The Letter (9 page)

“
Your price is too high, your suggestion absurd and reprehensible” she proclaimed, snatching her hand back and trying to quell her body’s sinful reaction to his words and compelling persuasion.

“
You don’t have to decide tonight,” he said quietly. “I want you to relax and calm down. There is no need to run away. I am not going to force myself on you, Victoria. This is your decision.”

No need to run away? That was his opinion.

“
I have already had money sent to your sister,” he said.

“
Mandy?” she squeaked. “No! How dare you! I don’t want her to know anything about any of this.”

“
I had the money sent in your name she knows nothing about me,” he said, reassuring her. “I know she needs things, new things, like dresses and I wanted to ease your worries so you could make an objective decision.”

“
How do you know anything about Mandy at all? You leave her out of this.”

A lump formed in Victoria’s throat. He knew her vulnerabilities. And he was using them against her. William Worthington was more dangerous then she ever imagined.

“
I must ask her to send the money back,” she said, fighting valiantly against the thoughts of Mandy’s mended gowns and shoes that needed repairing.

“
No, it is hers, no matter what decision you make,” he said, putting his hand under her chin and caressing her face. “It is a gift, the least I can do to make amends for my previous neglect.”

“
Why are you doing this to me?” Controlling her quivering voice, Victoria resisted the urge to scream the question to him. “You are a horrible man.”

And she always thought the devil had horns and a red, pointy tail. How very wrong she had been.

“
I believe helping your sister is a rather kind gesture and I think my offer is a fair offer. After all, you don’t want to be married, you said so yourself, in fact you are almost a spinster now.” He spoke in an annoyingly practical tone. “It isn’t as if you are saving yourself for a husband. And what an utter shame for you to never know passion with a man.”

His words struck a raw nerve.

“
Spoken by an arrogant man…as if that is the only thing a woman could possibly need to fulfill her life. Furthermore, my choice not to marry doesn’t make me into the kind of woman you are insinuating or make you the right man to concern himself with my personal matters.”

“
Having intimacy in your life outside of marriage does not make you
‘that kind of woman’
Victoria, it is only your provincial upbringing that gives you such a mind on the matter.”

“
What about you?” she asked. “You will soon be married. What would your fiancé think of such abominable behavior?”

“
I told you before, that is a separate matter.”

“
Perhaps she would not think so…but as things are, you can probably marry no matter what relationship you have with me.”

“
Victoria, do you plan to marry? Tell me that? Do you have a cowboy at home you have set your cap for?”

“
Don’t be so condescending to the men at home…they would never suggest such a thing. Anyway, I told you that I didn’t have any man in mind for myself.”

Victoria knew in that instant that there never would be a “cowboy” in her future because in that trice she knew her folly. She had fallen for an arrogant, cold man who would use her flesh and break her heart. And his name was William Worthington.

Heart wrenching sadness swept over her and Victoria looked away from him, willing herself not to let him see the terrible, unthinkable truth.

She was in love with the bastard
.

But how could this have happened? She wanted to sob in frustration and outrage.

Love at first sight was for the Sunday paper short stories. It didn’t happen in real life, it couldn’t. Yet, somehow it had. However, whatever reason this had happened, she must fight him and the licentious lures he cast, otherwise she would get wounded. Very badly wounded.

“
Then what is wrong with a friendly arrangement where we both benefit and find pleasure?” he asked softly.

“
You think you can just purchase me? Just like that?” Her voice was uncharacteristically bitter. “You assume I would find pleasure with you?”

“
Purchase is such a harsh word, Victoria,” he said. “This is an arrangement that is mutually beneficial. You will be better off with me because I will give you everything and anything you could ever want. It is a small price on your part, a very small price. And I will endeavor to give you exquisite pleasure.”

“
Stop saying such things to me.” She was breathing quickly. Separate warring factions of pain, humiliation, and desire churned inside of her.

“
It is the same thing as asking me to be a . . . well, you know ... you might as well call me a prostitute.” She turned her hot face away from him while her treacherous mind formed a scene of the two of them naked in bed. She should feel utter and complete shame at the image, but did not.

Oh God forgive her, she did want him that way.

“
No, you are wrong, Victoria, it isn’t the same as being a prostitute and lying with many men. This sort of thing goes on all the time. Respectable women, many of them, are mistresses.”

She was visibly trembling and could not stop.

“
Look at me, Victoria.” His hand closed over hers and held it when she tried to pull away.

“
I like you, I want you. I thought it was best to be honest, to tell you what I want, and I am willing to give you anything you want in return. Please darling, I am just asking you to consider my proposition.”

Anything she wanted? Please darling? How could someone give another anything she wanted? Yet, it was obvious he could. He had at his fingertips more than she had ever even conceived and his fingertips tempted her in ways she never imagined.

Could she or should she consider his proposal? She at least needed to buy time to find a new plan.

“
I would like time to consider your offer.” She tried to think coherently while she swam in his smoky tempting gaze. Had he been just any man, she would have simply said no. But he wasn’t just any man.

“
What about children, I don’t want any children to come out of this…this...” Victoria hesitated with embarrassment over the practical words that needed to be said even if she truly wasn’t considering his offer.

“
Do not worry about that sweetheart, I know how to prevent these things,” William assured her.

