and he thought he’d also be helping Layla out. She needed a home and a man to support her – she’d conveyed as much in her letters – and he wanted to make Etu happy. His lover had longed for a woman to share in their life for a long time but Charlie had been reluctant to get another female involved. After last time. But he’d finally given in. Life was short and Etu deserved happiness. A mail-order bride had seemed like an option. Find a young woman needing a home then bring her into their world. It wasn’t like there was a surplus of females around in the area or that women were easy to meet, so placing an advert had been a solution. But it had been a risk. There were so many things that could have gone wrong.
And now that he’d seen Layla, he wasn’t at all sure that it was a good idea. She was too darned good looking for his liking for a start. He had no doubt that Etu would find her attractive but would she feel the same? And how would she feel about what she was getting into? Surely a woman as fine looking as her would have had men falling over themselves proposing? But that wasn’t what he’d read in her letters. The woman he’d corresponded with didn’t seem too confident at all. She’d sounded downright grateful to have an option. She had come across as lonely. Vulnerable. Sad. It had made him feel a bit like a knight in shining armour. An old cliché perhaps, but it had made him want to rescue her.
Looking at her now, he was flooded with doubts. It was a good job he’d seen her first. Beauty could be dangerous. Plus she had obviously experienced doubts about the marriage or just played along with the whole thing in order to steal his money. She was a thief. Dishonest and likely impure. Now he should end their agreement and return to the homestead with Etu. Surely that was the best thing to do.
Once he’d got his money back, of course.
****
Layla had panicked. She was telling the truth. But if she was totally honest, the pocket full of coins had been comforting and the prospect of getting away from Deadwood and making a fresh start had appealed to her too. She hadn’t had any money since…no, she wouldn’t think about him right now. She’d have to do the decent thing here and just give Charlie what she owed Mr Jackman.
Then what?
What exactly would she do? Return to Deadwood and go beg Al Swearengen to take her in? That’s what the other young women with no hope did in Deadwood. She shivered. Could she really sacrifice herself to that life? Surrender to being pawed by foul-breathed miners and travel weary cowboys every night whilst feigning enjoyment? She knew that many of the soiled doves tried to numb their misery by taking laudanum but she’d seen the effect of the drug on the women. They were no better than walking corpses and once they started using opium, it was near impossible to stop. It was a fate worse than being placed in the cold Deadwood earth. But it was an option.
Or, she could stick to the original deal and hope that Mr Jackman still wanted her. What a choice for a young woman. But then, all women’s choices were limited, so why should she hope to be different?
Alternatively…the last idea that unfurled like the petals of a flower in her mind seemed like the best one. She could take the money and stick to her plan: run away. She’d just have to convince these two men that she was a little miss innocent, maybe even try to have a bit of fun whilst doing so, then she could escape while they slept. She could get some sort of revenge for the way that Henrik had treated her. It wouldn’t, sadly, be directed at that lying, two-faced toad but it might make her feel better to regain some control in her life. Hell yeah! That was what she would do.
“Uh…Charlie?” She assumed what she believed to be her sweet and innocent tone. “I could really do with…uh…it’s the coffee.” She smiled at him from beneath her eyelashes.
“You need to relieve yourself, Miss Layla?”
She nodded. “Urgently.”
“Okay. Etu, I’ll take her back through the trees…give her a bit of privacy.” Charlie gestured at the way they’d come.
“Sure, Charlie,” Etu replied, looking up from the fire where he was warming some cans of beans. “Just…ya know…take care.” Layla watched as the two men exchanged a knowing glance. They didn’t trust her. They had no reason to. These men were no acorn calves so this wouldn’t be easy.
Charlie helped Layla to her feet and she walked ahead of him towards where the trees thickened. Would she be able to gain his trust? She wasn’t sure if she was capable of reading him well enough to do it. But she would try. What other option did she have?
“Charlie?”
“Layla?”
“Why don’t I give you this now?” She pulled the bag of coins out of her pocket and offered it to him.
He raised his eyebrows.
“Go on….” she purred. “Take it. Then you know that you can trust me.” She’d watch where he put it then steal it back later. She needed that money. It was all she had in the world. Even if it wasn’t rightfully hers.
Charlie opened his hand and Layla pressed the money into his palm. His upturned fingertips brushed her wrist and a lightning bolt pierced her core. She met his eyes. Her heart thundered and her body flooded with heat.
What did this mean? This wasn’t part of the plan. She was meant to play him then get away. But just the touch of his fingertips had sent her into sensory overload. She inhaled slowly and locked her knees to still their trembling.
“Layla,” he whispered.
“Charlie.” She moved towards him, pulled by some magnetic force beyond her comprehension, crushing his hand between them. She licked her lips, looked at his full mouth. He leant slightly towards her and she raised onto her toes. She was drawn to him like a bear to a bee hive. Instinctively. She just wanted to be near to him again. Encompassed by his strength and vitality.
“Layla.” He spoke again and her heart plummeted as his eyes changed. For a moment she could have sworn she’d seen something akin to tenderness, or even desire there, but it had gone as quickly as it had appeared. “I thought you wanted to…uh…”
She blinked. Of course. She had to get a grip. She’d only just met this man and she was acting like a wanton light skirt. She should be playing easy not actually falling for him. He was just so attractive. It must be the lack of food and water making her irrational. She’d feel better once she’d eaten. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something about this man that she was reacting to on a level that she was unfamiliar with. It was like a primitive part of her was responding to him, as if the female instinct to be with the alpha male was rousing its needy head and pulling her towards him.
Human contact was a powerful aphrodisiac. Contact with Charlie had muddied her brain and sapped her ability to think rationally.
She sank back onto her heels. “Yes. I do. I’ll just be a moment.” She tore herself away from him and forced her feet to turn.
Visibility was better now than when Charlie had found her. Although the moon was thin, the clouds had cleared completely and everything was bathed in a silvery glow. It made the woods appear a little spooky and reminded Layla of tales she’d heard in her youth about the hills being haunted. According to legend, the souls of Sioux warriors seeking revenge wandered through the trees. She shuddered. Good job she had some male company. Being out here alone overnight would have been pretty scary indeed. Though in fact she should be afraid of the company she was being forced to keep.
Once she’d walked a little way off, Layla attended to her call of nature. Her breasts throbbed beneath the tight binding that she’d wrapped around her chest and she needed to get it off. Stupid disguise. Charlie had known she was a woman straight away. She should have put more effort in. But then, falling asleep during the afternoon and leaving a trail behind her…it was as if she actually wanted to be caught.
But she hadn’t. She had wanted to get far away from it all. To start afresh. If it was possible for a woman to start over in this crushing, horizonless society.
She unbuttoned her shirt