Depending on the Doctor (Nevada Bounty Book 2) by Margaret Madigan

His stale morning breath and even more stale body odor made my gorge rise, but I swallowed it down. Even worse than his stink was his presence. He wasn’t a large man; in fact he was rather average—shorter than Emmett by a few inches—wide in the shoulders, but wiry in general. But he wore authority like a pair of comfortable old boots and his presence filled the room. There was no mistaking when Clyde entered the room, especially when he’d eased close enough that our shoulders touched.
    He inhaled deeply, then turned to face me with a chilling smile on his face. “Smells good, Lydia.”
    I wasn’t sure if he meant the food or me, and I didn’t want to think about all the implications if he meant me. It made me shudder.
    “Thank you,” I said, unsure how else to respond.
    He turned and I expected him to head for the table. Instead, he smacked my bottom and said, “If you cook like this all the time, we may just have to keep you around no matter what happens to Ernie.”
    He leered at me, then turned to the men and grinned like he’d told a dirty joke and expected exactly the response he got—a round of cheers and guffaws.
    I dreaded the idea of being stuck with these coarse half-wits for any length of time.
    “Don’t count on it,” I said, serving large plates to the table for everyone to help themselves.
    “We’ll just see,” Clyde said, grabbing a handful of bacon. “If Ernie dies, maybe instead of killing you, I’ll just take it out in service.”
    A couple of the other guys snorted between shoveling food in their sloppy mouths. All of them gave me the once-over, and I could read the results on their faces.
    “Well, she ain’t exactly pretty, but she’s clean and she’s a girl, so I’ll take her,” Slim said, snuffling a laugh around his mouthful of biscuit. Slim was anything but slim, and the thought of him touching me made my skin crawl.
    “Lucky for me, it’ll be a cold day in hell before you lay a finger on me,” I said. “In fact, I’d rather Clyde just kill me now.”
    That earned me a huge round of hilarity; laughter and applause mostly, but some of them shared untoward gestures with Slim, which I assumed implied what he’d be doing instead of touching me.
    Instead of joining the fun, Clyde just watched me, that same unnerving smile on his face. I thought he shared Slim’s opinion, but whereas Slim was likely only being boastful, and if push came to shove, he would bluster but he’d be decent and leave me be, I thought Clyde would actually take advantage of me.
    A hand fell on my shoulder, and I jumped, swallowing the scream that almost escaped my lips.
    “Shhh,” Emmett said. “It’s only me.”
    Only? Knowing he was behind me was like a rush of cool breeze on a still, hot day. The tension in my back leeched away, and even though the look on Clyde’s face reminded me of a thunderstorm looming over the prairie, I felt safer with Emmett there. Maybe I did need him to protect me. Without him, I’d end up victim to Clyde and his gang, but I’d survive in the long run, and maybe even escape. With Emmett, it would come down to a pissing match between Emmett and Clyde, and as unlikely as it sounded, having them fight over me would only end up with someone hurt—or dead. I didn’t want to be responsible for putting Emmett in danger. Of course, in any other situation the other man would back off and go his own way, but I didn’t think Clyde gave up easily, and this wasn’t just a spat between two men fighting over the same woman. It was more about winning than wanting me.
    Still, Emmett made me stronger, like maybe I could protect him while he protected me.
    “How’s Ernie?” Clyde asked. His tone suggested he itched to kill Emmett.
    “He’s dead.”
    I’d never heard a room fall silent so fast. Emmett said it so matter-of-factly I wasn’t sure he’d meant it, like Clyde had asked about the weather and Emmett had told him it was sunny and cold. It sounded that offhand.