His expression changed.
Instead of bringing the chair closer, he shoved it backward toward the table.
The scrape of wood across the floor seemed very loud.
Then he took two deliberate steps away from her.
“I’m not coming closer.”
Clara stared.
“I didn't ask you to leave.”
“No.”
“But you were afraid just then.”
“I wasn't.”
His eyes held hers.
“You were.”
Clara hated that he had seen it.
Frederick had always laughed when she flinched.
Her late husband had found fear useful.
It meant he could make her apologize before he even decided what she had done wrong.
Elias did not laugh.
He stood farther away.
His hands remained visible at his sides.
“That’s why I moved.”
Clara looked down.
“You don't need to explain yourself.”
“Maybe I do.”
He nodded toward the lock.
“You closed the door, and then you asked if I know how to please a woman.”
His ears were actually turning red.
Despite herself, Clara noticed.
“I think I understand what you were asking.”
“Do you?”
“Enough.”
She lifted her chin.
“Then answer the question.”
He looked toward the floor.
“I already did.”
“No.”
“You told me you've never been with a woman.”
“Yes.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Elias looked back at her.
Clara forced herself not to retreat.
“What would you do,” she asked, “if I told you I expected you to behave like a husband tonight?”
His jaw tightened.
“I would ask what you meant.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’d rather hear you say it.”
Heat rushed into her cheeks.
“You are suddenly very precise for a man who couldn't speak thirty seconds ago.”
“That was before I realized this was not a conversation I can afford to misunderstand.”
The answer silenced her.
Elias continued more quietly.
“If you mean sharing the bed, I can share it.”
“If you mean touching you, I would need to know that you wanted me to.”
“And if I said I did?”
He swallowed.
“Then I would probably make several mistakes.”
Clara stared.
His mouth twitched.
“Possibly all of them.”
She laughed again despite the knot inside her.
Elias smiled.
Not broadly.
Just enough that she saw the man beneath the beard and size and heavy mountain clothes.
Then she remembered the money.
Her smile disappeared.
“You paid my debts.”
Elias's expression became serious again.
“Yes.”
“You paid for my train.”
“Yes.”
“You sent money to the boarding house in Baltimore so they would stop threatening to put my trunk on the street.”
“Yes.”
“You bought winter clothes before I arrived.”
“I sent an order.”
“You gave me a roof.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect nothing.”
He frowned.
“That isn't what I said.”
Clara’s stomach tightened.
There it was.
She had known kindness would eventually reveal its cost.
“What do you expect?”