Reilly's Woman (2 page)

He studied the streaks of gold for a second, then shifted his gaze to her classic profile, partially outlined as she turned to him. None of her features was striking, not the arching curve of brow, nor the bright gleam in her hazel eyes or the healthy glow of her complexion. Yet the total picture was decidedly attractive.

"If you're calling me Grady," the pilot tipped his head to the side, "I can't keep calling you Miss Talbot."

"It's Leah," answering the question he had only implied.

"Tell me, Leah, are you a friend of Reilly's?"

"Reilly is Mr. Smith?" A brow arched briefly to confirm her guess.

"Obviously you don't know him," Grady chuckled. "If you aren't a friend of Reilly's then what's taking you out to the middle of Nevada's nowhere?"

"I'm going to see my brother—providing your Mr. Smith shows up," Leah added wryly.

"Reilly is not anybody's Mr. Smith."

The dry undertone of his voice aroused Leah's curiosity. "It sounds as though you know him quite well." Tactfully she pried for more information about her mysterious, and late, flying companion.

The pilot took a long, considering breath and leaned against the back cushion of the couch. "I think the whole point is just the opposite. I doubt if anyone knows Reilly 'quite well.' He's a law unto himself, a lone wolf. He's part Indian, which may account for it."

"Oh, I see," Leah murmured. "Why is he going to Austin?"

"Business. He has connections with some of the mining interests around Austin and Tonopah. I usually fly him to one place or the other," was the reply.

Fleetingly Leah wondered if this Reilly Smith worked for the same company that her brother Lonnie did. It was also entirely possible that he worked for one of their competitors. No matter, Leah shrugged inwardly. The only thing she was really interested in was when was Mr. Reilly Smith going to show up.

"Do you live here in Las Vegas?" Grady changed the subject to one that interested him more.

"Yes." Before the usual question could be asked, Leah added, "I'm a secretary to one of the executives of a local bank," and hoped Grady wouldn't add the usual comment that she would look good in one of the chorus lines that were the trademark of the lavish shows at the hotels on the strip.

"And your brother lives in Austin?"

"Only for the time being." Leah went on to explain his temporary assignment in Austin.

"Has it been a while since you've seen him?"

"No, we were together at Christmas, but tomorrow is his birthday and I wanted to surprise him."

"You must think a lot of him to go to all this expense," Grady observed.

"Lonnie and I are very close," agreed Leah.

Left unspoken were the details of her hopscotch childhood, skipping from one end of the world to the other. Under those circumstances, it was natural that she and Lonnie would be close. Despite the years that separated their ages, they were like twins.

"What's your boyfriend have to say about all this? And don't tell me a girl like you doesn't have at least one boyfriend," the pilot teased with a knowing wink.

"Let's just say that he questioned my sanity." A self-mocking laugh accompanied her reply as Leah remembered Marv's reaction.

He too worked in the accounting department of the same bank as she did. She hadn't decided yet where their relationship was going, so for want of a better word, she accepted the classification of Marv as her boyfriend.

In truth, none of her co-workers nor her roommate Nancy had actually encouraged the trip. They had all claimed that they understood her desire to see her brother again, but none of them seemed to think it was
wise to spend all of her savings for that goal.

Of course, they didn't seem to possess that close feeling of kinship with their brothers or sisters. If she had been spending the money to see a boyfriend, they probably wouldn't have questioned her decision. But a brother! The thought brought a wry smile to her mouth.

"Your boyfriend was probably jealous that you weren't spending the weekend with him. I would be." Again Grady ran an admiring eye over her features.

Leah darted a quick glance at the wall clock. "I'm beginning to think I won't be going anywhere this weekend," she sighed.
 

Reaching into her bag, she removed the opened pack of cigarettes and tapped out a filter-tip. As she started to search for the lighter, a flame sprang from the match in Grady's hand. She smiled her thanks and placed the cigarette between her peach-tinted lips, bending her head toward the flame.

