Karen Whiddon – The Rancher's Return (страница 8)
The light touch of his hands on her scalp, the steady snip-snip of the scissors...if she tried hard enough, she could almost pretend she was in a pricey beauty salon. But then his muscular arm brushed her shoulder, and she caught a whiff of his masculine scent, and her attempt to disassociate herself from him failed.
“Okay,” he finally said. “You can look.”
Though she really didn’t want to see, she opened her eyes, accepting the hand mirror he gave her. “Bangs?” she squeaked. “You gave me bangs?” Not just any bangs, but a thick fringe cut straight across halfway up her forehead. As for the rest—she looked like he’d put a bowl over her head and started cutting.
Of course, the more she thought about it, the cut was perfect. No one would ever suspect she was the same woman they’d shown on the television.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “It’s exactly right. I can’t wait to see what it looks like once it’s brown.”
He grinned, softening the hard ridges of his face. “Not just brown. The most boring, dullest brown I could find.”
She made a face. “I guess I should be glad you didn’t go with gray.”
“I almost did. But then I worried it would look too good on you.”
Though she squinted at him, trying to determine if he’d made a joke—he sounded serious. She worked up a smile and met his gaze. “Well. Anyway, thank you.”
The amused expression vanished and he gave her a hard look. “We need to get one thing straight. I’m going to avenge my brother’s death and make sure Alex Ramirez is punished. Understood?”
“Understood,” she said, matching her brusque tone to his. “We both want the same thing.”
“Good.”
* * *
Shortly after sunset, Reed’s cell phone rang. Caller ID showed Anniversary Sheriff’s Department. Of course. Since he wasn’t home, George had decided to try and reach him by cell.
“What now?” he asked, trying to sound bored and irritated all at once.
“I’m at your front door,” George told him. “I need you to come home so we can talk.”
“Sorry, I’m out of town. Any talking we do will have to be on the phone.”
Silence for a moment while the deputy considered Reed’s words. “How long are you going to be gone?”
Though Reed wanted to tell him it was none of his business, he held his tongue. “I’m not sure. Why? What’s up?”
“I’m looking for Kaitlyn Nuhn.” George finally drawled. “No doubt you’ve seen on the news that she’s been abducted. Since she used to live here in town, we’re going door to door to check and see if anyone has spotted her.”
“Kaitlyn Nuhn?” Reed didn’t have to feign his shock. “Tim’s old girlfriend? Why in the hell would you think I’d have anything to do with her?”
At the bitterness in Reed’s tone, George’s chuckled, a smug sound. Hearing that, Reed clenched his hand into a fist. He wanted to punch something. Someone.
The flash of violence startled him. Though George had managed to get under his skin over time, Reed had never wanted to actually hit the guy. Now... The knowledge that not only was the deputy on Alex Ramirez’s payroll but had known all along who’d killed Tim, made Reed want to smash his fist in the other man’s face.
There was nothing Reed hated more than a liar. Nothing.
Blood boiling, Reed swallowed back his rage. “I haven’t seen her,” he said. “Now, if you don’t need anything else—”
“Not so fast.” Making every syllable count, as if he thought Reed might not be able to follow, George gave an overly forced chuckle. “Since you’re not here, I’m going to have to break into your house. I’d like to take a look inside, if you don’t mind.”
“No. That’s taking this harassment to a whole new level, isn’t it, George?”
“The only reason I can come up with why you’d object would be that you have something to hide.” The taunt fell flat.
“Really?” Sarcasm dripped from Reed’s voice. “What about invasion of privacy? As well as the harassment I mentioned earlier. This is getting really old, George. You’re going to have to get a search warrant.”
At those words, the deputy sheriff dropped all pretense of pleasantry. “You know, since you’re out of town, you have no way of knowing what I do.” With that, George ended the call.
As Reed stood there, heart pounding from an excess of adrenaline, he wondered exactly how stupid the other man might be. He knew if George did break into his house, he’d make sure and destroy as much as possible. After all, what could Reed do? Call the police?
Furious, he paced from the living room to the kitchen, trying to get himself under control.
