The men greeted him boisterously while Felicity tried very diligently not to react at all. She had heard his wagon in the yard, heard every one of his footsteps from the moment he entered the house. She calmly raised her head and looked at him. She would make him no offers. If he wanted his picture taken, he would have to say so.
"I thought you were finished out there," Josh said, stalling.
"Oh no," Cody explained helpfully. "We just had to stop because the sun got too high. We'll be starting up again any time now. We can do you first thing."
Josh knew an inexplicable anger at Cody's use of the word "we," but before he could reply, the very person he had been fruitlessly searching for appeared at his elbow.
"You'll have to change your clothes first, Mr. Josh," Candace ordered.
"I need to talk to you, Candace."
"Course you do," Candace agreed readily, taking his arm and drawing him out of the room. "I'll see he's ready," she called back over her shoulder to Felicity.
Candace did not stop until she had taken Josh into his own bedroom and closed the door. Josh appreciated the privacy.
"There's a man in town-" he began, but Candace wasn't listening.
"I ought to wear you out for what you did," she whispered furiously.
A little taken aback, Josh stared at her. "What did I do?"
"You insulted that poor little girl. She set this whole thing up just to show you how much she appreciates the way you took her in and then you go running off to town like you didn't have anything better to do. You hurt her feelings." Candace glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
Josh thought this over and supposed she was right. He hadn't really thought about Felicity's feelings in all of this.
Candace did not give him a chance to defend himself. "Now, you put on them clothes," she said, gesturing to the suit still laid out on the bed, "and get yourself out there and let her take as many pictures of you as she wants." Turning on her heel, she flounced to the door, but before she opened it, she turned back. "And if you're half the man I think you are, you'll apologize, too."
Josh swore as the door slammed behind her, but he wasn't certain if he was swearing at her or at himself. Furiously, he tore off his dusty clothes, all thoughts of the mystery man wiped completely from his mind.
Not quite certain that Mr. Logan would really allow her to photograph him, Felicity still gave her instructions to Cody, who enlisted a few helpers and headed back to the ranch house. While they were gone, she had some of the other men roll up the backdrop she had been using and hang up another one in a new position to take advantage of the altered position of the sun.
Cody and the other men soon returned with the items she had requested from the house, and she directed them on just how to arrange the scene. They put the bearskin rug down first in front of the backdrop and then placed the large wingbacked chair in the center.
Felicity knew she was silly to feel so apprehensive. Mr. Logan was no different from any other man she had ever posed, even if he had kissed her. Still, if he did let her photograph him, she wanted the picture to be the best one she had ever taken. She wanted a good photograph so she would have something to remember him by when…
Not letting herself finish that thought, she forced a bright little smile to her face when she heard the other men greeting him. But her smile froze in place, exactly the way her heart did, at the sight of him.
It was the clothes, she told herself. She'd rarely seen a man so finely dressed. He was wearing a black broadcloth suit that fit his broad shoulders and his long legs perfectly. His shirt was snowy white, and for one electric moment she wondered if it was the same one she had slept in that very first day.
"Come and sit down, Mr. Logan," she said stiffly, gesturing toward the chair.
Josh stepped forward, but he didn't sit immediately. Instead he examined the backdrop she had chosen for him. It looked like the wall in a very fancy house. A parlor house, Josh thought, disgusted.
Felicity studied the stubborn set of his jaw as he examined the backdrop, uncomfortably aware of how tall he was. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. Last night she'd had to stand on tiptoe to… "Is anything wrong?" she asked hastily, struggling to banish that picture from her brain.
"No," he said, resigned to the inevitable, and seated himself in the chair. She stood in front of him, her small breasts directly in his line of sight. He stared for one long moment, recalling only too clearly how they felt pressed against him.
"Oh, dear!" Felicity cried, pressing a hand to her chest. For a second Josh thought she was trying to shield herself from his lascivious gaze. "I forgot to prepare the plate. Don't move," she cautioned him as she darted back to the wagon.
Inside the dark wagon, Felicity chastened herself for becoming so flustered. She would have to get a grip on herself. With fingers that trembled slightly, she carefully coated the next plate. By the time she exited the wagon and handed the plate holder to Cody, she was feeling much calmer.
She returned to posing her subject, noting with approval that he was wearing a new Stetson, not the stained one he usually wore. She lifted it carefully from his head.
"Hey, What're you doing?" he protested, reaching for it.
"I'm going to put it right here on your knee," she informed him, proud that she was able to treat him just as she had treated all the other men. "Now put your hand right here, like this, and hold it." With finger and thumb, she made a minor adjustment to the angle of his wrist, trying not to notice how warm his skin felt through the cuff of his shirt. He smelled clean and fresh, like outdoors, and faintly of tobacco, and so blessedly familiar. "Now rest your other hand on your other knee," she said a little breathlessly.
He obeyed, but she could tell from his expression that he wasn't very comfortable with the situation, either. Still being very careful not to touch him any more than necessary, she moved his hand slightly, appalled to note her fingers were trembling again.
It was only because he was staring at her, she decided. Yes, that had to be it. Felicity stepped back a pace to examine her handiwork. A lock of silver hair had been dislodged when she removed his hat and had fallen over his forehead. With great care, she reached over to smooth it back in place. She was a little surprised that it was so soft. Somehow she had expected his hair to be coarser, the way her father's gray hair had been. She let her fingertips play over it another second.
She was leaning over so close to him that Josh could, with very little effort, have kissed the tip of her breast. "Ahem." He cleared his throat.
Felicity jumped back, startled. "That looks fine," she said, scurrying back to focus the camera.
"Don't look so mean, boss," she heard Bill Grady say. "Looks like you're mad at somebody."
Josh knew he was mad at somebody, but he didn't like to think about who that somebody was. It would have to be the person who had gotten him mixed up with Miss Felicity Storm in the first place, and he could think of no one to blame for that except himself.
Felicity came out from under the cape. Mr. Grady was right. Mr. Logan looked mad, and she had a pretty good idea at whom. Still, she wasn't about to let him ruin her picture. "Mr. Logan?" she called sweetly.
Josh swung his gaze over to where she was standing looking like the picture of innocence. "What?" he asked warily.
"Would you like some nails?" she inquired.
Josh frowned in puzzlement. "Nails? What for?"
"Why, to chew, of course. That's just what you look mad enough to do," she explained.
A moment of silence followed her announcement, and then the men broke into loud guffaws. Josh needed a minute to realize he had been the butt of a joke. He could not remember the last time anyone had been bold enough to make fun of Joshua Logan. He should have been angry, but the sensation was so novel that he could only marvel at it. Candace was the only person in the world who dared to tease him, and now this tiny slip of a girl was making fun of him.