Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 01] (7 page)

He lingered at her back after he finished tying her undergarment. The scent of French-milled soap, the kind supplied by the hotel, and the tangy salt of tears assailed his nostrils. Moving his hands from the laces at her back, Reese caressed her upper arms. Long strands of ebony hair escaped from her hastily arranged bun and clung to the nape of her neck. He experienced an unexpected, unwanted urge to nuzzle the strands of hair aside and plant his lips in their place.

Bowing her head to look down at the floor, Faith exposed the slim column of her neck. Her movement was almost Reese’s undoing. He reacted instinctively, bending his head to press his lips against her neck. But her voice, husky and thick with tears, stopped him.

“I’m terribly sorry for the scandal I’ve caused.”

Reese turned her around to face him, but kept his hands on her bare shoulders. “You haven’t caused a scandal—yet.” He smiled down into her solemn eyes.

“I fell asleep in your carriage,” Faith protested.

“Falling asleep in my vehicle isn’t a crime, nor did it cause a scandal.”

“How can I explain this situation?” Faith wanted to know. “You heard those women out there. They think that I—”

“Who gives a damn what they think?” Reese demanded. “You know what happened and what didn’t happen. We both do.”

“But you can’t possibly hire someone with a damaged reputation.”

So, that was the problem, Reese thought. She was worried about losing the job. “Do you want this job?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Enough to forget about those women out there and others like them?” Reese needed to know before he made his choice because he wasn’t about to cosset her all the way to Wyoming.

“But the scandal…” Faith began.

“Honey,” Reese said bluntly, “if you take this job, you’re going to cause a hell of a scandal, and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.” He watched her intently as she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before she opened her mouth to speak. “If you agree to my terms of employment, there’s going to be plenty of talk, whether we like it or not, and there will be a scandal, too. Are you woman enough to face it, Faith Collins, or will you run away, back to Richmond? Because, whether I like it or not, you seem to be the best woman for this job.” He bent his head and captured her lips.

It began as an angry kiss, something Reese couldn’t prevent, but it turned into something more. Fire erupted throughout Reese’s body as he took her lips and felt her sway against him. He pulled her closer as he deepened his kiss, tangling his hands in her hair before running them up and down the curve of her spine. The stiff boning of her corset frustrated him, but he continued his avid exploration of her back until he reached the end of her cotton cage. Cupping his hands around the curve of her derriere, Reese pulled her up against his groin and groaned in sublime agony.

Faith was overwhelmed by her response to his kiss. She placed her arms around his neck and parted her lips to allow his silken tongue to slip through and sample the warm recesses of her mouth. She was surrounded by his arms, his mouth, his hard, masculine body and the taste and touch and smell of him. She melted against him, enjoying the coffee-flavored taste of his kiss and the hot, tangy scent that permeated the air around them. She breathed in that scent and nuzzled closer to its source. Reese groaned again. Faith pulled her mouth away from his, gasping for breath. Her senses swam, her knees threatened to give way at any moment. She tilted her head back as Reese brushed his lips against her closed eyelids before trailing them down her neck to place, hot, wet kisses against the tattered lace covering the swells of her breasts. He dipped his tongue into the crevice between the soft mounds and tasted the tart droplets beading her flesh. Faith gasped in reaction, tightening her grip around his neck when her legs abruptly refused to support her weight.

The sound of her sigh and the slamming of a door somewhere outside the bedroom brought Reese to his senses. He opened his eyes and found himself confronted by the loveliness framed by her tight corset. He raised his head and grinding his teeth against the agony in loins, he forced his arms to relax their hold on her.

“Faith.”

Faith smiled up at him, the deep gray of her eyes, soft and luminous. “Hmm?”

“We’re about to cause that scandal,” Reese said.

His words sobered her instantly. She practically bolted out of his arms and across the room. “I’m sorry.”

Reese quirked an eyebrow. “Not as sorry as I am.” He walked to the armoire, removed her black dress, and handed it to her, then turned his back while she slipped it on.

“You can turn around now,” Faith told him, when she had her dress in place and had fastened the numerous jet buttons on the bodice. “Thank you,” she said, her voice wavering.

