Sam Hawley had an unsettling effect on her whenever she was near him, but it was a pleasant feeling, not one of unease or a growing need to get away. She mentally shook her head. The handsome horse trainer had taken up residence in her mind since seeing him in Millie’s kitchen the other day. She’d tried to stop thinking about him and their encounter in the barn for days, to no avail.
“Well, I’m glad you’ve returned, David. Business went well, I assume?” Lizette said next to her son.
David laughed. “Can’t complain, Mother. I had a grand time in Louisville.”
Emma shivered, her eyes volleying between mother and son. The icy undercurrent between the two was unmistakable, amidst their smiles and cordial words. Lizette clasped her hands together and beamed.
“Well, I’ve finished my breakfast. I will leave you and Emma to enjoy some time together to finally get acquainted.”
Emma groaned silently. Her plans to go to the barns would have to be postponed. Something about spending time with David alone made her stomach churn.
Lizette sauntered out of the room, closing the doors behind her. Emma stood by the table, her back straight. Her palms began to sweat and she clutched her gloves tightly in her hands.
David turned fully to her, his eyes lingering on her neckline. Thankfully, her blouse had a high collar, and she fought the urge to touch her hand to her neck to check and make sure all the buttons were secured.
“I was going to see if someone could take me horseback riding and show me the estate,” she said with as much cheer as she could bring forth. She stepped around him, only to be stopped by his hand reaching for her arm.
Emma glanced from his hand holding her back to his face. The urge to leave this room grew stronger. She had to get outdoors, or somewhere else, where she wasn’t alone with David.
“Would you care to give me a tour, David?” Emma’s voice cracked slightly at her question. She needed to keep her composure and not allow this man to see that he’d completely intimidated her. “I’ve found that riding gives two people plenty of time to talk and get to know one another.”
Emma stiffened. If David was going to be her husband, she would have to learn to endure his company.
“I’ve been on a horse most of the night to get home, my lovely Emma.” David stepped closer and tugged her toward him. “I’m rather tired from the long ride.” He leaned closer, his lips against her cheek.
Emma’s breath caught in her throat and she leaned away from him. David’s free hand came up and touched her face. His smile was a predatory leer.
“I can think of other ways we can occupy ourselves and get to know each other very well,” he murmured into her ear.
Emma tugged to free herself from his grip, but he held tight. His fingers tightened around her arm. His other arm snaked around her waist and he drew her fully up against him.
“What do you say, Emma? Since my mother has planned for the wedding to be only a few weeks away, there’s no reason we can’t get a head start with the more pleasant aspects of marriage.”
Emma opened her mouth to protest his outrageous proposal, but her words were silenced with his lips on hers. She squirmed and pressed her hands against his chest. David wouldn’t budge. His lips raked across hers, the hairs from his moustache scratching the sensitive area under her nose. She raised a leg and brought her heel down on top of his foot with as much force as she could produce.
David released her instantly, a dark and angry glare in his eyes as he stepped away. He cursed and wiped a hand across his mouth.
“You are out of line, Mr. Benton,” Emma panted, and backed up against the table.
David was inches in front of her again in the next instant. His hand clamped under her neck, holding her jaw and forcing her head upward. He bared his teeth as he glared down at her. The pounding in Emma’s ears momentarily drowned out his words.
“You’re going to learn real fast that I don’t take no for an answer very often, Emma.” His tone was low and threatening, whispered against her cheek. “If you’re going to benefit from this union, then by damn, so will I, and I refuse to wed some unwilling prude.”
He shoved her roughly away from him and turned to leave. He stopped before reaching the door and faced her again.
“Count yourself lucky that the company I’ve kept the last few days has kept me more than satisfied, and I am tired from the journey home. Rest assured, though, that I have a healthy appetite for female company, and since my mother bought and paid for you, I plan to take full advantage of a readily available woman in my bed.” He paused, then added, “Enjoy your ride. Perhaps I’ll join you later, once I’ve rested up a bit.”
