by Sara Orwig
“Mr. Castle—”
“What? Oh, sorry.” Dan turned to meet four businessmen. He wanted to talk to them, but was relieved when his host moved him on to meet more people.
He curbed the urge to ask to go directly to her, trying to shake hands, smile politely, and talk briefly with people as he was introduced. Dan and Charles slowly moved around the room. As they circled to the point where his back was no longer to her, Dan was pleased to see that she had moved also, standing where she could easily observe his approach. Now Charles paused before five men, and Dan was introduced to whiskered gentlemen who looked prosperous and gazed at him with curious eyes. One, Benjamin Corning, said, “I’ve heard your name. You’re the fellow building the new house on Sherman.”
“That’s right. I’m in the building business.”
One of the men laughed, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper. “You’re the fellow who built Miss Dulcie’s house.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Fine house.” He cleared his throat and raised his voice to a normal level. “How’s progress on your own house?”
“This snow has me stopped,” Dan said, aware that the black-haired beauty had turned and was openly listening to his conversation. His pulse beat faster in anticipation. She must have felt something extraordinary too, or she wouldn’t be paying such close attention to him.
“I’ve heard about your house on Sherman,” the one named Forester said. “I’ll have to ride past and take a look. Even Mrs. Forester has talked about it.”
“You can talk to him about it later,” Charles Shumacher said. “I want him to meet all my guests.”
Then Dan finally faced her, seeing her smile coyly at him, a twinkle in her eyes, which were the most unusual color, a clear lavender blue like wild hyacinth.
“Louisa, may I present Mr. Dan Castle, a new arrival in our city and a new customer of mine. Mr. Castle, meet Miss Shumacher, the light of my life.”
“Your daughter?” Dan asked in surprise, and he smiled. “How do you do, Miss Shumacher?” he greeted her, relieved that she was not already married.
“And meet the swains, Gerald Rathway, Manfred Bliss, and Reuben Knelville.”
Dan shook hands with the three men. He turned to take Louisa’s arm. “Sir, thank you for introducing me to your guests. Mrs. Shumacher was looking for her daughter, so I’ll take Miss Shumacher to her, if you gentlemen will excuse us.”
Charles Shumacher reflected one second of surprise in his blue eyes; then it was gone and he smiled and nodded. “Of course, Mr. Castle. We’ll talk later.”
They moved away, and she laughed. “What a liar you are!”
“What are you talking about?” he said, threading his way through the crowd toward the hall.
“My mother didn’t tell you to come searching for me! My mother doesn’t know you!”
“She does now,” he said happily, steering Miss Shumacher into the hall. “I met her when I arrived.”
“And she sent you to fetch me?”
He looked down at her and grinned. “Of course not. I wanted you all to myself.”
“You’re a bold man, Mr. Castle. First you knock me flat in the snow, next you whisk me away from everyone!” she said. “We shouldn’t leave the party.”
“No, but we’re going to,” he said, taking her arm again. She resisted, but he gazed steadfastly down into her eyes and she yielded.
“Do you always get your way?”
“I hope so,” he said, stepping into a lighted library and closing the door. She moved on, turning to face him and raising her eyebrows.
“You’ll scandalize me and get thrown out of Papa’s house!”
“I don’t think so on either count. We’ll go back in a few minutes, but I wanted you alone so I could talk to you,” he said, leaning against the door. “Otherwise I would have to share you with a wagonload of men, and I don’t care to do that.”
There was a moment of silence and he moved away from the door, stepping closer to her. “Louisa—”
“You’ll scandalize everyone if you don’t address me as Miss Shumacher.”
“Is there any one man?”
She gave him a teasing, coy look that also held speculation. “Perhaps I see one more than the others. But Reuben isn’t the only one.”
“Good. I’m going to ask your father if I can take you to…What does Denver have in the way of events where I can be your escort?”
She laughed, a musical sound, and he drew a sharp breath. He wanted to hold her in his arms. She reminded him of Melissa—dazzlingly beautiful, obviously intelligent—and he was intrigued with her in a way he hadn’t been with anyone else.
