by Merry Farmer
By the time they had carried all of the supplies from the depot to the wagons and paid for the purchases, Katie was busy contemplating just how hot Aiden’s skin would feel if she touched it. She wondered whether he would take his shirt off to cool down, or even if he would remove his vest and loosen the buttons at the top of his shirt. His damp hair looked ink-black when he brushed it back from his forehead. His cheeks were pink with exertion, which only made the blue of his eyes that much more—
“Katie Boyle.” He spoke her name, snapping her out of her reverie.
“Hmm? What?” she jumped, shaking her head to clear it. They were on the far side of the wagon, well away from the campfire. Their friends and neighbors were all involved in their own business, sorting out their own supplies or doing their chores.
“What happened to your friend?” Aiden asked.
“My… what?” She glanced around for Emma. Her friend was probably off with her mother, listening to Sandifer blather on about himself.
A beat too late, she realized he was talking about Earl. Her cheeks flooded with shame and she clenched her jaw.
“That was a low trick, Aiden Murphy,” she scolded him. “You chased him off on purpose.”
Sure enough, Earl was nowhere in sight. She and Aiden were alone.
Aiden laughed. “I swear to you, a ghrá, I did no such thing. You were so busy wool-gathering that he went back to his post.”
She couldn’t believe her own foolishness. “Too bad for him,” she growled.
She started to march around Aiden to find Emma or her mam, but Aiden stopped her.
“Poor Katie,” he said. “We wouldn’t want you to lose your bet now, would we?”
“Too late for tha—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Aiden swept her into his arms and covered her mouth with his. Katie’s heart dropped into her gut, and her mind flittered off into the ether. His arms were warm and strong around her. His lips tasted like earth and fire itself. He pressed into her with an insistence that had her sighing for more. He nipped at her lower lip, then teased his tongue alongside hers. The sensation was delicious and foreign and wild all at once.
She grabbed hold of his sides and dug her fingertips into his flesh through his vest and shirt. A low growl rumbled through him. It set every one of her nerves throbbing. She switched from being helpless at his invasion to meeting him exploration for exploration. Something primal in her core wanted all of him that she could get and more.
Sense slammed into her a moment later. She gasped and pushed back, raising a hand to her mouth. Reluctantly, she lifted her eyes to meet his. Aiden stood close to her, his whole face lit with embers that looked as though they could ignite the sea.
“There,” he said, hoarse in the best possible way.
When he didn’t go on, she said, “There what?” Her own voice wasn’t much steadier than his.
“You’ve won your bet.”
Confusion cooled the wildfire burning inside of her. She stood straighter, planting her hands on her hips. “What kind of daft thing is that to say?”
A lazy grin spread across his face. Katie’s heart lurched at the kiss-red stain to his lips. She’d done that.
“You bet me that you could get a man to kiss you within a day of arriving at the fort,” he told her. He spread his arms wide. “Well, you did.”
Her mouth fell open. Her heart fluttered. “That is cheating,” she snapped. A beat later, she smacked him across the chest.
Aiden laughed. “You never specified who it was who had to kiss you, a ghrá.”
“Don’t call me that,” she shouted.
Before he could get another word in, she growled in frustration and turned on her heel to march off. This time he didn’t stop her. This time a tiny part of her wanted him to.
“I’m only trying to help you,” he called as she walked away.
Katie twisted to snap back at him, “Go help yourself.”
“I’m trying to do that too,” he laughed.
She shook her head and kept right on walking away. He let her go, but the sound of his laughter followed her. She had a feeling it would follow her for the rest of her life.
Right along with the memory of that kiss.
Chapter Four
One day wasn’t enough to wipe the memory of Aiden’s kiss from Katie’s mind, to take the tingle from her lips. Three days weren’t enough either. She’d hoped that by the time a week passed she would be well on her way to forgetting it had ever happened. But more than a week later, as they approached Ft. Caspar, the next fort in the long line of the trail, Katie still felt the burn of Aiden’s lips on hers and the fire that had overtaken her body when it was pressed against his.
“I’m certain it’s only temporary,” Emma said beside her as the two of them walked, slightly apart from the rest of the wagons.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Katie answered, low and grim.
Emma blinked at her, far more distressed by those words than she should have been. “But Mother implied it was only for the duration of our journey, that once we get to Portland, things will be different.”
Katie frowned and tried to catch up with what Emma had been saying. With a rush of embarrassment, she realized her friend had been talking about her own problems, with Dean and Russ and her mother. Somewhere in the middle, Katie had wandered off into her own concerns, into Aiden. That was as bad a sign as could be. She would not let Aiden steal away with her thoughts when he wasn’t even within sight.
“No, no, what I mean is that your mother is always going to give you trouble,” she covered her mistake.
“That’s true,” Emma went on. Strangely enough, she seemed relieved by the prospect.
Katie smiled. She truly did like Emma, and in her heart of hearts, she hoped they would settle near each other when their journey was over. “At the end of the day,” she said, “your mother can’t tell you who to love.”
