The Adventurous Bride

by Molly Liholm

  Pretty-boy Greg Trenton, the owner of the local four-wheel drive excursion company, wasn’t a member of the investment group, but his tall, slim office manager, Dana Griffins, was. Adam made his way over to her. Thick glasses, a makeup-free face and pale skin made her an unusual Sedona resident, especially working for such an outdoorsy company as Get Going! Dana was meant for the indoors, or elegant British gardens sipping iced tea under a parasol. Adam wondered if she was pining unnoticed for the gorgeous Greg.

  Dana blushed furiously at Adam’s mild flirtation. She readily admitted she was a computer nerd, an escapee from a liberal arts college and literary family. “My parents think I dropped out to write a novel. They’d freak if they found out I was writing computer software.”

  He liked the way her face became animated as she talked about computers. “Why Sedona and not Silicon Valley?”

  She returned his smile and blew her hair out of her eyes. “My programs will get me where I want to be. I don’t need to become corporate in order to accomplish my goals—at least my parents’ and my philosophies have that much in common.”

  “And once you sell your software?”

  “I’ll be rich and live wherever I want.” She looked at him determinedly.

  “Wherever Greg is?”

  “Yes.” Her self-confidence collapsed, her shoulders sagging. “As soon as he notices me. Will you be taking Meg back to New York?” Dana asked hopefully, clearly aware of Greg’s interest in her.

  “We haven’t set any definite plans,” Adam hedged. Dana spoke obscurely about her software programs, and despite Adam’s regular perusal of the computer magazines, she lost him quickly. Still, he waited for her to mention something about computer-generated identities, but once she’d stopped talking about RAM and artificial intelligence, she returned to her favorite subject: Greg.

  “This has been fun,” she said suddenly. “Most people’s eyes glaze over as soon as I start talking. You held out for a long time before I lost you. Maybe we could talk again some time.” She blushed again.

  “Maybe we could do it over dinner. Somewhere Greg would be sure to see us.”

  Dana nodded, and then, as if not able to say any more, she walked away from him. She really was very shy, Adam realized. She could talk about computers and Greg with ease, but after that she froze. Unfortunately, he doubted that Greg would ever notice her. Then again, in Sedona, one just never knew.

  “Hi! We’re Nancy and Brian Masters,” a man’s voice boomed as a tanned and fit couple in their early fifties took over Dana’s spot. Brian was a retired real estate agent, Nancy a former teacher. A long-time-married couple, they explained how they spent the winter months in Sedona and traveled the rest of the year. Brian had gotten out of the real estate market before the bust, he admitted, but Nancy was the one who increased their retirement fund through investments.

  “She’s a genius,” Brian exclaimed as he kissed his wife’s cheek. “To think she spent all those years in the classroom—”

  “When I should have been on Wall Street. Brian thinks I would have been—”

  “A huge success. You’re brilliant.”

  Nancy patted his arm and smiled at him fondly. “I liked teaching. And kids.”

  “We’re thinking of adopting. An older child. So we’ll do less traveling, and Nancy can spend more time on the computer. Internet and the stock market. You can’t go wrong.” Brian grinned from ear to ear and squeezed his wife around the waist. “You’re Meg’s guy, aren’t you? The one who left her standing—”

  “Standing on her own two feet. So many of us girls make the mistake of marrying far too young.” Nancy poked her husband in the ribs.

  Brian grinned at his wife. “You were just a baby when I married you, practically stole you out of the cradle.” He turned his round, fresh-scrubbed face to Adam. “We eloped when she was seventeen and I was nineteen. Been the best thirty years—”

  “Neither of us could have imagined it would turn out so well. But eloping isn’t for everyone.” Nancy stressed the last word, trying to stop her husband from putting his foot any further into his mouth. “Why, from what Meg has told us, your wedding was a big society do.”

  Two sets of curious eyes turned on him, and Adam didn’t know what to say. Meg’s marriage had been a big society affair? He’d concluded that she came from a wellto-do family who had spoiled her silly so that she thought she could get whatever she wanted, including him, but he hadn’t actually thought about her wedding day. She must have been humiliated—no matter what she claimed. Suddenly he was coldly angry with the man who had let Meg down, who had hurt her so badly that she had fled her life looking for a new one.

