by Diana Palmer
On the way back to the ranch, Colby and Cy exchanged mischievous glances, dug in their heels, bent over their mounts, and raced to the gate. Before Cy had time to detour around it, Colby had jumped the fence and was reining in at the barn.
“Slowpoke,” he told Cy.
The other man chuckled as he swung down, breathing hard. “And you called Bernadette a daredevil!” he accused.
“I have a friend who’d have jumped the gate, instead of the fence,” he replied, indicating the lack of space between the gate and the logo of the ranch on a board above it.
“You’d have done it yourself a few years ago,” Cy chuckled.
Colby shrugged. “I’m trying to settle down,” he drawled. He gave Sarina a pointed glance as he said it, and noted with delight the faint color in her cheeks.
THEY HAD AN EARLY LUNCH with Lisa and Cy and then climbed into the SUV for the drive back to Houston.
The earlier intimacy seemed to have drifted away. Sarina was pleasant, but reserved. He felt the coolness between them and wondered what had caused it.
Sarina was unusually quiet on the ride home. He dropped them off at their apartment. Bernadette grinned at him and thanked him for the trip, rushing off inside to watch a television program she liked.
Sarina stood on the doorstep with him, hesitant and uneasy. He and Bernadette were finding more and more in common, and there was a visible affection between them. What if he asked the right question and the child blurted out an answer? How was Colby going to react? There was one other complication, too. He had no idea what sort of work she did, and she knew already that he wasn’t going to approve of it. She was trying not to look back, but he’d hurt her badly in the old days. The new passion between them was dangerous. She didn’t want to risk her heart on him again. She’d backed off in self-defense.
She managed a smile as she looked up. “It was a nice day. Thanks.”
He moved close, tilting her face up to his. “I’ve missed so much,” he said huskily, as he searched her eyes in the porch light. “A family, children.” His face clenched. “Two marriages, and I’ve still lived alone most of my life.”
“Lobo wolves do,” she said, trying to make a joke of it.
His arms slid around her and pulled her close. “No. Wolves mate and protect their cubs, and their mates.” He bent and kissed her gently. Her mouth was cool and unresponsive. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed. “Cold feet,” she confessed.
He looked at her long and hard. After a minute he stepped back. “Yes,” he said. “I know what you mean.” He was thinking about all the things she didn’t know about him and the life he’d led. He wasn’t being honest with her. Perhaps she sensed it. “Well, good night.”
She managed a smile. “Good night, Colby.”
He started off the porch, hesitated, and looked back to find her watching him with a soul-deep pain in her dark eyes.
He went back to her, framing her face in his hands. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said roughly.
She couldn’t hold back the tears. They ran silently down her cheeks, into her mouth. He bent and kissed them away.
He folded her close and held her, rocking her gently. His cheek drew against the top of her head. She smelled of roses. They stood that way for a long time. Finally he eased her away from him and looked down at her with quiet, soft eyes.
He didn’t say good-night again. He walked away.
She went inside reluctantly, and locked the door.
RITTER OIL Corporation celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a staff party the next week on Friday night. A live band provided music. Eugene Ritter had rented a banquet room in a local steak house, and a buffet was arranged on a long table against the wall. Children were invited to attend along with their parents. There were lots of kids. Sarina was amused at them trying to mimic the adults on the dance floor.
She nursed a glass of champagne. She had no head for alcohol, so she limited herself to one drink on a full stomach.
Colby joined her at the drinks table, asking for a tall glass of ginger ale. He grinned at Sarina. “I’ve been on the wagon for almost three years,” he confessed. “I don’t want to fall off again.”
She nodded, searching his dark eyes. He was still handsome. Her heart ached every time she saw him.
He looked around for Bernadette and found her excitedly talking to Nikki Hunter and a little boy.
“She mixes easily, doesn’t she?” he asked Sarina.
“Not really. She’s comfortable with people she knows, but she’s shy in groups she doesn’t know.”
“I used to be like that,” he mused. “I still am, to a degree.” He kept staring around the room with narrow, cold eyes.
She looked up at him curiously. “What are you looking for?”
“Ramirez,” he said curtly.
She hid a smile. “He said he was going to be late.”
“He must have needed a quick nap,” Colby muttered. “All that tiring liaison work must be hard on a man his age.”
She turned a giggle into a cough and covered her mouth.
He glared at her. “He’s too old for you.”
“He isn’t,” she replied. “He’s just thirty-five.”
His dark brows met. “He looks older.”
She turned her eyes to her drink. “He’s had a difficult life,” she said, averting her gaze.
He was going to question that when Bernadette walked up to him trailing Nikki and the little boy she’d been talking to, as well as three other children of comparable ages.
“This is him,” Bernadette told them, pointing at Colby. “He carried us both through the flood to his truck and then he drove us to school! He’s very strong!”
The other children followed her rapt gaze and Colby’s high cheekbones went a ruddy color.
“He can ride a horse, too, and even jump fences with it!” Bernadette added, her dark eyes wide and soft as they looked up at him. She smiled shyly.
He smiled back.
“Let’s go watch the drummer,” the little boy enthused. “He’s playing a solo!”
