by Gigi Moore
Lucy turned to him, tilting her head back to look into his eyes. The twinkle of warmth and concern in their depths almost blinded her. She turned her attention back to the books, running her hands over the spines before she blindly pulled down one of the books and aimlessly flipped through the pages.
“Maia believes you have talent.”
Lucy shrugged, speechless, and unnerved by the idea of Ki and Maia spending prolonged time together discussing her. She would have been jealous if she didn’t know how much Maia loved Thayne and Cade, or if she had any real feelings for Ki, which she didn’t, uh-uh, no way, no how.
“I, too, believe you have talent.”
Lucy put the book back on the shelf and turned to him, silently castigating herself for wanting his approval, for needing it.
“Your work is very good.”
She shrugged again and Ki caught her by the shoulders. “Why don’t you believe that? What makes you think your work can’t be as good as Maia’s?”
“Maia’s had…schooling. She’s been educated. She’s been places. She knows things.” Unlike her, who hadn’t been out of Elk Creek since she’d been born.
“You might surprise yourself with how much you know.”
According to Rance she didn’t know anything and he had only tolerated her because her father had begged him to take her off his hands.
“Lucy, you’re stronger and braver than you realize. You can do anything you set your mind to. I believe that. You should believe it, too.”
Lucy wanted to believe him. Like Maia, he had been places, traveled the world, seen things she had never seen and done things she had never done. Here this man was, this worldly wise and sophisticated man, saying all the right things to make her feel like she was worth more than the sum of her female attributes.
If he was only saying these things to make her feel good and soften her up, then he was crueler than Rance, who had only seen her as a convenient hole to bury his cock in when the mood struck him.
Ki took Lucy’s hands and she watched as he gracefully got down on one knee before her.
She gaped. “What are you doing?”
“Proposing to you properly, the way I should have before.”
“You really don’t have to do this.” Lucy’s heart pounded in her chest so until she thought it was going to burst right through her rib cage.
“Don’t be ridiculous. All brides-to-be deserve a proper proposal. It gives you something to tell the grandkids.” Ki smiled. “You deserve a proper proposal, Lucy.”
She felt tears brimming too close to the surface of her eyes while her nipples pebbled beneath her dress—her heart and her loin warring for supremacy of her body.
Good Lord! What was this man doing to her? “Grandkids?” she squeaked.
“I know, I know, one step at a time. We have to have kids first.”
“Kids?” She wanted babies, lots of babies, but was Ki the man she wanted to have them with? Was he the man she wanted to have anything to do with at all?
It was a fine time for her to be asking these questions now, huh?
Ki pulled a black velvet box from his jacket pocket and Lucy put her free hand to her mouth, shaking her head. “Lucy Colfax, will you marry me?” He opened the box and removed the diamond ring that was inside.
Lucy stared, still stunned by his use of her maiden name, as if he wanted to erase the memory of her horrible marriage to Rance, like her marriage to him would be her first.
The ring, however, was the icing on the cake, even if she didn’t know much about jewelry. Rance had grudgingly slipped a wedding band on her ring finger when they had married. Forget an engagement ring. The one Ki slipped onto her trembling finger, however, was beautiful, the diamonds brilliantly capturing the ambient light in the library, and it fit her finger perfectly.
Lucy didn’t know what impressed her the most—the fit or the ring itself.
She looked down at Ki with wonder in her eyes and fear in her heart. She knew she shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. She knew that all that glittered wasn’t gold either, and Ki in his fancy clothes with his stunning ring was just a glittering up a storm. “Say yes, Lucy. Say you’ll be my wife.”
“I said I’d be your wife in the lawyer’s office.”
“This is different. I want you to say it to me now, like you mean it.”
She didn’t know anymore what she’d meant when she’d accepted his proposal the first time. She knew what she wanted, at least she had back then. Now all of her wants and needs seemed to be wrapped up in what one Hezekiah Benjamin wanted.
All of a sudden, there was a commotion, someone loudly banging on the front door.
Sabrina came out of the kitchen grumbling for the person to hold his horses.
Lucy motioned to leave, but Ki stood and held firm to her hand as he led the way out into the corridor to see Sabrina opening the door.
Ethan stood on the porch and stepped into the foyer, looking grim.
What’s happened now?
“Well, Ethan, what are you doing around these parts?” Sabrina asked.
“I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Go? Is everything all right with Clint and Kate?”
“We…we’ve had a bit of a disagreement so I’ve left home. I wondered if it would be all right if I—”
“Stay with us, Ethan.”
“Lucy…?”
She ignored the questioning tone in Ki’s voice and stepped forward.
Sabrina and Ethan both homed in on her hand where the ring Ki had just given her shined brighter than a star in the night sky.
“Us as in whom?” Ethan asked.
“I’ve just accepted Ki’s proposal…again. He wanted to do it right and proper with a ring.” She wiggled her finger, emphasizing what they had already noticed. “We’ll be married tomorrow at the Justice of the Peace. In the meantime, you can stay with Ki in our house.”
“We will?” Ki asked.
“He can?” Sabrina chorused.
