A Gift For Baby
Raye Morgan
THE BABY SHOWER UNDERCOVER COWBOY Mitch Harper was only pretending to be a rugged cowboy. But as an undercover agent protecting Hailey Kingston, he was learning things about her that could get a confirmed bachelor in trouble. Like how she liked her coffee in the morning. And how many babies she was longing to have… .So maybe Hailey had kissed her sexy keeper. Distracting Mitch was the only way she could sneak away to her friend's baby shower. Problem was, she was enjoying his tender touch and now she needed a new strategy: one that ensured her escape - with a handsome new husband to boot!THE BABY SHOWER: We're excited 'cause you're invited to celebrate the arrival of one bouncing baby - and four brand-new brides! THE BABY SHOWER
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#ued48cbd9-707d-5496-9788-acd09a2704aa)
Excerpt (#u94ef1782-c510-5103-a3f7-0278e3c89fed)
Dear Reader (#u14438431-fe89-5551-b937-f66f0e50fb6c)
Title Page (#u6b1a35de-c809-5d02-8fd4-0cb5d57197d2)
About the Author (#u7cad852e-2266-5bf2-ada2-7338a67fc7ab)
The Invitation (#uf2b71337-e240-5006-9959-f07f72812eed)
One (#ud352bf15-3861-5ce1-b41c-c3b4255bf223)
Two (#ub85bc5f8-92e0-5c7c-b216-cd82f9fdedcf)
Three (#u345152fc-b153-52fd-a1c6-7c357db5e395)
Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
The Baby Shower (#litres_trial_promo)
Preview (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
“Do You Want To Be Kissed?”
He Asked.
“I’ve been, thanks,” she said, though he thought he heard growing excitement in her voice.
“Oh, I see,” he said, his voice very low. “Once was enough, was it?”
She nodded. “Just about. I’ll admit I gave it a few more tries, but the result was the same.”
“You know what that tells me?” He had her shoulders in hand. He knew he was crossing the line, but it was too late to turn around now. “It’s been much too long since you’ve tried it.”
She stared up at him, fascinated by how full and soft his lips looked all of a sudden, by how fast her heart was beating. “Do you really think so?” she said faintly.
“Yes, I do,” he murmured as he bent to find her mouth with his.
Dear Reader,
Cowboys and cops…sexy men with a swagger…just the kind of guys to make your head turn. That’s what we’ve got for you this month in Silhouette Desire.
The romance begins when Taggart Jones meets his match in Anne McAllister’s wonderful MAN OF THE MONTH, The Cowboy and the Kid. This is the latest in her captivating CODE OF THE WEST miniseries. And the fun continues with Mitch Harper in A Gift for Baby, the next book in Raye Morgan’s THE BABY SHOWER series.
Cindy Gerard has created a dynamic hero in the very masculine form of J. D. Hazzard in The Bride Wore Blue, book #1 in the NORTHERN LIGHTS BRIDES series. And if rugged rascals are your favorite, don’t miss Jake Spencer in Dixie Browning’s The Baby Notion, which is book #1 of DADDY KNOWS LAST, Silhouette’s new cross-line continuity. (Next month, look for Helen R. Myers’s Baby in a Basket as DADDY KNOWS LAST continues in Silhouette Romance!)
Gavin Cantrell is sure to weaken your knees in Gavin’s Child by Caroline Cross, part of the delightful BACHELORS AND BABIES promotion. And Jackie Merritt—along with hero Duke Sheridan—kicks off her MADE IN MONTANA series with Montana Fever.
Heroes to fall in love with—and love scenes that will make your toes curl. That’s what Silhouette Desire is all about Until next month—enjoy!
All the best,
Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
A Gift For Baby
Raye
Morgan
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
RAYE MORGAN
favors settings in the West, which is where she has spent most of her life. She admits to a penchant for Western heroes, believing that whether he’s a rugged outdoorsman or a smooth city sophisticate, he tends to have a streak of wildness that the romantic heroine can’t resist taming. She’s been married to one of those Western men for twenty years and is busy raising four more in her Southern California home.
The Invitation (#ulink_8c4c8fad-5cda-5778-a466-12b65eee8c37)
“Hmm, pretty nice fit on that pair of jeans,” Hailey Kingston thought idly as she glanced over the top of her sunglasses at the ranch hand walking by the pool. Then she stopped herself, appalled.
Good grief—had she come to this? Was she really so bored that she’d sunk to checking out the attributes of the local cowboys? There had to be something else to occupy her mind. Had to be.
Groaning, she stretched back on the chaise lounge and turned her face up to the sun, completely oblivious to the effect she was having on those very same cowboys. That was the way it always was. She just didn’t care. She could walk around in a bikini as though it were a sweat suit, completely unconscious of the picture she made. Hailey Kingston was, in many ways, as natural as a child.
She wore her honey blond hair haphazardly, shoulder length and untamed. She seldom used makeup, and when she did, it was nothing more than a slash of pearly pink lipstick against her smooth, tanned skin. She was drop-dead gorgeous, and she couldn’t help it. It was her blessing; it was her curse.
But it didn’t mean much out here in the middle of nowhere. There was no one to see her but the two tiresome excops who’d been sent to watch her every move, and the ranch hands and they’d been warned to stay away from her. At first, it had all seemed deliciously peaceful and serene, but after three weeks, it was just plain boring.
She heard the sound of boots scuffing along the gravel pathway and she turned, feeling defensive, to find one of the cowboys coming toward her, a shy grin on his young face. She frowned and waited until he reached where she was lounging, then asked, “May I help you?”
“Uh…” He held out a courier’s packet awkwardly. “Up at the house, they told me to bring you this.”
Lifting her sunglasses, she stared at his offering. “What is it?”
“I think it’s your mail, miss.”
“Mail!” She jumped up and took the bag from him greedily. Her quick thank-you was laced with a smile that made him gape, but she hardly noticed. News from the outside. Hallelujah. Maybe it was a letter from her father saying that this long nightmare was finally over and she could go home. He was the only one who knew where she was, the only one whose letters she was allowed to get.
But it wasn’t from her father at all. What she found inside the packet was a pink envelope that smelled like…she gave a sniff. Baby powder. How in the world had this made its way through to her?
She knew they were holding back her letters. They didn’t want her to have any contact with the outside world at all for fear someone would find out where she was. And yet, this little pink envelope had gotten through. This was her lucky day. It was bound to be an invitation to something. She ripped it open eagerly and pulled out a card shaped like a duck, wearing a silky satin bow and a silly smile.
A baby shower! She flipped open the card and read the details inside, along with a personal note at the bottom. “Hailey, it’s me! Can you believe it? You have to come and help me celebrate. No RSVP needed, because I know you’ll be here!”
Hailey laughed softly. So, Sara was going to have a baby. “Oh, how wonderful,” she said, sighing.
“What’s that, ma’am?” The cowboy had been taking his time sauntering away, and when she spoke, he stopped and looked back hopefully.
“Uh, nothing,” she said, nodding at him, then lifting her chin coolly. Tommy—wasn’t that the name she’d heard him called? She was always careful not to give them false hope. It was best to let on right away that she had absolutely no interest in making friends. She’d learned young that her beauty could be a danger to everyone involved. He looked suitably abashed and she felt a twinge of remorse, but she knew better than to act on it. Best to let him think she was a snob. That would keep him at the distance that had to be maintained. He turned and went on his way, and she sighed.
Leaning down, she groped in her purse, found her wallet and opened it to the pictures. The wallet fell open naturally to a snapshot of the four young women, and she smiled at it.
There they were, the Fab Four—she and her three roommates in college. She’d carried that picture with her for eight years, and whenever things got a little too glum, she’d pull it out and remember the good times they’d had together.
Sara was going to be the first to have a baby, and maybe the only one, the way things were going. Hailey had talked to Cami Bishop, one of the foursome, on the telephone only a few months before, and Cami had more or less conceded defeat. She’d said she wasn’t even looking for the “right man” any longer. She’d decided that illusive person was a member of a race that was now extinct. “Only a few fossils left,” she’d joked, “to remind us of what we’re missing.”