“You are the most brazen man I’ve ever met! You want to take me out to an ‘event,’ but you don’t even have an event in mind! All you want—” She blushed and closed her mouth.
“Go ahead and say it,” he drawled in a husky voice, moving a step closer, his pulse racing.
“I don’t know about events,” she said, suddenly sounding uncertain and young. “There’s the church social next Friday evening. Emily Parsons is having a taffy pull in two weeks on a Saturday night.”
“What’s happening tomorrow night?”
“I’m going with my parents to a party given by the Montroses.”
Dan filed the name away in memory. Her breathing was fast, her gaze sliding away from his and back with nervous curiosity. He was drawn to her like a freezing man to warmth, and he couldn’t resist reaching out to touch a silky curl. As she drew a swift breath, he gazed into her eyes.
“We had better join the others,” she said somberly, all her playfulness gone. “I don’t want a scandal.”
He nodded, watching her, knowing her pulse was racing as much as his. “We’ll go back, but before the month is up, I’m going to hold you in my arms and find out what it’s like to kiss you,” he whispered.
“Sir, you are too bold!” She swept past him for the door. He reached out to spin her around to face him again.
She gasped, her breast straining against her bodice, her lips parting, her eyelids drooping as she raised her mouth, looking as if she expected him to steal a kiss now. Dan gazed down at her, wanting to kiss her, knowing he could, but also wanting to set himself apart in her mind from the flock of men who were after her.
“And when the time comes, you’re going to want to be kissed,” he said softly.
It took two heartbeats for her to realize he wasn’t going to kiss her now, and to absorb his implication that she would be as eager as he when he kissed her. Her cheeks flooded with a pink glow, and she tilted her head to gaze up at him, momentarily flustered. She could see the teasing glint, the blatant desire in his eyes, and she regained her composure, smiling at him. She was accustomed to men losing their balance, and she wasn’t usually the one thrown off stride. Dan Castle was an interesting man she wanted to know better.
She gazed boldly back at him. “You’re as confident as you are brash. Perhaps someday, Mr. Castle, you’ll meet your match!”
He laughed, feeling sparks dance between them, wanting to haul her into his arms right now, knowing it would be best to wait.
“I’m sure that by this time my mother actually will be searching for me!” Louisa Shumacher continued. “She doesn’t allow me to single out acquaintances and slip away with them during parties.” Dan watched her leave, giving her time to return to the party alone. He didn’t care to share her with a host of eager men, each hanging on her every word, and he had no doubt that was exactly what the rest of the evening held in store. Instead, he glanced at the books on the shelves, taking one down and hearing a faint crackle of pages when he opened it. It looked as fresh as the day it had been placed on the shelf, and he guessed that no one in the Shumacher family had actually read the elegant leather-bound volumes on the shelves. His gaze ran over them, and he remembered for just an instant his childhood and his mother, Hattie, who had loved to read. She had taught him the same fascination for books, spendin
g hours reading to him when he was small, making certain he received a new book each Christmas and each birthday. They were always treasured items. He ran his fingers along the books. Someday he would have his own library, his own leather-bound books, and enough time in his life to read.
He sauntered toward the hall without realizing he hadn’t once thought of Dulcie in the past few hours. A twinge of guilt plagued him as he joined the party, deliberately avoiding Miss Shumacher as he moved from group to group. When he went to dinner, he was surprised to discover he was seated to her right. To his left was Mrs. Byers, wife of William Byers, who published one of Denver’s newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News. Dan spent his time talking to her about the newspaper.
“It seems we’re together again,” he said once, leaning close to Louisa Shumacher.
“Yes, perhaps Mama placed me next to you to welcome you into Denver society, since she knows you’re new in town. I hear you build beautiful houses.”
“I hope so. I’d like to show you mine.”
“I’d love that, but I don’t think Mama will consent.” She smiled as she slanted her head to study him. “But you’ll probably find a method to win her agreement. I suspect that most of the time, people do as you want, Mr. Castle.”
