Lily’s gaze turned back toward her with shock bright in her eyes. No, Lily only has eyes for Seth. That fact was obvious, even if it wasn’t to her friend.
“I doubt that, Madge.” Lily shook her head in denial. “Daniel doesn’t seem the type to be attracted to a simple teacher like me. He’s more for the adventurous type, I would think.”
“Maybe.” Madge added, “He always seems to be spending a lot of time with the local girls, if you know what I mean.”
“Yes, I’m afraid I do.”
She helped Lily finish up the dishes and put everything away.
“Well, I guess I’ll say good-night, then.” Madge headed for the door. “I’m really sorry I ruined your evening, Lily. Had I known you were entertaining, I wouldn’t have come over at all.”
* * * *
Lily tried to keep the conversation light, but Madge wanted to bring things back to why Seth was at her home. She really didn’t feel the need to discuss it with her friend, and truth be told, she didn’t want to examine her feelings at the moment. When Madge apologized again, she sighed.
“It’s quite all right, Madge. No harm done. I think the evening was winding down to an end anyway, so you didn’t really ruin anything.” Lily tried to hide the blush that had crept into her cheeks at the thought of Seth’s lips on hers.
“Yes, well, I hope you get to finish your conversation another time then.” Madge opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.
“I hope so too, Madge. I really hope so too,” Lily murmured, with a small, secretive smile.
“Good night, then. Maybe some other time you can come for supper. I’m sure you have a lot to do for school tomorrow.”
“Actually, yes I do. Thanks for reminding me. I do have several papers to grade tonight. Good night.”
Lily moved back inside the house, closed the door and leaned against it. A heavy sigh escaped her lips in a rush of air before she blew out the lamp on the side table.
Taking a deep breath, she carried her now weary body toward the back of the house while she contemplated what had happened between her and Seth this evening.
Even Arthur hadn't sent her heart racing in her chest at the touch of his lips, and most of the men she’d been exposed to were not that ruggedly handsome, hardworking type with calloused hands. They were not the "up at dawn and in bed by sundown" kind that seemed to envelop her in a warm cocoon of need that spread from the center of her being. The men back East had been very prim and proper, the "kissing your finger tips" type of men. If they took you to the opera or out to dinner, they would never think of kissing you until you were breathless, like Seth had kissed her tonight. They would never have let their beards grow to a two-day growth before they shaved. Come to think of it, Arthur had never been anything but perfectly groomed. When Seth kissed her, the whiskers on his face had scraped the delicate skin on her chin. She hadn’t minded. In fact, she hadn’t minded the feel of his lips on hers one bit.
“This is ridiculous.” She shook her head to clear her thoughts and pulled out the tub before she put some water on to boil. “He’s obviously not ready for any kind of relationship with anyone, much less me. Why he kissed me, I don’t know, but it didn’t mean anything, nothing at all. He probably just felt bad, because, like a ninny, I was crying. That’s it. I’m sure of it.” She poured cool water in the tub in preparation for her bath while more water boiled on the stove.
She stripped off her gown and walked into the kitchen to pull the water from the stove, mentally chastising herself again for overreacting to Seth’s kiss. Retrieving the hot water, she poured some in the tub and let it cool for a moment while she stripped off the rest of her clothes. She slipped beneath the warm water with a satisfied sigh. Her head rested against the back of the tub, and she closed her eyes. I really should have finished the children’s papers before I got tired, but I can finish them while they are reading in the morning.
The water started to cool when she finally pulled her tired body out and toweled herself dry. Her nightgown slipped down her body to settle at her feet. She stared at the tub with distaste, realizing she would have to haul the water out back and dump it before bed. She grabbed the bucket and dipped it into the tub, trying not to get water all over the floor, before she headed for the back door.
She hoped the town wasn’t busy tonight since her back door faced the saloon down the street. She really didn’t want anyone to see her out here in her nightgown. I will have to get some bushes to plant around the back so I can’t be seen, but that is going to have to wait.
When she had made her third trip with the bucket, she stopped as she realized there were several men watching her from the saloon's front doors. Whistles and crude comments floated to her on the wind and made her blush before she hurried back into the house and locked the door behind her. She didn’t want any uninvited guests sneaking around her house tonight.
“The rest of the water will have to wait until morning.” She placed the bucket on the floor and hurried to the front to check the lock.
She would have to be more careful. It would be too easy for any one of those men to pay a late night call, and without a man living with her; she would be ripe for the picking. She hadn’t realized how easy it would be if someone wanted in, so she decided she would have to do something to protect herself.
Contemplating what she could do, she decided she would buy a gun, but who could she get to teach her to use it?
Seth. He was very handy with a gun, and if she told him why she wanted him to teach her, she was sure he would do so without a second thought.
