My bare feet carried me through the forest as I ran as quickly as I could. My pursuers yelled at me to stop. I kept running, my ebony hair behind me. I was coming up to a farm. One I didn't recognize. I glanced back to see if the men were still following me when I crashed into someone.

"Ow…" I had ended up on top of the person. My eyes blinked open and I saw the face of a very handsome man. He looked about my age.

"Excuse me?" He stared up at me with a state of confusion on his face. His voice had a thick Spanish accent. To my ears it was beautiful hearing his voice. I stared at him for a bit too long. "Miss?" He started to gently push me off of his body. Wow, his arms were extremely strong.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry." I quickly came back from my daydream and dusted my dress as I stood up. I stared up at him. His eyes weren't on me, but on the men coming from the forest. I muttered under my breath and looked around for an escape.

"Miss? Are those men after you?" The man looked down at me. His brown eyes glistened in the hot sun. His wavy black hair fell into his face. I noticed a scar above his eyebrow. What was it from?

"Yes. I mean. Well yes." I yammered. Aware of the slight blush that had appeared on my face. The men were getting closer.

"Hey! You slut! Give me back my money!" One of the men called out at me. The nice man pulled me behind him.

"You say that she has stolen from you?" He questioned them. His hand clamped tightly around mine.

"Yeah, that little slut stole my poker money!" He advanced towards us. The man holding my hand glanced back at me.

"I'm not a slut!" I yelled at the man. "I need the money more than you do!"

The man lunged and the handsome man let go of my hand to punch him. I was shoved back a bit and they continued to fight. The man who had protected me beat them good. They had ran away after the fight. Yelling curses and vengeful things.

"Thank you…" I said to the man who was currently wiping the blood off of his face unsuccessfully. I went up to him and pulled out my handkerchief and wiped off the rest. "I really mean it. Thank you." I smiled awkwardly at him.

He grabbed my wrist harshly. "I don't like protecting thieves." He glared at me. "But you seem to be different. I've never seen such a woman like you." He stopped glaring at me and offered a kind smile. He let go of my wrist and his hand went into mine. He shook my hand. "I am Jesse de Silva."

"I'm Susannah Simon. It's nice to meet you." I curtsied slightly realizing that I wasn't being proper.

"Well, Susannah. Where do you live?" He leaned one on leg.

"I am currently homeless." I smiled nervously at the ground. "I was hoping to maybe… find a place to stay here. Not here, here. Just here in this town."

He stood there contemplating what I had just said. "I'm living at a boardinghouse down the road. You could find a room there. I work here during to week." I smiled up at him.

"There is? What luck!" I walked in a small circle trying to decide what I was going to do. "Could you take me to the boardinghouse?" My eyes were pleading.

He chuckled at me. "I shall, querida." I stared at him wondering what he said. I had no experience in Spanish. What if he had insulted me? He offered his arm and I took it. He lead me down the field and down onto the dirt road.

"So, Susannah, why were those men chasing you?" People from the town stared at us walking. I felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, I was waitressing at the local bar. Those guys were playing poker and seemed very drunk and the men, in my opinion, had too much money. I was a little behind in the rent. I took the money hoping they wouldn't notice. Sadly, they did." I glanced up at him to see his reaction.

"Survival of the fittest, I guess. You were very bold to steal from such horrible men. I admire that." He smiled down at me and I could feel my heart thumping rapidly in my chest. We came up to a large building. An old woman was out on the porch sweeping.

"Hector! You have returned already?" She stopped sweeping and came towards us. She glanced at me and furrowed her brow for a bit. She gave a kind smile. "Is this a new customer for my old boardinghouse?" The tiny woman's eyes glanced at me quickly.

"I believe so, Mrs. Patterson. If there are any vacancies?" He stared down at the old woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hector. I just gave away the last room. But don't you want to stay in the same room as your fiancé?" She winked at Jesse. I blushed. Fiancée? When did this happen? I then realized she was joking.

"Well, if it must happen. We shall do it." Jesse turned to me and smiled mischievously, "Is that alright honey?" I chuckled a bit to myself.

"That will be fine." I clung closer to him to make it look like we were a "couple."

"I'll go prepare more blankets." The old woman smiled up at us and left us alone on the porch.

"Jesse? Are we seriously going to have to act like we're a couple?" I pulled away from him. His face saddened.

"Well, I know this may sound forward, but I feel like we should at least try. What's the harm? It may work out." He smiled at me. I blushed. He wanted to try? He was interested in me? I covered my face with my hands. He took them away and smiled at me. "Come on. Let's go to our room." He nudged me through the door and lead me to a small room on the upper floor.

"This is amazing! Look at the bay window!" I released my hand from Jesse's and ran to the window. The view was of the whole town. "The view is wonderful!" I sat down on the window seat, my hand grazing the top of it.

Jesse leaned against the post of the bed in the corner, smiling at me. "I'm glad you like it, Susannah. Do you want to go into town for a new dress?" He nodded at my dirty one that I still had on. I looked down at it.

I smiled sheepishly up at him. "I guess I should. I should probably look for a job too." I stood up and walked over to him. "Do you have an idea of where to find one?"

"Well, I know Mrs. Patterson has been in need of some help lately. Maybe you should inquire with her."

