Courting Kate

Courting Kate by Mary Lou Rich

Book: Courting Kate by Mary Lou Rich Read Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Lou Rich
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Mr. Perkins?” a soft feminine voice inquired.
    Tanner whirled.
    A curvaceous vision in blue glided through the doorway and walked toward him. She was little. Her crown of ebony curls would barely reach his shoulder. Young, too, he decided. But not any schoolroom miss. Her features were delicate: a small, slightly tilted nose, a bow-shaped mouth, and bone structure that told him she would be beautiful even in old age. Her skin was pale as fresh cream and just as smooth. Clearly a lady of refinement. Certainly nobody from around here. He couldn’t imagine what such a creature would want with him.
    “It seems your feller’s finally got here,” the clerk announced.
    Her feller?
    He gave her a questioning look, but the gaze of her long-lashed violet eyes slid right past him.  
    She peered toward the hotel entrance. “Where is Mr. Blaine?” she asked, her voice soft and Southern.
    “I’m Tanner Blaine.”
    She jerked her head and stared at him. The color draining from her face, she shook her head. “That’s impossible. You can’t be.”
    He scowled. “I am Tanner Blaine.”
    “Oh, my,” she murmured. She studied him from head to foot and back again, apparently finding him sadly lacking. “Oh, my.”  
    Feeling more than a bit insulted, Tanner eyed her as intently in return. But unlike himself, she looked even better the second time than she did the first.  
    “Mr. Blaine refuses to pay your bill,” the hotel man announced.
    “Why?” she asked, tilting her head to meet his eyes.  
    “Why should I?”
    “Surely you aren’t refusing?” Her eyes widened. She swayed, as if about to swoon.  
    Tanner reached out an arm to support her. She smelled sweet, like summer flowers in a high mountain meadow. He drew her closer and took another whiff. She felt womanly warm and soft, reminding him he hadn’t been with a female in a long, long time. It might be worth two dollars at that. “If I’d known you looked like this, honey, I’d have gladly paid your bills,” he said, his voice low, husky.  
    She drew in a sharp breath, and moved out of his arms. Her eyes narrowed. “Then kindly do so, sir.”  
    He crossed his arms to keep from grabbing her again. “Give me one good reason why I should—other than your looks, that is.”
    “Because it’s expected, as you well know.” She eyed him up and down. “Or should know, if you were any kind of gentleman.”
    Expected? “I can understand a lady being down on her luck and needing a handout. What I can’t understand is how you happened to pick on me.”
    “Handout indeed!” She whirled toward the clerk, who was straining to hear every word. “There has to be another Tanner Blaine. That must be the explanation.”
    “I’m the only Tanner Blaine in these parts.”
    “Then how can you pretend not to know who I am?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
    He frowned in confusion. “Lady, I’m not pretending. I don’t know you, and I don’t understand why you think I should.”
    “ You don’t understand?” She stomped her foot. “ I don’t understand either. After all I’ve gone through to get here... leaving everything—everyone. I wouldn’t have believed you would desert me over one measly meal,” she said in a furious whisper.
    “All right, I’ll pay for your damned dinner.” He whipped two silver dollars out of his pocket and slammed them down on the counter. “There. Now, Miss— whatever your name is, unless there is something else, I’ll be on my way.”  
    “ Kathleen Deveraux ,” she stated emphatically. She took hold of his sleeve. “And of course there’s something else. We might not have formally met, but we have corresponded.”
    “Corresponded?” He was getting more confused by the minute. “Like in a letter?”
    “Mr. Blaine, in case you have forgotten, you sent for me. I came all the way from Georgia to marry you.”  
    “You—you what?” Tanner recoiled as though she had hit him. He couldn’t have heard

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