How Miss West Was Won (5 page)

It has become something of a standoff between us. Since the night of the proposed ‘game’ I have made sure that I am not alone with Eli. We eat dinner together, and as soon as the meal is finished, I excuse myself from the table and retire to my room. I have finished the book I started the other evening, and have since taken two more from the library.

Eli has not mentioned my absence from his presence after the meal; of course I have not given him the chance to speak of the situation. At dinner, we are cordial to each other, discussing what went on during the day. For me, it is sewing and reading. For him, it is work on the ranch. He and his crew have managed to finish a good portion of the fence they were working on the other evening, and I happened to hear Eli mention to Mrs. Dunlap that he had sent Stuart into Denver to retrieve a few supplies they needed to fully complete the work. In the meantime, the other hands were working in the fields, or with the cattle.

What Eli was doing I was not sure. As I approached the table last evening, I heard Mrs. Dunlap tell him that something was wrong with our situation.

“It’s just not right,” she said. “Something needs to be done.”

He told her to give it time, since the two of us were barely acquainted with each other. Those words reminded me of the game he wished to play. I still have no desire to tell him about my relationship with William, but I do know that, at some point, I will have to have some conversation with Eli, because if I spend another evening cooped up in this room with nothing more than my journal, a pen and a book, I may go mad.

I know that means I have to give in, but I would like to do so on my terms. But I am sure that is not going to happen. I am not certain where to go from here, but tonight, after dinner, I plan to talk to Eli.

I hope he is receptive to my overtures.

Eli poured a dipper of water over his neck and shivered. It was cooler as the month progressed, but they had done enough work today that all of them had built up a sweat. Stuart needed to hurry back from Denver with the supplies so they could finish the fence.

Of course, knowing his cousin, Eli was sure Stuart was spending quite a bit of time with the ladies at the bordello while he was in town. Stuart never missed a chance to dip his wick, as his cousin said.

Eli wished he could say the same thing right now. Things with Cordelia were not going well, and Eli knew he had nobody to blame but himself. He never should have proposed the high/low game. It would have been better if he had waited a few days so they had time to talk about books, and maybe politics, or chat about the outlaws who were roaming through the plains now.

The weekly newspaper arrived like clockwork that morning, and he let Cordelia read it first while he was at work. He planned to take his turn with it tonight after supper. Maybe tomorrow he could bring up one of the subjects and they could get back on track with each other.

If things didn’t start improving, the hands would start talking, and when the woman from England arrived, his supposed betrothed, she would know something wasn’t right by the gossip that spread through the town.

The family lawyer had ridden to the ranch two days ago and told Eli the lady, one Constance Perry, had left England and was due to arrive in Boulder in a month. Eli had been furious; shouting and asking why he hadn’t written to let her know Eli had already broken the arrangement between them and married someone else.

“I did, Eli,” Nathan had said. “She moved her time frame up. I think she plans to try and break you and your wife up when she gets here.”

Nathan’s idea was a shock to Eli, who thought he had figured out the perfect way out of the situation. Why was this woman so persistent? Sure her father and his father had been friends in the past, but that didn’t mean the plan had to stay in play here.

Maybe he should have written her himself, told her that, while he understood the fact that she would be husbandless, the deed was already done and there was nothing he could do about it.

After all, according to the letter Nathan had sent Constance, Eli and Cordelia had fallen in love the second they had set eyes on each other. Of course everyone around them knew that wasn’t true, because he and his ‘wife’ barely spent any time together.

That had to stop, and it had to stop tonight. The trouble would be how to convince Cordelia of that. She left the table the minute supper was over, and Eli had thought about knocking on her door, but wasn’t sure exactly what he would say to her, since he had been such a colossal ass by proposing the high/low game.

He needed to talk to her before supper, tell her they needed to have a heart to heart, because things would be very serious in a few weeks time.

One of the best ways to talk about this situation would be to remind her that, once they had convinced Constance to go back to England, Cordelia could return to New York. She would have her money and things would be back to normal for her.

Eli hoped that would be an incentive for her to talk to him, to get to know him. It certainly wasn’t one for him. He may not know a lot about her personality, but her body enticed him. That part was evident by the way he had to relieve himself every day. It was like he was an overactive teenager.

The minute Cordelia walked into the room his cock rose to the occasion, and since he was always wearing clothes when that happened, it was generally a painful situation.

Last night he’d stroked himself off, and he’d done it again that morning. At noon, he’d thought about going to the house so he could do the same thing, but he knew there was too much work to be done.

