Wishing for the Rancher’s Love (High Country Ranch #5)

Chapter 17

17

Clementine wanted to fan her hot face, but she was trying hard to act normal.

Grady was good at flirting. Really good.

He held her hand at the center of the dining room table and rubbed his thumb slowly across her knuckles.

Every time he did, her stomach quivered like violin strings being played by a bow, so that her body was now tight with a need she didn’t understand.

The dining room of Brighton Hotel was busier than she’d expected. With its fancy wallpaper, several chandeliers, and elegant tableware, it clearly attracted finer guests than the usual simple dining rooms that catered to miners and other laborers.

Though she and Grady had a more private table near the back of the room, everyone seemed to be watching them, just as they had been all day everywhere they’d gone.

From the moment they’d ridden into town, they’d been the center of attention, especially because it seemed as though everyone knew Grady Worth—probably because the Worths owned half the town, from what she’d gathered.

In addition to Grady’s popularity, people were observing his interactions with her out of curiosity. Everywhere they went, he let people know she was his fiancée and that they were in town to get married.

No doubt they were also watching Grady’s flirting. How could they not, when he was constantly doing something?

At the livery, when he’d helped her dismount, he’d made a point of lowering her so that her body had briefly touched his.

When they’d walked down the street to the doctor’s office, he’d held her hand, and he hadn’t let go during the suturing of his wounds.

He’d put his arm around her when they’d checked into Brighton Hotel. The manager, Mr. Curley, knew Grady because the hotel was one that belonged to the Worths. Grady had introduced her as his soon-to-be wife and had asked for two rooms.

When Mr. Curley had teased him about only needing one room soon enough, Grady had given her a half-lidded look that had smoldered and made her flush. And it still made her flush whenever she thought about it. Although he’d only been pretending, something about it had been intense and had made her think back to when he’d undressed in front of her the previous day.

For the rest of the afternoon, Grady had given her a tour of Georgetown, showing her some of the other businesses his family owned, leading her past his childhood home, and introducing her to friends, managers, and too many other people to keep track of.

All the while, he’d touched her tenderly, sometimes at the small of her back, sometimes on her arm, and once even her cheek. He hardly ever smiled, and today had been no exception, but as he’d flirted with her, his gaze had kept seeking hers out, communicating silent messages like how beautiful she was and how proud he was to introduce her to people and watch their reactions when he called her his fiancée.

Every touch and every gaze had gone deep, unraveling her insides until she was strangely undone yet ready for him to do more—although she wasn’t sure what that more entailed.

Now, as they finished their supper, she could admit he’d won the flirting challenge. He’d flirted so well all day that she was half tempted to round the table, plop down on his lap, and kiss him.

As if hearing her thoughts, his gaze dropped to her lips. Something flared in his eyes—something so hot that it sparked a blaze in her stomach.

The heat pulsed to her cheeks again, and this time she did tugged her hand from his and fanned her face. “Gra-dy,” she chastised softly. “You have to stop.”

“Stop what?” His voice held false innocence.

“Everything.”

“There’s nothing wrong with holding my fiancée’s hand.” He reached out and captured her hand again. This time, he lifted it to his lips and brushed a kiss against her knuckles.

At the featherlight caress, she couldn’t hold back a shudder of pleasure. His mouth was touching her, and that stirred her more deeply than anything else.

As he lowered her hand back to the table, a small smirk lifted the corner of his mouth.

“You’re terrible.”

He shook his head, his smirk widening. “No, I’m good at this.”

“You’re better than I expected.”

His full smile blossomed.

Oh, heaven have mercy on her poor soul. His smile easily slayed her and turned her breathing shallow. She’d always loved his smile, and she couldn’t resist reaching across the table now and touching his lips and that little scar below his mouth.

Her move was way too bold. She realized that the moment her fingers connected with his mouth and his smile faded.

“I’m sorry.” She started to pull away, but he captured her hand and held it against his lips. Then, as his dark gaze hypnotized her, he pressed another kiss to her fingers. It wasn’t soft and sweet like the other one. This one was hard and hungry and stirred hunger inside her.

What was happening to her? To them?

He didn’t immediately drop her fingers, as though he sensed her question and wanted to answer. But at a crash across the room, she startled and hopped back, jerking her fingers free.

His attention swung to the dishes on the floor, then to the retreating form of a man hurrying out the door. Grady was on his feet in an instant, his expression hard, his eyes upon the man.

In a long great cloak with the collar pulled up and a derby hat pulled low, the stout form of the man was familiar. Was he the same fellow who’d stalked her back in Breckenridge?

