“I'm waiting to see if you're going to faint on me again.” Despite his obvious pain, his lips quirked and made her heart ache.
“I thought you might do the same a moment ago.” Her shoulders sagged. “Your leg looks awful. Shouldn't you see the doctor again, just to make sure it's all right?”
“Is that concern from the lady who just kicked me?”
Amelia lowered her lashes and leaned over to change the cloth on his forehead. “I forgot about your shin.”
“I shouldn’t have grabbed you.” He gently lifted her wrist to inspect it. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” Her eyes met his. “And I’m sorry I offended you the day I said I wasn’t interested in marriage. It wasn’t meant as a reflection on you, Amelia.”
She flushed over his unexpected apology. “The way I dress, I wouldn’t expect any man to be interested in me.”
He looked at her as if she were crazy. “You could be dressed in rags and men would still be interested.”
Unable to speak past the thrilling sensation in her chest, Amelia ducked her head. Her hair slipped forward over her shoulder and she reached up to brush it back, but Kyle stopped her hand. Their eyes met, his gaze intimate and heated as he drew her forward and kissed her.
Chapter Eight
Kyle knew the moment his lips touched Amelia's that he'd made a colossal mistake. Every cell in his body exploded with unadulterated lust. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, didn’t even know how or why it had happened. He’d tried to warn himself of the disastrous results in that split second before their lips met, but no force on earth could have kept him from responding to the answering touch of Amelia’s tongue upon his own.
Before he could force himself to break away, she sank onto his lap and draped her arms around his neck, drawing him deeper into the kiss. Kyle was lost. He lingered, savored, floated in the euphoric thrill that shot through his body. Like the one and only time he’d ever kissed Amelia, nothing existed but her. Her mouth. The feel of her hands in his hair. As if the rest of his world had gone black, Amelia became that pinpoint of light that drew Kyle forward, that beckoned him to reach, to touch, to bask in the warmth of her soft yellow glow.
He started to lay her back on the bed and lose himself in her touch, but streaks of pain ripped up his leg and made his fists clench. Reluctantly, he ended the kiss and sucked in a mind-clearing gulp of air.
Amelia's eyes opened, lazy and dazed as she stared up at him. Kyle struggled to control the combination of pain and lust rampaging through his body. As the sharp ache in his leg slowly abated, he stared at Amelia, wondering how the hell a schoolteacher had learned to kiss a man like she’d been making love with him for years.
Realizing their awkward situation, yet having no idea how to gracefully extricate himself, Kyle discreetly eased his hand off her hip. “My shin isn’t appreciating our position.”
A quizzical expression crossed her face, then her eyes widened with understanding. “Oh!” Her palms hit his chest and she shoved herself off his lap. In a flurry of embarrassed fumbling, she straightened her skirt and pushed her hair off her red face. “I didn’t realize, I mean, I’m sorry.”
Thoroughly flustered, Amelia backed against the table and steadied herself against its solid bulk. Her legs trembled and she felt flushed from her ears to her ankles as she stared at Kyle. Even with a few feet separating them, she felt overwhelmed by his presence. His dark gaze beckoned her back into his arms, but she wasn’t going near him. Despite the thrill of his touch, losing control of her mind and body had scared the life out of her. That had never happened with Richard.
Kyle leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “We’ve got to figure out what to do about the lumberyard.”
The what? She’d just experienced an emotional earthquake and Kyle was thinking about money? Amelia gripped the table for support. If she had the strength, she would cross the floor and kick him in the shin again. Had he felt nothing at all during the kiss?
The abrupt clearing of a throat yanked Amelia’s attention toward the connecting door of the schoolroom where, to her horror, Eva and Phil Bentley stood with Judith Morton and Clara Bortwick. “I’m afraid that discussion will have to wait, Mr. Grayson. We have a board meeting scheduled that Miss Drake has apparently forgotten about.” The reddish hue of Eva’s face clearly expressed the depth of her outrage. Judith Morton and Clara Bortwick glanced at each other with such stricken expressions, Amelia thought their hearts had stopped beating. But it was the suspicion in Kyle’s eyes, as if he knew Amelia had purposely trapped him, that made her heart jolt.
