Read Online The Outlaw Bride by Kelly Boyce - Free Book Online

long it’d been since he had a woman. This one was off limits. With hurried steps he retreated from the room.
     
    By the time his sleepy housekeeper finally roused herself from his bed, Connor had things well in hand. Sort of. Their supplies were dangerously low and his cooking skills did not extend beyond anything that could be burned over a campfire.
    “I fell asleep,” Kate said.
    Connor glanced over his shoulder from the counter where he was busy slicing up what was left of the ham and hoping it would stretch between three people. She looked rumpled, dazed and even a little apologetic, but having spent the past half hour trying to pull together a meal with his belly gnawing at his backbone, Connor wasn’t in the mood to be charitable.
    “I believe that’s stating the obvious.”
    She flushed, or maybe that was just from the sleep. “I—I can help now.”
    Connor turned and walked to the table, setting the platter of ham down in the center with a little more force than he intended. “Now is too late. The work is done.”
    Her face pinched and she twisted her fingers about each other. Connor had noticed her doing the same thing when she stood in Garrett Bentley’s saloon looking for work, and again when she lay on the sofa at Amelia’s while Oliver railed at her about his lost train fare. She’d had a rough couple of days, he allowed. But he’d had a rough six months.
    He pointed to an empty chair. “Sit.”
    With hesitant steps, she came further into the kitchen and slid into the offered chair. She smiled at Jenny and said a timid hello. Jenny didn’t respond but Connor caught a flicker of interest when her gaze flitted over Kate.
    The meal itself proved only marginally edible. The biscuits were burned on the bottom, the ham hardly enough to stick to the ribs, and the carrots might as well have been served raw. Only the coffee had turned out well, but by the time he’d served Kate a cup, there was barely enough left to fill his own. He supposed he would have to get used to brewing for two. Or she would. The thought left him unsettled. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea of a strange woman tending to his needs.
    He gave his head a shake but the thought lingered, conjuring up the reminder of far too many other needs that were going unattended.
    When everyone had finished their meal, Kate stood and began clearing the table. “I hear you’ve only recently returned to Fatal Bluff.”
    Connor hesitated. “From who?”
    It never ceased to amaze him the way the people in this town discussed everyone else’s business. Having been gone for so long, he’d almost forgotten the rampant grinding of the gossip mill that kept the townspeople entertained.
    Kate reached for his empty plate, her arm hovering just inches from his face while she contemplated his question. He could smell the heady scent of lavender. He closed his eyes for just an instant and breathed it in, then caught himself and straightened in his chair. Dammit!
    “I forget his name.” She turned her head slightly toward him. Curls bounced around her temples and cheekbones. Soft, shiny and mesmerizing. She’d attempted to tie her hair back, but most of it had escaped. Connor couldn’t help but want to lift a hand and—
    Oh God…this was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. He forced his gaze to the corner of the table—the one square inch of his vision that wasn’t filled with her tousled loveliness.
    She lifted his plate and leaned away, oblivious to the machinations of his overworked mind. “The gentleman with the bushy moustache that owns the haberdashery.”
    “Milo,” Connor croaked. The sound made him wince.
    “Yes, that was it.” Her face brightened in the flickering lamplight. “So did you?”
    “Did I what?” He couldn’t remember the question. In fact, his own name escaped him at the moment. He needed some air.
    She smiled at him. He really wished she wouldn’t do that.
    “Did you just return to town?”
    He nodded.