BoldLust (3 page)

It had been three weeks since Kate had started working for
Carter and three weeks and one day since she had come to Alaska. This place was
actually starting to feel like home. It wasn’t home, but living between the
ocean and mountains provided a peace and serenity she had never felt before. Alaska
also buzzed with adventure. It was an entirely different life than what she was
used to, but it was more relaxing, more fulfilling than she had ever expected.

Work had been going well. A little tense, but good. She had successfully
resisted her attraction to Carter and made some money, and that was all that
really mattered.

Today was another day of work. Kate finished dressing, and
as she walked down the stairs someone knocked at the door.

“I’ll get it,” she said to no one. Opal would still be sound
asleep and Emma was out at her claim.

A short, dark-haired man, covered in mud and looking like he
hadn’t had a bath in weeks, stood in front of the house. “Are you Kate Baker?” He
fidgeted nervously in the doorway and his nervousness affected Kate.

“I am,” she answered but kept her distance from the man.

“Sean O’Riley asked me to bring this to you.” He reached out
a dirty hand with a crinkled-up envelope and held it toward her.

Kate reached out and took it from him. “Thank you.” She
tried to be polite but his presence made her more than a little nervous. It was
partly the way he looked at her and partly her curiosity as to why in the world
Sean would be writing her a letter. None of it felt right.

The man didn’t say anything else but tipped his hat and then
walked quickly away.

Kate took a deep breath and shut the front door. Her hands
shook as she opened the seam at the top.

If he was writing to her it meant he wasn’t dead, but a bad
feeling settled in the pit of her stomach anyway. Kate pulled the thin piece of
paper out of the envelope and unfolded it.

Dearest Kate,

I am writing to let you know that I have fallen in love
with another woman. I know you want to return to the city, and after spending
time here, I know that I can never go back there. I have met a woman in one of
the villages nearby, and she has invited me to live with her. I didn’t want you
staying and waiting unnecessarily for me. I am sorry, but sometimes life and
love work in unexpected ways. I hope you can forgive me.

Sean

Forgive him? Kate reread the letter. It couldn’t be true. He
couldn’t
have found another woman already.

He had only been gone for three weeks. He must have found
someone new right away to think it could be love. Couldn’t Sean go for more
than a few days without getting his cock wet in another woman? How could he
have fallen in love so quickly? And how could he have the audacity to ask her
to forgive him?

Kate had followed him to this godforsaken place out of
loyalty. She’d come here just to make him happy, and this was what she got?
I’ve fallen in love with someone else. Forgive me?

Sean had some nerve.

She had been strong enough to resist the temptation of
Carter this whole time while Sean was doing whatever he wanted with another
woman. It was enough to make her blood boil.

The clock in the living room chimed, reminding Kate that she
needed to be at work soon. Hopefully Carter would have plenty of things to keep
her busy today, keep her mind off the betrayal by Sean.

It was funny, though. She didn’t feel heartbreak like she
should in losing the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with.
Just anger at his infidelity.

It didn’t matter right now, though. She had to go to work,
tell Carter she was leaving and move on with life after this huge mistake of a
trip. Kate would be on her way back home soon, and it was a damn good thing she
had taken this job so she could provide her own fare back. Sean was obviously
done taking care of her.

When she arrived at the shop, there were no customers
waiting and Carter was probably upstairs working on something.

She loved watching him work. He had this intense look on his
face she found intriguing. Sometimes when she took up his lunch, she would
stand in the doorway watching for a minute. Carter never noticed.

“Good morning.” His voice came from the top of the stairs
and the rhythmic pounding sound meant he was coming down.

Carter moved with such grace, prowess, head always held
high. Kate normally had to avoid noticing it but for the first time, she didn’t
have to hide from her feelings for him. It wouldn’t matter much, though. She
would only stay in Alaska for as long as it took her to earn the rest of her
fare back home and to find a ship that would take her.

“Good morning.” She held back the smile that always wanted
to form at the sight of him, but for a different reason this morning.

Kate had to be up front with Carter. He would need to start
looking soon in order to find a replacement for her.

“I’m going to be leaving Alaska soon.” Kate couldn’t look
him in the eye but moved her focus to the wooden floor.

“Why?” Concern was evident in his voice.

She didn’t want to have to explain her circumstances to him,
but it was only natural for Carter to be curious, to want some kind of
explanation.

“I only came to Alaska because the man who proposed marriage
to me wanted an adventure.” She folded her arms across her chest. The whole
story seemed pretty feeble. She hated having to admit her pitiful situation
aloud. “I just got a letter from him today that he’s fallen in love with
someone else. There’s really no reason for me to stay much longer.”

“I’m sorry.” Carter didn’t move toward Kate, didn’t touch
her like she had hoped.

She wanted him to hold her in those strong arms, wanted him
to tell her everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t his spot. She knew that.

But there was compassion in his eyes, and it gave her
comfort to see that this man she’d only met three weeks ago genuinely cared
about her.

Carter was giving her more than Sean, who’d written a
heartless letter to break off their engagement. He wasn’t man enough to do it
in person. Not that she was surprised.

“Thank you.” She appreciated Carter’s support but there was
more to the feeling, something deeper. It probably wasn’t appropriate. She was
still his employee, nothing more.

“I don’t know why any man in his right mind could consider
leaving you. You’re smart, and beautiful, and kind and everything I would look
for in a woman.”

What did he mean by
would
look for in a woman? He
wasn’t married. He had told her that much. Did he have a woman he loved
somewhere waiting for him? Someone who refused to move to the rugged Alaskan
wilderness as Kate should have?

He was offering her comfort but his eyes said he would like
to offer so much more. If she was reading his signals correctly, that was. Maybe
she had completely imagined his interest in her. Grasping at something to make
herself feel better about life.

