Charlene Sands Read Free

I have nothing but respect for you. What I’m offering is a job, a respectable position. I’d like to hire you to stay on at the ranch and take care of my daughter.”
    Lily let out a compressed breath. “What you are offering, Mr. Kincaide, is highly improper. I cannot live under the same roof as you or any man without the sanctity of marriage. I’m sorry.”
    Lily was a churchgoer. She had high moral standards. That’s what he wanted for his daughter. Nearly six years of age, Bethann needed a female’s influence. Her wild and precocious ways were starting to nettle at him. Why, his daughter refused to wear a dress most of the time. A young girl’s got to learn to wear more than britches.
    It wasn’t all that unusual for a woman to hire on at a ranch as housekeeper. He had to make Lily understand. “Now, Lily, don’t go getting the wrong idea. I wouldn’t compromise you.”
    “I know that.” She gave him a sad smile as if to say she knew she wasn’t the sort of woman to strike a man’s fancy. “All the same, I cannot live under your roof, working for you or not. We’d be alone in that ranch house.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “There’d be talk.”
    She hoisted her chin and stood with a prideful look on her face. Tyler admired her conviction, even if he didn’t agree with her.
    “Thank you for the lemonade and the meal. I’m sure it would have been delicious.”
    Tyler swore under his breath and watched her head for the door. Tarnation! There wasn’t another woman here in town he’d trust with Bethann’s care. Besides, he wanted no real ties to any women. They would try to drain every last ounce out of him while attempting to retrieve his soul. Only, he had no soul. Bethann, the tiny replica of her mother, had his heart, but his soul had been buried along with Lizabeth nineteen months ago. Somehow he knew Lily would understand.
    He’d seen the depth of her understanding in her gentle blue eyes. She’d be good for Bethann. Soft-spoken and kind, Tyler knew of no other woman whom he’d trust with his daughter’s care. Whether she admitted it or not, Miss Lillian Brody needed his help and he certainly needed hers.
    Damn. The last thing he wanted was a wife.
    He stood and called out before she reached the door, “What if I married you?”

Chapter Two
    L ily froze. His words stung like shards of ice pelting down her body. Another proposal from Tyler Kincaide! This one even more unfathomable than the first.
    In her imaginings as a young girl, when her beau proposed there’d been flowers—daffodils and lilacs—surrounding her. Nightingales would sing out a melodious tune. The moon would shine and the stars twinkle as her gallant man spoke dearly of his love and devotion to her.
    Ha! The irony was enough to make her cry. A nearly shouted proposal from across a crowded room. The offense ran too deep, even for her to ignore. If she were a betting woman, she would have laid down her last dollar that Tyler Kincaide didn’t know the depth of the insult he’d just bestowed upon her.
    She knew what she was. But to have a man admit in one breath he didn’t want a wife, then casually throw out a proposal gave her the full measure of her appeal. Absolutely none.
    She turned to find him standing before her. All eyes in the supper house were watching, waiting. Lily suppressed a shudder. The humiliation was unbearable,but she kept her head up and looked him square in the eyes.
    “No, thank you, Mr. Kincaide.” She pushed open the door and stepped out, taking in a steadying breath of crisp air. She heard the familiar jingle of spurs from behind and knew he’d followed her outside.
    “Lily, wait.”
    She stopped short on the sidewalk. Tyler knocked into her. She felt the hard wall of his chest meet with her back before he took hold of her shoulders and turned her.
    “What’d I do?”
    She had a good mind to tell him, but the warmth of his touch was seeping into her skin. Firm fingers dug in with