Kimberly Nee - The McKenzie Brothers (20 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

She froze, a spiky weed dangling from her hand, as Bradley snatched off his hat and gave her a chilly smile. “Good day, Madam McKenzie.”

Her mouth went dry at the sly gleam in Bradley’s dark eyes. Her stomach fluttered, but she ignored it, tossing the weed onto the growing pile. “Good day, Mr. Jefferson.”

A charming smile creased his face. “I was wondering if Garrett was home?”

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Jefferson. He is down at the harbor this afternoon. You might wish to try there.” She turned her attention back to the weeds, wrapping her gloved hand about a particularly spiky one.

“Ah, well, seeing as I am here, perhaps you might be able to help me.”

“I highly doubt that,” she muttered, ripping another weed from the soil and shaking the dirt from its roots.

“I beg your pardon, my lady?”

She tossed the weed aside and looked up at him. “Of course, Mr. Jefferson. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I wished to give this to him, but perhaps you can for me.”

Her eyes narrowed at the small rough-looking sack he held out to her. “What is this?”

“Some money I owe him. You may count it, if you wish. One hundred gold pieces.”

One hundred gold pieces? She was a little surprised that Garrett had loaned Bradley money, but such an amount? Certainly, the man did not look as if he needed a loan of that much.

“Of course, Mr. Jefferson. I will give it to him when he arrives home later.”

“Thank you, Madam McKenzie. And might you give him a message for me, if you would be so kind?”

She took the heavy sack. “I might.”

“Tell him I harbor no ill feelings, having lost our little wager and all.”

“Wager?”

Bradley’s gray eyes narrowed. “Yes. He is a lucky fellow to have won your hand as well.”

A nervous flutter rippled through her belly. “I am afraid I do not understand, Mr. Jefferson.”

His smile lost its charming air, and with that, his entire appearance changed. He was no longer handsome, but decidedly rodent-like, reminding her of the disagreeable man he’d been the night she met Garrett. “Of course you do, my lady. He and I had a friendly little wager about who would be lucky enough to be chosen by you, my dear.”

The dryness in her mouth returned, making even swallowing difficult. “Chosen, you say?”

He took a step closer and she instinctively recoiled. “Tell me, love, were you as pure as he claims? Your virtue was the basis of our wager, you understand. Were you truly a virgin, or did you merely hide it very well?”

Shame — hot, boiling shame — poured into her belly at his cold words. Heat filled her with a mixture of embarrassment and fury. “You mean to say that you and Garrett had a
wager
on me?” she whispered, unable to force her voice any louder. “On who would be the one to…to
seduce
me?”

At his slow nod, she couldn’t control the shaking of her entire body. She’d never felt such anger before in her life. That Garrett would be so cold, so calculating to make her think he cared, when it was all an act simply to win a
bet
?

She stared down at the sack in her hand as tears flooded her eyes. She swallowed the rising sob as she drew herself up to her full height. “I think you ought to leave now, Mr. Jefferson. In fact, I do not wish to see you darken my doorstep ever again.”

He gave her another cold smile. “I’ve no need to, Madam McKenzie. You have a good day now. But, please do give that to your husband.” He nodded in the direction of the sack in her hand. “And be certain to tell him it was a wager well worth losing.”

As he turned to head back to his horse, she bent over to swipe up a clump of dirt. She fired, hitting him squarely in the middle of his back.

He didn’t halt his stride and his low chuckle mocked her as he swung up into his saddle. A click of his tongue against his teeth, a swift kick to his horse’s sides, and he was off in a cloud of reddish dust.

Katherine looked down to see her hands were shaking, the coins in the sack jingling merrily to mock her.

A wager. Garrett had actually
bet
that he would lure her into his bed before the nasty little Jefferson fellow could. And she had fallen for it — completely, foolishly, fallen for it.

Her knees buckled and she sank into the soft soil, the sack hitting the ground with a melodic
plunk
beside her. How could she have let herself believe that he cared for her? How could she have been so blind?

The tears came then, and this time she did not try to halt them. Instead, she buried her face in her hands and gave into them, sobbing as she’d never done before, until her vision swam and her head ached.

Finally, her tears dried up, replaced by a growing fury. She eyed the innocent-looking little sack on the ground by her foot. Snatching it up, she muttered, “Oh, I will tell him, all right. I will most certainly tell him.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Garrett hummed softly to himself as he strode down the path through the woods between Stonebridge and Ravenswood. Now that he’d finished the interior of his home, he’d see about having stables built. It was growing tiresome, having to stable Meg up at Stonebridge.

