Hitched to the Gunslinger
by Michelle McLean
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Release Date: August 24, 2021
Gray “Quick Shot” Woodson is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, he’s ready to hang up his hat. Sure, being notorious has its perks. But the nomadic lifestyle—and people always tryin’ to kill you—gets old real fast.
Now he just wants to find a place to retire so he can spend his days the way the good Lord intended. Staring at the sunset. And napping.
When his stubborn horse drags him into a hole-in-the-wall town called Desolation, something about the place calls to Gray, and he figures he might actually have a shot at a sleepy retirement.
His optimism lasts about a minute and a half.
Soon he finds himself embroiled in a town vendetta and married to a woman named Mercy. Who, judging by her aggravating personality, doesn’t know the meaning of her own name. In fact, she’s downright impossible.
But dang it if his wife isn’t irresistible. If only she’d stop trying to steal his guns to go after the bad guys herself.
There goes his peace and quiet...
“My reputation doth precede me,” he muttered into his glass while he watched the other patrons shoot furtive glances at him.
“Well, it is quite the reputation,” a familiar man in his early twenties with dark brown hair said cheerily as he pulled out a chair and sat at Gray’s table.
Gray scowled. “Sunshine.”
Jason Sunshine—and yes, the man was every bit as irritating as his last name implied—tipped his hat in greeting, ignoring Gray’s foul mood. He leaned in and squinted at Gray for a moment before sitting back. “You’re looking a little crusty, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Well, that’s a fine way to say howdy. He scraped his hand across only a coupla day’s growth of beard. “I do mind. Go away.”
Jason grinned, his smokey brown eyes twinkling. “But I’ve only just found you.”
“Lucky me,” Gray mumbled, still glowering. “You’re not lookin’ so fresh yourself, you know. I think you’ve been on the road too long. Maybe you should go back to school, teachin’ or tutorin’ whatever it was you did in your fancy city before you decided to start houndin’ me.”
Jason didn’t rise to the bait, too busy watching everyone else watch them. “Tell me, how does it feel to command the respect of everyone in the room the moment you mosey on in?”
Gray clenched his fist around his glass, glaring at the only man who’d dare invade his space, uninvited. His free hand itched to go for his gun, but he checked himself. Even pre-retirement he hadn’t killed a man just for sitting at his table.
Well… Okay, maybe once. But there had been extenuating circumstances. Honest.
And had the irksome little prat sitting across from him now found him a few weeks earlier, Gray might have made an exception in this case as well. Jason had been pestering him for weeks, trying to get Gray to teach him his “trade.” Gray’s surly refusal hadn’t dissuaded him one flat bit.
“It’s not respect. It’s fear,” Gray said. “And it doesn’t appear to work on everyone in the room.” He gave Jason a significant look that the much younger man brushed off with a grin.
“Oh, it works on me. I’ve just decided that the possible benefits outweigh the risk of you putting a bullet through me.”
“Might want to work on your decision-making skills.” He drained his glass and slammed it on the table. “Anything I can do to dissuade you of that foolish notion, you just let me know.”
“You haven’t killed me yet,” Jason said with a smirk.
Gray narrowed his eyes. “The day ain’t over, Sunshine.”
“You keep saying stuff like that, but you know, in all the weeks I’ve been following you, you’ve never once tried to kill me.”
He shook his head at the youngster’s outrageous lack of common sense. “What a spectacularly ridiculous reason to continue to annoy me.”
Jason shrugged. “I think you kinda like me.”
Gray snorted. “Yet another reason why I’ve never once considered intelligence to be your strong suit.”
The barkeep was at his elbow, refilling his glass before he could make a move to get another. He appreciated the service, but he hadn’t even heard the man move from behind the bar. Maybe he should put a bell on the guy’s belt buckle. He didn’t like people sneaking up on him and two had managed it in the last five minutes. He must be losing his edge.
“Well, it is quite the reputation,” a familiar man in his early twenties with dark brown hair said cheerily as he pulled out a chair and sat at Gray’s table.
Gray scowled. “Sunshine.”
Jason Sunshine—and yes, the man was every bit as irritating as his last name implied—tipped his hat in greeting, ignoring Gray’s foul mood. He leaned in and squinted at Gray for a moment before sitting back. “You’re looking a little crusty, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Well, that’s a fine way to say howdy. He scraped his hand across only a coupla day’s growth of beard. “I do mind. Go away.”
Jason grinned, his smokey brown eyes twinkling. “But I’ve only just found you.”
“Lucky me,” Gray mumbled, still glowering. “You’re not lookin’ so fresh yourself, you know. I think you’ve been on the road too long. Maybe you should go back to school, teachin’ or tutorin’ whatever it was you did in your fancy city before you decided to start houndin’ me.”
Jason didn’t rise to the bait, too busy watching everyone else watch them. “Tell me, how does it feel to command the respect of everyone in the room the moment you mosey on in?”
Gray clenched his fist around his glass, glaring at the only man who’d dare invade his space, uninvited. His free hand itched to go for his gun, but he checked himself. Even pre-retirement he hadn’t killed a man just for sitting at his table.
Well… Okay, maybe once. But there had been extenuating circumstances. Honest.
And had the irksome little prat sitting across from him now found him a few weeks earlier, Gray might have made an exception in this case as well. Jason had been pestering him for weeks, trying to get Gray to teach him his “trade.” Gray’s surly refusal hadn’t dissuaded him one flat bit.
“It’s not respect. It’s fear,” Gray said. “And it doesn’t appear to work on everyone in the room.” He gave Jason a significant look that the much younger man brushed off with a grin.
“Oh, it works on me. I’ve just decided that the possible benefits outweigh the risk of you putting a bullet through me.”
“Might want to work on your decision-making skills.” He drained his glass and slammed it on the table. “Anything I can do to dissuade you of that foolish notion, you just let me know.”
“You haven’t killed me yet,” Jason said with a smirk.
Gray narrowed his eyes. “The day ain’t over, Sunshine.”
“You keep saying stuff like that, but you know, in all the weeks I’ve been following you, you’ve never once tried to kill me.”
He shook his head at the youngster’s outrageous lack of common sense. “What a spectacularly ridiculous reason to continue to annoy me.”
Jason shrugged. “I think you kinda like me.”
Gray snorted. “Yet another reason why I’ve never once considered intelligence to be your strong suit.”
The barkeep was at his elbow, refilling his glass before he could make a move to get another. He appreciated the service, but he hadn’t even heard the man move from behind the bar. Maybe he should put a bell on the guy’s belt buckle. He didn’t like people sneaking up on him and two had managed it in the last five minutes. He must be losing his edge.
USA Today bestselling author Michelle McLean is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl who is addicted to chocolate and Goldfish crackers and spent most of her formative years with her nose in a book. She has degrees in history and English and is thrilled that she sort of gets to use them. Her novel Truly, Madly, Sweetly, written as Kira Archer, was adapted as a Hallmark Original movie in 2018.
When Michelle’s not working, reading, or chasing her kids around, she can usually be found baking, diamond painting, or trying to find free wall space upon which to hang her diamond paintings. She resides in PA with her husband and two teens, the world’s most spoiled dog, and a cat who absolutely rules the house. She also writes contemporary romance as Kira Archer.
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