The Christmas Bride - A Western Romance Novella (Book 4, Burnett Brides Series) (3 page)

“Evening, Eugenia.”

That cognizance of him as a man had happened many years ago, when they were both married. Happily married. He’d accidentally touched her hand at a party, and they’d both jumped from the tingle that had zipped up her hand to her heart. An innocent touch that had them staring at each other with shock. Since that day, she’d avoided him at all costs. Now that he was widowed, she needed to find another widow woman to send his way quick.

“Wyatt,” she acknowledged, the memory of their last conversation making her wary. He had that same duffle bag in his hands. He wasn’t going to start bringing empty casserole dishes to her home was he? “How are you?”

“Excellent, thanks. I brought some candy I thought you might enjoy.” He pulled a sack of penny candy from the bag, and she breathed a sigh of relief. No empty casserole dishes.

“Since Rose is in charge of this party, I’ll give them to her,” she said, wanting nothing to do with his gift.

“No,” he said, his voice gruff. “I brought each of the women a sack of candy. I just wanted to make sure
you
got yours first,” he said, his full lips turning up in a smile that warmed her from the inside out.

A thrill of excitement waltzed down her spine, landing in her center with a box step.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, taken back. She loved penny candy. She licked her lips. How could she refuse the little bag? It would be impolite. She’d accept them just this once. “Thanks, Wyatt.”

Wyatt smiled at her response, and she knew she had to let him know real quick that this meant nothing. She’d accept his cinnamon candy, just not his proposal.

He was making it very clear to her sons his intentions to court her. She needed to snip this little matchmaking exercise in the bud. Not now. Not ever.

Rose came into the room and smiled at Wyatt. She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “So good to see you, Mr. Jones. We’re glad you came tonight.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” he said. “I brought you, Sarah, and Beth a bag of penny candy as well.”

“How sweet,” she said, glancing at Eugenia. “Thank you.”

Eugenia was feeling nauseated as she watched him win over each one of her daughters-in-law. They were so easily bribed by a sweet-talking man. They’d married her sons after all.

“I think dinner is just about ready,” Rose said. “We should all make our way to the dining room.”

Eugenia tried to hang back and let the other couples go in first, but Wyatt came to her side. “Could I seat you at the dinner table, Eugenia?” he asked, his cinnamon eyes twinkling with amusement.

The man knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew she was not happy about his obvious pursuit in front of her family. She raised her brows at him. “I’m perfectly capable of seating myself, Mr. Jones, but I’ll allow you to walk me to the table.”

He took her arm and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and then smiled down at her as if she was on the menu. “Eugenia, I have no doubts about your capabilities. I’ve been on the receiving end of your endeavors. You’re quite good.”

“Thank you. I strive to do my best at whatever I do.”

“That’s good to know.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, staring, her heart racing. Why did this man always have the ability to make her body react?

“Let me pull your chair out for you,” he said, trying to keep from grinning at her and failing.

The man was insufferable. He was deliberately trying to goad her. Deliberately trying to get a reaction from her. But she refused to take his bait. He would have to work harder if he expected a rise from her.

“Thank you, Wyatt,” she said, playing his game. “Tell me, have you received anymore casserole dishes recently?”

“No, I’m quite disappointed. I was hoping to receive your casserole dish.”

She laughed as she sank onto the chair he’d pulled out. “My kitchen is closed. I’m not baking for any man.”

He leaned in close to her ear. “You don’t have to cook for me. But I’d buy a new kitchen for you, if you’d let me.”

She sent him her haughtiest stare. “I don’t want a new kitchen. I like my life.”

Rose cleared her throat. Eugenia glanced up and realized her family was all sitting at the table and they were watching the two of them, their lips pursed to keep from snickering.

She gave her sons her meanest reproving mother look. “Well. Aren’t one of you boys going to say the blessing so we can eat?”

*

Wyatt stared across the parlor at the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. They’d been dancing around each other for years, and it was time to either take action or cut bait. Sure, Eugenia wasn’t a young woman, but he didn’t want a young woman who wanted babies. At this time in his life, he wanted an equal partner. A woman who knew the rough roads of life and would face them with him.

