Page 50 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
Edwin stormed onto the sidewalk in front of his mercantile and looked back at him, the scowl on his face visible even from the distance they were from one another.He wasn’t sure when the man would let go of his insistence that Violet was supposed to be his wife.If them getting married hadn’t done it, he wasn’t sure what would.
Why the man was so adamant about it being Violet he married was a better question.Why wouldn’t he let it go?Sure, Violet was beautiful, but Edwin hadn’t known that before he arrived in Silver Falls.He’d known her as a child, so he knew the man wasn’t in love with her, so why was he so determined to marry her, despite the fact she had a husband now?Why not pick someone else?There were probably several dozen single ladies in this town.Why not one of them?
Something didn’t add up about any of this, but he didn’t have the will to care at the moment.He had to go back upstairs, to the small room his wife was waiting in, and he wasn’t sure what he’d find when he did.Would she be ready to finish what they’d started or would he get lucky and she’d fallen asleep and settled the matter for him because despite not wanting to make the situation any harder than it was, that small taste he had of her wasn’t enough.He wanted more.He wanted more of her sighs and his name whispered in the dark.He wanted her underneath him, on top of him.He wanted to drown in the feel of her skin against his own.
He wasn’t going to fool himself into thinking he wasn’t attracted to her.He always had been.It was hard not to be.She was beautiful, with luscious auburn hair that made him want to feel it between his fingers and against his flesh.
He wanted her mouth on him, her hands in his hair and he wanted to keep Edwin as far from her as he could keep him, and it wasn’t just because he promised to help her.No, it was because he didn’t want another man close to her.He wasn’t sure he’d ever want to see another man calling her his, which made this entire situation insane.He didn’t want a wife.Ever.
Regardless of how beautiful Violet was, he couldn’t keep her and bedding her would send the entirely wrong message.He had to put a stop to all this before it started.
Sighing, he stood and headed back upstairs, taking the steps slowly, his bare feet making the weathered boards creak under his weight.He stood outside his door when he reached it, listening.The only thing he heard were voices from downstairs and the rope-springs of one of the beds in another room squeaking.
He turned the knob and let himself in, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the lamp extinguished.Moonlight filtered into the room, giving him a glimpse of her already nestled underneath the blankets in bed.
The hinges creaked when he pushed the door shut and he looked over his shoulder to see if he’d woken her with the noise.She hadn’t moved.
Her wet skirt and blouse were draped over the chairs to dry, the towels still laying on the floor soaking up the water they’d sloshed over the side of the tub.
He headed for the bed, stepping lightly to minimize the noise the floorboards made as he crossed the room and slid his shirt off before wiping his feet on the rug and crawling under the blankets in his pants.Violet shifted the moment he settled.She wasn’t asleep.
“What did he want?”Her voice sounded sleepy and way too sultry in the dim moon-washed room.Her eyelids looked drowsy, so perhaps she had been asleep.
He blew out a breath, folded his arms underneath his head, and stared up at the ceiling.“He wanted to talk to you.Once he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he stomped off back to his mercantile.”
“You were gone a while.I wasn’t sure if you were coming back.Did you go check on Archie?”
“No.But I should have.”It hadn’t even occurred to him, to be honest.He’d been too concerned about the woman beside him to think of much else.“I needed time to cool off.”
“Oh.”
Long minutes passed, and he thought she’d gone back to sleep, but the moment she touched him, her slim fingers brushing against his bare abdomen before heading straight to the waistband of his pants, he grabbed her hand.“What are you doing, Violet?”
“Touching you.”She tried moving her hand again, but he didn’t let it go.She sighed and stilled.
As much as he wanted her to touch him, he couldn’t lead her on.He dragged her hand up to lay on his chest to keep it from dangerous territory.
“We’re married, Josiah.There’s nothing wrong with any of this.”
No, there wasn’t.Nothing other than her wellbeing was in jeopardy just being with him.
“Why are you so against a relationship, Josiah?Is it me?”
“No.”He answered immediately.“Any man would be lucky to have you as a wife.”
“Anyone but you, you mean.”
He blew out a breath and turned on the bed to face her.“You don’t really want to be married to me, Violet.”
“And if I do?”
Her voice was barely over a whisper and he could hear every vulnerability she had in those softly spoken words.The conversation he’d had with Ewan came back to him in an instant and the old man telling him Violet had been sweet on him since the day he rode into Silver Falls ringing the loudest.
He’d wondered about her feelings for him on several occasions.Every time he saw her spying on him around town, his lonely heart would whisper the words, but he’d always pushed them away as wishful thinking but knowing it for a fact still hadn’t changed anything.
He let out another sigh and tucked her hand under his chin.“I was engaged to be married once.”
Her eyes widened a fraction.“You were”