  He murmured some inanity about the wedding and then asked the Masterses about their grown children. Adam let them finish each other’s sentences for some time, but he didn’t learn anything interesting from Brian or Nancy. Except, of course, that Nancy knew computers, as did Dana Griffins. Whoever Adam was looking for had to be an expert.

  Of the other regulars—Anna Brown, a gift shop owner; Steve Gruber, a writer of detective novels; Reginald Truman and Ben Holden, drivers in Greg’s company—Adam didn’t find anyone even slightly suspicious. They were all potential suspects, but none of them had set off internal alarms.

  Adam was the last person on earth who would believe in any kind of extrasensory hocus-pocus. But he did trust his instincts. On more than one occasion, his gut reaction to someone had proven correct.

  He should know soon enough if he’d attracted the attention of his enemies. Everyone in Sedona knew he was here. Everyone except Abigail Milton, unfortunately.

  Meg came out of the kitchen and glared at him. He was by her side in a few quick steps. “Is something wrong?”

  “You!” she whispered angrily.

  “What about me?”

  “You’re a writer. A business writer!”

  “I told you I was.” He was honestly bewildered. This woman was even more of a kook than he’d imagined. What was wrong with being a business writer? He was a very successful one who worked for the New York Times. He’d written rags-to-riches stories, uncovered crooked CEOs, always been ready to tackle any kind of assignment. But he couldn’t begin to tackle Meg’s logic.

  She turned on him, hands on her hips, leaning in close so that no one could overhear. “You don’t understand. I’ve spent my whole life surrounded by writers. And Max, my ex-fiancé, was a businessman.”

  Before Adam could try to make any sense of Meg’s convoluted logic, a gentle hand touched his shoulder. He turned around to behold a blond goddess.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m interrupting.” She had the honeyed voice of an angel, wide blue eyes, big blond curls and perfect teeth. He’d never known a woman’s teeth could be so alluring.

  Adam smiled his most dashing smile at the ethereal beauty. He had the overwhelming urge to protect her from the big, bad world. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. I’m Adam Smith.”

  “The writer?” Her pretty blue eyes widened in recognition.

  At least someone knew and appreciated his work. Next to him, Meg made a curious strangled sound.

  The blond angel batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ve read your column for years and am thrilled to be able to make your acquaintance. Keeping up with business is a hobby of mine. You’re very good, Mr. Smith.”

  “Call me Adam, please.”

  “Adam. I’m Gloria Logan.” She took his hand in hers and gazed up at him with wonder. Adam would bet anything that this was a rational, logical woman. The kind he’d been searching for his entire life.

  The kind he’d been trying to avoid his entire life elbowed him in the side. Luckily she missed his injured ribs. “Adam’s my fiancé.”

  “I thought you weren’t engaged anymore.” Gloria didn’t exactly pout—Adam couldn’t quite describe what she did with her bee-stung lips except he wished she’d do it again. Moreover, she made it clear that she thought Adam being engaged was a loss to herself.
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  “Adam is trying to change my mind,” Meg said in a strained voice.

  Glad that for once Meg was annoyed with him instead of the other way around, he leaned closer to Gloria. “I believe we’re coming to dinner tomorrow night.”

  “I’m so pleased.” She smiled and a chorus of cherubs burst into song. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Meg has so many interesting hobbies, I’m afraid I could never keep up with her. Why, she’s had such a number of adventures after your aborted wedding...” She let her veiled criticism trail off, and when he didn’t jump to Meg’s defense, Gloria smiled again. “I came to remind you about our invitation. With so much excitement in town, I didn’t want you to forget.”

  “Not a chance of that,” Meg noted sourly, and stalked off. Adam watched her retreat, eyeing the short denim skirt she’d worn all day long. He’d been right; Meg did have great legs.

