Courting Will (Escape To The West Book 8)

by Nerys Leigh

  Zach placed a hand onto his chest to stop him. “I’m going to need more information.”

  “More information on what?” he asked innocently.

  Zach moved his narrowed gaze to Daisy. “Daisy?”

  “We’re courting.”

  Will flashed her a look of exasperation. “We’re not courting.”

  “I’m courting him,” she told Zach.

  He blinked at her. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard that correctly.”

  “You heard her just fine,” Will said. “She thinks we should be courting and I don’t. So we’re not courting, but she’s courting me.”

  Zach frowned. “I’m confused.”

  “There’s nothing to be confused about. We’re not courting.”

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  “Having dinner. As friends.”

  Daisy tightened her arm around Will’s and leaned into his side. “I invited him to dinner and he accepted. And I’m paying.”

  Zach turned his amused gaze on Will. “Sounds like courting to me.”

  Will glared at him. “Well, it’s not. Now if you could get out of the way, we’re going to have dinner. As friends.”

  Smiling, Zach stepped out of their path. “Have a good time not courting.”

  “We’re not courting,” Will said as they walked past him.

  Daisy looked back and mouthed, “We’re courting.”

  Zach burst into laughter.

  “Am I going to regret this?” Will asked her as they entered the dining room.

  She smiled sideways at him. “Only if you want to.”

  ~ ~ ~

  They stayed at the hotel for far longer than Will anticipated they would. And he enjoyed the evening far more than he thought he would, too.

  Their conversation was easy and fun, just like it always was, but there was something fresh and new about spending time with Daisy like this. And despite the fact that they still were very definitely not courting, from his point of view anyway, he was very glad he’d agreed to go.

  He looked up at the first stars of the evening twinkling in the purple sky as they left the hotel. “You shouldn’t be driving the buggy back to town on your own in the dark. I’ll borrow a horse from George and bring it back tomorrow.”

  “You can take Indy and the buggy, if you like,” she said. “We just need to go fetch Nicky. Will you be coming in tomorrow for the market? You can bring her back then.”

  Daniel usually brought their produce to the market on Wednesdays, often taking Sara with him, while Will did the morning chores and got started with whatever work there was to do on the farm. Even milking Pea was preferable to getting up at some ridiculous hour for the market.

  But if it meant he got to see Daisy…

  “Yes, I’m coming in tomorrow.” At least, he was now.

  He offered her his arm and they strolled back to the buggy. Indiana snorted a greeting at their approach and Daisy rubbed her neck and gave her the thick slice of bread she’d brought from the restaurant for her. Indy chewed it happily while Will untied the lead rope and helped Daisy into the buggy.

  He climbed up into the driver’s seat and was about to start Indiana off when Daisy touched his hand.

  He froze, his heart suddenly racing. Swallowing, he raised his eyes from where her hand rested lightly on his.

  “I enjoyed dinner,” she said, her full lips turning up in a faint smile.

  Stop looking at her lips.

  “So…” His voice cracked and he faked a cough to disguise it. “So did I.”

  “Not as bad as you thought it would be, was it?”

  “I never thought it would be bad.” Embarrassing, yes. Bad, no.

  A smile sparkled in her eyes. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. “So can we do it again sometime?”

  He knew he should say no, but he was having trouble concentrating. Her hand still hadn’t moved from his. “I… uh…”

  She leaned forward a little and he suddenly wanted to kiss her so badly he could almost taste her lips on his. Entirely against his will, his eyes dropped to her mouth.

  Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Stop fighting it, Will. I know you want me as much as I want you.”

  He licked his lips. “Daisy…”

  She leaned even closer. “We could be so good for each other.”

  Her words broke the spell. He wouldn’t be good for her. He couldn’t.

  Forcing himself to sit back, he pulled his hand from beneath hers. “Please don’t.”

  Sighing, she moved her hand to her lap. “You’re a stubborn man, Will Raine.”

