To Tempt A Texan. Georgina Gentry

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      DETERMINATION

      “No, you don’t, sister, this is my claim!”

      “No, it’s mine, you cheap tinhorn!” Lacey glared back at the tall, broad-shouldered man and began to pound her stake in the ground.

      “Listen, I’ve got big plans for this lot.”

      “So do I, and I’m not about to give it up.” She wiped her hands on her dusty dark skirt and glared up at him. She was tall for a woman, but he was taller by more than a head, and some women might think him handsome.

      He frowned at her. “What does a gal need a lot for? Your husband not providin’ for you?”

      A Texas drawl. She might have known. Lacey glared back. “I am not married,” she replied with ice in her voice. “Now get off my claim!”

      Her accent told him she was a Texan, too. And the most stubborn, annoying female he’d ever met. He had a strong male urge to yank her up and spank her backside, but he knew that to win this fuss, he must hold his temper and use his charm. He smiled at her, took off his hat, and made a sweeping bow.

      “I am Blackie O’Neal, lately of Del Rio, and you are—?”

      “Don’t waste your sleazy charm on me. If you were a gentleman, you’d let me have the claim.”

      “Well,” Blackie grinned and touched the brim of his hat in salute. “I’ll see you in Guthrie to register with the land office—if you can find a way to get there.”

      Lacey watched the Texan saunter away, furious with his confidence. Why, he was like a rooster that thought the sun came up because he crowed. Since he was a man and a Texan, naturally, he thought he’d alrady bested her. Outrageous. Well, she wasn’t ready to yell “calf rope” yet.

      Also by Georgina Gentry

      Apache Caress

      Apache Tears

      Bandit’s Embrace

      Cheyenne Captive

      Cheyenne Caress

      Cheyenne Princess

      Cheyenne Song

      Cheyenne Splendor

      Comanche Cowboy

      Eternal Outlaw

      Half-Breed’s Bride

      Nevada Dawn

      Nevada Nights

      Quicksilver Passion

      Sioux Slave

      Song of the Warrior

      Timeless Warrior

      To Tame a Rebel

      To Tame a Savage

      To Tame a Texan

      Warrior’s Heart

      Warrior’s Honor

      Warrior’s Prize

      TO TEMPT A TEXAN

      Georgina Gentry

      ZEBRA BOOKS

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

      This story is dedicated to the memory of Nanitta Daisey, the feisty lady reporter for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Gazette, who actually rode the cowcatcher of a train into the Oklahoma Land Rush and jumped off to stake her claim right here in my hometown of Edmond.

      And to the memory of a movie star and real man, Clark Gable. Old Rhett Butler would have felt right at home playing my gambler, Blackie O’Neal,

      And finally, to the memory of the real Lively, a lazy hound that only moved when someone said “dog biscuit.”

      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

      Chapter Twenty-one

      Chapter Twenty-two

      To My Readers

      Prologue

      Lacey Van Schuyler Durango has been reared by her aunt and uncle down in the Texas hill country between Austin and San Antonio. Prim, uptight Lacey is an ambitious newspaper woman who has no time and no use for men and with good reason. She’s also the national president of the Ladies’ Temperance Association. With her cat, Precious, Lacey is riding a train to the Oklahoma land rush with plans to stake a claim and start her own newspaper. She and her L.T.A. ladies plan to mount a crusade to keep this new town dry, figuring if there’re no saloons, the town won’t attract disreputable rogues.

      Speaking of disreputable rogues, enter Blackie O’Neal. Blackie’s a charming Texas rascal who could talk a dog off a meat wagon. This handsome scoundrel has already been run out of half the towns in the Lone Star state. Think Rhett Butler, only more so. On a fine chestnut stallion, followed by his lazy hound dog, Lively, Blackie is galloping into this new settlement with plans to build a fancy saloon and bordello, Blackie’s Black Garter. Unfortunately, the lot he’s racing to grab is the very same land that our Texas temperance leader is about to claim for her newspaper office. Uh-oh….

      Chapter One

      Monday afternoon, April 22, 1889, the Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory.

      Lacey clung to the cowcatcher of the moving train as the scenery rushed past.

      My word! This damn-fool, outrageous stunt was going to get her killed. Worse than that, it was blowing her hair and smudging her perfect white shirtwaist. Lacey Van Schuyler Durango had never done anything so outrageous. Well, maybe twice…

      She wouldn’t think about that now. It was all she could do to hang on and keep from falling under the churning wheels of this racing locomotive. The wind whipped her hair loose and caught her dark blue skirts, making them billow so that her white bloomers showed. So very unladylike!

      Would most ladies be clinging to the front of a moving locomotive anyway? Certainly not. And to think she had bribed the engineer to let her ride up here. The fumes from the engine choked her and, beneath her feet, the cross ties raced by as she clung both to the iron cowcatcher and her claim stake and hammer. Lacey was only too aware that if she loosened her grip, she might fall beneath the train. The thought was frightening, thinking of what a mess she would be when they found the body; so undignified and dirty.