The woman turned back and a pained look crossed her face. “I swear I plum forgot my good manners.” She wiped one hand on her apron before offering it to Prudence. “Alma Faraday. I’m pleased to meet ya. I do the cookin’ and cleanin’ around here. Course, the professor won’t let me clean up the biggest mess in the house, but then I guess that’s why he brought ya all the way out here from New York.”
Prudence frowned. She did not travel thousands of miles to become a housekeeper. Perhaps this woman didn’t understand her position in the household.
“I’m here to serve as Professor Rhinehart’s secretary, Mrs. Faraday, to get his papers in order. I’ve been trained at a business college to take notes using the Fonografic alphabet and to operate a typewriting machine.” She lifted her chin with pride.
Mrs. Faraday’s eyes widened and she grinned. “I know why ya was hired, but you got some job ahead of you, Missy, to organize the professor.” She chortled. “You’ll see. That man creates a mess wherever he goes. Always in a big hurry to build them machines of his. No time to clean anythin’ up!”
With that, she scuttled from the room.
Prudence perched on the edge of the bed, poured cream into the cup and stirred several spoons of sugar into the steaming liquid. She inhaled the fragrance and felt the muscles of her body relax. She’d developed a taste for coffee and no one had denied her its warmth and heady effect as she traveled from the east. From one train station to another, at every stage stop along the way, she’d been blessed with a cup of the strong brew to keep her moving.
Now she was here, and despite the housekeeper’s warning, she had every intention of sorting, organizing and managing the professor’s work. He’d said in his letters he was behind on applying for patents, so once she had everything in order, which shouldn’t take that long, she’d begin that process. She loved tackling a big project, because each step forward was a small reward for her. She thrilled at creating lists and then checking each item off as she completed it.
Organization gave her a sense of control and accomplishment.
But it could all wait until tomorrow. She would savor her cup of coffee, and then luxuriate in a hot bath before sitting down to a decent meal. Hopefully one without a trace of bacon and beans, the main ingredients for most dinners she’d eaten for almost a month.
And if a handsome man chatted with her across the dining table, it wouldn’t hurt to flirt a bit and try to charm him. That is, if she could remember how it was done.
***
Prudence followed Mrs. Faraday down the path afraid if anyone should see her, they’d think she was a wanton hussy. The housekeeper had insisted Prudence could don her winter coat over her nightgown and slip her feet into her unlaced boots. It seemed strange to walk outdoors without her corset, chemise, petticoats, pantalets, stockings and gown. Actually—she felt light and free and more than a tiny bit wicked.
“Won’t be nobody out on this path and ain’t but a hundred steps from the front porch to the bathing house.” Mrs. Faraday assured her. “The professor warned everyone you’d be taking a bath this evening, and he’s keepin’ watch with his shotgun to make sure none of the men try to take a peek at your goods.”
Prudence’s cheeks warmed at the reference to her goods. There had been many men eager to brush up against her on her journey when they discovered she was traveling alone…and even a few bold enough to pinch her bottom or grab at her breasts. They’d received a firm rebuke for their advances and one was smacked with her parasol when he became too familiar.
She followed the housekeeper into a small stone building where the heat and humidity hit her like a wave washing over a rocky shore the instant they stepped into the room. Several lanterns glowed inside and Prudence could see two large wooden tubs occupying most of the space. A hot mist rose from one of them.
“This here’s the hottest tub, so you can start here and then when you feel like yer boiled up like a chicken in a stewpot, jump into this other one. It’ll cool you down right quick.”
The housekeeper nodded at several thick flannel towels hung on pegs near the door. “Wrap the towel around ya and lie down on one of these benches for a spell. It’ll make yer hair curl, but all them aching muscles from being bounced all over tarnation on the Meemie will thank you.”
Before Prudence could mutter her thanks, the woman had disappeared, slamming the heavy the door behind her. She glanced around the windowless room, determined she was alone and removed her coat. She slid the white lawn nightgown over her head, laid it on a bench and climbed into the first wooden tub. She dipped one toe in and yelped in surprise. The water was so hot and it took a few minutes for her to adjust. Inch by inch she lowered herself into the water.
She discovered a narrow bench around the inside of the tub, settled her bottom on it and leaned back to appreciate the first hot bath she’d had in over a month.
She scrubbed her body with the lilac soap, then washed her hair twice. She would have lingered in the heat of the water longer, but her skin was beginning to turn dark pink and she remembered the housekeeper’s reference to a boiled chicken. That wasn’t the appearance she wished to present at dinner this evening with the intriguing Professor Gerritt Rhinehart sitting across from her.
She rolled the name over her tongue with luscious abandon since there was no one else around to hear her. “Gerritt,” she whispered, putting a husky note in her voice. She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to share the tub with the tall, muscular professor.
What would it feel like to run her hands down those hard muscles after the water made his skin smooth and slick? His mouth would be hot and moist. And when their lips met in a kiss, his tongue would shock her for a moment with its intrusion. But then, their lips would meld together and she’d press against him, feeling those strong arms pull her closer.
