Alice Sharpe - Avenging Angel

What had he expected? A slap, a shove, an oath?

She kissed him back, in force, her lips as soft and luscious as he’d known they’d be, her terry-wrapped body a perfect fit against his, her hands gripping his arms, the cleanly washed scent of her enveloping him like perfume.

He told himself he was winning her over to his camp in order to use her. As the kiss grew longer and he felt his soul slipping away, he reminded himself that wars create causalities.

She pushed him away at last, looking a little less composed than she had a few moments earlier.

“I should smack you for that,” she said, brown eyes stormy.

“But you won’t,” he said and, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, swaggered out of her cabin like an actor in a B-grade movie.

After her last lesson, Elle helped Mike groom and bed down the horses. She’d miss Mike, she realized, and she’d miss the horses. As careful as she’d been to avoid putting down any roots while biding time at Tahoe Stables, roots had grown all on their own. She’d even miss Peg.

Elle finished wiping down Majordomo’s back, the bay gelding dancing around even more than usual. Maybe he sensed her mood. More spirited than Corky, he made a more interesting mount for an able rider. He looked at her over his shoulder and she patted his white blaze, crooning to him a little. Then she unhooked his lead from the post and led him to his stall.

“I want you to have my car,” she told Mike as she unhooked the lead from Majordomo’s halter and closed the stall door. “I have to use it tonight but, after that, it’s all yours.”

Mike looked up from pouring oats into Corky’s feed bag. “Your car? I can’t—”

“Sure you can,” she said. “It leaks oil like a sieve and needs new tires. Half the time it won’t start. It’s not that big a deal.”

“But you’ll need it when you come back from Puerta Del Sol,” Mike said, replacing the lid on the barrel they used to store grain.

“How do you know about that?”

“The big blond guy told me. He was asking questions about you.” Mike cast her a grin and added, “Don’t worry, I told him I’d never seen you fall off a horse before today.”

She hung the lead from a nail as she said, “Thanks. Well, anyway, I’m not coming back.” Her voice sounded serene. She was a good actress.

For a second, it seemed she might never be herself again.

But that was stupid. The trouble was she was too much herself. She couldn’t seem to stop responding to things. To Peg’s disappointment in her, to news of the judge’s arrival, and lordy, lordy, to Pete.

He made her feel she was on fire inside.

First the verbal teasing, which she’d enjoyed, then that kiss. A man like that didn’t kiss a woman for the hell of it, he’d been prying into her life with that kiss and she’d let him.

And she’d enjoyed it.

She smiled to herself. The naked part hadn’t been planned, but it sure had caught his attention. She’d gotten out of the shower, heard a noise, grabbed the gun from the cabinet behind the sink and entered the room without hesitation. Along with her passport, she hid papers under a loose floorboard. Papers about her family’s murders, about the suspects, about Alazandro.

The expression on his handsome face when he turned around had been priceless. And admit it, she’d enjoyed the sensations his strong body pressed against hers had aroused. His lips, the flicker of his tongue.

The flames leaped.

She reminded herself of her goal: get close to Alazandro. And then she added a new goal: keep away from Pete.

“That’s a cool job,” Mike mused. “You must be real excited about it.”

She nodded and smiled. She was kind of excited, which was dumb. She wasn’t going there to play with the horses and make a great stable. She was going to discover the truth about Víctor Alazandro and bring him to justice—dead or alive.

That sobering thought wiped the memory of Pete’s playful banter and kiss right out of her thoughts.

Mike grabbed the broom from against a wall and started sweeping the walkway. As he rambled on about his plans for the future, uncomplicated plans Elle envied, she decided she had to get Peg to understand that Mike deserved a chance. He and Peg would make a good team. Peg’s savvy, Mike’s personality. They could make a go of whatever remained after Alazandro got finished with them.

Wait, an additional goal: ruin Alazandro before he could ruin Peg.

“Who’s going to take over the riding lessons here?” Mike asked.

Elle blinked a couple of times. She’d been lost in her thoughts. How to answer? She didn’t want to raise any false hopes—

The answer came from behind Elle. “You are, Mike,” Peg said as she entered the stable.

“But I have to tend the horses,” Mike said, leaning on the broom. “I have to exercise and—”

“Starting tomorrow, you do everything Elle did. We’ve already got Pam and Tracy coming in to help with mucking out stables and exercising. I’ll get the Hoskins boy to do your chores until we can find someone more permanent. Get some sleep tonight, you’re going to have a big day tomorrow.”

With that, she nodded at Mike and left the stable.

“What’s with her?” Mike whispered to Elle. “She didn’t even look at you.”

“She’s got a lot on her mind,” Elle said.

Mike nodded and then grinned. “I wonder if she’ll let me move into your cabin. It’s bigger than mine.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. I have to use the outhouse.”

Elle laughed. “You’re moving up in the world, my friend.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Thanks to you and Mr. Alazandro.”

A HALF HOUR LATER, Elle was in her car, trying in vain to get the motor to turn over. The oil light shone red, which meant she’d neglected to add oil the last time she used the car. Great, she was probably willing Mike a car with a cracked head. On the other hand, he was getting a practically new Learn Japanese in Thirty Days tape, which was still stuck in the car’s tape player.

Someone rapped on her window.

She cranked it down to find Pete leaning down, peering in at her.

“Trouble?” he said.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Shrugging, she made a decision. Fate had taken a hand, she wouldn’t drive into town.

Meeting with the judge would be a waste of time, anyway. She could hear his arguments in her head. The dean owes me one, I know I can get you back intograduate school. Your grandfather is caught up in senseless vengeance and neither you nor that nurse of his is helping. Don’t buy into it. Leave the past alone, don’t risk your future, what’s done is done, nothing will bring your dead family back to life. Justice will be done in the end.

If he had any inkling she was flying out with Alazandro tomorrow morning, he’d kill her. Or Alazandro.

“Elle?”

She got out of the car and leaned against the door. After a moment or two, Pete joined her, his body too close for comfort. She contemplated moving and decided it would send the wrong message. Or the right one.

Face it, she found his presence disconcerting. The man exuded confidence from the ends of his short sandy hair to the tips of his worn boots. Add the physique, the eyes, the rugged features, the voice—

When he looked at her, a private spot inside melted.

Life was confusing enough without him. Why did he have to come along now, why did he have to be connected to Alazandro? And why couldn’t she walk away from him without looking back?

“Going to be a beautiful evening,” he said.

Lake Tahoe lay down the sloping property, a glittering jewel this late in the day, a beautiful blue gem caught in the palm of towering trees.