“Don’t thank me! Hell, I doubt very much if I’m doing you a favor by offering you this job.” He paced the confines of the bedroom, impatiently raking his fingers through his hair. “I know for a fact, I’m not doing myself one.”

“I’m a grown woman, Mr. Jordan, and I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“I’m not so sure,” Reese mused aloud.

“Of course, I understand,” Faith said. “You explained the position to me last night.”

“I lied.”

“You what?”

“I lied,” Reese repeated. “I lied to you by omitting a few pertinent facts.”

“I don’t believe it.” Faith shook her head. “You wouldn’t.”

“I did,” he affirmed. “Faith, exactly what do you think you’ll be expected to do if you decide to take the job?”

“I’m to do as the ad in the paper says. I’m to be a sort of governess to your baby. I’m to provide for your child.” Faith walked to her where her cloak lay across a chair and removed a battered newspaper. It was folded to the page containing Reese’s advertisement. She looked him in the eye as she placed it in his hand. “See for yourself.”

Reese shook his head in disbelief as he read the ad in the Richmond newspaper. The irony of the situation struck him like a blow. He smiled, grimly. The best laid plans…

“Faith,” he said, “I’m not looking for a governess. I’m looking for a mother. I don’t want you to provide
for
my child. I want you to
provide
the child. To conceive him, carry him, deliver him, give him to me, and walk away. Forever.”

Faith’s knees weakened again. She sat down abruptly on the edge of the bed. “I don’t believe it.”

Reese crossed to the desk in the corner of the bedroom and removed a copy of the original Washington newspaper ad from the top drawer. He looked her in the eye as he placed it in her hand.

She quickly scanned the ad. “Oh, my!”

“‘Oh, my’? Is that all you’ve got to say?” Reese asked.

“You lied to me,” she accused.

“I didn’t exactly lie to you.”

“You just said you did.”

“I said I omitted a few pertinent facts,” Reese corrected.

“It’s the same as lying. You admitted it!”

“So? I just told you the truth,” Reese reminded her. “I could have left you in ignorance. Let you take the position, and simply…” Reese stopped, mid-sentence, suddenly realizing what he was about to reveal and to whom.

“What?” Faith goaded. “What could you simply have done?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?
Nothing
? It must have been something. You started to say something. Go ahead, Mr. Jordan, finish it. Tell me. What could you have done so simply?” Faith stood up and faced him, daring him to answer her.

“Seduced you,” Reese said softly.

“What?”

“Seduced you, Mrs. Collins. I was going to say I could have simply seduced you into having my baby without telling you the truth. Believe me, that probably would have been easier than this,” Reese said bluntly.

“Oh.” Faith opened her mouth to say more, but words failed her. What could she say? Everything he said was true. He had proven it, only moments ago, when he kissed her and made her forget everything except the feel of his mouth on hers. She walked to the chair, sat down, and covered her red face with shaking hands.

He moved away from her chair and began to pace the room once more. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. The difference in the wording of the ad in the Richmond paper was a mistake. I didn’t know about it until you showed me your copy, but I could tell from our conversation you had a mistaken notion about the job. Hell!” He realized he’d spent the past minute explaining to her. “How was I supposed to know you didn’t know? All the others knew.”

“You mean all those women in line knew you wanted one of them to have a baby for you?” Faith was shocked. “For money?”

“Of course they knew. It was in the ad. And it’s not completely unheard of. There are references to such contracts in the Bible.”

“That doesn’t excuse you.”

“I’m not asking to be excused. I know what I’m doing and I have my reasons for doing it this way,” Reese told her.

“But to buy a baby…” Faith stood up and walked around Reese and stared out the window to the street below.

“I’m not buying a baby,” he said, “I’m renting a woman. The same way I would pay someone to clean my house or cook my dinner or—”

“Tend to your other needs?” Faith asked sweetly, suddenly flushed and as angry as he was.

“Exactly,” Reese told her. “When you pay for something, you can make sure you get what you want out of the deal. Believe me, honey, if I could do this by myself, I would. I don’t like being dependent on anyone for anything, but unfortunately, this is something I can’t do alone. I don’t have a choice.”

