Just This Once - Softcover

He's the one.

Josie peeked out from the saloon's back stairs as the tall, handsome cowboy dressed all in black shoved his chair back from the poker table.  He rose up to a magnificent and most impressive height and scooped up his winnings. Carelessly he stuck a few bills in his shirt pocket, tucked the rest into a leather wallet, and then dropped the wallet into his vest pocket with a series of easy motions that hypnotized her.  Actually, it was the sight of all that money that hypnotized her.

She fairly quivered as she eyed the slightly bulging vest pocket that nestled against his lean, solid torso.

My, my, she thought, her mouth nearly watering.  What I couldn't do with all that lovely money.

First off, she could buy a train ticket to New York City--possibly even a first-class ticket--and then steamship passage to England...and even send some extra to the Magnolia Sisters United Orphanage in Savannah.

But there was a tiny problem, she conceded, biting her lip as she crouched unseen in the dimness of the stairs.  She had no doubt from observing the tall cowboy with the silver belt buckle that he was a gunslinger.

Why, Lord, why does he have to be a gunslinger?

She watched him carefully, holding her breath, wondering if she dared, if she really dared to try to pick his pocket.

You must, she told herself.  You need that cash to get out of this pesthole of a town and far away from Snake.

You can't, a wise, warning voice squeaked inside her ear.  He's not a man to be caught dozing.

He was most definitely a gunslinger, she decided on a sigh as his glance skimmed coolly, indifferently, over the other men at the poker table.  There was something mean and hungry about him, something cold.  She noted his lean bronzed cheeks, the hard arrogant face, the simple but elegantly cut dark clothes he wore upon his strapping form.  Then there was the leonine way he moved and the easy way he wore his guns, as if he'd been born with them.

Oh, yes.  A gunslinger.  A deadly one, at that.

Anxiety rippled through her as she weighed her choices.

The miner at the table still had a pocketful of coins, she knew, but he looked down on his luck.  Her conscience wouldn't let her pick the pocket of a man who looked as if he needed every last dime.

But this man was another story.

This man appeared as if he could spare some cash, a great deal of cash. And if he was a gun for hire, well, when his wallet was gone, he'd still have his guns.  He could always hire himself out and earn himself more blood money, or win it in the next poker game.

So follow him and get it over with.  What are you waiting for?

She crept down the steps, and peeked around the door as he shouldered his way through the double saloon doors and out into glittering Kansas sunshine.

Josie figured he was going to get some shut-eye at last or was on his way to watch the hanging along with everyone else in town.  Either way, she'd better follow close behind, and find a chance to pluck that stash from his pocket.

"Jo, no, don't!  I know what you're thinking, and it's a big mistake!"

Josie whirled as Rose MacEwen clutched desperately at her sleeve.  Rose was whispering at her furiously.

"Honey, I know you want to get out of town, but you'll get caught.  You'll land in jail.  You can't just--"

"Shhh," Josie hissed.  She peered frantically over her shoulder to the double doors through which the gunslinger had disappeared.  "Rose, let me go."

"But, honey--"

"I have to do this!"

"No, you don't!"

It was hard to believe that she'd only known Rose MacEwen for two weeks, since she'd arrived in Abilene and taken a job in the kitchen of the Golden Pistol Saloon and Dance Hall.  Rose, who'd been thrown out of her family's farmhouse when she was thirteen, had had a hard life--almost as hard as Josie's own. That realization had formed a bond between the two young women immediately. "He's got a fat purse, Rose, and that's all I care about," she whispered fiercely as the skinny, pale-haired saloon girl in the low-cut pink dress opened her mouth to speak again.  "It'll be all right.  Now let me go."

But Rose's grip tightened.  "I'll give you all the money I've got--six dollars, maybe seven ...and I'm sure Liza can spare something, too."

"I don't take money from my friends, Rose.  Go on upstairs, and don't you worry.  I'll be fine.  All I need is enough cash to get out of town."

