Deadly Odds (31 page)

This was life on the ranch.

Her brother, Josh, hauled a hay bale from the barn and dumped it just outside the door. “You gonna stand around all day or help?”

Kate rolled her eyes. She’d been busting her butt since seven and he wanted to give her flack?

Life on the ranch.

“Union mandated break,” she cracked.

Josh snorted then headed back into the barn. Most likely for another hay bale.

A second later Josh returned, dumped a second bale and looked up, his gaze shooting behind her to the driveway.

He jerked his chin. “You expecting someone?”

That made her laugh. Who would she be expecting? The whole point of being here was to get away from people.

She angled back and spotted a black Range Rover coming up the long drive. Her heart did that little
whump-whump
that happened every time Ross Cooper came within a quarter mile of her.

He’s here
.

She’d heard from him once since she’d left the hotel. He’d left a message letting her know that he wouldn’t bug her, that he’d give her space, but was around if she wanted to talk.

She’d talk to him all damn day. It wouldn’t change anything between them.

Except, here he was, motoring down her daddy’s driveway.

He parked next to Josh’s pickup near the house and slid out of the Rover. If he’d seen her as he pulled in, he didn’t acknowledge it so she took a second and simply watched, gave herself an opportunity to get her emotions in check for whatever brought him here. He opened the back door of his SUV, probably to get his suit jacket—God forbid he should go anywhere without that jacket. But he hesitated a few seconds. Just stood there staring inside the car before shutting the door.

Wait one second…
the impeccably dressed Ross Cooper ditching his suit jacket?

He turned toward the house, staring up at its two stories and the wrap-around porch complete with rocking chairs. The green shutters and window flower boxes bursting with color.

Welcome to ranch life, Ross Cooper.

“Who’s the suit?” Josh asked. “Fed?”

“No.”

With that, she stuffed her work gloves into the back pocket of her jeans and headed over before Ross rang the doorbell and found himself in the kitchen with her mother stuffing him full of cinnamon rolls.

A sight, Kate imagined, she wouldn’t mind all that much.

He’d never go for it.

Just as she got to the fence, he looked over and even at this distance, their eyes locked.

Nothing had changed in the few days since she’d seen him. He still got her all hot-and-bothered.

Damned broken heart.

He walked toward her, meeting her in the middle of drive, smack in front of the house.

“Hi.” Lame, but what else could she say?

He simply stared at her, his gaze shooting over her dirty black T-shirt from a concert fifteen years ago and her torn jeans. Adding to the look was the dirt scraped down her thighs. And who the hell knew what would be mixed in with her ponytail. But hey, this was a ranch, not a day spa. She tapped one muddy boot and his eyes followed the movement, then traveled up again. Dumbfounded.

She couldn’t help that. He’d known her as a pulled together businesswoman, in suits and high heels. The woman in front of him was far from that. Still, part of her held on to a whisper of hope that he was here to…to…she didn’t know. But he was here and it was a start.

“This is a surprise,” she said. “Everything okay?”

Josh let out a stream of curses and they both looked over to find him chasing down a calf that had apparently gotten away from him. “You need a hand?” Kate called.

“Hell no. I got it.”

Kate snorted. Ross just stared and that whisper of hope dwindled. He brought his eyes back to her. “You look different.”

“I know.” She plucked at her shirt. “This is the other side of Kate. Dirt and all.”

He lifted his hand, brought it toward her cheek, but stopped. “You…uh…got something on your cheek.”

The one without the bruise his
whale
had left on her.

She rubbed at the spot for no other reason than to do something. Anything to break this weird tension between them. “So, you were in the neighborhood or what?”

He cracked off one of those Ross Cooper smiles and a dozen tiny explosions filled her chest. “I put myself in the neighborhood.”

“Why?”

“I missed you.”

He missed her. These past days, she’d thought of him constantly, fighting the need to call him. To talk. All that time, trying to convince herself she just needed to be away from him so she could think.

She stepped closer, wrapped her hands around her biceps for someplace to put them. “You could have called me.”

“I tried that. You didn’t call me back.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to…” She held her hands out, waved them, gesturing to her surroundings. “I don’t know. I thought coming here would remind me of what I wanted.”

“I see. How’s that been working out?”

She rolled her eyes. “Not so great. Pretty miserable, in fact.”

“Have you been getting sleep? You look better.”

“Some.”
When I’m not thinking about you.
“I heard from Angel. They caught our hooked-nose friend. Mr. Miller, apparently concerned about life in a maximum security prison, took his lawyer’s advice and gave everyone up. They also found Mr. Hooked Nose’s DNA on the sheet of paper he left for me.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“Miller had a network in three states. So far, the only murders have been Dale and Mark.” Kate shrugged. “I don’t know how to feel about that. Relieved that there weren’t any others, or mad that it happened at all.”

“All of the above probably applies.”

Ross glanced at the house, scanning the length of it, then his gaze traveled to the barn and finally to Josh still arguing with the calf. The corner of his mouth quirked and that bit of hope bloomed again. “It’s nice here. All the open space and quiet. Aside from the swearing, that is.”

“The swearing happens a lot.”

“Kate?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. About all of it. My ego, not trusting you. Everything. I’ve had three long days to stew on it. I hate this. My great life? It isn’t so great. That time with you?
That
was great.”

He nudged in closer, his body inches away and that feeling, that enormous presence wrapped around her.
I want him.

Could they make this work?

