out, convince her
she’s strong enough to take care of things and to be there to support her.”

Jake wasn’t sure what the hell he was talking about. He
didn’t come all this way to be a nursemaid. “I’ll do what I can for them,” Jake
promised.

Sheriff Poole slapped him on the back. “They’re good girls
but their life hasn’t been easy. Their ma left them early in life—ran off with
a fast-talking banker from back East. Their old man tried to raise them right
but he died from two bullets in the back.”

“You don’t say.” That explained a lot. The woman was scared
not only for her ranch, but for her life.

“We caught the renegades who did it but Kate has always been
of the opinion her neighbor Silas Purdy was involved.”

Jake nodded, running his fingers over his belt. He hadn’t
been with the Purdy outfit long enough to have heard the whole story. “That
explains why she didn’t think much of my working for the Box T.”

“Reckon so.”

“The Purdys don’t strike me as a murdering clan.”

“Me neither but no one has been able to convince Kate.”

Jake was beginning to understand her better, what she’d been
through and what the future held for her and her sister.

Sheriff Poole’s attention shifted to a gorgeous woman who
sauntered out of the mercantile, twirling a parasol.

“Mrs. Poole, this here is Jake Madden.” The sheriff cast her
a smile. “Jake, this is my wife.”

The sheriff’s wife surveyed him in a way that made Jake
wonder if he didn’t have his breakfast stuck in his front teeth. “Haven’t seen
you around here before,” Mrs. Poole said, “and I never forget a face.”

“That’s right, ma’am.” He tipped his hat. “I joined up with
the Purdys about six months back. I’m out of Galveston by way of Santa Fe and a
few other places.”

“This is your first visit to Tucson?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Well then, welcome, Jake. I sure am pleased you’ll be out
at the Crowley place helping those girls.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Folks around here were naturally wary of strangers, Jake
reckoned. He didn’t blame them. They’d learn Jake was a man who could be relied
on.

She regarded her husband with eyelashes fluttering. “I’ll be
down at the jailhouse. Don’t you keep me waiting.”

The sheriff shifted his stance. “I’ll be right along.”

Jake watched her walk away, but respectful like. He was
smart enough not to make an enemy of the sheriff.

“You didn’t stay very long at the Purdy place.” The sheriff
wasn’t done with his questions.

“No sir.” Jake decided to confide in him. The sheriff wasn’t
a man who could be fooled by a string of half-assed answers. “Me and the boys
have a wager. I intend to tame Miss Kate Crowley and make her into a
sweet-tempered woman. They’ve bet two thousand dollars I can’t.”

Sheriff Poole chuckled then slapped his knee. In fact he
laughed so hard, tears shone in his eyes. “If that don’t beat all.”

Jake was gratified the sheriff would not oppose him. “Of
course, I’ve got my work cut out for me.” He didn’t want taming Kate to sound
too easy. The sheriff might have a notion himself to get in on the betting.

The sheriff gave him a fresh assessment. “Son, you’re a bit
cocky but I like you.”

“Is their spread in trouble?” Jake asked, taking advantage
of the sheriff’s good mood.

“According to the local gossip, the girls are about broke,
but you won’t get Kate to admit as such.”

“Those two are due for a break,” Jake said sincerely. “I’m
good at punching cows and know a thing or two about horseflesh.”

“You’ll have plenty to do.”

“I’ve never shied from hard work if that’s what you’re
thinking.”

Sheriff Poole adjusted his gun belt. “As long as you
understand what you’re up against.”

“Yes sir. I appreciate the advice. There’s not a job I can’t
do.”

Mrs. Poole popped her head out of the jailhouse. “Jed, quit
your palaver and come on in here.”

“The wife beckons,” the sheriff said without a trace of
regret.

Sheriff Poole ambled across the street to his office, his
gait slowed as he favored his right leg. When he reached the jailhouse, Mrs.
Poole met him on the steps.