David Benton slammed the door shut on his way out of the dining room.
Emma stared after him in stunned silence. She braced her shaky arm against the table, and held one hand to her chest as if it would help to slow the erratic beating of her heart. She drew in several slow, deep breaths until her body stopped shaking.
“What have you done, Emma?” she whispered. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
She straightened and ran a finger along her sore jaw. With each passing second, the fear that David Benton had managed to elicit in her turned to anger. How dare he handle her like some cheap harlot?
That’s exactly what you could have ended up being if you hadn’t answered the ad, Emma.
At least she’d be well taken care of and provided for in this situation, but it was becoming clearer by the day that Lizette Benton had known exactly what she was doing when she’d picked Emma to come and marry her son. She had no other recourse but to go through with this marriage. The reason why David hadn’t found a wife on his own was becoming quite apparent.
Emma straightened her shirtwaist and bent to pick up her gloves that she’d dropped while struggling to ward off David’s advances. She adjusted her hat, making sure the pins were still in place, and took in a final deep breath of air.
David Benton was not going to ruin this day for her. If he thought he could intimidate her so that she’d come to his bed willingly before they were properly wed, he could think again. She wasn’t going to cower. Instead, she would demand that he treat her with respect.
Emma marched from the dining room, her back straight and her shoulders squared. Judith met her by the front door.
“I’m going for a ride,” she informed the maid. “Should anyone come looking for me.”
“Yes’m,” the maid said timidly, and opened the front door for her.
Emma moved out the door and down the steps of the portico, then headed down the path toward the barn. Her mood lifted with only a few deep breaths of the spring air infused with the smell of grass. By the time she entered the carriage house, her nerves were less frazzled and it became easier to push her encounter with David Benton to the back of her mind. If Gus could find a suitable riding horse for her, that was all she needed to make this a pleasant day.
Chapter Eleven
Sam handed the lead rope to Star, the filly he’d brought in from pasture, to Ollie.
“Get her tacked up and ready to go to the track,” he said absently.
His gaze drifted to the gravel road that led from the big house to the stables. Approaching the carriage barn was Emma Waterston. She walked with her back straight and her shoulders squared, and was clearly in a hurry. The hat on her head bobbed as if it was about to tumble to the ground. Her dark hair appeared to be unbound, bouncing loosely down her back.
Sam swallowed. She was dressed to go riding, near as he could tell. Her tan skirts swirled around her legs, and her jacket hugged her feminine curves.
“I thought you said you wanted to tack her up yourself.” Ollie’s words drifted into his mind, sounding far away.
“Changed my mind,” Sam answered. “I’ll meet you at the track in fifteen minutes.”
Without another glance at the exercise rider, he walked a straight path toward the barn. There was no doubt why she was here. She must have taken Milli
e’s suggestion from the other day to find Gus when she wanted to go riding.
He entered the barn from one end, just as Emma sauntered in through the other. Emma stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened when they fell on him. Sam cursed under his breath while the beating of his heart increased. He was behaving like some wet-nosed schoolboy, chasing the skirts of a first infatuation. He pulled his cap from his head and strode fully into the barn.
Gus sat on a wooden tack trunk, oiling a bridle. He raised his head, looking from Sam to Emma.
“Miss Emma,” Gus greeted and stood. He set the bridle aside and walked up to her. “What brings you to the barns on such a fine morning?”
Emma lifted her chin and smiled at Gus.
“I was hoping you could find a horse for me to ride. Mrs. Benton told me to come and see you.”
Gus chuckled. He rubbed his hand along his lower jaw. “Well, I’m sure we can find a suitable horse.” He glanced toward Sam.
Sam moved closer, kicking himself for just standing there like some dumb mule. He’d better get his head out of the clouds, as Millie would say. Why had he even come here? Ollie was waiting for him with the filly he needed to work.