"Don't worry, Reilly will be here. If there was a question that he might not make it, he would have said so when he called earlier," the pilot assured her. "In the meantime, why don't I take your luggage out to the plane and stow it in the baggage compartment?"

"Okay," Leah agreed. "At least, I'll be one step closer to leaving."

With a cheering smile, Grady patted her knee. "Don't give up. We'll make it off the ground yet."

Then he was picking up her blue weekender bag and the cosmetic case and walking toward the door leading to the hangar apron. With his departure, the minutes started to drag again.

The smoke from her cigarette spiralled above her head. Inhaling briefly on the filter-tip, Leah exhaled more smoke impatiently. The blue-gray cloud swirled upward.

The outside door opened. Her gaze swung indifferently toward the sound, expecting to see the pilot returning. It was a stranger who entered.

Her mind had a preconceived idea of what Reilly Smith would look like—in his late forties, a supposition based on the belief that only an older, senior member of a mining team would charter an aircraft, short and stocky in build.

This man didn't meet the description. He was six foot, leanly built but not slender and roughly ten years younger, in his mid-thirties. Jet black hair framed the boldly defined features of his bronzed tan face, prominent cheekbones leanly hollowing to powerful jawline. A face carved by the wind and sun.

His dress was a casual leisure suit of rugged brown denim. A complementing shirt patterned in yellow and brown was open at the throat revealing the large nugget of turquoise attached to the beaten silver choker around his neck.

Despite this contrast between the man and her image, Leah was certain this was Reilly Smith. The quiet pride of his carriage, the sensation of aloofness, and the effortless, animal stride convinced her she was right.

Mary, the dark-haired receptionist, confirmed it. "Finally you arrive, Mr. Smith!" Her hands rested akimbo on her hips. "Miss Talbot was about to decide you were a figment of her imagination."

For the first time since entering the waiting lounge, his gaze acknowledged her presence in the room. His eyes were startlingly green, the smooth, impenetrable color of jade.

A disturbing shiver of awareness trembled through Leah as his cool gaze appraised her assets, admired them openly, then smoothly dismissed them in favor of the business at hand.

"I was delayed," he said, which was neither an explanation nor an apology. "My cases are sitting outside. Are you ready to leave, Miss Talbot?"

After waiting for going on three hours, Leah marvelled that he had the nerve to ask if she was ready! Sharply snubbing out her cigarette in the ashtray, she suppressed the impulse to remind him that he was the one who was late.

She kept her reply to a calm, "My luggage is already in the plane, Mr. Smith." But the clasp of her handbag snapped shut rather loudly as she closed it and rose to her feet.

Stepping outside the building, a desert wind tugged at the hem of her camel-colored skirt, briefly lifting it to reveal a shapely leg. Leah held the open front of her matching tunic-styled waistcoat together with one hand while her other hand carrying the bag tried to keep the teasing wind from billowing her skirt.

As an afterthought, she realized that she probably should have worn slacks. Habits die hard, and she had lived in too many foreign countries where slacks on women were viewed with disfavor.

Her shoes clicked loudly on the concrete while the man walking beside her made barely any sound at all. A sideways glance noticed that her heels didn't gain her much height. The top of her head came somewhere around his chin.

Automatically her gaze slid to the left hand carrying his bags. There was no wedding band on his finger. Somehow Leah had known there wouldn't be—perhaps because of Grady's statement that Reilly Smith was a lone wolf.

Shifting her gaze straight ahead, Leah mused silently that there were probably a lot of girls who would like to change his status. He was a compellingly handsome man. Not that it mattered to her. She was making this trip to see her brother.

A few yards ahead, Grady was standing beside the orange and white wing of a Cessna 310. The twin engine plane looked sleek and racy. A smile flashed across the pilot's face as he saw their approach.

