Barbara McCauley - Blackhawk's Betrayal

“Good.”

The smile he gave her made her pulse jump. Something told her that very few people—especially women—ever said no to Sam Prescott. He had a…presence, she thought. Not just his height, or the broad stretch of shoulders. Not even those lethal eyes, strong jaw and thick, espresso-brown hair.

No, it was much more than the way he looked. The first time she’d stepped into the elevator with him, she’d felt it.

Power.

The air inside the elevator had sizzled with it. She’d intentionally kept her gaze turned from him, even when she’d felt the gripping pull to look. Perhaps for self-preservation, perhaps to prove to herself that she could resist. She hadn’t even been able to breathe until she’d stepped out of the elevator.

And here she was again. Same elevator. Same man. Same sizzle.

Trey had told her on more than one occasion that she was naive. When they’d argued before she’d left the ranch, he’d told her again. So maybe she was. But she wasn’t so naive to think that Sam Prescott standing outside Mrs. Lamott’s office door was an accident. And she wasn’t so naive to think that this tour he wanted to take her on was hotel policy.

She certainly hadn’t done anything to attract this man’s unwanted attention. As far as he knew, she was simply a new employee—a waitress. There was nothing about her that should warrant interest from a general manager.

Unless he suspected she wasn’t being completely honest…

Oh, good grief, Kiera, she silently chided herself. You’re being paranoid. Of course he doesn’t suspect anything. How could he?

This has to be the slowest elevator I’ve ever been on.

“You’re not from around here,” he said flatly.

She hesitated, decided that the best way to avoid questions was to offer information. It might be useless information, but she hoped it would alleviate any apprehensions he might have about her. “I was born and raised in East Texas. Have you heard of a town called Rainville?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“It’s not exactly a tourist spot.” It wasn’t exactly where she was from, either, though it was close. “Unless you’re interested in honey.”

“Honey?”

“Rainville’s claim to fame.” When the elevator finally slid to a stop, she stepped forward. “They raise bees.”

“Really.”

When he pressed the button to keep the doors closed, then leveled those piercing eyes at her, Kiera’s stomach twisted.

“What happened to your eye?” he asked.

Her eye? Confused, she stared at him. Oh, her eye. She’d forgotten about that. She released the breath she’d been holding, waited a moment for her pulse to slow down. “I fell off a horse.”

His frown darkened. “I’m not asking to be nosy. If you have a problem that might become this hotel’s problem, I need to know.”

So that’s what he was suspicious about, she realized. Not because he knew who she was or that she lied but because of her black eye. Relief poured through her. “Everyone has problems, Mr. Prescott,” she said evenly. “But I assure you, whatever mine are, they will in no way affect my job or this hotel.”

He stared at her for a long, nerve-racking moment, then removed his finger from the button. “Sam,” he said and straightened.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out.

On unsteady legs, she followed.

The decor at Adagio’s Ristorante was elegant and contemporary. Crisp white linens, airy palms and high ceilings invited diners to relax, while the menu invited them to indulge. Homemade fusilli, a carpaccio sauce that made even the most hardened critic shed tears and “the best crème brûlée on the northern continent,” according to one reviewer, had made the restaurant legendary in the few short years it had been open.

The fragrant scent of warm spices and fresh bread mixed with the clink of tableware. The lunch crowd was always louder than dinner, and the animated voices of hotel guests and local business owners filled the softly lit room.

Sitting in a corner booth, Sam speared a bite of the steak he’d ordered, chewed attentively while Rachel Forster, publicist for the Central Texas Cattlemen’s Association, discussed her schedule.

“I’ll be sending out a press release to all the local newspapers within a hundred-mile radius, and I have a photographer coming out next Tuesday,” Rachel said. “I’ll have him call to set up an appointment.”

It was more information than Sam really needed, but the blonde sitting across from him, young, extremely efficient and heavily armed with pages of notes, seemed determined to go over every minute detail of the upcoming conference.

“I’d also like to write an article for The Dallas Register on the Four Winds chef. I understand he’s won the Hotelier’s Choice Award three years in a row. I thought maybe I could tie that in with some kind of a Texas beef angle.”

“Chef Bartollini is on hiatus for the next six months.” Actually, he’d flown home to Italy for a family emergency, and, unfortunately, no one knew when, or if, the man would return. “Chef Phillipe Girard is with us until then.”

“Would it be possible for me to meet him?” she asked.

Not a good idea, Sam thought, but simply smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’d appreciate that, and oh, I was wondering—” she pushed her black-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose and scribbled on her notepad “—I’d like to meet the new owner and get some background so I can write a story about her, as well.”

“She’s out of the office today.” Sam doubted that Clair would consent to an interview. Even though most of the people in Wolf River knew her family history, Clair wouldn’t want it printed in newspapers across the state. “Why don’t I have her secretary call you?”

When the publicist moved on to the next item on her list, transportation issues, Sam listened patiently. Well, half listened, anyway.

He glanced across the crowded restaurant to the serving station, where Kiera busily filled water glasses with ice. Francine had already fitted her with Adagio’s standard uniform: white, long-sleeved shirt and tailored black slacks. The only variation the restaurant allowed for the servers was their personal choice of tie. Kiera’s was silver, with thin stripes of white and black. She’d knotted her dark hair on top of her head and secured it with shiny red chopsticks. The style not only revealed her long, slender neck but gave her an exotic look, as well.

Unwanted, restless, something stirred in him.

The tour he’d taken her on had included the lobby, conference rooms, employee gym and wedding chapel. She’d paid attention and asked several questions regarding hotel policies but had kept a stiff, polite demeanor. In itself, that wasn’t odd, he reasoned. New employees were usually nervous around him. But with Kiera, she hadn’t seemed nervous as much as simply reluctant to be anywhere near him.

Especially when he’d questioned her about her eye.

I fell off a horse.

Who the hell did she think she was kidding with that line? She might as well have said she’d walked into a doorknob, for God’s sake. And why the hell should he believe her problems wouldn’t follow her here? Because she’d said so?

She was hiding something, that much was obvious. For now, he decided he’d simply keep an eye on her.

Which was exactly what he was doing, he thought, watching as she hefted the tray of water glasses. When she moved smoothly toward a table of noisy businessmen, the silver in her tie shimmered.