Sam rolled his eyes, uncertain if he wanted to stick around and listen to Hubert’s plight or escape to the back by carrying Julia’s trunk to their living quarters.

“The thing is,” Hubert began, “I love Bebe. But her family is….” Hubert blew out a breath, pushing a hand through his hair.

Sam had crossed halfway to Julia’s trunk and snorted at Hubert’s comment. Making a sound was a bad idea. Julia grabbed him as soon as he reached her side, stopping him in his tracks.

“You should listen to this too,” she told him with wide-eyed innocence. “I’m sure Hubert here could use a man’s perspective.”

Sam winced and blew out a breath. “My advice is for him to stay as far away from the Bonnevilles as possible.” He sent Hubert a hard look to underscore the point.

“But—”

“How can you say that?” Julia cut Hubert off before he could argue with Sam. “This man is in love, and love is the most wonderful thing in the world. It shouldn’t matter what kind of family his sweetheart comes from.” She turned back to Hubert. “Are they beneath your station? Are they destitute but proud, and does your sweetheart, Bebe, feel as though she isn’t good enough for you?”

Sam laughed. He wasn’t the only one. Several of the men who’d been watching the drama had moved closer so that they could hear the conversation. They laughed too.

Hubert didn’t laugh. He shook his head. “It’s the other way around,” he explained to Julia. “The Bonnevilles are the second richest family in the area, aside from the Haskells. Rex Bonneville, Bebe’s father, doesn’t think I’m good enough for her. I’m just a stationmaster’s son, after all.”

Julia blinked at him and shook her head. “But you’re young, and from what I can see, you’re smart. Did you do well in school?”

Sam grimaced, wondering how he could stop his new wife from embarrassing herself and everyone else with her prying questions.

Then again, Hubert didn’t look embarrassed. He looked downright thoughtful.

“I did do well,” he said, rubbing his chin. “I mean, I had fun too, but Pops always made me study. He always said that a boy who studied hard grew into a man who could make something of himself.”

Sam found himself tilting his head to the side as though Athos had given the advice directly to him and he’d taken it to heart. Athos was right, after all.

“That’s beautiful.” Julia smiled. “Mr. Bonneville should see that you are a man with vast potential, a man who could make anything of himself.”

“You think?” Hubert sat a little straighter.

“Of course I think so.” Julia’s smile grew wider. “And you don’t plan to be a railroad porter your whole life, do you? You plan to make your fortune so that you and your sweetheart can have a wonderful life, don’t you?”

A flush appeared on Hubert’s face. “I…I didn’t really think about it like that.” He tilted his head to the side. “I suppose I could, though. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at newspaper reporting.”

“How exciting,” Julia said, glancing from Hubert to Sam, as if looking for encouragement.

“There was this writer fellow who passed through town a month or so back,” Hubert went on. “He got his start in newspapers, but writes dime novels now.”

“I remember him,” Chan interjected. “Stayed here a few nights to save money.”

Sam remembered the fellow too. He kept to himself, mumbling and scribbling away. “You’re not really that type,” he told Hubert. “And Howard might have built an office for a newspaper, but we don’t actually have one.”

“Yet,” Julia said, visibly excited. “What if you started one, Hubert?”

Hubert looked as though he would agree with her for half a second before his face fell. “I don’t have any experience,” he said. “I don’t know the first thing about how to make a newspaper.”

“But you could learn,” Julia said. “There are all sorts of places where you could learn that. And you could become a wealthy newspaper magnate with publications in several major cities. You could have homes from coast to coast, and you could marry your sweetheart with her father’s blessing and be one of the most powerful men in the country.” She told Hubert’s entire possible story in one breath and gasped at the end. “It will be so wonderful.”

She reached out and placed her hand over Hubert’s. Hubert smiled back at her, a light in his eyes that Sam hadn’t seen before. Which caused a prickling in his chest that he didn’t like. He refused to call it jealousy. He had nothing to worry about where Hubert was concerned, even though Julia was close to his age and they’d obviously taken to each other at first sight. Hubert only had eyes for Bebe, and Julia…

Julia was young and spritely and could wrap any man she wanted to around her innocent little finger. But she’d gone and married him, a rough and jaded man more than ten years her senior. The prickling in his chest focused into an aching sensation at the center of his heart.

But why should it? He cleared his throat and walked the rest of the way to where Julia’s trunk still sat at the end of the bar. He hadn’t sent away for her because he was looking to fall in love. Love was for a different kind of man than he was, a domesticated kind of man. He didn’t want anything to do with that kind of nonsense.

