Lynna Banning

The Law And Miss Hardisson


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      Just thinking about three long nights playing poker with the prettiest lawyer west of the Mississippi made Clayton Black’s skin tingle.

      There were some things about Irene Hardisson he’d give his eyeteeth to know—like what she thought about at night. What she wanted in life. What she looked like underneath all those flounces.

      That settled it. He’d stay. For a while. A short while. Might do him good to hang his hat somewhere he was actually wanted for a change. But she was no rambling rose. She was a lady and he wouldn’t compromise her. And he’d work damn hard to keep her from sticking in his memory when he rode away.

      Praise for Lynna Banning’s previous titles

      PLUM CREEK BRIDE

      “…pathos and humor blend in a plot that glows with perception and dignity.”

      —Affaire de Coeur

      WILDWOOD

      “5 *s.”

      —Heartland Critiques

      WESTERN ROSE

      “…warm, wonderful and witty—a winning combination from a bright new talent.”

      —Award-winning author Theresa Michaels

      The Law and Miss Hardisson

      Harlequin Historical #537

      #535 THE STOLEN BRIDE

      Susan Spencer Paul

      #536 SILK AND STEEL

      Theresa Michaels

      #538 MONTANA MAN

      Jillian Hart

      The Law and Miss Hardisson

      Lynna Banning

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      Available from Harlequin Historicals and LYNNA BANNING

      Harlequin Historicals

      Western Rose #310

      Wildwood #374

      Lost Acres Bride #437

      Plum Creek Bride #474

      The Law and Miss Hardisson #537

      To my aunt, Jean Banning Strickland

      With special thanks to Suzanne Barrett, Ida Hills, Norma Pulle and Leslie Yarnes Sugai.

      Contents

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Epilogue

       Author Note

      Prologue

      All he could remember was there were cherries on her hat. Bright, shiny, red cherries, nodding over her forehead. Nothing else penetrated the fog of pain and nausea while they’d loaded him into the stagecoach. He slumped into the corner seat and set himself to endure the thirty-mile trip across the eastern Oregon plains to Cedarville, where the driver claimed there was a doctor.

      Early that morning he’d been full of beans and vinegar, anxious to get this job over with and head back to Texas, anxious for a meal he didn’t have to cook over a fire he built himself. That ended when someone shot him off his horse and the gelding dragged him a quarter of a mile before he could get his boot out of the stirrup.

      “He’s probably broke some ribs and maybe busted his arm in a couple places,” the stage driver had said. Someone sloshed whiskey down his throat and the cherry hat lady sniffed.

      There were other passengers, but the one he vaguely remembered was the one who was dressed Eastern and acted mighty prim and proper. The driver suggested she might care to wait for another stage, but she gave him a frosty look and in a tone like flint said, “I am expected in Crazy Creek, and I intend to get there.” After a pause, she added, “Is he more drunk, or more hurt?”

      “Oh, Lordy, ma’am. He ain’t a drinkin’ man. But he