“Abruptly, he wheeled Shadow into a full turn, stopped, and yanked his rifle out of the sheath on his saddle.”

“He snorted and his long face informed her he was still as grumpy as a woodpecker with a headache.”

“Coyness wasn't the only thing Ardetta had been aggressive about and he'd had to summon up all his southern chivalry to turn her down gently. When he'd relented and obliged her with a kiss, she'd been on him like ugly on an ape. He'd narrowly escaped her clutches with his honor intact.”

“This time he jerked the appendage from her soft lap and tucked it under his leg, Indian fashion.”

“When she squeezed his arm and told him she had two pies in her buggy, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.”

“She was full of flaws which with time would evolve into full-blown personality defects.”

“Just thinking about January being in that shack all alone made him swell up fit to bust his britches.”