Still, little could dim his sunny mood. He chuckled to himself, realizing the tune he was humming was the same one he often heard pass through Katherine’s lips. Hard to believe how strongly the little vixen managed to pervade his every waking moment, even harder still to believe he finally had a name for what those feelings growing so strong.

Love.

Tonight, he would tell her.

They would have supper with his family. But when they returned home, he would whisk her to bed and make love to her until she was breathless and they were both spent. Then, he would tell her he loved her.

Garrett thrust open the kitchen door, greeting Victoria with a cheerful, “Good day, Miss Victoria.”

She gave him a curiously dark look. “Good day to you, Mister Garrett.”

He sensed her iciness, but couldn’t imagine what could be troubling her. In the six weeks since her arrival at Ravenswood, Garrett had never seen her in anything other than a sunny mood. “Is something the matter, Victoria?”

She looked up from the pastry she was rolling out on the work table. “Miss Katherine.”

He felt a tight fist squeeze his insides. “What happened to her?”

“I haven’t a clue, Mister Garrett. The only thing I can tell you is that she has been locked in your chambers all afternoon. She will not let a soul in. Not myself, not Patsy, not Marie.”

“Where is Mrs. Riley?”

“I believe she is in the parlor. Terribly dusty in there since you and Mister Julian finished.” Victoria set down her rolling pin and lifted the dough to set in a pie dish. “But, I doubt she has anything to do with Miss Katherine.”

“What happened, then?”

“I am not at all certain. She was in a fine mood this morning, went out to tend the gardens, and the next thing I knew, I heard the front door slam and she went upstairs.” She gave him a long, level look. “I believe she was crying, Mister Garrett.”

Crying? Garrett didn’t bother to respond, but hurried out of the kitchen and straight to the stairs.

Sure enough, the door was locked. He rapped on it. “Kat? Open the door, love. What happened?”

A choked sob reached his ears and he impatiently rattled the handle. The urge to get to her, to find out who or what caused her tears, overwhelmed him to the point where he had to hold back and
not
break down the damn door. He pounded harder on the door. “Kat!”

The floor creaked, a key twisted, and she tugged open the door. Her face was ashen, eyes wide and red. Instinct screamed to life, although he tamped down some of the fire as he growled, “Katherine?” His brow furrowed at the sight of her. She looked utterly lost, her hazel eyes glimmering with tears. “What happened, love? Victoria told me you’ve been locked away all afternoon.”

She let out a strangled laugh and turned away from him. “Yes, well…Mr. Jefferson came by this afternoon.”

Garrett’s gut clenched at those soft words. “Did he, now?”

She nodded. “Yes.” Her voice fell to a heartbroken whisper. “He wished me to give you this.”

The blood drained from his face as she turned to hold out a small, dirty sack. “Katherine?”

“One hundred gold pieces. To the man who could prove my virginity.” Her voice broke as she met his gaze. “Congratulations, Garrett. You won.”

He made no move to take the sack from her. Her gaze never wavered, never left his, and he knew he’d never forget the pain he saw in her eyes. They were so dark, they were almost pure brown — nothing but the slightest hint of green to be found beneath the shimmering veil of tears.

Swallowing against that brackishness, he cleared his throat. “Katherine, I can explain this.”

“There is no need, Garrett. After all, I was only a barmaid, and then a parlormaid. It isn’t as if I was a fine lady, is it? I am of no importance. I suppose it’s my own fault, actually, for reading far more into this than I ought to have. Ours is only a marriage of convenience and I am the fool silly enough to believe in dreams, I suppose.”

She released the sack, which hit the floor with a mocking jingle. Her voice was flat and void of emotion. “I am so grateful I could help.”

He closed his eyes at her tone. “Katherine, love, please — ”

“Do not call me that, Garrett. I am nothing to you, so why pretend?” She took a deep breath, pressed her lips together as if steeling herself for whatever she planned to say next.

Then, she cleared her throat. “I can no longer go on this way. Therefore, you are free to go about and live your life the way you’ve always lived it. Come and go as you choose. All I ask for is that you be discreet. This is, after all, only a marriage of convenience, as I said. I apologize for thinking it was more than that.”

“Katherine, if you would listen to me a moment.”

“I do not wish to listen!” She whirled about to face him. Her eyes were bright, gleaming with a pain he could feel. She shook her head, disbelief etched into every line, every curve of her face. “How could you do that to me? How could you think so little of me, to do something so — so
vile
to me?”

