Breathless(6)

Rhine chuckled, “Yes, but they may as well be fence posts for all the attention she gives them. She keeps saying she isn’t interested in getting married. Her sister is just the opposite, though. Left to her own devices, Regan would have men dueling in the streets for her affections.”

Kent found the information about Portia interesting. As a young girl she’d been stiff-backed and distant, and he’d given her the name Duchess just to tease her. But why didn’t she want to marry? Did she think herself too good for the average male, or was she one of those so called modern women who thought men were as useful as a one-legged stool? Regan on the other hand had been quite the pistol at age ten—open and gregarious. In fact, both girls had been handfuls at first: sassing the teacher, fighting at school, being suspended at school. No one knew how the other children learned their mother was a whore but the girls were berated and teased mercilessly—thus the fighting. And when some of the more sanctimonious parents decided they didn’t want the girls around their children, Eddy had taken them out of school and hired a tutor to teach them at home.

And now, they were all grown-up. Although he had yet to see Regan, he assumed she was as much an ebony beauty as her sister and aunt. Kent followed Rhine past a nicely furnished sitting room. “This is the family’s quarters. The kitchen and dining room are through that alcove. Eddy does the cooking. She says the staff have enough to do without waiting on us, too.”

Rhine led him into a hallway and stopped in front of a closed door. “We’ll put you in here. The girls’ rooms are through that door down there, and Eddy and I are in the suite behind that one.” The doors he referenced were at opposite ends of the hallway. “These three rooms in between are reserved for family guests, and since you are family . . .”

Rhine turned the knob and led him into a space that was large and airy. The bed looked big enough for his six-foot-three-inch frame to sleep in comfortably. There were thin drapes fluttering in the soft breeze from the open windows and a set of French doors that opened to the outside.

“I have to be frank,” Rhine stated, his voice bringing his attention back. “Even with the prison sentence I’m assuming you’re still no monk.”

He hid his grin.

“If you think to add my girls to the notches on your bedpost, think again. I will geld you, Kent.”

The hidden grin died. “Understood.”

“Wanted to make that clear.”

And then as if he hadn’t just threatened to turn him into a eunuch, Rhine said, “Bath is through that door and there’s inside plumbing. Feel free to walk around the place to get your bearings if you have a mind to before dinner. And if you need anything, press that button on the wall. It rings in the housekeeping office.”

Kent glanced over at the small gold button and nodded. The place was even more modern than he’d first thought.

“Are you hungry?”

“As a bear.”

“Okay. I’ll have one of the staff bring you a tray.”

“Thanks, Rhine.”

Rhine moved to the door. “Welcome back, Kent. Glad to have you with us again.”

Kent’s heart swelled with deeply felt emotion. “Good being with you again, old man.”

Rhine grinned. “I’ll see you later.”

After his departure, Kent glanced around. He hadn’t had a room to himself since leaving Virginia City. It felt odd, but good, too. There were no dirt floors littered with sleeping bodies to maneuver around in order to find a spot to lie down for the night as in the prison, and no bunkhouse filled with belching snoring men like on the ranches he’d worked. He set his saddlebag at his feet and stepped into the washroom. He eyed the big claw-foot tub and smiled his delight. All this luxury was going to take some time getting used to again but he was up to the challenge.

After his bath he dressed in the only clean clothes he had, a simple shirt and a pair of trousers, and walked outside to sit on the bench he’d seen there earlier. It was still desert hot but he hoped the temperature would drop and cool the air a bit now that it was past midday. Yesterday at this time he and Blue had been slowly making their way west from their last job on a spread in Colorado. The ride held no tub filled with hot water to soak away the weariness, no big bed to look forward to sleeping in. Just a bedroll on the ground beneath the stars. There’d certainly been no pretty girl to get reacquainted with. Which brought his thoughts to Portia. When she initially approached him outside, once he got a good look at her, he knew who she was right away, and her stunning beauty hit him like the kick of a mule. He thought he might have been struck dumb for a few moments because all he could do was stare at her gorgeous ebony face, the alluring, black feline eyes and the full sultry mouth. She was definitely all grown-up. With her hair pulled back and wearing a high necked blouse, she’d looked very prim and proper, even if the sway of her skirt belied that. However, the way she’d jumped when he accidentally brushed her arm gave him pause and brought back memories of how wary and fearful she’d been of men when she and her sister first came to live with Rhine and Eddy in Virginia City. He’d had no idea what she’d seen or experienced with her mother that made her so leery but she would visibly tense whenever a man came near, wouldn’t hold lengthy conversations with him, Rhine, or Jim, and if any of them were in a room with her, she’d either abruptly leave or stand with a chair or sofa in front of her as if having a barrier made her feel more secure. Granted he hadn’t given her problem more than a cursory thought back then, after all she’d been a youngster in his eyes and he was more intent on serving drinks and finding a willing woman to bed. He did notice that as time went by, she seemed to become more comfortable. So, could remnants of that fear be why she’d been so skittish when he brushed her arm and why she didn’t want to marry? The realization that that might be the answer made him ashamed of his earlier judgmental conclusions. If Rhine was able to find him a job at the hotel, he’d be spending more time with Portia, so he needed to be the perfect gentleman and not give her a reason to feel threatened in any way.