He grinned in return. “Time will tell,” he said, lowering his voice.
Her lashes fluttered, her smile becoming coy. “I suppose it really depends on what it is you want people to do. And how you go about charming them into it,” she said, her own voice becoming a throaty velvet that made him burn with heat. She was sophisticated and beautiful, flirting with him, answering his every challenge with one of her own, and he wanted her. He flicked a glance beyond her at the head of the table, saw her father engaged in conversation with the woman on his right, and then looked back at Miss Shumacher, letting his gaze drop to her bosom, looking at the soft rise of lush breasts that strained against the blue silk, the lace that fluttered against her pale skin with each breath. With an effort he raised his gaze and met hers, staring boldly without banking his desire, wanting her and deciding he would have her.
She blushed, her lashes fluttered, pale pink suffused her cheeks, and once again he realized he had jolted her. He was glad. He wouldn’t be satisfied the way the other men were, fawning over her and waiting for crumbs of her attention.
She turned her head. Her dinner partner on the left was engaged in conversation, the back of his head to her, and she stared straight ahead, picking up a crystal goblet of wine. Dan watched her lips touch the glass, and he leaned close to her ear. “Today and tonight have been special. I won’t forget them.” He let his breath tickle her ear, wanting to touch her slender throat.
“Sir, you will stir gossip with your brazen behavior.”
“Smile, Miss Shumacher,” he whispered easily, glancing at other guests, catching Reuben watching them with smoldering eyes. “If you smile, they will think I’m merely telling you some gossip.”
“Sir—”
She sounded annoyed and breathless. He turned away to say something else to Mrs. Byers, ignoring Louisa Shumacher for the remainder of the meal until he helped her from her chair, offering his hand. The moment her slender, soft fingers were placed in his, he felt a fiery tingle from her touch.
“What an unforgettable dinner,” he said softly, gazing down at her with a faint smile.
At a loss, Louisa stared up at him. She should have thanked him. It was, after all, a Shumacher party, and she was a Shumacher, but the tone of Dan Castle’s voice had implied something entirely different, giving his casual statement a personal meaning.
“Thank you,” she answered after a moment’s hesitation, and was instantly annoyed with herself. He disturbed her. Lord, he was handsome! His blue eyes seemed to bore into her and nail some part of her to a wall, leaving her under his scrutiny for as long as he pleased. She expected him to accompany her from the dining room. Instead he turned to take Mrs. Byers’ arm.
As he moved ahead, Louisa stared at the back of his golden head. She couldn’t understand him. He wanted her. He was blatant in his desire, far more blunt than any man of her acquaintance. And far more sure of himself than most men, although Reuben was another exception. The exciting thought of pitting Reuben against Dan Castle tingled through Louisa. Contemplating the two men, she went to the front parlor with the ladies while the men shut themselves in the library for brandy and cigars.
Marvella, one of her best friends, pulled her aside. “Louisa, I saw you with him!”
“With whom, Marvella? I’ve talked to every man under forty here tonight.”
“With that new Mr. Castle. Isn’t he the most handsome man you’ve ever seen!” Marvella rolled big brown eyes, her golden curls bouncing as she jiggled her head.
“He is handsome,” Louisa admitted, glancing at the closed parlor door that separated them.
“Has he asked you out?”
“Well, yes.”
“I knew he would,” Marvella said with a sigh, and her eagerness vanished so swiftly Louisa had to laugh.
“If you’re interested—”
“Of course I’m interested, but I’m sure he’s interested only in you.”
“I don’t think so,” Louisa said, realizing she meant it. For once, she couldn’t tell. At moments he had seemed taken with her, and she knew he wanted her. Yes, he wanted her. He wasn’t even polite or careful about letting his desire for her show, but at other times he seemed to forget her existence, something bachelors never did, particularly bachelors she had encouraged. “I don’t know what he feels,” she said, more to herself than to her friend.
“You—uncertain?” Marvella asked in amazed disbelief, and Louisa blinked with annoyance.