She looked as happy as a flea on a hound. Jake figured the
sheriff was a lucky man.

Jake also had the impression the sheriff hadn’t told him
everything.

Tucson suited him. It was a typical town with wide streets
baked hard by the sun. A couple stores for provisions on every block, twice as
many saloons. The folks who’d lingered on the boardwalk watched him with
curiosity. A good many of them were frowning, no doubt wondering who he was and
why he’d been talking with the sheriff.

Jake put two fingers to the brim of his hat and headed for
the Blue Belle. He didn’t have far to go.

He pushed through the batwing doors, ready to quench his
considerable thirst. The room smelled musty with the sharp odor of livestock
prominent. Four men played cards in one corner. A girl in a red dress, and
showing a considerable amount of skin, sat on one of the cowpoke’s laps.

Jake went straight to the bar.

“What’ll you have?” the skinny barkeep asked.

“Sarsaparilla,” Jake replied.

A lone man at the other end of the bar snorted. He bore the
marks of a fight across the line of his jaw.

It was the man Miss Crowley had punched in the kisser and
humiliated in front of the town. A humiliated man, in Jake’s opinion, was a
dangerous man.

“Whiskey for my friend,” Jake told the barkeep.

Two glasses were filled. Jake raised his.

The man regarded him with a scowl as he threw back his drink
in one gulp. He wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve and rested both elbows on
the worn wood of the bar.

Jake twirled the sweet liquid in his glass and downed it
with a grimace.

“What are you doing in Tucson?” the man asked, staring at
his empty glass.

“Came to find work. Gonna hire on out at the Crowley
spread.” Jake motioned for the barkeep to refill the man’s glass.

“Obliged,” the man said. This time he saluted Jake before he
threw back the whiskey. He set the glass down and regarded Jake with watery eyes.
“That why you’re drinking a lady’s drink? Kate Crowley already have you by the
balls?”

Jake shrugged. He’d learned to pick his fights. He gave this
one a pass. “The lady asked me to stay sober and that’s what I intend to do. It
does no good to rile the boss, especially on the first day.”

The man laughed deep in his throat. “You’ll earn your pay
working for those two women and for no good. The ranch won’t be worth a hill of
beans come spring.”

“Not my concern,” Jake said. He finished his drink. “I expect
to be out of here by then.”

“Not the kind of man to stick around long?”

“No sir, not in these parts. There’s some land back home
I’ve got a notion to purchase.”

“Then take a word of warning,” the man said. “Kate Crowley
is a heartless wench and she’ll make your life hell.”

Jake grinned. “I’ve got no worries on that score.”

He hadn’t missed how Kate had looked him over with
appreciation for the finer things in life. The two thousand dollars was as good
as in his pocket.

* * * * *

“What has you so worried?” Jolie asked.

Kate hadn’t realized she was so obvious. “I’m not so sure
things will work out with Mr. Madden,” she muttered.

Jolie jerked upright. “Have you changed your mind?”

Kate shrugged.
Jake Madden.
She hadn’t heard the name
before.

And while she liked what she saw, she wasn’t particularly
sure she enjoyed her reaction. She’d have been even better if she’d
never
heard his name. The twinkle in his eye and his cocky smile spelled trouble from
a town away.

He’d told them he’d worked for Silas Purdy’s outfit. His
story about why he’d left didn’t sit well. Purdy paid a whole lot more than
Kate and her sister could ever afford. Why would Jake go off searching for more
work for less pay?

But Jolie had liked him. Of course she would. She liked
everyone. Her sister didn’t have a mean streak in her body.

They hit a rut in the road and Kate grabbed hold of her seat
before she fell.

Her lucky day?
Kate huffed. The man surely gave
himself more credit than he was due. What man didn’t? She couldn’t dismiss the
niggling doubt that he was nothing but a snake charmer and twice as slippery.