Her breasts tingled and her nipples grew to hard pebbles imagining the possibilities. She knew about the ways a man could make a woman feel in bed, but she’d experienced a small taste of the pleasures a couple could find together. She wanted to discover more, to experience the myriad ways a man and woman could find mutual carnal satisfaction.
Ways she would not be exploring with the professor because, she reminded herself again, he was her employer. She’d need to push these illicit daydreams aside and concentrate on her work.
Rising to her feet, she prepared to climb out of the tub. Obviously, she needed to cool down, and she’d best head to the other tub and then dry off. Her stomach was grumbling and she hoped dinner would be ready soon.
She heard a strange buzzing—no—rattling noise. She stopped in her tracks. She’d heard the men on the stagecoach talking about rattlesnakes. They warned others of their presence by shaking their tails. And they were very poisonous.
Prudence had shuddered at the talk because she was terrified of snakes. The idea of coming across one that could kill you with one bite was horrifying. She froze, aware that if it was a snake, it could be hiding anyplace in the shadows of the bathing house. There were just a few lanterns scattered around on the rough stone walls, making it hard to see the floor.
Her knees wobbled. Despite the steam in the room she felt like a cold pail of water had been dumped on her head.
“Help,” she whispered, wishing Professor Rhinehart hadn’t warned all the men away. Right now, she wouldn’t care if there was a crowd of men peeking at her goods. At least they’d be able to deal with the snake.
She could hear the rattling but it didn’t appear to be close. It might be under the bench near the door or in a corner. She tried to remember if the men had said anything about a snake’s hearing. Would it care if she shouted for help? They’d warned her to stop in her tracks if she heard the rattle. She remembered they said to stay absolutely still, which wasn’t a problem, because Prudence was so terrified she couldn’t move a muscle anyway.
“Help,” she cried, a bit louder.
“Mrs. Worthington, is that you?” Professor Rhine
hart answered from just outside the door.
She practically cried tears of relief.
“Yes, help me, please.” She raised her voice a bit, hoping it wouldn’t make the snake any angrier than it was now. Fear kept her frozen her to the spot.
The rattling resumed and it did sound angrier. Prudence still didn’t dare move. Every nerve in her body demanded she run, but she knew that would be a foolish mistake.
Perhaps even a fatal mistake.
“What’s wrong?” The professor sounded concerned but Prudence couldn’t form the words to answer. There were a few long moments of silence. Her heart thumped so hard, she was sure he could hear it outside.
“I’m coming in. Do you hear me?” He yelled. There was another long pause, as if he waited for her to respond. He’d have to come in without her permission because she had no intention of opening her mouth again.
The door swung open, and Professor Rhinehart took long, slow steps into the room, his shotgun moving in a wide arc. He stopped in his tracks and stared when he caught sight of her standing naked in the center of the room.
She held a finger to her mouth, commanding his silence. The rattling sound filled the room and he nodded in understanding. He advanced toward her, step by deliberate step, his gaze trained on the floor when he could manage to tear his eyes away from her.
“Climb up on my back,” he ordered when he stood in front of her. Prudence wished she could magically disappear into the floor to avoid this humiliation, but she had no choice. He wore high leather boots and woolen trousers, much better protection against the snake should it strike than her bare feet and legs.
She wrapped her legs around his thighs, put her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself up, circling her arms around his neck. She was beyond blushing, and she imagined her body looked like it was covered in a bright, red rash. The tips of her breasts rubbed against the smooth wool of his waistcoat and she hid her face in mortification.
Gerritt struggled to keep breathing and it wasn’t because Prudence had her arms around his neck. Or maybe that was some of the reason, but it was more than that. It was her soft, voluptuous body wrapped around his backside that made his cock grow hard as an oak log.
Her full, round breasts pushed against his back. His mind grew so fuzzy he struggled to recall the reason he’d come into the bathhouse. Something had frightened Prudence. The rattling broke through the fog of his aroused brain and reminded him there was a dangerous animal slithering around someplace on the floor.
He put one hand behind him to shift Prudence higher up on his back. It was a terrible mistake. He found her smooth, round bottom and his palm held it like a precious gift. A gift he was reluctant to surrender. The blood rushed through his veins like it was heated in the deep fissures of the earth.
He needed to find a safe place for her, but he couldn’t set her outside, at least not in her current unclothed condition.
“Hang on,” he ordered. He backed up to the steaming tub. “Did you get out of this one?”
“Yes,” she answered her voice shaky.
“Good. Get back in the water and stay there until I tell you it’s safe to come out.”
He heard her slip into the water as the weight dropped from his body. He wished he could have figured out a way to keep her clinging to his back. It felt good to have a woman’s curves stretched up against him. It felt good to have Prudence hanging on to him. That was the devil in the deal, she was wild heat and luscious curves, making dangerous images flood his brain. .
Prudence—naked and stretched out on a bed beside him, the full, white round globes of her breasts eager for his touch. His mouth searching for the hard, pink points of her nipples. Tasting her skin, her mouth, the sweetness between her legs.
“Snake,” she screeched. Her voice dragged him back to reality as quickly as if he’d jumped into an icy cold river in January.