And tonight… he was determined to behave himself and talk to her without bringing up her sex life, or lack of it. That didn’t mean his prick would cooperate, and when that happened, sometimes he lost brain function, since all the blood in his body was centered between his legs.

He was now at the house, wondering where Stuart was and how things would finish up with the fence in the next few days. He needed to get hold of Nathan and ask him to track Constance’s travel to see how close she was to Colorado, and he needed to get with Cordelia and…

Eli’s thoughts vanished as the lady in question came out the door. She wore a beautiful piece dress that accentuated her gorgeous hair and perfect eyes.

“Eli,” she said softly. “I had hoped to find you before you went to clean up before dinner.”

Her voice was gentle, and Eli said a silent prayer that she wasn’t going to tell him she had decided to go back to New York now.

“You’ve found me,” he said, giving her what he hoped was a winning smile. He knew he stunk from working in the afternoon sun, and he prayed that didn’t offend her.

“I have thought a great deal about the other evening,” she said.

He loved the lilt of her voice when she spoke, and the fact that it was so formal. It made him want her all the more. “Yes?” He didn’t want to push her, but it took every ounce of his being not to shout at her, “Out with it!”

Cordelia sighed. “You are right.”

Eli was sure his mouth hung open. “Excuse me?”

“I said you are right. For this to work, we need to know each other better, and if that includes talking about our previous experiences with the opposite sex…” Here she paused, and Eli was pretty sure it was taking every ounce of her being not to turn around and bolt back into the building. “If that includes talking about sex, well, I am a grown woman of a certain age, and while I still possess my maidenhead, I have not been… extremely chaste.”

“I see,” he said. This wasn’t what he expected at all.

“If you think speaking of these things will bring us closer, then I am willing to do so.” She smiled at him. “Part of me wonders if I can work it into the story somehow.”

Eli couldn’t help but laugh, and he was very happy when Cordelia joined in the laughter.

“I wonder what Mr. Tuttle would think if I talked about sex in my article. Something tells me he would develop a heart seizure.”

Eli nodded. “You’re probably right.”

She swallowed hard, and he knew it took a great deal for her to bring up this subject. “After dinner, you and I should retire to the library where we should discuss our… pasts.”

Eli nodded again. “I think that is a great idea.”

Cordelia turned toward the house. Before she could reach for the screen, though, she pivoted back around. “This is not going to be easy for me, Eli, and I have thought a great deal about the situation, as I said. One of the things you proposed the other evening stuck me as being a sound idea.”

“What’s that, Cordelia?” He leaned toward her, enjoying the smell of roses that came from her body. He wondered where it came from, lotion or soap?

She cleared her throat and said, “If I falter in this, I think you should… do as you said you were going to.”

It took him a minute to figure out exactly what she meant. When it finally dawned on him, Eli couldn’t help but laugh. “Cordelia, I promise you that if you refuse to talk tonight, I will take you over my knee and give you a very thorough spanking.”

The serious look on her face made Eli’s cock harden. He hoped she didn’t refuse, because he was pretty sure that spanking her would start something that his ‘wife’ would not want to finish.

Cordelia felt as if her stomach would fall to the ground and stay there. Eli sat across from her, looking calm, as if they were about to discuss something as innocuous as the weather. She had not eaten very much at dinner, but if she had, she would be losing it right now.

“Cordelia?” Eli’s voice was soft.

“Yes?” She swallowed hard.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. Maybe you need another day.”

“Why?” She stared at Eli.

“Because you look like you’re about to faint.” He gently touched her hand. “The information might be too much for you, that Constance is on her way and we are going to have to deal with the situation. If this is too much—”

Cordelia put her hand up to stop him. She had made her decision, and she was not about to back out now. “If Constance is on her way, it is pertinent that we not take any more time to, as you put it, deal with the situation. I believe today’s agenda is getting to know each other better. You told me your story the other evening. Today is my turn.”

She was a big girl, and she was not about to act like a child anymore. She had taken this job. If he needed to kiss her, so be it. If he needed to hug her, so be it. If, at some point, they had to sleep in the same bed together, so be it. Sleeping in the bed did not mean they would engage in sexual intercourse.

“All right then.” Eli sat back. To his credit, he did not grin like he wanted to hear every lurid detail, and that made Cordelia feel a little better.

“You were right when you said that William and I had been intimate. We did not have intercourse together, but we did… um… I am not sure how to describe it.”

“I thought you were a writer,” Eli said with a laugh. “Writers can describe anything, can’t they?”

“I am Mr. Tuttle’s assistant. William was the writer. I do poetry, nothing more.”