  “Not stubborn, just realistic.” She raised her eyebrows and, despite the circumstances, he snorted a laugh. “All right, maybe I’m stubborn too.”

  “Well, I can be as stubborn as you. I’m not giving up.”

  He urged Indiana into motion. “And I’m not going to change my mind.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Nicky was with Gareth’s parents, so Will guided the buggy along the main street, heading for the furniture workshop that Mr. Monroe owned and above which he and his wife lived.

  Will remembered the day the Monroes arrived, with their son and daughter and a wagon loaded with furniture. At twenty, Gareth had been three years older than Will, but they’d still gotten along well right from the start. In fact, it was Will who introduced him to Daisy, not in any way meaning for them to become a couple. But the moment Gareth met her, he was smitten. Will lost any chance he might have had then and there.

  He’d never begrudged Gareth Daisy’s hand, but envy had perhaps driven him to frequent the saloon even more than he already was. Not that he was using that as an excuse. His bad choices were all his own.

  “Have you told them about us?” he asked Daisy as they drove.

  She gave him an amused look. “What about us? I thought we weren’t courting.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I told them when I left Nicky there earlier.”

  That was unnerving. “And what did they say?”

  She pressed her lips together, making him even more nervous. “Not a great deal. I think it came as a shock. They didn’t seem very happy about it, but I’m sure they just need time to take it in.”

  “Did you explain that we won’t actually be marrying?”

  “I said you were still getting used to the idea.”

  He rubbed at the back of his neck. “A lot of people are going to end up very disappointed once this is all over. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I know no such thing.”

  She had a talent for making him want to smile and despair at the same time. “You’re impossible.”

  “The term is strong-willed, and you’re a strong enough man to take it. It’s one of the reasons I picked you and not one of those other men you think I should choose instead.”

  Her strength was one of the many things he liked about her. There was a lot to like about Daisy. He even liked her tenacity, although at that moment he couldn’t help but wonder why.

  They reached their destination and he stopped the buggy.

  “Would you like to come in?” she asked.

  He eyed the dark storefront. “I’ll wait out here.”

  “For someone so strong, you can be such a coward sometimes.”

  “I prefer to think of it as a heightened sense of self-preservation.”

  She patted his arm. “All right, I’ll be right back. Coward.”

  He simply smiled. No amount of provocation was getting him in there with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe.

  And then a light appeared in the window, the front door opened, and Will’s gut dropped as they walked out.

  Nicky ran ahead of them. “Will!”

  With nothing else for it, he climbed down from the buggy and scooped Nicky into his arms when he ran up to him.

  The Monroes followed at a more sedate pace.

  “Evening, William,” Mr. Monroe said.

  Will had the sudden need to rem
ind himself that he was a grown man. “Good evening, sir. Ma’am.”

  “How was your dinner?” Mrs. Monroe asked. She was smiling, but Will wasn’t fooled.

  “It was lovely,” Daisy replied, walking up beside him.

  Thankfully, she didn’t take his arm, although she did stand so close that her shoulder brushed against him.

  “I helped Grandpa Monroe make a chair,” Nicky announced in a tone suggesting he’d designed and constructed the whole thing by himself.

  “That sounds like fun,” Will replied, glancing at Mr. Monroe. The way Daisy’s father-in-law was watching him made him nervous.

  “Thank you for looking after Nicky,” Daisy said, giving her mother-in-law a warm hug.

  Mrs. Monroe reached out to ruffle Nicky’s hair. “You know it’s no hardship spending time with our little man.”

  “How about you get Nicky into the buggy,” Mr. Monroe said. “We just want a few words with Will.”

  Will’s heart lurched. He turned a stricken look on Daisy, silently begging her for help.

  She smiled sweetly at him. “Sure.”

  She was just loving making him suffer. He could tell.

  He placed Nicky down and waited for the hugs and goodbyes to come to an end, then Daisy took her son to the buggy while Will trudged after Mr. and Mrs. Monroe into the pine-scented workshop.

