by Gigi Moore
“If there’s anything going on, anything at all, you can talk to me about it. I’m here for you, Lucy. Remember that.”
“Anything like what?” She frowned.
Maia shrugged and Lucy got a bad feeling in her stomach. Maia was not one to act unsure and closemouthed. What was she trying so hard not to say?
“Talk to me about anything that’s troubling you. I don’t want you to isolate yourself or feel like you don’t have any friends. I don’t want you to retreat into a shell like you were in when Rance was still here to browbeat you.”
Lucy wanted to argue, but couldn’t, because Maia was absolutely right. She had felt so alone and lonely with Rance. She had had no one to turn to, no one to trust, no one to stand up for her against Rance, so why bother to confide?
Things were different now, weren’t they? Ki was certainly no Rance and she had Prentice at the house to assuage any conflict that might arise between her and Ki.
Some women might think she was the luckiest girl in the world, surrounded by so much male pulchritude. Lucy considered herself tortured to be surrounded by so much male flesh in which she, for her emotional well-being, refused to take enjoyment.
Some nights she’d just lie awake beside Ki after he’d given up trying to persuade her to have relations with him. She’d fantasize about allowing Ki and Prentice to take liberties with her body, enjoying every lusty thrust and lick, crying out beneath their oral manipulations, collapsing between them totally satiated and still ravenous for them.
Could she confide in Maia about that fantasy, Maia who had two men worshipping at her feet every day?
“So, you never told me how you liked Ki’s wedding gift to you.”
Lucy’s face instantly heated.
“He did give it to you, didn’t he?”
“Oh, yes.” Boy had he. Lucy couldn’t have been more shocked by that picture than had she saw it hanging up behind the bar at Winchester’s.
The painting was undeniably beautiful and evocative. It was so beautiful in fact she could barely believe that she was the inspiration, indeed the model, for it. Seeing that picture, Lucy could almost forgive Maia anything, Maia who had rendered her with such passion and sensitivity as to make her seem an unattainable dream.
At home she couldn’t avoid the painting because Ki insisted on hanging it in a place of honor right on the wall above the headboard of their bed. It taunted her with a reminder of how cold and lifeless her marriage bed had been, how undesirable she felt.
Irrationally, Lucy felt if Ki rightly wanted her, he would have fought harder for her, would have made more of a fuss to change her mind whenever she’d said no to him. Wasn’t she worth the effort? Then she thought how she would have felt if he had put up a ruckus or had been more forceful with her. He would have been no better than Rance in her eyes.
Under those circumstances, Ki was just damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. Lucy knew it wasn’t fair to him, but that was the way it was.
Secretly, she commended Ki for his forbearance. She didn’t know how much longer his patience would last, but so far Ki had treated her with the utmost respect without making her feel guilty for not living up to her conjugal duties. Another man might not have been so forgiving and kind, another man like Rance or the men he had regularly handed her off to.
“So, did you like your gift?”
Lucy looked at the eager smile on Maia’s face and couldn’t help smiling herself. She knew the woman meant well and she more than admired Maia’s talent. “I loved it.”
“I know you were probably a little surprised when you saw it.”
“You could say that.”
Maia laughed. “I just painted what I saw. I painted what Ki sees when he looks at you.”
Lucy did not need the image Maia’s words suggested, because if Ki saw her the way she appeared in that picture—a sensual creature bared to the world—then she was in trouble. It was only a matter of time before he laid claim to what belonged to him.
“Don’t think so hard, Lucy.”
She shook herself from her woolgathering to look at Maia. “I don’t think hard enough.” If she had thought hard about what she had been about to do, she probably wouldn’t be in her current predicament. She would not have accepted Ki’s proposal—twice.
“Not true. You think too hard and you’re too hard on yourself.”
“I don’t know how else to be.”
“Let Ki teach you. He…he cares about you.”
Lucy wanted to believe that, but she knew the minute she let her guard down, the minute she trusted him and began to believe that good things were meant to happen to her, someone would pull the rug right from under her. No good could possibly come of an arrangement forged from dishonesty and greed.
She had wanted Peyton’s to belong to her, had felt she’d deserved her husband’s saloon, and she’d done what she’d thought she’d needed to get it. She wasn’t sure yet if her efforts had been worth it and she still wasn’t sure what Ki’s motivations had been to propose.
When had she become such a cynic?
“I know you think you made a mistake accepting Ki’s proposal. Maybe it started out that way, but listening to your heart, being true to yourself can never be a mistake. Trust him, Lucy. Trust yourself.”
The bell over the door chimed before Lucy could formulate a proper response.
When Prentice stepped through the door, she actually smiled and sighed in relief before her heart began thudding with anticipation.
She shouldn’t be so excited and happy to see a man who wasn’t her husband!
“Ethan, good to see you!”
Maia actually sounded like she meant that and Lucy felt like such a traitor for not telling her friend the truth.
This is why bad things happened to her. She wasn’t a nice person. She was a liar and untrustworthy.
