Page 35 of The Copper Heir (The Gilded West #1)

Plopping onto the chair, she took out the braid and picked up the brush that had been thoughtfully left there for her.

After a few minutes of trying to tame the mess, she finally settled on simply tying it back with a ribbon she found in one of the pots on the table.

But then she noticed a smudge of dirt on her chin that she’d probably picked up from the stable.

Hurrying to the attached bathing chamber, she was delighted to find that a bowl of steaming water had been left there for her while she’d been playing with the girls.

The room was small and tiled in a modest white tile that matched the gleaming, white porcelain of the rest of the fixtures.

But she hardly gave them a second glance as she hurried to clean herself up, briefly debating changing into one of the gowns in the armoire, before deciding against it.

She needed to keep her distance. Her sanity depended upon her not becoming too accustomed to this place and its master.

In the end, she put on the brown dress she’d carried with her from the brothel, the same one she’d changed into the night at the cabin.

It wasn’t her best, but she wasn’t trying to attract him again.

She simply wanted to look presentable for their talk.

Once she had walked downstairs and found it dark, except for a few oil lamps that had been turned low, and realized that no one was around, she knew that she had made the right choice in her dress.

She found him tempting enough. She didn’t want to encourage his pursuit when she had a hard enough time keeping herself from wanting him.

After a few wrong turns that led her through exquisitely decorated parlors and then the servants’ quarters, she found her way to his study in the back of the house.

The door was open, revealing a room with a wall of windows on one side and a massive stone fireplace on the other, book-lined shelves built into the wall on either side of it.

What incredible wealth this man must possess.

It was a necessary reminder that any thoughts of pursuing another night with him was out of the question.

What was between them couldn’t be permanent, so she was only setting herself up for heartache to even consider it.

Catching sight of his head leaned over an oversized desk, his hair perfectly smoothed back and looking more brown than blond in the dim light, she knocked on the opened door.

He looked up immediately at her across the ledgers and papers scattered over the gleaming desk and smiled as soon as he saw her.

The smile was contagious and she returned it instinctively, her heart catching for a moment before it proceeded with its beating.

She noted immediately that he hadn’t shaved, then admonished herself for being happy about that.

“Come in.” He rose and indicated she take one of the pair of brown leather chairs facing his desk, waiting for her to sit down before he resumed his seat.

“I trust you’re settled in. Have everything you need?

” He noted her brown dress, but didn’t say anything about her not wearing one of the gowns Willy had procured for her.

She nodded and found it a little disturbing that while he seemed happy to see her, there was a distance in his eyes.

The tiny bit of tenderness she’d seen on his face back at the stables had been replaced by cordiality.

It was a good thing. It meant that he’d accepted that what had happened between them last night was over.

Maybe that would help her accept that as well.

“You really can stand to lose fifty thousand dollars, can’t you?

” She cast a look at the room to emphasize her point.

He shrugged and managed to look as arrogant as someone should when acknowledging his obscene wealth.

He’d bathed and changed clothes since she’d seen him at the stables and now wore a crisp button-down shirt.

The top few buttons were undone to reveal enough of his chest that it warmed her to see the tanned skin and light sprinkling of hair.

The white shirt was tucked into a pair of dark-colored trousers, emphasizing the hard, flat planes of his stomach as he sat back, his hands folded across his lap.

“You must know that I’ve come to discuss my—our...captivity.”

He raised a brow at her word choice. “That seems harsh.”

Perhaps it was. It wasn’t as if they were chained in a dungeon, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of her backing down. They both knew it for what it was. She wasn’t free to leave. “I’d like you to allow us to leave.”

“Not an option.”

“I knew you might say that.” She held out the folded bank draft, making sure her fingers didn’t tremble.

When he didn’t make a move to reach for it, she unfolded it so that he could see it was the bank draft he’d written out for her and dropped it on his desk.

“Fifty thousand dollars for our release.”

He smiled again, but to his credit he didn’t laugh. “I don’t need fifty thousand dollars, as you’ve pointed out.”

What could she say to that bold truth? “Of course,” she conceded.

Leaning forward, he picked the draft up only to hold it out to her. “You must also know that I’d be more likely to allow you to go knowing that you have money with you.”

“It’s not actual money, though, is it? Do you suppose I could just walk into the bank and have it converted to gold or bills without your permission?” A draft for that much had to be rare, even in Helena. The bank would want to verify with him that it wasn’t a forgery before exchanging it.

His smile stayed in place as he gave a nod to concede her point. “I’d be more than happy to have it converted for you if it means you’ll take it.”

She took it back, folding it into her fist and deciding to ignore his comment.

The more she had tried to figure out a way to not take the money, the more she became convinced it was her only real chance of getting away and starting over somewhere.

She could borrow from Glory, but then she’d have to impose on her yet again and hope the loan didn’t run out before she could provide for them.

Instead of responding to that, she tried the only other tactic she had been able to come up with.

“How do you expect to get away with this? I know who you are, the children know who you are. You haven’t hidden your identity from us.

We even know where you live. Ship will question us when we go home and, whether I cooperate or not, the girls are too young to not say anything.

They’ll tell him your name and all about this place.

” She waved her hand to indicate the property.

“Even if they won’t remember how to get here, how long before he figures it out?

If he doesn’t come for you, he can go to the authorities and tell them what we know.

You must realize that you’ve placed yourself in grave danger. ”

His smile didn’t falter, but it did become more thoughtful and his voice held a slight rasp when he spoke. “Are you trying to convince me that I shouldn’t let you go at all? That I should keep you?”

Despite the vision of endless nights in his bed that his words conjured followed by the coil of pleasure unfurling low in her belly, she shook her head.

“It’s why you shouldn’t return us to Ship.

You can say we escaped. I’ll take the children far away and you’ll never hear from us again.

I promise I won’t ever say anything to anyone.

The girls don’t even know that we’re hostages.

They think you’re a family friend we’re visiting and this is some grand holiday to them.

They don’t know you’re an outlaw, so they won’t tell anyone. ”

“I believe you, Emmy. I think you’ll keep my secret.” His intense gaze held hers and she believed he spoke the truth. “But you and your sisters are the only way to make sure Miguel isn’t needlessly hurt.”

Of course. Miguel was the person Ship had taken. She had never really thought that Ship would actually harm an innocent person, so it was time to find out if Miguel was actually innocent. It was past time for her to understand more about this situation she’d been pulled into. “Who is Miguel?”

Hunter took in the woman sitting across from him, in her austere brown dress.

Her frame was so small that the chair dwarfed her, making her appear even smaller and younger.

But despite her prim mannerisms and the fact that she looked so young and fragile, she’d taken him in her hands as if she knew exactly what she had wanted.

He hardened just remembering it. The sounds she’d made had been so soft, feminine, and so damned sweet to his ears that he could still hear them when he closed his eyes.

His body wanted to get her to make those sounds again.

Shifting in his chair to find a more comfortable position, he tried to force his thoughts back to the conversation.

It would do no good to remember things better left in the past. For now, he’d have to channel his need to take care of her into other things.

While she was here he could make sure she got enough to eat so that she could put on some weight before she went home.

He’d even made sure Willy included something with apples into the meal that night.

His housekeeper had given him an amused glance, but it was the only thing he knew that Emmy liked.

Though she could have gobbled the apples he’d given her on that morning nearly a week ago down so fast because she was starving, not necessarily because she had liked them.

Had it been only been days? It seemed like he’d known her longer than that.