“I don’t care whom Mr. Castle likes or what he does! I do think he’s making Reuben jealous,” she said with satisfaction. She thought about Reuben, who was so handsome with his thick brown hair and broad shoulders. Yet Dan Castle was at least equally handsome.
“Louisa, I do believe you’ve met a man you can’t wind around your little finger,” Marvella said, studying her friend openly. “That’s amazing.”
“Don’t be absurd! Are you going to the taffy pull?”
“Yes. If you shun Mr. Castle for Reuben, I hope he’ll look my way. He is the most exciting man in Denver in ages! The way he looks at a woman just makes you want to curl up and melt. Doesn’t it, Louisa?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Louisa answered stiffly, hating the fact that she couldn’t control her blushes.
“They say he’s from Texas, that he has relatives in San Antonio.”
“I’m weary of hearing about Mr. Castle.”
“La, la, la!” Marvella teased. “I’m tired of Mr. Castle,” she said, mocking Louisa. “I saw you watching him before dinner and flirting with him during dinner. Did you have your mother seat him beside you?”
“Good Lord, no! Do you suppose he thinks that?” Louisa asked, aghast.
“Of course not,” Marvella answered. “What will you wear to the party?”
Louisa answered perfunctorily, her stormy thoughts on Mr. Castle and whether that was exactly what he would think. If he thought she had asked to have him placed next to her at dinner, how humiliating it would be!
“No, I couldn’t have!” she blurted belatedly, realizing she had interrupted Marvella and Elsabet, who had just joined them.
“Couldn’t have what?” Elsabet asked politely.
“I’m sorry. Never mind. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said, blushing with embarrassment.
Marvella studied her intently. “You couldn’t have had him seated next to you?” she asked with exasperating clearness.
“No, I couldn’t,” Louisa answered stiffly. Dan Castle was causing her an inordinate amount of discomfort, and she intended to put a stop to it. Until now she hadn’t met a man who constantly stirred her embarrassment, and she didn’t intend to let him succeed at it.
At that moment the parlor doors opened and the men rejoined the la
dies. She saw Dan stroll into the room, a brandy still in hand. He was talking to Mr. Byers and laughing, his gaze flicking over a bevy of women, then returning to Mr. Byers. They paused with a group of men and women standing close to the fireplace while Louisa was absorbed by a group of young men who plied her with questions, each trying more than the other for her attention. Reuben eased himself through the group until he was at her side.
“And now, Louisa promised to show me her father’s new rifle. Excuse us, gentlemen,” he said, and propelled her away from a cluster of disappointed men.
She laughed. “You fool no one. Every party we have, you have to see Papa’s new rifle!”
“Why were you seated by that man at dinner? Did you request that arrangement, Louisa?”
“Of course not!” she snapped, angered that everyone must assume she had.
“Next time, check your mother’s seating arrangement. I’m sure you could persuade her to put you close to me.”
Her anger melted as she slanted him a glance. “You’re jealous, Reuben!”
“I don’t care to share you with some unknown newcomer.”
“He asked me out,” she said, twirling around to smile at Reuben, delighting in the scowl on his face. He was far too sure of himself where women were concerned. A little jealousy would do him good. “I think he’s quite charming.”
A sardonic smile curved Reuben’s mouth. “Louisa, you’re a kitten with claws. You’re trying to provoke me.” He tucked his arm in hers and strolled into the empty hall, moving to an alcove, where he paused and put his arm over her head, standing close to her and hemming her in. “Where did Castle ask you to go?”
“To Emily’s taffy pull,” she said, knowing he had done no such thing, but deciding it would be nice for Reuben to think so.
“You’re going with me.”
“No, Reuben. Didn’t you hear—”
He leaned down to kiss her, his arm slipping around her waist and pulling her close against him. His tongue thrust into her mouth in a delicious foray that sent tremors through her. Louisa knew they might get caught, but she loved Reuben’s kisses, especially the way they made her hot and breathless. He was the most daring man she knew, but visions of smoldering blue eyes danced in her mind and her response to Reuben faded until it became annoyance. She pushed away.