Her other roomie, J. J. MacKenzie, was too full of ambition and in a career that demanded every ounce of strength. She didn’t have time to think about babies. And Hailey herself—well, she had realized long ago that she would never be able to trust a man enough to build a lasting relationship. That was just the way it was.
But Sara—yes, they’d always known she would do it. Sara had come from the most perfect family and married someone who was, by all accounts, the most perfect man. And now she would have the perfect baby. It had been in the cards all along.
“Great,” Hailey said softly, smiling a dreamy smile. “Good for her. Let her have a perfect baby. And let her have a perfect baby shower, too.”
She pressed the invitation to her chest and looked around as though to guard it from prying eyes. “Oh yes, Sara. I will get to your shower,” she whispered under her breath. “Somehow, someway, I will escape and get to you.”
One (#ulink_f2ae275b-3373-56ab-9c83-950e5f2b3477)
“Hey, Mitch. Look at that. It’s the Ice Princess, come into town.” The tall, handsome cowboy rapped his knuckles against the glass of the telephone booth to get his friend’s attention. “Whachya say we go over and make ourselves helpful?”
Mitch Harper turned in the tiny booth, with the receiver still against his ear, more annoyed at the interruption from Larry than interested in seeing Hailey Kingston emerge from her low-slung sports car. Glancing at her, he shrugged and gestured his disinterest.
“I’m on the phone,” he told Larry. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Larry nodded good-naturedly and started across the street toward where Hailey stood adjusting a scarf she’d worn over her hair in the open car. Mitch watched her for a moment, his eyes narrowing, then his gaze focused on a pair of brightly attired men getting out of a gray sedan half a block away, and he shook his head, going back to his call.
“You really ought to do something about those two excops they’ve got covering her,” he said softly into the receiver. “They stick out like sore thumbs.”
“Aren’t they dressed for the area?” asked the gruff voice on the other end of the line.
“Sure. Circa 1950. They look like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.”
There was a pause. “Aren’t they both guys?”
“Yup.”
“Oh.” The man on the line gave a snort of quick laughter. “I’ll say something to the surveillance coordinator.” He snickered again. “They don’t suspect you, do they?”
“Those two?” Mitch smiled. “They don’t have a clue. They think I’m a cowboy, just like everyone else does. Just another ranch hand.”
“Good. I thought you would fit in pretty easily.”
“Don’t worry about me. I grew up not far from here. I know the area.”
“But do they know you?”
“No. Not in this end of the valley.”
“Good. Be careful.” His voice got more businesslike. “Got anything for me?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Mitch replied. “She’s barely left the side of the pool for the past four days.” He glanced across the street at where Hailey Kingston was still talking to Larry. As he watched, she began to walk into the store, and he had to admit, her walk had something to it, something a man couldn’t ignore. Good thing he wasn’t affected by things like that.
Yeah, right. Pulling himself together, he returned to his call. “If she’s got anything inside that pretty head besides fluff, she’s pretty good at hiding it.”
“Don’t underestimate her. She’s the apple of her daddy’s eye. If he’s told anyone where the money is, it’ll be her.”
Mitch shook his head and his mouth turned down at the corners. The signs were not auspicious as far as he was concerned. “If she knows anything, she’s a great bluffer.”
“Hey, the best of them always seem innocent. Just keep an eye on her and give me a call if she does anything suspicious.”
“Like booking a cruise or buying a diamond?”
“Like that, and any number of other things.”
“You got it. And hey, Donagan.” A smile crept into Mitch’s voice. “Next assignment is back in the real world again—you got that? No more baby-sitting jobs.”
“Hey, the next suicide mission is yours, Harper. You got my word on it.”
After an exchange of friendly obscenities, Mitch rang off and made his way out of the booth, starting across the street toward where Larry was attempting to charm the lovely young woman in the sky blue jumper whose blond hair tumbled about her shoulders like surf on a rocky shore.
There was no doubt she was beautiful, and he was only human. But despite the reluctant admiration he couldn’t help but have for her looks, he had nothing but contempt for everything else about her. The virtuous act didn’t fool him for a moment. He’d been on a lot of these cases over the years, and it was his experience that these women were usually into things up to their delicately trimmed eyebrows, no matter how much innocence they pretended.
He hung back a bit, not wanting to draw attention his way. He’d decided not to get to know her from the start. Each job was unique. In some cases, the closer you got, the more you learned about the subject of the investigation. In others, it paid to stay back as an anonymous observer. That was the way he’d been playing it so far. Of course, it hadn’t paid off with much information as yet, had it? Still, his instincts told him to keep his distance. He would just as soon she didn’t notice him at all.
But he realized, with a wry twinge of humor, that he needn’t have bothered to worry in this instance. Hailey Kingston’s attention was focused fully on Larry Bartelli’s handsome face as he helped her with the packages she was picking up at the local dress shop.
“Thank you,” she told him as he stowed the parcels away in the boot of her foreign car. “I appreciate the help.”
“My pleasure,” Larry responded with a smile that he obviously hoped exuded raw seductive appeal. “Anytime you need me, you just call. I’m at your service.”
“How comforting,” she said after a pause. She reached into her purse. “Here, let me give you something for…”
“Oh, no, ma’am.” Larry waved away her offer. “I don’t need money. You can pay me back with just one of your pretty smiles. That’s all I need.”
She looked up at him and laughed softly. “If feminine smiles were really worth something, I have a feeling you’d be rich,” she told him.
“Oh, no, Miss Kingston,” he insisted earnestly. “Your smile is the only one that means anything to me.”
She laughed again, tucking her purse under her arm For just a moment, she glanced at Mitch, but he had his Stetson pushed down low over his eyes, and she didn’t seem to see anything there worth lingering over.
“You’re a lucky man, cowboy,” she said, regarding Larry again with her head cocked to the side. “To be happy with such a simple gesture.” She gave him a quick grin. “Especially since that’s all you’re ever going to get from me,” she noted dryly under her breath. As she spoke, her two bodyguards approached the car, one walking with an exaggerated swagger, the other with a scowl.
“Move along, boys,” the swaggerer barked at the two cowboys. “You know you’re not supposed to bother Miss Kingston.”
“No fraternization. That’s the rules,” the scowler added for good measure.
“It’s all right,” she said, turning to give them both a winning smile. “I asked for help. It’s my fault.”
The swaggerer looked aghast. “But we’re here to help you, Miss Kingston. That’s what they set up through the D. A.’s office. We’re always here.”
“Yes, I know.” Her dry tone belied her feelings on the matter, and for a split second, her gaze met Mitch’s and he saw the frustration in her eyes. But before he had time to connect with her look, she’d already turned and was sliding behind the wheel of her small car. Identical looks of panic crossed the faces of the two guards and they ran for their gray sedan. It was obvious they were afraid of losing her.
“She’s ditched them before, I’ll wager,” Mitch muttered to himself with a smile as they roared off, chasing her dust.
But Larry wasn’t listening. Sidling up to his friend, he clapped him on the back with a hearty pat. “Hey, she loves me,” he announced happily.
If Larry had been looking, he might have noticed that the twist to Mitch’s wide, hard mouth held more than a hint of sarcasm. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, can’t you tell? Didn’t you see the way she looked at me? She’s crazy about me.”
Mitch turned back toward the truck where they’d left it parked down the street a half block.
“Lucky you,” he said dismissively. “But in the meantime, we’ve got things to do. We’ve still got to stop in and see the vet about those vitamins for that pregnant mare.”
Larry fell into step beside him, his eyes sparkling from the encounter with Hailey. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? On a scale of one to ten, I’d give her a twenty. What do you think?”
Mitch was beginning to lose interest in the subject. “Personally, I’d give her a pass,” he said shortly.
“You know what’s wrong with you?” Larry babbled on happily. “You’ve got no romance in your soul.”
Mitch nodded, in complete agreement on that score, and proud of it. He glanced at Larry. “And you’ve got no brain in your head if you think the powers that be are going to let you get anywhere near that woman.”