"But why, Jo, why do you have to leave?"  Plaintively, Rose stared into Josie's eyes.  "First Penny and now you.  Can't you stay a while longer?  I know Judd pays lousy, but you're the best cook he's ever had and business has picked up in the dance hall since you started fixing the meals--and it's good steady work."  As Josie shook her head Rose plunged on.  "And there's a lot of men who come through the Golden Pistol.  If you started dancing with us more regular, too, instead of just filling in, you might find some feller who wants to marry you--"

"I've been married, Rose, and I'm never making that mistake again!" Impatiently, Josie shook free of the girl's grasp.  "Look, the less you know about my leaving town the better," she added in a low tone.  "If anyone asks, you never saw me.  I'll say good-bye before I leave, don't you worry.  But now I have to go and catch that hombre."

There was no mistaking her determination.  Rose sighed in defeat and shook her head as Josie squeezed her hand, then dodged past her, rushing through the rear door.

She darted around the alleyway and scanned the main street.  It was now teeming noisily with excited men, women, and children come to watch the hanging, but to Josie's relief, she spotted the tall gunslinger almost immediately.  He had paused at the edge of the crowd, a little apart, definitely aloof.

All right, mister.  That's it.  You're not getting away so easily. Josephine Cooper always gets her man.

A grim smile curled her lips as she started forward in the hazy sunshine, her gingham skirt rustling.  She'd dressed "respectable" for the occasion--her plain blue gingham gown buttoned up to the throat, tiny dangly jet earrings, her unruly mane of brown hair tamed in a neat, prim coil with not a wisp out of place.  On her feet were her good sturdy shoes, not the wicked rhinestone-studded slippers she wore onstage whenever she filled in for one of the dance hall girls who couldn't perform.  She was certain no one would recognize the Golden Pistol's practically invisible cook or the sometime dance hall girl with the wild brown curls as the demure, respectable creature making her way through the crowded street.

The necessity of leaving Abilene tomorrow weighed heavily on her mind. Instinct told her Snake and his boys were closing in.  Her skin had been prickling all day each time she looked out the window.  Josie's "feelings" about such things were never wrong.  Snake would be here soon.  If she stayed, he'd catch her and then...

Then she'd be as good as dead.  Because if her dear outlaw husband and his cutthroat gang got their hands on her, they'd show her no more mercy than these townsfolk would show Rusty Innes, who was going to be hanged today from the gallows in the center of town.  Innes had killed a teller and a customer when he'd robbed the bank a month ago, and now he was going to pay for what he'd done.

If Snake and the boys catch up with me, I'll pay, too, Josie thought, swallowing down the metallic taste of fear.  I'll pay dear for what I did to them.

But she didn't regret it one whit.

Josie Cooper is an orphan without a name and without a family. She clings to the hope that the brooch pinned to her swaddling clothes will help her discover her real identity. Josie's search will take her to England, but first she has to get out of Abilene, Kansas before her outlaw husband catches up with her. She decides to pick the pocket of a dangerous looking gunslinger to get the money she needs to aid her escape. Josie's first mistake is stealing Ethan Savage's money. Her second mistake is agreeing to marry him. Ethan has been content to put his past behind him and forget his English heritage. He's made a life for himself in the wild American west and he doesn't need a family or a home. But then his father's solicitor shows up in Abilene and Ethan's past comes back to haunt him. He discovers he's the heir to Stonecliff Park and the title of Earl of Stonecliff. He has to go back to England, but he doesn't intend to go alone. He's taking a bride... a very unsuitable bride. Just This Once is a lovely tale about two people discovering themselves even as they discover love. Josie is wonderful as the scrappy heroine who doesn't believe anyone can love her. Ethan is the troubled, brooding hero who is changed by Josie's love. Jill Gregory does a nice job of bringing these two engaging characters together.Jill Gregory is a unique voice in romance! She creates engaging characters that readers care about! A thoroughly romantic tale! Jill Gregory writes from the heart! A sweet tale of love and belonging! Ms. Gregory knows how to create a plot full of exciting twists and turns!Kristina Wright -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times