She kept her eyes on Mr. March, not entirely trusting him to leave without attempting to swing at Jonathan. But after a few moments, the man yanked the door open and disappeared outside.
Catherine’s shoulders slumped in relief. Jonathan turned and his eyes immediately softened from the hard gaze he had given Mr. March.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Catherine couldn’t speak. All she could do was shake her head.
In an instant, Jonathan was before her, sweeping her up into his arms.
Chapter Twelve
IT WASN’T POSSIBLEto hold Catherine any tighter than he already was, and yet that was all Jonathan wanted. She shuddered against him and his heart hurt so much he thought it might burst. How anyone thought it was all right to treat her as that man did was inconceivable to Jonathan. And if he ever saw him again, Jonathan wasn’t certain he’d be able to control himself.
He drew his hands from around Catherine and placed them on either side of her face. He looked down into her beautiful blue eyes, the ones in which he could lose himself entirely, and searched them for any signs of hurt or fear. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
“Yes.” Her voice sounded as if it were being pulled over the stony precipice of one of the mountains surrounding Grover’s Gulch. “He frightened me, that’s all.”
“It never should have happened.” Jonathan couldn’t keep the growl from his words. “I don’t want you or Mrs. Bell up here alone.”
Catherine nodded just slightly, and he ran a thumb over one of her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered shut.
“I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you or the baby,” he said, realizing the truth of his words as he spoke them. They were everything to him, this incredible, sweet, caring woman and the child she carried. And he knew without hesitation that he would have done whatever needed doing to protect them both.
One of her hands wrapped around his arm as if she were steadying herself. And although sunlight streamed through the nearby parlor and dining room windows, and the sounds of guests stirring in their rooms filtered through the space around them, Jonathan felt as if they were entirely alone. As if it were only the two of them, the soft skin of her face under his hands and her delicate fingers holding tight to his arm. If he lowered his lips to hers right now, what would she do? Would she hold perfectly still, or would she pull him closer and kiss him in return?
The desire to find out was so strong that it buzzed in Jonathan’s ears, blocking out any other rational thought. He held her gaze for a moment. She didn’t look away, and when she parted her lips just a bit, the roaring in his mind grew and grew. He drew his thumb down to the corner of her lips. She sighed and closed her eyes again.
And if another two seconds had passed without Mrs. Bell coming to the door, he would have—finally—discovered what it was like to kiss his wife in a way that was more than the chaste exchange they’d had during the wedding ceremony.
“I came to ensure all was well, but it appears to be,” Mrs. Bell said with a chuckle.
Jonathan dropped his hands from Catherine’s face, taking one of her hands into his instead. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her chest rose and fell quickly. He pushed his lips together to keep from smiling at her state—and the fact that she seemed to want him to kiss her as much as he’d hoped for the same.
“I’ve decided it’s best if neither you nor Catherine are up here alone, particularly when we don’t know who might walk through the door,” Jonathan said, Catherine’s hand securely tucked into his own.
Mrs. Bell nodded. “This town seems to grow every day. Why, I don’t know half the people I pass along the sidewalk these days.”