“That’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll ask him tomorrow when he comes by school to pick up the children,” she said out loud with a satisfied smile. Crawling under the clean sheets of her bed and tucking the thick blanket around her, she drifted into a sleep filled with dreams of a blue-eyed devil with lips as soft as rose petals drifting along her skin.
It was almost impossible for her to concentrate the next day while her thoughts kept drifting to Seth and his lips on hers. Her nerves seemed especially taut, and it seemed like every little thing had her blood boiling. By the end of the day, she was relieved when the children began to depart for home.
She stood on the porch waiting for Seth to pick up the children, and when his wagon pulled around the corner, their gaze met across the expanse of the yard. Heat crawled up her neck and splashed over her cheeks at the heat reflected in his eyes.
After he stopped the wagon, he jumped down, walked around the front and tipped his hat. “Ma’am.”
So we are back to that again. Even after the kiss we shared last night, he’s going to be distant now.
“Mr. Sanford,” Lily said her voice cold and distant.
His gaze swung around to meet hers, and her whole body tingled from the look in his eyes. So he’s not as unmoved by me as he tries to pretend.
“Can I speak with you, please?”
“Yes, of course. Out here or in private?”
“In private, if you please. I would like to ask you something personal.”
Even though he raised his eyebrows at her request, he simply swept his arm in the direction of the stairs and said, “After you.”
She turned her back to him and proceeded up the stairs, only to feel the heat of his gaze on her back as she reached the cooler interior of the school. When she turned around to face him again, she was surprised to see him right behind her. “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were right behind me.”
Lily took a step back. She needed to put a little space between them if she was to focus on what she wanted to ask. When she looked into his eyes again, they had turned that smoky grey color she had come to recognize in his gaze.
* * * *
When her nose had almost pressed against his chest, he took a deep breath to still the raging desire that began to heat his veins to molten lava.
“What can I do for you?”
Her scent wrapped itself around him and made him want to
press his lips to hers. The soft wisps of her hair brushing against her neck pulled his attention from her words to the desire to feel her skin under his mouth. The neckline of her gown lay soft against her bosom in almost a caress. His fingertips tingled with the need to touch her. Focus man, focus!
“I need to ask you a favor. Will you to teach me to shoot? A pistol to be exact, I would think.”
Her words penetrated the fog surrounding his mind at the mere sight of her. “You want me to do what?”
“I want you to teach me how to shoot. I think I need to keep a firearm with me at the house for protection.”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he replied, “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m perfectly serious. You're very good with a gun, as I’ve seen first-hand, and I need someone to teach me. I could ask someone else, I suppose, but…" He didn’t let her finish her sentence.
“Why do you think you need a gun? Has someone tried to hurt you? Tell me who, and I’ll take care of it. If someone has tried to hurt you, I’ll…” He growled as thoughts of anyone hurting her just about drove him insane.
“No. No one has tried anything, but you know the back of my house faces the center of town. The other night after you had left, there were some rowdy-looking men hanging around near the saloon. It made me a bit nervous, and thought that I should have something for protection.”
“But why a gun? They aren’t toys, you know. They are dangerous and shouldn’t be taken lightly. A woman packing a pistol is a bad idea." How else would she protect herself should someone try to break into her house?
“I’m fully aware they are not toys, Seth, but I know you are very handy with one. That’s why I want you to teach me.”
When she flashed one of those looks at him, it was over. He was done. He couldn’t tell her no if he wanted to, and he was sure she knew exactly what she did to him. She probably learned that in boarding school.
Running his fingers through his hair in frustration, he knew he was in a no-win situation. “All right. I’ll teach you, but only enough that if you had to use one, you would know which end to point. It’s not like you need to become a gunslinger or something.”
He didn’t like this idea at all, but he didn’t think he had much choice, especially when she batted those big green eyes at him and stuck her lip out in a pretty pout.
“Oh, thank you!” She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him.
His arms went around her without any conscious thought. When she stepped back slightly, his gaze met hers, and the world disappeared. Her lips parted in silent invitation, and his head dipped to take them with his own. When his were a mere hairsbreadth away, Johnny’s voice penetrated the void around them, and he groaned.
Embarrassment flushing her cheeks, she stepped back out of his embrace.
Johnny shouted from the wagon. “Pop, are you coming?”
“In a minute, son.” His gaze held Lily’s for a moment longer before he turned back toward the door. He stopped near the threshold and said, “If you’d like, you can come out to the house tomorrow evening after school, and I’ll set up a target.”
“That would be perfect. Thank you for helping me.”
“You are welcome.”
How had she managed to penetrate his being to the point where he could hardly keep his hands off her?
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yes. I’ll rent a buggy to ride out after school.”
“No use doing that. I have to pick up the children anyway, so you can ride back with us if you like. I’ll bring you home later.” When the words were out of his mouth, he mentally kicked himself. Now I’ll be alone with her again while I take her home. Dumb ass!
“That sounds like a good idea. That way I wouldn’t be on the road alone after dark or anything. Thank you for the offer.”
