at him. The outlaw was just standing there staring at her.
“What’s wrong? All you have to do is pull the trigger.”
“I can’t just shoot you in cold blood. Not with you ordering me to. In that dress you look like a doll on top of a wedding cake.”
“Well, I’m not taking it off, so shoot me.”
She took another breath, closed her eyes, and waited. No blow came.
This time when she opened her eyes, he’d lowered his gun to his side. “What’s wrong now?”
“I can’t, lady. I know it’s the outlaw code to shoot anyone who can identify you, but I can’t.”
All the tension of the day exploded inside Cozette and he was the only one around to take her bottled-up rage. “You are absolutely the worst outlaw I’ve ever seen. You must have the dumbest gang in creation if they follow you. All you have to do is aim at my heart and shoot me. Then I won’t be around to testify and you can go bungle some other job.”
“Look, lady, if you want to die so badly, why don’t you just take my gun and kill yourself.”
“Suicide is a mortal sin. I was schooled by nuns in Austin until a month ago. I know the rules and I always follow them,” she corrected him with a bold lie, but then lying seemed to be her main profession of late. “I don’t expect a low-down, worthless outlaw to know anything about right or wrong. I’m surprised you aren’t lying out somewhere, your dead body feeding the buzzards, or swinging from a tree by rope.” She pointed her finger at him. “Now stop wasting time and shoot me!”
He shoved his gun in the holster and stared into her face. “No. Maybe I should tie you up and gag you. I’d enjoy the silence and that should give me time to go spring my three uncles and get out of this place by dawn. I knew this was a bad idea from the start.”
“Just shoot me, please.” She couldn’t believe the answer to her prayers was standing right in front of her refusing to cooperate.
“I can’t. Someone will hear the shot.” He tried to reason with her.
“Then choke me.” She pulled the collar of her gown open, popping several buttons.
He closed the fingers on one hand around her slender neck, but he didn’t tighten his grip.
He was so close to her she could feel his heart pounding. “Please, do it,” she whispered. “If you don’t I’ll be forced to watch my father die knowing his only child lied to him. I’ll be disgraced and kicked off the ranch by an uncle who hates me.”
He studied her with those fascinating, stormy blue eyes that seemed to see all the way to her soul. “Why don’t you just tell your father the truth?”
“If I’m not married by the time he wakes up tomorrow, I’ll break his heart. He never had much to do with me, thought my mother was a fool for listening to my stories. As soon as she died, he sent me to the nuns and, as far as I know, he’s never even read the letters I wrote. He’s giving his brother the ranch rather than let me have it unless I marry.” Cozette knew she was babbling, but she didn’t care. She needed to confess, and an outlaw wasn’t likely to judge her.
“Don’t you have friends, relatives, the law who will help you?” To her surprise the outlaw actually sounded concerned.
“No one who would stand against my uncle once my father is gone. I’m sure the will is legal.” She paused, then tried another angle. “My uncle will kill your gang. He’s done it to others who tried to steal from the ranch. They say he beat a cook almost to death for stealing three chickens. My father’s a hard man, but his brother twisted one more step into cruelty.”
The bandit let go of her neck and backed away. “You’ve got a mountainload of problems, lady.” He handed her back the ring and necklace. “I wish I could help you, but right now I’ve got my own worries. Those three fat little outlaws in black are all the family I’ve got, and I’ll do anything it takes to save them. I thought if I came along with them tonight, I’d keep them out of trouble, but that plan obviously didn’t work.”
Cozette stared at the jewelry in her hand. She cared nothing about it or all the wedding gifts. All she