“No,” Mary said. “I’d like to know more about this way of life. I’d like to talk to Grace in private sometime. We have two weeks before we have to make a decision. I’m willing to consider having two husbands.”
Daisy felt the same, though she knew she would never return to Charleston. Treasure Falls would be her life. And now she would have not one, but two husbands.
The men cheered and Jesse gave her a sweet smile.
“Me too,” Daisy said.
“I will as well,” Blanche said.
Slowly, the women agreed to learn more, and once again, the atmosphere changed.
“Well, then, ladies and gentlemen, let’s mingle and get to know one another,” the doctor said, smiling.
He moved out of the way just in time as the men came rushing toward the women. And Lee and Ellis were suddenly in front of her smiling.
“That dress you’re wearing is really pretty,” Lee told her, taking her arm.
“Thank you,” she said and was surprised that she had no reaction to him touching her. In fact, it was like her skin warmed at the place where his fingers brushed her elbow.
“Now, I understand why the two of you were together today,” she said, smiling at them wondering what it would feel like to be sandwiched between them.
Ellis took her other elbow and they guided her outside where they were still setting up the tables for dinner. Warmth flooded her in a way she had never experienced as the men walked on either side of her.
“Tell us why you became a mail-order bride,” Ellis asked.
Licking her lips, she told them what Mary had said. “In Charleston, I couldn’t find a single man I was interested in.”
“Oh come, now,” Lee said. “I’m sure the men were chasing after you. You’re beautiful.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I thought they were the right man or even nice men,” she said, hoping that would stifle that inquiry.
Ellis frowned, his emerald eyes gazing at her. “What about your family?”
She swallowed. She hated lying to them, but she wasn’t ready to tell them about how her father had taken Thomas’s side and kicked her out of the house.
“They’re dead,” she said knowing that she lied. “I was easy prey for the men of Charleston.”
Ellis’s brows rose, and he nodded. “I can see that. A beautiful woman without anyone to protect her.”
Couples had yet to wander outside. They were alone. Lanterns were lit in the yard, casting soft light.
“You don’t have to worry about that any longer,” Lee said as they pulled out a chair for her at the table. “We’re here to protect you.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“That is if you’ll have us,” he said with a grin.
They were putting her on the spot and she wasn’t ready to tell them she would accept any offer.
“We’ll see,” she said. “I know all of us don’t want to make a mistake that we would later regret.”
Ellis smiled. “Agreed. We have two weeks, and I think we should take that time to get to know each other.”
Lee frowned. “Why wait two weeks. Let’s get married tonight and begin our journey right away.”
Daisy patted him on the arm. “Lee, two weeks, and if things are going well, we’ll discuss our expectations and then see what happens.”
He sighed. “All right. Right now, two weeks seems like forever, but I think I can wait. As long as you let me kiss you.”
This was the test. The chance to see if she would run screaming from the lovely outside area and lock the doors. This was a chance to see if she could take a man kissing her again.
Licking her lips, she smiled at him. “I thought you would never ask.”
The man gave a huge grin and then he pulled her up from the chair and glanced about the area. They were alone.
“Oh, darling, you don’t know how much I’ve wanted to kiss you since you got off that stage. If I hadn’t thought you would think I was too forward, I would have done this the moment we met.”
His lips slid over hers and he kissed her gently, but firmly, and then with a sigh, he released her. “If we weren’t in public, that kiss would have been a lot different.”
A trickle of something that she’d never felt before spiraled up her spine and she touched her tingling lips with her hand. She enjoyed the feel of his lips and she had not run screaming into the building.
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “That was the best kiss I’ve ever received.”
And she wasn’t lying. It had been wonderful.
Ellis had been watching them and she wondered about the feel of his lips on hers. After all, she would be marrying two men, not one.
Feeling unsteady, she turned to face him. “What about you, Ellis? Do you want to kiss me?”
A groan erupted from the back of his throat and he hauled her into his arms. “You’re a temptress. Maybe the men back in Charleston were afraid of you?”
God, if only he knew.
“No, you make me feel brave. The two of you,” she whispered.