“You are very sweet.” She looked away from him and moved
behind the table before she did something stupid, said something she would
regret, made a fool out of herself in a moment of weakness.

“You deserve better than him, whoever he was. Keep that
beautiful smile on your face and know that it was better that it happened now
rather than after you were married to the man.”

“Yes. You’re probably right about that.” Maybe this was a
lucky thing. She wanted to marry Sean, but not because either of them was head
over heels in love. Marrying Sean was the sensible thing to do. It was what her
family wanted, what both of their families wanted. She was just doing what was
expected of her, settling down and having children with the man chosen for his
good breeding and money.

It had been gnawing at her gut since she first got the
letter, that feeling of relief that came with the realization that she wouldn’t
have to marry Sean. Not that anyone was forcing her into it, she had agreed,
but there had been a lot of pressure to say yes. Now that she didn’t have that,
a whole world of freedom dropped down on her.

Carter grabbed her hand in his, squeezed it and rubbed the
skin of her palm with his thumb. The electricity that shot through her body was
not completely surprising, but it was unnerving. She thought she had felt a
connection with him, but the intensity of it was more than she expected.

“I… Thank you.” She didn’t know what exactly she was
thanking him for. His comfort? For showing her she wasn’t dead, that there were
other opportunities out there?

Alaska didn’t follow the same rules as the rest of the
world. She could have whoever she wanted for a husband here. She could have
someone she was passionate about. Kate could make her own choices for the first
time in her life and pick someone like Carter. Her family would hate that. He
was rugged, and although he did have money, he hadn’t come upon it the
old-fashioned way, he actually earned it.

And that was a hell of a lot harder than the way her family
had it. They just had to sit on it and not lose the money that had been handed
down to them generation after generation.

Carter worked hard, made good business choices and made his
way to the top. Her family wouldn’t respect that the way she did, but going
along with her family’s choice hadn’t worked out all that great for her the
first time. She could do what she wanted when she was up here, away from their
influence, their pressure. She could explore her feelings for Carter.

There was definitely a strong attraction, on her part anyway.
But she didn’t know if Carter had any interest in her. Did he feel the same
electricity when he touched her?

The buzzing sent surges straight to her core now, starting a
completely inappropriate tingling between her legs. He was powerful, masculine and
intense, and as hard as she had worked to ignore it before, her body was
completely giving into the sensations. If just his touching her hand could have
this much impact, what would it be like when he touched her other places? Was
he even interested in that?

Asking him straight out was the only way to find out if he
felt any of the attraction. But could she be that forward?

“I was wondering…” Kate stopped as the door to the shop
squeaked open and Betsy walked in.

“You were wondering what?” Carter asked, his eyes intent on
her, ignoring the fact that he had a customer.

“We can talk about it later.” Kate let out a frustrated
breath. It took some nerve to even begin asking. She wasn’t the type of girl
who wore her heart on her sleeve. It wasn’t polite to be talking about such
things, but she needed to feel wanted again and needed to find out the truth
before she wasted any more of her time.

Then Better-Than-Thou Betsy just had to show up at the worst
possible time. The woman never bought anything but came in every other day to
look around and visit. Kate had no choice but to talk with her. It was her job.

“Is there anything I can help you find today, Betsy?” Kate
put on her happy-to-help-you smile and did her best to pretend her life wasn’t
falling apart. It wouldn’t be good to let Betsy know anything was wrong. The
woman would be on her, unrelenting in her search for information if she knew
there was any interesting gossip to be had.

Kate had no need for Betsy or her gossip. She especially
didn’t want everyone in town knowing her drama. The fewer people who knew her
pathetic situation, the better, and if Betsy knew, everyone would know within
the day.

Carter hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Kate could
tell he didn’t want to leave her. She didn’t want him to leave either, but
there was no way any of this conversation was going to happen in front of
Betsy. There was no choice but to put it on hold.

“We’ll talk more later,” she said to assure him, to get him
to go upstairs to work.

And Kate was left alone with Betsy.

“Do you have any new materials in?” Betsy asked in her
annoying, nasal I’m-better-than-everyone-in-this-town voice.

“Not since you were here last.” No ships had come into town
since yesterday, Betsy knew very well that there was nothing new, nothing she
needed, but that didn’t stop her from asking. Again.

“I didn’t see you in church Sunday.” Betsy reached down and
ran a finger along the metal of a hammer, pretending interest in the contents
of the little shop as she was going to go build a house or something. It was
obvious her only real interest was gossip.

“I didn’t feel well.” It was a lie. Kate hadn’t gone to
church because she hadn’t felt like struggling to hear a half-hearted sermon by
Betsy’s mousy husband and then have Betsy catch her afterward to dish out the
latest town gossip. It wasn’t a very uplifting way to spend the day. Kate would
rather spend the time reading her Bible alone.

“It’s the second Sunday in a row you haven’t felt well. Living
in
that
house,” Betsy turned her nose in the direction of Emma’s house,
“you should spend every free moment you have in the house of God.”

“The house I live in is fine.” Living under the same roof as
a sporting woman didn’t make Kate any different than she was before. People
were stupid to think that it would.

“But you live with a prostitute.” Betsy hissed the last
word. “
I
know you weren’t aware of that when you moved into the house,
but people are starting to talk. I, of course, defend you, but if I don’t see
you at services on Sunday, if I don’t see that you are trying to live a good
and holy life… Well, I won’t be able to defend you any longer.”

“Okay.” Kate wasn’t going to stoop to Betsy’s level because
of a threat. She shrugged and walked away, pretending to straighten up some
rope.

Betsy was the biggest gossip in town. Not many other people
really cared. The town was mostly miners and prostitutes, and Kate wasn’t going
to attend Betsy’s church just because the woman had threatened her reputation.