“It isn’t what you think, Katherine. I did not bring you here, into my home, into my bed, simply to win a wager. I certainly would not have married you for that reason, either.”

“Is that a fact? It certainly seems that way to me.”

He took a step toward her, wanting to take her in his arms and kiss her tears away. He had to make her understand. “Well, it wasn’t. If you will remember,
I
was the one who defended you from Jefferson that first night.”

“And then bet him that I would fall prey to your charm for the paltry sum of one hundred gold pieces.” She backed away from him. “And you won. You knew you would. You know
exactly
what it is you do to a lady, how to woo her and make her feel as if she is the center of the world, don’t you? I do hope you and that nasty little man enjoyed every little laugh at my expense. The poor, pathetic little bar wench, put on this earth to become the plaything of the first man who showed but a whit of interest. Well, more the fool I.”

Anger filled her words and although he couldn’t blame her, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger of his own at her stubborn refusal to listen to reason. “If you would
listen
to me, Kat, instead of jumping to conclusions, perhaps you’ll realize you are wrong.”

“How could I be wrong?” Her voice rose, echoing with disbelief. “Do you think me stupid? Do you think you can charm your way out of the facts staring us both in the face?” Her shoulders taut, her back ramrod straight, she added, “I think it best that we both remember how we came to be married. I will move my belongings into the room at the end of the hallway. I cannot continue with this charade. Not now.”

“That is not necessary, Katherine.”

“I cannot lie beside you at night, knowing what you truly think of me. I am not your wife, Garrett. I suppose I never truly was.”

“This is ridiculous. That wager meant nothing to me. Surely you don’t believe
that
was my motivation for pursuing you, do you?”

“Wouldn’t you? That’s exactly how it seems.” She shook her head, turning away from him once more. “I have never felt so…so low, so ashamed…before in my life, Garrett. I thank you for that.”

His gaze fell to the dirty sack on the floor, then he looked up to take in her straight, slim back. “Katherine, I speak the truth when I tell you, I took that wager to shut him up and that is all. I had no intention of even collecting on it, love.”

He took a deep breath, crossing to fold his arms about her and draw her in. Leaning close, his lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “I wanted you from the moment I saw you, love, and I would have done anything to make certain
I
was the man who caught your interest. And once I had it, I had every intention of making you mine.”

“Garrett — ” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat again. “I am not yours. That much is apparent. Therefore, I cannot go on this way. It’s far better that we go on as we did before — you live your life and I shall live mine. I am fine with that,” she assured him, pulling out of his arms and taking a step toward the doorway. “If you will excuse me, I will get my belongings moved at once.”

“Like hell you will. Damn it, you are my wife and as such, you will sleep beside me, as a proper wife should!”

“But I am not a proper wife, now, am I?” she fired back, hands on her hips. “I am nothing more to you than a warm body and a pleasant time. Oh, let us not forget — ” She bent to snatch up the sack once more and held it out. “ — one hundred pieces of gold.”

“I don’t give a damn about that, Katherine,” he growled, grabbing it from her to hurl across the room. “I never gave a damn about it. I admit that I offered you the position simply because it would put me in close proximity to you. But everything that has happened since has had nothing at all to do with that wager.”

“And I am supposed to believe this?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Why? Why should she believe him? Garrett was furious with himself for not telling her about the wager to begin with, as he should have done. Had he, then this entire nightmare would not be unfolding before his eyes.

“It matters not what I say, does it, Katherine? You are determined to believe what you will about me.” His voice rose as his temper threatened to break free entirely. “Whether you choose to believe it or not, I accepted that wager simply to keep him away from you.”

Katherine snorted. “Oh, I see. So you were
protecting
me, then, were you? That is rich, Garrett. It truly is! You had barely met me, had only spoken but a few words to me as I
served
you! And yet, you were only concerned with my well-being! You will forgive me if I enjoy a bit of a chuckle over that, I hope.”

That did it. Fury at himself mingled with fury over her refusal to believe him. “Believe what you will, Katherine! But, if you think, for one moment, you are moving out of this room, you are mad.”

“Am I? Well, I suppose I must be, to think you felt anything for me save for some strange need to protect and some unbridled lust! Now, if you will excuse me, I just wish to be left alone,” she choked out, slipping around him and hurrying down the hallway to one of the empty bedrooms, where she slammed the door.