Texas Tiger TH3 by Patricia Rice

stalked back toward the front door.
    He hadn't expected that. Or perhaps he had. Ladies didn't yell from the street. He hadn't wanted her to leave so precipitously. He wanted to share the triumph of his first creation with someone, and Miss Georgina Meredith Hanover was the ideal companion. Of course, he had in mind breaking out champagne and laughing and hugging and that kind of celebration, not a first-class, genuine, knock-down brawl, but he would take what he could get.
    He rebuttoned his shirt, shoved it into his pants, and raked his hair back out of his face. He really was going to have to get a haircut. Evie would be ashamed of him. But he was grinning widely when Georgina sailed back into the room.
    She slapped the invitation at the arms crossed over his chest. "You can be very certain the mayor will want to see you after the paper comes out, if only to have you hanged. But it's his wife who wants to see you. And if you don't appear, she won't give me the information on ABC Rentals. Now do you want that information the easy way, or would you prefer to work for it?"
    Her blue eyes sparkled like rare diamonds, and her cheeks were flushed with heat and probably ire. Daniel couldn't help thinking that her lips were a delightfully kissable pink, but that was because she was pouting. He'd have to make her laugh and chase that thought away.
    "What kind of work do you have in mind?" he asked innocently, knowing Miss Georgina Hanover had no notion of what was going through his mind right now.
    She looked at him suspiciously, but since he had taken the invitation, she modified her tone. "I haven't any idea how a newspaperman works to get information out of people. I suppose if you kicked around a few people as you did that Mr. Egan, you might find one or two willing to talk. I just thought you might prefer to do it by having a nice dinner instead."
    "Will you be there?" He dangled the invitation between two fingers.
    "Peter and I are invited, yes." She held herself stiffly against any attack of disapproval.
    "Good. I'll get to meet the infamous Peter. If I don't meet him tonight, that is."
    Daniel seemed serenely unconcerned by the prospect of being beaten into a pulp by her fiance. Georgina shook her head at his foolishness. "I'd suggest finding somewhere else to go once you send those papers out into the street. Peter is bigger than you are, and your fancy kicking isn't likely to impress him any."
    Daniel bent the invitation and shoved it into his trouser pocket. "I'm not a fighter, Miss Hanover. I don't take pleasure out of hitting people. If your Mr. Mulloney can't be reasonable about this, then I'll have to show him out. How I do that will be up to him."
    He didn't seem to have any doubts that he could do it. Remembering the wide shoulders and muscular arms she had seen earlier, Georgina didn't argue. She didn't know what Peter looked like beneath his frock coat and cravat, and she didn't intend to think about it. She took a gulp of air to clear her brain, but before she could give him a good reply, the downstairs seemed to erupt into commotion.
    "I brought 'em, Mr. Martin! Are they ready? Can we go out now?"
    Shouts and whistles and stamping feet echoed up the stairwell. Georgina turned in time to see a herd of grubby boys in all sizes and shapes pouring into the room. Corduroys and suspenders and knickers and bulky shirts and even a sporty cap or two abounded as they spread out, filling the small room with their energy.
    "The first batch is coming off the press right now. You can catch the factory workers coming out for lunch. The next batch needs to go downtown. By evening, I want you all over town."
    Georgina watched in amazement as Daniel sprang into action, sorting through the boys, sending two to pick up the sheets rolling off the press, setting two of the weakest to folding, adjusting the carrier pouches over the shoulders of the smaller ones, and instructing them carefully in their duties. He had the patience of