CHAPTER NINE

“You can take the bed.”

Pearl started. She’d been staring into the fire, trying very hard to ignore Garrett. They hadn’t spoken since dinner, and she’d half way been to convincing herself she sat in her own room at the Diamond and Garrett weren’t sitting behind her, making her aware of him with every shift of his body or every breath he took.

“Miz Pearl?”

He weren’t going to let her ignore him, were he? Reluctantly, she glanced at him. He sat behind his desk as he had most of the night, only now his attention was focussed on her. Green eyes pierced her with their intensity, even in the dim light, his full lips turned down slightly at the corners. Blond stubble covered his cheeks, which were unusual. She’d only ever seen him clean-shaven, and the roughness covered his strong jaw, completely at odds with the softness of his mouth.

At her continued silence, his brows drew. “You can take the bed,” he repeated.

Damnation, how was she supposed to be all irritated at him when he were being so considerate? “I can’t take your bed from you, Garrett. I’ve already inconvenienced you mightily.”

His brow creased further. “No inconvenience to help someone in need.”

“I ain’t gonna sleep in your bed. I’m perfectly fine here before the fire.”

Something shifted in his eyes. He wet his lips. His voice deeper than usual, he said, “Well, we aren’t going to share it. I ain’t used to such things, and the bed is narrow besides.”

Her own gaze flit to the bed. It were smaller than she’d thought it would be—not that she’d ever considered Garrett’s bed—such that if two shared it they would have to be real close like, wrapped around one another.

A sliver of awareness slid through her, something deeper than lust stirring low in her belly. Immediately, she pushed it aside. Damn it, she weren’t feeling such for Garrett. He were an attractive man, she’d never claimed otherwise, and of course she’d noticed his hands, big and strong and elegant. The broadness of his shoulders were impossible to ignore, as were the thickness of his thighs outlined by his buckskins. Anyone would notice such things, as they would the prettiness of his face and the softness of his long hair, even when it was clubbed back in a knot at the back of his head.

Ignoring the stretch of his shirt against his bicep as he shoved his hand through his hair, she said tartly, “I ain’t used to sharing a bed neither, Garrett,”

His brows shot up, and she could just tell what he was thinking—surprise that she weren’t welcoming any man who asked into her bed was written all over his judgemental face. A sharp pain shot through her chest, but she ignored it in favour of arranging a scowl on her face. It just might be he disapproved of her mightily, for all that he never spoke an ill-word to her but it were written all over his face in his lack of expression and the weight of his gaze, and she weren’t going to convince him of anything different.

If he were going to think such things, though, then she would add to his problem. I’ll take the bed if you insist, but I can’t sleep in this.” Standing, she brought her hands to the buttons on her gown.

His eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

“Undressing.” If he were so disapproving of her, she would make even more so and uncomfortable besides. Each button she flicked opened her bodice wider, exposing her plain corset cover. When she weren’t working, she favoured plain clothing, albeit of good quality. Now she were earning her own money without relaying on anyone but herself, she treated herself with clothes made of fine materials.

His gaze locked on her fingers as they worked. She pushed the bodice of her gown from her shoulders, pulling it down her arms. She knew how to make it interesting for a patron, arching her back to push her corset-covered breasts forward, revealing each inch of skin like a tease.

Colour rode high on his cheeks as finally her bodice hung at her waist. Her fingers curled around the straps of her chemise, pushing her arms through the loops so her shoulders were naked and the tops of her breasts exposed. Heat curled low in her belly, her heart a steady thrum in her ears. It weren’t lust, though. It couldn’t be. Instead, it had to be excitement that she were making him feel lust, that she was proving him the same as any other man she encountered in her life.

Touching her tongue to the corner of her mouth, she dragged her hand along her cleavage.

Something in him seemed to snap and he whipped around, presenting her with his broad back.

Well, she couldn’t have that. Hastily pushing the gown from her body, she said, “I need you to unlace me.”

His shoulders tensed. “What?”

The rasp of his voice did things to her, things she resolutely ignored. “I can’t do it my own self. I need your help.”

All she could see was his rigid back until, reluctantly, he turned. He stilled at the sight of her, his eyes darkening with a desire he couldn’t hide.

Raising a brow, she ignored her own reaction to the longing on his face, knowing it weren’t longing for her in particular but just to a half-naked woman in his cabin. “I can’t sleep in my corset, Garrett.”

He hesitated a moment more before coming to stand before her. He were taller than her, so much so she had to tilt her chin to meet his gaze, his eyes burning into hers. She’d known he were bigger than her—how could she not?—but never before had she felt the difference between them.

Slowly, she turned, presenting him her back. For the longest time she waited, the silence between them thickening with every passing moment. Finally, she felt the slight tug of her corset as his fingers began to pluck at the laces. He were careful, avoiding touching her skin as he untied and loosened. She couldn’t have that.

With a practiced sigh, she shifted, tilting her head so her hair brushed his arm. The sharp intake of his breath told her she’d succeeded, and his fingers stumbled, brushing her skin. Tingles spread from where he’d touched her, and her own breath strangled in her chest, her nipples tightening. She weren’t falling into her own trap, were she?

Time stretched as he undid and loosened, the rasp of his breath in her ear, his fingers stumbling every now and then. Her skin tightened, a steady beat beginning low in her belly.

Finally, the corset sagged, the laces loosened. He stepped back and she turned, bring her gaze to meet his. Burning green eyes met hers, colour riding high on his cheeks, desire darkening his features. In a daze, she brought her hands to the first hook and his gaze burned into hers as she undid the first, and then the second, and then the corset was undone and she allowed it to drop to the floor, standing in front of him in only her gossamer thin chemise and drawers.

His gaze dropped to her breasts. She bit her lip to contain her moan, her nipples aching as they brushed against the fine fabric.

A groan burst from him and he whipped around, staring resolutely once more at the wall.

This time, she didn’t contrive to turn him to her once more. With hands that shook, she wrapped a blanket about herself and climbed into his bed.

“Are you settled?” he rasped

“Y—” Her voice broke. “Yes.”

He turned around. They stared at each other.

The fire popped, a log shifting. Outside, the wind ebbed and flowed.

“I need to check the outside larder,” he said abruptly, and then he disappeared through the door.

Leaning back against the headboard, she let out a breath. That had backfired. Her plan had worked too well, such that she had also been entangled in its grasp. If he hadn’t have left the cabin, she might have… Stopping that thought in its tracks, she settled into the covers and closed her eyes. If she didn’t fall asleep afore he returned, she would pretend she was and tomorrow she would forget that she’d ever been tempted by Garrett and the longing in his eyes.

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