Free Heart of Gold (A Gold Rush Romance) by Ali Olson Page B

of his response. “I had approximately the same reaction.”
    “What did you tell him?”
    His voice was conversational, but she could tell by his eyes and the quirk of his lips that he was very interested in her response, perhaps even a little hopeful. The levity of the conversation evaporated. She had no desire to answer, but she avoided mincing words—saying the truth aloud would be good for both of them. As firmly as she could, she said, “I thanked him for the thought, but told him as clearly as I could that it would not happen. I was quite taken aback, however, and am unsure whether or not he understood the impossibility of it. I think it would be best if you speak to him as well. You need to explain to him that we will not be getting married.”
    “But what if we do marry? We don’t want to confuse the boy.”
    He sounded so sincere she was not sure if she should laugh or strangle him or kiss him. “We cannot get married,” she explained, speaking clearly so they would both get it through their thick skulls. “I am a schoolteacher and it is against the rules.”
    He lifted one shoulder, and a half-smile worked at the edge of his lips. “You cannot blame me for trying. If you were a little less beautiful and smart and interesting, I would have accepted your declaration a good while ago.”
    She felt herself blush, but could create no response.
    He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Well, much less. If it was only a little less, I would likely still consider it.”
    Goodness, she liked this man. He was fun.
    She knew that now was the time to be stern and distant, but she couldn’t stop herself. She raised an eyebrow and said, “Even if I were free to marry, I doubt I would marry someone who suggested the topic after knowing me so short a time. He would be far too impulsive to make a good husband.”
    He opened his eyes wide with feigned innocence. “I never suggested this topic, ma’am—you did. Or Joe did, I suppose. But it certainly was not me. So does that mean you might marry me?”
    Her wild nature, the part of her that wanted to run out into the grass and tumble down hills on sunny mornings and curse up a storm when she stubbed her toe, the part she had to work so hard to control in order to be fit to teach, wanted to say yes, to hell with the consequences.
    Her practical side was stronger, though. It knew exactly what the consequences might be. He was the first thing, other than her job, to make her feel truly happy in years, but that fact terrified her more than a little. She could feel her hands shaking, and it had nothing to do with the temperature.
    The humor of the moment left, and Alice became solemn as reality washed over her. “Thomas, I think we should avoid seeing each other again. It would be unfair to both of us if we let this go any further and allow ourselves to get carried away.”
    His playful attitude vanished. He pulled on the reins until Hamlet stopped walking and turned toward her, looking directly into her eyes. Even in the darkness, with the moon half-hidden by clouds and only a distant streetlamp for light, she could see how serious his blue eyes were. “Alice, I am already carried away. I make no claim to understand this, I just know that I have never before felt the way I do when I am around you, and I enjoy that feeling. I will try to keep my distance if that will make you happy, but I don’t want to. I want to see you often, court you, and marry you the moment you feel you know me well enough to do so, however outrageous that might sound to you.”
    His eyes and words dug into her in the most wonderful of ways. This time, it was much harder to keep that other part of her from doing something rash, to show him precisely what would make her happy. For a minute, she struggled to keep from kissing him, or the extreme alternative of jumping out of the buggy and running away. Her heart pounded so hard against her chest it hurt, and she could not tell if she was