He wanted a woman who would stay with him until he took his last breath. Eugenia was that type of woman.

Her sons seemed accepting of him, and now he wanted to test the boundaries. “Eugenia, would you take a stroll out in the night air with me?”

She raised one brow and stared at him in a sassy manner that clearly said
you’re crazy
.

“It’s chilly outside.”

She wasn’t going to make this easy, and that urged him on. He liked the challenge and hoped the final reward would be as good.

Rose stepped forward. “Here’s your shawl. It’s a very pretty night out tonight.”

Eugenia cut her a look that should have stopped the young woman cold, but Rose ignored the glare sent her direction and handed her mother-in-law the shawl.

“Okay, but let’s make it quick.” Just long enough to tell Wyatt to stop this madness.

He stood and offered Eugenia his arm. “We’ll only be gone as long as you want.”

Eugenia rose from the settee and placed her hand in the crook of his arm and then looked at her kids. “This won’t take but a moment.”

No one said a word as they walked out the door, but as soon he shut the wooden opening, Wyatt heard laughter.

Yes, her family was definitely enjoying watching their courtship.

They walked down the steps and several feet out into the yard, just far enough for privacy. “It’s a little nippy for December. I think we’re going to have a cold winter this year.”

She stopped. Pulled her hand from his arm and pointed her finger at him. “Wyatt Jones, I know what you’re up to, and it’s not going to happen.”

He smiled at her but didn’t say a word, standing there in his down coat, felt hat, and leather boots, watching her like she was the evening’s entertainment.

“Somehow you’ve talked Rose into helping you, but I will straighten that out right away. I’m not interested in ever getting married again.”

Wyatt shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets. “And here I thought we were just going to have a nice friendly stroll.”

Her defenses were locked in place, and somehow he needed to get through the walls she’d built and show her they could be good together.

“You’re trying to court me!” she accused.

“Honey, if you just think I’m trying, then I’m not doing a good job. I am definitely courting you,” he said softly, stepping closer to her.

There was a smell about her that reminded him of springtime. Of new beginnings and hope, of lazy mornings and happiness.

“Well you can just stop courting me right now. You’re wasting your time. I’m never going to get married again. Do you hear me?” she asked, her hands on her hips, her eyes bullets in the dark.

“Was your marriage to Thomas so bad?” he asked.

She jerked back, surprised. “No, why would you think that?”

He shrugged. “Maybe because you’re so adamant that you’ll never marry again. Why Eugenia? Explain it to me so that I can understand.”

Whatever had happened in her first marriage, he wanted to make certain that he didn’t repeat that same mistake. He wanted a happy home, and if he couldn’t have that with Eugenia, he needed to know now.

“Simple,” she said. “I don’t want to.”“That’s hardly an explanation.”

“I like my life.”

He stepped closer to her, and her sapphire eyes grew larger. She put her hand up to her throat as if to put space between them. “You don’t want to get married, but you want everyone around you to be married. If marriage is so important to the people you love, why don’t you want it for yourself?”

She tilted her head back and gazed up at him, but for once she didn’t say anything.

He stepped even closer, mere inches separating their bodies. She wrapped her shawl tighter around her like a shield. He could see her breath making white wispy clouds in the night air. God, he wanted to kiss her. His body ached with the need to taste her, to sample from her lips.

“I don’t know what it is, but there is this thing between us that I didn’t feel with Beatrice. This knowing that when we touch, sparks are going to fly.” He placed his hands on her arms and drew her to him. She didn’t resist.

“I think you’re afraid. And you don’t want anyone to know that the fearless Eugenia is scared.”

“Nonsense,” she said, her voice soft and breathless.

“Then prove it to me, Eugenia. Show me you’re not afraid of my kiss.”

She reached up and hesitantly kissed his lips. He pulled her into his arms and laid his mouth over hers. He kissed her with all the loneliness he’d hidden pouring from his heart onto her lips. He kissed her like a man dying of thirst. He kissed her like he couldn’t get enough of her.