All day, they’d been looking for signs of the stalker lurking nearby, but they hadn’t spotted anyone unusual. In fact, over dinner, she’d finally relaxed, deciding that their plan hadn’t worked after all, that the stalker hadn’t followed them to Georgetown.

Grady hadn’t agreed with her. He’d told her it was still possible the fellow would show up—if not today, then tomorrow. And he’d been right.

Without a word to her, Grady bolted away from the table. With his nimble hockey-playing skills, he dodged several tables as he made his way to the door. The stalker was already outside, and the door closed firmly behind him. But Grady wasn’t far behind and exited a moment later.

Amidst the curious glances from the other diners, Clementine started across the dining room after him. At the coat tree beside the door, she grabbed their coats and hats, but she didn’t stop to put on her coat, unwilling to be left behind. She stepped out of the establishment and into the darkness of the November evening. Even though the windows of the hotel were lit, the boardwalks were shadowed, as were the narrow passageways between the buildings.

She walked down a short way to where Grady was standing in the middle of the street, pivoting and scanning every person passing by or lingering outside other buildings. But there was no sign of her stalker anywhere.

It was almost as if he’d vanished into the air. Where had he gone so quickly?

With a carriage rattling down the street toward him, Grady stepped out of the way and then crossed the street back to her, all the while continuing to scan the area.

As he reached her, he halted and dropped his hand to the small of her back. “Did you see him?”

“Not even a hair.” She knew Grady didn’t mean anything by his touch, but the barest skim of his fingers sent a shimmer of pleasure through her. Not only did she like the pressure of his hand, but she also liked the possessive feel of it, as if he was making a claim on her.

It was just pretend, wasn’t it? Then why did it feel so real, like he was telling the world she belonged to him?

A cold gust blew against her, but she didn’t have time to shiver before he was wrapping her coat around her. Within seconds, he had her tucked into the crook of his body and was guiding her back into their hotel. Soon they were in her room and quietly discussing the stalker.

Even though she knew it was inappropriate for Grady to be seen coming and going from her hotel room, she didn’t want him to leave her alone. She was embarrassed to tell him she was afraid, so she invited him to pull in his chair and play a game of cards with her.

With the night table between them, they played cards until she couldn’t hold back her yawns. After he dismissed himself, she readied herself for bed and climbed under the covers. She curled up and tried not to think about the fact that their plan had worked and her stalker had followed her to Georgetown.

With him here, how would it all end? She suspected that the next time the stalker came around, Grady would chase him down again. But then what? If Grady caught the fellow, what would he do to him? Take him to the sheriff and ask for him to be put in jail? They had the roses and notes to use as evidence against the fellow, but would that be enough?

On the other hand, what if Grady followed the fellow and got hurt? They didn’t know who this man was or what he was capable of doing.

Either way, luring the stalker to Georgetown was dangerous, and anything could happen.

At the rattle of her door, she sat up quickly in bed, her heart thudding. Was Grady coming back? Or maybe her stalker had figured out where she was staying and was breaking in.

A key twisted in the lock, and she clutched the covers around herself, as if that could somehow protect her if it were the stalker.

As the door opened and someone stepped inside, she swiped up her pillow. Without any lighting to distinguish who it was, she threw the pillow in the general direction of the door, hoping to at least startle the person.

“It’s just me, Clementine,” Grady whispered.

“You should have warned me you were coming in.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you if you were already asleep.”

“Oh.” She flopped back onto the remaining pillow. She heard him latch the door and turn the lock. A moment later, a pillow landed back on the bed, on top of her.

“Next time, throw a shoe or something hard.” His tone was wry. “That might actually hurt someone.”

“I was in a hurry and threw the first thing I could find.”

“Obviously.”

He was crossing toward the bed, and his presence only served to remind her of the previous night in the mine cavern, when she’d slept against his chest. She was tempted to suggest that he lie down beside her and they have the same sleeping arrangement tonight.

But she knew they couldn’t. They were in a public place, and people would talk about them. They had probably already caused gossip with Grady’s presence in her room earlier. Besides, she didn’t need the warmth from him tonight. The room had a small coal stove that was putting out sufficient heat.

He pulled out a chair beside the bed, positioned it so that he could see the door and her bed, then sat down. Even though she couldn’t see his expression in the darkness, she could see his outline and the rigidness of his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“I couldn’t get enough of you today, so I decided to sit beside you all night.” If not for the slight note of sarcasm in his tone, she might have believed him. She wished he really did want more of her. But she guessed he’d come to keep watch over her now that they knew the stalker was in town.

She relaxed into her pillow and tugged the covers around herself. She needed to tell him to go back to his room and get some sleep, especially after last night, but she truly didn’t want to be alone.

