by Carrigan Fox
“Just my opinion.”
“Do you suppose you’d have the same opinion if your mother had lived to raise you?” she asked, fighting to keep the anger out of her voice.
“Probably not.”
This admission made his comment a bit more forgivable.
“Tell me, Cochrane, do you think you’d have turned out to be more masculine if you’d actually been born a man?” he asked casually.
“What?”
With one swift movement, Webb wrapped both hands around her wrists and shoved her against the railing. The cold rail pressed against her lower back, the only support keeping her from plunging into the Atlantic.
“What are you playing at?” Webb whispered, his face only inches from hers. His eyes were dark with fury again, and the muscle in his jaw was twitching on the left side of his face.
“Wh—what are you talking about?” she stammered.
“I’m talking about Marcus Fairfax being the only son in the family. I’m talking about his stories of leaving his two younger sisters behind with his overbearing parents,” he spat.
People were staring in their direction, wondering if they should do something to keep the angry Texan from throwing the young man overboard. But nobody moved closer to them. And no one could hear his accusations.
“How do you know this?” Chase asked.
“Fairfax used to work for me. He’s one of my greatest competitors now. But before, we were friends. And he used to talk about his sisters all the time.”
“Let go of me,” she ordered through clenched teeth.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing? What are you and your brother up to?”
“Let go of me now,” she growled.
“I’ll let go of you. Then we’re going to go to my cabin and have a little chat.”
Chase kept her eyes on his as he released her wrists and led the way. She looked behind them to see if her grandmother or Reese had come up on the main deck. But they were nowhere in sight.
He practically dragged her into his room and slammed his door behind him.
“My brother and I aren’t up to anything,” Chase denied angrily. “Marcus was disowned three years ago, which you probably already know. You also mentioned that Marcus told you our parents are overbearing. Grandmother felt it would be best for us to come live with Marcus. But she wasn’t convinced the passage would be safe for two young women. So we decided to dress as young men.” For the briefest moment, she had considered explaining the situation with Stockton and Booth. But she wasn’t interested in giving him that much information. She was as eager to forget that Stockton was still alive and breathing in London as she was to get out from under Webb’s hostile glare right then.
He towered over her, clearly trying to intimidate her. “What does this have to do with me?”
She scoffed at him, never daring to take her eyes off of his. “It has nothing to do with you! You are the singular most arrogant man I’ve ever met in my life.”
“Arrogant? What am I supposed to think? You latch yourself on to me, and I’m expected to believe it is a coincidence that your brother is my main competition?”
“Latch on to you? I am hardly latched. I enjoy playing cards and having an occasional drink. You apparently enjoy the same things. I wasn’t latching, I assure you.”
“Playing cards and the occasional drink? You’re a woman, for Christ’s sake!”
Throughout this civil discussion, their voices grew louder and louder. This last exclamation was the loudest of all. The silence that followed was deafening. Her pulse thundered in her ears. She was infuriated by his paranoia and arrogance. And at the same time, she had never found him more attractive. His brown eyes were nearly black. And he was standing too near for her to ignore his masculine scent.
“For the safety of my sister and me, I would appreciate it if you would keep your voice down.”
“If the men on this ship knew that you’d been playing them all this time, you would be in more danger than you think,” he threatened.
“I haven’t been playing anyone.”
“You sure seemed to enjoy yourself. It looks like it was a game to me.”
“It was never a game. But I won’t deny that I have enjoyed myself. No frilly dresses with petticoats that get in the way. No restrictions on what I choose to do with my day. No undermining my decisions. Being a woman, in some ways, is like being in a perpetual prison. We’re not free to do as we see fit.”
He narrowed his eyes and yanked the hat off her head. “You sound ridiculous ranting about the woes of women while you’re dressed in a hat and a pair of trousers. Take your hair down. You look ridiculous to me like that.”
