Heart of an Outlaw *First in the Crane Gang series*

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Gill froze. Never had a voice had such an impact on him. The voice was smooth like honey and it washed over Gill with a deep baritone that had him swallowing hard and clenching his fists to hide his trembling. 

Gill had worked hard in his life to overcome his outlaw heritage, it was true, but he’d worked even harder to hide what he was--to bury deep the urges and attractions he felt because he knew they’d never be accepted.

He thought he’d learned how to live without feeling any of those things. Hearing that single sentence spoken by that voice full of quiet confidence told him a very different story. 

Craig jumped forward. “You look mad, Jeb. Don’t be mad! We can trust them both.” 

Gill turned and looked up into the greenest set of eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Green eyes that seemed skeptical and more than a little angry as they glared down at him. 

Gill was average height for a man at five foot ten but this man stood head and shoulders above him--clearly close to six and a half feet tall. He had tanned skin, a stubble covered jaw and a strong chin. He sported a thin line of stubble above his firm upper lip--a lit that was set in a thin line as he studied the newcomers to his camp. 

Gill cleared his throat and took a step back to place some distance between them. Holy hell! It was as if the last decade of his life he’d been working to hide his sexuality hadn’t happened at all! This man--Jeb--was everything Gill liked right down to his dust covered clothes, broad chest and shoulders, narrow hips and long legs. 

“Craig, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jeb ground out, that voice, while full of seething rage, still enough to have Gill’s mind taking a temporary sabbatical. 

Craig spared a quick glance toward Pete and Gill before following after Jeb who was already striding away--and could the man ever stride…? Gill quickly shook his head and forced himself to turn back and face the group. 

“So that’s the leader?” he asked, hoping his voice wouldn’t give way the tension he was currently feeling. 

“How is it that you’d heard of Willie and Craig but not Jeb?” the older man asked. 

Gill shrugged, “I’d only every heard their first names mentioned when I’d heard folks talking about the gang. We only recognized them because the bartender said their names and we saw those pants of Willies. We’d heard he was… flashy.” 

“I’ll show you flashy, you bas..” 

“Willie!” the woman snapped, placing her fists on her shapely hips. “Watch how you speak to guests.” 

Gill was surprised to see Willie’s blue eyes widen and his expression turn sheepish as he nodded and clutched his hat in his hands. “Sure thing, Jane. Sorry about that.”  

Gill cast a glance at his best friend only to realize that Pete’s attention was on the woman. Gill tried to look at her through the eyes of a man who would be interested and could admit that she was pretty enough. With delicate features, heart shaped lips and storm gray eyes that seemed sharp enough to catch everything around her.