Shot Gun Grooms: Lucas's Convenient Bride / Jackson's Mail Order Bride

She glanced at him, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. “Is that what I’m doing?”

“Absolutely.”

She had a nice smile, he thought, wondering why he hadn’t noticed it the day before. And while she was still a skinny thing, when she bent over the bed like she was doing now, he could see that she wasn’t quite as lacking in curves as he’d thought. Her bosoms were small enough that she could never get a job at Miss Cherry’s, but they were a mouthful and sometimes that was plenty.

Lucas realized the dangerous trail his thoughts had taken and quickly jerked them back into safety. No sir, he did not plan to find his wife anything but convenient.

Her smile faded. She sat on the edge of the unmade bed and for the first time her back wasn’t stiff and straight. In fact, her shoulders seemed a mite slumped.

“My family sent me these things,” she said, motioning to the contents of the trunk. “They’re to help me get settled. You see, this is the West and everyone knows there’s a shortage of women. My parents assumed that even I could find a husband.”

Except she hadn’t, he thought. He didn’t count.

“Did you want to get married?” he asked.

“I thought I might, but it’s not really important to me. I have other plans. My establishment.”

“Your what?”

Light entered her blue eyes. They were a lovely color, he thought absently. The color of a summer sky.

“I want to open a school to train women so they’re not so dependent on men.”

He frowned. “I thought women liked being dependent on men. You want them to learn a trade?”

“That’s part of it, but not all of it. I want them to learn to count on themselves. To be strong. I’m fortunate. I knew early I wasn’t going to get married and I didn’t want to stay in my father’s house forever. Coming west solved many problems for me. But not everyone can do that. What about the women who don’t have the education, or who don’t know how to make their way in the world? What about women who are widows, or whose fathers or husbands are cruel?”

“Who was cruel to you?” he asked softly.

She sprang to her feet and busied herself with the sheets on the bed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My family is ever so kind. My father especially. He was proud of me. When I was little, he used to take me into the office with him and teach me the business. He had a shipping company. Quite successful.”

She smoothed the sheets across the bed. He thought about helping her but figured she would get nervous if the two of them were too close to a bed. After all, she hadn’t even been willing to kiss him at the end of their wedding ceremony. He wondered if Emily had ever been kissed and if she had, who’d been the man brave enough to scale her resolve.

“So why’d you leave?”

“I told you, I…” She pressed her lips together. After giving the sheets one last flick with her hand, she crossed to the window, pushed aside the drapes and stared out at the street.

“I have two younger sisters,” she said quietly. “They’re not very smart, but that isn’t important. They’re both lovely, very accomplished.”

“But your father never took them to the office with him.”

“No.” As she spoke, she continued to gaze out the window. “My mother was thrilled with their social success all the while she despaired of ever finding me a husband. I didn’t really mind.” She gave a small shrug. “My father and I were very close. As long as he adored me, I knew everything would be fine. As silly as it sounds, I used to dream about joining the family business.” She touched the glass. “It would have been better if I’d been born a boy.”

“Not for me,” Lucas told her. “Uncle Simon was real specific about us taking wives.”

She managed to give him a slight smile. “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t born a boy and one night, at a musical, I met a young man who seemed more interested in talking to me than staring at my beautiful sisters. David was kind and intelligent. He worked for my father.”

Lucas stiffened slightly. He had a bad feeling he knew where the story was going. He doubted it ended well for Emily.

“David and I grew close and then he proposed.”

“Did you accept?”

“I thought about it. I didn’t really love him, but we got along and I doubted I would do better. Then I made the mistake of asking him to tell me the truth. Did his proposal have anything to do with my father’s business?”

She paused. “I have to respect David for being honest. David told me that my father had offered him a percentage of the company if he married me and we had children.” She tilted her head to the side. “My father was a good businessman. He wanted to make sure that David intended to make our marriage a real one.”

Unlike theirs, Lucas thought. “So you get your negotiating abilities from him.”

