Page 37 of The Copper Heir (The Gilded West #1)

Chapter Seventeen

E mmy had spent the night tossing and turning.

The way he’d looked when he said “yes”, as if he could devour her right there, had haunted her dreams and left her feeling aching and unsatisfied when she awoke.

It hadn’t helped that she had heard him go to his room later and realized that his bedroom adjoined her sitting room.

She’d stood at that door separating them for far longer than she should have.

Her hand poised just on the knob, not sure if she’d turn it and find it locked or not.

What if it wasn’t? What if she opened it to go right in and spend another night with him?

The warm, languid feeling that had moved through her, softening her very bones at the mere thought, made her turn away.

He was too potent to her and too dangerous because of it.

She had begun slipping under his spell the moment she saw him.

What would happen to her when it was time to leave him?

The next morning when she awoke, she found a satchel full of money in her sitting room.

The mixture of paper money and gold coins was a surprise.

Gripping the handles and looking inside, she wondered how he’d been able to get his hands on that much in just a few hours.

She was so angry she imagined herself throwing it at him, but couldn’t deny the strange sense of relief she felt as well.

In the end, she’d brought it into her room and hid it under the bed to deal with later. At least it was there...just in case.

Her sisters were already up and dressed when she went to find them in the nursery.

They all went down to breakfast together, surprised to find that Hunter was already there at the dining table.

Dressed similarly to the night before in a button-up shirt and trousers, though clean-shaven now, he welcomed them and kept the girls chatting throughout the meal by answering their many questions about the horses.

Emmy couldn’t help but watch him as he became animated, seeming to know every detail about each horse.

How old it was, how fast it could run, its favorite treat.

The questions were endless, but he didn’t seem perplexed even once to answer them and even gave her a wink about halfway through breakfast. She blushed too easily and hastily looked back down at her plate.

“How about a ride after breakfast?” he suggested. “We can go to the river.”

The girls immediately chimed in with their agreement.

“They can’t ride, Hunter. It’s not a good idea.”

That didn’t deter him and simply made him turn to look at her, his eyes as intense as ever as he smiled. Sometimes he looked at her and she could almost believe that he felt something for her. It was part of his charm. She knew that, but it didn’t keep her heart from skipping a beat.

“It’s only a couple of miles. They can ride ponies and we’ll go slowly. How about we take a picnic?” He looked back to the girls who readily agreed to this updated plan. When he looked back at her, he raised a brow as if to say, See, they approve of me.

Her gaze landed on his perfectly formed lips as he smiled again and she couldn’t help but remember how those lips had felt on her body.

She took a ragged breath and nodded her consent to keep from having to talk.

But he knew. As the girls celebrated the victory, his gaze lingered on her, sweeping down to her breasts before meeting her eyes.

She pulled her gaze away and avoided him the rest of the meal.

It was even easier to avoid him as they rode to the river just a little later.

He’d been very attentive in helping them all mount and get underway, leading the girls along slowly on their ponies.

Emmy lagged behind, not much more experienced than her sisters in riding, though she’d had to learn fast enough on that terrifying ride across the countryside on his horse.

It wasn’t the horse that made her lag. She’d been given the gentle Cinnamon, who was just as content as her rider to walk slowly, even nibbling a bit of grass along the way.

She went slowly because she couldn’t stop watching him.

The same gentleness that had been evident on the night he’d kidnapped her was on display now as he attended to her sisters.

It didn’t seem possible that he was the same outlaw who had come into her saloon that night looking so dangerous.

And yet the juxtaposition suited him perfectly.

When he wasn’t leaning over to answer a question or pointing out a bird in the distance, he was scanning the horizon, alert to anything that could be a threat.

He’d strapped his gun to his hip and a rifle was holstered on the back of his saddle, strapped next to the picnic basket.

Occasionally his eyes would catch hers and she’d see the spark of desire that made her wary, just as it drew her to him.