“You haven’t thought so for the past five days,” Chase reminded him, refusing to look away from his mocking eyes. She did untie the band around her short hair and shook it free. The curls bounced around her face and shoulders, and she wished—for the first time in her life—that she had not cut her long and feminine hair.
He sneered at her then and said with a straight face, “I think you looked better as a boy.”
At first, she was insulted. But then, she took a step closer to him, bringing her face within inches of his face as he hovered over her. “I think,” she sneered back, “that you’re afraid of me now that you know I’m a woman.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Very few things scare me, lady. And I’ve never met a woman who made me afraid.”
She stuck out her hand, fingertips grazing his flat stomach. “Chase Fairfax,” she greeted.
He shook her hand with a slightly confused look on his face.
“One morning, Webb, when you wake up and realize your life has been turned upside down, I want you to remember this very moment.”
He grinned cockily, his face still only a few inches from hers. “Why’s that?” he asked.
Without thinking, she stretched up onto her tiptoes. At the same time, Chase grabbed the back of his neck with both hands and brought his lips down to meet her own. He pulled back as though her lips had scalded his. His eyes widened in bewilderment as he breathed heavily.
“Because this, Colton Webb, this is the beginning.”
***
By the time he turned, she had already walked out of his cabin and closed the door behind her. This is the beginning? Of what?
It occurred to him that she was probably plotting with her brother. She had probably known all along who he was. She had followed him around like a puppy dog, lapping up all the new tricks he could show her. And like an idiot, he had felt a responsibility to toughen up the young man before he got to Texas. She must have been laughing at him all along.
Webb grinned in mid-thought, remembering her naïve declaration from the evening before. I prefer intelligent brunettes. She must have been furious to hear the men discussing women like that.
He couldn’t keep from laughing aloud. She was a feisty one. And if she was truly Fairfax’s sister, then she had been raised as a lady, daughter of the Earl of Colchester. With that realization, his laughter stopped abruptly, and he frowned at the door of his cabin. Her behavior moments ago had been too bold for a daughter of nobility. She had kissed him, for crying out loud!
Before he spent too much time dwelling on the inconsistencies of Lady Chase Fairfax, he decided to put her out of his mind. It had been a simple kiss. It was hardly passionate. And she wasn’t all that beautiful with those glossy chestnut curls and big doe eyes. Her threats were empty and meaningless; and there was no reason for him to worry. Instead, Webb resolved to put her out of his mind, luscious pouty pink mouth and all.
CHAPTER 6
The following day was their final day aboard the Mauretania. After breakfast, Reese and Chase eagerly made way for their rooms for their transformation. Lady Colchester had promised to help the girls get cleaned up and dressed in their feminine attire. James had warned them that they would be required to pass a rigorous inspection and physical once they got to America, and they
would be certain to face an interrogation if they were caught trying to pass as gentlemen during that process.
As Chase pulled the laces tight on Reese’s corset, she laughed, loosening the laces and making her sister start over.
“You aren’t helping,” Chase scolded, only half serious.
“I just never thought I’d be happy to be putting one of these on again. At last! To feel pretty again!” she exclaimed.
Chase laughed with her and tied the laces together. She reached for the only set of women’s clothing she had brought with her. They lay on the bed, looking inviting even to her. Having made her decision to get revenge on Colton Webb, she was eager to dress herself up prettily before they disembarked.
Reese slipped her slender pink skirt up over her narrow hips and buttoned every last tiny button of her pink and white striped shirtwaist. She took her time pinning up her fine blond curls, making the most of the short length she had to work with. Chase watched her with admiration and scrubbed at her face.
“Did you have a good stroll with Mr. Webb last night?” she asked.
Chase had returned to find their cabin empty last night and had pretended to be asleep when Reese returned. She wasn’t prepared to scare her sister by telling her that Webb knew of their farse. Now that they were all preparing to leave the ship, she didn’t think Reese would worry quite so much.