  Gloria touched a pink fingertip to his arm. Turning his full attention to her, he held her much smaller hand in his. “You must excuse Meg,” he said. “She becomes jealous easily. That was one of our problems.”

  “You poor dear. But now you’re back to win our Meg all over again.”

  “I didn’t realize you and Meg were such good friends.”

  “I could certainly never treat a man how Meg treated you.”

  “But I’m the one who treated Meg so shabbily.”

  Gloria quickly retreated from her miscue. “But you’re a big enough man to admit the error of his ways. To come back asking for forgiveness.” She ran a hand up his shirt. “I hope Meg realizes how lucky she is.”

  He looked up to see the topic of their conversation march out of the room. Glasses clattered dangerously in the kitchen. He smiled at Gloria.

  She must have realized she was treading on thin ground. She looked around the nearly empty room. “Goodness! We’re the last ones still here. I should go home as well.” Gloria paused, then added, “I look forward to dinner tomorrow.”

  “So do I. Immensely.”

  And he did. Alarm bells were ringing inside of him and Adam always trusted his instincts when it came to a story. Not when it came to women, but in everything else.

  At the door, Gloria briefly touched her lips to his. Adam felt Meg’s gaze on him, but when he turned around he only caught a glimpse of her heading up the stairs.

  As Gloria was the last person to leave, he locked the shop. Full of questions, he felt restless, so he cleaned up the last of the cups and plates, loading the dishwasher. He tidied and straightened in the kitchen for several minutes, but the only response from Meg was the slamming of the bathroom door. He waited until he heard her bedroom door slam before taking the back stairs to the small room that was his for the duration of his stay.

  After several hours during which sleep evaded him, Adam began to contemplate his stay here. The single bed held no appeal for him. As soon as he lay down he’d hear Meg’s voice: “Three kisses and we’ll be lovers.” His flirtation with Gloria this evening had been aimed at making Meg angry. To make her keep her distance from him.

  Lost in his reverie of exactly how impassioned Meg could become, Adam heard a thunk in the kitchen. Grabbing a heavy book, the only weapon at hand, he headed out of his room and down the back stairs to the kitchen. His plan, such as it was, had been to announce his presence in town loudly and clearly, to draw out the opposition. But he didn’t want Meg hurt.

  He heard quiet footsteps in the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, he jumped around the corner, rushed forward and threw a hammerlock around the intruder’s neck cutting off his air.

  When the man struggled, Adam wrapped an arm round his chest and encountered an armful of soft female breast. He smelled roses and let go of Meg.

  Gasping, she stepped away from him. He held his arms out, wide and unthreatening. “I heard a noise. I thought you were an intruder.”

  “I came down for a drink,” Meg explained.

  “Here.” Adam picked up the glass of warm milk on the counter. “You should have turned on the lights,” he said, as he flipped the switch, and then wished he hadn’t.

  “I didn’t want to wake you.” Meg, dressed in a clingy negligee, gratefully took the glass he was holding.

  He couldn’t help but watch the milk touch her lips, the swallow of her throat. Then he let his eyes dip lower, to her negligee-clad figure. Clearly Meg hadn’t expected him in the kitchen and hadn’t bothered belting her robe. The yellow satin hugged her curves, especially her breasts. When she finally noticed his stare, their tips hardened in reaction. “I didn’t...” she began, flustered, and reached for the lapels.

  “Don’t,” he said, his voice rough. “You look good. I like looking at you.”

  “What about Gloria?” There was a hint of outrage in her voice, and he had to bite back a smile.

  “That was just to make you mad.”

  “It worked.” She swallowed convulsively and took one step closer to him, raising her chin, her eyes meeting his, searching for answers. “Is this all you want to do? Look?”

  “No. I’m going to touch you.” With one hand on her hip he drew her closer to him; he ran the other up and down her side, stroking and exploring. She was lovely. The pull of the satin material aroused her nipples even further and he watched her eyes flame with desire.

  She didn’t offer any protest or encouragement, but let his hands move over her. Let him discover his needs and wants. When his hands molded her breasts, his thumbs brushing insistently against her swollen nipples, her mouth fell open, but still she said nothing. Waiting for him.

