Shot Gun Grooms. Maureen Child

other men.”

      She dismissed him with a flick of her hand, and had to blink back a burning sensation in her eyes. Tears? Over not being able to join Lucas for dinner? Impossible!

      “I can’t leave the desk,” she said. “I don’t have any employees.”

      He glanced around at the reception area. “Well, I’ll be. For someone who prides herself on making a plan, it looks like you forgot one important thing.”

      “I know. It just slipped my mind.”

      He straightened. “You going to sit at that desk, day and night?”

      “No. I’ll think of something. But in the meantime, I can’t join you for supper.”

      He reached forward and lightly touched the tip of her nose. “That’s where you’re wrong. You can’t join me for supper, but I can bring supper to you.” He gave her a wink. “Don’t you go anywhere.”

      Emily stared after him as he walked downstairs. Lucas was being nice to her and she wanted to know why. Not that she expected him to ignore her or to be rude, but somehow she hadn’t thought he would go out of his way to spend an evening meal with her. Perhaps she would ask him.

      When Lucas returned with a basket of fried chicken, biscuits and several other dishes, she had cleared her desk and stretched a crisp white tablecloth across the surface. He poured them each a glass of what he claimed was “apple cider, not apple brandy” then settled on the straight-backed chair she’d found for him.

      The hotel was quiet, with all her guests having gone out for the evening. The businessmen were dining at the restaurant three doors down, while the miners were in the saloon. Emily didn’t want to think about where Dixie had disappeared to or what she was doing there. Because thinking about Dixie being with men made Emily wonder if Lucas had ever been with her in that way? It also reminded her of the incident, which she was trying to forget, although that was difficult, what with him sitting so close and smiling at her as she served up his chicken.

      “This is very kind of you,” she said, motioning to the food. “I didn’t think we would be seeing each other like this.”

      He took a drink of his cider. “We’re married, Em. Don’t you think we should share a meal?”

      “Is that why you’re here? Because you want people to think we have a regular marriage?”

      He grinned. “You’ve spent the last two nights alone. I don’t think anyone believes we have a regular marriage.”

      “Oh.”

      Emily hadn’t considered that. She’d spent her wedding night in her narrow room above the bakery, and he’d spent his in the small house he had shared with his uncle. Last night she’d been alone in the hotel.

      He bit into his chicken and chewed. After he’d swallowed, he wiped his fingers on his napkin. “Were you shocked when Dixie appeared and asked for a room?”

      Emily ducked her head. “Yes, of course. I didn’t know her name, but I knew…” She cleared her throat. “At first I thought she wanted a room for her, um—”

      “Activities,” he offered helpfully.

      She ignored that. “However she explained she wanted peace and privacy, both of which I can offer.”

      “Dixie’s not so bad. I don’t guess you two can be friends, but she’s not an evil person.”

      Emily thought about her impression of the beautiful woman. “How long has she been in Defiance? With her voice and her manners, I thought she might be from somewhere back East.”

      “She arrived about five years ago.” Lucas hesitated. “As for her past, you’ll have to ask her.”

      Emily wondered if he didn’t know about Dixie or if he was respecting a confidence. She looked at the man sitting across from her. Even seated, he was tall. His white shirt emphasized the breadth of his shoulders. She found her attention lingering on his silky mustache and remembered the feel of it yesterday when he’d kissed her.

      Had she thought about being kissed by a man with a mustache, she would have assumed the experience would be unpleasant, but it hadn’t been at all. She’d liked the way the surprisingly soft hairs had tickled her skin. For one frightening moment, she imagined him kissing other parts of her, such as her neck, and shivered at the thought of the teasing caress.

      Emily stiffened. She would not allow herself to continue to think of the incident, nor would she imagine other familiarities. What was wrong with her? She was not the kind of woman who wasted her time daydreaming about a man.

      She drew her attention back to the dinner and tried to remember what they’d been talking about. Ah, yes. Dixie and how long she’d lived in Defiance. Not a subject for polite conversation.

      “Before, you had mentioned you’ve lived here nearly all your life,” she said.

      He nodded. “Yeah. I guess I was about five when Uncle Simon brought us here. Back then there wasn’t a town, just a couple of miner’s shacks and a big tent where an old man sold supplies.”

      “Your brother lives outside of town, doesn’t he? I don’t recall seeing him more than once or twice.”

      “He keeps to himself. He’s got a house up by the mine.”

      “That’s right. I remember you telling me about the mine when you explained your current predicament.”

      He grinned at her. “Why use a two-bit word when a dollar one works as well, right, Emily?”

      She sipped her cider. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      “I don’t have a ‘predicament,’ I have a problem. Or a barrel full of trouble.”

      She felt awkward and foolish. “I’m sorry if my vocabulary discomforts you.”

      “It doesn’t, but I think you should start loosening up. This isn’t the schoolroom and you’re not my teacher. Although if you wanted to tell me I was bad and give me a good paddling, I might be interested.”

      She had no idea what he was talking about and a complete certainty that he was teasing her, but she was too embarrassed to speak. Paddle Lucas? Why would he suggest such a thing? And why did the idea of even getting close to touching that part of him make her feel strange inside?

      “We were discussing your brother,” she said coolly, and hoped he wouldn’t notice how difficult it was for her to speak normally when all she wanted to do was cover her face and run from the room. “You mentioned you’d sent for a mail-order bride for him.”

      “That’s right.” Lucas smiled at her in such a way that she knew he was letting her off easy.

      “I never had a brother. It must be very pleasant to have that sort of familial relationship.”

      Lucas looked as if he was going to tease her about her word choices again, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “It was. We got into trouble all the time while we were growing up.”

      “Sounds like fun.”

      “It was.”

      When he didn’t volunteer any more information, they ate in silence.

      Lucas finished the last of his meal, then wiped his hands on his napkin.

      “How interested are you in helping downtrodden women?” he asked.

      “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

      “You’re going to need help around this place, with the cleaning, running errands and the like. I know a couple of young women looking for a job.”

      “What young women?”

      His dark eyes turned angry. “Alice and Mary. I don’t know how old they are. Alice might be fifteen and her sister is a couple of years