“So it begins.” Kaitlyn’s voice washed over him like a soothing salve over a festering wound. “Though I hate it, I’m glad you got me this disguise.”
“Yeah.” Looking at her, with her ridiculously awful hairdo and frumpy, oversize clothes, he felt some of the tightness leave him. “Though George has been hassling me ever since I got out. I imagine he’s thrilled to have a new reason.”
She nodded, her expression serious. “What else did he say?”
“They’re looking for you. You were right about Anniversary being the first place Alex would look.” Clenching his jaw, he glanced away. “George is a bumbling idiot and he doesn’t really suspect anything. Even if he did, no one in town knows about this place, so we ought to be safe for now.”
“Then maybe this disguise isn’t really necessary.”
She sounded so hopeful he almost smiled. “Better safe than sorry. And I’ll tell you honestly, from that news story he’s put out about you being abducted, the FBI is probably already working the case.”
Her eyes went wide. “Crap.”
This time, he nearly laughed out loud. “It’s okay. That’s why you look nothing like yourself.” He’d never tell her, but he’d been stunned to realize that, despite everything he’d done to make her appear ordinary, he still found her shockingly beautiful. “Except of course, you still have those blue eyes.”
“We need to get those colored contacts,” she said. “I don’t want to take a chance on them recognizing me.”
“I agree.” Even with the awful haircut and the dull hair color, her amazing cornflower-blue eyes still blazed from her heart-shaped face. That and her creamy skin, high cheekbones and a mouth made for kissing.
No. Time to cut those thoughts off immediately. Apparently, he couldn’t keep from finding her attractive, but he did have enough willpower to keep from acting on it.
Or so he hoped.
His cell phone rang again. Brock McCauley, his old high school buddy and one of the few people who’d not only visited him in prison, but had stood by him ever since he’d been out.
“Did you see the news?” Brock asked. “Tim’s old girlfriend has been abducted. I didn’t even know she’d taken up with Alex Ramirez, of all people.”
Before he could help himself, Reed snorted. “I saw that. I’m not surprised. Kaitlyn Nuhn was nothing but trouble.”
Next to him, Kaitlyn made a soft sound of protest, which Reed ignored.
“Maybe,” Brock conceded. “But she always was pleasant to me. Zoe liked her, too.
“And she never cheated on Tim,” Brock continued. “Even though he was always fooling around behind her back and bragging about it.”
Reed refused to acknowledge the slow flush of guilt. He’d had three long years to regret what he and Kaitlyn had done. Somehow he’d managed to forget the way Tim always managed to have a girlfriend on the side.
“Do you think she knew?” Eyeing the subject of their discussion, Reed was suddenly glad she couldn’t hear both sides of the conversation.
“About Tim? I doubt it.” Brock sounded contemplative.
“Hey, I really called to see if you wanted to come to dinner tomorrow night. Zoe’s making lasagna, and she knows how much you like it.”
“Like it? That’s the understatement of the year.” Grimacing, Reed declined. “But I can’t. I’m not in town. I’m out at the ranch right now.”
“Even better,” Brock laughed. “You know I’ve been wanting to show Zoe that place. How about we drive up there tomorrow after I close the feed store? We can bring the lasagna, too. We could spend the night.”
Reed winced. Not only was Brock one of the only people who knew about the ranch, they were good enough friends that he didn’t think twice about inviting himself over.
“Not right now,” Reed said. “I have company.”
“Company?” Brock’s voice sounded surprised, and Reed couldn’t blame him. Brock knew Reed didn’t socialize much. Brock also knew that Reed didn’t lie.
“Yeah.” Taking a deep breath, Reed braced himself for his friend’s reaction. “I have, er...a lady friend with me.”
“That’s great!” Brock plowed on. “We’d love to meet her. Unless it’s a first date?”
The question sort of hung there, waiting to be answered. Reed inwardly cursed as he sorted through a possible response that wouldn’t be an outright lie. “It’s too early for anyone to be meeting her. It’s not a date at all, actually. We’re just...hanging out.”
“Well, then, what’s the problem?” One thing about Brock, he’d never been good at taking a hint.
“Why not?” Brock actually sounded puzzled. “Are you ashamed of her or something?”