Prentice swore no good could possibly come from telling anyone the truth about him, especially Maia, Thayne, or Cade. Lucy saw the logic in Prentice’s notion, but she still felt bad keeping her and Prentice’s secret. No good ever came from keeping secrets.
“Good to see you, too, Maia.”
If she was a liar, then Prentice was a master at keeping secrets, Lucy thought.
How could he be so calm and pleasant being in the same room with Maia? Lucy was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
She watched the two of them converse, still and silent for fear of saying the wrong thing or making a false move.
“So how are you finding the living arrangements at Lucy’s and Ki’s place? Are they good hosts?” Maia teased.
Prentice smiled. “They’re better than good hosts.”
“Good to hear it.”
“Speaking of hosts, Maia, do you think Thayne would…”
“Yes?” Maia prompted.
“I was wondering if you think Thayne might consider taking on an apprentice at his office, someone to help out with his patients.”
Lucy’s breath hitched in her chest as she watched Maia arch a brow.
She wondered what was on Prentice’s mind. He hadn’t mentioned anything back at the house about wanting to work with Thayne, at least not to her.
One look at his face, the oddly shy sincerity in his brandy eyes told her, however, that Prentice had no ulterior motive. He truly wanted to help.
“Thinking of changing professions?” Maia smiled and Lucy could sense the warmth of her approval.
“Something like that.”
“I’ll mention it to him and see what he thinks.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Prentice cleared his throat and clapped his hands. “So where’s your other partner in crime?”
Maia laughed. “Sabrina’s running around rallying the troops and making some last-minute preparations for Lily Baldwin’s baby shower. You are coming, aren’t you? It’s in a couple of weeks.”
“I didn’t know I was invited.” Prentice turned to Lucy and she shrugged.
; “You didn’t tell him and Ki?”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind.” The most pressing of which was how to keep ducking and dodging Ki’s advances while she was living under the same roof as him and trying not to succumb to his and Prentice’s sensual charms.
“Well, I am officially inviting you and Ki now. Make sure to mention it to him. We’ll give you all the details as soon as we iron everything out.”
“I’ll make sure and put it on my calendar.”
“I know you guys are eager to get out of here and over to Winchester’s so I’ll finish closing up.”
“You’re sure it’s okay for me to leave?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. So shoo.”
Lucy laughed. “I guess we’d better skedaddle then.” She stored the duster she had been using and untied and removed the apron she was wearing. By the time she was ready to leave, Prentice was standing at the front door with an arm crooked for her.
He bowed slightly as she approached and Lucy smiled and put her arm in his as she bid Maia a good evening.
Once outside, Lucy took a deep breath. She felt like she had been holding it all day and finally had a chance to properly exhale.
“Rough day?” Prentice asked.
“No more so than usual.”
“Good, because there’s a little surprise back at the house for you.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“Not a good one.”
Lucy stopped in her tracks and stared at him. “Prentice, what is it?”
“That’s something I needed to broach with you, too. You need to be careful about calling me Prentice, especially in public.”
“Why? Did Ki say something?”
“He heard you the other night when we were down in the kitchen having tea.”
“Oh no.”
“I handled it.”
“How?”
“I told him Prentice was my middle name and you liked my middle name.”
“And he fell for that?”
Prentice looked at her, an amused expression on his face. “No, not really, but it was the best I could do on the fly. He threatened to go to Ethan’s parents to confirm my story.”
Knowing Ki, it probably wasn’t an idle threat. She could just see him paying the Crawfords a visit and charming the truth out of them before they realized they were being interrogated. “So what is this unpleasant surprise back at the house for me?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Of course you should have.”
“Ki’s mother is in town. She arrived at the house this afternoon.”
“His mother? All the way from New York?” She didn’t know why she sounded so shocked. She supposed it was bound to happen eventually. What mother wouldn’t want to meet the woman her son had promised “to have and to hold ’til death do us part”?
“She wasn’t too pleased by your absence, especially since she’d come such a long way to see you. In fact, she wanted to come to Healing Magick, but Ki talked her out of it.”
Surely the woman must be thinking that she wasn’t up to the task of being a proper wife to her son. After all, wouldn’t a good and proper wife be home catering to her husband’s every need and taking care of home and hearth?
Lucy could just imagine Mrs. Benjamin going around the house with a white glove, wiping down every surface searching for dust or looking at her son with a critical eye to see how satisfied a man he was.
“How did Ki talk her out of coming to Healing Magick?”
“She didn’t need too much convincing. She’d been traveling by train and coach for the last three or four days. She was bone tired and retired to one of the guest rooms at Ki’s urging.”
“Wonderful. She’ll be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by the time we get home later.”
Prentice laughed and put an arm around her as they resumed walking. “You shouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll love you.”
“Would your mother? Love me, I mean.”
“It wouldn’t matter whether my mother loved you or not. I’m my own man. I don’t make decisions based on what my mother or father would think. I don’t think Ki does either.”