Her stomach slammed into her ribs and her knees gave out. She leaned against the edge of the table and braced her hand on the smooth maple surface. There wasn’t a single suitable excuse that would explain Kyle’s presence in her apartment, nor could she convince Kyle that she hadn’t planned this, because in the back of her mind, she had considered this very thing the instant she had pulled him into her apartment.
Kyle lunged to his feet and grabbed at the bedpost to steady himself. He dwarfed the room as he faced the gawking board members. “This isn’t what you’re thinking.”
“Then what is it, exactly?” Eva’s accusing gaze told Amelia her time as a teacher was over.
Fearing the repercussions from both Kyle and the board, Amelia struggled to speak, to correct their misinterpretation of the liaison they thought they were witnessing, but not a word of explanation would squeak from her tight throat. Spurts of panic raced through her body, making her legs quake and her heart pound. She couldn’t fix this.
Mortified by her own disheveled appearance, Amelia scooped her loose hair behind her shoulders with trembling hands.
“Phil, are you aware that I just bought Tom’s lumberyard?” Kyle asked.
Phil nodded, his forehead creased as though trying to figure out what that had to do with Kyle lounging on Amelia’s bed.
“I came by to discuss a problem we’re having there, but I barked my shin on that stool.” He pointed to a hard wooden chair sitting cockeyed beside the table. “If you remember what my leg looked like at the funeral, then you’ll know I couldn’t have walked back out that door to save my life. I was resting my leg and trying to get my breath back when you arrived.”
Eva glanced at the rumpled bed and their disheveled clothing and raised a censuring eyebrow. “I hardly believe it matters what circumstances caused you to be in Miss Drake’s bed. The fact is, you were.” With a pointed stare at Amelia’s unbound hair, she said, “You are well aware of what is considered respectable behavior and why we must enforce the rules with unbiased diligence. Two weeks ago we made an exception in light of your father’s passing. We will not bend our rules a second time to accommodate your behavior, especially after that incident at the bank this afternoon.”
“This is ludicrous!” Kyle said, his hard voice demanding their attention.
Eva straightened as if Kyle had spit in her face. Amelia clutched her stomach and feared her supper would soon be on the floor.
“I understand that you all have a responsibility to enforce proper protocol for this teaching position,” Kyle said, “and I respect that, but your unwarranted suspicions are humiliating Miss Drake and insulting my reputation.”
“Unwarranted!” Eva pressed her palm to the scarred wood doorframe as she thrust out her jaw. “This young woman rode off with you in the night without a chaperone not two weeks ago! Now we find you in her apartment lounging on her bed! I would say our concern is warranted, Mr. Grayson.”
“Amelia’s virtue has not been compromised.”
“I beg to differ with you.”
Amelia had to agree with Mrs. Bentley. She would be ruined when the gossips got hold of this.
Kyle faced the board members, and one by one they looked away from his quelling stare. “Phil, do you have reason to doubt my integrity?”
“Of course not.”
Kyle looked at Eva. “Do you have personal reservations about my character, Mrs. Bentley?�
��
Eva’s nostrils flared and she glared at him without speaking.
“Would you mind answering my question?”
“Yes, I do mind! You are insinuating yourself where you don’t belong, and I’m asking you to leave the school grounds this instant.”
“I’m standing here because you are rudely speculating about my character, which I’m entitled to defend.”
“Your integrity isn’t at issue, Mr. Grayson.”
“The devil it isn’t!” Kyle banged his fist down on the table with a crack that made everyone jerk back a step. “Your concern for Miss Drake’s reputation may be valid, Mrs. Bentley, but to imply I have damaged her after I gave you a logical explanation for my visit is not only absurd it’s insulting.”
“There is no suitable explanation for you being found on Miss Drake’s bed.” Mrs. Bentley pointed toward the door. “Now, I’m asking you for the last time to leave.”