They followed him. Bernadette looked back over her shoulder, grinning at him, as she joined the children.
“You’re a hero,” Sarina said amusedly. “You rescued us from the great flood.”
He chuckled. “Well!” Not for worlds would he have admitted how it touched him to be Bernadette’s hero. He sipped ginger ale, watching the couples on the dance floor. He glanced down at Sarina. “Do you still dance?”
Her heart jumped. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?” He took his glass and hers and put them on an empty corner of the drinks table.
“I haven’t danced in a long time.”
“Neither have I. Maybe we won’t crash and burn.” He pulled her gently into his arms and folded her close while they shifted around the floor to the lazy, seductive Latin rhythm of the band.
Sarina was closer to heaven than she’d been in seven years. The feel of his tall, lean body, the warmth of his arms, went to her head a little. She relaxed into his powerful body with a trembling little sigh.
Colby felt it and his body went rigid with desire. It had never happened with any woman that quickly, except with Maureen at the very beginning of their turbulent relationship. It shocked him that he was still so attuned to Sarina, despite their years apart.
She moved back a little, hiding her eyes from him.
“Still shy of me?” he murmured deeply, chuckling. “All right, chicken, I’ll try to behave myself.”
He let her shift her hips back from the press of his, but he rested his cheek on her soft hair.
“The music is nice,” she murmured as the music worked on her mood.
“So it is. It’s been years since I’ve been in this sort of situation,” he confessed. “I don’t go to parties.”
“Neither do I, as a rule,” she replied. She hesitated. She was remembering Bernadette’s birthday the following day. She ha
d to remind Rodrigo to bring the cake with him, because the bakery was on his way to her apartment. She wondered if it would be reckless and stupid to invite Colby. So far, he had no idea of Bernadette’s exact age.
“You’re very quiet,” he remarked. His fingers curled into hers and his lips moved against the top of her head. “I’ve been busy this week with internal security upgrades, but we could go down to Cy’s tomorrow and go riding, if you like?”
“I can’t,” she said softly.
He stopped dancing and looked down at her with intent dark eyes. “Why not? Cold feet?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that.” She grimaced. “Bernadette’s having a party,” she said.
“What sort of party?” he asked suspiciously.
She hesitated.
“Well?” he persisted.
“It’s her birthday.”
He was silent for several seconds. “I see.”
“I would have asked you to come, but you and Rodrigo…well…”
“You don’t have to spell it out,” he said, but he relaxed a little. She wasn’t trying to push him out of her life at all. He looked down into her dark eyes, and he smiled. The arm with the prosthesis drew her gently closer. “Suppose I come late?”
She smiled back, her eyes twinkling. “That would be nice. Bernadette would enjoy having you there.”
He nodded. His gaze fell to her soft mouth and he eyed it with pure speculation.
“Colby,” she protested huskily.
“What?” he whispered, and his head actually started to bend.
A big hand came down on his shoulder. “My turn, I think,” came a Latin accented voice from behind.
Colby stopped and turned, his eyes wide. “How the hell do you do it?” he asked icily. “You’re like the creeping fog, you appear out of nowhere.”
Rodrigo smiled icily. “Keep that in mind, won’t you?”
He danced Sarina away deliberately, without looking back at Colby, who stood on the sidelines smoldering quietly.
“That was wicked,” Sarina told Rodrigo.
He chuckled. “It keeps him on his toes, doesn’t it? What time do you want me there tomorrow?”
“About eleven, and are you going to bring the cake?”
“Certainly.” His dark eyes narrowed on hers. “You’re letting the rent-a-cop get too close,” he cautioned. “He’s going to start figuring things out any-day now. It’s a risk we can’t take.”
She grimaced. “I know that. It’s just…”
“Don’t be a fool, Sarina,” he cautioned, his eyes narrowing with concern. “He’s already thrown you over once for another woman.”
Her free hand traced a pattern on his jacket. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“He’s done some questionable things over the years.”
She looked up. “How do you know that?”
He cleared his throat. “Cy told me,” he said. “I went down to his place to check on a few things today. He said that Lane took you and Bernadette riding down there last weekend.”
“Cy can mind his own business,” she replied hotly.
The fury in her tone caught his attention. It didn’t take a mind reader to know that she was falling in love with Colby Lane all over again. It disturbed him that he couldn’t think of any way to stop it. He wanted to tell her what he knew about Lane, but it seemed low and cowardly to fight the other man that way. They were sort of on the same team, and he and Sarina certainly were allies. It wasn’t altogether business, either, that made him want to interfere. He had feelings for Sarina that he couldn’t contain. Lane was a train wreck that threatened to rip his cozy relationship with Sarina and Bernadette to shreds, and he couldn’t find a way to stop it.
“Lane’s bad news,” he said curtly.
“I know that.”
“But it isn’t stopping you from going out with him, is it?” He stopped dancing and looked down at her. “Sarina, exactly when did you know him?”
She couldn’t look at him. “Seven years ago.”