“Sam, you showed up just in time.” Gus cleared his throat. He leaned forward and rubbed at his lower back. He groaned dramatically. “My rheumatism is acting up again. I don’t think I can saddle a horse today. You should pick out a riding horse for Miss Emma and give her a tour of the place.”
“I’ve got horses to train,” Sam shot back quickly. He narrowed his eyes on Gus. The old man had been perfectly fine earlier and hadn’t complained about his rheumatism.
“Nonsense.” Gus waved him off. “You already worked Dusty, and Ollie can handle things for an hour or so.”
Emma moved closer, her soft eyes on him. “I just need someone to get me a suitable horse. I can tack it up myself, if need be. I’ve done it before. I don’t want to take up any of your time.”
The pleading look in her eyes was too much. Sam clenched his jaw, shot a hasty look at Gus, then nodded to her.
“If you don’t mind waiting while I finish up with a filly I’ve got to work, I’ll find you a horse.”
Emma’s face purely glowed when she smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
“And find a horse for yourself, too,” Gus chimed in. “You can’t let the lady go riding off by herself. She doesn’t know the grounds.”
Emma quickly shook her head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t impose like that. Someone else can escort me.”
“Nonsense.” Gus waved her off. “Sam’ll be happy to show you around, ain’t that right, Sam?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued. “Why, just last night he told me it would be good for one of his young horses – I forgot the animal’s name - to go out with one of the older ones, and learn not to be so skittish. This is a good opportunity for that.”
Sam glared at his mentor. Gus had him cornered like a rat in a barn full of cats.
“I suppose that would be a good idea,” he said slowly.
What the hell was he getting himself into now? If Emma was going to go riding, someone needed to escort her, just in case something happened. Her horse could spook and throw her, or she could even get lost. It was a bad idea for him to be her escort, for more reasons than he could think of at the moment.
Sam looked at her. “I’ll be about a half hour with the horse I’ve got working on the track. You can wait here with Gus until I’m finished.” He turned to leave. Maybe she’d change her mind, if she had to wait long enough.
Emma rushed up beside him. “Would you mind if I come and watch?”
Sam tilted his head to the side to look at her next to him. “I suppose you can watch,” he grumbled.
The subtle scent of her perfume drifted to his nose, and her hair bounced down her back. He’d only seen her with her hair pinned up, and an irrational urge to run his fingers through her strands made him tighten his hands into a fist. This insane attraction for a woman who belonged to someone else was going to drive him mad.
It was one thing if she’d stay as invisible as Mrs. Benton, and only lived in his mind, but to have her be here, spending time at the stables with the horses where he had to see and talk to her, might be too much. The knowledge that she belonged to that bastard made his pulse pound in his head.
“I’ve always loved watching horses run in the fields,” she said, reining in his thoughts. “And I’ve been to the races at Saratoga and Baltimore, but I’ve never been this close to racehorses.”
Sam glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “They’re beautiful animals, but also powerful and unpredictable sometimes, especially the young ones.”
She raised her head to look at him. “How is your shoulder?”
Sam rubbed at the injury.
“Much better. I don’t know what kind of magic Millie puts in her concoctions, but she sure knows how to ease aches and pains.”
Emma laughed softly. Sam groaned in silence.
“I bet her secret ingredient is bourbon. It’s what she uses religiously in her cooking.”
Sam chuckled. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”
Their eyes met and something squeezed tightly around Sam’s heart. Emma’s smile was radiant and genuine, making her eyes shine warmly. How easy it was to talk to her, compared to their first encounter in the mare barn. She was different today, more relaxed and less formal. Looking past her expensive outfit, it was easy to think of her as someone other than a blueblood.
Ollie had Star jogging down the dirt track when Sam approached. He leaned his forearms on the low wooden railing, his gaze focused on the horse and how she moved. She’d been slightly off a week ago, and if she was trying to come up lame, it was best to see it before it happened.
