Mr. Barrington pulled a spare chair from the corner and placed it directly beside his. “Don’t want to disappoint our guests, Abby.”
She ground her teeth. He was backing her into a corner and they both knew she was too damn polite to make a scene in front of company.
With no other choice, she took the seat he held for her. Only when she was seated did he take his. The space was cramped. She scooted her chair an inch from his only to have him move his two inches toward her. The casual brush sent fire through her veins and for a moment she thought she’d jump out of her skin.
Mr. Barrington, however, looked perfectly content where he was. He snapped open his napkin and laid it across his lap. “Pike and Webber, is it?”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Pike said. “And I got to say that this is the best food I’ve eaten since I left home.”
“Brings tears to my eyes, ma’am,” Mr. Webber said.
Abby barely heard what they said. “Thank you.”
The men started talking about the work they’d been doing and the harsh weather they’d seen since they’d arrived. Abby let the conversations drift over her head.
Guests were so rare and she wanted to sit and chat, but having Mr. Barrington so close was making her nerves dance. His scent enveloped her. Her stomach tightened each time he shifted in his seat and brushed her thigh.
She needed distance and space.
Abby glanced toward the door hoping the boys needed her so that she could escape Mr. Barrington’s presence. She saw Quinn’s head pop out of the stagecoach window and then Tommy’s out of the other. Both were laughing.
“I better go check on the children,” she said.
“The boys are fine,” Mr. Barrington said smoothly. He laid his hand on her knee. “Enjoy this time.”
Enjoy. His touch scorched through her skirt to her flesh. She felt ready to jump out of her skin.
“How long have you two been out here, Mr. Barrington?” Mr. Pike asked. He dunked his bread into his stew and popped it in his mouth.
“I’ve had the homestead for almost five years,” Mr. Barrington said. He deliberately withheld the fact that she’d only just arrived.
Abby fluffed her napkin. “I’ve only been here two weeks.”
The miners seemed surprised by her answer and she could feel Mr. Barrington’s scowl bearing down on her.
“So how do you like Montana, ma’am?” Mr. Webber said.
“It’s lovely country.”
“A backbreaker if you ask me,” Mr. Pike said.
“Still,” Webber added, “it’s tolerable if a man has his wife with him.”
Abby pinched a piece of bread. “Oh, Mr. Barrington and I aren’t married. I only work for him.”
Matthias thought Pike and Webber were going to jump out of their seats. A woman in these parts was rare. But a single one as lovely as Abby was a miracle.
The men sat straighter. Mr. Webber sucked in his stomach. Their horns were up and they were already thinking about how they’d snag Abby for their own.
Over his dead body.
The raw possessiveness surprised Matthias but he didn’t question it. Though he’d blundered things badly between them, these railroad men weren’t going to complicate matters more. He knew how these surveyors lived. They worked from sun-up to sundown and slept in hovels at night. The thought of Abby carving out an existence on the line grated his nerves.
“Miss Abby,” Mr. Pike said. “You ever traveled up to the northern part of the territory?”
She smiled, completely unaware that the man was likely undressing her with his eyes as they spoke. “I’ve not had the pleasure.”
“I been thinking about going up there to try my hand in the gold fields. I hear miners are finding gold faster than they can shove it in their pockets,” he said. “Why, this time next month, I’m liable to be a millionaire.”
Matthias grit his teeth. Flat broke was more like it.
“Ma’am, if I may be so bold, you are about the prettiest woman I ever did see,” Mr. Webber said.
Abby glanced up and blushed prettily.
Dear Lord, she wasn’t falling for that bounder’s line. “So are you gentlemen headed out after lunch?” he said to Holden.
Holden glanced up from his stew. “I thought we’d stay a spell. Rest our bones.”
Mr. Webber, his belly full, was leering. Horny bastard.
“The weather looks like it could close in,” Matthias warned. His words were casual, while his meaning was predatory. Get off my land! “You best head out right after lunch so you don’t get caught in a storm.”
Holden frowned. “The sky is clear as a bell.”
Abby paused, her cup near her lips. “Holden’s right, there’s not a cloud in the sky.”
“It’s going to rain,” Matthias growled.
Holden glanced up. When he saw Matthias’s murderous expression, he glanced toward the men who gawked at Abby. He understood in an instant. “I suppose it would be best if we made Crickhollow by dark.”
“The sooner the better.”
Abby frowned. “Are you sure? We don’t get guests very often.”
Holden ate faster, as if sensing Matthias’s patience was now paper-thin. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.”
Thirty minutes later, Matthias, Abby and the children waved goodbye as Holden pulled out with his passengers.
Once the stage had left, Abby started back toward the cabin, with the boys in tow.
“Abby, I’d like to speak to you.” Matthias watched her turn, noted the worry and concern on her face. “Boys, run on inside while I talk to Miss Abby.”
The boys scurried into the cabin, leaving Abby alone to face him. “I have to clean up the lunch plates.”
“They’ll keep.” He had hoped two days on the trail would cool his desire for her and give his mind time to clear. It hadn’t worked.
Each night, his mind filled with thoughts of how well their bodies fit together. Even now he remembered the soft warmth of her skin.
When he’d been with Elise, he’d always kept a tight rein on his needs, fearing if she saw the animal need in him, she would be afraid. With Abby, he’d lost control. His animal desires had roared to life. But there’d been no fear in Abby’s eyes. Instead there’d been a fire in her that had
matched his own. Under all that calico beat the heart of a passionate woman.
Pent-up desires pulled at the bit.
The intent in his eyes had her backing away a step. “What can I do for you, Mr. Barrington?”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Matthias straightened his shoulders. He wasn’t sure how he was going to mend things with Abby, but he had to fix the mess he’d created. “Those men here today. You understand what they’re after.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “I have a fair idea.”
“Don’t be fooled by their words.”
“I won’t be fooled again.”
He caught her meaning. Seeing those other men ogling her drove home the fact that he could easily lose her. He was painfully aware now what he was losing. What he’d had with Abby.
“There’ll be others like them.”
“Only if I’m lucky.” She grinned wickedly, turned on her heel and flounced into the house.
“You won’t be entertaining men on my land, under my roof.”
She shrugged. “I came out here for a fresh start. That’s what I plan to have. If a man comes calling, I won’t chase him off.”
Possessive hot need pounded in his veins. If he had his way, he’d toss her over his shoulder, take her in the barn and make love to her right now. “Then I will,” he growled.
Challenge snapped in Abby’s eyes. “So let me understand this. You can’t move on with your life and you won’t let me move on with mine.”
No. Yes. “Damn it. You’re making it sound more complicated than it is.”
“I think it’s best for all of us if I leave on the next stage. Mrs. Clements will watch the boys if I ask her and then you can be free to do your work and mourn your dead wife.” Her cheeks flushed. “Consider this my notice, Mr. Barrington.”
Before he could respond, she turned on her heel and marched back into the cabin.
Matthias stood with his hands clenched at his sides.
Abby wasn’t going anywhere.
She was his.
Chapter Thirteen
Later that afternoon, Abby sat on a log under the shade of a poplar tree churning butter. Her anger had cooled and she now regretted losing her temper. What was wrong with her? Her emotions were all over the place.