Larry’s smile was still just as broad. “Don’t worry, pal. Love will find a way.”
Mitch grunted a noncommittal sound and turned back toward the truck.
“Hey, man,” Larry insisted, as though he felt he had to prove something to his companion. “I’ve got a knack with the girls, pal. They go for me in a big way.”
Mitch gave him a pitying look. “Yes, I can tell girls like you a lot.” He coughed carefully. “You might have a little more of a problem with real women, however,” he murmured.
“Huh?” Larry frowned. “What does that mean?”
Mitch shrugged. “Never mind. Let’s get out of here.” He pulled open the door of the truck, ready to climb behind the wheel, but Larry couldn’t let the subject go.
“Ah, you’re just jealous,” he ribbed as they got in and Mitch started the engine. “I know females. She’s dreaming about me right now.”
Maybe he was right, Mitch thought rather grumpily as they drove toward the office of the veterinarian. After all, he hadn’t seen much evidence that she was much more than the bubbleheaded type who would go for a lightweight like Larry. And if she was dreaming about him, she probably deserved the fate that lay in wait for her. He certainly would do nothing to intervene. He just wanted to get this job over with and go back to something with a little more substance than this boring stint of surveillance.
“You’re probably right,” he muttered to Larry, to quiet him down. “You’re probably right.”
But Larry was wrong. Hailey’s thoughts, as she drove toward the ranch, were a thousand miles away. They were centered somewhere outside of Denver at the moment.
“I could just keep driving,” she was whispering to herself. “I could just go and go until dark.” Looking in her rearview mirror, she could tell her bodyguards hadn’t caught up with her dust trail as yet. “I could take a side road and lose them in minutes. No one would ever catch me.”
But she laughed ruefully, knowing it was only a fantasy. She’d promised her father that she would stay put, and that was what she was going to have to do, no matter how agonizingly boring it became.
The first two weeks hadn’t been too bad. She’d spent a lot of time catching up on her reading and her sleeping and her sunbathing. But now time was dragging, lengthening before her eyes, and she desperately needed something new to do.
She’d come here reluctantly. “Daddy,” she’d insisted when her father had first brought it up. “I can handle myself. I’ve lived in the big city for too many years to be scared off because some sleazy mob guy is on my tail.”
“It’s more than that, sugar,” he’d told her, shaking his shaggy white head of hair. “Much more. If someone got hold of you, they could buy my silence in a minute, and they’re going to know it.”
“Oh, Daddy.” She loved the man so much. Ever since she’d lost her mother when she was entering her teen years, she’d depended on him in ways her friends never seemed to depend on their fathers. He was her confidante, her staunchest supporter, her buddy, her rock in a sea of uncertainty. The fact that he’d disappointed her in major ways in the past didn’t matter. Her love went beyond that. She looked at his handsome, aging face and sighed. “Oh, Daddy,” she said again softly.
“I mean it, honey. These guys play rough.”
By now it was a foregone conclusion. Of course she was going to do as he asked. But she didn’t tell him yet. Instead she played for time. “But…how did you get involved with these people in the first place?” she asked him.
“Doing business, sugar. My restaurants have been three of the most popular places in San Francisco for the past ten years. When you have success like that, the jackals start to circle. There are always people who try to horn in and get a share.”
“But…”
He shook his head decisively. “I’m not going to listen to any more opposition on this, Hailey. I’ve found a place for you. It’s a resort, really—horses, swimming, peace and quiet. You’ll have time to read all those books you keep telling me you’ve been putting off reading because you just don’t have time. You’ll be in the nice warm sunshine while the rest of us are still dealing with winter. You’ll have the time of your life.”
She knew she was going. Still there were loose ends to tie up. “But my job…” she reminded him. She worked as a buyer for Ganby’s Department Store, and she loved the career she was blazing for herself. It would be hard to put it on hold.
She might have known he would already have that problem taken care of. “I’ve talked to Warren. He understands the situation and he’s willing to give you a leave of absence. He’ll hold your job for you.”
There had been times when she’d cursed the fact that her boss and her father were good friends, but this seemed to be an instance when it would help rather than hinder. She sighed. They were ganging up on her, weren’t they?
“How long will it take?” she asked, her submission already clear in her voice.
He smiled at her. “I don’t imagine it will be for longer than three or four weeks at the most.”
“Oh, Daddy.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer. “Sugar, I hate to be dictatorial, but you’ve got to do this. If you don’t, I won’t be able to testify, and I might have to leave the country.”
She looked at him sideways. He sounded quite sincere and she truly wanted to believe him. He’d lied to her before, lied in ways that had cut into their relationship and almost ruined it. But that was in the past. She’d dealt with it, accepted that he was what he was, and moved on. He was her father. She loved him. And there was absolutely no reason she could think of that he would be hiding anything from her. She decided he had to be telling the truth. This time.
There was nothing left to do but agree. So here she was, and the desert that had once looked magically mysterious now looked hypnotically tedious.
The wind tugged at her scarf as she made the turn onto the ranch roads. Ahead she saw the ranch house, a large, imposing building atop a gentle hill.
“Home sweet home,” she murmured to herself sardonically as she pulled up before the entryway. She jumped out of the car and turned to wave as the gray sedan came sliding into the yard. But before the men reached her, she’d opened the boot of her car and pulled out her packages and was starting up the steps into the house.
“With all due respect, you drive too darn fast, Miss Kingston,” one of them called to her.
She waved again, laughing, and took the steps two at a time. “Jen?” she called, knowing the house should be empty except for the household staff.
Dressed in the pale blue uniform all the house help wore, Jen came clattering down the stairs, ebony hair flying behind her. “Did you get it?” she cried, her dark eyes sparkling.
“Shh!” Hailey glanced at the back of the hall and put her finger to her lips. “Yes, I got it. Let’s go and try it on.”
Jen gave her a grin, snatched a couple of her bags from her and whirled. “Great,” she said, leading the way back up the stairs. “I can hardly wait to see the transformation.”
Hailey followed a bit more slowly. She had struck up something of a friendship with the younger woman who was working as a housekeeper’s assistant to pay her way through the nearby college. Together they had hatched a plot to get Hailey out of the house for an evening. The packages she’d picked up m town were the first step. The two of them made their way into the bedroom at the corner of the house and carefully closed the door.
“Here goes nothing,” Hailey breathed to herself as she pulled open one of her parcels, a round box, and extracted a dark wig styled in a pixieish cut, holding it up. “Me as an Italian. What do you think?”
“It’s darling,” Jen cried, fingering the silky hair. “But what are you going to do with all that blond stuff you’ve got on the top of your head?”
“You’ll see,” Hailey promised lightly, dropping down before her mirror and deftly pulling strands of her own hair into coils that she expertly pinned to her scalp. Taking the wig in both hands, she carefully tugged it down over the pinned tresses.
“Gosh.” Jen shook her head in awe. “Wow, that makes all the difference, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
Hailey nodded, looking at her reflection speculatively. “That’s the point, isn’t it?” she murmured. But it was true. Her thick, gorgeous blond hair had always been her trademark. With the black hair in a pixie cut, she looked like a completely different person. For just a moment, she wondered if it was going to make her act differently, too. “Wild?” she mused to herself. “Daring?”
“It’s going to be fun tonight,” Jen promised. “You’re sure you want to do it?”
“Absolutely.” Hailey smiled at her in the mirror, her eyes dancing with anticipation. “If I can get away from my everpresent shadows. They pride themselves on watching every move I make. It is getting really old.”
Jen nodded her sympathy. “We’ll fool them, don’t worry. I got a uniform for you. It’s hanging in your closet. It should fit.”
“Oh, thanks, Jen.” She smiled at the girl. “You’re really going to a lot of trouble just to help me get a night out.”
Jen smiled back warmly. “It’s my pleasure, believe me. Those two cops have been driving us all crazy, ordering us around like we were their servants or something. If we can put this over on Tweedledum and Tweedledummer, it’ll be worth every minute.”