Kyle closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Amelia suspected he was fighting the urge to choke the old bitch glaring at him and feared he was about to do something drastic. Or worse yet, maybe he was considering walking out the door and leaving Amelia’s job and her reputation in ruins.
“Wait a minute,” she blurted. Everyone turned surprised expressions in her direction. Amelia’s heart pounded, but she refused to let another man ruin her and walk away. “Kyle came here to ask me to marry him.”
Kyle’s eyes widened. How he kept his jaw from dropping she would never know, but he stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
Despite her churning stomach and quaking legs, Amelia kept her chin high as she faced Eva’s glacial stare. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to go on, including Kyle. “Kyle refused to leave without a positive answer.”
Judith Morton sighed as if she were reliving the first time she’d ever fallen in love. Phil glanced at Kyle as if to corroborate her story, but Kyle didn’t move a muscle.
Amelia looked at him and immediately wished she hadn’t when she saw the storm brewing in his eyes. Evelyn had said Kyle was hard-edged and too aggressive for his own good, and Amelia believed it. But Evelyn had also said on several occasions that Kyle was a good man deserving of a woman who could truly appreciate him. He was the sort of man her father would have chosen for her. He was the only man with the drive and intelligence to resurrect her father’s business, and he’d wanted the lumberyard enough to buy it. If Amelia let Kyle walk out, she would be ruined. If he backed out on his agreement to buy the mill, her father’s business would die and so would his memory. The bank would sell everything, including their house. Any physical reminder of her beloved father would be carted off or left to rot. And she would have no choice but to become Richard’s mistress until he tired of her.
Despite Kyle’s aversion to marriage, the kiss he’d just given her said he was attracted to her. Respect and attraction would make a perfectly suitable foundation for marriage. That would be enough to start with.
Amelia faced Kyle, her chin high despite her churning emotions. “I accept your proposal.”
His jaw clenched.
Amelia silently beseeched him to understand and forgive, but he stood like a mountain, hard and unyielding. Kyle’s rigid sense of honor wouldn’t allow him to rebuff her. He would marry her because his own actions had put her in this predicament, but Amelia’s heart ached knowing he would never forgive her for trapping him.
Eva turned to the trio behind her. “I believe our board meeting is unnecessary.” She turned back to Amelia. “As you are well aware, teachers are not allowed to marry while under contract. Judith will take over your duties in the morning.” Without a single word of well wishes or farewell, she led the board members out of the schoolhouse.
Amelia bit her tongue to keep from pleading with them not to leave her alone with Kyle. His dark eyes burned with anger. His fists were clenched at his sides.
“Am I to assume that you knew about your father’s debt?”
“Richard told me this afternoon. I was as shocked as you are.”
“But you still used my draft to pay off your mother’s mortgage?”
Shame filled Amelia, but she’d had to do it. “It was the only way I could guarantee that Mama would have a place to live.” She laced her fingers in front of her to keep her hands from shaking. “What would Mama and I have done with the mill, Kyle? You’re experienced enough to save it. We aren’t. I needed to protect Mama’s security and that was the only way I could do it.”
He was silent for so long that Amelia could hear the pounding of her own heart.
“Did you honestly forget about the board meeting?” he asked.
Her heart skipped and she shook her head. “No. Only when you kissed me.”
His nostrils flared and the anger returned to his eyes. “Do you realize that you’ve just committed us both to a marriage we can’t escape?”
Outrage swept through her. She hadn’t done anything but answer the door! Humiliation and anger pumped through her and Amelia clenched her fists. “You did that, Mr. Grayson, when you knocked on my door.”
Chapter Nine
Of all the stupid things Kyle had done in his life, kissing Amelia had been the dumbest. He should never have gone to her apartment. He shouldn’t have provoked her to kick his shin or touch him with those soft hands or hover over him with her breasts in his face until his mind had turned to mush. For God’s sake, the woman should have kept her damned hair bound! A teacher wasn’t supposed to look all soft and seductive or melt across his lap like warm honey.
A dead man would have responded to that temptation.
