Benedict's Bargain Bride (Dalton Brides Book 6) Read online

  Lillian shook her head. "I don't think I could." She looked at Benedict, her eyes pleading with him. "Would you explain please?"

  Benedict shrugged before quickly relating everything she'd told him. When he finished, he said, "I think you're right, and we need to get her out of town as quickly as we can."

  Elizabeth nodded, turning her full attention back to Lillian. "We know that the deacons are kidnapping and selling women to a man named Thaddeus Slade. You were obviously about to be their next victim. They don't like when we remove the women they're after, so we're going to need to get you out of town as quickly as possible. When are you supposed to meet the nephew?"

  "Tomorrow." Lillian was startled to hear she wasn't the only victim. "But I can't just leave. I've never lived anywhere but Beckham." She couldn't imagine what life would be like elsewhere. She may have no one left, but better the evil she knew, right?

  Elizabeth frowned. "You don't have a choice. If you stay in Beckham, they will get their hands on you." She looked at Benedict. "You'll have to take her. No one else is available right now."

  Benedict crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm supposed to stay here and make sure everything goes as it should with the sale of the house. I can't leave." Especially not with Lillian. She would make him crazy in the space of an hour. In fact, she already had. No, he wasn't traveling that far with Lillian, not unless someone held a gun to his head.

  "I'll wire Percy and have him come back to Beckham. He should be in Texas by now. You need to take care of Lillian."

  Lillian shook her head adamantly. "I can't travel with a man I'm not married to. It wouldn't be proper." She didn't look at Benedict as she said the words. He'd made it perfectly clear that he hadn't forgiven her for putting the note on his chair when they were children. How long would he hold a grudge for a childish act?

  Benedict sighed. "I'll take her, but I'm not marrying her." He couldn't imagine being tied to her for the rest of his days.

  Lillian glared at Benedict. "I don't believe I've asked you to." She looked back at Elizabeth. "I can't travel with a man I'm not married to. Is there no one else who could escort me? An older woman perhaps?"

  "There's no one who knows how to handle a gun like I do," Benedict told her with a frown. "Elizabeth's right. We need to get you out of town as quickly as possible, and you need to go with me. I can protect you. We don't know if the deacons are having you followed."

  Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't think they would be yet. They think they've convinced her to meet the nephew, so she's going along with their plans. Why would they be following her?"

  Lillian shook her head. "I can't travel with an unmarried man." How many times did she have to say that before they listened to her?

  "So you'd rather stay here and be sold? Really? Have you lost your mind?"

  Lillian shrugged. "So you concede that I have one to lose? We're getting somewhere, aren't we?" How could she have thought he'd actually forgiven her? He was obviously the most hard-headed unforgiving man to walk the face of the earth. Why, she wouldn't marry him if he were the last man— Oh, who was she kidding? She'd marry him if he grew a third eye in the middle of his forehead and began drooling uncontrollably.

  He sighed. "Lillian, we've had our differences, but Gwen is your friend. I owe it to her to help you." He still felt guilty that he'd gone to Texas to drag his three sisters back to Beckham to marry the deacons. What if he and his brothers had succeeded? Where would their sisters be now?

  Lillian crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, obviously not willing to back down.

  Elizabeth stood. "Benedict, I really must speak with you privately about this." She led him to the hall and closed the door behind her. Lowering her voice, she said, "Marry her. Get an annulment once you reach Texas. She needs you to take care of her."

  Benedict choked. "Marry Lillian Nettles? The woman who made me a laughing stock for years? There's no way." She was much too young to marry anyway. What was she? Thirteen?

  Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "So she did something as a child that offended you?"

  "Mortal embarrassment is more like it."

  "And because of that you'll allow her to be kidnapped and sold by the deacons? Really? I thought you were a better man than that." She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She'd thought much higher of the man in front of her. "It'll take you ten days to get to Texas. Two weeks if you stop for a couple of days on the way. You can't be married to her, in name only, for two weeks because she embarrassed you when you were a child? Really?"