Hailey laughed. “Okay. Here’s the game plan. At dinner, I’m going to whine and howl about the horrible headache I’ve suddenly come down with. And when I go up to bed, I’m going to warn everyone not to bother me until morning on pain of death.”
“Then you’ll slip into the wig and uniform and meet me in the kitchen at eight. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Jen started for the door, and Hailey called after her.
“Jen…thank you again. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” the younger woman said, laughing as she turned and left the room.
“No problem,” Hailey echoed, pulling off the wig and looking at herself in the mirror. Of course not. What could go wrong?
Two (#ulink_b1eff122-5e1e-5df7-8af8-71ae9f060845)
With a long afternoon still stretching out before her, Hailey decided to get out her easel and do some sketching. Her pencil drawings were usually quick and small, done on a sketch pad. But this time she was in the mood for something grander, something huge and panoramic, just like this red and gold desert she’d been staring at for three weeks now. So she would need her easel.
It was old-fashioned and heavy, made of wood and hard to carry. She managed to get it into the back of her car by herself, and then, once she’d driven out and found an area she liked, managed to get it out of the car and set it up. But the thought of carrying the heavy easel, as well as all her painting and drawing supplies to the hill where she wanted to set up shop, was daunting.
She looked out toward where her faithful bodyguards had pulled over to keep an eye on her. They seldom got close, but they were always there, and it was darn annoying. She could call them to come help her, she supposed. But she didn’t want to do that. That would be similar to admitting she needed them around. And she would never admit that.
She glanced at the car again and saw that they were both getting out. Frowning, she was about to call to them, to protest, but they turned and began to walk toward the high side of the stream. They were moving away, not closer, and she sighed with relief as they melted into the brush and were soon lost from sight. They’d been on sketching expeditions with her before and they obviously expected a long, boring wait, so had hatched a plan with something better to do. She might almost be able to pretend they weren’t with her.
Turning back, she examined her surroundings with a practiced eye. The place was the greenest she’d found in the area. The stream running through it nourished a stand of cottonwoods at the base of the hill. The wind was ruffling the leaves, turning the light sides to shimmer in the afternoon sun, when she heard the hoofbeats. A rider was coming.
Leaving her things in a heap, she walked quickly back to the road, ready to hail whoever it might be. It was bound to be a worker on the ranch. Surely he would help her. Shading her eyes with her hand, she watched him approach.
Mitch pulled the horse to a stop easily and looked down at her. Even here in the middle of nowhere, with a bead of sweat rolling down her temple, she looked gorgeous. Her blond hair tumbled about her shoulders and framed her face the way an expensive fur might have. Her green eyes seemed to glitter in the sun, and her perfect skin was slightly flushed.
Everything in him was signaling danger, and he knew the best thing he could do was get out of this situation as quickly as possible. He wasn’t sure why she’d flagged him down, but whatever she wanted, he was going to have to avoid it. That meant he would have to be rude. But that didn’t really matter. He didn’t want to get closer to her, anyway. Being rude might be the best ploy he had going for him.
“Hi, you work here, don’t you?” she said with a friendly gesture. “I wonder, could you take a moment to help me, please? I’ve got some things I want to move, and it’s awkward trying to do it on my own, so if you—”
“Sorry, lady,” he said coolly, looking toward the horizon. “This is a working ranch. I work the cattle. I’m not trained in guest relations. Get somebody from the house to do it for you.”
Her chin went up and her gaze hardened perceptibly. His reaction was unexpected, but she wasn’t thrown by it. She’d dealt with recalcitrant personnel before.
For just a moment, she took his measure. His boots were scuffed and worn, and his jeans were snug and almost silver from wear. He certainly looked like a working cowboy. She glanced at his worn, callused hands and his broad shoulders. His face was tanned so dark, his blue eyes seemed startlingly bright. He looked authentic, all right. The only aspect that gave her pause—and she thought she’d noticed it on this man before—was the look in his eyes. There was something too sharp there, something too knowing. Still he claimed to be a cowboy, and a cowboy would suit her fine right now.
“I’m not asking you as an employee, or a house worker, or whatever,” she told him, waving a hand in the air. “I’m asking you as a person—one human being to another. Simple request. Nothing complicated.”
The determination in her voice was matched by the set of her jaw, and he noted it with something halfway between amusement and annoyance. She was used to ordering people around, wasn’t she? Well, that was just too bad. He glanced at his watch, making a show of it and starting to gather the reins together to make his escape. “I’m late. I’m due at the branding shed.”
Her eyes blazed. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of the bridle, effectively thwarting his plans to leave immediately. “I could write you a note,” she offered tartly. “You could take it to your foreman. Maybe then he would excuse your tardiness.”
He looked down at her and she glared back. “Will you please help me?” she asked crisply.
But he was just as stubborn. His jaw could set, too, and his eyes were even colder. “I’m sorry,” he said firmly. “I have other things to do.”
She gazed at him, not with anger but with speculation. There it was again, that element in him that looked untamed in a way that had nothing to do with sagebrush and desert winds. Something about this cowboy was annoying her, even beyond his refusal to jump down and help her. She realized now she’d seen him before, working around the corral, and even in town that morning. She’d noticed it then, too. There was a measure of contempt in that look he was giving her. Contempt. Now she was even more annoyed. How dare he? People just didn’t look at her that way. Especially men.
“Look,” she insisted. “I’m not asking you to spend the afternoon with me. I’m merely appealing for help in carrying my easel and supplies up to the top of that hill. I realize this sort of thing is far, far below punching cows, but think of it as charity work, and maybe it will make you feel saintly.”
His mouth twitched and his gaze made another arrogant sweep over her. “What makes you think I’m interested in feeling saintly?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She waved her hand airily. “Something about you suggests you might be able to use a few brownie points in heaven. I’ll bet you don’t rack up too many of them during your normal day, do you?”
For all his antipathy toward getting involved, he had to admit she was waging a pretty good fight here. “I try to avoid them,” he said dryly, but he didn’t pull away and urge the horse back onto the road as he should have. In fact, he was forgetting about his desire to move on for the moment.
“Obviously,” she taunted good-naturedly. “But this time, you see, you’re trapped.”
His head went back and he let out a short laugh. “The hell I am.”
She shrugged grandly. “Well, that’s right where I’m afraid you’re headed if you don’t get a few good works under your belt. So you see, I’m trying to do you a favor.” She gestured with a toss of her head, all supreme confidence. “Come on down and help.”
He met her eyes and stared for a long moment. He wasn’t about to change his overall opinion of her, but he had to admit there was more in her than he’d been giving her credit for. And he also knew they had come to a point where it would be churlish of him to continue refusing to help her. How had he let this happen? He was usually the one manipulating things. This time, she was going to win. Smiling ruefully to himself, he swung down off the horse.
“What do you want carried?” he asked her without rancor.
She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been about to let him know how shaky her confidence had become in the past few minutes. Looking at him now, so tall, so thickly muscular, wearing faded jeans and a plaid shirt augmented by a leather vest, she knew he was all male and decidedly insolent. And here she was, ordering him around.
And here he was, giving in. My my. She allowed herself a quick feeling of satisfaction.
“This easel,” she told him, gesturing toward it. “I can actually carry the rest myself.”
He nodded, glancing at her face. To her credit, she didn’t gloat, but took his acquiescence as a matter of course and went on with things. “That won’t be a problem,” he said.
She was still weighing possibilities, her hands on her hips, her head to the side. “Maybe you could just prop it up on your horse.” She frowned at the large beast doubtfully.
Mitch patted his neck. “This big fella is skittish as it is. If I start piling wood on him, he’s liable to take it as a very bad sign.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “You’re probably right. Well, if you just took one side and I took the other…”
Without waiting for the rest of her musing, he lifted the easel without effort and hoisted it onto his wide shoulder. “Top of that hill?” he asked, nodding toward the area.
“Yes,” she said, hastily gathering her other things. “Thank you so much.”