That didn’t stop his heartstrings from plucking when he straightened, lifting Julia’s trunk, to find her smiling at him. She had a light about her that made the whole room brighter. It made him want to heft the trunk over his shoulders just to show off how strong he was. It made him want to be…want to be worthy of her.

Yep, a few little marriage vows and he’d plumb lost his mind.

“I’m gonna take this to the back room,” he muttered as he passed Julia on the way to the hallway.

“Thank you so much,” she said, twisting on her stool to watch him go. He smiled at her as he reached the doorway to the back. As soon as he turned the corner, he heard her say to Hubert, “Now, all you really need to do to win your sweetheart’s father over is to be a little ambitious.”

* * *

After a lovely afternoon spent in delightful conversation with the gentlemen that patronized Sam’s saloon, Julia was feeling more enthusiastic about her new life than she felt when she’d first seen the saloon.

“They’re such nice people,” she commented to Sam as she put away her things in the wardrobe beside his bed. Their bed. “I never imagined that men biding their time at a saloon could be so friendly.”

“Yeah, they were friendly, all right.” Sam sent her a flat look from the other side of the room, where he was washing off the dishes from their makeshift supper.

She paused what she was doing to study him. He didn’t seem as convinced as she was that the patrons of his saloon were lovely. And perhaps they were just a little noisy. Julia could hear the laughter, chatter, and piano-playing from the main part of the saloon through the walls. Chan was minding the bar that evening so that she and Sam could get to know each other better—something Julia was very much looking forward to. Sam, on the other hand, appeared to be in a bad mood.

“Don’t you like the men who spend time in your saloon?” she asked, putting the last of her underthings away on a shelf inside the wardrobe. When she was done, she shut the wardrobe door and turned to Sam.

He frowned at the last dish he was drying, set it aside, then turned to lean against the counter, looking at her. “It’s not about whether I like them or not. My job is to keep them happy while keeping them in line.”

“But haven’t you gotten to know them? Aren’t you friends with them?” She took a few steps toward him.

He looked as though he’d never considered anything like what she’d suggested. “I’m not the kind of man who makes a chum out of every roughneck and scoundrel that bellies up to my bar.”

Julia shook her head and shrugged. “But the men I met out there don’t seem like roughnecks and scoundrels. They seem much more like neighbors. You are friends with your neighbors, right?”

His face hardened with thought, then he moved toward the table to put the chairs back in place. “Friendship is for settled men,” he said.

“And you’re not settled?” Julia crossed her arms, trying to work out the puzzle in front of her. What Sam was saying didn’t fit with the impression she’d gotten of him.

“No, I’m not,” he insisted. “I run a frontier saloon. It’s a wild life.”

Julia knit her brow. “Haskell doesn’t seem all that wild to me. In fact, it seems like a peaceful, growing town. And isn’t Sheriff Knighton your friend? And Mr. Montrose?”

He finished with the chairs and glanced up at her with a frown. “It’s important for any saloonkeeper to be on good terms with the sheriff, in case he needs the help of a lawman to break up a fight.”

Julia wasn’t buying his excuse at all. She did her best to keep a straight face all the same. “And what about Mr. Montrose?”

Sam shrugged, glancing away from her, and moved to tidy up the corner where her empty trunk stood. “Travis runs the livery. It’s good business to know how to get drunk customers back to their homes and families late at night.”

“Whereas all you need to do to get back to your family at night is walk down the back hallway.” She grinned at him, then he winced.

“Look,” he said, striding toward her once the corner was neat. “My life has been a rugged one. I’ve lived most of my years by the skin of my teeth, out on the wild frontier. I’ve seen shoot-outs and riots that would turn your hair white.”

“And now you are a respected businessman living in a thriving town,” she added before he could go on.

He stopped halfway through taking a breath, mouth hanging open. His face slowly went red and his eyes glowed as if he were offended by something. At last, he closed his mouth and breathed out through his nose. “Domesticity is for old dogs and tame horses.”

Julia shifted her stance, but kept her arms crossed. “Your friend Mr. Montrose said he was going home to his wife, didn’t he? And I heard someone say Sheriff Knighton was married too. Are they old dogs and tame horses?”

Sam stared at her. There was a struggle going on behind his eyes, but Julia didn’t have a clue what it could be about. Why would anyone fight against a peaceful, comfortable life? She’d gone to daring lengths to secure a peaceful life for herself, a stable home, a reliable husband. And she was convinced that Sam was stable and reliable, even though they’d only just met. The whole time they’d been discussing how gruff and untamed he was, he’d been washing the dishes, straightening the furniture, and making sure his home was tidy and comfortable, after all.