"Maybe I will." I stuck my tongue out at him. I walked to the door and started to open it to go find Mrs. Patterson.

"Susannah. I have to get back to work. I'll be back later." He smiled at me. I nodded and headed down the stairs.

I had found Mrs. Patterson in the kitchens and she put me right to work making beds in the rooms. I pushed a cart down to a room at the end of the hallway. I knocked quietly on the door to make sure that there was no one in there. I pushed it slightly and when I looked up there was a half-dressed man.

"I'm so sorry!" I yelped and ran out of the room. I had abandoned the cart in the room and was leaning against the wall by the door. I had covered my head to hide my embarrassment.

"Miss? I'm sorry if I frightened you." I glanced up to see a young looking man. Quite handsome too. He chuckled. "It's not everyday a pretty young lady comes into my room." He offered a hand to help me up. He pulled me up so easily.

"I'm so sorry. I just came in to change the beds." I walked over near my cart. "I could come back later." I started to pull it out of the room. He put his hand on the cart.

"Just do it now. I have to go get some breakfast. By the way, the name's Paul Slater." He offered his hand.

"Susannah." I didn't bother telling him my last name since I was supposedly "engaged." He smiled at me and I felt my heart pound again. He left me to make the beds.

I finished making the beds. There were stains all over his sheets. Was he doing it with girls every night? Gosh. What a man. I headed into the laundry room and started to wash all the dirty sheets I had collected when Mrs. Patterson came in.

"Susannah. Why don't you take a break and head into town? It's been great since you have been helping. I would've been doing laundry all day." The old woman patted my arm and smiled.

"Alright. It might be nice."

"Maybe you should buy something for your fiancé?" She nudged me with her elbow and laughed as I went out the door.

I headed out the backdoor and down into the stables. I had never been close to any real horses. I wanted to check them out. The giant wooden door creaked open as I looked inside.

"Wow…" A beautiful black mare was standing in front of me. I stood there in awe. She was so beautiful. Her mane was wavy and it cascaded down her neck. I reached my hand up to her nose and she sniffed it. "You're so magnificent."

"Geez, Suze. I didn't think that horse would like anyone." I jumped and turned around. Paul was standing in the doorway.

"Oh. Hey Paul." I scratched the mare's head and she whinnied. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to get a horse for a ride into town. Do you want a ride?" He went to a different horse in the back and began saddling it up.

"No, thank you." I tried to sound uninterested since Paul didn't seem too nice of a guy.

"Aw, come on. Suze, you would love it. This town is so western. I'm from the east so it's quite a change." He started to pull the horse out. "You sure?" He approached me from behind and I could feel his hot breath on my cheek. He slid his arms around my waist and he began kissing my neck. I moaned softly and then realized what was really happening. I elbowed him in the stomach.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled at him. After kicking him in the shin, I ran out the barn door and almost tackled Jesse. He caught me with both his arms.

"Susannah? Are you alright? You're all flustered." I looked up at him and he seemed very concerned. "Who's in there?"

Paul emerged from the barn and saw me in Jesse's arms. "Oh. I get it. You're with him." He got up on the horse that he had saddled up earlier and rode off.

"Susannah? What happened?" He let go of me like my body was on fire.

"Jesse. Nothing bad happened. He just… kissed me on the neck, but that was it!" I started to panic and babble on about how I was sorry. I could feel tears coming down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Jesse. Nothing happened. I'm sorry." He put a finger to my lips.
"Susannah. It's all right. I believe you." He smiled softly at me, but I could see that in his eyes he was still suspicious.

"Jesse. I'm so sorry. I don't even like him! Because, well… I love you." I mumbled the last part quietly. What was I saying? I love him? I've only known him for about twelve hours. I could feel it in me though. I think I really did love him. I glanced up at Jesse to see what he was doing.

His eyes were wide and there was a slight pinkish color on his cheeks. "Querida, really? But we haven't known each other that long. I mean… I'm flattered." He took a hold of one of my hands. "Susannah. I feel something too. It may be love. I mean, yes. I did feel jealous when you came out all flustered after you were alone with that man. Susannah, I think I love you too." He smiled nervously as he stared down at me. I felt like my heart was about to burst. I stepped closer to him and he pulled back quickly. "What are you doing?" He seemed very surprised.

"Just hold still, Jesse." I wrapped my arms around his neck and connected my lips to his. He seemed tense at first but he relaxed as his arms went around my waist. He pulled me closer. I slipped my tongue into his mouth. He moaned softly. After a couple of minutes of kissing, he pulled away.

"Susannah…" his breath was uneven. I could see passion in his eyes. "Come with me." He led me into our room and we began kissing again. He laid me on the bed and pulled off my dress and flung it on the floor.

Our bodies connected in the best way it could. After it was over, we laid there under the covers. Both of our breathing ragged.

"Jesse," I looked up at him from my position in his arms. "What do we do now?"

He pulled me closer to his body. His chest going up and down. "Let's get engaged. For real." He smiled at me.

"All right." I hugged him. "Aren't you going to propose then?"

He chuckled and kneeled on the bed. "Susannah Simon, will you marry me?" I giggled and nodded. We fell asleep listening to each other's heartbeats.