But he was already striding toward the spot and she had to run to catch up by the time he reached it. He set the easel in place and was going to take her bundle of papers from her, but as she transferred the items, a small stack of drawings fell out and sailed haphazardly to the ground. Picking one of them up, he stopped, startled, staring at the cowboy face she’d drawn. Slowly he turned and stared at her, feeling like a man walking on quicksand.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked her softly, waving the picture at her. “That’s me.”
She glanced at it, not surprised at all. “Oh. Is it? Yes, I guess it is. I was just sketching some of the cowboys a week or so ago. I didn’t remember that you were one of them.”
He stared at her with steely eyes for a long moment, then handed the sketch back to her. “Don’t do it again,” he warned, his voice low but ominous.
She looked up at him, somewhat startled by his tone. “Why not?”
Yes, why not? He could hardly explain that he was an undercover agent, could he? That he didn’t want his cover blown. “It’s an invasion of privacy,” he said, evading the real issue. That made her laugh.
“Oh, come on. I was just sketching character studies. As far as I was concerned, you were just an ordinary cowboy, no more, no less. It was nothing personal.”
He didn’t relent, and actually, he had to admit, seeing the picture of himself had been downright disconcerting. It gave him an eerie feeling, as though something were going on here that he didn’t understand. And he hated not feeling in the know.
“Still,” he said, looking at her narrowly, “you reached out and took a piece of me and I didn’t even know it. Some Indian tribes used to think you captured someone’s soul when you had a picture of them.”
She waved that theory away dismissively. “That was photography.”
He shrugged. “Same difference.” His forefinger jabbed at the picture. “That’s me, and anyone looking at it is going to know it’s me.”
And that was just the problem. She was damn good, but he wasn’t about to tell her so. Opening the sketchbook he was holding, he riffled through others that were just as welldone.
“You see,” she said, watching him, “they’re just character studies. I mean, I don’t think of you as you, whoever that may be. I think of you as Joe Cowboy.”
He nodded, studying her work. “Sort of a generic brand,” he said softly.
“Exactly.”
Looking up, he pinned her with a sharp gaze as he snapped the book shut. “Sure, I understand that,” he said calmly. “That’s kind of the way I think of you.”
That startled her. She turned slowly, keeping her face bland. “Oh, really?”
“Sure.” His eyes narrowed. “You’re the generic rich girl.”
Her eyes widened and she laughed. “Hardly.”
Straightening, he handed her back her sketchbook. “Didn’t your father buy out the place so you could have it to yourself for a month?”
She opened her mouth to protest, but after all, what could she say? He was pretty near the mark. “You don’t know the first thing about it,” she said simply.
He shrugged, his hard face unemotional. “All I know is, they booted all the other guests out so you wouldn’t be disturbed. And you have two bodyguards. Now what kind of message do you think all that is sending?”
She stared at him for a moment, then turned and began to straighten the easel, preparing it for work. “My father used to say, if you want to send a message, call the telegraph people,” she murmured as she aligned the paper guides.
He knew he deserved that, and he almost smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her instead. “Now, if you’ve finished with me, boss-lady, I’ll get back to work.”
She turned her green gaze on him and shook her head in wonder. “You’ve got your nerve, mister,” she said. “It’s pretty obvious you’ve never been briefed in customer relations.” She tilted her head to the side, studying him. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll turn you in? That you might lose your job?”
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, ready to make his escape. “Miss Kingston,” he drawled, “there are things in this life I am afraid of. Losing this crummy job isn’t one of them.” He started to turn away, but said back over his shoulder, “And neither are you.”
“Then what are you afraid of?” she called after him. “I’d be interested in knowing.”
He paused, still looking back. “I’m more afraid of losing my self-respect than I am of losing this job,” he told her seriously.
She laughed softly. “What is your name, cowboy?”
He hesitated. “Mitch Harper,” he said at last, rather grudgingly. “Happy sketching, Miss Kingston.”
She smiled. “Happy branding, Mitch Harper. Be kind to those little dogies.”
For a moment he stood there looking at her, like an animal poised just before flight. The picture she made with her wild blond hair and the blue sky behind her made him want to stand and stare for a long, long time. But he controlled the impulse and moved on. That was what cowboys always did, wasn’t it? They moved on, moseyed on out of there. But he knew this little encounter had changed things. She wouldn’t ignore him the next time they met. The dynamics had changed. For some inexplicable reason, he began to whistle as he made his way back to where his horse was tied.
Hailey watched him go and shook her head. Then she turned to her easel and began to sketch rapidly, first the rough outline of a man, then the details, and before Mitch had disappeared from sight, she had a new picture of him. Standing back to examine it, she smiled. Then she tore off the sheet and quickly began drawing him from another angle, forgetting all about the landscape work she’d planned to do. Was she interested in his form because of something in him that had inspired her? Or was she merely happy to do something he’d expressly ordered her not to attempt? She wasn’t sure. Maybe a little of both. Whatever motivated her, she worked for hours, and when she was done, she had ten pictures of the man, and it made her smile to think of presenting them all to him, neatly tied in a satin bow.
“Later,” she promised herself as she packed up her charcoals and pencils. Right now, she had to begin preparing for the dance she was going to attend tonight.
Tonight. Ah, tonight. Maybe a little romance. Maybe… maybe just one.
Folding the easel and putting it under a bush for future use, she walked happily back through the grass. All in all, this had been one of the least boring days since she’d arrived, and with the evening ahead of her, it promised to keep right on going that way.
Mitch left the confines of the bunkhouse and wandered out under the stars. He could hear the raucous poker game going on behind him. Ordinarily he liked to join in. But tonight he was restless. Instead of heading toward the edge of the driveway, where he could look out over the valley in the moonlight, he turned toward the house. The place was lit up as though it were full of guests, as it usually was at this time of year. But there was only Hailey Kingston. Hailey and her bodyguards and a house full of help. It seemed like a waste.
He knew only sketchy details of the case. Her father was involved in a trial in San Francisco. As he understood it, the man had gangland ties that the district attorney’s office had been suspicious of for some time, and now he was paying for his misdeeds. Just what they were, Mitch wasn’t sure.
“He probably didn’t pay his taxes,” he muttered to himself as he sauntered along. That was the one crime the government could never forgive or overlook. At any rate, there was a lot of missing money involved, as well as some documents. The D. A. thought Hailey might have an idea where those things were hidden. And Mitch was here to see if she would inadvertently give a clue as to where they might be.
He’d had cases like this before, but they weren’t his favorite. He preferred going after the bad guys directly, not through some woman. Unless the woman herself was a bad guy, of course. Now those cases could be a lot of fun.
But this case wasn’t exactly topping the charts in the fun department. It was assignments like these that made him wonder why he’d ever gotten into this business, why he didn’t get out and go start up his own business somewhere.
But he wasn’t going to change, and he knew why. He hadn’t needed therapy to get to the bottom of his own motivations. It was clear as a bell to him. He knew it had to do with his background, with his father’s failures and his own experience of being raised as a rescuer, always pulling his family back from the brink of disaster. He just couldn’t stand to see the bad guys win. He had to make sure they met their just deserts. That was also the impetus that made him side with the underdog every time. Growing up, he’d been down so far, normal life looked like a climb up a heavenly stairway to him. He wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to good people if he could help it.
He glanced up at Hailey’s bedroom window as he neared the house. The light was on, but as he watched, the window went dark. She was already going to bed, it seemed. He’d heard from one of the dinner servers he’d struck up a casual relationship with that she’d gone to her room early with a bad headache. So that, it appeared, was that, at least for this evening.
He smiled when he thought about their encounter that afternoon. He had to admit, she had spirit. And the funny thing was, he had a feeling she was just as bored with this extended vacation in the country as he was.
“So do us both a favor and go home already,” he advised the darkened window. But he didn’t think she would take his advice.
Standing hidden in the shadow of the trees, he watched as Jen came out of the house by the back door and turned to call to someone else. Another of the staff joined her, a woman he hadn’t noticed before. She was pretty, with a fluid walk that turned his head. He whistled below his breath. How had he overlooked this one? That was something he was going to have to rectify.