After a startled moment, she wrapped her arms around him and clung to him as his lips claimed hers, made her his in every sense. He wanted her to know exactly what she was getting into if she married him. He wanted to leave her panting and restless with desire for him.

Abruptly he broke off the kiss, his body tense and his loins tight. Slowly she opened her eyes, her breathing raspy and her lips swollen.

She pushed away from him and walked deeper into the yard. “Damn it, Wyatt Jones. You had no right to kiss me. You had no right to…”

“You kissed me,” he reminded her.

He couldn’t restrain his smile. He’d accomplished exactly what he’d wanted. Eugenia Burnett was a woman filled with passion she’d hidden away. He’d hopefully just unlocked her desire and left her wanting.

“Honey, come back here, and I’ll soothe that hurt,” he promised, his voice low and sensual. He wanted her back in his arms. He wanted a second kiss. A second opportunity to show her the passion between them.

“The hell you will. Go home, Wyatt. Go back to your ranch and leave me alone. I don’t want to get married.”

She hurried toward the house, almost running, leaving him alone in the yard.

He grinned. Step one accomplished. Eugenia desired him as much as he ached for her. There was a mutual attraction, though she would deny she held any feelings for him.

“’Night, Eugenia,” he called. “I’ll be looking for your casserole dish.”

*

The next morning after church, Eugenia pulled Myrtle Sanders aside.

“Myrtle, did you take a casserole dish out to Wyatt’s house?”

The woman stared at Eugenia, confused. She tilted her head, and her hat sat perched at a weird angle. “After what he said to you at the café, I thought there was no sense in me wasting my time. He wants you, Eugenia.”

“Well, he understands that I’m not looking for a husband. I think now would be a good time for you to take him your beef noodle casserole.” Eugenia needed Wyatt to focus on another woman, any woman but her. She didn’t want or need his attention.

“Are you referring to my chicken and rice?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Eugenia said, thinking she didn’t care what food the woman took out to Wyatt’s house. She just needed her to take a dish so that Wyatt would get the message.

She was still sending him women, and she wasn’t interested in marrying him.

Though, God, the man kissed like heaven. All her lady parts had lit up like a firecracker on the Fourth of July. Sleep had been near impossible as she’d tossed and turned, reliving the taste and feel of those lips. Even now she wanted to close her eyes and remember each tiny detail.

But that was impossible. Wyatt was impossible, and she needed to get him married quickly. Before her resolve weakened and she found herself once again taking care of a man and being told when and how to live her life.

Myrtle stood there shaking her head. “I don’t think he’s interested in me. He barely said hello the other day at the restaurant. It was you that he wanted, Eugenia. You, not me.”

Marriage to Thomas had been filled with raising kids and establishing their ranch. But his death had also been liberating. Now her time was her own. Now she did what she wanted, and if anyone didn’t like it, then that wasn’t her problem.

“Well, I’m not available. Take him a casserole dish. Show him you’re interested. Stick to the plan,” she said, raising her voice.

People around them glanced in their direction.

“Do you want to remain alone the rest of your life? Or do you want a man in your bed.”

“Shh...” Myrtle said, glancing around. “I don’t want people to think the wrong thing.”

“Well? What do you want?”

“I want a husband.”

Eugenia liked her life. She liked being alone. She liked not having a man tell her what to do. Yet Wyatt’s kiss had left her sleepless with the need for more. Her body longed to respond to his touch, and her mouth ached with the need for his lips.

Yet, if he were married, he’d be off limits again, just like when he was married to Beatrice. She needed him married.

“Then take Wyatt a casserole,” Eugenia said, raising her hands. “A chicken noodle casserole.”

“It’s chicken and rice.”

“Whatever it is. Take it to Wyatt today if possible.”

“Okay, but I’m trusting you, Eugenia. I hope he’s really interested in me.”

“He will be,” Eugenia lied, knowing this dish would show Wyatt who had the upper hand. She was not interested in getting married. She was not interested in getting hitched. Still, she couldn’t help but think about the way his lips tasted.

She touched her fingers to her lips. The man tasted like sweet, sweet sin.

Chapter Three