Luke's Would-Be Bride. Sandra Steffen

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ looky here,” Jason declared, looking for all the world like a yearling who’d seen his first female. “Women.”

      “Pretty ones, too.”

      “I’ll be gol-darned.”

      Luke had never seen so many cowboy hats pushed higher off so many foreheads in so short a time. Mel stayed where she was near the back of the room, but the other two women slowly zigzagged toward the front.

      “I do believe our prayers are being answered,” Karl Hanson said.

      Luke wondered how long Karl could hold his breath and suck in his belly at the same time. The dark-haired woman in front cast a covert glance all around and favored them all with a smile. The second woman turned her head, the overhead bulbs creating golden-red highlights in her hair. Luke’s own stomach muscles tightened, but for an entirely different reason. His eyes narrowed, and a slow heat that had nothing to do with the sweltering temperatures shimmered through him.

      He leaned back in his chair. And waited. For what, he wasn’t sure. Maybe for the beating rhythm of his heart to return to normal. Or maybe to see if Jillian Daniels felt the same spark of attraction he did.

      With a wink that turned young Jason Tucker’s face three shades of red, the dark-haired woman said, “I’m Lisa Markman, and this is my friend, Jillian Daniels. We just moved into town this morning, and we were hoping you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions.”

      “You can ask us anything, anything at all,” Karl declared.

      All the men chuckled, all except Luke. Lisa was talking about the family clothing store she planned to open, but Luke hardly heard. He was too busy watching Jillian. She’d changed her clothes since this morning. Now the skirt she wore was one of those trendy wraparound numbers he’d seen on TV—hip-hugging, calf-skimming, a fantasy in the making. He wasn’t sure what it was made of, but the color was a deep, deep green. Her blouse was simple in design, sleeveless, scoop-necked and a rich shade of gold.

      The other woman held up a stack of flyers and said, “I’ve done a lot of research since I saw your advertisement in the Madison papers, and I’ve listed some of the clothing I thought you might want me to stock. I’m going to start with the basics for now and expand as time goes on. I’ve rented the vacant store next door, and I’ve already talked to suppliers and wholesalers. If I pick up the merchandise myself, I should be in business in a week. That’s where all of you come in. If you’d fill out one of these questionnaires and spread the word to your friends and neighbors, I’d really appreciate it.”

      Luke thought about the way Jillian had hesitated that morning when he’d asked if she had come about the ad. He’d been referring to his help wanted ad, but she’d obviously thought he’d meant the advertisement luring women to their corner of South Dakota.

      She’d really only come in to tell him his lights were on. And yet she’d taken the job. Under the circumstances he wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d taken one look at his ramshackle office and hightailed it out of there. But damn, he was glad she hadn’t.

      “What do you want us to do with the questionnaires when we’re through?” Boomer asked.

      Lisa answered, “You can either hand them to me tonight or bring them to the store. Or, if you’d rather, you can drop them in the mail. Our post office box is number 113. I always thought thirteen was unlucky, but Jillian has assured me that the way the moon and planets are aligned right now, it’s very lucky, indeed.”

      Luke watched as the women separated and began passing out flyers. He didn’t know much about the alignment of the moon and planets, but there must have been something to this luck thing, because today felt like his lucky day.

      Jillian worked her way around the crooked rows of chairs, handing a flyer to each man she passed. Within minutes she reached the front of the room where she held out a sheet of paper to Doc Masey and smiled at his friendly greeting. Clayt was next. And then Wyatt.

      The only man left was Luke.

      He took a deep breath. And waited. With her next step he could hear the soft rustle of her skirt. A rousing dose of anticipation played along his spine. She glanced at the stack of flyers in her hand and then straight into his eyes.

      There was an instant parting of her lips and a slight lift of her eyebrows. She hesitated for a moment, then smiled at him the way she had earlier. Now he understood the knowing glint in her eyes. Holding up an old newspaper containing the town’s advertisement for women, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were here about this ad?”

      Her lips curved upward the tiniest bit. In a voice barely loud enough to hear, she said, “I knew you’d figure it out. Do you still need me?”

      “You have no idea how much.”

      Jillian Daniels couldn’t feel her feet. That’s how far her head was in the clouds. For a moment she was afraid that the delicate thread that seemed to have formed between her gaze and Luke Carson’s was the only thing keeping her from floating completely away.

      The man was more sure of himself and his masculine appeal than she would have liked, but she could see why. He was tall, even sitting down. He looked more like a cowboy than the town vet. His jeans and shirt were faded, his shoulders broad, his skin tan. His hair was dark brown and in need of a trim. She wasn’t sure if that was what gave him that roguish quality, or if it was the way he grasped the black hat resting on his knee.

      There was something about him that seemed familiar. She’d noticed it that morning. Studying his face feature by feature, she couldn’t recall having ever met him. And yet the sense of familiarity remained.

      She swallowed with difficulty, then somehow managed to turn around again, finally breaking eye contact. It took her to the count of ten to get her breathing under control. It took even longer to reel in her thoughts. Fanning herself with the leftover flyers, she tried to put her thoughts in order, but that wasn’t easy. Luke Carson was not an easy man to put out of her mind.

      Lisa was talking on the other side of the room, and Jillian did her best to follow along. After all, helping Lisa get settled was what she was here to do.

      “Does everyone have a questionnaire?” Lisa asked.

      Several men held up their light blue sheets of paper. The rest all made agreeable sounds of one sort or another.

      “Do you have any questions?” Lisa asked.

      “I have one,” a man nearly hidden in the very back of the room called. “Why isn’t there any place on this form for my phone number?”

      “Forget about your phone number, Karl,” the stocky man sitting next to him said. “I’d rather know their telephone numbers. You gals are single, aren’t you?”

      Lisa’s laugh was deep and throaty. Jillian had a feeling that more than one of these men would hear it in his dreams tonight. Waggling one finger, Lisa said, “I was sure your ad said you Jasper Gents were shy.”

      “Shy but willing,” someone called.

      “Now, are you gonna answer our question?”

      Jillian met Lisa’s gaze over the tops of more than a dozen cowboy hats. They shared a shrug and a mild shake of their heads before Lisa said, “Yes, it just so happens that Jillian СКАЧАТЬ