take even his half-baked brain to figure this was the law in town. Idly, he wondered if he got Evie angry enough if she would turn him in for rape. He supposed she had that right.
"Pecos Martin?"
Evie stopped in her tracks at this question from a stranger and stepped protectively to Tyler's side.
Tyler extended his hand. "Tyler Monteigne, sir. What can I do for you?"
The man with a tarnished star dangling from his vest eyed his outstretched palm, then with a glimmer of understanding, accepted it. He looked Tyler straight in the face when he replied. "I don't hold with gunslingers in this town, but if you're staying incognito then I'll do what I can to keep trouble out of your way. This the lady the boy was raising such hell about?" He nodded in Evie's direction.
Evie was staring at both men with astonishment and didn't react immediately.
"She means to be a schoolteacher," Tyler replied maliciously.
Evie recovered her equanimity sufficiently to smile. "I'm Maryellen Peyton, sheriff I understand Mineral Springs is in need of a teacher, and I'm here to apply. Mr. Monteigne has been generous enough to escort Daniel and myself. I don't know what would have happened had he not been available when those robbers struck."
"I heard about that. I've got men out now searching for those thieves. That gang has struck once too often lately. When you've had a chance to settle in, I'd like to talk to both of you about what happened. But for now it's good to meet you, Miss Peyton. My name is Alan Powell."
"It's Mrs. Peyton, sheriff. I'm a widow. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. But if you don't mind, I simply must find a room and rest. It's been quite an ordeal."
Tyler watched as the hard-bitten sheriff melted into a puddle of butter before Evie's smallest smile. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened to the man had she turned the full force of those devastating lips on him. He could see the devilment in sloe eyes as she glanced up at him through those long lashes, and he wanted to wring her neck. Mrs. Peyton, the schoolteacher, indeed.
"I'll be back to talk to you in a bit, Powell. I'll see the lady gets settled in first." Appropriating Evie's elbow, Tyler steered her toward the comparative safety of the hotel. He was either going to have to get out of here fast or poke the eyes out of every man in the damned town. It might be easier if he just pulled a sack over Evie's head.
Once they were in the dim light of the lobby, she halted and removed her arm from his possession. She gave him a thoroughly quenching look that he took with a threatening frown.
"You may talk to the sheriff as long as you like, Mr. Monteigne, but unless you explain that scene upstairs, you're now formally off my payroll. I'll not have anything to do with a man who can treat an injured friend so callously."
In the dusky gloom she was a shimmering candle of indignation. Light from the dirty window caught on her chestnut tresses, capturing the strands of auburn he'd noticed that first day. Her sunburned cheeks glowed with ire, and there were even sparks in her eyes. Tyler found it hard to believe that she was the woman he had taken so crudely last night. She was right. He was a jackass.
"As of now, I formally offer my resignation, Miss Peyton." He swung the saddle off his shoulder and dropped it to the floor. "But if you would care to join me wherever they serve food in this godforsaken hole, then I'll be happy to enlighten you."
Evie jumped at the sound of the saddle hitting the floor. Or maybe it was at the light in Tyler's eyes as he offered this offhand invitation. She had been ignoring what had happened between them, but it was obvious he didn't mean to be gentleman enough to forget it. He would never meet the standards of an Ivanhoe.
But the hotel clerk entered then. Evie was starving, and there didn't seem to be anything else she could say while Tyler made arrangements for their rooms and learned the location of the nearest cafe. She had to eat and ladies didn't go to public places alone.
There was time to have second thoughts when the clerk led her to a room with a single large bed and she realized that she wouldn't have Daniel's protection