Emma brightened in agreement. “At the end of the trail, she can’t tell me who to marry either.” All at once, her cheerful expression dropped. “Although if she convinces Father to side with her, things could get complicated.”
Katie looped her arm through Emma’s and gave it a squeeze. “I won’t let it happen,” she said. “And I’m certain your Dean wouldn’t let it happen either.”
“That’s just the thing,” Emma sighed. “Dean is so impatient for a declaration of some sort. I love him, Katie, but I don’t know how to make him understand.”
“Ha,” Katie laughed aloud. “Men have a hard time understanding much of anything. Take that great lummox Aiden, for example.”
“Aiden?” Emma lifted an eyebrow and perked up in a way Katie wasn’t entirely certain she liked.
“Yes. He barely leaves me alone, no matter how loudly I tell him he’s not the man for me.”
“But the two of you get along so well,” Emma said with soft, downcast eyes.
“We do not,” Katie protested.
“You’re always laughing and joking together,” Emma pressed on. “I noticed the way he helped you with supplies at Ft. Laramie.”
“Helped himself, you mean.”
“And… and afterward, I saw the two of you kissing.”
Katie’s face went bright red and a wave of guilt washed over her, making her knees wobbly. They’d been caught.
“Kissing a boy doesn’t mean anything,” she mumbled.
Emma fixed her with a scolding look. “I think we both know that’s not true.”
In a flash, Katie switched from feeling ashamed to feeling trapped. “Well, if you saw it, then you saw that he swooped me up and kissed me before I could stop him. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Except that you kissed him back.”
Katie cursed to herself. She couldn’t hide the truth from Emma. Instead she sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t want to love Aiden,” she began, far more of a whine in her voice than she was proud of.
“But you do,” Emma finis
hed, almost in a whisper.
Katie growled. “It’s not love, it’s familiarity. I’ll show you what love is.”
“You’ll show me?” By the look on Emma’s face, she didn’t know whether to be curious or amused.
It pushed Katie on. “Yes, I’ll show you. I’m certain we’ll find some dashing young man at this Ft. Caspar. If not there, then at the next fort. Or perhaps we’ll encounter a farm or town along the way. Or… or who knows, there could be some handsome, noble Indian man with long, flowing hair and war paint that wouldn’t mind an Irish lass by his side.”
Emma giggled at the idea and shook her head, but Katie brightened.
“Yes, that’s it. How exciting it would be to be carried off to a painted tipi in the wilderness, to live the life of an Indian squaw? Now that would be an adventure.”
“Too much of an adventure for me.” Emma squeezed Katie’s arm. “If I were you, I would stick with a soldier or a rancher.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Or a handsome musician who loves you?” she suggested, her voice even lower.
Katie clenched her jaw and hummed a noncommittal reply.
They reached Ft. Caspar a few hours later. It was slightly smaller than Ft. Laramie, but the men of the militia garrison stationed there were far friendlier. They came out to greet the wagon train and eagerly helped them organize the wagons and livestock in the field to the east of the fort. Katie didn’t overhear a single disparaging remark about the Irish, and, in fact, when a few of the officers heard Aiden and his band playing, they offered to set up a stage for them. Within an hour of their arrival, plans were thrown together to hold a dance, and riders were sent out to the surrounding ranches to invite people.
Katie had her own reasons to be excited by what they found at Ft. Caspar. Not only were the men friendlier, they were a far sight younger and more attractive. They would give her plenty of choice when it came to finding one to help her prove to Aiden that he wasn’t the only fish in the sea.
Her prospects looked so bright that she didn’t even mind when Aiden came looking for her as she was surveying the militiamen while they set up the stage and dance floor.
“I think you should pick that one over there,” he launched right into teasing without so much as a hello.
The man he pointed to was tall without being gangling, thin without being skinny, and had sunny blond hair. He was exactly the man she had been eyeing up for the past several minutes, and she was fairly certain the man knew she was watching him.
A moment later, she blinked and lost her smile as Aiden’s statement set in. “How did you know that was the one I had my eye on?”
Aiden shrugged. “You forget how well I know you, a ghrá.”
Katie humphed. “Stop calling me that. Why are you even here?”
His smile widened. “I’ve come to invite you to the dance. That and the special dinner being served to the musicians beforehand.”
She arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “You’re inviting me to the dance?”
“Of course I am.” His grin was so smug it could have drowned the mountains.
“But you’re playing. How do you expect to keep me entertained at a dance when you’ll be up on the stage with your one true love the whole time?”
His grin heated. “You’re my one true love, Katie Boyle, and you know it.”
“Your fiddle is your lover, Aiden Murphy, and you know it.”
“And yet, I’d rather have you sitting by my side at the supper table instead of Fionnuala.”
“You’ve named your fiddle?” she giggled.
“Of course I have. Now answer the question.” His expression softened and he reached out to stroke his fingertips along her crossed arms. “Will you go to the dinner and dance with me?”
Prickles of fire raced along her skin in the wake of his fingers. For some insane reason, her lips tingled as well. Her rebellious lips that remembered the taste of Aiden’s mouth.
