A Tumble Through Time by Callie Hutton

you.”
    Wes thumbed back the brim of his hat. “Didn’t I tell you I don’t want your help?”
    Anna groaned as she stood and dusted off her bottom. “Yes. But I’ve never been good at taking orders.”
    His groin tightened when he realized she was again dressed in her men’s trousers. Except no man ever looked like that. The snug outline of her rear as she swept her hand over it had his stomach clenching and his heart pounding. She wore his shirt that she hadn’t returned, but had tied the two bottom halves of it together right under her breasts, exposing the tawny skin of her stomach. If he didn’t get rid of her, he might act the fool, grab her, and devour that pouting mouth. “Get right back on that horse and return to town.”
    “No. I can help you.” She waved her arms around. “You need a back-up. Why would you go after a gang by yourself? It’s not correct police procedure.” Anna winced as she rotated her shoulder, her soft breasts swaying under the shirt.
    Wes tightened his jaw. “Are you hurt?”
    “Not really. Just banged up a bit.” She squinted as she looked up at him. “How far from here was the hold up?”
    “Don’t change the subject. I want you to go back to town.”
    “Look, I no longer have a job, so while I’m looking for another one, maybe my training can help you find these outlaws.”
    He snorted. “Training from the academy for young ladies where you learned to shoot and wrestle men, or from the Indians where you claim you lived?”
    “Let’s just say I know a little bit about crime scenes.”
    Wes pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “I suppose you’ll continue to follow me no matter what I say?”
    “Pretty much.”
    “I don’t have time to drag you back to the jailhouse and lock you up, but I’m warning you, stay out of my way.”
    “Yes, sir.” She grinned and gave him a two-fingered salute.
    They both mounted and continued on, side by side. Wes tried very hard to ignore what her body was doing to him.
     
     
    Anna studied Wes as they rode. He certainly looked like one of the heroes in the romance novels that she loved to read so much. But this was a flesh and blood man, who caused a reaction in her she didn’t want or need. Barely over Robbie and his deception, the last thing she needed was another man to inflict damage in her life.
    Which brought her back to the biggest problem she faced. How the heck had she landed in the past, and how was she going to get back in time for her hearing? Before Slug had picked her up, sweating, frustrated, and wandering in the prairie, she’d spent a good two hours trying to find the Indian store. She’d tamped down the panic that rose every once in a while since that fateful day.
    Was this the ‘peace’ the Indian woman alluded to when she sent her to the chair? To a town existing over a hundred years before she was even born? She snorted. A ton of feelings had bombarded her over the past few days, but peace had certainly not been one of them.
    They headed north on another road that took them over the prairie on a path not well used. “Is this the road the stage coach normally takes?”
    “Yep. They come down from Marysville, the last stop before Denton. Where did Slug pick you up?”
    Anna jerked her thumb behind her. “About two miles back, on that main road.”
    “And you have no idea how you got there?”
    “I do. But you’re not ready to hear it.”
    Wes’s head snapped around. “What does that mean?”
    “Nothing, marshal. You have your secrets, and I have mine.”
    She could just imagine his reaction if she blurted out that she was from the year two thousand thirteen. He would probably escort her to this century’s idea of a mental facility. Just the thought caused her to shudder.
    Wes slowed and she followed. From atop his horse he began searching the area, leaning over, examining the bushes and dirt, going even slower. She watched him as his features tightened in