Free Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) by Kit Morgan Page A

to.”
    She nodded in understanding as they headed for the hotel. Apple tagged along behind them and stared at the tired men as they dismounted their horses, which looked as equally wore out. “Did they catch them?” she asked Chase.
    “ Don't look like it,” he said. “Those boys ain’t lookin’ very happy.”
    “ Is there anything we can do?” asked Lena.
    Chase shook his head. “There's nothing a refined lady like you can do. I wish there was.”
    “ Is there anything a woman can do in a situation like this?” asked Apple.
    Chase stopped and waited for her to catch up. “Well, if you were married to one of those gentlemen, you could have a hot meal waiting for him when he got home. Then help him get the trail dust off, and then…” he snapped his mouth shut, cutting off his own words.
    “ And then what?” asked Apple.
    Chase said nothing and instead bit his lower lip. Lena looked at him and tugged on his arm, prompting him to speak, but he shook his head. “Come now,” she prodded. “What were you going to say?’
    He eyed her and offered a lopsided smile. “It ain't fittin’ to say in public.”
    “ Now you must tell us!” said Apple, her voice once again filled with glee.
    “I ain’t gonna say it,” said Chase. He then firmly pressed his lips together.
    Le na stopped them and looked him in the eye. “Let us suppose that I made you dinner, and then washed the trail dust from you. What then, I wonder, would a man like you want?”
    His eyes widened. “Now ma'am, this conversation is going places it ought not to go.”
    Lena raised a single eyebrow at him and smirked. “I think I know what I would do for my husband if he were to come home in the same state as these men,” she said as she nodded to the tired posse. Some of them began to lead their horses down the street toward the livery stable.
    Chase looked into her eyes, his heart threatening to leap from his chest. “Would you now?” he asked, his voice low. “Would you really know what to do for a man like me?”
    Lena could feel the muscles in his arm tighten as he looked at her again, as if he were mapping her face, memorizing every inch of her skin. She looked away before she spoke. “I believe that once a man and a woman get to know each other, they would naturally anticipate the other's needs.”
    He leaned a few inches toward her. “You know what Miss Lena? But I do believe you're right.”
    She looked up at him and smiled as Apple began to fidget behind them. She'd inched her way back down the boardwalk several feet to stare at the men. “I'm glad you didn’t rejoin the posse,” she told him. “Otherwise you might still be out there.”
    Chase smiled as he looked at her. “I reckon so,” he said. “But I’d sure want to come home if’n I knew you were there waitin’ for me.”
    She smiled as warmth spread through her chest. The look he gave her was tender, gentle, and made her want to get closer to him, though she knew she mustn't for propriety sake. None of the men back in England made her feel this way, and she was glad now they hadn’t. For if they had, she would never have made the long journey to America and wouldn’t be standing there to look into the eyes of one, Chase Adams. “I daresay, Mr. Adams,” she began on a whisper. “But I do believe that I, too, am going to enjoy our time getting to know one another.”
    “That sure does make two of us, don’t it?” he asked with a smile.
    “We'd best join the others for tea,” a nnounced Apple as she shoved her way past them and continued down the boardwalk.
    “ Is your sister always so impulsive?” asked Chase.
    Lena let out a heavy sigh . “Always,” came out a groan.
    “ Shall we then?” he said as he waved his hand after Apple.
    “Y es,” she said. “After all, I can always do with a spot tea.”
     
    * * *
     
    They'd barely reached the hotel when Constance came rushing out. “Chase!” she cried. “Did you see him? Did you see