“Not especially,” Chase answered honestly. “He knows Marcus quite well and was perfectly aware that he has two sisters and no brothers. So needless to say, he confronted me about pretending to be a man. He was furious with me.”
“He knows? Is he going to cause problems?” Before she could answer, Reese answered her own question. “Of course he wouldn’t. He’s too much a gentleman. He won’t tell anyone.”
Chase snorted at her sister’s naïve perceptions. “He was furious. He nearly tossed me overboard. Then he accused me of plotting with Marcus to attack his ranch business somehow. Gentleman…indeed.”
In the reflection of the mirror, she saw Reese raise her eyes from the small buttons of her shirtwaist. She studied the back of her sister’s head with concern. “What did you do?”
Chase shrugged and leaned closer to study the dark lashes that framed her eyes. “I denied his accusations. I explained our reasons for our deception. Then I kissed him, threatened him, and left.”
She shook her head and widened her eyes at her sister. “You did what?”
Chase sighed heavily and turned from the mirror to grab her own clothing off of our bed. “I suppose it was fairly bold of me. But when I saw the shock and stupor on his face, it was worth it.”
“Why on Earth would you kiss him? I thought you hated him. And you did all of this after he nearly tossed you overboard?”
“You don’t understand, Reese. He’s so arrogant and full of himself. I’ve devised a plan. I’m going to best him…and he’s going to hate it even more because I’m a woman. A lady, no less. He sees me as nothing more than an ignorant chit with no interests or thoughts or feelings! And to be bested by this same ignorant chit is going to wreak havoc on his ego!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in eager anticipation.
Reese didn’t respond. She only wanted her sister dress in her pale yellow skirt and white shirtwaist with the same pale yellow trim. Reese tried to persuade her to pin up her hair, but she preferred to tie it back with a pale yellow ribbon.
“I forgot how beautiful you are,” Reese replied sweetly as they headed for the door.
Chase was so touched by her simple compliment that she didn’t quite know how to respond. So she merely grabbed her hand and followed her out the door. Their grandmother greeted them outside of their room.
“Ladies, I’ve just learned that the inspector will be meeting us in my room within the hour. We expect to reach New York around 6:30 this evening. I can’t wait to see your brother again. You both look lovely, by the way,” she sputtered excitedly.
“Perhaps we could take a quick walk around the deck before we return to your room, Grandmother. I’m feeling the need for some fresh air this morning,” Chase suggested. In truth, she was hoping to run into Colton Webb.
The three women encountered a number of people they’d met on the passage. Lady Colchester introduced the girls to Mr. and Mrs. Hatterly who shared a room next to hers. Fortunately, they didn’t run into anyone who knew them as Evelyn Cochrane’s two grandsons. Periodically, Chase gazed around the ship’s deck, in hopes of seeing the Texan. She was disappointed when there seemed to be no sign of him. They were making their way back to their grandmother’s room when a deep drawl greeted them from behind.
“Good afternoon, Ladies Fairfax.” His voice was soft and low, perhaps an effort to keep other passengers from overhearing him.
Lady Colchester started and turned rapidly, preparing to deny the accusation. Her face fell in defeat when she saw Webb standing before her.
He smiled warmly and took her hands in his. “I assure you, Lady Colchester, your secret is safe with me. I figured it out last night, and Lady Chase confirmed my suspicions. When Marcus first came to America, he worked for me and talked frequently about his younger sisters,” he explained.
“We appreciate your silence in this matter,” their grandmother replied gratefully.
He turned, perhaps to greet the girls this morning, and his eyes fell on Reese. They widened perceptibly, and then he turned to Chase. He appeared flabbergasted by Reese’s appearance. Chase grinned at the lapse in his normally suave demeanor. “Webb, this is my sister, Reese. Some might say that she’s a stunning fair blond who is capable of stopping a man in his boots in a street outside of a saloon full of half-naked women,” she added quietly enough that only he would hear.