  Benedict sighed, realizing he'd lost. "Fine. I'll marry her, but I won't like it." What was the world coming to? His school friends would have a wonderful time laughing uncontrollably when they heard.

  Lillian almost clapped her hands as she stood listening on the other side of the door. She hurried to the sofa and resumed her seat, trying her best to look innocent when they came into the room.

  Benedict glared down at her. "Let's get married." He almost asked if she still remembered the names she'd picked out for their children, but he didn't want to add fuel to the fire. He needed to make it clear they wouldn't have a real marriage. "This marriage will be in name only. We'll get an annulment as soon as we reach Texas."

  Lillian nodded, certain she could convince him otherwise during the trip. "I suppose that's the best offer I'm going to get." She smiled. "When will we marry?"

  Benedict stared at her incredulously. "Have you not been paying attention at all? We marry now. Like, I leave here to get a minister, and we marry here. Within the hour. And then we leave town. Immediately."

  She frowned. "But I had to make all new dresses after the fire. I need my things." She wasn't vain, but she couldn't imagine going through all that work again.

  "You're worried about dresses when you could be forced into slavery? Really?"

  Elizabeth bit her lip as she watched them. She appeared to be trying not to laugh, and Benedict wanted to strangle both women. "Excuse me. Where do you live, Lillian?" Elizabeth asked softly, barely managing to keep the laughter from her voice.

  Lillian frowned at Elizabeth. "At the ladies' boarding house near Benedict's family's mercantile...err, what used to be their mercantile." She looked at Benedict, guessing that was a sore subject with him. "Sorry."

  Benedict shrugged, acting as if it was nothing. "You didn't do it."

  "I'm glad to see I'm no longer blamed for everything."

  Elizabeth interrupted again. "Lillian, would you write a note for your landlady to pack up your things? Benedict can collect them for you."

  Lillian nodded slowly. "I can do that. There's a carpet bag in my room she can put everything into." She frowned. "I'll need to get money out of the bank for our journey."

  "Write a note for the banker as well. I don't want you leaving this house until we're married and on our way to the train station. I'll take care of everything." He glanced at the clock on Elizabeth's mantle. "We're going to be cutting it close as it is. Last train leaves at four."

  Elizabeth frowned. "I'll send a maid to fetch her things. You get the money and the preacher."

  Lillian quickly wrote out a note and handed it to Benedict, then wrote another for the maid.

  Benedict got to his feet, looking longingly at the tray of cookies and tea that had just been carried into the room. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He reached out and grabbed a cookie, biting into it as he left the room.

  As soon as he was gone, Elizabeth looked at Lillian. "You have got to tell me what you did to make Benedict hold a grudge for so long. It must have been terrible."

  Lillian rolled her eyes, explaining about the note and the bouquet of flowers. "He's never really spoken to me since. Until today. And I spent a lot of time with his sister in their home."

  Elizabeth shook her head with a sigh. "Men do hold grudges when their pride is involved."

  "I see that."

  *****

  By the time Benedict returned with a pocket full of money and a preacher, the maid had brought Lillian her things. Lillian dressed carefully, having Elizabeth fix her hair for her. Maybe Benedict thought the marriage wouldn't last, but she knew she was marrying the man she'd loved for years, and she was going to look her best. She would never marry again.

  Benedict noticed that she'd changed, and she looked even prettier than before. He had to remind himself she was only thirteen or so. She was much too young for him.

  He only faltered once during the ceremony. "You may now kiss your bride," the preacher said with a huge grin.

  Benedict wrinkled his nose. "Do I have to?" If he kissed her, would she assume it meant he'd changed his mind and planned on staying married?

  Lillian gasped with shock and kicked him with her pointy boot. She smiled when he grunted in pain. "Yes, you have to!" She turned her lips up to his and offered them sweetly. "Pretend you like me for a change."

