Karen Kirst - His Mountain Miss

“No.” He straightened, and her hand fell away. “I’ll get it.”

He didn’t recognize the brown-haired, green-eyed man on the other side of the door. “Good evening. May I help you?”

He looked to be about the same age as himself, maybe a year or so younger, and was dressed like the local men in casual pants, band-collared shirt and suspenders. While his expression was pleasant, his eyes were assessing, his fingers crushing the brim of his hat he held at his waist.

“Evenin’. The name’s Tom Leighton. I own the barbershop on Main.” He stuck out his hand. “You must be Charles’s grandson.”

He shook his hand. “Lucian Beaumont.”

“Pleased to meet you.” His gaze searched the entryway. “Is Megan still here? I came to walk her home.”

“Yes, she is.” Lucian stepped back and motioned him inside. “She’s in the parlor.”

Following Leighton, Lucian ignored a twinge of dislike. He had absolutely no grounds for such a reaction. He didn’t even know the man. It bothers you that he appears to have a relationship with Megan. The banker let slip earlier that Tom Leighton saw Megan as a prospective wife. Question was, how did she feel about that? Did she want to marry the barbershop owner? Were they courting?

As the two exchanged greetings, Lucian watched her expression carefully. Was her smile a bit forced? Her eyes a little tight? Or was he being ridiculous? He puffed out an irritated breath. Definitely ridiculous.

He had absolutely no romantic interest in this woman. Or any other woman, for that matter. The misery of his parents’ mockery of a marriage had carved deep scars on his heart, creating within him an aversion to anything resembling an intimate relationship. He would not repeat their mistakes. He would marry because it was expected of him to produce heirs and further the Beaumont legacy. For duty and social connections, not fickle emotions or fleeting attraction.

He’d had a near miss with Dominique. Had begun to entertain the notion that perhaps pure love could exist for him, that he wouldn’t have to endure a marriage that was more business arrangement than anything else. Thank goodness she’d revealed her true nature before his heart had succumbed.

Watching Megan, he reminded himself of his charted course. She was a diversion, and, albeit delightful and intriguing, one he didn’t want or need.

* * *

“Tom!” Megan wasn’t sure why his arrival had disconcerted her. It wasn’t unusual for him to show up to walk her home. She’d been so immersed in the conversation with Lucian, deeply attuned to his turmoil, that the interruption had thrown her.

“I had a couple of late customers. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be here.” He seemed a touch nervous, which was unlike him. He lowered his voice. “How’d it go?”

“Wonderful.”

Surprise flitted across Tom’s face. “Really?”

Movement beyond his shoulder meant Lucian had entered the room, holding himself back, his dark gaze hooded.

Stepping to the side in order to include him, she touched Tom’s arm in a silent request for him to turn around. “You’ve met Lucian already?”

He nodded curtly. “Yes.”

The two men regarded each other in silence. She glanced askance at her friend. He was normally talkative and friendly, even with strangers. Why was he acting like this?

She cleared her throat. “Tom is a close friend of the family. We’ve known each other practically from birth. He and my cousin Josh used to take great pleasure in tormenting me.”

Laughter erupted from Tom, and, ignoring her arched brow, he slung an arm around her shoulders. “Like hiding frogs in your lunch pails.” Tucking her close to his side, he grinned at Lucian. “Made her so mad, she could hardly speak. But she’d eventually cool off and talk to us again. Megan and I know each other very well, almost as well as an old married couple. We have a lot in common.”

“Sounds like it,” Lucian responded drily.

Stunned and irritated by Tom’s familiarity, his insinuations, Megan shrugged off his arm as unobtrusively as she could. “Well, I believe we should be going.” Before he embarrassed her further.

She paused before Lucian, wishing they could’ve finished their conversation. Hating to leave him to deal with his confused anguish alone. Longing to reach out and comfort him. He seemed in desperate need of a hug. “Thank you for everything.”

He stared at her for so long that Tom approached and took hold of her arm.

“Ready?”

She jumped, having forgotten for a split second that there was anyone else in the room besides the two of them. “Y-yes, I’m quite ready. Good evening, Lucian.”

His nod was almost imperceptible, his low drawl a caress. “Bonne nuit, mon chou.”

It wasn’t until they’d reached the end of the lane that she rounded on Tom.

“Why did you do that?”

He held up his palms. “Do what?”

“You know perfectly well what.” She jammed her hands on her hips. “Why did you try to make Lucian believe something about us that isn’t true?”

Grasping her upper arms, he peered down at her with an intensity he rarely displayed, making her stomach clench with dread.

“I can’t deny that I want it to be true. Surely you know by now how I feel about you, Megan.” His green eyes blazed with conviction. “I would like to court you properly.”

Megan squeezed her eyes tight. What could she say that wouldn’t hurt his feelings? She’d been so careful not to encourage him!

“If you don’t open your eyes, I’m going to take it as an invitation to kiss you.”

“Don’t you dare!” Her eyes popping open, she wriggled out of his grasp and strode briskly down the lane. He easily kept pace with her but didn’t speak, allowing her time to sort through her response.

When she stopped at the split-rail fence that signaled the beginning of her property, he stopped, as well, expectant.

“I can’t think about this right now.” She took the coward’s way out, opting to delay what would be an extremely difficult task, one that would alter their friendship forever. Feeling lower than pond scum, she rushed ahead to explain, “I’m in charge of my sisters while Momma is away, you know. This is the first time in the twins’ entire lives that they’ve been apart, and Jane is having a tough time of it. Nicole is even more unpredictable than usual, and now I have the issue with Charles’s house to contend with. I’m sorry, but I—”

“It’s all right.” He held up a hand. “This wasn’t the best time to spring my feelings on you, but I’m not sorry it’s finally out in the open. Take all the time you need.”

His consideration made her feel even worse. “Thanks, Tom,” she murmured, toeing the grass with her boot.

“Just remember, I’ll be waiting.”

With a slight smile and a tug on his hat’s brim, he turned and walked back the way they’d come, headed to his farm on the opposite side of town. Sagging against the fence, she watched until the shadowed lane swallowed him up. I don’t know what to do, God. I need to be clear with him about my feelings, but I can’t bear the thought of wounding him. He’s been such a dear friend.

Friend. That’s all he’d ever be. All she’d ever want him to be. Tom was easy to be with, funny and interesting, as well as dependable and an all-around great man. But he wasn’t the man for her.

Thoughts of Lucian crowded in, prodding her. Sure, he could make her tremble with merely a look. Release a storm of butterflies in her tummy with the slightest touch. Stir her heart with emotion. Despite all that, he wasn’t the one for her, either.

Chapter Six

Lucian missed his predictable life. His comfortable routine. Coffee and croissants in the estate gardens, mornings at the waterfront overseeing his family’s shipping offices, afternoons devoted to social responsibilities and evenings dining and dancing with the upper crust of society. Every day was pretty much the same, and he liked it that way.