“Well, we can save this discussion for another day,” she said, letting her arms drop and heading back to the wardrobe. She reached up to undo the buttons of her blouse. “It’s about time for bed anyhow. If we’re going to be a real married couple, then we should do the things that married couples do.”

“Excuse me?” He sounded incredulous.

Julia finished unbuttoning her blouse and pulled it out of the waist of her skirt before turning to him. “We should go to bed.” She was well aware of the tops of her breasts swelling above her corset.

She was also instantly aware of Sam’s gaze dropping to study her breasts. “Uh.”

“Come now, Sam. You can’t stand there and tell me that a rough and wild saloonkeeper doesn’t go to bed with women who are offering, no matter how averse to settling down he is.” She shrugged out of her blouse, set it aside, then reached to unfasten her skirt where it clasped in the back.

Sam still hadn’t said anything by the time she stepped out of her skirt and petticoat, set them aside, slipped off her boots, and stood in front of him in her chemise, drawers, long socks, and corset.

She went to work on the hooks of her corset before he burst out with, “Are you sure you’re ready to do this so soon?”

She paused halfway through undoing her hooks and glanced up at him. “Aren’t you?”

He continued to stare at her chest, although the look in his eyes was as much uncertainty as appreciation. “I…well…as a man, I’m pretty much ready for anything.”

That’s what he said, but the way he stood, shoulders tense, hands restless at his sides, hips shifting uncomfortably, told a different story.

Julia went on with her corset, undoing the last few hooks and setting that too aside. “I may be young, but you don’t have to worry about me being any sort of fearful, fainting virgin.” She blinked up at him. “I mean, I am a virgin. But I’m not scared. Like my Aunt Lydia always used to say, if you’re not afraid to have a man between your legs then the whole experience won’t give you anything to be afraid of.”

She reached for the bottom of her chemise, then paused. “Of course, Aunt Lydia wasn’t afraid of much of anything. She probably should have been afraid of picking mulberries at the top of that huge tree, though. She landed on the basket of berries we’d gathered, and it was hard to tell what was berry juice and what was blood.”

Sam made a strangled, snorting sound. Julia spared a moment of prayer for her aunt’s soul, then pulled her chemise up over her head. The second noise Sam made carried an entirely different sort of emotion. Julia set her chemise aside, took off her drawers and socks, then turned to face him, completely unsurprised that he was staring at parts of her. Only after she was naked did she realize it might be awkward to stand like that in front of a man she barely knew, even if he was her husband.

“Oh! This feels stranger than I thought it would,” she gasped, moving her arms as though she might cover herself. That didn’t seem right either, though. She twisted to look around, then darted toward the bed. Only once she was between the sheets, the covers pulled up to her chin, did she say, “Are you going to join me?”

Sam hadn’t moved a muscle from the moment she started taking off her clothes. He stared at her now, disbelief in his eyes. Then he blinked. “And you’re certain you’re ready for this,” he said.

“Mmm hmm.” Julia nodded and smiled. She scooted to the far side of the bed and lifted the covers to prove that she was.

Sam moved slowly into action, shaking his head and muttering something she couldn’t make out. He walked to the side of the bed and sat to remove his boots, setting them neatly at the end of the bed. He reached for her boots too, while he was at it, and lined them up neatly next to his. That made Julia smile. So did the sight of him unbuttoning his vest and shirt to reveal a strong chest and flat stomach. She wiggled restlessly against the cool sheets as he stood to fold his shirt and vest and deposit them in the wardrobe, then to remove his trousers. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt overheated at the sight of a man’s body, but she’d never seen one up close, and never in its entirety. The sensations that bubbled up just looking at him, as forbidden parts of him were revealed, were hot, aching, and delicious.

She just wished she’d gotten more of a look before he slipped into bed beside her. He cleared his throat and tentatively reached for her. She couldn’t suppress a giggle as she moved eagerly into his arms.

“Ooh! I say!” She gasped as her body pressed against his from their legs to their chests and several interesting areas in between. “This is exciting.”

He made a noise that didn’t quite translate into words, then tried again with, “Are you sure this is what you want to do? Really sure?”

“Yes,” she said, then shrugged, causing even more delightful friction between them. “Why not?”

“Because we just met this afternoon? Because I could be anyone, including some dastardly villain out to hurt you?”

She scooted her head back enough to send him a questioning look. “Are you some dastardly villain out to hurt me?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. He shifted a little, bringing them into even closer contact. Julia’s breath caught, and her heart—and lower parts—fluttered. “I’ll do everything I can not to hurt you.”

“See?” She smiled, feeling like a whirlwind was building in her gut. “So show me what I’m supposed to do.”

Sam tensed for a brief moment. “Was that an order?”

