She jerked her foot back. “You said honesty was the first rule of our arrangement!”
“I was honest. I said I would do the same for a sister—not that I had a sister.” He grabbed her foot by the boot heel and put it back on his knee. “That is something we should know about one another. We might be asked questions.” All trace of warmth left his face and voice. “I have no family. And, if I remember correctly, you said you are an only child—with a father, a cousin and an unwelcome, determined suitor.”
“Yes.” She tamped down the urge to ask what had happened to his family.
“Well, you don’t have to be concerned about the suitor any longer.” He released her foot, rose and held his hands out to the fire.
Her breath came easier. “And you don’t have to be concerned about losing your hotel.” She stepped onto the hearth, let the warmth of the stones seep into her cold feet. “It seems we both owe a debt of thanks to Millie.”
“To Millie?” He snorted. “I think not.”
She stared at him, shocked by the anger in his voice. “But Millie saved your hotel for you.”
“No, you saved my hotel by coming to marry me. Millie decided to stay in New York and marry your butler. She would have let me lose everything in spite of her promise. But then betrayal comes easily to women.” He strode across the room from the hearth to the short hallway and picked up her two valises he had set there. “We will continue our discussion about our arrangement in the morning. It’s getting late, and I’ve got fires to tend and work to do. I’ll show you to your room.”
She looked at his taut face, nodded and picked up her boots.
“This way.”
They entered the hall, the hems of her long skirts whispering against the polished wood floor. She took a quick inventory. There were four doors, no windows. Three oil lamp sconces lit the area, two of them on either side of a tall, double-door cupboard. One would have given dim but sufficient light for the space. Garret Stevenson did not skimp with his comforts. That was good to know.
“The room on the left is my office.”
She glanced at the closed door and followed him to another a few steps down the hall on the right.
“This first room is my bedroom.” His socks brushed against an oval rug that covered the floor from his bedroom door to the end of the hallway. “The door straight ahead at the end of the hall leads to the dressing room. We will share that.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “The dressing room has hot and cold running water at the washbasin and the bathing tub. And a modern flush-down commode. And, of course, a heating stove. I think you will find everything you need in the cupboard.” He took a couple more steps and opened the second door in the wall on the right, then walked into the dimly lit room. “This will be your bedroom.”
A separate room. Thank You, Lord! She stopped in the splash of light from the hall sconce and waited for him to leave.
He set her valises down on the floor at the end of the bed, turned up the wick on the oil lamp on the nightstand and moved to a small, cast-iron heating stove. “I use coal in the stoves. You’ll find it in here.” He opened a red painted box with a slanted top. “It probably needs some now. I started the fire before I went to the station to meet Millie.” He opened a door on the stove, scooped coal on top of the burning embers, closed the door and tugged the handle down again.
She watched him carefully, memorizing his actions. She’d never tended to a fire in her life, but it didn’t look too difficult.
“You’ll want to turn the draft down a bit more when that coal catches fire. It should last you all night on a slow burn.”
The draft? Her breath caught. How much was “a bit”?
He started toward the door, and she stepped back.
His face tightened. He moved close, looked down at her. She stiffened, judged the distance to the bedroom door and wondered if she could run through, slam and lock it before he reached it.
“You can put down your boots, Virginia. There’s no need for you to run.”
He reached out and took them from her hand. Her heart lurched.
“I don’t know what your intended betrothed was like, but I am a man of my word. And I will tell you once again, you have nothing to fear from me. I married because I was forced to do so. Women are fickle and untrustworthy.”
Her chin jutted. “And men are cruel liars!”
His eyes narrowed at her response. “So we are agreed. We are not interested in any romantic relationship. Our agreement is a business arrangement for our mutual benefit, not a marriage. Is that clear?”
She studied his face, tried to read what was in his dark blue eyes and found nothing to cause her to doubt him. “Yes. But it may take me a little time to get over being...nervous.”
A frown drew his eyebrows down. “In the meantime, don’t act this way in public. In public, we are in love with each other. No one will believe that if they see you backing away every time I come near you.” He glanced down at her boots in his hand. “I’ll put these in the sitting room with your coat and hat.” He strode down the hall and disappeared.
She listened to the door to the hotel lobby open and close, then turned and hurried into the bedroom she was to have for her own. A chill chased through her. She stepped onto the Aubusson rug that covered most of the polished wood floor, grabbed the smaller valise and lifted it onto the bed nestled in the far corner. She would get her nightclothes, wash up in the dressing room, then lock herself in this bedroom before Garret Stevenson returned. Not that a lock would keep him out if he were determined to get in. He was a strong man. He’d lifted her as if she were a bag of feathers.
She pulled on her fur-lined slippers and looked around. A wardrobe stood on the hall wall, with a dressing table beside it. It was in a good position, but would be of no use. She could never move that large a piece of furniture. A dresser and rocker sat against the long wall near the entrance. That was better. She could shove the dresser in front of the door and wedge it against the wardrobe if needed. The bed, small nightstand and heating stove, aligned as they were against the rear, outside wall, would be of no help.
The wind howled and rattled the small panes in the window beside the bed. The pendulum on a wall clock hanging over the dresser ticked off the minutes. She snatched her nightclothes from the bag. Heat radiated from the stove.
You’ll want to turn the draft down a bit more when that coal catches fire.
She dropped her garments onto the red-and-cream woven coverlet on the bed, stepped over to the stove and bent to examine it. Where was the draft? The pipe crackled. She looked up, spotted a handle on the side. That must be it. She turned the handle, leaned down and opened the door where Garret had put in the coal to check the fire.
“Oh! Oh...” She jerked back, coughing and blinking her stinging eyes, and waved her hands to dispel the smoke that puffed out into the room.
“Close that door!”
She whirled toward Garret, spun back and grabbed for the handle, touched the door instead. “Ow!” She shoved her fingertips into her mouth, blinked her
