Free Just This Once by Jill Gregory

drunken sneering, there had
been pain. Deeply hidden pain, but pain nonetheless.
    Just who was this Ethan Savage? she
wondered, tapping a finger absently against her chin. And why in
the world had he insisted on marrying her?
    Don’t start worrying about him , she
admonished herself, her fingers digging into the soft upholstery of
the seat. He’s not one of the orphan children, or a stray cat or
a dance hall girl being misused by her boss. He’s well able to take
care of himself without any help from you.
    One thing was certain. Judging by all this
luxury and the way Mr. Latherby jumped to do his bidding, it was
clear that her new husband—her supposed new husband, who was still
in his Pullman convertible berth sleeping off the enormous quantity
of alcohol he’d consumed yesterday—must have a great deal of money.
Far more than she’d guessed when she tried to pick his pocket.
    Well, it wasn’t money she wanted—it never
had been. Josie’d been without money all her life, and she knew
that it couldn’t buy her what she was after. She wanted only the
chance to get to England and search for someone she’d never met,
someone who might prove very important to her.
    But she guessed that her needs, her wants,
would not matter much to Ethan Savage. He was a man determined to
see his way to his own ends, and damn whoever got in his way. Like
Snake, she told herself, hardening herself against him. All men
basically are like Snake, wanting, using, hurting—trampling over
any who get in their way, threatening and punching and even killing
when thwarted.
    If she was any judge of looks and behavior,
Ethan Savage would be every bit a match for her other husband when
it came to being ruthless. He was even taller and more muscular,
and he wore his guns with a confident ease that suggested he’d be
good at using them. She’d already seen him use his fists during the
brawl at the Golden Pistol. He was good at that, too.
    Her heart shivered. She already knew
firsthand that Snake could throw a good punch.
    Her jaw throbbed at the memory, and Josie
forced her thoughts back to her present situation. It was true
enough that Ethan Savage might be ruthless and tough at getting
what he wanted, but right now, it seemed possible that what he
wanted might also be good for her. If this little arrangement he’d
made with her enabled her to get to England and possibly learn
something about her family, it was a good bargain. And eventually,
he’d promised her, she’d have her freedom. He obviously didn’t want
this to be a real marriage any more than she did.
    He’d better not, she thought
fiercely, twisting Latherby’s gold ring round and round her finger. Seems to me I’d best make clear right from the start, that this
marriage is going to be in name only.
    Especially since it wasn’t even legal. But
there was no way Ethan Savage would ever find out about that, she
told herself, fighting off a twinge of uneasiness. Not unless Snake
showed up blabbing that she was married to him—and that wouldn’t
happen. At least she prayed it wouldn’t happen, prayed that Snake
would never track her to England. She nibbled at her lower lip,
trying not to think of how Ethan Savage might react if he ever
learned that the woman he’d married during that ridiculous ceremony
wasn’t truly his wife.
    And thank heavens I’m not, she
thought, a frown creasing her brow. One unwanted husband who
demanded wifely duties of her had been quite enough—enough to last
her an entire lifetime, she thought, her flesh growing chilled at
the thought.
    Ethan Savage may have kissed her at the
wedding ceremony, but Josie intended to make clear that that was
the closest he would come to claiming his husbandly privileges.
    A flush burned her cheeks as she remembered
that kiss. She unfastened the top button of her gown as her throat
contracted. Then another one. Arrogant, drunken man, she
told herself, yet wondered that the kiss hadn’t repulsed her as
Snake’s had.