"Didn't I tell you he'd make it, Leah?" he declared in a hearty voice, then to the man at her side, "Hello, Reilly."

"Hello, Grady." It was a warm and friendly voice, unlike the impersonal tone Leah had heard earlier. A brisk handshake followed the exchange of greetings.

"Let me stow your gear." Grady reached for the two bags gripped in the man's left hand.

"I'll take the briefcase on board." Reilly Smith relinquished only the larger of the two bags, retaining the attaché case. His green eyes made an arc in the deepening lavender sky. A single star winked feebly in the purple twilight. "What's it look like up ahead, Grady?"

The pilot briefly scanned the sky, then shrugged and returned his attention to his passengers. "There's a front moving in. We still have a chance of reaching Austin before it does. If not, it might get a little rough, but we'll make it." With his free hand, Grady motioned toward the open door of the plane. "Climb aboard."
 

The two small steps made it easy for Leah to climb on the wing even in her skirt. Maneuvering past the front seat to the second seats was more awkward. Reilly Smith followed with an ease that she envied.

He sat down in the seat beside her. Considering the apparent friendliness between himself and the pilot, Leah had partially expected him to sit in front with Grady. As she fastened her seat belt, she noticed the brief case he
had brought on board and realized he probably intended to work.

Grady climbed agilely aboard and swung himself into the pilot's seat directly ahead of Leah. His quick glance encompassed both of them before he buckled his seat belt.

"Did you two introduce yourselves?" The question didn't break the rhythm of his pre-flight checklist.

"More or less," Leah answered.

"She's flying to Austin to visit her brother." The information was given as the first of the plane's engines growled to life, the propeller hesitating, then spinning into a blur.
 

Leah cast a sideways glance at her companion. "My brother works for a mining company. He's part of a team that's been temporarily assigned to survey the Austin area." This seemed like an excellent opportunity to see if Reilly Smith was a member of the same company or with a rival firm. "Grady mentioned that you had connections with some mining interests. Perhaps you know my brother. His name is Lonnie Talbot."

There was a disconcerting levelness to his jade eyes as they briefly met her look. The grooves at each side of his hard mouth deepened into a faint smile.

"No, I don't know him."

The roar of both engines made conversation impossible. Leah was forced to set aside her curiosity for the time being. At least she felt secure in the assumption that Reilly Smith did not work for the same company as her brother.

In the pilot's seat, Grady was on the radio. "McCarren Ground Control, this is 92 George requesting taxi instructions."

Excitement danced in her veins. After all the waiting, she was finally on her way. Looking out the window, Leah smiled with secret amusement at what Lonnie's reaction would be when he learned she had flown to be with him on his birthday.

Blue lights flashed outside her window as the plane rolled along the taxi strip to the airport runway. At the edge of the runway, the engines roared with thundering force as Grady made his run-up. Then the tower radioed permission for them to take off.

Grady half-looked over his shoulder, a grin on his otherwise serious face. "Now
we'll get this bird off the ground."
 

Smoothly the plane pivoted on to the runway, the engines building power. Leah felt the surge of acceleration as the brakes were released and the throttle opened to full power. The nose was lifted off the ground. Seconds later the plane was airborne and climbing, the landing gear thumping into the belly.

Outside her window, Leah could see the blaze of city lights in the pre-night darkness. The brilliant neon lights of the hotels and casinos on Las Vegas's famous strip were like an iridescently colored ribbon.

Cool night air from the vent above her head ruffled the light brown wings of her hair. The infra-red lights on the instrument panel kept the darkness at bay, those lights and the reading light shining down on the seat next to hers.

Her fellow passenger was not gazing at the diminishing world below them, Leah noticed. His briefcase was opened on his lap. Common courtesy ruled that she shouldn't try to resume their conversation when he was obviously working. The urge was strong to look over his shoulder and see the contents of the
papers he was studying. She resisted, averting her attention again to the window. Eventually the only thing she could see was her own reflection.