“Surely, you have lady friends,” Faith suggested. “You did say you excelled in seduction. Surely, there is a lady or two who would be more than happy to—”

“I don’t sleep with ladies.”

“Really?” Faith spat the question at him. “Then I don’t think we have a problem.”

“Oh, I’m willing to make an exception in your case.” He hadn’t meant to say that. “For business purposes.”

“I see.” Faith’s cheeks stained with color. “I had no idea I was so irresistible.”

“Look,
lady
”— Reese emphasized the courtesy title—“this deal will benefit both of us. You need money. A southern lady wouldn’t dream of leaving her home to become a governess, unless the job paid well. Very well. And I don’t know a southern family who doesn’t need money.”

“I have my reasons for applying for this job.” Faith looked him in the eye, daring him to question her.

“Then let’s leave it at that. You have your reasons and I have mine.” Reese met her gaze. “It’s only business.”

“I’m not even sure I like you,” Faith told him honestly.

Reese smiled once again, a real smile this time, one that reached his eyes. “You don’t have to like a man to do business with them.”

“This is rather intimate business.”

“All the better. There will be no emotional ties, no entanglements. Nothing permanent. I hire you to do the job, and once it’s done you never have to see me again. And because you’ll be in Wyoming, no one in Richmond will ever have to know. But you’ll be thousands of dollars richer.”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

“Fair enough. But don’t take too long. I’m rather pressed for time. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can get it over with.”

“How much time do I have?”

“I can spare a few days,” Reese grudgingly admitted. “Go home for Christmas. Think about it. You can wire me your answer after the holiday.” Reese walked to the bedroom door and opened it. “I’ll have David escort you to Richmond.”

Faith nodded in acknowledgment as he disappeared through the doorway. She didn’t understand how it had happened, but suddenly, she was thinking about accepting his bizarre offer. She told herself it was the money. She desperately needed the money.

Faith knew she shouldn’t consider taking the job, for money, for her ladies, or for any other reason, but she was considering it. And though she hated to admit it, even to herself, only part of the reason was money.

“Are we approaching Richmond already?” David looked up from the stack of paperwork in his lap and spoke to Faith for the first time since they’d boarded the train.

Faith gazed at him. “Yes.”

David removed his watch from its pocket and snapped open the lid. “Only a half hour off schedule. We made very good time.” He placed his papers in the satchel on the floor beside his feet, then looked up and caught Faith still staring at him. “You get used to it.”

“What?”

“Traveling by train. If you spend any length of time in Reese’s company, you get used to the trains. I always catch up on my paperwork. The ride is so monotonous.”

“I apologize for my dull company,” Faith said in a small, tight voice.

“Oh, no, Mrs. Collins, I didn’t mean to imply you were a dull companion. Far from it. I only meant the journey. Any journey in a public coach is tedious when one is accustomed to traveling in a private car. There isn’t anything to do in a public coach except read, sleep, or do needlework. And I didn’t bring my mending.” He smiled at her and Faith noticed, for the first time, his resemblance to Reese.

Faith laughed in spite of herself. “Surely, you don’t do your own mending.”

David pretended to be affronted. “I’ll have you know, I’m very handy with a needle and thread.”

Faith cocked her head to one side, her gray eyes sparkling with mirth. “Then you should fit right in.” As soon as the train stopped, she picked up her cloak and, bunching her skirts in one hand, stepped into the crowded aisle.

David followed close behind.

“Did you leave your buggy at the livery?” David asked as they stepped from the train to the busy platform.

“No.” Faith shook her head.

“I’ll hire a hack.”

“It isn’t very far to my house. We could walk,” Faith suggested.

David pointed up to the gray, overcast sky. “Looks like more rain. Do you want to chance it?”

Faith shivered. “No.”

“I’ll hire a hack.”

Less than twenty minutes later, the hired buggy pulled up beside the dilapidated picket fence surrounding Collins House.

Faith watched as the curtain in the window of the front parlor moved back into place. The door of the house flew open, and a small, red-haired woman hurried down the porch steps, carefully avoiding the loose boards.