Liam whirled around to face his aunt. "What did you do to her?!" he demanded.

Anita's eyes narrowed from her perch upon the cart. "Don't use that tone with me, Liam. I didn't do a thing to Emma. She had a run in with Bethany Ryan."

Liam groaned and pinched his nose between his fingers. He truly hated that woman. "Emma ought to know by now not to listen to a damn word that woman says."

Anita simply sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "You know as well as I do that Bethany Ryan is the worst kind of woman. I put the girl in her place and I tried to reassure Emma but I believe she needs your reassurance—not mine."

Anita tipped her had toward the back of the cart. "Get these things unloaded and then go tend to your wife, Liam."

Liam used his good arm to unload all of Emma's purchases—mostly baking supplies for her orders. He stacked it all on the porch as he attempted to understand women. Why in the hell would Emma pay a single bit of attention to anything Bethany said? Hadn't Liam proved it was Emma he wanted and not Bethany???

Hell, he hadn't married Bethany!

Liam watched his aunt ride away. Patrick stepped out of the barn once Anita was gone. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Liam simply shook his head. "I'm not sure. Just let us have privacy for a while, okay?"

Patrick nodded. "Sure son. Whatever you need."

Liam took a deep breath as he turned to face the door. He was definitely entering uncharted territory for him. He didn't want a repeat of the morning after he'd married her—he had to stay calm and just keep in mind that Emma had lived a violent but sheltered life on that mountain.

She wasn't used to dealing with venom-mouthed harpies like Bethany. And Emma wasn't used to being happy or having good things happen to her. Bethany, like all predators, seemed to have found Emma's biggest weaknesses and was using them to her advantage.

Stepping into the cabin, Liam found Emma at the kitchen counter, peeling potatoes. Her tears seemed to have stopped but she was wielding that knife with much more gusto than necessary. Was she angry??

"Emma? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled without looking his way. "I'm fine."

Liam was tempted to take her word for it. He wasn't eager to have any kind of talk that could lead to what had happened between them a little over a month ago. But, he knew she wasn't truly fine. And, as her husband, he owed it to her to attempt to soothe whatever hurt she was feeling.

He stepped slowly toward her, stopping when her shoulders tensed. Liam didn't know much about women but he knew animals—and tensing up was always bad. He was clearly walking near rough waters.

"Anita said you had a run-in with Bethany. Did she say something to upset you?"

Emma turned very slowly, the knife still clutched in her hand and her gaze on the floor. "She always upsets me, Liam...." Her voice was trembling, making it clear she was holding back tears. "Because she tells me the truth and I don't want to hear it."

Liam frowned. Bethany spouted a lot of things from that mouth of her but the truth sure as hell hadn't ever been one of them. "And just what truth did she tell you?"

Emma whirled around and went back to peeling potatoes. "Ya married me out of pity, Liam. Plain and simple. If it hadn't been for my father having me, ya wouldn't have married me that night....."

Liam sighed and flopped down at the table. "This again?" he demanded with exasperation. "Emma, I don't know how many times I can say that I married you because I wanted to. If I hadn't done it that night, I'd have done it just as soon as I could have after. You've gotta stop listening to her and her mother."

Emma began to chop the potatoes with a vengeance. "Do you like milk, Liam?"

Liam shifted on the chair. Milk? They were talking about milk now? Damn... he was confused. He wasn't entirely sure what the correct answer to that question was.

"Uh... yeah. I reckon. I like milk just as much as the next person."

Emma snorted. Was that the wrong answer?

"Bethany's very pretty," Emma added, never once glancing his way.

Liam stood slowly. He could tell he was walking a narrow, rocky path on the edge of a cliff and he was one misstep from plunging into some raging rapids.....

"I might have thought that for about two seconds when I first saw her... then she opened that mouth of hers and that was that." Liam rubbed at his neck. "Can I ask what the hell we're talking about milk and Bethany's looks for?"

Emma's shoulders sagged and she began to sob. Liam rushed forward and whirled her around, pulling her against his chest. He kissed her dark hair. "Emma, love, talk to me.... I've done told you I'm no good at this opening up business. If this is gonna work you've gotta speak plain English to me and quit talking in circles."

Emma's voice was muffled as she began to speak and words poured out of her almost as quickly as her tears. "Bethany is beautiful and knows exactly how to please a man. She said you liked her milk. And she said it would only be a matter of time before you went back to her for more because a woman like me could never satisfy a real man. She said I don't know how and she's right, Liam. I don't... I don't know what to do to make ya happy. And I know I don't deserve a man like ya and I'll always know in the back of my mind that, no matter what ya say now, ya were forced to marry me to keep me, and yourself, safe that night...."

Liam pulled away and swallowed back his temper. "Hell woman.. you sure know how to cut a man to the bone."

She blinked her wide, blue eyes several times and tilted her head. "What...? I didn't..."

Liam shoved his hand through his hair and stared out the window. "You don't have an ounce of faith in me, do you? I've shared more with you in the short time we've known one another than I've ever shared with anyone—even my best friends I've known my entire life. You say you love me and then you go and say something like what you just said and it...." Liam swallowed hard and clenched his fist. "It rips me open, Emma."

Emma shook her head. "Liam, I didn't mean to... I do love you and I do know you're a good man...."

Liam reached out a gentle hand and placed it on her cheek—feeling his own heart hurt for her when she flinched impulsively. "Then why do you pay attention to her? Why do you let yourself believe for a second that I would hurt you? That I would leave you? That I would be unfaithful? Like it or not, Emma, you're stuck with me. I don't always know what to say or how to act. I'm messy. I have frequent one-sided conversations with my animals. I smell like an animal most of the time and I like to spend more time in the woods than in a town, but, I'm yours and I'm not anyone else's."

Liam felt his chest get tight when a slow smile curved Emma's lips. "I'm sorry, Liam...I didn't mean to hurt you..."

Liam sighed as he put a finger to her lips to silence her. "Don't apologize. Bethany is a snake in the grass and you..... you're an innocent little field mouse."

Emma's eyes narrowed a bit and Liam couldn't help but grin before kissing her brow. "Just do me a favor and stop paying a bit of attention to anything she has to say. Next time she opens her mouth to you just tell her to turn her wide ass around and get it back to the brothel."

Emma's eyes widened comically. "Liam!" she exclaimed.

He chuckled and laid a tender hand on her cheek. "I've worked hard in my life to be a man men can trust. To know that my wife doubts me—it hurts but it makes me even more determined to earn yours."

"I trust you," Emma insisted. "I just worry that I won't be enough to satisfy you..." Her face flushed bright red and her gaze dropped to her feet.

Liam felt himself tremble—damn but the woman had no idea the ways she could satisfy him.

"Could you..." Emma's voice trailed off as she fiddled with her apron.

Liam tilted his head, put his finger under her chin and raised her gaze to meet his. "Could I what?"

"Teach me?"

Liam bit back a curse. "Yeah..." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I reckon I could give you a lesson."

"What if it takes more than one?"

Liam damn near choked on his tongue. While Emma meant the question in the most innocent way possible, it lit a fire in Liam's blood like he'd never felt before.

Liam grabbed her hips and pulled her body flush against him, earning a gasp from her lips. "I'm up for as many lessons as it takes, Emma."

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and gazed up at him through her lashes. "Let's get started then."

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