Later, when the river had transformed from a silver ribbon to a wide and rushing current before them, he walked over to help her dismount.

She didn’t shy away when he gripped her waist and held her close as she dropped to her feet.

They were obscenely close from chest to hip, his hard thigh pressed slightly forward against the indentation between her legs.

The contact caused a warm tingle to travel the length of her body and she held on to his shoulders when she should have let go.

He took in a harsh breath and she met his gaze, not surprised to find it deep and searching.

He was confused by her accepting his touch.

So was she. But the more she tried to ignore all the things he made her feel, the more she became aware of feeling them.

Rose called them and he slowly, reluctantly let her go, so she ran over to the river’s bank to see the fish her sister had found swimming in the shallow water.

For the next hour she was extra aware of his every move.

The way his muscles rippled under his clothing as he jumped the large rocks at the edge of the river to grab a handful of smooth pebbles.

The way his muscular calves and bare feet seemed more attractive than they should, when he rolled up his trousers so they wouldn’t get wet.

And later, though she had her eyes closed as she lay on the blanket letting the sun warm her face, she knew that it was him coming toward her because butterflies fluttered in her belly just moments before his large body plopped down next to her.

He lay down on his back, watching her, the sun glinting off his hair turning it more golden than brown.

The girls were wading at the river’s edge, Rose calling to her older sister to join her, while Ginny firmly stayed onshore out of the cold water.

But she still directed Rose to the location of the next smooth rock they’d skip across the river just like he’d shown them.

“You haven’t yelled at me about the money yet. Does that mean you’ve decided to accept it?”

She hadn’t thought he’d mention it, so she could only answer honestly. “I haven’t decided.”

“What’s to decide?” He looked up toward the white clouds in the brilliant blue sky, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“It’s not that easy.”

Eyes closed now, he gave a slight shake of his head. “No. The money is yours. That’s it.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then tell me.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke.

Glancing at the girls to make sure they weren’t coming over, she said, “When I decided to do the auction, I knew that someone awful would buy me and, though it wouldn’t make it all right, I’d be able to live with myself for what happened. The fact that it was you...makes it more difficult.”

He flashed a smile that was pure male satisfaction. “You thought you’d be a martyr and now you’re disappointed that you enjoyed yourself.”

It wasn’t a question, but she wasn’t dignifying it with an acknowledgment. “Stop.” Rolling her eyes, she looked back to watch the girls in the water. Ginny squealed about how cold the water was as she dipped a toe in.

“The money has nothing to do with what we did together, Emmy.” He had moved onto his side to face her and was much closer now as he looked down, blocking the sun from her face. “Even if you had left my room before anything happened, I would have given you the money. I didn’t buy you, not that way.”

“I think the facts would disagree.”

“I don’t care. I know what happened that night, Emmy.” He tipped her chin up so that she looked at him and the expression of tenderness on his face stole her breath. “You know what happened.”

“It’s a lot of money. It’s made things difficult.” The slight weight of his thumb moved across her bottom lip to settle at the corner of her mouth.

“It’s not that much money to me. Take it. I want to know you’re safe. It doesn’t change what happened between us.” His eyes were darker now, the pupils reducing the green to a sliver.

“It would make me your whore.”

He sighed and then took a long breath, as if coming to some determination before he spoke. “It wouldn’t. Emmy, you’re not that type of woman.”

“You’ve said that before.” She moved to get up, but he caught her shoulder and gently pressed it back down.

“Wait. I know what I’m talking about. My parents’ marriage was arranged because my father saw a way to marry into the Hartford family of Boston.

My grandfather and his before him were very successful politicians and businessmen.

My father wanted that so he bartered himself for it.

That’s not you. My mother liked the idea of his mining wealth without liking the idea of him.

She married him anyway. Emmy, sweetheart, that’s not who you are. ”

She wanted to believe him and, looking up into his eyes, she came close. But the pain she saw there drew her attention. “This is the second time you’ve mentioned your mother unfavorably. She hurt you.”