Promises Linger (Promise Series) (25 page)

“But you’re not?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Any particular reason?”

Her smile was bright and cheery, startling him with its openness. “No, because I’ve often had the same thought myself.”

He pondered that and all its ramifications. “That mean you might be open to some negotiations as to what ladies can and cannot do?”

“I cannot speak for all women, sir.”

“I’ll settle for you speaking for yourself.”

“Very well.”

“You think you can bring yourself to call me by my first name? Sure ’nough, darlin’, every time you call me Mister, I’m checking over my shoulder to see who you’re talking to.”

“I thought you’d gotten used to it.”

“I confess to the fact I’ve been waiting you out.”

“And now you’re not content to…” Her eyebrows rose again. “Wait me out?”

“A smart man keeps an eye for negotiating opportunities.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “And you’re a very smart man.”

“Whoa, darlin! Two compliments in one hour. Better ease up or I’ll start thinking you’re buttering me up.”

Her body grew tense in his arms. He leaned his cheek against the top of her hat. Something poked him in the ear. “Ouch!” He rubbed his ear. “Any chance you could see your way to disarming that hat?”

She smiled. A soft smile that set his neck hairs on end in warning. She lifted the hat off her head. She held it above her head as she shook the ties free of her chin. Seated as she was in his lap, he had a bird’s eye view of her breasts. And it was a mighty nice view.

He must have stared too long, because she dropped her hands suddenly. The little hat landed with a plop on her folded legs. “I’m sorry.”

Now it was his turn to raise his eyebrows. “For what?”

“I didn’t mean to shock you.”

“Shock me?”

“You said it was all right.”

“I did?”

“I won’t do it again.”

She wouldn’t? “Whoa, darlin’, do what?”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I heard that, darlin’. Problem is, I was still eating dust on the first sorry.” He tipped up her chin. “What are you apologizing for?”

She told him, but he had to ask her to repeat it, her voice was so faint. “I’m not wearing my corset.”

“And you think that’s worth losing a smile over?”

“It appears I misunderstood your dismay.”

He had to turn the words over in his mind two or three times before things made sense. “You mean my staring?”

Her hands clenched in on one another. “Yes.”

“Darlin’, we’re going to have to work on your education some. That wasn’t dismay. That was plain old admiration.” He met her shocked gaze. “You have the prettiest breasts I’ve ever seen.”

He had to give her points for pluck. While her cheeks turned cherry red, she kept her eyes open. “If you think that, why haven’t you touched them?”

Whatever response he’d been expecting, that wasn’t it. The one she gave him left him so weak-kneed, she could have knocked him over with a feather. For the third time in his life and the second time this month, he felt heat scorch up his neck. Along with it came laughter. “Dammit, woman! How am I supposed to come off as strong and capable when you’ve got me blushing like a school boy?”

“You look good in red.”

“You’d best hope no desperado comes upon us now, ‘cause armed or not, I wouldn’t be putting anything into the man but laughter.”

“I like you, Asa MacIntyre.”

Soft as a feather, that whispered confession put an end to his laughter. “I like you, too, Elizabeth.”

“So why haven’t you done anything about it?”

It was a good question. He just wasn’t sure how directly he wanted to answer.

Chapter Eleven

“Are you going to answer?” Elizabeth asked, watching his expression carefully. The man was as changeable as a fall day.

He touched her cheek. “Yeah.”

“With the truth?”

“I hadn’t decided that, but I suppose you’re going to insist?” His right eyebrow quirked as punctuation to the question.

“Yes.” She definitely wanted the truth. She shifted off his lap to her knees.

He sighed from his toes as if it were a great sacrifice. “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to.” She waited and counted ten breaths before he finally said, “I was waiting on a sign.”

“As in a miracle like Reverend Griffin talks about in church?”

His chuckle was deep, intimate, coaxing. As seductive as his come-hither lazy grin. It ought to be illegal, she decided, feeling the pull, for a man to toss about charm as easily as Asa did.

“Nothing that earth-shattering.”

His gaze dropped to her lips and she felt it like a touch. Yet, he made no move toward her. She folded her hands in her lap. She clutched her composure as tightly as she did her fingers. There was no hope for it. She was just going to have to bring it out in the open. “I was wondering why you were going into town today?”

“I have some business to take care of.”

That was no help. A pine needle rested on the blue serge of her skirt. She flicked it away. It sailed clear off the blanket. “Will you be coming home for dinner?”

“I told you this morning I wasn’t sure if I’d get everything done in time.”

She smoothed the crease created by her overzealous flicking. “Will you be stopping by the saloon?”

“Ahh.”

She wished he were more vociferous. That
ahh
could mean anything, and there was only the slightest chance one of them wasn’t correct. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

In no apparent hurry to clarify his exclamation, Asa drew his knee up and rested his forearm across it. His legs were so long, his knee was level with her mouth. It wasn’t any effort at all for him to reach out and hook his finger under her chin. She’d never met a man so devoted to face-to-face conversation. Hadn’t his mother ever told him that demure ladies kept their eyes downcast? It was something a man was supposed to look for. He tugged and she had no choice but to meet his knowing gaze. Couldn’t he even allow her any of the few advantages available to being a lady?

“You want to know if I plan on being overcome with manly needs while I’m in town?”

She gritted her teeth against the amusement in his voice. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

His finger dropped away from her chin. “You forget our deal?”

“No.” Lord, this was embarrassing.

“I gave you my word.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s just that…”

“Just what?”