She giggled. “I suppose so. But I mean it. Show me what I’m supposed to do. I know I’m supposed to be on my back, but we’re on our sides right now. That can’t be right, can it?”

“Well,” Sam began, lifting himself enough so that she could scoot to her back while he balanced himself on his arms above her, “there’s more than one way to do it, and not all of them have you on your back. But we should probably start simple before working our way up to fancy.”

Julia gasped, her eyes blinking wide. “You mean, there are fancy ways to do it?”

Sam just stared down at her, like he wasn’t sure whether she was a woman or a mountain lion. “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?”

“I certainly hope not,” she answered with all due seriousness. “But my family does have a terrible history with that sort of—”

He silenced her warning with a kiss. It wasn’t just any kiss either, not like the one they’d shared at the church during their vows. This one was far deeper. This kiss demanded that she open her mouth to him so that he could slide his tongue along hers. It sparked fiery, aching sensations all through her—sensations that flared hotter the more she focused on all of the places that their bodies touched. Deep, delicious urges filled her, pushing her to do…something. She wasn’t entirely certain what. All she knew was that if she didn’t move her legs apart so that the secret, central part of her was bared to him, she might crawl out of her skin.

Her wriggling movements caused him to fit more tightly against her in a way that had the both of them making surprised, delighted sounds.

“Yeah, you really are going to do me in,” Sam growled.

He kissed her lips, her jaw, and her neck. Each new location brought with it an exciting new sensation. His lips were warm and soft in contrast to the rough stubble of his chin and cheek as he worked his way even farther down to her shoulder. She delighted in both sensations, squirming even more against him.

He made it to her chest, just inches away from kissing her breast before he stopped and lifted his head to stare sharply down at her. “Sweetheart, if you don’t quit wriggling down there, this is all going to be over much sooner than either of us want it to be.”

“Oh. Sorry,” she gasped. “It’s just that it feels so nice, especially down there when I do this.” She rubbed against him in a way that brushed the hot, hard part of him that stretched between them against a certain tender spot between her legs. Just that demonstration made her want to writhe against him like that more and more as the liquid heat inside of her intensified.

“Good Lord, woman,” he growled, and before she could ask what he meant, his hand slid between the two of them.

She gasped in earnest when he raked his fingers against the exact spot that she wanted so desperately to be teased. And while she wasn’t too proud to admit she’d touched herself there before, it was a thousand times nicer to have him stroke her. She let out an appreciative sound and inched her legs farther apart as his fingers circled her. His breath came in ragged rushes above her, which only helped her to give in further to the joy of the moment. She liked the way his weight felt above her, she liked the sounds he was making, and she loved the swirling, straining pleasure that coiled tighter and tighter inside of her as he stroked her.

All at once, that coil snapped, and hot waves of pleasure rushed through her. She let out a deep moan, then gasped as he shifted his hand to slip two fingers inside of her. Her eyes snapped wide at the sensation of squeezing him. She barely had time to register that newly unfolding wonder before he slanted his mouth over hers again in a kiss that prolonged the deliciousness racing through her body.

He groaned through his kiss, then pulled away just enough to shift their positions. “So much for me being patient in order for you to enjoy yourself,” he muttered, lifting one of her legs up over his hip. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a wanton little minx.”

She opened her mouth to reply to that, but before she could, he pushed inside of her, hard and hot. She gasped at the sensation, hardly able to believe the way he filled her. He stretched her from the inside, so perfect and so intimate that she barely noticed the split-second of resistance on her body’s part. He shifted again, holding her with her hips tilted toward him and raised up enough for him to rock into her with several swift thrusts. Her body responded with magnificent pleasure, from where they were joined all the way out to her fingers and toes. He may have been uncertain about whether this was what she really wanted when they’d started, but he moved inside of her now with absolute purpose and abandon.

In no time, she was rolling with another fit of pleasure as he plundered her. She threw her arms around him and dug her fingers into the muscles of his back as he moved with a relentless rhythm. It was all so good that she found herself sighing loudly with each thrust, so filled with emotion that it almost sounded like she was crying. But tears were the furthest thing from her mind. Joy encompassed her.

That joy didn’t leave her when Sam reached his climax with a strangled cry, then slowed his thrusts. He came to a gradual stop, then collapsed beside her with a long exhale. “Didn’t expect that,” he panted, then chuckled.

“Me neither,” Julia admitted, laughing.

She curled against his side, unable to wipe the smile from her face. She’d known this would be a good idea. Her heart felt even more satisfied than her body. Sam had showed every sign of being a good, trustworthy man from the moment she’d stepped off the train, and now she was sure of it. Now she could begin to do her part to make his life as perfect as he had made hers.