“Are you pissed because Rose killed Clancy or because you were wrong?”
She stiffened, and refused to so much as glance at him. “Dunderhead,” she mumbled.
“Obstinate female.”
“Mannerless...”
He cut her off, drawing her into the alley that ran between the hotel and an abandoned storefront. He pressed her back against the wall and kissed her, hard and deep. She kissed him back, parting her lips, yielding to him instantly.
“Mannerless...” she began again as he took his mouth from hers. Her voice had weakened somewhat, he was happy to see.
He stilled her insult again, in the same way, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
This time when he took his mouth from hers she said nothing.
“Mannerless what?” he asked lowly.
“I forgot,” she whispered.
To his horror, her lower lip began to tremble. Even worse, her eyes filled with tears. She didn’t lower her arms from around his neck, but held on tight.
“I can’t believe it,” she said softly, one of those tears trailing slowly down a pale cheek. “Not Rose. She was always the sweet one. Sweet, beautiful Rose who could do no wrong, until she met Baxter and committed the horrible sin of falling in love.”
Hannah trembled from head to foot, so Jed pulled her closer and held her tight. “It was an accident.”
“I know that,” she whispered.
“It could’ve happened to anyone,” he said, stroking her back.
“But it happened to Rose.”
He held her while she wept softly, trying so hard to pretend, as she held her face against his chest, that she wasn’t crying. When she stopped shaking and sniffled softly, he took her chin in his hands and made her look at him.
“And as for you leaving Rock Creek right away, forget it. Not needed here? Honey, I need you.”
“Yeah, but that’s”—she sniffled again—“that’s different.”
He kissed her again, softer this time. “Dinner tonight,” he whispered. “Eight o’clock, in the hotel dining room.” He grinned at her. “Wear something pretty.”
* * *
Hannah paced in her room, wishing she had her cane so she could hit something.
She should be concerned, still, about the news that Rose had truly killed a man, but Jed’s reasoning had calmed her. It had been an accident. It could have happened to anyone.
Instead, three damning words echoed in her head. Wear something pretty.
She owned an obscene number of sensible, good quality, expensive clothes. None of them were pretty. It seemed a shame to waste a frivolously splendid dress on a plain girl. You could wrap the plainest stone in gold paper, but underneath the gold wrapping what you held was still just a rock.
Jed thought she was pretty. What did he know? He was a large, hairy, often unbathed miscreant.
But he liked her lips. She remembered that from last night. And her eyes, he’d said. He thought her eyes were pretty.
The pace of her step increased. She’d rather balance the plantation books three times than try fruitlessly to be pretty. She’d rather be lost in a dark cave than dress in an enticing gown and present herself for a man’s inspection. And rejection.
But what did she have to lose? This was Rock Creek, a homely little town. And the man in question was Jed, after all, who was an unassuming, uncomplicated, straightforward man. All he’d asked for was a simple dinner. Maybe a not-so-simple evening to follow, in her room or his. She knew, if she knew nothing else, that he did want her. For the next week or so.
She left her room with the same determination she’d called upon during her time in Rock Creek. Only now she wasn’t looking for a murderer, she was on a quest for something pretty.
She stepped into the December sun, and experienced a moment of complete despair. There was one decent dress shop in Rock Creek, but there was no time to have anything made. All Rose carried in the general store were a few plain calico dresses and blots of fabric. She couldn’t very well drape herself in unsewn yards of silk, and she would not meet Jed wearing anything as ordinary as calico.
Her gaze fell on the establishment across the street, and her calculating eyes narrowed. Lily was always well dressed, often in gowns that were cut provocatively and hugged her figure. That was surely the kind of thing Jed would like. Exposed cleavage was probably his idea of pretty.
Hannah took a deep breath and straightened her spine. If anyone in Rock Creek could wrap this plain little stone in gold paper, it was Lily Salvatore.
* * *
Jed interrupted Eden as she was cleaning up after lunch, wiping down dishes alongside the new hired girl. She was, as always, happy to see him.