She was thoroughly disgusted with the way her body had
reacted to the damn man. She’d tingled in places she wished she hadn’t. Her
skin itched for his touch. No man had provoked the type of response Jake did as
he surveyed her from head to toe. Not even the hapless scoundrel she’d been
engaged to back when she’d been stupid enough to consider marrying.

She gripped the reins tighter and gave them a shake. Buck
and Alice reluctantly picked up speed and then settled back into their plodding
pace.

“Didn’t you think Mr. Madden is one of the most handsome men
you’ve ever laid eyes on?” Jolie asked.

Kate took a moment to respond, as her initial reaction was
to snap out a reply and her sister did not deserve her irritation. “I’ve met
better and I’ve met worse,” Kate replied honestly. Jake Madden was easy on the
eyes but she wasn’t about to admit it to her sister.

One thing was for certain. No good-looking wrangler was
going to complicate her life.

“I think he likes you,” Jolie continued with a sassy smile.
She tucked the hair blowing frantically back inside her bonnet.

“What put such a notion in your head?”

“He couldn’t stop grinning when he was talking to you.”

Jake Madden.
Kate exhaled, some of her own hair
whipping into her mouth. She tried to push it out with her tongue before she
gagged on it.

“Why do you say such things?”

“You know I’m right.”

Kate hadn’t missed Jake’s smile. She’d call it half-cocked,
if anybody was asking. “A man is liable to do and say anything to make an
impression.”

“You’re such a grump, sis.”

Kate winced. “I’m just being cautious.”

“The new hire is going to work out just fine.”

Jolie was so certain but Kate wasn’t so easily cowed. “He
acts like he has the world by the tail.”

“Maybe he does.” Jolie slumped in her seat and sighed. “Do
you always have to be so hard on everybody? He’s going to help us out, Kate,
and we could really use him since you fired Mack. Not that Mack didn’t have it
coming. He was nothing but a gambler and cheat.”

“I’m happy you agree with me about something.”

“Oh, I do. Hiring Jake Madden might be the best decision
you’ve ever made.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, really?”

Kate wondered what Jolie had up her sleeve. “Keep your high
opinion of the man, but if you ask me, he’s no different than the rest.”

“You can be cautious all you like but I intend to welcome
him to the ranch with open arms if I have to. What other choice do we have?”

Jolie made a good point.

“I’m sorry,” Kate said. She hadn’t missed the sadness in her
sister’s tone. Pa’s passing had taken its toll on them both. “All I’m saying is
don’t get your hopes up. I have a strong feeling Mr. Madden won’t be with us
for long.”

Jolie sighed. “You don’t know that for sure.”

“You heard him. He left the Purdy spread with roundup just
around the corner.”

“At least you can be friendly,” Jolie said. “No need to
scare him off for no good reason.”

“We can’t let folks take advantage of us either.” For just a
minute, Kate wished Jolie was not so innocent, that she understood the ways of
the world the way Kate did.

“What would people think if they heard the way you talk?”

“They can think what they want,” Kate shot back. “We’ve got
a ranch to run.”

Jolie kept her mouth shut tight. The sparkle had gone out of
her. Kate blamed herself. She hated being so ornery.

Part of her was a little jealous of Jolie’s ability to find
the best in everyone she came across. Kate didn’t have that luxury.

“You win. I’ll be extra nice to Mr. Madden but you’d better
learn it’s in a man’s nature to show an interest in every female he comes
across. Don’t think it means anything more than him being a man.”

Her sister giggled. “What’s wrong with inciting a man’s
interest?”

“Nothing,” Kate had to admit.
Unless he’s a cheating,
moneygrubbing bastard.

“Good,” Jolie said. “I’m glad you see it my way.”

“Don’t pin too many hopes on him,” Kate said after a few
minutes of reflection.

“You just watch. He’ll work out just fine.” Jolie continued
to sing the man’s praises.

Kate smiled for the first time all morning. “What am I going
to do with you?”

It was what Pa used to say to Kate. But he was gone. Kate
was in charge now and she’d no time for anything but the ranch.