They both turned as the back door of the schoolhouse opened and Daniel came inside.
“Hello, Daniel. I’ll be right there.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed when he saw the other man enter. Seth didn’t trust him, and Lily was spending time alone in the schoolhouse with him. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Of course. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her dismissal grated on his nerves as he watched her turn to walk back into the classroom.
He shot a glance over Lily's shoulder at Daniel. The other man gave Seth a mocking cock of his eyebrow before his gaze returned to the beautiful woman in front of him.
Seth studied the pair for a moment before he walked out, slamming the door behind him.
* * * *
Lily tried to concentrate on the lessons for the children, but Seth kept creeping into her thoughts. She couldn’t understand why it was so easy to forget everything around her when he was near. When he kissed her, it was like her whole body caught fire, and the blood in her veins turned to hot liquid as it raced through her.
Squirming slightly in her seat at the front of the class, she checked the clock on the wall again, hoping that it was three already but groaning softly when she saw that it was only one.
“Mrs. Backman?” Walter Carter approached her desk.
Attempting to clear her thoughts and refocus on the tasks at hand, she pulled her attention back to the child in front of her. “Yes, Walter?”
“I don’t understand this.” He moved around the back of her desk and showed her the arithmetic problem he was working on.
“All right, Walter. Here. I’ll show you.”
When three o’clock did arrive, she almost wasn't ready for it, but the children were. They were very restless but tried desperately to sit quietly in their seats until she said they were dismissed. Lily had already informed Daniel she wouldn’t be available to tutor him today, so when all the children left, she’d be free to spend the afternoon with Seth.
Spending time with him at his home intrigued her. True, she’d been out there last Saturday when she had tried to talk to him about the children, but this time, it was for her. She needed him, and the thought sent shivers running up her arms.
Her plans included spending at least the afternoon there since she didn't know exactly how long it would take for him to teach her to shoot.
As the wagon pulled to a stop in front of the steps, her gaze met his, and those same goose bumps skittered across her flesh.
“Poppa!” the boys cried when he pulled to a stop. They skipped excitedly down the stairs.
“Are you ready to go home?” His gaze slid over her face in a caress even though he spoke to the children.
“Yes, Poppa. Mrs. Backman is coming with us, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is, Jarod. She’ll be having supper with us tonight, and I’m going to show her around the ranch a bit.”
He lifted Anne into the wagon bed before he turned back to her. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” Lily moved down the stairs and met him at the bottom. “I just need to bring this with me so when we come back to town later I don’t have to stop by here to pick it up. It’s the children’s papers I need to grade.”
Seth took the basket from her hands and placed it in the back with the children before he turned to her and spanned her waist. She squeaked "oh" as she placed her hands on his shoulders, and he lifted her effortlessly onto the wagon seat.
He walked around the wagon and hopped onto the seat next to her. When his thigh brushed up against hers, she inhaled sharply. Heat raced up her leg and settled between her thighs. Oh Lord, this is going to be a long ride.
The road stretched in front of her in an endless expanse. She focused on how his hands gripped the reins lightly while he effortlessly guided the horses along. He doesn't seem to notice how intimately his leg is pressed against mine. She cleared her throat, fighting feelings she knew would get her nowhere.
Lily tried to keep the conversation light. “How was your day today?”
“Busy. I have a couple of mares read to foal and one that gave birth this morning, so I’ve
been keeping an eye on her.” His eyes never left the road in front of him.
“I bet that was exciting! I’ve never seen a horse being born before.”
He glanced her way for a moment. “If you’d like, I’ll show him to you. He is going to be a nice stud for the ranch some day.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“How did the children do in school?”
“Very well, actually. Jarod got a perfect score on his arithmetic test, and Johnny and Anne did very well on theirs, too.” Lily turned to smile at the children in the back of the wagon.
“That’s really good. You must be a really wonderful teacher. I don’t think that they have ever gotten grades that good before.”
“I don’t think it’s so much me as it is them. They learn very quickly.”
* * * *
This light banter between them was refreshing, but it did nothing to relieve the sexual tension zinging through him. Her body next to his on the rough wagon seat drove him crazy. All he could think about was the heat creeping up his leg to settle between his thighs, and he shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, I’m sure you had something to do with it. I don’t believe they liked their other teacher very much.” Seth grasped the reins a little tighter in his hands while his mind and body absorbed the heat of hers.
“She was mean,” Jarod said from the back.
“She never let us do any kind of outside things during the day like you do, Mrs. Backman,” Johnny added. “Mrs. Backman takes us outside so we can study the trees, the leaves, the soil and the animals, Pop.”
“It sounds like you have made quite an impression on my children.” He shifted slightly and gave Lily a sideways glance.
“They are good children and very easy to teach, so that helps. Although we need to work on talking out of turn like we did today, right Johnny?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Johnny reply sheepishly.
Love's Sweet Surrender Page 9
