August (Prairie Grooms, #1) by Kit Morgan Page B

eyes.
    “Ahem,” Belle said, and made a show of patting her chest.
    August took a reluctant step back, then winked at his future bride. She blushed a bright pink, and his heart swelled. He was becoming more than attracted to his English miss. He was starting to have feelings for her. But wasn’t it too soon for that? He barely knew her, after all. “Upstairs.”
    Miss Red continued to gaze at him. “What was that?”
    He licked his lips. “Would you like to ...”
    “... see the upstairs!” Belle finished. She pulled Miss Red away from him and started to haul her up the staircase.
    Eloise giggled.
    “What’s so funny?” Miss Red demanded of her sister.
    Eloise turned to August. “I dare say, were you going to kiss her?”
    Now it was his turn to blush. “Kiss her?” he asked nervously. “W-whatever gave you that idea?”
    “Where we come from, if you kissed her, you’d have to marry her,” Eloise stated proudly.
    “I would?” he asked, now genuinely interested. “Is that so?”
    “It’s true,” added Constance.
    August looked at Miss Red at the top of the stairs, smiled, then bounded up them two at a time.
    Belle jumped back as he grabbed Miss Red into his arms. “August Bennett!” she scolded. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
    Miss Red, on the other hand, was too shocked to say anything. Not that she could – in a wink of an eye August had taken her hand in his and locked his other arm around her waist. He looked at Eloise. “You mean if I kissed her like this?” he asked and kissed the back of her hand.
    Eloise and Constance gasped in shock, but only for a second before Constance giggled and said, “No, you silly! A real kiss!”
    “Constance!” Miss Red finally managed to gasp. Right before his lips fell upon hers and silenced her.

Eight
    P enelope’s first thought was to slap him ... but then she felt the warmth and breadth of his chest pressed against hers, the feel of his hand now at the back of her head anchoring it in place. The kiss lasted only a second or two, but it felt like an eternity. His lips seared hers like the coal had Isaiah’s!
    Even though it was not her first kiss – Eloise and Constance had exaggerated a bit about what one meant – it was by far the best. It also would surely be her last from this man, at least until they were married. After all, she had to set a good example for her sisters, and letting August kiss her like that wasn’t helping the cause.
    He pulled away gently and gazed at her with the look of a schoolboy who knew he’d gotten away with a serious infraction. She gave thought to slapping him now, but all she could manage was to stare at him, her lips parted, her eyes locked on his amazing mouth.
    One corner of that mouth turned up. “You look like you want me to kiss you again,” he whispered.
    She swallowed hard. “Un ... unhand me.”
    “You sure?”
    “Mr. Bennett, this is ...”
    “Nice?”
    Her eyes darted to her sisters at the bottom of the stairs. They were staring at them open-mouthed. She glanced at Belle, who was not so easily shocked – she was glaring at August with as much matronly angst as she could muster. Which, given the circumstances, wasn’t much, as evidenced by her smile.
    August caught the look, though, and let her go. “My apologies, Miss Red. I don’t know what came over me.”
    “I do!” Constance said happily. “Now you have to get married!”
    Penelope growled, at both her silly sister and her erstwhile fiancé. “My name, sir, is Miss Sayer .”
    “No, I believe it’s ‘Mrs. Bennett’,” he corrected. “You heard your sister – we have to get married now.”
    “August, don’t be such a scoundrel,” Belle scolded. “You’ll be married in a few days. Now behave yourself!”
    He looked at her. “And I suppose Colin never stole a kiss from you?”
    She blushed red and glared at him again.
    “Uh-huh. I thought so.” He smiled and returned his attention to Penelope. “”I’m sorry if I