Lily (Wildflowers Of Montana Book 5) Read Online Free

gentleness that belied my strong feelings, and steered her down the nearest alley.
    She looked up at me in a way that I knew would have felled a lesser man. “Keep looking at me like that, Miss Lenox, and you’re going to get yourself kissed.”
    Her mouth fell open and I could see her straight, white teeth. “Unhand me!”
    I slowly shook my head as I pressed her against the clapboard wall of one of the businesses. We were in shadow so the air was cooler. The noise from the street was lessened, settled back and away from the street as we were. We were alone, yet in the very middle of the bustling town.
    I released my hold, but when she made efforts to escape, I planted my hands on the wall on either side of her, pinning her in place. Her breathing was erratic and I could see the faint tick of her pulse at her neck.
    “If my words upset you, I am sorry. That was not my intention.”
    She quirked a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “What was your intention?”
    “To make you aware of my intentions.”
    “Your intentions?”
    She frowned, a small crease forming in her brow. I pressed my thumb to that spot and smoothed it out, but she swatted my hand away.
    “It wasn’t your intention to make me upset about your intentions ?”She rolled her eyes, then laughed, but she hadn’t found it humorous. “Why me? I’m just the woman who was almost killed by a stage. I’m plain, contrary—”
    “Argumentative,” I added.
    She pursed her lips at that, then added, “A bluestocking.”
    “A vegetarian. I believe that is the name for someone who doesn’t eat meat. God only knows why,” I grumbled. Who didn’t eat meat?
    She didn’t add more to her list of more… unique traits. I’d left off beautiful, which, by the way she sighed dejectedly, I realized I should have said first.
    “What do you want from me?” she whispered, so I leaned in closer.
    “I thought I’d made that clear. I am going to marry you. Then I am going to fuck that prim, prickly attitude right out of you.”
    She blushed, but her eyes narrowed in fury. “I’m prickly now, too?”
    I grinned. “That’s what I like about you the most, getting you all riled up.”
    Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red and I enjoyed watching it creep down her neck. “No one’s ever talked to you like that before?” I bent my arms so I was even a little closer, crowding her a bit more.
    She shook her head and I saw the circle of green in her eyes get smaller.
    “What if I said I enjoyed watching your breasts move as you try to catch your breath?”
    Her hand came up and struck my cheek, the sound of the slap loud in the alley. I felt the sting of it, but instead of making me angry, it made me hard.
    “You like it rough, do you?” I asked.
    “Mr. Matthews,” she began.
    “What is it, precious? Scared?”
    She laughed, but it was fake. Her bravado slipped then and I saw so much more than she wanted to share.
    “That’s what this is, this attitude. You’re scared.” As if I’d just figured out a complex puzzle, it all became clear. She wasn’t as standoffish as she led people to believe. She just wasn’t letting anyone get close to her. Her reasons I didn’t know—yet—but I could see the real Miss Lenox now. Stroking my finger gently over her cheek, which was silky soft and warm, I soothed her. “You think I wanted to fall for someone today? You think my plans included a spitfire redhead?”
    “Just let me go and this… spitfire can leave you alone,” she replied tartly. “You can go right back to your damned plans.”
    “We’ll talk about your language later.” I slowly shook my head as I continued to stroke her skin. “I can’t go back, precious. You feel it. I know you do. Not every woman almost gets run over by a stage because she’s fallen for me.”
    “I haven’t fallen for you,” she countered quickly. Too quickly. Her eyes lifted to mine briefly, then lowered to my mouth. I stifled a groan.
    “You’re scared,”