“Jedidiah,” she said, “are you hungry? There’s plenty of stew left.”
He shook his head, glancing at her still-flat stomach. Damnation, another baby. “Have you been feeling all right?” he asked.
“I’ve never felt better,” she assured him.
“You’re... happy, aren’t you?” he asked, remembering Hannah’s words from last night.
“About the baby? Of course...”
“About everything,” he interrupted, his eye catching and holding hers.
Her smile muted but did not fade and, damn it, her face glowed. “Oh, Jedidiah, I never thought I would be so lucky, or so happy.”
He had never thought his little sister could fit in here in Rock Creek. She was too tender, too... too damn sweet. But she had made this place her home and the people in it her friends.
“And Sullivan,” he said gruffly. “Sin, he’s... He’s good to you?”
“You know he is,” Eden said, taking Jed’s arm and leading him into the deserted dining room. “And you know, too, how very much I love him.”
Jed sighed. “I do.”
“What’s this about?” she asked.
He looked down at her, his little sister. “All I ever wanted was for you to be safe and happy.”
“I am.”
Jed took a deep breath. Why was this so damned difficult? “Then I’m glad you married Sullivan,” he said quickly, before he chickened out.
Eden grinned and came up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “Are we finally getting your blessing?” she teased.
“Yes,” he said, stroking his rough beard. “I guess you are.”
“What caused this sudden change of heart?” she asked suspiciously.
Jed shrugged. Hell, he wasn’t sure, himself. And right now he just wanted to change the subject. “You know that suit you made me buy last year?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “I packed it away, instead of burning it like you suggested.”
“Good,” he said lowly. “I think I’m going to need it.”
Chapter 15
Well, if he wasn’t the biggest fool this side of the Mississippi River. Jed scowled at his reflection in the mirror above the dresser in his room on the third floor of the Paradise Hotel. Hannah would laugh at him. So would anyone else who got a good look at him in this condition.
All he wanted to do was sweep Hannah off her feet. Was that too much to ask?
The knock on his door interrupted his musings, but didn’t improve his worsening mood.
“Come in,” he grumbled.
The door opened slowly, and Sullivan, wearing a scowl of his own, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “What the hell is going on?”
Jed glared silently at his brother-in-law. Hell, it had already started.
Sullivan’s scowl softened and changed to an expression of complete befuddlement. “Dear God,” he mumbled. “Maybe she’s right.”
“Maybe who’s right about what?”
Sullivan looked Jed square in the eye. “Eden is a wreck. She thinks you’re dying.”
“Dying?”
“She was cooking supper when it hit her. The belated blessing, the request for the suit, the... the...” He waved a hand at Jed’s newly cut hair and smooth f
ace. “That. And then you asked her to make all your favorites for a late dinner. Roast beef, boiled potatoes, biscuits, overcooked greens, and blueberry pie.”
Jed smiled softly. “Bless her heart. She thought I was requesting a last meal?”
“Yep.”
Jed shrugged his big shoulders. “I’m not dying, I’ve just got a dinner engagement with a lady. That’s all.” Unimportant. Easy. Happened every day. “Give Eden a big hug for me and tell her I’m just fine.”
Sullivan’s eyebrows shot up. “You want me to hug her for you? You mean, I’m now allowed to touch my wife?”
The sarcastic comment was grounds for an argument, not the first he and Sullivan had had, but Jed let it slide. “Well, I reckon you are married,” he conceded.
“Yes, we are.”
“And she’s crazy about you.”
Sullivan smiled. “Yes, she is.”
He had never, never understood what his sister and Sullivan saw in each other. The match just didn’t make sense. But somehow... Somehow they made it work. “And you take good care of her.”
In an instant, Sullivan’s mood changed. He was no longer smiling softly. “You are dying, aren’t you?” he said, taking a step forward and narrowing his suspicious eyes.