  The preacher looked at Elizabeth. "Why are they marrying if he doesn't like her?"

  Elizabeth shrugged. "It's not really my story to tell."

  Lillian ignored them both as she waited for Benedict to finally kiss her. The man was obstinate, but he had never seen stubborn. She would stand there until next week waiting for him to kiss her if that's what it took.

  He stood for a moment staring down at her, a startled look in his eyes. Like he'd only just realized that marrying her meant kissing her, if only once. Finally he lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers before straightening. "There. Is everyone happy now?"

  Lillian shrugged. "A longer kiss would have made me happier, but right now, I'll take what I can get." She turned to the preacher with a sweet smile. "Thank you for coming here to marry us."

  The man looked thoroughly confused, but he c
hose to say nothing else. He just stood and watched the newlyweds for a moment.

  Elizabeth looked at the clock on the mantle. "What time does your train leave?"

  Benedict looked at the clock as well. "At four. We need to get to the station." He had sent a maid to get two changes of clothes for him from the almost-empty house he'd grown up in. Percy could send the rest when he came back. He grabbed both of the bags that were on the floor beside the sofa. "After you."

  Elizabeth had talked to Lillian about the dangers men can bring into women's lives. She gave her the usual speech she gave women about getting out of an abusive situation, but there was one difference. She told her to go to one of the Dalton women instead of coming back to Beckham. Like it or not, Lillian could not return to her hometown.

  Chapter Three

  Benedict carried their bags to the train station. Lillian talked the whole time about the people and things she'd miss. "Are you certain I can't say goodbye to—"

  "I'm positive. You can't say goodbye to anyone. We don't want to draw attention to the fact that we're leaving. It's bad enough that you're walking with me to the train station. Now you know we have to tell anyone that we run into that you're just seeing me off, right?"

  Lillian nodded slowly. "I understand. You do realize I'm leaving everything and everyone I know and love, right? And I don't even get to say goodbye?"

  Benedict refused to feel sorry for her. She had manipulated him into marriage. "You'll survive."

  They reached the train station five minutes later, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been wary the entire way, certain that one of the deacons would jump out from behind every tree to stop them.

  They arrived just in time to buy their tickets and board the train. "I refuse to ride in the second class car, Benedict. I want a private sleeping car."

  Benedict groaned. The last thing he wanted was to be in a sleeping car with Lillian. She would talk his ear off. "I don't think that's a good idea."

  "I thought you were worried about being seen? I think we should have privacy." She knew they couldn't consummate their marriage in the second class car.

  He shrugged. "I'm not paying for a sleeping car."

  Lillian dug into her purse and pulled out some bills. "Here, pay with this. I don't care." A man had the right to all of his wife's possessions anyway.

  Benedict had once had enough money that he could just throw it away on things like sleeping cars. Now that they'd lost their business, he resented that she could easily throw money away on whatever she wanted. Just another reason to dislike her.

  They boarded the train and found their car. The sleeping area was tiny, but private. He really didn't want to spend the next week in a small room with her this way. The quarters were way too cramped. "I think maybe I should ride in the main car. We have that option with the sleeping tickets."

  Lillian frowned. If he wasn't in the sleeping car with her, then her plan would be ruined. "But I'll be frightened if I'm alone." She stepped close to him, her palm going flat on his chest. "Please Benedict. Gwen would want you to keep me safe."

  Benedict sighed. She was right. It was what Gwen would want, and he owed Gwen for almost forcing her to leave her happy marriage and go back to Beckham to be sold into slavery. "Fine. I'll stay." He turned away from her to put his carpet bag on a chair. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at her. "I haven't eaten all day other than that cookie I snatched before leaving to get the preacher. I'm going to go to the dining car."

  Lillian jumped up. She'd only had tea and cookies since breakfast. "I'll go with you. I'm famished."

