yes.”
I glanced around. A woman screamed colorful curses at the trio of men catcalling her from beneath a window. Another woman threw a wooden bucket of urine that came terribly close to splashing my skirts. One filthy woman stood on the corner with no skirts on and smiling like a lunatic. My hands smelled like dead poultry and that baguette he’d bought me had been the most elegant and filling meal I’d had since that awful night at the dinner party.
I dragged my eyes back to him and the background seemed to blur to unimportance. “Yes,” I breathed as my heart hammered like a war drum.
“You aren’t a whore, so that’s good enough for me.”
“Of course I’m not a who—ahh!” I yelped as he scooped me over a water filled crater and set me into a buggy like I was as light as a piece of parchment paper.
“Then I suppose we’ll get along just fine is all I’m saying.”
Okay. So a matter of weeks ago I was married and living in an extravagant mansion, and today I was engaged to a handsy country stranger and would be moving to the wilderness of Colorado to be his country wife. My life had taken a hard right turn somewhere and I got the distinct feeling the Fates were laughing their teeth off.
Chapter Six
Lorelei
“You’re staying in a tavern? I thought you said your sister-in-law was meeting us here.”
The establishment in question stood two stories tall and the entrance featured six men drinking amber libations out of atrociously large glasses.
“We live a modest life, Ms. McGregor. This is the best place for us to stay for the money, and Kristina doesn’t mind. I wouldn’t presume to set you up here though, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh. I didn’t mean to imply anything about money.” He didn’t react to my failed attempt at an apology so I tried again. “What I mean to say is, I live in a hostel much more questionable than this place, I’m sure.”
“Hmm,” he grunted noncommittally. “It’s no place for you, so wait here. I’ll bring them out.”
“Right,” I muttered with a nervous fidget.
A saloon girl ran out of the ale house and I shrieked when she barreled straight for me. I’d be run over and stomped into the walkway! She stopped just shy and threw her arms around me as the force of her forward movement rocked us both backward. Prying her arms from around my neck, I ducked around her and held my hands in front of me like I was soothing a wild dog.
“Lorelei McGregor, right?” the woman asked with a slight frown.
Why did I get the feeling I’d stepped into quicksand all of the sudden? Upon further inspection, her dress wasn’t as gaudy as the other whores who were kicking their legs up in unison near a piano inside. It just showed an ample amount of skin in her…chest area. And she didn’t wear the thick rouge the others did either. Uh, oh.
“Kristina, I presume?” I said in a small voice.
She cleared her throat and held her hand out in a very masculine gesture. “Pleased to meet you.”
Jeremiah stood in the entryway by another tall man with blindingly green eyes who was likely none other than his brother. The matching dark colored hair gave him away. I held my hand out and Kristina shook it until my bones rattled.
“Lorelei McGregor,” I said when my teeth had stopped clacking together.
“Let’s go meet the in-laws shall we?” she said with a wink before she took off for the nearest buggy.
Her husband, Luke I thought his name was, tipped his hat as he followed his wife. “Good to meet you, Ms. McGregor.” His voice was as deep and smooth as his gargantuan brother’s. Somewhere in their lineage was herculean blood, of that I was sure.
Jeremiah placed his hand where my spine touched my tailbone and I jumped away from him like I’d been scalded. “Sir, you are far too intimate in a public setting. I’m not used to such audaciousness.”
His dark eyes swam with confusion, but before he could argue with me, I helped myself up into
I glanced around. A woman screamed colorful curses at the trio of men catcalling her from beneath a window. Another woman threw a wooden bucket of urine that came terribly close to splashing my skirts. One filthy woman stood on the corner with no skirts on and smiling like a lunatic. My hands smelled like dead poultry and that baguette he’d bought me had been the most elegant and filling meal I’d had since that awful night at the dinner party.
I dragged my eyes back to him and the background seemed to blur to unimportance. “Yes,” I breathed as my heart hammered like a war drum.
“You aren’t a whore, so that’s good enough for me.”
“Of course I’m not a who—ahh!” I yelped as he scooped me over a water filled crater and set me into a buggy like I was as light as a piece of parchment paper.
“Then I suppose we’ll get along just fine is all I’m saying.”
Okay. So a matter of weeks ago I was married and living in an extravagant mansion, and today I was engaged to a handsy country stranger and would be moving to the wilderness of Colorado to be his country wife. My life had taken a hard right turn somewhere and I got the distinct feeling the Fates were laughing their teeth off.
Chapter Six
Lorelei
“You’re staying in a tavern? I thought you said your sister-in-law was meeting us here.”
The establishment in question stood two stories tall and the entrance featured six men drinking amber libations out of atrociously large glasses.
“We live a modest life, Ms. McGregor. This is the best place for us to stay for the money, and Kristina doesn’t mind. I wouldn’t presume to set you up here though, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh. I didn’t mean to imply anything about money.” He didn’t react to my failed attempt at an apology so I tried again. “What I mean to say is, I live in a hostel much more questionable than this place, I’m sure.”
“Hmm,” he grunted noncommittally. “It’s no place for you, so wait here. I’ll bring them out.”
“Right,” I muttered with a nervous fidget.
A saloon girl ran out of the ale house and I shrieked when she barreled straight for me. I’d be run over and stomped into the walkway! She stopped just shy and threw her arms around me as the force of her forward movement rocked us both backward. Prying her arms from around my neck, I ducked around her and held my hands in front of me like I was soothing a wild dog.
“Lorelei McGregor, right?” the woman asked with a slight frown.
Why did I get the feeling I’d stepped into quicksand all of the sudden? Upon further inspection, her dress wasn’t as gaudy as the other whores who were kicking their legs up in unison near a piano inside. It just showed an ample amount of skin in her…chest area. And she didn’t wear the thick rouge the others did either. Uh, oh.
“Kristina, I presume?” I said in a small voice.
She cleared her throat and held her hand out in a very masculine gesture. “Pleased to meet you.”
Jeremiah stood in the entryway by another tall man with blindingly green eyes who was likely none other than his brother. The matching dark colored hair gave him away. I held my hand out and Kristina shook it until my bones rattled.
“Lorelei McGregor,” I said when my teeth had stopped clacking together.
“Let’s go meet the in-laws shall we?” she said with a wink before she took off for the nearest buggy.
Her husband, Luke I thought his name was, tipped his hat as he followed his wife. “Good to meet you, Ms. McGregor.” His voice was as deep and smooth as his gargantuan brother’s. Somewhere in their lineage was herculean blood, of that I was sure.
Jeremiah placed his hand where my spine touched my tailbone and I jumped away from him like I’d been scalded. “Sir, you are far too intimate in a public setting. I’m not used to such audaciousness.”
His dark eyes swam with confusion, but before he could argue with me, I helped myself up into
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