Elizabeth nodded, and having no idea what to say in response, began to unpack. “She had wonderful taste,” she said belatedly, looking up in time to see that Miss Mimi wore a fond smile, and was nodding in profound agreement. Staring down at her belongings, Elizabeth sighed. There were so few of her own items that she lingered over each one, hoping that Miss Mimi wouldn’t notice the telltale lack. “Did Katherine live here, too?” she asked conversationally, trying to avert Miss Mimi’s attention.
Miss Mimi threw up a hand. “Oh, goodness, no—but they didn’t live far,” she said. “If you’d like, I’m certain Mr. Bass will take you there tomorrow.”
“I can go, too,” Katie said, rather than asked, falling upon the bed. She barely missed falling upon Cutter’s bag. And then belatedly, her face screwed uncertainly. “Can’t I, Miss Mimi?”
“Of course, Katie,” Miss Mimi assured her with a wink. “That is... if it’s all right with your aunt Elizabeth.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth agreed, smiling anxiously as she hesitated over her very last item. Her eyes fell at once to Cutter’s bag. She debated whether to unpack it, as well.
Glancing up, she saw that Cutter was no longer at the window, he was leaning against the right wall, his left foot braced casually behind him, his arms crossed. And then her gaze reverted to Miss Mimi, who was scrutinizing her curiously. She glanced anxiously down at Cutter’s things.
What was wrong with her? she wondered peevishly. They were just clothes, weren’t they? Along with his toothbrush, powder, and razor, she added mentally. Her face heated at the memory of Cutter finding her at the river with sand in her mouth.
It didn’t matter that it made her feel strange inside to... to touch his things. It didn’t matter that they brought back shameful memories, because if they had, in fact, been married, then it would have been expected of her as his wife to unpack for him, and that was exactly what she was going to do!
Besides, she reminded herself, she had already seen, as well as touched, his clothing—when she’d washed it in the river. Still, she hesitated, glancing briefly to Cutter. He was grinning his lopsided grin again, and her eyes narrowed in censure.
Swallowing, Elizabeth forced herself to reach out and touch Cutter’s green shirt, and heard him chuckle beneath his breath. While Miss Mimi prattled on about there not being enough hours in a day, Elizabeth lifted it up, scrunching it, her fingers recalling the wash-worn texture of it. And then, without thinking, in the most intimate of gestures, she brought it to her nostrils, breathing deeply of the soap she’d used to cleanse it... and the more elusive male scent that was as much a part of it as the fibers that bound it.
Desire shot through Cutter like a lightning bolt as he watched her. No longer aware of Miss Mimi, he heard her voice as no more than a distant drone. In that moment he craved Elizabeth more than he’d ever thought possible.
But it was more than the intense heat in his lower anatomy that roused him, unsettled him, made him restless. It was the satisfaction he’d attained in that one simple gesture of hers—an intimacy to be shared only by a man... and his woman.
His woman.
The phrase hounded him like a raving wolf at his heels. Fascinated, he watched as Elizabeth folded his shirt, placing it neatly within the drawer. His gaze smoldered, narrowing with the gratifying memory of her washing that same shirt in the river. He wanted her to do those things for him always. Not that he couldn’t fend for himself, but it gave him a deep-rooted pleasure to see her touch him in that way... without touching him at all.
It made him burn.
Even absorbed as he was, Cutter immediately sensed the new presence, and the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. His deliberations ended abruptly as he glanced up to see that an older man now stood behind a chattering Miss Mimi in the doorway, observing them without speaking, his stance nonthreatening. Yet the man’s expression was unmistakably guarded. Cutter stiffened. No one else seemed to have noticed his appearance, and he said nothing to alert them. He stepped away from the wall abruptly, dropping his hands to his sides.
For a long moment their gazes met and held, each man assessing, and he knew instinctively that it was Elias Bass taking his measure. The man who would decide his and Elizabeth’s fate. For sure as hell was hot, if Bass denied Elizabeth the child...
She would hate him.
It was obvious that she was already in love with the kid. But then, it didn’t take much. It would be real easy to get attached himself... if he allowed it. But he couldn’t afford to... and didn’t aim to.
“Lookee here, Aunt Lizabeth!” Katie flipped on the bed, and then froze abruptly on her head when she saw her grandfather in the doorway. “Granpapa!” she shrieked, peering at him through her little legs. She leapt upright and off the bed, racing like a small bolt of lightning into his arms.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elias Bass was a tall, lanky man, with silver hair and blue eyes that crinkled heavily at the corners. The laugh lines at his mouth were just as prominent, though at the moment they were drawn into an uneasy smile.
Straining upward, Katie snuggled her cheek against her grandfather’s silver-flecked beard. She popped upright suddenly. “Oh, Granpapa!” she cooed happily, running her little fingers through his beard. “My aunt Lizabeth is here with my uncle Cutter! An’ ya know what?” she said soberly. “He climbed up the house! An’ ya wanna know what else? She’s not even gonna spank him!”
Elias Bass chuckled at his granddaughter’s incredulous expression and, with his free hand, nudged her under the chin. “That so?” he asked jovially. He flipped Cutter another quick glance through his lashes, and then, adjusting Katie in his arms, he stepped into the room, proffering his hand to Cutter in welcome.
Cutter moved away from the wall and came forward, around the end of the bed, squeezing Elizabeth’s shoulder on the way. “Cutter McKenzie,” he offered formally, leaning forward to grip the man’s hand.
Elias grasped it, shaking it as firmly. Then, with an overburdened grunt, he set Katie on her feet, never taking his eyes from Cutter. At once she returned to the bed, hurling herself upon it. “Glad to see you made it,” Elias said, releasing Cutter’s hand finally.
Cutter returned a nod, and then pivoted, catching Elizabeth by the wrist, drawing her forward. “My wife,” he stated, with so much pride that Elizabeth’s heart jolted violently at the sound of it.
It sounded so genuine.
Her eyes met Cutter’s briefly, and then skittered guiltily to Elias’. She swallowed nervously, but Cutter’s hand on the small of her back gave her courage. “I... I... I-It’s good to meet you... er, finally,” she finished lamely, her legs faltering.
Elias smiled, nodding in agreement, and though he didn’t offer her a hug as Miss Mimi had done, the look in his eyes was in that instant just as welcoming.
