Read Online Bound For Eden by Tess Lesue - Free Book Online

party.’
    â€˜Gideon said they’d go to Stephen. Fools.’ Silas spat in the dirt. He sized Luke up through narrowed eyes. ‘She pay you in gold?’
    â€˜She ain’t paid me at all yet. And she won’t if you’ve frightened her to death.’
    â€˜You swear you ain’t seen her sister?’
    â€˜No,’ Luke snapped, reaching the end of his patience. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, the lady needs some attention.’
    â€˜You might want to tell her to keep out of sight,’ Silas snarled at his back as he left. ‘My brother will do more’n scare her if he knows she’s here.’

    By the time Luke reached Ralph Taylor’s place the girl was coming to.
    â€˜Where’s your room?’ he asked gently. When she told him he took her straight upstairs and lowered her carefully to the bed.
    â€˜How are you feeling, Miss Alexander?’
    Victoria thought she must be dreaming. Men didn’t look at her that way. They looked at Alex like that all the time, all soft and tender on the surface, with something hungry underneath. But now here was this man – this chiselled, square-jawed Adonis – looking at her, plain old Victoria Sparrow, with such concern. He’d carried her in his arms as though she’d weighed as little as a feather. And now they were alone and she was helpless on the bed before him. Victoria felt her stomach clench, and not from fear.
    â€˜What’s going on here?’
    Never had her sister been less welcome.
    Alex and Adam tumbled through the door. Alex looked suspicious as she took in Luke and Victoria’s positions on the bed. Her expression blackened with rage. ‘You weren’t at the square,’ she accused. ‘I was worried, so we came looking. And good thing we did, because look what we found.’
    â€˜Nothing inappropriate,’ Luke said to soothe the runt. ‘She fainted and I thought the bed would be the best place for her. I don’t have much experience with swooning ladies.’
    Alex snorted in disbelief and turned a dubious look on his sister. ‘You fainted?’
    â€˜It was the heat,’ Victoria lied. Luke gave her a startled look, but she ignored him.
    â€˜Why don’t you run down and get some fresh water for your sister, runt?’ Luke suggested. ‘She looks like she could use a cool cloth on her forehead.’
    â€˜I can help,’ Adam said.
    â€˜Yes, you can,’ Luke agreed. ‘You can pump the water for Alex.’
    Alex didn’t look like she was going to budge. Victoria made a slight whimpering noise and slumped back against the bed.
    â€˜Can’t you see how pale she is?’ Luke scolded. ‘Go get that water.’
    Alex felt well and truly dismissed. She snatched up the water pitcher and stomped downstairs. They were up to no good, she just knew it.
    As soon as the door closed behind them, Victoria sat up, wringing her hands. ‘I only lied so I wouldn’t worry them,’ she said nervously. ‘Did Silas see Alex? Were his brothers there?’ She was as white as milk and shivering like a leaf in an autumn gale.
    â€˜He was asking about your sister,’ Luke told her gently. He pulled the blanket up to cover her, noticing how she flinched at the mention of her sister. ‘Don’t fret. I told him the truth.’
    â€˜The truth?’ Her eyes were as big as saucers.
    â€˜That your sister ain’t with you.’ He looked around the hotel room but there was no obvious sign of a hidden sister.
    â€˜No.’ Victoria’s voice cracked. ‘My sister has gone east. We parted ways in St Louis.’ She cleared her throat. ‘She abandoned us. She wasn’t our blood sister anyway, just a stray Ma and Pa took in when her parents died.’
    â€˜What did he want with her?’
    â€˜What did he want with you ?’
    â€˜I ran into a spot of trouble with them over cards last