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“Like yours?”
She grinned, then took her hat off and placed it on his head. “Yeah, just like mine,” she said, turning the key in the ignition. “It’s a good look on you.”
Sofie made a wide U-turn and headed east out of town. Though her thoughts still strayed into fantasy-land when she looked at the handsome stranger sitting beside her, at least she had a reason to keep him close by. She needed an extra set of eyes and ears to investigate the case she was working on. And with his looks and charm, he’d be the perfect undercover investigator.
2
“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Cameron shouted.
“Into town,” Sofie said over the sound of the wind and the Jeep.
“Weren’t we just in town?”
She shook her head. “We’re going to Holman. It’s a bigger town. I’m going to check you out, and then, if you’re cool, we’re going to get you some work clothes and get started.”
“So tell me about the case,” he said.
“I’m working for a woman whose husband may or may not be cheating on her. There’s a prenup, but she needs proof before she can file for divorce. Her family has a lot of money and he’s a pretty powerful guy in Albuquerque politics. It’s going to be a messy divorce.”
“What do I do?”
“Mostly anything I can’t,” she said. “No one knows you, and as a guy, you can go places that I can’t without being noticed.”
“Like where?”
“Strip clubs,” she said. “Roadhouses.”
“You’re going to make me go to a strip club?” Cameron asked. He chuckled to himself. Now, this was a job he could get behind.
Maybe his grandfather had the right idea. When would he ever have had the chance to be a private investigator? It was the last thing in the world he could imagine doing for a living. He sat back and turned his face up into the sun.
Though Seattle was home, he couldn’t help but like the midday heat of the desert. And though he first thought the landscape was bare and lifeless, he was quickly learning to appreciate the stark beauty of it.
He had so many questions to ask, but it was impossible to talk with the noise of the wind and the Jeep’s engine. Instead, he made a careful study of the woman he’d now call “boss.”
He was usually more attracted to blondes and had dated the occasional redhead. But Sofie was something different. She was beautiful, but she was also tough and determined, resilient and focused. This was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted in life.
By the time Sofie pulled the Jeep into a parking spot in front of the Holman Public Library, he’d jumped out and circled around to help her out.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“I’m hoping to be your right-hand man,” he said. “So I need to make myself indispensable.”
She reached behind his seat and pulled out a backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. Then he took her hand and steadied her as she hopped out of the Jeep. As they strolled up to the front doors, he realized that her limp was more pronounced. He took the backpack from her and placed his hand on the small of her back. At this point, he was willing to use any excuse to touch her again.
“My hip gets stiff if I stay in one position too long,” she explained. “Like when I’m driving.”
Cameron wanted to ask her about the injury. But he knew she’d tell him when she was ready. “Maybe I should do the driving from now on,” he offered. “Then you can move around a little more.”
She smiled at him and he felt the warmth right down to his bones. “That would be nice,” she said.
When they got inside the library, Sofie headed directly for the reading tables. She opened the backpack and pulled out a small laptop, then signed on to the internet. “Cameron Quinn,” she said, typing his name into a Google search. “Seattle, Washington.”
He grinned as a list of hits came up on her screen. “Try this one,” he said, pointing to the website for Quinn Yachtworks. “I designed this then hired someone to code it all.” He pointed to a picture. “See, that’s me and my three brothers and my grandfather.”
“So you are who you say you are,” she said, glancing over at him. He couldn’t help but notice the reluctant smile that teased at the corners of her mouth.
He reached over and clicked on his bio, and another screen popped up, this with more pictures. She looked at them carefully. “You’re very …”
“Handsome?” he teased.
“Accomplished,” she said. “So explain to me again why you’re looking for a low-paying job in Vulture Creek, New Mexico?”
“My grandfather owns the Yachtworks. He has to decide who to put in charge when he retires. He wants us all to explore our options before we commit to the company for good.”
“Couldn’t you figure that out in Seattle?”