Lucy didn’t know what had come over her or what she thought she was doing, but responded as if she did. “He…he can,” she said. Lordy , I hope I’m doing the right thing!
Chapter 9
Prentice didn’t know what Lucy had up her sleeves but he wondered about her sanity in throwing him and her fiancé together alone in the same house overnight. Not that he was worried about Mr. Hezekiah Benjamin. Powers or not, Prentice knew he could handle himself against any threat, probably now more than ever since he was in Ethan’s body and Ethan seemed to be as fit as Prentice had ever been if not more so. It must have been all the country and outdoor living.
Regardless, Prentice was sure with Hezekiah being the proper gentleman from New York that he appeared to be he didn’t pose a physical threat, more because Hezekiah didn’t seem to have a violent temperament and not because he didn’t have the capability or strength to do bodily harm. The latter had Prentice wondering exactly what Hezekiah Benjamin’s story was.
Physically, he resembled most of the rich Aryan-looking jocks with whom Prentice had grown up or gone to school. Prentice, however, didn’t get that same sense of entitlement and pomposity from Hezekiah. That probably just meant Prentice hadn’t spent enough time around the other man. Prentice was sure Hezekiah was like all the other good-looking, rich men with whom he had ever had run-ins. No one got to be that rich and successful without having stepped on a few people on his way up the ladder.
Prentice tried to temper his opinion, if for no other reason than to give Lucy’s fiancé the benefit of the doubt, especially since he was going to be spending the night under the same roof with the man.
By the time he and Hezekiah arrived at Rance’s, now Lucy’s and Hezekiah’s place, Prentice was bone weary and on edge. He didn’t like either condition and wasn’t used to letting people and situations get the better of him. He was a doer. He was proactive and didn’t let things happen to him. He went out and made things happen.
This situatio
n with Ethan’s parents made him uncomfortable. He didn’t like being at odds with them and wasn’t used to feeling regret for his actions. He didn’t think he should feel regret for not wanting to be someone he wasn’t.
Prentice had not wanted a confrontation with Ethan’s parents, but they had forced his hand when he’d come home earlier that evening and shared the news with them that he would no longer be working at the mercantile and had instead found work at Winchester’s. Upon his news, Clint and Kate had gone ballistic.
“We didn’t raise you that way, boy,” Clint had said.
“Where did we go wrong for you to want to work in a house of ill-repute like Winchester’s?” Kate had cried.
When all was said and done, Prentice had seen no other recourse except to leave and began to understand what the original Ethan must have gone through the first time his parents had disowned him and threw him out of the house. He began to sympathize with the dearly departed young man in more ways than one.
Prentice had taken the liberty of packing a few of Ethan’s things before he’d left the house and Clint and Kate had allowed him to leave with his small suitcase.
“You’re breaking your mother’s heart, boy. I can’t guarantee that we’ll let you set foot in this house again once you leave,” Clint had stated.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” With this, Prentice had gone to Kate who had been crying into her apron and he had kissed her on the cheek before he had left.
An hour after leaving Ethan’s parents and heading over to Sabrina’s boarding house, he could still taste the salt from Kate’s tears on his tongue.
“Are you all right, Ethan?”
Prentice blinked and glanced at Hezekiah standing in the foyer with him and turning on the two sconces. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“What you went through with your mother and father earlier can’t have been easy for you. If you want to talk about it, I’ll gladly listen.”
He did not need or want Hezekiah Benjamin’s concern or pity. He did not want Lucy’s freaking fiancé to be nice to him. He had enough to worry about. “Thanks, but I think I can handle it, Hezekiah.”
“Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight.”
Prentice stared at him, wary at the firm tone before Hezekiah grinned and lit the entire foyer up with his dimpled smile. “And what’s that?”
“You have to stop calling me Hezekiah. You’re practically family. You can call me Ki.”
“Okay.”
“Good.” Ki nodded and reached for Prentice’s suitcase before he could object. “Now let’s get you settled in one of the guest rooms.”
Prentice had never set foot in the unassuming Victorian dwelling, but he would have never been prepared for the relative opulence and grandness that greeted him as Ki led him into the house proper and began giving him a tour, starting with the living room.
Either Lucy or Ki must have been responsible for the interior design and arrangement of the house as Prentice couldn’t see Rance’s influence or personality on anything.
The furnishings and color scheme could have been something out of House & Garden.
The living room was uncluttered yet homey with a large rose and burgundy floral-print sofa, matching love seat and ottoman. Setting off the center of the room was a hand-carved cherrywood table, polished to a high sheen.
Prentice clasped his hands together in front of his chest and gasped at seeing the vase of fresh-cut roses on the table. “For me? You shouldn’t have!”
Ki chuckled. “Yes, well, I was expecting someone more of the female persuasion when I picked those.”
Prentice didn’t know whether or not he should be impressed that Ki had taken the time to pick the roses and hadn’t just gone out to buy some. He knew he was strangely…jealous. What the hell was that about? “Someone?”
“Lucy. But she wants to do things the old-fashioned way and wait until we’re actually married before she moves in. I can’t blame her really. The town has already branded her a loose woman just for accepting my proposal so soon after my uncle’s death.”