  He couldn’t fight his desire for her a second longer. He leaned close so that their lips almost touched. “How many times do I have to kiss you before we’re lovers?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

  “Three.”

  “How many times have we kissed?”

  “You’ve kissed me once.”

  “Twice more then.”

  “Yes.”

  He touched his lips to hers, and all he could feel was heat and need and flame and smoke and...

  “Damn.” He took her shoulders and pushed her away from him.

  “Fire!”

  6

  “HOW ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL,” Freddie said, holding on to the roll bar as Adam unsuccessfully tried to avoid a large hole in the dirt road. Meg muttered something under her breath about male drivers, but Adam refused to respond. He’d rented a four-wheel-drive Jeep from Greg’s operation earlier in the day and he was enjoying the feel of the desert all around him as he drove. Even his ribs felt better. His office had shipped him money and the extra credit cards and identification he kept for unexpected circumstances like this.

  “You must have been dreadfully frightened,” Freddie continued.

  “I was more shocked than anything else. Adam acted so quickly that we were able to grab the fire extinguishers and put out the flames before they spread through the store,” Meg answered, her voice quiet at the memory of what could have happened.

  “Did the fire chief say how it might have begun? A fire in that shop, with all those books...” Freddie shuddered. “It could have been an inferno. What if neither of you had woken up in time?”

  “Bill thinks someone threw a cigarette into some garbage that was too close to the shop, but still...it was scary. Someone from our meeting probably had a cigarette afterward and wasn’t careful. Because of the hot night air, it smoldered for hours....”

  “It’s a good thing both of you were awake so late,” Freddie hinted suggestively.

  “Yes,” Meg responded blandly.

  “Meg and I were lucky,” Adam agreed. Very lucky. He doubted the fire had been an accident, but he also doubted that it had been meant to kill them. It had been a warning. His last chance to drop the investigation and leave.

  He couldn’t just wait for Abby to come back and tell him her suspicions. Adam was glad to be able to get to the Logans’ ranch. As much as he didn’t like trusting his feelings, he’d felt that familiar prickling at the back of his neck w
hen he’d spoken with Gloria. That reaction needed to be checked out. She had been interested in him more than as the new single man in town—or as a man she could steal away from Meg. Gloria has been as suspicious of him as he was of her.

  He was also looking forward to the opportunity to meet Reid Logan.

  The last thing the fire had done was scare him off. Now he was angry and even more determined. However, Meg’s involvement worried him. He was putting her in danger. She was heedless of it, or rather, uncaring. Today when he’d suggested she might like to return home to her family for a visit, she had thrown a book at him and stormed out of the shop. She was fearless and beautiful and passionate, but she refused to listen to reason. He couldn’t deny, though, that if that fire hadn’t interrupted their kiss last night, reason wouldn’t have saved him. He and Meg would have made love. He wasn’t being conceited; she had made it clear that she wanted him. No, he was the one who had to remember restraint To remember his ex-wife. To remember he wanted to find the man who had hurt Kelly.

  And not to kiss Meg Cooper a third time.

  The Logans’ sprawling ranch house appeared in the fading sunlight. “We’ve been on the Logan property for the last twenty miles,” Freddie said. “Pretty impressive.”

  “Reid has one of the most spectacular ranches in the state. It’s been in the Logan family for over four generations. Gloria runs a very exclusive dude ranch operation catering to only one or two guests at a time,” said Meg.

  “Impressive,” Adam agreed, curious to meet Reid and to continue his acquaintance with the angelic Gloria.

  A tall, fair-haired man with the lope of a cowboy met them by the side of the house, where Adam parked the Jeep. “Hello,” he drawled, helping Meg out of the vehicle. Keeping a casual arm around her waist, he extended his hand toward Adam. “I’m Reid Logan and real glad you were able to join Meg. Gloria has been looking forward to seeing you again.” Reid turned his attention back to Meg, a slow smile spreading to the crinkling corners of his blue eyes. “Meg, you look beautiful as always.”