<strong>~ Carmen at the bar in the Saloon | Day 2, afternoon ~</strong><br/><br/>After her quiet toast to Irene, Carmen brought the shot glass to her lips and quickly tossed the whiskey down the back of her throat. The sound of the glass heavily hitting the wood of the bar coincided with the quick hiss of her inhaled breath as the fiery liquid scorched its way over the back of her tongue, down her throat, burned past her chest and settled warmly in her stomach. Slowly letting her breath back out, she glanced at the man next to her through her dark fringe of lashes; having heard his timely cough, she wondered if he had overheard her toast. A slightly wicked smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she considered trying to<em>really</em>shock the stranger; but then her attention was brought back to the woman when she leaned toward her. As the woman leaned forward, Carmen’s golden gaze dipped to the woman’s lush lips, her eyes following the thin white scar tucked into the corner of her mouth that scrawled daintily up toward her cheek.<br/><br/><strong>"Cameron Mccrae, m'dear, and always a pleasure to have the acquaintance of a pretty little thing such as yourself."</strong><br/><br/>Carmen returned Cameron’s smile as the woman reached out and grasped her hand, Carmen’s mouth parting in surprised amusement as Cameron placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand, her grip as firm and the kiss as proper as any gentleman’s.<br/><br/>The sudden banging of spurs and clanging of a kicked spittoon had Carmen glancing curiously at the apparently discomfited man beside her as he upgraded his drink order.<strong>"... On second thought, better make that a bourbon."</strong><em>Hot damn...I do believe Mr. Stranger here has been eavesdropping on our ladytalk,”</em>she chuckled silently to herself, wondering if all the commotion meant the man was shocked or intrigued.<br/><br/>Reaching for her water, she drank a mouthful of the cool liquid, letting it sit a few soothing moments on her tongue before swallowing. Cameron’s shameless flirting and friendly demeanor had her liking the woman from the get-go. When she mentioned her “new best friend” and indicated Irene, Carmen tallied up “good taste” to the list of positive attributes the woman held, in her opinion.  Carmen nodded her head as she replied to Cameron’s question. “Yep - me ’n my brother work a ranch just outside of town, and this here’s where I come to get away from all the excitement,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.<br/><br/><strong>"I'm sort-of new in town, but keep it between us, won't you, love?"</strong><br/><br/>Cameron leaned close in toward her again as she spoke, her admission/request made with a suddenly thick brogue and paired with a smile and a wink, the combination of which caused Carmen to throw her head back in a burst of contagious, unselfconscious laughter. As her laughter slowly faded, a friendly smile remained on her lips.<br/><br/>Reaching her hand up to gently stroke the black rabbit fur of Cameron’s hat, Carmen let her hand trail down past the hat, curling her slender fingers around a lock of Cameron’s hair. Letting the silky strands feather slowly between her fingers as she pulled her hand back, Carmen spoke, a soft chuckle warming her tone. “I’ll just bet you have one helluva good story to tell, Cameron,<em>luv</em>,” she chuckled, emphasizing the last word in good-natured mimicry of the woman’s thick accent, her eyes smiling into Cameron’s.<br/><br/><strong>"Hola Maria. ¿Donde es Irene?"</strong><br/><br/>Carmen’s head turned as she heard Guinevera speak, recognizing her voice. The madame was at the end of the bar and seemed intent on business, so Carmen didn’t draw her attention. Suddenly, the mysterious stranger next to her pushed away from the bar and took a seat at a nearby table, settling in comfortably in his chair with his feet propped up.<em>Not even a how-do-you-do, and he hightails it!</em>she harrumphed to herself. If not for the man’s repeated glances in her and Cameron’s direction, she would have thought that the stranger was hoping to be left alone. But she had a feeling about this one.<br/><br/>Breaking in a new horse on the ranch was her favorite thing to do. Carmen was good at it, and absolutely loved it to boot. All that wildness and beauty, power and will in such stunning form. Each horse was unique, but she’d found they all tended to fall into two general groups: those that needed a strong hand and those that needed a soft hand. Carmen had found surprisingly similar traits among men, and her skill with taming horses had come in handy more’n she’d a thought it ever would in her dealings with men.  Catching the handsome stranger’s eyes as he once more slid his glance in their direction, Carmen suddenly decided on her entertainment for the evening. Licking her lips slowly with a warm glint in her eye, her lips curved up into a sensual smile. She would try her hand at taming and riding this one.<br/><br/>Turning back to Cameron, Carmen leaned toward her this time, almost whispering as she spoke softly close to her ear. “You know who I think you would<em>love</em>to meet, and who would just eat a beautiful thing like you up? Trinette-Marie LeBlanc. She works here, and you should ask around and make sure and introduce yourself, Doll. As for me...” Carmen tilted her head toward the lounging man and gave Cameron a conspiratorial wink, “I’m gonna go wrangle me up a cowboy!” Slipping gracefully off her stool, Carmen leisurely strolled toward the stranger, her hips gently swaying and an almost predatory smile prowling across her lips as she wondered if the man was gonna bolt.<br/>