He could add. And subtract. He drew in a long breath and muffled a curse under it. “He’s Bernadette’s father, isn’t he?” he asked, icily blunt.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SARINA MANAGED to lift her eyes to Rodrigo’s. It was impossible to lie to him. She shrugged. “Yes. But he doesn’t know,” she added gently. “And there’s no use telling him. His second wife convinced him that he’s sterile. He doesn’t believe he can have a child.”
He let out a long breath. “That explains a few things.”
“So it wouldn’t do any good to mention it,” she continued. “The past is truly dead. I couldn’t have a relationship with him now, not only because of Bernadette, but because of my job. He’d be livid if he knew about it.”
He saw the misery in her face and felt guilty for bringing it up. He shook her gently and grinned. “Dance,” he teased. “We’re attracting attention.”
“And we’re doing it without guns,” she exclaimed under her breath. “Wow!”
“Stop that,” he muttered.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist it. Don’t forget the cake, okay?”
“You’ve been reminding me for a week,” he pointed out. “Once would have done it.”
“Point taken.”
“I hope she likes what I got her.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, no,” he teased. “I tell you, and you let the cat out of the bag. I’m not telling you any secrets.”
“Well, pin a rose on me…!”
A big hand came down on Rodrigo’s shoulder. “And now it’s my turn again,” Colby said, twirling Sarina back into his arms. He gave Rodrigo a smug grin, which in turn, infuriated the other man.
Rodrigo’s dark eyes flashed. “Why don’t you take your attitude and shove it right up…!”
“Could you control yourself? There are women and children present!” Colby said with mock horror.
Rodrigo looked as if he might actually implode. His olive tan reddened under the force of his anger.
“Pitiful self-control,” Colby said, clicking his tongue as he danced Sarina away, leaving a silently cursing Rodrigo behind. “Are you sure you want to get mixed up with a man like that?”
She wouldn’t laugh, she wouldn’t laugh…!
He drew her head to his chest, amused at her efforts to hide her reaction from her Latin friend. “Don’t spare his feelings, for God’s sake.”
“You’re horrible!” she exclaimed breathlessly.
He shrugged. “I try. If you’re going to do something, you should do it well, I always think.”
She let out a long breath. “Poor Rodrigo!”
“He’ll get over it,” he mused, smiling down at her. “The world is full of unattached women.”
“I am unattached,” she pointed out.
He shook his head slowly, smiling down at her. “I’ve got squatter’s rights.”
She met that soft gaze and her heart did a flip. Past and present merged, and she wanted nothing more than to be held close to him and loved…
The big hand came down on his shoulder again. “And it’s my turn again!” Rodrigo purred, as he spun Sarina into his arms and danced her away.
Colby glared after them. But a minute later the music ended and Rodrigo had to stop, because the band was taking a break. He went to retrieve his ginger ale with a smug grin.
He paused to speak to Hunter and Jennifer for a minute. When he looked around, Sarina and Rodrigo were missing. Bernadette was still playing with Nicole and the little boy who seemed to be part of their group.
Curious, he spotted the two against a wall, talking seriously. There didn’t seem to be any romantic feeling between them, at least not on Sarina’s part, and they looked as solemn as morticians.
He managed to move a little closer, his keen eyes going to Sarina’s lips as she spoke to Rodrigo. What a good thing, he thought amusedly, that he was taught lip-reading as part of his covert training.
He frowned as
he picked up disjointed phrases, because she kept turning her head as she spoke. There was something about a stakeout, and surveillance, and an upcoming operation in which she was involved.
It made no sense to him. What sort of operation would involve a clerk in an oil corporation? Had Rodrigo involved her in some sort of project? Worse, had Hunter taken him at his word that Sarina was cut out for something better than menial work? What if Hunter had her watching the drug suspects?
His heart stopped at the thought that she might be involved in something dangerous. Bernadette had nobody except her mother. Surely she wouldn’t risk her life when she had a child to raise? He was furious at himself for even mentioning Sarina’s potential to Hunter.
He moved away, frowning. He was going to have to talk to Hunter about that. Sarina had a child. She couldn’t be involved in dangerous work.
He had another sip of ginger ale and waited for the music to start up again, but it didn’t. Apparently it was time to leave. He was vaguely disappointed. He’d hoped to have another dance with Sarina. Holding her in his arms, even on a dance floor, was addictive. But very quickly, she and Bernadette were heading for the back door.
He intercepted them outside.
“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon,” he told Bernadette.
Her dark eyes brightened. “You’re coming to my birthday party?” she asked excitedly.
Her enthusiasm warmed the cold places inside him. He smiled with genuine affection. “Yes, I am. But I’ll be late. About four o’clock. Is it okay?”
“It’s great!” she said enthusiastically.
“If you have cake,” he stipulated with mock seriousness. “I love cake.”
“Chocolate, as I recall,” Sarina said without thinking.
His dark eyes met hers. “Yes.”
She flushed. She hadn’t meant to say that.
“And you like strawberry ice cream,” he added with a faint smile.
Her eyes danced. She’d never imagined that he’d remember trivial things about her.
“See you,” he added.
“Are you two ready to go?” Rodrigo asked, ignoring Colby as he fished his car keys out of his slacks’ pocket.