  She looked at him expectantly, wishing he'd offer his arm, but when he didn't she followed him through the narrow corridor to the dining car. The more time she spent with him, the better chance there was that he'd fall in love with her. Right?

  Chapter Four

  When they reached the dining car, Benedict pulled out Lillian's chair as he'd been taught to do. He took his seat across from her, wondering how he was going to make it through a trip with boring Lillian. Even before the fiasco with the flowers and the note, she'd annoyed him to no end. She was constantly following him around the house whenever she visited Gwen and making eyes at him. How such a little girl had decided she was in love with him, he'd never know.

  When he looked at her across the table, he saw the little girl she'd been, not the woman she'd become. He picked up the menu and read it while she picked up hers. Once he'd chosen his meal, he set the menu on the table, only to find her staring at him.

  He sighed. "Lillian, I think it's time we set some rules for this trip." He couldn't have a child watching him the way Lillian did. It made him uncomfortable. He needed her to act like she had no feelings for him, whether she thought she did or not.

  Lillian shrugged. "If I like the rules, then I'll agree to them. What kind of rules?" She wasn't about to agree to any rules just because he said she should. The one thing Gwen had always been right about was how bossy Benedict was.

  Benedict wanted to throttle her. Couldn't she see the rules were for her benefit? "First off, I don't want you looking at me that way."

  "What way?" Lillian had no idea what she was doing wrong. She'd looked at Benedict the same way since the day she'd met him. He may be her husband, but he wasn't about to mandate how she looked at him. Had the man lost his mind?

  "Like you think I'm a cross between the most handsome man alive and a knight in shining armor. I'm just a man."

  Lillian nodded. "You are a man. You're the man I've always dreamed I'd spend the rest of my life with, and to me you are a cross between the most handsome man alive and a knight in shining armor. I was crying on a street corner, and you made things better. How could I not think highly of you after that?"

  Benedict shook his head. "I did what I felt like I should do, because you're my sister's friend. Not what I wanted to do." He leaned forward. "Do you want to know what I wanted to do when I saw it was you on that street corner?"

  Lillian nodded hesitantly. Was he going to say something else designed to hurt her feelings and make her stop loving him? "I suppose." She didn't though. She wanted to keep him on the pedestal she'd built for him.

  "I wanted to cross the street and stay as far away from you as possible. As far as I'm concerned, you're a menace." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Benedict regretted them. They were the truth, but why did he always feel the need to be so harsh with her?

  Lillian smiled, her hand reaching for his. "By the time we get to Texas, I'm going to change your opinion of me, Benedict." She threaded her fingers through his. "You'll see that I'm the wife you need."

  Benedict shook his head. "Did you not hear a word that I said?" He pulled his hand from hers, wiping it on his slacks, even though he knew it was childish. Everything she said and did brought out the child in him. "I want you to stop touching me, Lillian."

  Lillian blinked. "But it's our wedding day. Of course, I'm touching you. And you'll be touching me tonight, on our wedding night. That's why we have a private sleeping car." Didn't he know what was supposed to happen on their wedding night? Would she have to explain it to him? If they turned off the lights, she was certain she could make it through the explanation without feeling as if she'd expire from blushing.

  "I told you I want an annulment, Lillian. We can't get an annulment if we've had relations, so I won't be touching you tonight or any other night."

  Lillian sat back in her chair and pouted. "But we're married!"

  "We're only married until we reach Texas. Then we'll go our separate ways."

  Lillian didn't respond, but her mind was racing. He thought he could go the entire journey without touching her? She'd have to see what she could do about that.

  *****

  Benedict left the room while she readied herself for bed that evening. Everything Lillian did made him a little bit crazy. Why did she brush against him every time he walked across the room? Why was her hand constantly stroking him as she passed him? Why had she kissed his cheek earlier while he'd been reading the newspaper? Someone had given the girl lessons in being a temptress, but she wouldn't succeed in seducing him. She was only thirteen!