  “We’re not courting,” he said, as soon as they were inside. “I mean, I know Daisy told you we are, but we’re not. She’s got this idea that we should marry, but you need to know that I don’t intend to marry her. At all. Gareth was my friend and I respected him a great deal and I wouldn’t dream of taking his place. I think very highly of Daisy and Nicky, but I have no intentions towards them. Daisy and I aren’t courting. We are not courting.” He gasped in his first breath since he’d started speaking.

  “Well, why ever not?” Mrs. Monroe said.

  Will stared at her. “I… um… I beg your pardon?”

  “Daisy explained to us how she felt the time was right for her to marry again and that she wanted it to be you. We wholeheartedly approve.”

  He blinked. “You… do?”

  “Our son would have wanted her to be happy,” Mr. Monroe added, “and he would have wanted someone for her who would be the father to Nicky he can’t be. It’s obvious Nicky adores you. He talks about you all the time. And Gareth thought very highly of you. Now that your saloon days are behind you, we can’t think of anyone better for Daisy than you, Will.”

  “And… you told Daisy this?”

  Mrs. Monroe smiled. “We sure did.”

  Will turned to look through the open door at Daisy where she sat in the buggy with Nicky.

  She smiled and waved.

  She’d lied to him on purpose, just to scare him, because she thought it would be funny. That shouldn’t have attracted him to her even more, but somehow it did.

  Schooling his features into a smile, he turned back to the Monroes. “I’m honored you think I’d be a good husband and father for Daisy and Nicky, but Daisy and I aren’t courting, and we won’t be getting married.”

  By the amusement on the Monroes’ faces, they weren’t convinced.

  “Daisy can be a very determined woman, and she’s clearly set her sights on you,” Mr. Monroe said. “Man to man, my advice would be to just go along with it.” He glanced at his wife. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from thirty years of marriage, it’s that women are almost always right.”

  She smiled at her husband. “Almost?”

  Mr. Monroe leaned towards Will and lowered his voice as if imparting a secret. “And if they aren’t right, it doesn’t matter, because life goes much easier if you just decide that they are.”

  Will didn’t know whether to be amused or afraid, so he settled on smiling and nodding, which, he’d learned, usually did the trick in most situations. “Well, I should be getting along.”

  “Don’t break her heart,” Mrs. Monroe said as he turned to go, all levity gone. “She’s already suffered enough.”

  Will took a deep breath and looked back. “Breaking Daisy’s heart will never be something I want to do.”

  He couldn’t break her heart, because they weren’t courting. Why couldn’t anyone understand that?

  Daisy gave him a smug, knowing smile when he returned to the buggy.

  “Thanks for that,” Will remarked. “Very funny.”

  “I thought so.”

  Between them, Nicky lifted his head from his mother’s shoulder, snuggled against Will’s arm, and yawned. Will lifted his elbow so he could nestle in beneath it. He’d become remarkably adept at driving with one arm around a small child in the past year or so.

  Even though it only took a few minutes to reach Daisy’s house, Nicky was fast asleep by the time they got there, barely stirring as Will lifted him down from the buggy and carried him inside.

  He took him up to his bedroom and left Daisy to get him into his pajamas while he waited in the kitchen. There were freshly-baked cinnamon cookies under a cloth in the pantry so he took one and settled at the table. After their dinner, he wasn’t hungry, but Daisy made exceptionally delicious cookies.

  She walked in a few minutes later. Her eyes went to the cookie he was just finishing up. “Do I have any left?”

  He popped the final bite into his mouth. “A few.” He’d only had three, and there was a whole plate of them.

  “Nicky wants you to say goodnight to him.”

  He rose from the chair. “I’ll be right back.”

  Nicky was barely awake when he got to his room. Will stroked a strand of hair back from his cheek and leaned down to kiss his forehead. He smelled of sawdust.

