Stella Bagwell - A South Texas Christmas

“Hmm. You sound like you don’t want to make time, either. Does your mother know about your lack of social life?”

A cynical laugh popped from Raine’s mouth. “Let’s put it this way. If I never married, Mother would be a happy woman.”

Neil rolled his eyes upward toward the banana leaves shading their table. And if Claudia, his own mother, had never married she would have probably been happier. Certainly she wouldn’t have ruined his father’s life with her constant nagging for more, more, more. His mother’s quest for the material “good things” had turned Neil against money and women. The only way he wanted either of them was in small doses.

“Then Esther obviously isn’t going to welcome me into her home,” he stated, then glanced at her with regret. “Raine, she’s obviously going to be suspicious of me. Or at the very least resent my presence in your life. Under those circumstances, I can’t see me getting the woman to open up about her past.”

Raine suddenly forgot that she needed to keep her distance from the man. She reached across the scant space between them and grabbed onto his hand. “Neil, please,” she pleaded. “Don’t give up on this. On me. You’re here. And I have an intuition that something is going to happen. Something will turn up—some sort of information that will help us both.”

She couldn’t have said it better, Neil thought. Something was going to happen. He was going to end up plunging into deep water with this woman and if he wasn’t very careful he just might not be able to swim to a safe shore.

But her soft little hands wrapped tightly around his felt so vulnerable and the pleading light in her green eyes pierced him with a need to protect her and please her. Dear Lord, it wasn’t possible to fall for a woman in the length of time it took to drink a cup of coffee, was it?

Hell, don’t worry about that, Neil argued with himself. He’d wanted the excuse to spend time with this beauty and now she’d handed it to him and more.

Groaning inwardly, he said, “All right, Raine. We’ll give this a try. But the minute a war breaks out between you and your mother, I’m outta here. Got it?”

Nodding, she smiled a slow, shy smile that melted his insides to a bunch of worthless goop.

“Yes. I understand,” she said a little breathlessly.

Neil could see renewed excitement building on her face and the sight made him almost forget he was fifteen years older than her.

“So when do we start?” she asked.

“What about tonight?” he suggested. “I’ve rented a car. I can follow you to the ranch. How far is it?”

“About fifty miles. An hour and a half of driving will get you there. But it’s safer not to make the trip after dark. That’s when all the deer and wild hogs decide to cross the highway.”

His brows met in the middle of his forehead. “Wild hogs?”

Raine suddenly realized she was still holding on to his hand. The fact embarrassed her and she ducked her head as she moved her hands away and pretended to snap her handbag closed.

“Yes, wild hogs,” she replied. “You know. Like a big pig with tusks and tough bristles sticking up on their back.”

“These hogs don’t belong to anybody?”

Raine laughed. “Not hardly. The farmers and ranchers hate them because they eat the crops and forage that would normally go to cows and horses. People hunt wild hogs all the time. And they are good to eat.”

“Then they’re not protected like our bear is in New Mexico,” he said the obvious.

Raine shook her head, then dared to smile at him again. “No. But don’t feel too badly. They manage to keep their population high.”

Chuckling at her implication, Neil motioned for the waitress to bring their check.

Raine attempted to pay for her half of the small snack, but Neil refused her money. After he’d settled the account and tipped the waitress, he rose to his feet.

“Are you leaving?” she asked with a bit of dismay.

“Not without you.”

He reached for her elbow to help her out of the chair and once again Raine felt the skin on her arm burning, her cheeks stinging with wild, unchecked heat. Even if she was accustomed to men touching her, Neil Rankin would still make her blood sizzle like raindrops on hot pavement.

“I—where are we going?” she asked.

Hearing the slight panic in her voice, he asked, “Raine, are you—frightened of me?”

Her eyes darted up to his handsome face. “Why no. Of course I’m not afraid. Why would I be?”

His expression turned grim as he guided her away from the café. “Probably because I’m a strange man that you’ve never met before. I could be an imposter. I could be a killer who lures women from their safe places.”

“Stop it!” she spurted the words back at him while at the same time she jerked her elbow away from his cupped hand. “You’re not being a bit funny.”

Neil’s brows arched. “I wasn’t trying to be.”

She heaved out an unsettled breath that caused the material of her powder-blue dress to move against her small breasts. Neil felt the man in him perk up with far more interest than he should be feeling.

“I know who you are. I’m the one who called your office. You’re a lawyer,” she said, then added, “Albeit, I’m not sure how good of one. And now that we’re on the subject, I’ve been wondering why you’re the one doing this search for Darla. Why didn’t your client hire a detective instead of a lawyer?”

His glance down at her face was totally patronizing. “Because my client happens to be a very close friend. And I’m the only one he’s willing to trust with such a personal matter.”

“Oh. Your client is a he?”

Neil’s smile was a bit wicked. “Yes. Why? Were you going to be jealous if it had been a woman?”

He was teasing of course, Raine thought. There was no way he could suspect the upheaval he was causing inside of her.

“I don’t think we’ve known each other long enough for me to be—feeling that sort of emotion,” she said coolly.

Neil chuckled as it dawned on him just how refreshing her prim attitude was after the willing, experienced women he’d known in the past.

“Well, give it a few days,” he teased. “Maybe I can turn you a little green by then.”

Her eyes flew to his face as he looped his arm with casual ease through hers. “Days?” she sputtered. “Aren’t you going back to New Mexico tomorrow?”

Frowning, he urged her onto the paved walkway that edged the river. Boats of all shapes and sizes decorated with Christmas wreaths and blinking lights were floating by. Many of them were filled with tourists enjoying the warm sunshine and the sights of San Antonio.

“Not hardly. I just arrived.”

She balked in her tracks and he turned to look squarely down at her upturned face. She looked worried. No, Neil decided, she actually appeared frightened.

“You mean this investigation—or whatever you want to call it—is going to take more than one meeting with my mother?” she asked with disbelief.

Careful to keep his expression smooth, he urged her to continue walking forward. “The day is beautiful, Raine. Let’s walk and talk and get acquainted with each other. I don’t want to go into this evening blind. I need to know a little bit about my new lover.”

The last two words were said with a purr that caused a shiver to race down Raine’s spine. Oh, this man was way too smooth for a country girl like her, Raine decided. She was going to have to watch every step she took, every word she said, and even then she wasn’t sure she would be safe from his charms.

“We—we’re not going to pretend to be lovers!” she said in a voice pitched with fear. “That’s carrying things a bit too far, don’t you think?”