But right now, he had other things on his mind and he hardly paid attention as the two women got into a small economy car and began to maneuver out of the tricky parking place. He could see through a side window that the two cops were playing cards in the game room. This might be an opportunity to gather more information. He looked back toward the parking area and saw that Jen and her fellow worker were driving off down the road. Starting toward the house, he mused over whether he would question the butler or strike up a conversation with the boy who did the dishes.
For just a moment, he thought about the night he’d climbed the brick chimney to gain access to Hailey’s bedroom while she was down eating dinner. He wasn’t supposed to do things like that—not officially, at any rate. But you could find out things by looking through the possessions of people under surveillance that you couldn’t find out any other way, and he’d been getting antsy. What he’d seen had surprised him. She had lots of quality clothing, but nothing fancy, no fur coats, no diamonds. Expensive things, the sort that were made to last, but not to be showy. Good, basic clothing. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought she was a woman of uncommon class. And she certainly had the body to wear anything and make it look good. But it was also obvious she came from money.
“Of course,” he whispered to himself. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be watching her, now would I?”
He’d almost reached the back porch when something visceral struck him and he spun, staring at the cloud of dust behind Jen’s car as her taillights disappeared around the bend. The picture Jen’s companion had made replayed itself in his brain. Short, dark hair, a staff uniform…
“And the longest damn legs this side of the Great Divide,” he muttered savagely. It had been Hailey Kingston, hadn’t it? Hailey in disguise and running away from her bodyguards. What was the matter with him? How could he have missed such an obvious ploy?
“Damn it,” he snarled to himself, starting toward his truck at a run. “Get your mind straight and do your job!”
The dust had settled by the time he reached the main road and he had to make a choice. Right or left? He thought he remembered that Jen lived in the foothills, so he turned toward them and was rewarded in a few moments by the sight of her taillights ahead. Slowing, he followed until they turned into a small community and pulled up in front of an apartment building. Driving on past, he parked half a block away and waited, engine and lights turned off. His instincts told him it would only be a few moments before they would be out again, and once more he was right. They’d shed their uniforms and were dressed in bright skirts and big sleeves.
“What are they doing, going square dancing?” he asked himself as he eased his car out behind theirs again.
Sure enough, Jen drove up in front of a long, low building about two miles from her apartment. Mustang Café, the sign said. Music poured out the door. Mitch watched as Jen and the woman he was now sure was Hailey got out of the car and hurried toward the entrance. Heaving a sigh, he tilted his head back and asked himself just how much square dancing music he could stand. Not much. And there didn’t really seem much point to it, anyway. He might as well head for home. She wasn’t going to be doing anything relevant here.
He’d already pulled the car onto the highway when he saw a familiar face in a car going the other way. It took a minute to register the identity of the man, but as he watched him turn into the dance club, it came back to him. Pauly McVern. That was who it was. He ran a small private detective agency out of Palm Springs, catering mostly to strip club owners and gambling interests. What the hell was he doing here?
So much for a quick ride home. Mitch heaved another sigh as he turned the truck and headed back for the parking lot. If Pauly was sniffing around, he’d better go in and see if he could figure out what was up. There was just no way to avoid it.
“Hee-haw and howdy,” he muttered. “Here we come.”
Three (#ulink_39513b58-918f-59c9-aa7b-61719b522605)
Hailey stepped inside the Western dance club and looked from one side to the other. Energy washed over her in a wave that was almost physical—the noise, the laughter, the music, the smoke, the color of the lights, the heat from a lot of people in a very small space. For just a moment, she hesitated in the doorway. She’d been bored, she’d been climbing the walls, and she’d wanted so badly to get away from those two bumpkin bodyguards and go out and do something. But was this really what she’d had in mind?
Not exactly. But what did she want, anyway? What had she come here for? This was a dance club where people got together to have fun, or to pick up a quick date, or to find the man of their dreams. She wasn’t expecting the last two. All she’d bargained for was the first. Fun. That was it. So here she was in a silly black wig, looking for fun.
“Come on,” Jen was saying impatiently, gesturing for her to come along into the lively room. “I’ll show you around this place. It’s so neat.”
Neat, was it? Hailey hid a smile as she followed her friend. The difference in their ages was a stark reality at times. Jen’s eyes were wide with the excitement of being here, and Hailey was wondering why she’d come. She’d been to places like this before—maybe too often.
“The bar is around that way,” Jen said, pointing out a long area where cocktail waitresses in tiny cowgirl outfits held trays high above the crowd. “The restaurant is in through that doorway, and then, out here in back…” She led Hailey through an opening into a courtyard where an arbor of tangled red roses circled a wishing well. “Lovers’ walk,” she said, gazing with wistful admiration at the romantic setting, lights muted, roses blooming around a shimmering wishing well. “Isn’t it adorable?”
“I suppose so,” Hailey said doubtfully. “If you go in for that sort of thing.”
“Oh, you.” Jen scoffed at her playfully. “You put on this big old front, but if the right guy came along, you’d give him a tumble, just like any of us. Wouldn’t you?”
Hailey smiled at her. She wanted to say no, because that was what the answer was, but she hated to be so cynical when Jen was so full of joyful wonder. “Sure,” she said instead. “You’re probably right.”
“Of course I am.” It was evident Jen couldn’t conceive of a woman who didn’t need a man in her life. “Well, I doubt if you’re going to find your kind of male in this place. It’s full of cowboys and guys like that. But you can have some fun.”
Hailey nodded brightly. “That’s what I came for.”
“Good.” Her face grew more serious. “Just remember, if we see anyone from the ranch, we have to leave right away. Okay? We can’t risk them recognizing us.”
Hailey frowned. They hadn’t really explored the possibility of being found out before. “Jen, what would happen if we get caught? To you, I mean.”
The younger woman shrugged. “I’d probably get fired.” Reaching out, she grabbed Hailey’s hand as she saw the horrified expression spreading across her face. “Oh, don’t worry. Please don’t. Don’t even think about it. We’re here to have fun.”
Hailey had questioned her own judgment in coming here from the beginning, and now she was absolutely disgusted with herself. Why hadn’t she thought this thing through and realized the jeopardy she was putting Jen in? “You’re the generic rich girl,” her unhelpful cowboy had accused her that very afternoon, and she’d denied it. But here she was, acting as though that were exactly the case.
“Jen, let’s get out of here right now,” she said earnestly. “I hadn’t realized-”
“Are you kidding?” Jen pulled back and turned toward the music. “Not on your life. I’m going to dance! Come on.”
Hailey shook her head ruefully. “You go ahead,” she said. “I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Jen responded happily. “But if I get lucky right away, you’ll find me on the dance floor.”
“Okay.” She watched Jen hurry toward the crowd and sighed. Well, here she was, having fun. Funny. It didn’t feel very different from being bored.
“You’re just a spoiled rich girl,” she chided herself, thinking of the cowboy again. “Never satisfied.” And for just a moment, she had to wonder if the man wasn’t right.
Mitch pulled the truck into a parking place and got out. Pauly was already out of sight. Striding quickly, he found his way inside the roadhouse. The room was a kaleidoscope of lights and sound. The music provided the beat, the dancers provided the swirling skirts and stomping boots. The place was packed and everyone seemed to be having a real good time.
Pushing his Stetson down as low as he could without blocking off vision altogether, he scanned the room for Pauly and found him lingering in the fringes, glancing at something in his hand.
That was all the information Mitch needed to make a quick diagnosis of the situation. Pauly was very possibly looking for Hailey. And the last thing Mitch wanted was for the sleazy detective to find her.
At least he was using a photograph for identification. That meant he’d never seen her face-to-face. It also meant he might not recognize her in the disguise. But he didn’t like to count on luck.
Moving quickly, he searched through the crowd, glancing at each feminine face. Where the heck was she? And, for that matter, what was he going to do when he found her? Bundle her up and carry her back to the ranch?
