Page 86 of Kissing the Sheriff
Cassie fought against another snort of laughter. “I think the three of you would have a great time. You could have a nice dinner, maybe do a little shopping. What do you say Agnes?”
“Shopping? Oh … well, it might be nice to visit a few folks in Virginia City. At leastthey’recivilized.” She narrowed her eyes at the captain. “Fine. Saturday.” She turned on her heel and stomped away.
The captain sighed, then frowned at Cassie. “You’ve doomed me, you know that.”
She shrugged. “I know you were trying to give Mr. Featherstone a break from Agnes, but it was the only thing I could think of. When she digs her heels in, there’s no moving her. Maybe a change of scenery will do her good.”
Captain Stanley grumbled something unintelligible. “I suppose you’re right. But that witch is going to make the trip unbearable.”
“Get them there, drop them off, do some fishing then bring them home,” Cassie suggested.
“I was hoping to have some time with Francis. That poor man never gets a break from her.” He marched toward the saloon without another word.
Cassie watched him go and shook her head. “Oh, Agnes. What am I going to do with you?” More importantly, what was she going to do about Conrad? He was riding straight for her!
* * *
As soon asConrad saw Cassie, he headed toward her. She was speaking with Agnes and Captain Stanley – about what, he didn’t know and didn’t care. He needed to apologize for his kiss and speak to her. Or at least, spend more time with her. His feelings were growing stronger by the day, and he was going to have to do something about them.
He’d almost reached her when she turned and began to walk away. “Cassie, stop.” He gave lazy Lawrence a little nudge and the horse picked up the pace. “Come on, Lawrence! This is no time to dawdle.”
Cassie stopped, turned and watched him. “Your horse doesn’t like exerting himself, does he?” Before he could answer she turned and started to walk away again.
“Wait!” He dismounted and caught up to her on foot.
She turned around. “Are you just going to leave your horse in the middle of the street?”
Conrad glanced at Lawrence. “That horse is too lazy to move. He’ll be fine.” He stood before her and looked into her eyes. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“About what?” she said blandly.
He laughed. “What?” He glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. “Our kiss,” he whispered.
She picked at something on her sleeve. “Oh, that. Think nothing of it.” She turned and started walking.
Conrad put his hand on her shoulder. “Please, talk to me.”
She stopped but didn’t turn around. “About what?”
“Our kiss,” he said again, voice low. “It meant … that is …”
“You didn’t mean anything by it?” She faced him. “It just happened?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes that’s the way of it.”
She stood straighter. “So … it was just a kiss. It just happened. You didn’t mean to do it.”
“Well, now,” he said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t say it that way …”
She rolled her eyes, turned on her heel and marched off.
“Come on, old boy,” he whispered to himself. “You can do better than this.” He trotted after her. “Cassie!”
She kept walking.
He stopped and glanced at Lawrence who, much to his surprise, was following. Good. It meant he wouldn’t have to catch him later. “Cassie!” He started after her again. When he caught up this time she was passing by the bank. Agnes stood in the doorway watching them. Wonderful. “Cassie, please, give me a moment.”
Her eyes flicked to Agnes and back. “I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.” She started off again.
