Her gloved fingers grazed the bruised knuckles of his left hand. “Thank you.”
He slid his free hand over hers before it could escape. “I may not know much about being a family man, but there’s one thing you won’t have to worry about.”
Her “What?” was soft, almost shy. He wondered if she was embarrassed to be seen with him, or if she was regretting their deal already.
He looked down again, but he was still talking to the top of her head. “Being manhandled by strange men. I know how to take care of my own.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
He’d been expecting a little more enthusiasm for his declaration. The woman made no sense, but since she was giving him the things he’d always wanted in life, he supposed he could allow her a few oddities. Things could have been worse. She could have been the hysterical type.
A fly landed on his cheek and he brushed it aside. Elizabeth flinched and he wondered if she’d truly believed him when he’d told her he’d take care of her. He did an inventory of what he could see. The hand on his arm was shaking, he realized, with tiny, nearly imperceptible tremors.
His free hand brushed his leg as he stepped around an oncoming woman with children. The calluses on his fingers scraped across the cotton of his blue denim pants, bringing to mind their differences. He supposed he couldn’t blame her for worrying. There wasn’t that much of her to go around and, from the looks of things, her first wedding night had given her cause to be cautious. He opened his mouth to launch another assault on her fears when she forestalled him with a proper, “Excuse me.”
He stepped off the end of the wooden sidewalk. Turning, he held out his hand to help her down. The gloved fingers that rested in his were trembling. A quick glance at her face revealed it was as white as a sheet. “Are you all right?”
“Could we get off the street?”
It might have been his imagination, but he thought her grip a little desperate. He looked around. “The alley’s deserted,” he pointed out dubiously.
“That’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.” He’d never escorted a lady into an alley before, but there was always a first time for everything.
As soon as the buildings blocked out the bright sun, the tremors in her hands spread to her body. “Are we alone?”
“Yes.”
The tremors grew to shudders and her teeth clattered so hard they nipped the end off every word. “Are you sure no one can see?”
He wondered if she were given to fits. “The only company we’ve got are a couple of cats and they’re too busy to pay us much mind.”
“Good,” she sighed, closing her eyes.
“Are you all right?”
She collapsed against him. He looked into her waxen features. He guessed he could take a dead faint as an answer to his question.
Chapter Two
For the space of two heartbeats, Asa debated what to do with the woman in his arms. His hotel was just across the street. In a matter of steps, he could drop her on the bright red velvet couch in the parlor and wash his hands of the whole mess. That was, if he could make it across the busy street without attracting attention. He had a better chance of skinning a live polecat.
“Are you sure no one can see?”
The question echoed in his head. Every syllable replicated right down to the stilted note with which it had ended.
He sighed, shifted Elizabeth in his arms, and knew he wasn’t going to make a spectacle of her. A man owed his future wife that much consideration. That still left him with the burning question of what he was going to do with her.
A window rasped open above them. It was the only warning he had before the contents of a chamber pot hurtled down on the spot where he’d just been standing.
“Jumping Jehoshaphat!” he swore, shaking refuse off the heel of his boot. He glared at his unconscious wife-to-be. “These are brand new boots, woman. If you think I’m going to stand here all day, providing target practice for the folks living upstairs, you’ve got another think coming. Wake up!”
Elizabeth did absolutely nothing of the sort. Asa snorted in disgust.
“If this is an example of your obedience,” he muttered, slinging her over one shoulder, “I’d sure hate to see your idea of acting up.” He strode to an overturned crate. A quick glance up revealed no treacherous windows above. With a nudge of his boot, he chased off the amorous cats. The male hissed and arched his back as he retreated. Asa grunted right back.
“Get used to it. Life is damned inconvenient.” He dumped Elizabeth on the crate. She lolled to one side and would have fallen if he hadn’t set his foot on the crate to stop her tumble. “Especially when there’s a woman involved.”