His remark about Ki seemed right and for the first time since she had made Prentice’s acquaintance she wondered about his family. Where were they and why did he never talk about them? For a moment, she thought about asking him, but Prentice had never seemed the type to appreciate anyone prying into his personal affairs and life. Instead she said, “You two seemed to have become a mite chummy since this morning.” The last time she’d seen Ki and Prentice at the breakfast table, they had barely said two words to each other.
“We’ve come to an understanding about…things.”
“So he’s not jealous of you anymore?”
“I wouldn’t say that. We just know where we stand.”
“Well, I guess that’s an improvement.”
Prentice didn’t say anything more and they walked the rest of the few blocks to Winchester’s in silence.
The lull left Lucy too much opportunity to torment herself with thoughts of what sort of welcome awaited her back at the house from Ki and his mother later on.
Chapter 14
Premature ejaculation. The two words had never been a part of Prentice’s vocabulary. They had never been a part of his world or his reality. The condition was nothing with which he’d ever had any personal experience. After his early arrival into the world as a preemie, he had had no other experiences with premature anything…until earlier in the parlor.
Leave it to Ki to break down that barrier and force Prentice to experience something that he had never before experienced in his life. The way Prentice had reacted to Ki earlier during that fencing match Prentice knew it would not be the last time that Ki taught him something about himself.
After breakfast that morning, Prentice had thought to turn the tables on Ki rather than sulk in his room until it came time for him to leave for work later as had been his habit the last few days. Instead, he had gone to the parlor having decided to give Lucy’s husband a taste of his own medicine. He hadn’t counted on that confounding golden-brown haired, blue-eyed bombshell turning the tables on him yet again.
Prentice knew he had gotten to Ki with his apple eating, and had thoroughly enjoyed playing the siren song to Ki’s mariner. His victory, however, had been too short lived. Once he had gotten into the thick of the battle—so caught up in taking Ki down and thoroughly enjoying the adrenaline rush of the sport—Prentice had forgotten his original purpose. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be tempting Ki and not the other way around and he had completely forgotten how very cunning and enticing Ki could be.
His first clue and warning should have been when he’d initially arrived to the parlor and seen the glistening, muscled beauty of Ki’s naked torso, the balletic perfection of his moves with the épée. The man was erotic poetry in motion, sex on a stick.
Prentice hadn’t thought that he could be so turned on from watching a man, as turned on as he had ever been watching a woman.
If he had thought watching Ki was a total turn-on, Prentice had had his world completely rocked when Ki had kissed him.
It was the first kiss he had shared with a man and during it Prentice had told himself it would not be the last—at least it wouldn’t be the last kiss he shared with this particular man.
Prentice smiled at the sudden image he had of that scene from the movie In & Out and how he had felt like Kevin Kline’s character when Tom Selleck’s character had kissed Kevin’s character on the side of the road out in broad daylight. Just like Kevin’s character, Prentice had been thoroughly lost, not knowing where to put his hands or legs until he’d finally just given in and let nature take its course.
God, he had never been so caught up with blind lust before, so caught up it hadn’t mattered to him that he had been clinging to and clutching a man. He hadn’t cared about the gender of the person in his arms at that moment. He had only c
ared that the person at the other end of his fingertips had wanted Prentice as desperately as Prentice had wanted him. He had only cared that Ki seemed to like him and wasn’t threatened by Prentice’s aloofness. Ki wasn’t intimidated by Prentice’s looks, manners, or sarcasm like everyone else in his life had seemed to be for as far back as Prentice could remember.
Ki saw him like no other man, like no other person except Lucy, saw him.
Was the intensity of their connection, the force of their chemistry the reason that Prentice had felt an inkling of his powers when Ki had kissed him?
Sex had always recharged and enhanced his powers in the past. Was the fact that Ki was male enough to resurrect them from the oblivion to which they had been consigned since he hadn’t felt anything when he’d kissed Lucy? Not that the latter necessarily meant anything.
Was the resurgence a random fluke or had his angels just decided that he had earned the right to have his powers back?
“Whiskey, barkeep!”
Prentice came out of his reverie to see the man who banged on the bar Prentice had been mindlessly polishing with a clean rag for who knew how long. “Coming right up.” Prentice turned from the bar to tend to the man’s order.
“Ain’t you Clint and Katie’s boy?”
Prentice turned back to the bar to see the man peering at him as he poured the man’s drink in a shot glass. “Yep, Ethan. That’s me.”
“Can’t imagine they approve of you working in a place like this.” The man downed his drink and slammed his glass on the bar. “Another one.”
“Sure.” Prentice poured him another shot and stood back to stare at him, wondering what morality police force the guy worked for. It wasn’t the first time since he’d started the job that someone recognized him as “Clint and Katie’s boy” and wondered what he was doing in Winchester’s.
Prentice shrugged now in answer to his customer’s comment.
“Ain’t learnt your lesson yet about listening to your parents?” the man said before downing his second shot. “Parents know what’s best for their kids.”
“I suppose so.” First rule of business, the customer was always right. Except when the customer was some obviously inebriated miner-type that didn’t know which way was up much less what was the best way a young man could honor his parents.