She flashed him a quick smile that nearly hid the pain in her eyes. “Yes, I did.” She returned her attention to the window. “After I learned the truth, I knew I couldn’t possibly accept David’s proposal. He tried to change my mind, to tell me that we were good friends and wasn’t that enough. But it wasn’t. I was still young and foolish enough to believe there was more available to me.”

Lucas felt awkward hearing about her past. He didn’t want to know that she’d been wounded by the people most charged with loving her. He didn’t want to know that their short marriage of convenience was something similar to what she’d been offered before.

“Once David and I broke things off, I knew I had to leave,” she said. “There aren’t many options open to an unmarried woman, so I took a teaching position to allow me time to think about my future. Over the past year or so, I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to open an establishment for women, as we’ve already discussed. And that, Mr. MacIntyre, is my entire history.”

He didn’t know what to say about her past, so he chose something more simple to comment upon. “So you won’t keep the hotel once you have the funds you require?”

“No. Depending on how successful I am, I’m planning to stay here two years, three at most. In the meantime, I’m sure I’ll enjoy my work. There is the appeal of my future plans, not to mention the fact that this floor is entirely mine to do with as I please.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t burn down the place.”

She turned to face him. “I will do my best to avoid that circumstance. But you are missing the point. As a man, you’ve had many homes that are entirely yours. But as a woman I first lived with my family, then rented a room in an attic. I could never come and go as I wished. People watched, judged, offered opinions. Now I am entirely an independent woman.”

He considered her words. “I’ve never thought that women don’t have the same freedoms as men.”

“Why would you? Your life is not one of restriction and rules.” She waved a hand. “There are laws, of course, but I’m not speaking of the freedom to commit a crime. I simply want to be in control of my life to the extent my abilities will allow. I do not want to be controlled or dictated to because I am a woman.”

Lucas had known from the moment he’d become aware of her existence that Emily was a spinster. She was probably twenty-five or twenty-six, which wasn’t so old that she had to give up the possibility of marriage, but old enough for everyone to know that she’d been passed over. He’d known other spinsters in his life, but he’d never once thought about their fate. Society didn’t care if a man waited to marry, but he could see that it was particularly cruel to plain, unmarried women. Without skills and resources, those women had to rely on the whims of fate and the goodness of their families for their very livelihoods.

Emily had the advantage of brains, education and determination. Many others would not be so fortunate.

He nodded slightly. “I’m proud to be a part of your plan, Em. If I can help make the hotel a success, I’ll do what I can.”

This time her smile was genuine. She pressed her fingers together. “You’ve already done so much, sending your men to help me get the rooms ready, agreeing to let me be here in the first place. I do appreciate that.”

Sunlight drifted through a crack in the drapes. It caught the side of her head and added a golden luster to her tightly drawn back hair. He had a sudden desire to know how far her hair tumbled down her back and what it would feel like in his hands. Would it be thick and heavy? Was there any kind of curl or wave?

Her skin was very lovely, he thought, moving his gaze to her face. Her eyes were wide, her mouth full. When she wasn’t standing all stiff and looking disapproving, she was nearly attractive. Almost pretty, in a stern sort of way.

He noticed that she had delicate bones more suited to soft fabrics and feminine styles, not the thick wools and serviceable dresses she favored. If she would try a different color of clothes, or loosen her hair a little.

“Lucas, what on earth are you thinking? You have the most peculiar expression on your face.”

“You don’t want to know,” he said, compelled to take a step toward her.

He was going to kiss her. He didn’t know why and he thought he should probably stop himself before he got started. Yet he didn’t want to stop himself. He wondered what her lips would taste like and how she would feel in his arms. It was idiocy. Worse, it was stupid and, with Emily’s spinster sensibilities, potentially dangerous. However they were married and this was his wedding day. Was it so wrong to expect his bride to be willing to offer him a kiss?

Before he halted himself with a dose of good sense, he stepped toward her and placed his hands on her waist. Her eyes widened and her mouth parted. She was as still as a carving. Before she could change her mind and dart away, he drew her body against his, lowered his mouth and pressed his lips to hers.