Diana Palmer - Fire Brand

“But you don’t want developers on Casa Río land,” she said.

“That’s it in a nutshell. Threats notwithstanding, I won’t let Casa Río be used to make money for greedy outsiders.”

“How do you know they’re greedy?” she asked.

“How do you know they’re not?” he shot back.

She gave up. It was impossible to hope for more than a draw when she fought verbally with Bowie. “Stalemate,” she murmured humorously. “I won’t fight with you. I’m too tired.”

“You’re still coming home to watch Aggie for me?” he persisted.

“Yes. If you think it’s necessary.” She paused with her hand on the door handle, oddly reluctant to go inside. “Bowie, you don’t really think her friend is a gold digger, do you?”

“I don’t know, Gaby. Until I do, I have to assume that he is. I don’t want Aggie hurt.”

She smiled at him gently. “Why do you call her Aggie, instead of mother?” she asked.

“She’s never been quite motherly to me,” he replied with a narrow smile. “Even if she has to you.”

There was a faint bitterness in his deep voice.

Time to go, quick, she thought. She clutched her purse. “I had a good time. Thanks for taking me to Mary and Ted’s party.”

“My pleasure.” He was still staring at her, much too closely. “What day are you going down to Casa Río?”

“Probably Tuesday,” she said. “I’ve got a big political interview Monday afternoon. When does Aggie get there?”

“Tuesday night.”

“See?” She smiled. “Perfect timing.”

“For God’s sake, don’t leave them alone for a second.” Instead of frightening her, his irritated expression delighted her. It was nice to know that Bowie was human, after all. At times, he seemed rather impervious to emotion. He was very much a cool, intimidating stranger to Gaby—or he had been, until tonight. She’d learned a lot about him, and she liked what she’d found out.

“Which one of them do you propose that I sleep with?” she asked.

He was still deep in thought. He glanced at her. “Hmmmmm?” he asked absently.

She leaned closer. “Do you want me to bunk down with Aggie, or her new beau?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered. “Just don’t leave them alone together for long.”

“I’ll do my best. But they’re both adults.

“I realize that. But he could take over Casa Río. It’s happened before in second marriages. He could wind up with everything Aggie owns, and throw her to the dogs to boot! And if he did it in the right way,” he added with an intent stare, “we wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on.”

“I see what you mean,” she murmured. “Well, I’ll do what I can. But he may turn out to be a nice man, you know.”

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “How is it that you don’t trust people, but you never seem to expect the worst until you’re confronted with it?”

She shrugged. “It’s a knack. Like your uncanny ability to read people’s minds. Thank God I’m not on your wavelength.” She grinned. “I don’t want you wandering around in my brain.”

“Don’t you?” He reached out and touched her high coiffure, very gently. “I don’t like your hair up like that. I like it long and loose. You’re too young to walk around like a matron, Gaby—and much too pretty.”

She flushed. The touch of his hand on her hair was electric. “I’m...not pretty,” she stammered, and tried to laugh.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” He dropped his hand and chuckled as he lifted his cigarette to his mouth to finish it and put it out. “When I get that trite, it’s time to go to bed. I’m sleepier than I realized.”

“Do you have to drive all the way back to Tucson tonight?” she asked, concerned.

“No. I’m staying with a friend.”

She felt something possessive stir in her and hoped that he wouldn’t be able to see the sudden freezing of her features. A friend. A female friend? She knew that Bowie was no innocent, but until now she’d never wondered about his private life. What if he had a woman here in Phoenix...?

“I went to school with him, and we were in the same company for six months in Vietnam, until he was rotated out.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything to add to that. He was giving her a strange look already. “Well, good night, and thanks for the ride,” she said with relief as she stepped out and shut the car door.

Gaby hurried to her apartment. She noticed Bowie didn’t leave until she’d opened her door and gone inside. Through the curtains she saw the Scorpio finally pull away.

She didn’t move from the window for several minutes. Tonight had been a bad mistake. Going out with Bowie, for any reason, was going to have to be avoided from now on. He made her feel vulnerable, and that was the one thing she couldn’t afford to be. Especially not with Bowie.

CHAPTER FOUR

IN BETWEEN WORRYING about Aggie and trying to come to grips with her sudden attraction to Bowie, Gaby spent her weekend going shopping and to a movie. By the time Monday morning rolled around, her eyes were dark-shadowed and she was ready for the diversion of work.

As she plodded through rush-hour traffic, her mind was busy with the speech she was going to make to Johnny Blake about her two-week vacation. It wasn’t really a bad time to take one—news was slow. And if she could sell him on covering the story developing in Lassiter, he might see it as a working holiday and be more receptive to it. Lassiter was southeast of Tucson, and out of Phoenix’s reporting area, but it would certainly make state news if things got hot enough. She could tell Johnny that, anyway. He liked a story that got picked up by the wire services. It made the paper look good.

Gaby thought that she might even enjoy spending some time at Casa Río. But whether or not Aggie was going to welcome her presence was anybody’s guess. How was she going to explain her sudden need for a vacation this time of year?

The other drawback was proximity to Bowie. The night before, she’d seen him in a totally new light. She couldn’t forget the touch of his big fingers around hers, or the way he’d suddenly come close to her at Mary’s engagement party as they’d gone between the parked cars. Her entire body had rippled with delicious feeling, and that frightened her. She didn’t really want to risk letting Bowie come close.

When she got to the office, Johnny was on the phone, murmuring into the receiver while he looked at her with a blank, preoccupied stare.

“That’s right,” he said. “That’s right. Look, why don’t you stick around there for another thirty minutes and see if you can’t get one of the jurors to one side. We need some idea of what’s going on. Don’t compromise their integrity—just see if you can get a handle on how the deliberations are going, okay? Good man!”

He hung up with a grimace. “Well, that’s as good as it’s going to get today, I suppose. I don’t know how we’re going to manage anything passable about the Highman case unless we can coax a juror into talking.”

“Try a juror’s wife,” she suggested with a grin.

He chuckled. “No wonder I keep you on, Cane.” He nodded. “You’ve got a devious mind.”

“Shrewd sounds better. Johnny, can I go home for two weeks? Before you speak,” she added, holding up a hand when he looked as if he might explode, “I’ve got an angle. I need a vacation. But there’s a big agricultural outfit called Biological Agri-market—Bio-Ag—trying to buy up land around Lassiter for some huge truck farming operation. It would have a favorable impact on the local economy, but its water usage and destruction of historic landmarks make it pretty controversial. There have already been a couple of death threats. I could sort of get a handle on things and have my vacation at the same time. What do you think? It could be statewide news,” she added quickly. “We’d scoop all the Tucson papers. We might even get picked up on the wires.”