The loud knock on his door startled Kyle. If it was Boyd coming to demand money for his share of the mill, Kyle would throttle him. Kyle banged his empty glass down on the kitchen counter then went to the parlor to answer the front door. When he yanked it open, Richard Cameron met him face-to-face.
“Whoa, Grayson.” Richard held up his hands to ward off Kyle’s scowl. “I just came by to drink an ale with you, not get pounded to death.”
After a half-second’s pause, Kyle snorted and stepped back to welcome his friend inside. “I could use a few mugs right now.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Richard closed the door behind him and followed Kyle to the kitchen. “I came to see if you’ve lost your mind. What the hell ever possessed you to buy Tom’s lumberyard?”
Kyle stopped and stared at Richard. “You just got back from Philadelphia.”
“Which is why you should have waited, Kyle. I could have warned you off this disaster. You can’t go through with this purchase. The bank is ready to foreclose on that property.”
Willing or not, Kyle had to go through with it. He had to marry Amelia, and tomorrow night he had to convince Victoria Drake that he wanted to marry her daughter.
Kyle shoved open the window to let in the cool evening air then took two mugs into the pantry and filled them from a small keg of ale. Wait until Amelia learned she’d just bound herself for life to the man who had caused her father’s collapse. She would hate him. If she didn’t already.
“Did you hear what I said?” Richard asked, raising his voice so Kyle could hear him in the pantry. “I’m telling you this as a friend, Kyle. ”
“I know.” Kyle came back into the kitchen. “I appreciate the warning, but it’s too late.” He handed Richard a mug then raised his own in a mock salute. “I’m getting married.”
Richard snorted. “How many mugs of this stuff have you had?”
“Two. I’m marrying Amelia Drake a week from Saturday, and I’m resurrecting her father’s lumberyard.”
Richard’s glass stopped halfway to his mouth, his expression stunned.
Kyle shoved his hair off his forehead and sighed. “What do I need to do to stop the foreclosure?”
“Wait a minute!” Richard lowered his mug and shook his head. “What the hell’s going on? You just said you were marrying Amelia, but I saw her this morning and she didn’t say a word about it.
”
Kyle shrugged. “I proposed tonight.”
Richard stared in silence.
“You’re invited to the wedding.” Kyle clasped a hardened palm to the back of his neck and gazed out into the darkness. What the hell was he going to do with a wife? Before he’d left Amelia’s apartment, she’d requested that they tell everyone their romantic interest in each other had started the day after Amelia’s father died. She intended to say that Kyle’s compassion won her heart and that they wanted to marry. To avoid scandal and upsetting their mothers, Kyle had agreed. But the lie tasted bitter.
He didn’t want a goddamn wife. He liked his life just as it was—unencumbered by attachments, free of emotional ties that would strangle him.
Maybe he should have walked out. He could have lived with the whispered speculation from the ladies and sly grins from the men. The incident in Amelia’s apartment wouldn’t have damaged his standing in the community an iota. Hell, it may have inflated his reputation. But Amelia would have been the one to pay for his impulsiveness. If word got out that he had been found in her apartment, she would be ostracized. And his honor would be questioned.
With a silent oath, Kyle damned society, propriety, and his pathetic inability to escape the shackles he’d just closed around his own wrists. Through his own stupidity he’d bound himself to a debt-ridden lumberyard and a woman who was going to hate him and make his life a living hell.
“Catherine hasn’t said a word about you seeing Amelia.”
Richard’s comment startled Kyle out of his silent contemplation. “Why should she?” he asked, wondering if Richard was hinting that he knew about Kyle’s recent affair with Catherine. “With Amelia being a teacher, we’ve had to keep our relationship private.”
“Well, where does that leave Catherine then?” Richard asked.
“What you mean?”
Their gazes locked for several tense seconds until Richard shrugged. “I just wanted to know if I can bring her to the wedding.” He gave Kyle a sheepish grin. “She hasn’t gotten out much since my father passed away, and I know she’d enjoy the reception.”
The Longing Page 7