“And why exactly did you propose anyway? From what I’ve heard, all of Rance’s holdings were going to go to you free and clear.”
“What man wouldn’t want to be married to Lucy?”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
Ki paused at the foot of the staircase he’d been about to climb before he turned to face Prentice. “Is there something you want to say to me, Ethan?”
“Lucy’s a dear old friend. I feel protective of her and I don’t want to see her hurt again.”
“Neither do I.”
“I hope you mean that.”
“Since you’re putting your cards on the table, young man, I’ll do the same.”
Prentice gritted his teeth at the “young man” and balled his hands into fists at his sides, trying to contain his anger. For the moment, he was at the mercy of this man and Lucy’s largesse, after all. He needed to at least make an effort to be civilized and appreciative. “Okay.”
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed there’s something going on between you and Lucy.” Ki paused and used the moment to step closer.
Prentice’s heartbeat kicked into high gear. He told himself it was the effect of fight-or-flight adrenaline, but couldn’t be positive after he got a whiff of Ki’s cologne and his cock jerked and hardened as if in response to the pleasant scent.
What in the actual hell?
“There’s nothing going on between Lucy and me except friendship.”
“That might be what you tell yourself.” Ki grinned. “But you and I both know it’s not true. There is something going on between you two, and you should know I intend to find out what that something is.”
* * * *
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Ki pulled the lace veil up over Lucy’s head and grinned when he saw her glowing face. He wondered if she knew how much like a real blushing bride she looked.
He bent his head to kiss her as applause rose up around them from Lucy’s friends and some of the town’s folk curious enough to attend the impromptu wedding.
Impromptu or not, Lucy’s intimates had come through for her again.
Rebel wouldn’t say from where, but she had provided a beautiful ivory satin gown that fit Lucy as if it had been made for her.
Maia and Sabrina had insisted on closing their shop for the day despite Lucy’s protests that she didn’t want a big deal made since she and Ki were just going down to the Justice of the Peace to “get this done.” Both women had also agreed to provide the food and prepare Lucy’s and Ki’s house for the after-wedding reception.
Ki for his part had run down to the telegraph office bright and early that morning and sent his mother the news without bothering to wait around for her response. He knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say just as she couldn’t possibly have appreciated his message.
It didn’t matter what his mother did or said anyway. The deed was done now.
“You two going to come up for air any time soon?”
Ki opened his eyes and pulled back a bit at Thayne’s question as laughter abounded. He watched Lucy’s shimmering eyes staring at him and disregarded everything and everyone else.
Lucy licked her lips and Ki avidly followed the path of her tongue, already imagining what her mouth would feel like wrapped round his cock, sucking him hard. “Was that real enough for you, Mrs. Benjamin?”
“I suppose.”
He chuckled at her obstinate pout, looking forward to breaking down her walls, making her surrender and finally admit how she really felt about him
The way I admit to how I feel about her?
If anyone had asked him exactly how he felt about Lucy, he would have been hard-pressed to tell them. He knew that he liked her spirit and enjoyed sparring with her. He thought she was a beautiful and desirable woman he couldn’t wait to bed, but as for love? Outside o
f his love for his mother and the passion he had for adventure, he didn’t think he had it in him.
Ki didn’t have a chance to think much more on his feelings as the next few hours flew by in a blur of activity.
Blessings and congratulations were bestowed upon him and Lucy by the wedding attendees and the Justice of the Peace in closing.
Maia made the announcement that the reception would be held at Ki and Lucy’s house on the edge of town promptly an hour from then.
Ki and Lucy were quickly shuttled to the house by Thayne in his horse and carriage.
By the time they all arrived, the cooking was almost done and the decorating was already completed by a dozen or so women from the town, including Maia and Sabrina, who had rushed over directly from the Justice of the Peace.
Cade almost instantly followed Ki, Lucy, and Thayne’s arrival at the house with a delivery of Peyton’s finest liquor for the festivities.
Lost among all the guests rapidly swarming into the house and congregating in the main parlor and onto the makeshift dance floor, Ki found himself looking for Ethan. He was eager to see the younger man again after their little dispute last night. He hadn’t been as exhilarated in someone else’s company since first meeting Lucy at Sabrina’s boarding house.
The feeling both frightened and excited Ki, because he sensed virgin territory in Ethan, terrain that had not been explored by another man. The idea that he would be the first to plow Ethan’s untouched ass excited Ki as much as the idea of discovering any uncharted land.
He sensed also that Ethan was ripe for the picking but that the young man was wholly unaware of his bisexuality and this worried Ki the most. He had never been with a virgin before—man or woman—and he knew Ethan, even more than a female, would be skittish.
He was going to have to proceed very carefully with both Ethan and Lucy.
Dear, sweet Lucy.
How was Ki going to explain the facts of his bisexuality to her after everything she had been through with his uncle? How was he going to make her see that what he felt for Ethan, and what he suspected Ethan felt for him, was perfectly natural and not an aberration? How was he going to persuade her to agree to have Ethan eventually joining them in their marriage bed?