Hardly that. He didn’t want to come face-to-face with her, in fact. If he did, it would blow his cover. No, he had to think of some way to keep her out of Pauly’s clutches without revealing himself. This was going to be tricky.
He scanned the length of the bar, but she wasn’t there. Looking back, he saw Pauly coming in behind him, and he melted into the crowd. He’d never spoken to the man and he didn’t think he would be recognized, but he couldn’t be too careful.
Making his way among the dancers, he gazed at each face but didn’t find what he was looking for. He saw Jen, but Hailey wasn’t with her. Where had she gone? The rest room was a possibility, but he couldn’t follow her in there. Still he could get close.
He turned down the hall to the telephones, and suddenly there she was, coming toward him. Adrenaline pumped as he turned, looking for an escape, but a crowd of laughing women had come into the hallway behind him and were about to carry him along in their wave of raucous celebration. He glanced back down the hall. Hailey was headed straight at him. No time to duck out. Her eyes met his and widened.
Yes, he thought to himself, resignedly. We have recognition. Now what? She’d seen him. They were going to have to speak. He was going to have to think fast, find a cover story, something….
Working on pure instinct, he stopped, looked down at her and smiled as the laughing women swarmed around them and moved on. Meanwhile, he was thinking to himself, Here goes nothing—playboy act number one, sticking to basics.
“Hi,” he said aloud, letting his eyes do his flirting for him, as though she were the cutest thing he’d ever seen, and what’s more, someone he’d never seen before. This had to have all the earmarks of a spontaneous pick up. And it had to be very convincing. He tilted his chin and gave her a rakish look from beneath the brim of his hat. “Where’ve you been all my life?”
Her mouth dropped open and she merely stared. She’d seen him too late to make her own getaway, and her heart had fallen. Her first thought was that she’d been caught, and not only was she going to be in big trouble, so was Jen. But now he was acting as though he didn’t realize who she was. Could it be? No. She couldn’t be that lucky. “Uh…” She could manage no more on such short notice.
“You from around here?” he asked, still in flirt mode, his blue eyes holding her gaze. “Because if you are, and we haven’t met before, something is definitely wrong with the system.”
Her pretty brows drew together and she searched his eyes. Was it possible that he really didn’t recognize her? And if so, how could she make sure she didn’t do anything to set him off?
“Uh…” she murmured again, afraid to speak for fear of giving herself away. She blinked at him, feeling like a halfwit, and then looked down at where her fingers were twisting together painfully. He knew who she was, surely. How could he not? They’d just been talking together that afternoon. Though as she remembered it, he hadn’t smiled at her once. Now he was all smiles. She swallowed hard. He was waiting for an answer.
“I…I’m just visiting,” she said softly, then stared at his eyes, waiting for awareness to light a spark there.
But it didn’t seem to happen.
“That’s a shame,” he said with a wicked grin. “Then we’ll have to work fast. We have so little time to get to know each other.”
Now she was amused. He really didn’t know who she was. He was giving her what she could only assume was his standard come-on line of bull. And that was interesting—the cowboy she’d met this afternoon hadn’t been interested in striking up a relationship. The wig made all the difference, it seemed. Her hand rose involuntarily and she touched it lightly. It made her look different. It made her act differently. Why wouldn’t it make her talk differently? Yes.
She took a deep breath, wondering if she could really pull this off. Determinedly she squared her shoulders and thought country.
“I’m afraid you’re wrong there,” she told him pertly, managing to change her voice into something that seemed to fit the mood of the place. She made it a little higher and put on a bit of a country drawl. That was the key. She would put on an accent. “We don’t have any time at all. Sorry, mister, but I don’t know you from Adam.”
She waited, breathless, to see how he would react to that, but he merely grinned again.
“Of course not,” he said smoothly, though he thought, Whoa, the old voice trick, as he looked down at her. “You’re just visiting. Remember?” he said aloud. “How could you know me?” His gaze took on a significant slant. “But we’re going to have to remedy that situation right away.”
She blinked up at him and took another deep breath. It was okay. Even the voice hadn’t tipped him off. She just might get away with this after all. Looking past him, she began to edge away.
“No thanks,” she said crisply. “I’m afraid I’m busy.”
He shifted his weight just enough to block her escape route. Glancing back into the dance club, he didn’t catch sight of Pauly, but he knew the detective had to be out there somewhere. It was very likely Pauly would be fooled by the wig, but he didn’t want to take chances. Much as he hated to admit it, he was going to have to stick with her for a while. And that meant he was going to have to take her out on the dance floor. Not his favorite thing to do, but he didn’t have much choice. He looked back down at her with a shadowed gaze.
“Let’s put it this way. Would you like to dance?”
She gazed up at him blankly. “Dance?” she echoed. Dance with the cowboy who’d treated her with sarcasm and scorn just hours before? He had to be joking.
He shrugged and gestured toward the large open room behind him. “Isn’t that what you came for?”
She had to admit, he had her there. “I can’t,” she said, unable to come up with a good excuse on the spur of the moment, though what she wanted most of all was to find a way to lose this man and not see him again tonight. “I mean, I really shouldn’t….”
Mitch’s habit was to cut to the chase. “Do you have a date waiting for you?” he asked, not sure at that point what her answer would be. For all he knew, this entire escapade was set up for her to meet someone. For all he knew, she’d done it before.
She hesitated, biting her lip. “What if I do?” she asked.
He shrugged and let a warm, comical look fill his eyes. “Then point him out and I’ll ask his permission.”
Despite everything, she had to laugh. “My, aren’t you old-fashioned.”
It was his turn to drawl. “It’s just the old cowboy code.” He tipped his hat with his forefinger to the brim. “We all have our standards.”
“Right. Like honor among thieves.”
He gave her a pained look. “Such cynicism from such a pretty lady. And all I did was ask her to dance.”
She was losing ground and she knew it. It didn’t look as if she were going to be able to get away without a turn around the dance floor. The thought of it made her heart beat a little faster. It would be dangerous to be so close for so long. Suppose he noticed something? Suppose the truth finally dawned on him? But at the same time, to keep turning him down would be odd in itself. After all, he was right. She’d come to dance. Why not with him? She was going to have to bite the bullet.
“Well, all right,” she said grudgingly, remembering to give her voice a country twang. “Just one dance.”
He turned and gestured with a flourish for her to precede him. As they entered the larger room, he managed to look casual as he quickly surveyed the landscape. He caught a glimpse of Pauly heading for the back of the building where a space had been set aside for pool tables and video games and he breathed a sigh of relief. Pauly was going to check out the area and then maybe he would give up and leave.
Well, that did change things. Maybe he could get out of this dancing stuff after all. He’d never been much for dancing, and now that he was facing the music, he began to search about for an excuse to avoid it.
“You know, it’s kind of hot in here,” he began as a new idea occurred to him. Maybe he could get her to go out and walk in the courtyard with him instead of dancing. “I thought maybe…”
But he was too late. Now that they were out in the main room, the lively music was infecting her with the mood of the moment.
“The music is starting,” she said, lifting her chin. “Let’s go.” She hooked her arm through his and smiled at him, anticipation dancing in her green eyes.
He was stuck. Looking around at the dancers, he began to realize there was no way he was going to get away with slow-dancing here. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I know this dance.”
“Oh, it’s just line dancing.” She tugged on his arm. “Anybody can do it. Here. I’ll show you.”
The next thing he knew, he was two-stepping across the floor, his thumbs hooked into his wide belt, and she was laughing up into his face. It felt awkward at first. He wasn’t much of a dancer. But she was right—it was easy. And she looked good in her flouncy skirt, whirling in front of him. In a few moments, he was having almost as much fun as she seemed to be having.
The tempo changed and she slid into his arms as naturally as though they were old friends.
“‘Cowboys Never Fall in Love,’” she murmured, naming the song that was playing. “Do you believe that?”
He grinned. “I live it,” he said lightly.