Eli shook his head, and the smile on his face made her feel warm. “Are you not going to write a story about your time here?”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?”

Cordelia looked at the window. It was dark outside, so there was not much to see. It made her feel as if she were looking into an abyss, a darkness from which there was no return. “Mr. Tuttle has hired me to write my tale, yes, but I still have a few months to complete that assignment.”

Eli shrugged. “If Constance gets here soon, you won’t have to wait too much longer to do your writing. Your past with William is not something you need to put in your article, but it is something I need to know about. So take a deep breath, and tell me about your relationship with him.”

“I loved him,” she blurted out. “That is why I allowed myself to be intimate with him.”

A silence built between them until Cordelia spoke again. “We had known each other for years before we… before I touched him.”

Eli’s expression was now serious. “We don’t have that luxury. I am not sure exactly what sort of contract my father made with Constance’s father, but it is important that she completely buys the story of our marriage. We need to know each other. Here is my story. My parents died a few years ago, in an accident. My brother Joshua died with them. Two of my brothers never made it past the age of fourteen.”

“I am so sorry,” she said, softly.

For a moment, she thought he might show some emotion about it. Instead, he turned his face to the window for a moment before he continued to speak. “We need to be close. We need to be able to kiss, and hug and not blush when someone brings up whether or not we are going to have a baby soon.”

He looked at her now, and he started to laugh. “You’re blushing.”

Cordelia put her hand up to her cheek. It felt warm to the touch. He was right, she was blushing and if she did that in front of people, they would wonder why.

This time she was the one who laughed. “I do not think I ever thought of it that way. I thought you were just trying to…”

“Get your clothes off?” he finished for her.

“Yes.” She fixed a hard look on him. “I thought you wanted to take my virginity before I went back to New York. I thought that was why you were pushing me for information.”

He did not deny what she said. Instead, he put his hands on the table that sat between them. “I told you my story the other evening. Tonight, I gave you an insight into my family. Now it is your turn to give me some information. Tell me about your family, and about your relationship with William.”

“I have no family,” she said, working to keep her voice steady. “William was the only man who ever meant anything to me. When he died, my world crumbled. The only thing that kept me going was my work.”

“I’m sorry.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant it. “What happened to your parents?”

Cordelia looked away. “Who knows? I am one of the poor unfortunates who had no home. I met William in the orphanage.”

A frown crossed his features. “You’d known him that long, and you had not married when he died?”

It was a sore spot with Cordelia, too, and she did not really want to discuss it. “We were trying to build up funds so we could have a good start in life. I had no desire to come out west, and he knew he could make his fortune here, or so he thought.”

Once again, she looked out into the darkness. It seemed so fitting, because it represented the times she had spent alone when William was not in New York. She would sit in her room, with her book and her poetry, wondering when he would return.

Sometimes, she felt as if she would never see him again. That was why on those times when he returned, she allowed herself to do things that she had never thought she would do until she had a ring on her finger.

She had not meant to say these things out loud, but she did. Eli stayed silent as she spoke, as she talked about the fear she had felt from time to time, of being alone and not knowing what the future held.

“The first time we were—intimate—I second guessed my decision for days afterward. I still had my maidenhead, true, but I had allowed myself to touch him, to feel his length in my hands.”

Cordelia closed her eyes as the memories flooded back. It had been enjoyable, true, but she had always wondered why she had done it, especially afterward, when William had told her they would marry the next time he was in town.

“Finally, there had been no next time.” She hoped her voice did not sound as bitter as she felt. At least if she and William had married, she would be a widow now, instead of being a spinster, as many people thought of her.

“So you loved him?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “He meant the world to me. I had never trusted myself with anyone else. I thought he would be with me for the rest of my life.” Tears threatened to leak from her eyes, something that had not happened for a while.

“I don’t want to make you relive painful experiences,” Eli said. “I think I went about this so wrong. I should have… I don’t know what I should have done, but sometimes I think I made the wrong decision bringing you out here. I should have come up with a way out of the situation without involving you.”

Cordelia laughed. “It is a little late for that.”

“Yes, it is.” He smiled at her, and Cordelia felt her nerves tighten. Not just her nerves, but her nipples, too. That was not good. She needed to keep those reactions under control.

“Do you have birthmarks?”

His question came from out of the blue, and she was not sure if she should tell him the truth. To buy time, she asked him the same question.

Instead of answering, he stood and started to unbutton his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“Showing you my birthmark,” he said. “If someone questions our marriage, for instance someone who knows that we don’t share the same bed, you can tell them that I have a purple birthmark right under my right nipple.”