“
That doesn’t mean I have agreed because I most certainly have not.”

“
Of course, you must consider my offer. I understand. Take as long as you need.” Pausing, he looked thoughtfully out at some unknown point beyond the doors of their private dining room.

When he looked at her again he said, “I will tell you this, Victoria, I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman.”

“
What if I don’t do what you want?” she asked.

His eyes, previously warm and persuasive iced over and pierced into hers chilling Victoria to the bone.

“
Then I will have to take the store, I will take everything. I have no choice. I cannot send you back to continue to struggle.”

“
You are a horrible man to give me no choice but call it an offer.”

“
You are very wrong Victoria, what I am offering is the world, it is up to you to chose foolishly.”

She shivered with the numb reality of her circumstances. She wanted to weep in her obvious defeat. Instead, Victoria gathered her pride and stared back at him with defiance.

“
I will consider what you have offered,” she said frigidly.

His eyes immediately thawed and a charming smile shifted his handsome face. “I promise you, Victoria, it will be quite pleasurable.”

His voice dropped to a husky, warm whisper.

“
Come to me when you have thought about my offer. I will be waiting.”

CHAPTER 9

After a fretful night with little sleep, Victoria was awakened the next morning by a rapid knocking at the door. Rising from the bed, she scrambled to the wardrobe and pulled on a lush red hotel-provided robe.

When Victoria opened the door she was stunned to find a dozen maids lined up each holding two vases, each vase containing a dozen red roses. All apparently for her.

In wordless shock, she opened the door wider to let them enter.

The starched uniformed maids smiled as they filed past her into the room. Soon, every possible surface of her room was covered with flowers; the fragrance surrounding her and filling the room with a heady scent. The giggling maids filed out bantering about her ardent admirer.

Victoria opened the envelope that had been handed to her by one of the maids, already certain of who had sent the overwhelming gift.

“
To a most beautiful and charming lady that I would be honored to call my own.”

Tears stung the back of her eyelids. The immense emotions of being completely wanted, desired and beautiful filled her.

Angrily she dashed away the hot tears that slid from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. She would not let him turn her into a sentimental simpleton, falling for his alluring charm which was designed specifically to lure her into his corrupting proposal.

She had to view this sensibly to find the right solution without allowing her emotions to muddle her good judgment.

William Worthington was willing to give her title to the store, which meant she and Mandy could keep all of the profits.

All she had to do was . . . well, what he wanted.

Lay with him.

Do the things that married people did.

What would it be like to be naked in his bed and wrapped in his arms?

She shouldn’t even be thinking such things, let alone calling up the ribald images that formed so easily in her mind.

Of course, as he so unkindly pointed out, she was practically a spinster. What were her prospects for a future family? There was no man in Ft. Worth who remotely interested her.

And now, now that she had met Worthington, despite he was a reprobate of the worst kind, she knew she could never marry another man. Because as much as she despised herself for her folly, she wanted Worthington the same way he wanted her.

How could she have fallen for such a debauchee? He had called her a lady, but what he wanted her to be was far removed from the behavior of a lady.

A respectable woman would never consider his immoral suggestion.

Of course, she had always been bold, hadn’t she? She had always followed her own set of rules, especially since their father had passed on. At this moment she didn’t feel much like a lady and wasn’t sure she wanted to be one any more.

Drat him anyway. It was his fault that these sensual, sinful thoughts plagued her to the point that she was considering the unimaginable.

He had so much power over her. She would have been tempted to be with him without anything in return. But, what he offered was so much. What she would be required to give would be easy and most probably quite pleasurable. In the scheme of life did it really matter if she gave herself to him? No one need ever know. When she left San Francisco, her scandalous secret would stay behind.

But could she give herself to him so easily and in such a mercenary fashion?

She was a grown mature woman after all and certainly past the wide-eyed dreams of being an innocent blushing bride. That kind of thing was for Mandy. It was the romantic dreams of a younger girl not on her own trying to save her sister and herself.

What would her life be like if she forwarded through each separate path?

If she didn’t accept his offer she would lose the store. From there a delineation of her bleak life alone stretched out in front of her. She was twenty-five already and she didn’t want to marry anyone in Fort Worth. She wanted to be independent. With the money and the store in her name, she would never have to marry.

If she didn’t marry, there was only one way she would ever know passion with a man she wanted.

If she went home now, she would most likely be forced to marry one of the men who had made an offer in the past, none of whom even remotely interested her. Then what? Babies. Work. Poverty. And death.

Or perhaps there would ultimately be an even worse fate for Mandy and her. Perhaps they would both later be forced to accept similar offers from local cowhands to keep from starving. She could stand anything for herself, but she could tolerate nothing touching Mandy.

Surely Pap would understand. Maybe not Ma…Ma would most certainly take her pride to her grave. But Pap, yes, Pap would be judicious in a situation like this.

Was it really possible to want a man at the same time she despised him? Or perhaps she cared for him more than she would allow herself to concede?

If she left now, she would never see William again.

Victoria’s heart squeezed with pain and longing. How could she have fallen for a man who only wanted her for his own lascivious
raison d’etre
..

It was unthinkable…beyond scandalous…yet, it held such enticing appeal. If she did this thing, she was going to be utterly malapropos…even considering such wickedness was a sin.