He aimed the shotgun at the coiled reptile, then reconsidered. He’d learned from an Indian Medicine Man that all life was precious and you shouldn’t judge animals like humans. The creature had come inside searching for warmth, not with an intention to attack Prudence. Gerritt backed away with slow, measured steps. He found the shovel they used for opening the drains on the tubs. Carefully approaching the snake, with one swift movement, he slid the shovel underneath it and flung it out the still open door.
He dropped the shovel and found Prudence, shivering in the water despite the heat.
He handed her the nightgown he’d found on the bench nearest the tubs. “It’s a good thing you heard the rattler, if you’d stepped on it and got bit, well…” He didn’t want to scare her the first night she was in town. “It would have hurt.”
“Hurt,” she sputtered, snatching the gown from his hand. “It damned well could have killed me.”
Apparently she knew more about poisonous reptiles than he’d surmised. He shrugged his shoulders and tried to look the other way as she stepped out of the water and slid the thin piece of cotton over her head. It was dark in the room, and he hoped she didn’t notice he was watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“You don’t have to pretend you didn’t see me naked.”
He swallowed; she was a forthright woman—that much was for sure.
“I tried not to look,” he offered.
“Like hell you did,” she responded. Her cheeks were an enticing bright pink, but if it was from the hot steam in the tub or embarrassment, he couldn’t say.
“To be honest, I can’t say I minded getting an eyeful, either. It’s some pretty nice scenery,” he confessed. And despite the shadows from the lamps on the walls, the way the diaphanous white gown stuck to her damp body meant he was looking again. The small dark spheres of her nipples were clearly visible, as was the triangle of hair between her legs. His cock jumped back to attention.
She ran her fingers through her hair and he remembered his earlier thought of seeing her with tangled curls sweeping down her back. She was beautiful, more than he’d ever expected from the hideous tintype she’d sent him. Without the dowdy brown traveling gown, the ugly hat and the travel dust covering her, she was a beauty. He liked the way her eyes sparkled when she smiled and the deep, sensual tone of her voice. How had he not noticed that earlier today?
She stood on the step of the wooden tub, eye to eye with him. Her pink tongue licked at her lips. Gerritt groaned with the agony of her innocent play.
“You still enjoying the scenery, Professor?”
“Can’t seem to tear my eyes away from the view.” His gaze flickered down her body, then back up to those smoky eyes.
She responded by letting her gaze take the same long, slow path from the tips of his boots to the top of his head
before brazenly meeting his gaze.
“Not a bad prospect from here either.” The corners of her mouth lifted into a shadow of a smile.
It was too much temptation for him, and he leaned forward, putting one arm behind her to keep her from stumbling back into the tub. He thought she might yell out, or push him away. Instead, she tilted her head, as if confused about his intentions.
He made the kiss slow, sensuous and as soft as a feather flitting across her lips. It made him ache, hungry for more than a slight taste. He pulled her closer, his mouth plundering between her lips as his tongue plunged deeper.
She’d been a married woman, and she would understand the dark, swirling undertow of physical attraction between a man and a woman.
She gave a gasp and he was snapped out of his sensuous delirium by the sharp smack of her hand against his cheek. He took a step back.
“I apologize, Mrs. Worthington, that was ungentlemanly of me. I don’t want you to think I’d ever take advantage of my position as your employer.”
Her faced shaded a dark red and she hung her head, avoiding his gaze.
Gerritt ached with the desire to plunge into her hot, sweet body, but he restrained himself. She was his prim and proper secretary and he would need to stay away fro
m her if he couldn’t control himself. Debauching her on the first night she was in Jubilee wouldn’t be the best strategy if he intended to maintain a professional relationship. He would need to maintain his guard and remember she was his employee.
He took several more steps away and nodded in her direction when he reached the doorway.
“When you’re finished in here, I’ll escort you back to the house.”
He stood outside the door, grateful for the coolness of the spring evening. It might help bring the temperature of his blood back to normal.
It was likely he’d terrified her with his sudden kiss and he swore under his breath at the foolishness of his actions. If the sight of one little widow lady without her drawers on had put him into such an aroused state, he’d best learn to maintain control of himself. A woman like Prudence Worthington would demand wooing, promises and vows of eternal love and devotion. Not to mention a ceremony with a preacher and a room full of witnesses.
Gerritt’s work demanded that he be free of commitments and devoted to his inventions. Especially now that he was so close to creating a machine that could turn the tide of the war for the Union Army.
He lit a cigar as he waited for Prudence to finish up inside the bathhouse. She’d be a delightful distraction, but a distraction none the less. He needed to concentrate on his project, and she needed to assist him by turning the chaos of his office and his papers into some semblance of order.
The door opened and Prudence stood holding her boots and nibbling on her lower lip. “I was hoping there was a place I could scrape some of the mud off these, so I could polish them in the morning.”
“Leave them on the porch and Alma will take care of that for you.”
“I wouldn’t presume… I mean—if she wouldn’t mind that would be…”
Gerritt felt a sudden compulsion to pull her toward him again. Her cheeks were still two bright spots of red, her damp ebony-hued hair curled around her face. He wanted to feel her soft, womanly body in his arms again, but he knew he had to resist the temptation.
Prudence and the Professor Page 3