  Nicky snaked his arms from beneath the covers and held them up, and Will sat beside him on the bed to hug him. There was something that always happened to him when he held Daisy’s little boy, a warmth in his heart that felt like it could chase away every shred of guilt he held, if only for a few moments. Nicky didn’t know what Will had done. He didn’t know about the years of gambling and drinking and women, or the ways Will had let his parents and Daniel and Sara down. Nicky loved Will for who he was, not who he’d been.

  There were times, like now, when Will wished he could see himself the way Nicky did. And there were times, like now, when he regretted his past most of all. Because the truth was, there wasn’t anything that could make him wish things were different more than the idea of being Nicky’s father and Daisy’s husband.

  He tucked the covers back around Nicky’s shoulders. “Goodnight, kid.”

  “’Night, Will,” he replied, his words already slurring with sleep.

  Will stood watching him in peaceful slumber for a few minutes before he made his way back downstairs.

  He found Daisy on the settee in the living room, her sewing on her lap as usual. He knew she had to work hard to support herself and Nicky, and he helped where he could. Not by giving her money outright, she wouldn’t have accepted that. But he gave her gifts of things he knew she needed, and helped her around the house, and brought her food.

  Although, admittedly, he ate much of the food.

  “He’s asleep,” he said, sitting at the other end of the settee.

  “Mr. Monroe’s teaching him to make things. Nicky loves it. I think he might grow up to be a carpenter.”

  “Dan and I could have used his help when we rebuilt the barn.”

  She smiled. “I’ve seen the box he’s making. Believe me, you really don’t want his help yet.” She set her sewing aside and folded her hands in her lap. “So.”

  The way she gazed at him made his heart speed up. He knew he should leave, but the lamplight shone in her dark hair and flickered in her eyes and played over the creamy skin of her neck, and he couldn’t look away.

  “So,” he replied.

  “I had fun tonight.”

  “So did I.”

  She unfolded her hands and moved a little along the settee towards him. “So I guess being courted isn’t so b
ad after all.”

  “We’re not courting.” His reply was automatic, but at that moment the words held no conviction.

  She slid a few inches closer. “So what are we doing?”

  His eyes dropped to her mouth. He’d always liked her lips. They were so wonderfully pink. “We’re spending time together as friends.”

  One of them moved a little closer. Distracted as he was, he wasn’t sure which, but since it wasn’t a very big settee it brought them very close indeed.

  “Well, I’m about to get very, very friendly,” she murmured, and then her lips were on his.

  Part of his mind told him to pull away and leave. A very small part, way in the back. The rest of his brain ignored it.

  He slipped his hands around her waist, tilting his head, pulling her nearer. He hadn’t kissed a woman he wasn’t paying in a long, long time, and he hadn’t kissed a woman at all in almost a year, but he must have been doing something right because she made a breathy sound in the back of her throat and wound her arms around his neck, pressing even closer.

  Caught up in a whirlwind of feelings he had no hope of denying, he kissed her deep and hard in a sudden release of a long time of restraint. And she matched his intensity with no hint of hesitation.

  When his lips finally slid from hers, they were both breathing hard.

  He couldn’t look away from her. She gazed at him, lips parted, eyes dark and shining, hair disheveled from his roving fingers. And he couldn’t look away.

  We’re not courting, he told himself.

  We’re not courting.

  We’re not…

  We might be courting.

  Before he knew what he was doing, he leaned forward, aching to pull her close and taste her lips again.

  Squeezing his eyes closed, he drew back. “I should go.” Never had three words pained him more to say.

  He opened his eyes to see her brush one hand over her hair, swallowing. “Uh… yes. Um. Maybe that would be best.”

  He couldn’t help feeling a small amount of satisfaction at how flustered she appeared.

  She narrowed her eyes. “What is that smile?”

  His attempt to wrestle his smile into submission wasn’t entirely successful. “What smile?”

  Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “It wasn’t even that good of a kiss.”