How many days and nights would they have to pretend they were getting married before they caught the stalker? What if he kept evading them, just as he had in Breckenridge?

“How are we going to catch him, Grady?” she whispered. “We can’t stay here indefinitely.”

He sighed wearily. “We’ll need to go to the church tomorrow morning and pretend we’re getting married.”

She sat straight up and shifted to face him. It was one thing to pretend to be his fiancée today, but it was another thing entirely to go to a church and perpetuate a fake marriage. “I won’t do that, Grady. Marriage is sacred, and I don’t want to go through the motions of a ceremony unless I’m truly getting married.”

“We probably won’t even need to start the ceremony before he barges in and tries to stop it.”

Just the prospect of that happening made her shiver. “There has to be a better plan.”

“I’ve been thinking about it since we left the restaurant, and a wedding ceremony is the only way we can trap him.”

“Not only is it sacrilegious, but it’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll line up the sheriff and some others and have them hide around the church, ready to grab the stalker when he comes in.”

“Maybe he’ll be expecting that.”

“Or he might be so desperate to stop you from marrying me that he’ll do anything to get you.”

She hated to think of what could go wrong, of someone—Grady—getting hurt, especially because of the last threat from the stalker about killing Grady. But what else could they do?

If only she’d been more careful with her interactions with fellows all along. After today and all of Grady’s flirting, she could understand just how easy it was to fall for someone who was doling out attention and flattery, because she’d fallen for Grady. As tender and sweet as he’d been, he’d won her over in no time.

The truth was, he’d won her over a long time ago. And now, his confessions and apologies seemed to be giving her permission to acknowledge all the feelings for him that had already been there from the years they’d been friends. Not only had he been one of her best friends, but she’d also been on the verge of falling in love with him when he’d rejected her, which was probably why she’d been so hurt and angry when he’d pushed her away.

And if he had issues with his mother, was it possible that maybe she also had issues with her past that she’d ignored? Issues that had influenced how she’d related to Grady? After all, he wasn’t the only one who’d had insecurities with a parent. She’d had some with her ma too.

Ma had been a beautiful and wonderful mother. She hadn’t always been perfect, but she’d set a good example in so many different ways—in her marriage and her adoration of her husband, in sacrificing for her family, and in her willingness to love and serve neighbors.

Even so, Clementine had wrestled with feeling that her ma had loved Clarabelle more than she’d loved her. Of course, Ma had probably loved them equally. She’d never done anything that could be construed as favoritism.

Yet Ma and Clarabelle had had similar temperaments and had both been soft-spoken and sweet. The two had gotten along very well and had a lot in common.

On the other hand, Clementine had always been louder and more strong-willed than her twin. At times, she’d felt as though she wasn’t as likeable, that Ma was more interested in Clarabelle’s life and activities. Clementine had always felt as though she had to work harder, talk louder, and do more to get Ma’s attention.

Clementine’s racing thoughts came to a halt. Was that why she’d loved spending so much time with Mrs. Worth? Because she hadn’t felt as though she needed to compete with Clarabelle? Because Mrs. Worth had wanted to be with her and had always given her undivided attention?

And what if she’d sought out the attention of men as a way to make herself feel better? To make herself feel more loved and accepted and secure? She didn’t know for sure, but this trip with Grady was teaching her that sometimes the hurts of the past came out in unexpected ways.

And sometimes the love came out in unexpected ways too.

She fell back against the mattress and stared up at the ceiling unseeingly, her body suddenly zinging with an energy and understanding she wanted to deny but couldn’t. Did she still love Grady?

She wasn’t sure if love could surface this quickly after she’d tried to bury it so deeply over the past years. But she did know she didn’t want him to choose someone else to marry in order to win his dad’s contest and start the hardware store. And she also knew she didn’t want his dad to pick anyone else for Grady except her.

Grady had alluded to being okay with marrying her and had claimed she was too good for him. And he’d clarified that he wasn’t against marrying her but just didn’t want to use her to get the loan.

Maybe they still needed more time to restore their relationship and friendship. And maybe they would need time to let love truly develop between them. But if the attraction that was flaring to life was any indication, then it was obvious they both liked each other. And that was enough for now, wasn’t it?

She didn’t need him to profess his love. And maybe she didn’t have to profess hers either.

In fact, if they got married tonight, maybe even right away, then the stalker wouldn’t have any reason to keep pursuing her. She’d be a legally married woman and no longer available. Hopefully, once the stalker found out, he’d go away and leave them alone.

At the same time, Grady would win the contest with his dad and be able to get the loan for buying the building.

Overall, a hasty marriage would be the best option.

Now she just needed to convince Grady of the same thing.