“The maid thought you had followed her into the house. When she couldn’t find you, she called Security.”
Though her expression didn’t change, he watched in fascination the way her slim fingers tightened around the steering wheel. She wore no rings, only a gold wristwatch. A clear polish covered her manicured nails. He could see the half-moons of her cuticles clearly.
Everything about her appealed to his senses. That was another thing that hadn’t happened to him in years.
A trace of a smile formed on her lips. “And here I was hoping someone would come outside to en lighten me, Mr…?”
“Farraday, but I answer to Cole.”
“Thanks for your help, Cole,” she said, without as much as a flicker of those long lashes.
Cole wasn’t a vain man, but it was a fact that their family’s name figured prominently in the settling of this part of Nevada. If she recognized it and was playing dumb, she was a superb actress, particularly since Buck’s death had been highly publicized in the media.
Angry at himself for letting her get to him, his chiseled features formed a grimace. “Why do you want to speak to the man who does the hiring?”
“That’s my business, surely. No offense,” she added in a pleasant tone.
“None taken,” came his superficially calm response. “Only I’ll have to ask you to step out of the car and accompany me to the owner’s office.” He’d give her one final chance to own up.
“Why?”
Cole sucked in his breath. Evidently she’d decided not to take it, which could mean she really didn’t know who he was. Then again…
“Let’s just say it’s my job. From here on out you’ll have to answer to him.” He opened the door, relishing the moment when he exposed her little game, whatever it was.
Her lissom body stiffened. “This is ridiculous. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
He elevated his dark brows. “Look at it from his point of view. He buried his youngest brother today and came back to the ranch house to be with his closest friends and family. In the process of trying to give comfort to his bereaved sister-in-law, a perfect stranger walks in from out of nowhere with an agenda she refuses to reveal.”
While he’d been talking, he didn’t think she could fake the growing concern on her face, most likely for the trouble she could be in.
She stirred restlessly. “Doesn’t the fact that I called out to you for information prove I have no evil intentions?” The straight for ward hint of pleading in her voice almost convinced him.
“On the contrary,” he rejoindered coolly, “your behavior is more suspect than ever. Shall we go quietly, or do I take you inside in a manner guaranteed to embarrass you in front anyone who might see you?”
Her face filled with color. “You wouldn’t-” she whispered.
Not today, no… He’d find another method. But she didn’t know that.
“Try me, Ms. Arnold.” He checked his watch. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to make up your mind.”
CHAPTER TWO
CATHERINE didn’t dare call his bluff, not with those cold pewter eyes bearing down on her features, pinning her to the seat.
Standing easily at six-three or four, this powerful-looking security guard, wearing an expensive looking formal suit of midnight-blue in deference to the funeral proceedings, had the hard-muscled physique of a male at home in the out-of-doors.
He was probably in his mid-thirties. She had to admit, albeit be grudgingly, that with his black hair and burnished skin he resembled a rugged facsimile of Adonis. To her ear the name Cole sounded too western for a man who exuded an almost international so phistication.
Having worked the front desk on the night shift at one of Reno’s top hotels while she’d finished college, she’d met attractive, wealthy men from all over the world. But if she had to pick just one who was the most memorable, he still wouldn’t measure up to the force standing next to her.
That was what this man was-a dynamic, living, breathing force. He radiated a potent male energy that set him apart from those less endowed. She had to concede she’d more than met her match here. If she could appeal to his honor-
Catherine sensed something that told her he was a highly principled male with a superior intellect who probably demanded more discipline from himself than those around him.
How she knew that she couldn’t explain, but she recognized that the owner of the ranch had known what he was doing when he’d hired Cole Farraday. She was left with little choice but to reveal what he’d immediately perceived was her secret motive for coming here.
“All right,” she exclaimed with a resigned sigh, feeling more vulnerable than ever with the door still open so he could view every inch of her body, which he’d been doing. But in case someone came outside to get in their car, she didn’t want to attract attention by standing next to hers in the presence of the security guard.
At least sitting here in the driver’s seat, people would think they were simply chatting. Heavens-there was no acceptable way out of this except to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“The truth is, I’m searching for someone.”
He kept a hand on top of the open door, perpetuating the fiction that they were acquaintances brought together by the death of a friend. She noted in consequentially he wore no rings, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t married. Not that it mattered. She was here for Bonnie’s sake, and ultimately for her own.
“That’s a start. Man or woman?”
Without looking at him she said, “I’ve been given reason to believe he might be working on this ranch, or maybe he used to work here.”
“Your lover?” he insinuated. “A disgruntled fiancé, perhaps?”
“Neither one,” she said, refusing to rise to the bait. But on second thought-considering the cir cum stances-he’d posed some logical questions. She decided it was his blunt way of speaking that led her to believe he was goading her. After all, the man was only doing his job.
She heard his intake of breath, harsh and distinct. He was growing impatient. “Why do you want to find him?”
The operative question.
Catherine could be blunt too. “To let this man know the teenager he got pregnant gave birth to his baby.”
“Ah. That’s a very sad story,” he answered, with an element of sincerity she didn’t doubt, “but, cruel as this will sound, he probably doesn’t want to be found.”
“You’re right,” she agreed in a less than steady voice now. “They never do. The story gets even sadder. The mother, Terrie, died from complications, leaving the baby without a mother or father.”
In the periphery she could see the rise and fall of his broad chest. After a tension-filled pause, “This teenager wouldn’t be your sister by any chance?”
After her emotional gaffe, he’d made another logical assumption, one that happened to strike too close to home. He couldn’t know that despite the difference in their ages, she and Terrie had bonded much like two siblings because of similar life experiences growing up.
Summoning her resolve to hold on to some vestige of control, she said, “No. She’s no relation.”
“A friend, then?”
She grasped on that. “Yes-” It was the truth, after all, but she was already growing too emotional and he sensed it.
“I noticed from the rim of your license plate you bought this car in Reno. Is that where you live?”
The man’s radar didn’t miss anything. Whether she chose to tell him or not, he’d be able to find out the pertinent details about her with one simple phone call to the authorities. Considering the nature of his job on such a renowned ranch, the man probably had an inside track. Since he would have friends in high places, she’d save him the trouble.