He held out his hand stupidly and greeted her with a nod. When he turned back to Chase, he didn’t even seem to notice her change in appearance. “Afternoon, Cochrane. Seen the inspector yet?” he asked.
She huffed slightly at his lack of acknowledgment. Before leaving their room, she had checked and re-checked her appearance. She didn’t expect him to lose consciousness or become overwhelmed with her beauty. She didn’t even expect him to fall speechless, as he had when he saw Reese. But a simple appreciative look would have been nice. “The name isn’t Cochrane, Webb. It’s Chase or Fairfax,” she answered angrily.
He only dismissed her correction with a nod. “Inspector?” he asked again.
“We’re on our way to meet him now.”
“You ladies should know that as first class passengers, especially aboard the Mauretania, you receive very special treatment. In addition to the accommodations and food, you get to go through the inspection on board, before we get to America.”
“Doesn’t every passenger go through the inspection?” Reese asked sweetly.
He turned his attention to her, offering his arm to her and her grandmother. Chase narrowed her eyes at his back, hating him now more than ever.
“Every passenger goes through the inspection, but only the first class is inspected on board. The other passengers are all forced to endure a hideous five-hour inspection when they get to America. Some of them are kept overnight in these dormitories. I’ve heard that it is an unbearable procedure.”
“I had no idea,” Reese breathed. She had him captivated, and she didn’t even know it.
They had almost reached Lady Colchester’s room when he brought up another point. “Do you ladies expect Marcus to meet you here in New York? Because the inspectors will not let you leave unattended. New York isn’t safe for women to travel alone.”
“Marcus is coming for us,” Chase assured him.
He didn’t even turn back to acknowledge her. “Good. If for whatever reason he isn’t there to greet you, perhaps you could say you are with me. Then they will let you disembark. I hear that the dormitories get crowded with hundreds of people who cannot pass the health inspection or are waiting for the inspection. It could prove to be a nightmare.”
“That’s very generous o
f you, Mr. Webb. Hopefully, Marcus will be there on time, and we won’t need to burden you any further,” her grandmother replied. “But should he be late in arriving, we would appreciate your services as a chaperone.”
Chase decided then that the man who had designed these slim skirts surely did so as a defense mechanism for men. If her skirts had allowed, she probably would have been sorely tempted to kick Mr. Webb square in his arrogant ass.
When he left the girls at their room, the inspector was already waiting. He was a small, wiry man who seemed to be nervous to be surrounded by three women. The actual inspection and physical was brief. He reminded them of the procedure to disembark, and then left them to pack their belongings and prepare to greet their new nation.
***
As they descended the ramp from the Mauretania to New York, Chase scoured the swarm of people beneath her, looking for Marcus. She was disappointed, but not surprised, when she was unable to find him. There were far too many people to tell one man from another.
Walking two steps behind her were Reese and her grandmother, escorted by Webb. He had dutifully shown up at her grandmother’s cabin and escorted the women to the main deck as they pulled into port. Although Chase had assured him five or six times that they would not be needing his assistance, he insisted.
And walking two steps behind them was Elisabeth Davies. Chase felt a bit sorry for her when she first saw her trailing behind Webb. The young sap clearly was infatuated with the Texan pig. She hurried to keep up with the rest of them, in spite of his lack of acknowledgment.
And when they reached the bottom of the ramp, Chase was shocked to see him turn and take her elbow, as though he had known all along that she was behind him. He met her puzzled stare as he hurried Elisabeth to catch up with the rest of the women.
“She is my cousin,” he explained shortly.
“Your cousin?” Chase asked loudly. But she was only talking to his back. He had continued walking past her, gesturing to Lady Colchester and Reese to keep up.
After what seemed like hours of squeezing through the sea of people, registering as future residents of Texas, and being reminded every ten seconds to “stick close” to Webb and her grandmother, they finally heard a most welcome sound.