“No,” Jed snapped. “But if you don’t wipe that sappy expression off your face, you just might be requesting your own last meal before the night is over.”
With a shake of his head, Sullivan looked Jed up and down once again. “So, all this is for a woman?”
He was right. This had been a very bad idea. “Can’t a man clean up now and then without people thinking the world has come to an end?”
Sullivan shook his head and backed out of the room. “I reckon. I’m going to go tell Eden that you’re not going to kick the bucket anytime soon.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Jed grumbled.
After Sullivan was gone, Jed turned back to the mirror. Five minutes. He was supposed to meet Hannah in the lobby in five minutes. Time to change clothes, if he had a mind to. He stroked his smooth jaw. Nothing to be done for this, though.
He grabbed the lapels of the black frock coat and tugged, settling the coat more securely over his shoulders. “Dying my ass,” he grumbled as he left his room, slamming the door behind him.
He didn’t run into anyone on his way down the stairs. Just as well. His mood had not been improved by Sullivan’s visit. If anyone else thought he was dying just because he decided to put on a suit and get a shave and a haircut, he might just give up on this evening before it got started. As he passed Hannah’s door he glared at it, willing her to feel the heat of his gaze. A woman had done this to him. She’d turned him upside down and inside out. He had never thought it possible.
The lobby was deserted. Again, he took this as a good sign. He could pace unimpeded.
All he really wanted was to screw Hannah again, right? In a bed this time, with a little light to see by. That wasn’t too much to ask, and the prospect certainly shouldn’t make him so damn nervous. It definitely didn’t require a suit and a boiled shirt and a string tie that was about to choke the life out of him.
A kiss and an invitation, that was all he really needed. But he wanted this night to be special. Hannah deserved special.
The rustle alerted him to a presence on the stairs, and he turned his head. And almost quit breathing.
He had told Hannah to wear something pretty, but he had never dreamed... He hadn’t even imagined...
Her silk dress was a brilliant blue, not pale, not dark, but a jewel-like color in between. It was cut low to reveal the swell of her breasts, and snugly followed her curves down to a tiny waist before swelling over shapely hips. Her dark red hair was piled atop her head, a mass of soft curls. A small silk flower, a paler blue than the gown, had been tucked behind one ear. Her lips were just a little redder than usual, and as tempting as any sight he’d ever seen.
His mouth went dry, his necktie grew tighter, and his heart beat so hard he could feel it pounding in his chest.
And Hannah didn’t move from the top of the stairs. She stared at him with wide eyes set in a beautiful, creamy pale face.
“Jed?” she whispered, taking the first step down the stairway.
* * *
It wasn’t possible that the man waiting at the foot of the stairs might be Jed Rourke. He was much too gorgeous.
But it was her Jed, and she had known it from first glance. No one else was so tall and broad in the shoulders, and she’d know the way he moved from a mile away. Sensual and powerful, strong and masculinely graceful. Even cut short that honey golden wavy hair was unmistakable. And even if that hadn’t given him away... the blue eyes he laid on her were definitely Rourke eyes.
Her heart sank as she walked slowly down the stairs. This man could have any woman he wanted. Any woman in the world. What would he want with a disagreeable old maid like Hannah Winters when he looked like this?
The corset Lily had insisted she wear pinched her waist, reminding her that for tonight, just for tonight, she wasn’t old maid Hannah Winters. Just for tonight, she was beautiful, and seductive, and daring. And she was Jedidiah Rourke’s woman.
As she reached the foot of the stairs, Jed offered her his hand. “Goddamn, Hannah Winters,” he said softly. “Are you trying to kill me on the spot?”
She smiled as she laid her hand in his, taking his gruff comment as the compliment he’d intended. “That would spoil the evening, wouldn’t it?”
Jed smiled, and she discovered that without the beard he had a small, endearing dimple in one cheek. She reached up and touched his smooth jaw with her fingers. “Look at you,” she said softly. “I never would’ve known there was such a handsome man beneath all that hair.”