“Yeah. But you don’t know my grandfather. I think he wanted us to see a totally different lifestyle. He sent me to Vulture Creek because I had a childhood dream to be a paleontologist. I guess he thought there were dinosaur bones around here.”
“There are,” she said. “My uncle owns a ranch west of Vulture Creek. He has a wash that’s filled with all kinds of old bones. We used to dig around there when we were kids.”
“Really? I’d like to see that.”
“I could show you,” she murmured. “There are also a lot of Anasazi sites around here. You should see those, as well.”
Cameron reached out and pulled the laptop in front of him. “Can I do a Google search on you?”
“If you have any questions, you can just ask me.” She closed the computer. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“All right. How long have you been a private investigator?”
“About a year and a half.”
“What did you do before that?”
“I was on the police force in Albuquerque for four years,” she said. “I worked patrol at first, then transferred over to Narcotics. I was undercover until I got hurt. Now I’m working for my uncle until I can pass the physical and get back on the force.”
“How did you get hurt?”
Sofie turned to meet his gaze. “I made a stupid mistake.” For a long moment, she just stared into his eyes, as if trying to read his reaction. But all Cam could think about was leaning forward and touching his lips to hers.
He wanted to kiss her. He already knew how it would feel, the surge of desire that would wash over him, the heat that would snake through his bloodstream. He hadn’t found much time for a social life in the past few months, and he was feeling the need for physical contact.
Cameron didn’t usually spend a lot of thought on the pursuit of women. He was of the belief that when he really needed companionship, a woman would appear in his life. The philosophy had worked out well for the most part. There were periods in his past when he’d lost himself in the pursuit of pleasure and other times when he’d go months without any social contact with the opposite sex, being so preoccupied with work.
It had been a while since he’d shared his bed, Cameron thought to himself. He’d been involved with a new hull design at work, and it had taken every last minute of his time to perfect it before they’d put it into production. Now would be a perfect time to indulge.
Yet every instinct he possessed told him to take his time. Sofie Reyes wasn’t the kind of female one could simply bed and then abandon. She was cautious and guarded, and he wasn’t sure how to break down the walls between them. He saw something else in her—a vulnerability, a fragility, that warned him to proceed carefully. He would need to control his impulses and school his desires until she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
“Any more questions?” she asked.
Cameron shook his head.
“I have one more,” Sofie said in a soft voice. Her gaze drifted down to his mouth.
“What is it?”
“You have to be completely honest,” she said. “Can you do that?”
Cameron nodded. “Ask away.”
“What are you thinking about? Right now? What’s running through your mind?”
He paused. Was he really prepared to tell the truth? If he did, there was every chance he’d feel compelled to turn thought into action. “I’m not sure I should—”
“Answer my question,” she said.
“Honestly?” Cameron cleared his throat. “I was thinking about what it would be like to kiss you. Not that I had any intention of trying to kiss you. It just crossed my mind. And hey, you asked for honesty.”
She didn’t seem at all surprised by his reply. The only reaction he saw was a quick blink of her eyes and a barely perceptible gasp.
“I’m not sure that would be wise,” Sofie said.
Cameron looked around, taking in their surroundings. “Not here. And not now. But maybe sometime. In the future.”
“When?” Sofie asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You can’t really plan things like that. They’re much better when they come spontaneously, don’t you think?”
Sofie nodded. “We should go. We have a lot of work to do today.” She stood up and gathered her things, putting her computer back into her backpack.
“Just tell me what to do,” he said. “I’m ready.”
She pulled a file folder from her pack and handed it to him. “You can read this.” She started for the door.
Curious, Cam took the folder and opened it as they walked. A black-and-white photo of a middle-aged man smiled back at him—the kind of guy that everyone loved, everyone trusted. “He’s a politician?”
She shook her head. “No. But he knows a lot of politicians. His name is Walter Fredericks. He’s a real-estate broker and developer around Albuquerque. He owns most of the property in Vulture Creek, including Millie’s diner, plus land in almost every little town between Albuquerque and Gallup. He’s very well connected.”
