A.N - Yay, relatively quick update from me. It's because I'm out of school for Christmas now - loads of free time on my hand. Hopefully I'll update more stories beforehand, if not, Merry Christmas to all you guys who celebrate it xD

This is my 5th chapter now, which means I am legible for nominations in Simon Says: It's Award Time. Hehe. Hope you enjoy it anyway. I quite like this one. And I'm sorry that it's so short.

Chapter Five

It was a long week before I saw Susannah again, after the dinner in her family's house. I saw Jake every day, as always, and helped him with his work on the land as he filled me in on the lives of his family. Paul Slater, as well, I saw with alarming regularity. Unfortunately he was never with Susannah; though, I suppose, that would be rather fortunate – for me, at least.

I knew from Jake that Paul had Susannah working hard at the bar; constantly subjecting her to the vicious bar fights and the morally-degrading other business that took place behind closed doors. I closed my eyes at the thought, leaning against a nearby wall as the sun bathed down onto my face.

The cat-house. I still hadn't been able to get any further in my efforts to shut it down. Gentrymen continued to leave their families and waste their fortunes on liquor and women – my own cousin among the women available. Not only my cousin, but my fiancée still. My father saw no justifiable reason for cancelling the engagement with no solid proof that she was working at the cat house.

I was working on it. I could hardly bare to look at her in recent days, let alone let her adorn my arm at social gatherings, talking like she was every bit as respectable as people believe her to be.

"Why, do my eyes deceive me?" My eyes snapped open at the familiar voice teasing me. "Jesse de Silva! Out all alone on a Sunday afternoon."

It was Susannah, of course. She was accompanied by her brother Jake – as it was unacceptable behaviour for a lady to be without an escort.

"That's Hector," I heard Jake taunt me in passing with a laugh. "Always alone; Jesse's always been the broody type."

I felt a smile crack my face.

"I beg to differ," I called back to the nearby couple as I walked over to them. "I believe it is Jake who wanders around all day half-asleep, always dreaming."

Susannah's answering giggle was music to my ears.

"I have to say Jake," she spoke happily. "I've noticed it too. This is why I've taken to calling you 'Sleepy'."

Jake neither looked impressed nor outraged, accepting the strange nickname with a half-smile.

"I'm choosing not to acknowledge that," he teased. "Partly because it's Jesse's fault and I can get him back for it later."

Susannah turned her attention back to me, reaching up to push a tendril of hair that had fallen out of her up-kept hair-do out of the way. Her green eyes were wide with imploration towards me.

"Would you care to join us, Jesse?" She asked sweetly, looking for the entire world as if she should have a halo atop her beautiful head. "We're just going for a walk along the sea front."

I glanced casually towards Jake to see what he though of his sister's invitation and, once I saw that he was dreamily thinking to himself, my eyes remained locked on Susannah's own emerald ones.

"I'd love to, Miss Simon," I spoke as I bowed down to her in a mock-greeting, as if we'd just been introduced, and lifted her hand in my own, kissing her gloved fingers softly before, regretfully, loosing the contact.

Susannah's cheeks tinged pink at my action and I couldn't help the self-satisfied smile that stole across my face. That is the way Susannah should be made to feel every day. Her reaction solidified my assumption of Paul Slater's lack of right treatment towards her.

"Shall we?" I offered my arm for her to hold on to, Jake having stepped away from her at my arrival. I suspected that Jake knew of my feelings towards his step-sister but I was definitely not going to call him on it.

"We shall." Susannah nodded as her small hand curved around my elbow and my own hand came to cover it gently.

With Jake there also, to the unknowing eye, Susannah and I must've looked like a couple courting, accompanied by another male, as was custom.

I couldn't help the deep feeling inside of me that wished it was true.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

After that wonderfully glorious day, Susannah and I saw each other regularly; sometimes with Paul there, often without. I'd taken to donning a disguise and sneaking into the saloon to have a chance to talk to her. I think, for lack of a better term, that the two of us were becoming friends.

And the longer I spent with her just increased my anger at the amount of time Paul Slater was wasting.

It was something I'd noticed on my visits to the bar.

Paul had every opportunity in the world to talk to Susannah, to compliment her, hold her and … kiss her – despite how much it pained me. Yet he chose to ignore her, instead he left to deal with his other business, leaving Felix Diego to keep watch over the saloon. When this whole business was set up I thought that it would be Diego I'd have to keep an eye on, evidently not.

"What can I getcha?" Susannah winked at me as she spoke.

"My regular."

I slammed down the money on the bar, playing to perfection the role of a drunken bar-goer. I'd had many a drunken man locked in the Sheriff's cell for the night; many opportunities to perfect my role.

Susannah placed a glass full of water – it wouldn't do to drink on the job – in front of me and smiled before going to serve another customer.

It pained me to see her working so hard, which isn't something a well-bred lady should do. The only remotely positive thing about this entire situation was that Susannah seemed to like working here.

She walked past me then and, instinctively, I reached out to stop her passing, my hand catching hers. My breath caught as I felt a jolt race up my arm directly to my heart, and my eyes snapped up to Susannah and found a similar expression of shock upon her face.

I felt as if the rest of the bar had faded away and there were only me and Susannah; me and my querida.

I whispered this endearment and stretched my tingling hand towards her face – going against all the decorum I'd been raised with – in an effort to touch her cheek.

An attempt which was thwarted by who I was fast beginning to see as the villain of mine and Susannah's story:

An extremely irate Paul Slater.