“I most certainly will not go to the dance with you,” she answered, teeth clenched to keep herself from sighing.
“Why not?”
“Because I have no interest in a boy who I’ve known all along and seen every day when there are new and far more exciting men to be had.” Though she doubted a one of them could kiss like Aiden had.
As soon as the thought popped into her head, she pushed it away with a growl. Before Aiden could pester her further, she turned on her heel to march away.
“Why don’t you spend your time and tell your tales to a woman who actually wants you?” she snapped over her shoulder before going. “You’re only making a fool of yourself by pinning your hopes on me. My hero is out there waiting for me, and I intend to find him and a whole bucket full of adventure.”
With a sharp nod, she finished turning away and set a course straight for the tall, blond militiaman helping with the stage. Let Aiden watch her introduce herself and chat the man up. It might do him some good.
Still, the wild, burning part of her that refused to forget his kiss whispered that she was the one making a fool of herself.
Aiden did his best to hide his frustration from his brothers and the militiamen at the long table inside of the main building of the fort. He smiled as he always did, laughed at every joke one of the boys told, and accepted his fair share of drinks from Lt. Barnes, who presided at the head of the table. But he couldn’t keep the scowl off of his face when Katie came waltzing into the room on the arm of the blond tosser who called himself a soldier. She wore a simple white blouse with a skirt as green as Irish grass. Her hair was a halo of copper, as bright and wild as the mischief in her eyes.
“Looks like Pike’s caught himself a real beauty,” Barnes said, leaning closer to him.
“That lass is a peach,” one of the other men agreed.
“You’d best be careful, boys,” Aiden warned them. He made no effort to keep his voice down, and when Pike showed Katie to a seat across the table and a few men down from Aiden, she arched an eyebrow at him in challenge. “She’s a hellcat.”
Barnes, Pike, and half of the rest of the men at the table, including Katie’s father at the far end, perked up and glanced between the two of them.
Katie smiled her finest smile. She checked with her father, who nodded his approval and went back to his conversation as if he was used to her antics.
“Why Aiden Murphy,” she said. “I don’t believe I’ve heard such a fine compliment in all me days.” Her brogue was thicker than usual, a sure sign that his comment had struck home.
Whether that was a good thing or whether Aiden should be ashamed of himself for teasing her in such a formal setting, with her father present, had yet to be decided.
He turned his attention to young Pike. “Best not lean too close. A girl like that is likely to bite.”
A low murmur of amused warning sounded from the men at their end of the table.
Katie took her seat with all the elegance of a queen, checked to be sure her father wasn’t listening, and with a sweet smile said, “I’ve heard some men like that.”
The militiamen, and even Aiden’s brother, Liam, roared their approval.
“Men like a little nibble,” Aiden agreed, heart pounding against his ribs at the challenge she presented. “They don’t care to have their heads bitten right off.”
Before Katie could answer, one of the militiamen piped in with, “Which head?”
Those who were listening whooped with laughter, drawing the attention of the rest of the table. Katie’s father looked at Aiden with a questioning frown, but Aiden nodded, assuring him he had the situation under control. Katie kept her smile in place, but it was clear she didn’t quite understand the ribald joke. Aiden was glad of it. He’d have to be more careful about what he said around this lot of rough and tumble militiamen.
“This one has the idea that she wants a life of adventure,” he looked for a way to steer the conversation to topics more suitable for a lady. A devilish, saucy lady, mind
you, but a lady still.
“That’s right,” Katie took up the challenge he’d handed to her. The spark came back to her eyes as she reclaimed everyone’s attention. “I intend to make the most of my journey to the West and of my life. No sitting around darning socks or scrubbing pots for me.”
“No, indeed,” Aiden agreed with her. He leaned closer to Barnes. “She’ll make her man do that, whoever the poor soul turns out to be.”
Again, the men around them laughed, pointing at Pike as they did. The man sitting beside him elbowed Pike in the ribs. Pike lost the dazed smile he’d come in with, his face growing red. Katie didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were still on Aiden.
“I don’t see why I or any woman should always be the one with her arms elbow-deep in a wash tub,” she shrugged as though everyone around her would agree.
“Of course not,” Aiden said. “I’d expect nothing less from a lass with your bold nature and forthright opinions.”
For half a second, Katie’s smile widened and she nodded once in agreement. Then uncertainty crept into her eyes. “You can’t possibly be agreeing with me, can you?”
“I wouldn’t dare disagree,” he went on. Across the table, Pike inserted a finger in his collar and tugged on it as if it was too tight. Aiden’s smile grew. The danger there was just about gone. “I’ve seen what you do to men who dare to cross you,” he added with a showy grimness.
More laughter rose up around the table. They were spared any further sparring when supper was brought out. The table was laid with steaming dishes of meat and potatoes and vegetables. It was far from being a king’s feast, but it was better than the dried meat and peas that had been their daily bread on the trail. They all served each other, and when Katie passed her plate over to him for a spoonful of beans, Aiden winked at her.