“Does Millie know you’re investigating him?”
“No,” Sofie said. “He’s got a mistress in Vulture Creek. He’s got her set up in a nice little ranch outside town. I’m pretty sure he’s been paying her expenses with kickbacks he’s getting on some of his construction projects. And the people in his office are aware of this. I also suspect that there’s something else going on. He does a lot of business out of the local strip club, which seems to be the regular gathering place for the criminal element in these parts.”
When they got to the Jeep, she got in behind the wheel and Cameron slipped into the passenger seat. “He spends the morning at his office in Albuquerque, drives out to Vulture Creek and has lunch at the Bunny Shack most days, then spends the afternoon with his mistress. He heads back to Albuquerque at about three and has dinner with his wife.”
“You said he buys and sells real estate? Maybe I could mention that I’m looking to make some investments in the area.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” she said, nodding.
“It’s a good idea,” he said. “I could have lunch at the Bunny Shack tomorrow. Chat him up.”
“We’ll have to work on a cover story for you. Why would a yacht designer from Seattle want to buy land in Vulture Creek?”
“I’m looking to start over. Someplace where it doesn’t rain every day. I’m about to come into some big money when my grandfather sells the family business and I’ve always been interested in paleontology. I really don’t have to do anything but tell the truth.”
“All right, you are good at this. The closer you stay to the truth, the easier it is. But you need to get personal information out of him without seeming too nosy. Steer the talk toward women. You’re alone in town. You’re lonely.”
“But I’m not lonely,” he said.
“You’re going to have to pretend. I need to know as much as I can about this woman. Her name. Where he met her. How long he’s known her. What their arrangement is.”
“Maybe I should wear a wire,” he said.
Sofie laughed. “A wire?”
“Yeah. To record our conversation. That way you know exactly what he says and I don’t have to remember it all.”
She turned on the ignition and pulled the Jeep out of the library parking lot. “We’ll practice before we throw you in the deep end.”
“So, I have the job?” Cameron asked.
“Yes, you have the job. For now. But only as long as you do everything exactly as I say. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Cameron said. “We should probably discuss compensation. I’m going to have to find a place to stay.”
“I’ll take care of your expenses,” she said. “If you do a good job, I’ll give you a small stipend. And if we get what we need, then there’ll be a bonus for you.”
“All right,” he said. “I can live with that.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry, I plan to get my money’s worth out of you,” Sofie teased.
CAMERON STARED AT himself in the mirror, nodding his head. “I like this one,” he muttered, tugging at the sleeves of the pale blue work shirt. “It feels good. The sleeves are long enough.”
Once they’d found a hat, Sofie realized that Cameron would need a few long-sleeved shirts to protect his arms from the sun. All he’d brought along were dress shirts and T-shirts. But she hadn’t prepared herself for the fitting-room ordeal of watching him actually try the shirts on.
“That is a nice one,” she said. “It fits … well.” Sofie swallowed hard. He had such a beautiful body—long limbs, a finely muscled chest, broad shoulders. “And it will keep you from getting sunburned.”
“The heat down here is pretty intense,” he agreed as he unbuttoned the shirt. “Not like Seattle. That’s a city made for Irish skin.” He grabbed her hand and held it next to his. “I’m downright pasty next to you.”
She shrugged “I owe half of that to my Mexican father and the other half to my Hopi mother.”
“It’s a nice combination,” he murmured. “They did a good job.”
Her gaze skimmed over the naked width of his back as he slipped out of the shirt and handed it to her. Sofie’s fingers trembled as she fought the urge to touch him. “I—I should probably put the roof on my Jeep. That would help with the sun.”
Cameron pulled on another shirt, this one a deep garnet color. “How about this? Good for lunch at the Bunny Shack.”
She watched as Cameron toyed with the mother-of-pearl buttons on the pockets. He did look good in the deep red. It set off his dark hair and impossibly blue eyes. “The girls there are going to love you. They’ll be all over you before you even sit down.”
