Lips That Touch Mine by Wendy Lindstrom Page A

Sailor settled beside her and gazed up
with his canine grin and adoring eyes.
    Boyd laughed and nudged Sailor's jaw.
"Where's your pride?"
    The dog ignored him, his attention riveted on
Claire. She laughed again and put her arm around the dog, pulling
him close to her side. "There's nothing wrong with showing your
emotions."
    "To a point." Boyd opened a heavy lap robe
and laid it over their legs. "But groveling is shameful."
    "For the groveler perhaps—but it's flattering
to the one on the receiving end." She lifted the robe and tucked it
around Sailor. "You're just being honest in your affection, aren't
you?"
    Boyd shook his head. "He's making a fool of
himself."
    Claire kept her arm around the dog, loving
his warmth and the feel of his heart beating against her side—and
her success at putting Boyd off balance. "Where are we going?"
    "It's a surprise." Boyd winked and lifted the
reins. "We'll stay in town."
    "Thank you."
    His gaze lingered, his smile fading. "You're
so beautiful," he said, his voice so intimate it sent a tickle
swirling through her stomach. "I can't seem to keep my mind on
anything but you."
    Her face heated, but she refused to look
away, to let him know how much his flirting affected her. She
hadn't felt this wicked thrill zinging through her since she'd
fallen head over heels for Jack. That "thrill" had led her straight
into hell.
    But Boyd was only flirting with her. There
was no need for nerves. Still, she couldn't shake the need for
caution. "I only agreed to a sleigh ride."
    "I understand. I guess open adoration only
works for dogs."
    "I guess so." She smiled.
    He smiled back.
    If he were a gentle shopkeeper, or a pastor,
or a man without vice, she would welcome his flirtation as
harmless, flattering, sincere. She would never marry, of course,
not even one of those men, but she would enjoy their
companionship.
    "Are you warm enough?" he asked.
    She nodded, then looked away. Companionship
wasn't in her future either. If a man wanted companionship, he took
a wife. She would never be a wife. She would spend the rest of her
days sharing her house with strangers, decent strangers—travelers,
amiable people who left for other climes, troubled people for whom
she could be a wayside, young lovers on a honeymoon starting out
their married lives. All of them going somewhere. All of them but
her. She bit her lip to stop the tumble of her thoughts.
    Sailor yawned and flopped across her lap. She
stroked his neck, wishing the clumsy mixed-breed mutt belonged to
her.
    "How long have you had Sailor?" she
asked.
    Boyd started the horses moving and pulled the
sleigh onto the snow-packed street. "A year or so. Found him on my
porch, drunk as a sailor, lapping up ale that was draining from a
cracked barrel."
    "How shameful."
    "I thought so. He was only a puppy."
    Claire rolled her eyes. "I meant it was
shameful for you to leave alcohol lying about where an animal could
drink it."
    He chuckled. "It brought us together, gave
Sailor a name and a home. What's so terrible about that?"
    She couldn't argue his point so she scowled
at him. "Your mother must have had her hands full with you."
    "My mother adores me."
    "Undoubtedly. But does she adore your choice
of profession?"
    He winced. "She would rather I work the
sawmill."
    "Why don't you? If I understand correctly, it
belongs to you and your three brothers?"
    Boyd slowed the sleigh and turned left onto
Day Street near the center of town. "I've worked the sawmill since
I was a boy," he said, steering the team around a small carriage
parked on the side of the street. "I wanted a change."
    "Do you ever think of going back?" she asked,
sending up a prayer that he would announce his intentions to close
his saloon and return to his family business.
    "I'm happy working a few hours a week there.
That's enough."
    "Is it?"
    He glanced at her, his expression quizzical.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
    "Because your brothers are there?"
    "Kyle is the only one who works the mill full
time. Duke