Not the Marrying Kind (10 page)

“Sure enough, women do get carried away with
all that cleaning up, I’ll agree. But there are benefits,” he
pointed out. “First, you get home-cooked meals morning, noon, and
night. And somebody to, well, talk to.”

“Don’t need anybody yapping in my ear,
Joshua.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, lowering his voice,
“what I mean is intimate talk.” A picture of Kat stretched out in
bed formed inside his head. He smiled. But then when he envisioned
Cody lying next to her the picture didn’t look quite so pretty.
Mentally, he erased Cody from the scene. His smile returned.

Kat Phillips looked damned good in his
imagination with that lean, flat-bellied body of hers, those long
legs, her sun-bronzed skin gleaming warm and inviting, and—

“You got some sort of indigestion or
something?” Cody asked, tapping Joshua’s shoulder. “You don’t look
so good.”

“Just thinking.”

Cody nodded. “Yep, you’ve got it bad.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“How long has it been since you’ve had a
woman? You must be horny as hell.”

Joshua lowered his gaze. “It’s been a long
time. Too long.”

“Might be worth the two of us making a
little trip to Denver.” Cody clapped his cousin on the back and
grinned. “Got some fancy whorehouses and some nice girls there, but
they’ll cost you. If you’re in a hurry, there’s also a couple of
floozies hanging out around that mining camp north of here. They
ain’t too pretty, but they’re cheap. Good enough to get a man off.
Better than doing it yourself, you know.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my point, Cody. If you
had a wife, you wouldn’t have to do it for yourself, and you
wouldn’t have to go looking around for floozies to do it for
you.”

His groin ached with raw need. Mining-camp
floozies weren’t exactly what Joshua had in mind, but Denver was a
mite far away. He already knew he’d end up doing the same thing
he’d been doing for the last few years…taking matters into his own
hands, so to speak.

“What about you?” Cody’s eyes narrowed.
“Suppose I do find me a wife, you thinkin’ she could take care of
us both?”

“Hell, no. I’m not sharing a woman with
you.” With his thoughts still fixed on Kat, his cousin’s words
jolted him, riled him, and aroused him all at the same time. He
knew a lot of men liked sharing their bed partners, even liked
watching their woman
entertain
other men. But Kat Phillips
wasn’t that sort of woman, not the kind a man toyed with and passed
around for his friends to enjoy. She’d been brought up right,
believed all those commandments in the Bible, and once some fellow
slipped a ring on her finger and exchanged vows with her, she’d be
as true and faithful as they come. A real one-man woman.

Cody should be more appreciative. “Listen,
you need a wife, and I think I’ve found a right nice little gal for
you.”

“Are you serious?” Cody’s eyes gleamed with
sudden excitement. “Can I give her a try? See how it goes?” A wide
grin spread across his face. “Guess it would be convenient to have
her right here, not have to leave home to get a little
satisfaction. But she’s got to know what she’s doing, Joshua. I’m
used to women with experience, you know. Why, them gals at the camp
can do it in fifty different positions, and the last time I was
down there, this one gal grabbed my balls and—”

“That’s all right, I don’t really need to
know the particulars.” Joshua’s head felt like it might explode. So
did another part of his anatomy. “To answer your question, no, you
can’t try her out. Getting married isn’t like buying a new horse.
You don’t ride first, then decide if you’re going to make the
purchase.”

“Sure as hell ought to be that way.” Cody
gave his head a shake. “Marriage might work a damned sight better
if folks tried it out first.”

“Yeah, well that’s not how it’s done. As for
her experience, she’s got none.”

“None? You sure about that?”

Joshua nodded. He’d bet his life on Kat’s
virginity.

Cody’s face screwed up. “Well, now, what fun
would that be? I don’t want a wife who doesn’t know what she’s
doing in bed.”

“It comes natural, damn it. Once you get her
in bed, she’ll figure it out. Besides, you can teach her, show her
just what you want her to do, how to please you.”