“Let her lope for a half mile, and see how she feels,” he called to Ollie. The rider nodded, indicated that he’d heard.
“Beautiful,” Emma whispered next to him.
Sam couldn’t agree more, but he wasn’t thinking about the horse. He moved away from the railing and onto the track, just to put some distance between himself and Emma. How was he going to spend an hour or more with her, showing her around the farm?
He’d heard the grooms talk about their infatuations with women, and some of them had claimed to have fallen in love with someone at first sight, without even knowing them. No one had ever mentioned falling for a woman who was spoken for by another man, or who fell outside their social ranks.
Ollie eased Star to a stop in front of him, and Sam blinked. He hadn’t even paid attention to the filly.
“How’d she feel?” he asked. “I didn’t see anything wrong with her.”
“No, she seems sound,” Ollie confirmed. His eyes drifted to the fence for a second before he shot Sam a quizzical look.
“I’m going to take Miss Waterston for a ride and show her the estate. Cool Star out and wrap her front legs. Best to put her in a stall and we’ll see how she is tomorrow. I want to make sure I don’t miss anything.”
Ollie’s eyes widened, but he nodded.
“Sure, Sam.”
No doubt, Ollie wanted to say a lot more. He hopped from the filly’s back while Sam held the bridle. He lingered on the horse’s left side, where Emma couldn’t see him.
“Never thought I’d see the day where you mingle with the bluebloods,” he whispered, and took the reins from Sam.
Sam shrugged. “She’s different,” he said, almost gruffly.
“Whatever you say.” Ollie led the filly from the track.
“Tell Ben or one of the other grooms to saddle Ace for me,” Sam said in a normal tone. Ollie’s brows shot up, but he didn’t say anything.
“What a magnificent animal,” Emma said, looking at the filly with awestruck eyes as Ollie led her away.
Sam came up beside her. “I’ll show you Dusty sometime. Then you’ll have seen a magnificent horse.”
“I’d like that,” she nodded and dropped her gaze as if she’d said something she shouldn�
��t have. Clearly, she was struggling with the social boundaries her kind imposed.
Sam led her to the barn that housed the saddle horses. David Benton’s gelding was there. Sam frowned. When had Benton returned? And if he was home, why was Emma at the stables, rather than at the house with him? He mentally shook his head. It was none of his business.
“Is Dusty the one who injured your arm?” she asked when he stopped in front of one of the stalls.
“Yeah, he’s the one that got me,” he confirmed. Sam lifted the halter from the peg on the wall and opened the stall door. “It wasn’t his fault. He’s young and full of energy.”
“Is this the horse I’ll be riding?” Emma was right behind him. “He looks almost like my Ajax.”
Sam put the halter on the gentle gelding, which had dutifully lowered its head.
“Meet Whiskey,” he said. “Your riding mount for today.”
Emma laughed. “Does everything in Kentucky revolve around alcohol?”
Sam glanced her way just as her face turned serious as if she’d said something bad. A fleeting look of annoyance passed through her eyes like she’d realized something with her question.
“Not always,” Sam said lightly. “But we do like our fast horses and bourbon.”
Her mouth tightened and a hard, almost painful and panicked stare passed through her eyes. “I’m beginning to realize that,” she murmured.
Sam stepped toward her. He lifted his arm, but stopped himself just in time before touching her; comforting her. He turned back to the horse, looping the lead rope through the tie ring on the wall by his stall. He cursed David Benton to hell. There was only one reason she had that look in her eyes. Obviously, she’d had the unpleasant experience of facing her fiancé while he was drunk.
He cleared his throat. An employee didn’t get mixed up with the affairs of the big house.
“Let me get this horse groomed and saddled, then I’ll fetch my own mount so we can get going,” he said, keeping his voice even.
“I’ll groom him,” Emma said quickly. She stared up at him. “Please. I don’t mind. I’ve always found it soothing to brush Ajax.”
Emma: Bride of Kentucky (American Mail-Order Bride 15) Page 8