The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

the man pause. "I don't want no trouble."
    Just then Desirée flew past Travis, down the stairs, straight into the arms of the man. "Isaiah! Isaiah," she called into the darkened night. "Thank God you found me. I was so worried about you."
    The Negro man returned her hug. "Oh, Miss Rose, you scared the life out of me. I searched for you for days. What are you doin' here?"
    She leaned back and gazed up at the man. "I'm so happy to see you. It's a long story, Isaiah. But now that you've found me, we won't be here much longer."
    Suddenly it dawned on Travis just who this man was. He was the missing manservant. "Put your weapons down, men," he called. "You all can go back to bed!"
    Reluctantly, the cowboys walked back to the bunkhouse, occasionally looking back over their shoulders at the touching scene, clearly admiring Desirée in her night shift.
    Travis frowned and tried to step between their line of sight and Desirée. He didn't need his men gawking at her every time she stepped outside.
    After the men disappeared inside, Travis strolled over to Desirée and her manservant.
    "Name's Isaiah Wilkes, sir. I'm Miss Severin's servant. Sorry to ride in this late at night and cause a fuss."
    Travis frowned. Something wasn't quite right. "Did you call her Rose?"
    Desirée gasped.
    Isaiah looked at Desirée, a guilty grimace on his black face, before he lifted his eyes to Travis. "Yes, sir, Miss Rose Severin, otherwise known as Desirée, Voice of the Dead."

Chapter Eight

    A stiff wind could have blown Travis over as he stood, stunned, absorbing the news that Desirée's name was really Rose. Inwardly, he called himself a fool. He should have known her real name wasn't Desirée. Hadn't he mentioned to Eugenia that very first night that Desirée was probably a fictitious name?
    "Rose," he said with disgust "From France?"
    "Don't go making a big deal out of nothing. My real name is Rose. Rose Severin, born right here in America. But my stage name is Desirée."
    "Do you change it each time you change cons, or each time you change towns, or maybe even every Saturday night? Take a bath, scrub off the dirt, and choose a new name? Tired of the old life, change towns, change names? Even change professions?" he shouted.
    It seemed so dirty. She'd lied about her name, and somehow he felt betrayed. He glanced at Isaiah, who stepped back and was hurriedly loosening the cinch on his saddle, his eyes downcast.
    "That's enough, cowboy. I'm getting tired of your insinuations," she said, her voice tense in the darkness.
    "Lady, I don't give a damn. A lie is a lie. You should have told me your real name was Rose."
    "Why? So that you could haul me down to the county jail under the name of Rose, instead of Desirée? So you could drag me halfway back across Texas as Rose, instead of Desirée? Or could it be that Rose sounds more like a lady than Desirée?"
    Angrily he chewed his bottom lip.
    The urge to scream at her that he had given the wrong name to a Pinkerton man was strong. That piece of knowledge was better kept to himself.
    She sidled up closer to him, her wrapper flapping in the cool breeze. Like moonbeams, her eyes flashed in the darkness. "You aren't playing fair, so why should I? Abduction isn't a noble cause."
    "You're right, I'm not playing fair. But then again, I never play fair when people try to con my family or steal from me."
    She laughed. "Guilty until proven innocent."
    "Miss Rose, I'm going to take this horse to the barn now."
    "Go ahead, Isaiah." She turned back to Travis. "Somehow I don't think having to prove you're not guilty is what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution."
    "They didn't have a lying con artist distracting them."
    "So now I'm a distraction. A lying distraction at that." She took a deep breath and tried to reason with him. "Look, it's the middle of the night, I'm tired, and you've caused me more than enough grief this evening. I suggest you step back and take a breather, or I'm going to come out with fists flying."
    "Well, at least then you won't be kissing me," he shot back, knowing the words were a mistake the moment they left his mouth.
    She stepped forward and grabbed him by the arm and shook him. "Wake up, cowboy! You've started a lot of the kissing yourself! I don't understand it and I don't think I want to know why, but there's an attraction between the two of us. It's time you realized it." She stepped back and took a deep breath. "God help me, I'd just as soon kiss a