She grinned. Having him in the cabin diffused the tension and she felt as if she could breathe again. “Have a seat. I’d say you pass inspection.”
Holden glanced up at Mr. Barrington. “Aren’t you going to have a seat? Shame to waste a hot meal.”
A muscle pulsed on the side of his jaw. “I’ll sit if Abby does.”
She took a step back. “I thought I’d leave you men to your meal. And I really should check on the boys.”
“The boys are playing inside the coach,” Holden said quickly. “I told them no climbing on top.” He popped a piece of bread in his mouth. “Sit.”
Mr. Barrington pulled a spare chair from the corner and placed it directly beside his. “Don’t want to disappoint our guests, Abby.”
She ground her teeth. He was backing her into a corner and they both knew she was too damn polite to make a scene in front of company.
With no other choice, she took the seat he held for her. Only when she was seated did he take his. The space was cramped. She scooted her chair an inch from his only to have him move his two inches toward her. The casual brush sent fire through her veins and for a moment she thought she’d jump out of her skin.
Mr. Barrington, however, looked perfectly content where he was. He snapped open his napkin and laid it across his lap. “Pike and Webber, is it?”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Pike said. “And I got to say that this is the best food I’ve eaten since I left home.”
“Brings tears to my eyes, ma’am,” Mr. Webber said.
Abby barely heard what they said. “Thank you.”
The men started talking about the work they’d been doing and the harsh weather they’d seen since they’d arrived. Abby let the conversations drift over her head.
Guests were so rare and she wanted to sit and chat, but having Mr. Barrington so close was making her nerves dance. His scent enveloped her. Her stomach tightened each time he shifted in his seat and brushed her thigh.
She needed distance and space.
Abby glanced toward the door hoping the boys needed her so that she could escape Mr. Barrington’s presence. She saw Quinn’s head pop out of the stagecoach window and then Tommy’s out of the other. Both were laughing.
“I better go check on the children,” she said.
“The boys are fine,” Mr. Barrington said smoothly. He laid his hand on her knee. “Enjoy this time.”
Enjoy. His touch scorched through her skirt to her flesh. She felt ready to jump out of her skin.
“How long have you two been out here, Mr. Barrington?” Mr. Pike asked. He dunked his bread into his stew and popped it in his mouth.
“I’ve had the homestead for almost five years,” Mr. Barrington said. He deliberately withheld the fact that she’d only just arrived.
Abby fluffed her napkin. “I’ve only been here two weeks.”
The miners seemed surprised by her answer and she could feel Mr. Barrington’s scowl bearing down on her.
“So how do you like Montana, ma’am?” Mr. Webber said.
“It’s lovely country.”
“A backbreaker if you ask me,” Mr. Pike said.
“Still,” Webber added, “it’s tolerable if a man has his wife with him.”
Abby pinched a piece of bread. “Oh, Mr. Barrington and I aren’t married. I only work for him.”
Matthias thought Pike and Webber were going to jump out of their seats. A woman in these parts was rare. But a single one as lovely as Abby was a miracle.
The men sat straighter. Mr. Webber sucked in his stomach. Their horns were up and they were already thinking about how they’d snag Abby for their own.
Over his dead body.
The raw possessiveness surprised Matthias but he didn’t question it. Though he’d blundered things badly between them, these railroad men weren’t going to complicate matters more. He knew how these surveyors lived. They worked from sun-up to sundown and slept in hovels at night. The thought of Abby carving out an existence on the line grated his nerves.
“Miss Abby,” Mr. Pike said. “You ever traveled up to the northern part of the territory?”
She smiled, completely unaware that the man was likely undressing her with his eyes as they spoke. “I’ve not had the pleasure.”
“I been thinking about going up there to try my hand in the gold fields. I hear miners are finding gold faster than they can shove it in their pockets,” he said. “Why, this time next month, I’m liable to be a millionaire.”
Matthias grit his teeth. Flat broke was more like it.
“Ma’am, if I may be so bold, you are about the prettiest woman I ever did see,” Mr. Webber said.