“Yeah, reckon I could at that.” He threw
back his head and crowed. “Damn, don’t know why I never thought
about that before. I could have me all the pleasure I wanted, make
her do all those things I like, you know, them things most women
don’t…”

Joshua walked away, not wanting to hear
anything more about Cody’s sexual preferences. They weren’t exactly
that
close, and some things were meant to stay behind closed
doors.

Cody followed after him. “So, who is this
gal? When do I get to meet her?”

“You already know her.” Joshua took a deep
breath, almost regretting what he was about to do. But it was for
Kat’s own good, he remembered. She didn’t want to be forced into
marrying that minister in town, did she?

Maybe she won’t want to be hornswoggled
into marrying Cody either
.

“Well, who the hell is she?”

“Her name’s Katherine. She’s the daughter of
that woman who stitched you up. That’s who I’m working for.”

“Katherine?” He rolled the name around on
his tongue and frowned. “You mean Kat? Kat Phillips?” Cody’s eyes
got bigger and rounder, and then he grinned. “Yeah, I know who she
is. I do recall seeing her around from time to time. Just never
thought of her as a woman before. She always looks like some crazy
boy, dressed in trousers and work shirts. And ain’t she a little
young?”

“She’s old enough,” Joshua pointed out. And
she was definitely a woman. Even with the masculine cut of her
clothes, and despite her boyish figure, Kat’s womanliness still
came through. It showed in the easy way she swayed her hips as she
walked, not even realizing how seductive her movements were. It
glistened each time her pink little tongue darted out to lick her
lips, and it lay coiled in the sultry depths of her clear blue
eyes.

All woman. And all Cody’s.

Joshua went inside and slammed the door
behind him.

Again, Cody followed right behind him.

“When can I see her? You planning to bring
her out here? Have you talked to her about this yet?” Excitement
poured from him. “Did she say she’d marry me? What about her folks?
You talked to them about it?”

“Damn it, Cody, shut up,” Joshua barked.
“No, I haven’t talked to her about it. I just met her a few days
ago, and I just started working at the ranch this week. Give me a
little time, will you?”

“Well, before you get too far along with
this plan of yours, don’t you think it might be a good idea for me
and her to get together? I ain’t talking about
that
,” he
said, referring back to their previous discussion. “I just think
maybe we should take a gander at each other.”

Joshua got the impression his cousin might
still have doubts about Kat’s suitability. Maybe he should take a
little gander at himself in the mirror. But then again, Cody didn’t
have any mirrors to look into, which went a long way toward
explaining his grizzled, unkempt appearance.

“You’re not much to look at yourself. You’ll
have to clean up, put on some good clothes.”

“I can do that.”

“How about Sunday morning?”

“Sunday?”

“Yes, Sunday,” he repeated. “Something wrong
with your hearing? Maybe you need to clean out your ears, too.”
Joshua gave his cousin a long, serious assessment, doubting he
could ever find enough soap to wash the man clean. Kat deserved
better.

“I ain’t usually here on Sunday mornings. I
generally head off to see them floozies on Saturday nights. Don’t
get back here until late Sunday morning.” He grinned. “You sure you
don’t want to go with me? I know you could use a good lay.”

“Well, take your choice. Floozies on
Saturday night, or Kat Phillips on Sunday morning. And no, I won’t
be going to the mining camp with you.”

“Don’t know what you’re missing, Joshua.
Why, that one whore can get a whole cucumber down her throat.
Course mine’s not quite as big as that, but damn, can that woman
suck, and this one time, she…”

As Cody’s voice droned on, Joshua closed his
eyes, wanting to blot everything out. He heard his cousin’s words,
but all he could see was an image of Kat…Kat stretched out across
the bed, Kat spreading her legs open, Kat doing all the wicked and
wild things Cody described. Doing them not to Cody, heaven forbid,
but doing them all to Joshua.

He had to get out of there. Now. If he
didn’t relieve the frustration building up, he’d go out of his
mind.

* * * *

A spring breeze blew in from the west,
scattering dirt and debris as Joshua rode slowly down the main
street of Sunset on Saturday afternoon. Wasn’t much of a street,
really. Wasn’t much of a town, either, but that fact gave the place
a certain charm, in his opinion. Big cities were over-rated. Too
many people doing too many things, and sure enough, if you weren’t
careful, trouble would be sprouting up like weeds in the garden
after a rainy night.