She laughed, but at that moment he saw Pauly come back into the room and he pulled Hailey closer to him. She swayed with him, her head nestling into the hollow of his shoulder, while he maneuvered her around so that she was always with her back to the detective. But Pauly kept moving, and it was hard to keep up.
“What are you so nervous about?” Hailey asked suddenly, pulling her head back so she could look into his face.
“Me? I’m not nervous.” He gave her a smile that was all innocence.
“You keep looking over your shoulder.” She frowned, peering past him. “Have you got somebody following you?”
If he’d been a little less experienced, he might have blushed. Her guess was just too close to the mark for comfort.
“Why do you say that?” he asked instead.
She searched his gaze, then shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I thought maybe your ex-wife was having you tailed or something.”
He gazed at her quizzically. “What gives you the idea that I have an ex-wife?”
Her green eyes clouded. Did he really need an explanation? He was a man. He must know what men were like.
“A lot of men like you have ex-wives lurking in the shadows,” she said, trying for a flippant tone, “or hiding in a closet somewhere, ready to leap out and yell boo when you least expect it.”
“I see.” He frowned, not liking the sound of that. What had happened to this woman? It was pretty obvious there was pain behind those beautiful eyes. Funny. It was hard to picture anyone this attractive with a broken heart. But broken hearts did come in all shapes and sizes.
“You sound like someone who’s had a bit of experience with this leaping and yelling stuff,” he said softly. It was not part of his nature to inquire into things like this, but he wanted to find out more about her, what made her tick—at least that was what he told himself.
She managed a small smile. “The leaping and yelling may be a bit of an exaggeration,” she admitted. No, there hadn’t been much leaping and yelling, but there had been enough lying and hiding of true feelings to last her a lifetime. Why was it that men seemed to think beautiful women were trophies, that they didn’t have any value other than as prizes to be won and bragged about? She’d had her share of heartache over that sort of thing when she was very young and it had taught her life’s lessons early. You couldn’t believe what a man said, especially when he said he loved you. The word love was a tool he used to get what he wanted. The word no was a tool she used to make sure he didn’t reach his goal.
“Anyway, I don’t worry about things like that any longer,” she said airily. “I leave that to others.”
“But not you.”
“No, not me.” Her eyes were guileless. “I’m very careful.”
He cocked one dark eyebrow. “How’s that?”
“I don’t date unless I am absolutely certain…” She paused and bit her lip, wondering how to explain it in terms he might understand.
“Until you’re absolutely certain he’s crazy about you?” he asked idly.
She looked at him, amused at how far off the mark he was. “No. Until I’m absolutely certain there is no romantic feeling between us. I only date men who don’t fall for me. It’s the only way to be sure.”
He shook his head, not sure he’d heard right. “Wait a minute. That’s crazy,” he said.
The music had stopped and they were standing at the edge of the crowd, still together but not touching, not doing anything that might commit them as a couple. They were both being very careful of that.
“That really doesn’t make any sense,” he stated flatly, ready to go on.
But before he had a chance to launch into his reasons for bewilderment, a handsome, clean-cut young man broke from a nearby group and smiled at Hailey. “Are you… would you like to dance?” he asked her shyly before he noticed Mitch.
Hailey smiled at the young man and began to shake her head. At the same time, as he glanced over her black wig, Mitch could see Pauly disappearing out the front door of the establishment. Pauly was gone, and the reason for dogging her every move left with him. He looked down at her. It had been fun, but it was over now.
“She’d love to,” he told the startled youth. Giving Hailey a wink, he began to turn away. “Listen, you came to dance and to have some fun. I guess I ought to let you do that.”
“Oh, but—” She put out a hand, as though she were about to reach for him, and then drew it back quickly. His abrupt change of plan was startling. Men rarely turned and ran from her. She was going to need a moment or two to adjust to shifting sands.
“Here you go.” He practically handed her off to the other man, but before he left, he gave her a bittersweet smile. “Treat her gently,” he told the young man. “She’s a special lady.”
Hailey watched him turn on his heel and melt into the crowd. A part of her resented him saying that. And another part was glowing in response. What on earth had made him leave her so suddenly? Had he recognized her? But no, if he’d recognized her, he would have said something. He was a strange man. But she couldn’t say she was sorry they’d met tonight.
Still, this was ridiculous. She didn’t act like this. She didn’t ever let a man get to her. And she wasn’t about to start now.
“Excuse me. Miss?”
“Oh.” Turning, she smiled at the young man she’d forgotten about. “Sorry. Let’s dance, shall we?” Taking his hand, she joined him as the fiddles began a wild country song.
She did a lot of dancing after that. She danced to slow tunes, she danced to fast tunes, and she spent most of the time hopping around to protect her feet. She danced with a college boy who’d had too much to drink and a truck driver who told dirty jokes and a cop who talked in a very gruff voice and a large, very handsome man who held her too close and wanted to take her out to see the moon, and a short, funny man who tried to trick her into revealing her telephone number. And every once in a while, she caught sight of Mitch standing along the edge of the crowd, watching her.
That was strange. Why didn’t he dance? Was he trying to figure out who she was and where he’d seen her before? No, she didn’t think that was it.
That wasn’t the look she saw in his eyes. Just what that look was, she couldn’t quite pin down. But she knew it wasn’t puzzled inquiry. No, that wasn’t it.
He was certainly a different man here than the cowboy she’d had the run-in with that afternoon. She’d felt she knew him, after their confrontation and then all the sketching she’d done of him. She knew his face, knew his long, muscular body, but she obviously didn’t know him at all. And as he watched her but refused to come close, her curiosity grew.
Now and then she ran into Jen and they exchanged greetings, but every time her friend was in the arms of the same blond cowboy, and from the smitten look on her face, Hailey figured Jen thought she’d found what she’d come for.
It was getting late, and her feet were getting tired. The wig was itchy and she was ready to go home. The dancing had been fun, but she’d had enough now, and she slipped away from the crowd and looked around the room for Mitch.
He’d disappeared. She wandered the edges of the group, then looked in the pool table room and the card room, but she didn’t see him. Disappointed, she made one last try and peeked into the bar area. There he was at the end of the counter, nursing a shot glass full of something dark and evil looking. Her spirits brightened immediately, and she headed straight for him.
Mitch was having his first and last drink of the night, and he wasn’t sure why he’d felt he needed it. But when he saw her coming across the room, he was glad he’d fortified himself. Something told him she wasn’t just going to say goodbye and head out the door. Chances were, he was in for another session with this bewildering woman.
He didn’t know what he was still doing here. He should have left long ago. At first he’d told himself he was watching Hailey in case Pauly came back. But as time went by, that had worn thin, and he’d had to admit it was more than that. He had to watch her because he couldn’t stop watching her. Not a good sign.
But he was surprised that she’d searched him out this way. After all, it had been obvious from the beginning that she was very anxious that he not realize who she was. The more contact they had, the more chance that he would put two and two together. Still she’d come looking for him. He wondered why that was.
“Hi,” she said, plopping down on the bar stool beside his. “Wow, I’m about danced out.”
He gave her a long, slow stare. He was getting used to the short, cropped look. She would be beautiful shaved bald, but he hoped he’d never have to see it. “Hey, pretty lady,” he said softly. “May I buy you a drink?”
“I’d love one,” she responded without hesitation. “I would be forever in your debt.”
An intriguing prospect. He raised an eyebrow. “What would you like?” he asked her.
“A tall, frosty glass of iced tea,” she said promptly. “That would hit the spot.”
He made a gesture to the bartender and in no time, she had exactly what she’d ordered. Taking a long sip, she sighed happily and sat back, looking at him. It was the first time she’d seen him without the hat. His hair was thick and black and curling around the edges, badly in need of a cut. She liked the way it framed his face. In fact, to her surprise, she liked a lot of things about him.
He watched her curiously, wondering what she was thinking. After all, she knew exactly who he was. Or, at least, she knew him as an employee at the ranch. But she could pretend she didn’t know that, just like he was pretending not to realize she was Hailey Kingston. There was a strange sort of logic at work here, but he wasn’t sure if it could hold up much longer.
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