He winked at her and glanced down, not very discretely, at her exposed cleavage. “All of a sudden, I’m not very hungry. I wonder if Eden would mind if we skipped dinner.”
Hannah slipped her arm through his. “Oh, no. You’re not getting off that easy.” She wanted it all. The dinner, the conversation, the waiting. The anticipation.
They walked, arm in arm, slowly and quite happily, toward the dining room.
A small voice stopped them. “Uncle Jed?”
They turned and discovered Millie on the stairs, adorable in her white nightgown, with fair curls falling over her shoulders.
“What are you doing up, sweetheart? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
Millie nodded. “Uncle Jed, you’re purty.”
The child made the compliment sound like a condemnation.
“Not nearly as purty as you,” he said, patting Hannah’s hand before releasing his hold on her and heading for the stairs.
“Tuck me in?” Millie asked, in a voice no man could resist.
“Of course.” Jed spun around and pointed a finger at Hannah. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
She watched, her heart swelling, as Jed ran up the stairs and lifted a squealing Millie into his arms and tossed the little girl over his shoulder.
If she were a different woman, if she led a different life, she would definitely set her sights on Jed Rourke. The longer she knew him the more perfect he became. When he did decide, as he surely would, to marry, he would have his pick of women. The thought did not cheer her. When it came to competing with other women for a man, she knew she didn’t have a chance. She always managed to scare or annoy people, eventually, by speaking her mind and insisting on having things her way. In that respect, she was too much like her father.
Oh, she did not want to be like her father. She certainly didn’t want to end up like him, alone and bitter and unloved.
Two men burst into the hotel lobby, and Hannah turned her head to watch them saunter into the room. Like most of the men she’d encountered in Texas, they were rough, dusty, and armed. One of them, a plainly dressed man with very short hair, weaved drunkenly. The other removed his flat-brimmed black hat and beat it against his leg to remove the dust. Dressed in a tailor-f
itted black suit and a ruffled shirt, well groomed with neatly cut dark hair and a small mustache and goatee, he still managed to look mean.
He lifted his head and laid piercing, dark eyes on her. The cruel mouth curved into a smile as he walked toward her. “Well, well. You’re new,” he said, tossing his hat onto the green sofa.
“I’m hardly new,” she said, calling upon her most dignified voice.
The other one, the man who was most definitely drunk, headed up the stairs without a word.
“Well”—the remaining newcomer looked her up and down audaciously, his dark eyes sparkling when they lit on her exposed cleavage—“you definitely weren’t around the last time I came through Rock Creek. I would’ve remembered someone as gorgeous as you.”
Hannah sighed. “If you insist on speaking to me uninvited,” she snapped, “would you kindly look at my face. It’s common courtesy, even among scoundrels.”
He was unbothered by her rebuke. “There’s so much magnificence to look at, I just don’t know where to start.” He hummed to himself, as if content, and continued to rake his eyes over her. “Sweetheart, a woman like you is wasted in a hellhole like Rock Creek. Let me take you to New Orleans. We could have a great time there.”
Hannah shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. “Are there women out there who actually believe you when you ramble on like this?”
He lifted his eyes to hers. “I like you already,” he said with a grin that was as cold as his eyes. “Let me buy you a drink across the street. It’s not New Orleans, but it’ll do as a place to start.”
Without waiting for her response, he took her arm.
“Unhand me,” she said, jerking her arm back and wishing she had her cane with her. The man definitely deserved a good smack! “I have no desire to have a drink with you, you ill-mannered, black-eyed, grimy wretch.”
He dropped her arm, and his smile faded. “Grimy wretch?”
“Touch me again,” she said, leaning slightly forward and giving him a glare to match his own, “and I’ll give you the thrashing you so richly deserve.” As soon as I get my hands on another cane.
“Mighty big talk for such little thing,” he muttered, insolently raking his eyes over her once again.
Jed (The Rock Creek Six Book 4) Page 17