He opened the shirt to display the mark, which was almost as large as her hand. But Cordelia could not keep her eyes on the purple tint of his skin. Instead, her gaze moved to the nipple above it. The hard button had no hair around it. Eli’s skin was smooth, something she was not used to, since William’s chest had been very hairy.

She wanted to reach out and touch him, see if it was as soft as it looked. How would the hard nub feel under her fingers? William had not been too happy to be touched on his chest. He had been more interested in other parts of his body.

Cordelia glanced at Eli’s hands. She knew they were not as smooth as William’s had been, but they were not as rough as she had thought they would be.

“Cordelia?”

The simple utterance of her name brought her attention back to Eli’s face. His look told her he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

“Yes, Eli?” She prayed her voice was even.

“I showed you mine now you can show me yours, or at least tell me about it.”

That broke the spell that had kept her staring at him. “I do not think so.”

Eli buttoned his shirt, at least the lower buttons. He left the upper ones undone, so that she could still see an expanse of his chest.

“I think so,” he said with a laugh. “Yes, I know my husband has a birthmark, and where it is, but he doesn’t know the same about me.”

There had to be a way she could change the course of this conversation. “I have a birthmark, but it is very small, and it is dark.”

“How small?” He was sitting in his chair now, his legs stretched out in front of him.

“The size of my thumbnail,” she responded.

“Where is it?”

Cordelia knew that question had been coming. She wished she had thought of a snappy answer. Instead, she just said, “Somewhere where it is not seen by anyone.”

He did not say anything, so she spoke again, simply to fill the silence between them. “If you take your shirt off when you work, the men who are at your side will have seen your birthmark. No one will see mine, so there is no need for you to know about it.”

“I will see it when we are making love,” he said.

Cordelia’s hands started to shake. “Excuse me?”

“When we are in bed together, naked and in each other’s arms,” Eli said. “I will see your birthmark.”

Cordelia laughed. “Something tells me my birthmark would not be a topic of conversation with you and your men. At least I hope it is not.”

Damn him for laughing, because it made her laugh, too.

“No, it wouldn’t be,” he said. “But now, it’s just something I want to know.” He had a smile on his face, a grin that made her toes curl. “Tell me where it is.”

“No.” She walked to the window. Somehow, the darkness did not seem as frightening as it had earlier.

“Cordelia,” he said, drawing her name out. “Tell me where it is.”

She turned to him and cocked her head, letting a smile of her own spread across her face. “I said no.”

“Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself.” He stood so fast she was taken aback. Before she could say a word, he gathered her in his arms and held her close. “Tell me were it is,” he whispered in her ear.

“No.” She struggled to get out of his arms, but not very hard. It felt wonderful to be held in his strong arms, to feel his chest pressed against her. The sensations running through her body were messing with her mind. Tonight was only supposed to be a discussion. She was not supposed to be in his embrace right now.

“Let me go,” she whispered.

“Tell me where it is,” he countered.

“Never.”

“Then I guess you will stay right where you are.”

He ran his hand up her right side, which made Cordelia shiver. “Is it in this area?”

Cordelia pushed against his arms. “Stop that. This is not part of our agreement.”

“No?” He changed hands so quickly she wondered at his speed. “How about this side?” Once again his touch was gentle as he stroked his hand up her left side.

“Eli, stop that.”

He let her go very quickly, so fast that she almost lost her footing. Before she could fall, he wrapped his arms around her again. “It’s such a simple question, Cordelia. And, if you don’t answer me, I’m afraid I’m going to have to…” he paused, and she knew what was coming next, “I’m going to have to spank you. Remember when you said if you didn’t answer questions that I should do that?”

His hand moved to her back, and Cordelia jumped just a little, which pressed her into his body. His hard body made her gasp. This time when she pushed against his body, she did so with more effort.

But he held her close, and his hand moved down to her bottom. Before Cordelia could voice her objection, he lifted his hand and smacked it down on her bottom. The skirts she wore absorbed much of the strike.

“Eli!” Cordelia wiggled in his embrace, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, he smacked her bottom again.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“No.” Once again she tried to get away from him. This time she was surprised when she stumbled backward. She didn’t fall. Instead, Eli swept her up in his arms and headed toward the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Cordelia asked, even though it was obvious. “Eli, please, do not do this.”

He ignored her and continued to head for the stairs. He took them quickly, and she didn’t fight him too hard, because she was afraid she would cause them to tumble down the stairs.