Joshua rode slowly along, nodding to the
women with their children clinging to their skirts, grunting a word
or two of greeting to the shopkeepers and businessmen hurrying past
on their way to whatever appointment had them in such a hustle, and
basically enjoying the day, in general.

It was a good thing, being free, being able
to breathe the pure, spring air. A mighty fine thing, indeed, to
come and go as one pleased, to make one’s own decisions. Not
everybody got that right.

As he pondered the undeniable values of
unrestricted liberty, Joshua found himself staring at the figure of
a woman some yards ahead of him up the road. She was headed in the
same direction he rode, thus he could see nothing more than her
back.

But that was all he needed to see.

His body tensed. Every muscle tightened.

He drew back on the reins, and for a moment
he silently watched the tall, thin-shouldered woman walking slowly
onward. Were she to turn and walk his way, he knew he would see the
scarred cheeks, the haunting sadness in those pathetic blue-green
eyes, the slight disfiguration of her once-beautiful lips.

But, no. It couldn’t be.

Get a grip, man. What would she be doing
here in Sunset?

Joshua pressed his knees against his horse’s
flanks, spurred on now as much by curiosity as by the need to prove
himself wrong. No way could the woman be Maddie Marlowe. She didn’t
belong in a quiet, God-fearing little town like Sunset.

He chuckled as he caught up with the tall,
dark-cloaked woman and saw her destination.

Nope. Maddie Marlowe sure enough wouldn’t be
setting foot inside a church.

He let out a breath, amused at how easily
his mind could play tricks on him. And then the woman stopped at
the door of the church and turned to face him.

Merciful Lord in Heaven, what in
hell
was Maddie doing here?

Probably the same thing you’re doing.
Running away, trying to shake off the past, trying to leave behind
all the things that are best forgotten.

Only now, how could he forget any of it with
Maddie Marlowe walking the dusty streets of Sunset?

Those sad, tired eyes met his and held his
gaze without expression. Or maybe he just couldn’t see any emotion
because of the scars and disfigurement. Somebody back in Kansas
City once showed him a picture of Maddie.

Before.

Before some jealous john got drunk and vowed
she’d never sleep with another man. Awful what sulfuric acid did to
human skin. To bone, too. No matter what you thought of whores and
the whole disgusting business of buying and selling their favors,
it was hard not to feel sorry for a woman like Maddie. She’d once
been beautiful.

But that was before.

She’d turned ugly now, ugly in body, in
mind, in soul.

Maybe that was why she was headed for church
on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe she meant to get down on her knees
and offer up a few prayers for forgiveness.

He sat atop his horse, not saying a word,
just looking at her, just waiting for her to speak. She didn’t. All
Maddie did was stare right back at him, as though he were the
intruder, as though
she
had every right to be there and he
was supposed to be someplace else.

Finally, she turned away, opened the door,
and hurried into the refuge of the church.

Kat’s mother had taken to frowning lately.
So much, Kat worried that her lovely face might be frozen in a
perpetual look of displeasure. Worse, Kat blamed herself. She knew
she was the reason for her mother’s unhappiness.

“Really, Katherine, you’ve got to get over
this stubbornness. Men don’t like that sort of thing in a
wife.”

“First, I don’t want to get married,” she
said as she sat beside her mother on the wagon’s narrow bench. They
were driving into town, and much to Kat’s consternation, they would
be paying a call on the ailing minister. “Second, you’re stubborn,
too. So is Pa, for that matter, but the two of you have managed to
make your marriage work.”

“Well, then, it just goes to show that two
people can overcome their differences and live happily
together.”

“Not if one of them is dead set against it.”
She tightened her grip on the pot of soup she held in her lap.
“Besides, Mama, it was different when you married Pa. You loved
him, didn’t you?”

To her dismay, her mother shrugged.
“Probably not, honey. I was too young to know what love was. But I
did understand respect and kindness, and I knew the importance of
building a secure future.”

There it was again. All that damned nonsense
about
security
.