“Two weeks have gone by.”

“Yeah?”

If she didn’t die of mortification, there wasn’t a God. “You haven’t come to my bed.”

“Darlin’, I’ve been there nightly.”

“I was speaking figuratively.”

“Uh-huh.”

He was being deliberately obtuse. She took a steadying breath. If she didn’t get a hold on her emotions, she was going to wrap her fingers around his neck and throttle a direct answer out of him. “Then why…?” She filled in the blank with a descriptive wave of her hand.

His right eyebrow kicked up. She heeded the warning and braced herself. “Why haven’t I exercised my marital privileges?”

She gritted her teeth again in the face of his amusement. “Yes.”

“I’ve been waiting for an invitation.”

Anger and relief swept through her like a wave. She held up her hands as if to ward off his idiocy. “I invited you two weeks ago.”

He was shaking his head before she finished the statement. “Not to my way of thinking.”

It was a struggle, but she managed to contain her anger and frustration so her voice lost its high squeak and came out in a more even-toned threat. “What exactly do you consider an invitation?”

If he smiled, she was going to go over to his horse, wrench that rifle out of the scabbard, and shoot him in a place guaranteed to get his attention.

He didn’t smile. He picked up a piece of chicken instead.

“Now, today was a nice start,” he said, taking a bite of chicken. He hummed in his throat as he chewed. She had to wait for him to swallow to continue.

“What was so nice about today?”

“This is the first time in two weeks you’ve done anything but stare at me when I do something nice. Today, you wanted to spend lunch with me and you paid me two compliments. Right now,” he took another bite of chicken, “I’d say things are looking up.”

“You wanted me to…approach you?”

“Don’t go bug-eyed on me. I told you forcing a woman wasn’t my style.”

She pressed her fingertips to her forehead. “Mr. MacIntyre, I’m afraid you’re going to have to be clear as to what you expect from me.”

“Calling me by my first name would be a start.”

As much as she wanted to, taking that step was very…frightening. “I know.” She opened her eyes to find his face level with hers. There was no avoiding his eyes this close. “I’m trying. I really am.”

His hand slid behind her neck. With a slight pressure, he pulled her forward. “I know, darlin’. You haven’t heard me complaining.”

He was going to kiss her. She knew it, she just didn’t know if she wanted it because she’d likely go up in flames, and she couldn’t converse when she was burning.

She bit her lip. “But you were going into town.”

“And you think I’m looking for something I can’t find at home?”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

This time, he did smile. “There’s nothing I can get in town that I don’t have better at home.”

She sighed. “I don’t know if I can be as…willing as you seem to want.”

“That’s one worry you can hand over to me. I won’t be going to town for women.” His lips brushed her nose. “I’m not a green boy. I can wait for what I want.”

The supposition being that he wanted her. “But I’ve only got a month…”

He shrugged as if time slipping away were nothing. “You were the one who put a time limit on things.”

“But you agreed!”

He kissed one eye closed and then the other. “I said I could live with your rules.” His voice was as soft as his lips on her cheek. “You were so intent on boxing me in. Truth was, I never had any intention of my manly needs taking me anywhere outside your bed.”

 
“You let me worry!”

“Darlin’, you were the one who said you were an expert. You didn’t want to hear anything I said, so I figured the easiest way to clear things up was to let you see for yourself.”

“I could just kill you.”

“How about kissing me instead?”

“That wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying.”

“How do you know?”

He was completely outrageous, but he was right. How did she know that killing him would be more satisfying than kissing him? She’d never really kissed the man. Her eyes dropped to his mouth. Quirked in that half smile she was coming to like, it looked eminently kissable. Like, if she placed her mouth on his, she could snatch a bit of his laughter for herself. She made to move forward, and then stopped. “Would you mind?”

“You thinking on kissing me?”

“Yes.”

“Heck, no. Why would I mind that when I’ve lost more sleep these last two weeks speculating on that very thing?”

“You’ve wanted me to kiss you?”

“Yeah. I’ve wanted it.”

How…intriguing. He’d wanted it, and he hadn’t taken it. He’d waited for…her.

She leaned a fraction of an inch closer and placed her lips against his. Her first thought was that her instincts were right. As soon as her lips tested the texture of his, his smile wandered onto her own mouth. She liked the way his lips were soft and his afternoon whiskers tickled the edges of her lips.

She moved her mouth experimentally. It felt equally good. She stole a bit more of his smile before pursing her lips lightly and kissing him as she’d heard talked about, tentatively running her tongue around his mouth. Exploring the hard edge of his teeth and the slippery soft glide of his inner lips. When she would have pulled back, she ran against the barrier of his hand on the back of her head. She opened her eyes and found his closed. The expression on his face mirrored the feelings inside her. Pleasure. Wonder. Maybe even a bit of impatience?

He was enjoying this as much as she was. He was also anticipating where it would lead. She liked that. She moved her lips back to his. She pressed them there for a while, but it wasn’t close enough. She sighed at the pleasure. His lower lip felt fuller than his top lip. Softer. She touched it with her tongue. He hummed in his throat.

“I like that.”

His words whispered across her face. She did it again. He hummed again.

The vibration traveled from his lip to her tongue. The butterflies she’d noticed earlier sprang to life in her belly. This time, when she touched his lip with her tongue, she lingered, testing his resiliency. His breath escaped in a puff of air. She smiled and succumbed to an urge. She nipped his lip. Instead of jumping like she expected, she felt his lips stretch in a smile. “Hell cat.”