Outlaw's Bride by Maureen McKade

the porch broke the spell, and Mattie jerked away.
    â€œWell, look-ee here,” Herman said with a grin. “Am I interruptin’ anything?”
    â€œOf course not,” Mattie replied too quickly. “I was just shaving Cl—Mr. Beaudry.”
    â€œLooks like you was doin’ more than shavin’ there, Mattie.” Herman’s eyes twinkled.
    â€œNope, that was all,” Clint interjected, easily injecting a note of genuine disappointment in his tone.
    â€œI was jest wonderin’ when lunch was going to be ready.”
    â€œAs soon as you help Mr. Beaudry out of the tub, I can get started cooking,” Mattie said, keeping her eyes averted from the two men. “I’ll wait outside.”
    She dropped the razor on the table and scurried out of the house.
    â€œWell, there, Beaudry, looks like you got to start mindin’ your manners,” Herman said.
    â€œI—”
    â€œDon’t you try lyin’ to me. I’ve been around for a few years and don’t need no book to tell me what I just seen.” Herman waved a finger in his face. “That little girl’s been hurt enough—she don’t need your hurtin’, too.”
    Clint didn’t like the idea of someone taking advantage of Mattie—yet wasn’t that what he had almost done? “Help me outta here before I shrivel up like a damned raisin,” he growled.
    Herman leaned over, then cackled. “Looks like you already done turned into a raisin.”
    â€œThat isn’t funny. A man could be permanently damaged if he’s interrupted at a—a delicate time,” Clint said defensively.
    â€œWell, there’d best not be another ‘delicate time’ around Mattie. I’m gonna be keepin’ my eye on you.”
    First the sheriff, now Herman. What was it about Mattie St. Clair that made men want to protect her? Whatever it was, Clint wasn’t immune to it, either. Maybe it was her pride and determination to do everything by herself.
    Herman helped him up, then Clint dried himself and dressed with the old man’s assistance.
    â€œI thought you was deader’n a beaver hat when me and Andy found you,” Herman commented.
    Clint grinned wryly. “Me, too. By the way, I don’t think I ever thanked you.”
    â€œNo need. I only done what any other man would’ve.”
    â€œThanks anyhow.”
    â€œYou jest get better so’s you can leave Mattie and Andy afore the leavin’s gonna be too hard on them.”
    Clint’s smile faded. The problem was, it went both ways—leaving Mattie and Andy was going to be difficult for him, too.
    Mattie did something she hadn’t done in years—she laid on her bed in the middle of the day staring up at her bedroom ceiling. After she had escaped Herman’s censuring gaze and Clint’s smoldering look, she’d circled the house and reentered through the front door.
    Her body hummed and her nerves were sensitive to the very air surrounding her. He had warned her, but she’d blithely convinced herself she could resist the attraction between them. She should have known any contact, especially one as intimate as shaving, would only incite more temptation. But God help her, she’d delighted in the texture of his face against her palm, his breath across her cheek, and the slow burn that started in her belly.
    She remembered her father allowing her to skim the razor across his whiskers and his fond laughter when she’d asked him when she could start shaving.
    Who would teach Andy how to shave in a few years? If Kevin asked her to marry him, maybe he would be the one. But could she be content to wed a man who didn’t fire her blood like Clint Beaudry did?
    Mattie sat up on the bed and smoothed her hair back, then crossed to the oval mirror above her dresser. She scrutinized her nearly threadbare dress and her sunburned nose. Jason had told her she was the prettiest girl