Free The Outlaw's Kiss (an Old West Romance) (Wild West Brides) by Anya Karin Page B

weren’t
a match. He was pinching his lips, and had chewed so much on his mustache that
one corner was worn ragged. “Okay,” I said as I rubbed one of his arms. “If you
say so, I’ll not worry. But you do need to get to the claim, don’t you?”
    “That I do,” he said with a smile. “You’re a good
girl, Clara. You keep your old man honest.” He leaned forward and kissed my
forehead before gathering his tools and his big, wide-brimmed hat. “Speaking of
Eli, from a moment ago, he’s quite the worker. I get the idea he’s just helping
me out to alleviate boredom, as he says there’s no caravans running for a time.
But without him, I’d be weeks behind instead of just days. Mr. Star thinks
we’ll be able to hire a crew to begin mining the claim soon.”
    “My brave, gold prospecting father,” I said with a
smirk. “Work hard!”
    “Every day, from morning to night. Be back well
after the sun’s down, Clara.” He closed the door behind him, whistling as he
went.
    *
    H ours later, a rhythmic tapping on the front door
took my attention away from my journal.
    “Who is it?” I called as the block of ice,
delivered directly after father left, settled into its place in the icebox and
made a groaning sound.
    Somehow, before any answer was made, I already
knew. Eli .
    “It’s Eli. Came by to see if you’d like to take a
short ride and enjoy an outdoor luncheon –” The door swung open, interrupting
him. Immediately, his eyes fell on me. Normally I’d be mortified at being seen
in my dressing gown, but instead of looking me up and down like that lecherous
Rawls and his goon, Eli looked me in the face. “Well ain’t there a fine sight.
Morning, Miss Clara.”
    He took my hand and kissed it gently.
    “Fine day to you, Eli. I thought you were out with
Father helping him at the claim.” A smile settled onto my lips that wasn’t
going anywhere for a long, long while. Those deep blue eyes spoke to me
somewhere deep down in my soul. The way his gaze smoldered, and jaws tightened
when he clenched his teeth sent a thrill up and down me.
    Eli smiled disarmingly as he touched my arm right
below the shoulder, his fingers hot through my dressing gown. “I was, for a
fact. We decided to take a break for the rest of the day. Mr. Star and your
father took a ride to the next camp over for some sort of panning device that
just came onto the market. I can’t say I’m enough of an expert to understand
what they were talking about.”
    With an easy grace, he pushed his hat back on his
head and crinkled his eyes.
    “What are you doing with that stare?” I asked him,
almost unable to keep from giggling. “Hoping to pierce my heart with your eyes,
Mr. Masterson?”
    “You know me all too well, somehow, Miss James.”
He drew so close that when he put his hand on the wall beside my head I could
feel his breath against my cheek. “Do you have any biscuits?”
    “Biscuits?” I breathed him in. Eli was inches
away. I wanted him to kiss me so badly I almost just did it myself.
    “Can’t make sandwiches without any biscuits.” He
smiled that dashing, almost painful smile and gave my shoulder a gentle
squeeze. “And without sandwiches, we don’t have much of a picnic.”
    He hovered above my face for another moment. I
closed my eyes, unable to look at him any longer for fear of my heart giving
out. The brush against my lips was so soft, so gentle, that it might well have
just been a breeze coming through the house and caressing me.
    Slowly, I opened my eyes just in time to see Eli’s
lids part and his sky-blue orbs pierced my soul.
    And that’s when my helplessness really struck. In
the space of a couple of weeks, I’d gone from adventurous and independent to a
puddle of a girl in this man’s embrace. But there was something comfortable,
something safe, about how he made me feel. Somehow, even without any words, I
knew that as long as I had Eli, nothing could hurt me.
    “Biscuits?” he whispered.
    I felt my