“Ross—”

“I was too goddamn busy trying to do my job to see what I had right in front of me.”

That could be said about both of them. A week ago, they were both career people, wanting to make their mark. No matter what.

“Ross, I made mistakes too. There’s not much either of us can do about that now.”

“Can we try again? Start over?”

Yes.
Oh, boy. She wanted to. Absolutely. She tilted her head back, closed her eyes, soaked up the warm sun and the wind tickling her face.

Behind her, Josh swore again, this time from inside the barn and Kate laughed.

Ranch life.

As much as she craved it, the last days had been hard. When she’d first pulled up the drive, she’d hoped a few days to center herself would help.

Heal her.

Body and mind.

Three days later, her body was rested, but that broken heart? It wouldn’t give. It wanted what it wanted.

She met Ross’s gaze. “I didn’t mean for it to…I wasn’t supposed to…” she waited, tried to make sense of it in her mind, but how? She had nothing left to rationalize.

“You weren’t supposed to what?”

“It was an assignment. I wasn’t supposed to fall for you.”

“Ah, dammit, Kate.” He shook his head. “Don told me if I didn’t get my ass up here he’d make you wife number four.”

Don Sickler. A softie. She’d have to thank him later. “And here you are.”

He nodded. “And here I am. On a ranch.”

“In Ferragamos.”

They both laughed.

“I don’t know where we go from here, but I miss you. The second I got out of my car and spotted you—mud and all—the misery was gone. Just looking at you made me happy.”

“Hey, Cinderella,” Josh called. “We got work here!”

“Ignore him,” Kate said. “That’s my brother by the way.”

“I’d like to meet him.”

“Well,” she said, “if you want to stay a while, I bet I can arrange that.” She tugged on the front of his shirt. “Did you happen to bring a change of clothes? Maybe I’ll throw you on a horse. See how you do.”

“A horse.”

“Yep.”

He stepped closer, dipped his head close enough that his minty breath tickled her cheek. “No change of clothes. Came straight from the office. But point me to the nearest store and I’ll fix that.”

“It’s ten miles.”

“I just drove a hundred. What’s another ten?”

True that.

“And,” he grabbed her hand, tugged her toward his car. “I brought you something. A gift.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Just in case things went my way.”

“I love gifts from handsome men.”

They reached his car and he opened the back door, brought out a large box wrapped in the signature gold Fortuna wrapping paper and a giant red bow. He gave her that devastating smile and her breath caught.

As irrational as it was after the last week, down deep, where it counted, she wanted a future with this man.

He gestured to the box. “Open it.”

She set the box on the hood of the car, went to work tearing it open, her heart doing that little
whump-whump
that always meant Ross was near.

Tossing the paper aside, she stared at a boot box, shot him a look. “You did
not
do this.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

She flipped the lid off and—yep—there they sat. The cowboy boots from the promenade shop with the sexy spiked heel and exquisite design. The ones that cost thousands.

She shook her head. “You can’t. It’s too much.”

“I knew you were going to say that.” He grinned. “I had a hundred miles to prep.”

He grabbed one of the boots, set it on the hood of the car. “These boots? They’re a little bit of both of us. Half down-to-earth, half over-the-top Vegas. These boots, Kate, are
us
. An amazing, unusual combination that works in all the right ways.”

Ever the schmoozer.

She checked the size on the box. “And you got the size right.”

“Well, that was easy. The morning I snuck out, I checked your shoes.”

Still, he’d gotten it right. He could have guessed. And been wrong. The man had learned his lessons.

Right in the driveway, she whipped off her boots, leaned against the car and slid the new ones on. The heel might kill her, but she’d work it out.

“I love them,” she said. “Thank you. Most amazing gift I’ve ever received.” She smiled up at him. “Next to you, of course.”

“Okay. Now you’re in trouble.” He stepped forward, set his hands on either side of her against the car. “Will your father shoot me if I kiss you in front of his house?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll risk it.”

Excerpt from

Dog Collar Crime

by Adrienne Giordano

Out of work and down on her luck, Lucie Rizzo is forced to do the one thing she’s long avoided—move home to her nutty, mob-infested family. A move that brings her back into the tempting arms of Frankie Falcone, the ex that never fails to make her heart sit up and beg.

When Lucie parlays her temporary dog-walking gig into a career making fancy dog accessories, Frankie becomes her number one supporter. Life starts to look like a walk in the park…until three of her bling-wearing clients are dogjacked.

Despite help from the on-again, off-again Mr. Fix-It in her life, Lucie is thrown into an investigation that’s more
Goodfellas
than good doggie. One that could shatter her new life and her second chance at love.

Chapter One

On a lovely March day—if such a thing existed in Chicago—Lucia Rizzo led Miss Elizabeth, a Yorkie possessing the confidence of a runway model with a good boob job, across State Street’s lunchtime traffic and was nearly pancaked.

“Slow down!” she hollered at the errant driver.

A terrified Miss Elizabeth cowered on the sidewalk and Lucie scooped her up for a nuzzle. “Poor baby. I’m so sorry.”

The dog sniffed, then licked Lucie’s chin. “You’re a sweet girl.”

Another lick.

Maybe this dog walking thing wasn’t so bad. Heaven knew the investment bankers in Lucie’s old office never got their faces licked during the workday. And if they had, surely a sexual harassment suit would follow.

Speaking of investment banking
… “Okay, girl, playtime is over. You need to poop so I can get home and look for a job.”