Page 4 of Cowgirl Omega

Tanner decided to cut to the chase.

“You were talking to a woman a minute ago. A woman dressed like a cowboy.”

Rosie’s expression became serious. “An old friend. She’s looking to hire a man for some work. And no, it ain’t the kind of work you’re thinkin’. She needs a man who knows the countryside and who’s good with a gun… and who’s trustworthy.”

“Why didn’t you send her my way?”

Rosie arched one eyebrow. “Didn’t you hear? I saidtrustworthy. Aw hell, don’t look so sore, Tan. I’m only kidding. I mentioned your name, of course… along with a few others. But you seemed to be momentarily indisposed, so sent her to talk to the next best option—a good-looking young lawman from Texas who’s passing through.”

Heat rushed through Tanner’s veins, and his hands involuntarily balled themselves into fists. He was mad, but it was a special kind of mad. It had been so long since he’d experienced the emotion that it took him a moment to put a name to it.

Jealousy.

“Where are they?” he growled.

CHAPTER 3

“Andthat’show I apprehended the Abilene Kid…”

Shannon took a sip of her whiskey and studied the man sitting across from her. His name was Gilbert Blaylocke, and he was clearly something of a braggart. She’d been sitting at his table for only a few minutes, and he’d already regaled her with three self-aggrandizing stories of his exploits as a Texas Ranger.

Still, he seemed like a good fit for what she needed. He was tall and strongly built—for a beta—and he wasn’t nearly as rough around the edges as most of the men in the saloon. His suit was clean, albeit a little too small for his large frame, and his dark beard was fastidiously trimmed.

And most importantly, Rosie had vouched for him.

Not completely, of course. Rosie had only known the man for as long as he’d been in town, which was about a week or so. In that time, however, Mr. Blaylock had conducted himself as a perfect gentleman, and there had been no complaints from the girls in the hotel whose services he had employed.

Now Shannon was sitting across from him in one of the semi-secluded booths upstairs. A beaded curtain separated the booth from the rest of the saloon and afforded a bit of privacy. The single candle burning in the center of the table lent the space a romantic atmosphere, but Shannon had made it clear that the discussion would be strictly business. Fortunately, Blaylocke had not seemed to have a problem with that.

The man now leaned back in his seat and smiled.

“Forgive me. I do have a way of prattling on, don’t I? But I imagine you must be eager to get down to business. So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about, Miss Duffy?”

Shannon hesitated. The information she was about to divulge had been a secret for years. The only other person who had ever known about it was her father, and he had passed away from smallpox several years ago.

“Come now,” Blaylocke said after a moment. “You can trust me, Miss Duffy.”

There was a gentleness in the man’s voice that Shannon found reassuring. Still, she needed to be careful not to tell him too much. Only what was necessary for the successful completion of the job.

“I’m planning an expedition,” she said at last, “and I need protection. Someone who can ride and shoot.”

Blaylocke grinned broadly through his beard. “Well you’ve come to the right man, Miss Duffy, for I can do both. But I’d like to know more about this expedition. Where is it you intend to go… and why?”

That was the tricky part. Shannon gathered her thoughts, making sure she wasn’t giving away too much.

“It’s—”

Before she could finish, the beaded curtain drew back, and a massive figure darkened the entrance to the booth.

Shannon looked up with a gasp.

The first thing she saw were the man’s eyes. They were hard and gray as polished steel, and they fixed upon her like a pair of pistols. She wanted very badly to look away, but her own eyes refused to budge, as if locked in place by a magnetic force.

Then she smelled him. His scent flooded the small booth, surrounding Shannon like an invisible cloud of pure, distilled masculinity—dark, dangerous, and delicious. It was similar to the scent she’d smelled out on the street, but different, better.

The man was an alpha.

Luckily, the extra dose of suppressant seemed to be doing its job. Shannon felt a hint of tautness in her nipples, and a tingle of heat between her legs, but it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as what she’d experienced a few minutes ago. Thank God for that.

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