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"Wait a minute." The corset had slipped out of position during the night. With her back to
him, she tried to center it. Things still weren't in the right place. Glancing over her shoulder, she
ordered, "Turn your back."
He gave her a disbelieving look but turned away.
Victoria quickly bent from the waist and shook her shoulders until her breasts fell into the
intended space near the top of the corset. "Now you can pull," she said as she straightened, and
pushed the garment tightly against the front of her body with her forearms.
"What did you do?" he asked, reaching for the laces.
"Never you mind. Just pull." She took a deep breath.
He gave the laces a small tug.
She exhaled. "Much tighter." Again she sucked her waist in and her chest out.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 220
He tugged harder and the stays of the corset molded into Victoria's body.
She took a trial breath. "That's enough. Please tie it in a bow so I can undo it."
"I'm used to throwin' hitches. Don't do bows much." The level of his voice changed as he
leaned closer to his work.
Then his hands moved uncertainly against her lower back. Victoria took several quick breaths
to ward off an unusual wave of heat that traveled through her body. Maybe the corset was too tight.
He straightened and pulled her corset cover down, smoothing it over her hips. Did he have to
touch her that much?
"Now what?"
"The bustle, of course."
"Do you have to wear that thing?"
"My skirt will drag on the ground and get dirty if I don't."
"I don't know how you women move with all this stuff on."
The weight of the bustle fell lightly against her lower back, then Hawk stepped around her and
bent to fastened the buckle at her waist. The faint scent of hair tonic reached her nostrils. She
inhaled deeply.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 221
He quickly fastened the buckle and reached for her skirt, dropping it over her head without any
warning. Suddenly, he seemed to be in a great hurry. Closing the opening at her waist, he pulled the
sleeve of her basque over her injured hand, catching her fingers so that she cried out in alarm.
"Sorry," he murmured and took more care in pulling the sleeve into place. Finally, he stood
in front of her working on the row of buttons that closed her basque. He avoided meeting her gaze.
Haste made his blunt fingers clumsier than they'd been the night before. His breathing sounded
strange, almost like panting.
Victoria tried to keep her chest motionless, but the need for air drove her to inhale deeply,
thrusting her bosom upward.
Hawk jerked his hands back. His fingers trembled slightly. "Hold still!"
"Sorry." What was wrong? He hadn't seemed to mind helping her last night, but this morning
he had grown positively surly.
When he'd finished the last button, he impatiently made a half-turn away from her. "Is there
anything else? I've got to get back to fixin' breakfast."
"I'm fine. Thank you."
He nodded and walked away.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 222
Victoria hoped his anger hadn't come back.
Hawk pulled his horse to a stop and looked out over the increasingly steep hills ahead. They'd
been climbing all morning. Pinyon trees now grew among the juniper bushes. In the distance, he
could make out the dark green spires of ponderosa pines lining the mountain ridges.
Hearing a shout, he looked back. Jack snapped the reins over the backs of the mules as he
urged them up an incline. Hawk hoped he hadn't made Jack mad by telling him to drive the wagon
today, but Hawk needed to put some distance between himself and Victoria.
What had gotten into him, anyway? This morning he'd acted like a kid in his first whorehouse.
She'd been covered up too, only her arms showing, but when he'd run his hands down from her small
waist and over her rounded hips, he'd damn near popped out of his pants.
This being married in name only was gonna be a lot harder than he'd imagined. He had to keep
reminding himself what Victoria had been through down in Mexico. If he did something to add to
her bad opinion of men, she might be ruined for all time. Of course, unless someone helped her over
her present fear, she might be, anyway.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 223 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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