Free Mail Order Baron (The Brides of Tombstone Book 3) by Cynthia Woolf Page B

the side of his face. His hat was low on his head and he looked down. All I saw was a dark beard. But I’d swear it was him.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me this before? This situation is what has been worrying you, isn’t it?”
    She nodded and a tear slipped down her cheek. “I was afraid that you wouldn’t want me if you knew I might have a dangerous man following me here from New York. Not many people want that kind of trouble.”
    “I’ve had worse. Now that I know, I can take precautions to keep you safe.” He shook his head. “Needless to say, you will not be learning to drive a buggy. I don’t want you going anywhere by yourself.”
    He sounded so protective, maybe he did care for her after all. “But you can’t be with me. You’ve already said you have your businesses to look after.”
    “My number one responsibility is keeping you safe. My managers are well trained, they will keep me informed of anything I need to do personally.”
    “I don’t understand. Before you had to spend evenings at the business and wouldn’t be with me most of the time. Now because someone is trying to kill me, you can suddenly trust your managers? How is that possible?”
    He rubbed his hand around the back of his neck and looked at the floor. “I admit I was looking for ways to keep away. But that was before you were nearly killed. Molly.” He knelt by the tub. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re my wife and will be the mother of my children.”
    What is wrong with me that he would rather work than be with me? “I don’t know if I should be flattered that you want me alive, or insulted that you wanted to stay away. In either case, I think you should continue as you were planning. You can hire someone to stay with me, attend me on my errands, and watch the suite until you return.” She raised her knees and examined the cuts on them. “I don’t want to be the cause of your businesses suddenly failing because you aren’t there taking care of them.”
    “You’re being obstinate.”
    She crossed her arms over her bosom and looked up at him. “I’m being practical and trying to give you freedom. That’s what you want, Ben. Your freedom. That’s why you didn’t want to be home. You want a wife, but don’t want to change your life to accommodate one.”
    “Perhaps that was true, but it’s not now. I’ll stay with you if I say I will.”
    Molly shook her head and rolled her eyes. He was the strangest man. First he wants to stay away and now he won’t leave.
    “The water is getting cold. I need to get out. Would you hand me a towel, please?” She rose from the water and stepped out onto the towel she’d put on the floor to protect the carpet from getting wet.
    He took the second towel from the chair, opened it, and held it out.
    She reached out to take it.
    He pulled it away.
    “Walk into the towel; I’ll wrap it around you.”
    She was too tired and too irritated to play these games and jerkily walked into the towel.
    He caught her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He kissed her forehead. “Let me take care of you.”
    Suddenly weary from the incident and the warm bath, she sat on the edge of the bed where he’d set her.
    He went to the commode, opened the second drawer, and retrieved a bottle of lotion and bandages. Ben returned to the bed, knelt in front of her, and gently applied the salve to her scrapes.
    Some of them were fairly deep much to her surprise and the salve seemed to soothe the wounds.
    “What is that?”
    He smiled. “You don’t want to know.”
    “Sure I do. What is it?”
    “It’s a balm for horses.”
    “I see.” She’d spoken the words slowly, but she realized that her hands and knees really did feel better. “Well, if it works on them, it should work for me.”
    He was gentle with her. “Feel better?”
    “Yes. They do. Thank you. Can I get dressed now?”
    “I thought, rather than you dressing.” He removed his jacket and then unbuttoned his