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Angry and surprised, Zach stared down into wide eyes, framed by a riot of red curls that tumbled down the back of this intruder’s neck. With a stirring of memory, he studied her crystal green eyes, straight nose, slightly pointed chin, prominent cheekbones. Besides their long ago meeting, she looked incredibly familiar. Another face flitted to mind—his daughter’s. With her tangle of red curls and big green eyes, her freckled nose and little pointed chin, his daughter could belong to this woman.
“You’re my ex-brother-in-law,” Emily said in a whispery voice, as if desperately emphasizing their relationship.
He could see the vein in her throat and knew her pulse was racing. Anger mushroomed in him. He didn’t want anything to do with his ex-wife—or her sister.
“Damn it, what kind of game are you playing? What do you want?”
Emily’s heart thudded. His dark gaze was intense, and in her peripheral vision she was too aware of his bare chest and broad shoulders, the faint hint of stubble on his jaw. She could detect the scent of aftershave.
And as she stood looking up at him, tension pulled at her again, making her feel as if the air between them crackled. She felt drawn into his midnight eyes, tumbling into a blackness that carried her on a swift current to an unknown destination. He stood too close and he was too bare. Too virile. When his gaze shifted to her mouth, she couldn’t get her breath. She was reacting to him as a man—something she didn’t want to do and couldn’t recall ever having done so intensely before. In her well-ordered life, there were no moments of irrational, unwanted attraction.
“What in the hell were you doing creeping around my house in the dead of night?” His words broke the spell, jolting her and reminding her that she might be in danger. His hand relaxed in her hair, and her head was no longer pulled back, yet she continued to gaze up at him, locked in his compelling stare.
“I’m looking for Amber,” she answered, her voice sounding faint and breathless. Amber’s men were probably as unpredictable as was Amber. They could run to violence but that had never kept Amber from flirting with them—or even marrying them. Emily wished desperately she were back in Chicago, safe in her own apartment. Yet in spite of her sense of danger, she was intensely aware of Zach as a strong, sexy male.
His hand shifted to her jaw and she noticed the warmth of his fingers. “You could get hurt badly. Didn’t you see my No Trespassing signs?”
“Yes,” she whispered as he looked at her mouth again. Just a look and her lips tingled and parted. “You were the last person seen with my sister,” she said breathlessly, trying to think about something besides his dark eyes and masculine mouth. “Amber was here, in the Red Rocket Bar a week ago Saturday night.”
The tenseness left his shoulders, but pinpoints of anger still danced in his eyes.
“Are you carrying a gun?”
“No,” she answered.
He inhaled, his broad chest expanding. Then he stepped away. “Why didn’t you just call me? We’re not complete strangers.”
“To all practical purposes, we are. One brief dinner together doesn’t constitute family ties. Besides, your number is unlisted. Zach, I need to find my sister, and I was willing to do anything to get the answers.”
“I could have shot you for trespassing.”
He sounded disgusted and moved away from her, turning to stare at her with his hands on his hips. It was difficult to keep her gaze on his face; his bare chest was impossible to ignore. She realized it must have been a long time since she had seen a man’s chest. It had definitely been a long time since she had seen muscles like his.
“I don’t know where your sister is. We parted ways a long time ago and haven’t kept in touch. She doesn’t come to see her children or write to them or call them.” The last was said with bitterness and a hint of accusation, as if Emily, too, were guilty of neglecting them.
“She was here and talked to you a week ago.”
“She came into the bar while I was there. I didn’t know she was in the state. I talked to her, but I didn’t leave with her. I didn’t even see her leave. We just talked, that’s all. And when I asked her if she would see the children, she said she might the next day.”
Something thumped above them, and Emily looked up.
“That’s my daughter or son.”
“My niece or nephew.”
“Give me a break,” he said with unmistakable disgust. “You’ve never seen them or talked to them or written them.”
“I did write when they were born, and Amber never answered. You and Amber divorced when they were babies. You know Amber and I weren’t close. She never invited me to see them and neither have you!”
He waved his hand to stop her excuses. Her gaze wavered and flicked down over him. The knees of his jeans were wet and had smudges of damp earth from their encounter outside.
“Where’s your car?” he asked.
“Up on the road.”
“That was damn foolhardy.”
“Amber called me a week ago and she sounded terrified of someone.”
“So you decided it was me?” he asked, arching a dark eyebrow, disgust returning to his voice.
“She was in this area—why else would she be here?”
“Your sister is totally unpredictable. I saw her only briefly and she didn’t tell me about any plans. And she didn’t act afraid of anything. Far from it. She was flirting and having her usual good time.”
Zach knew he sounded bitter. Amber was a tall, dropdead gorgeous blonde and he had fallen for her, marrying her within a month of meeting her. They had married in Las Vegas, spent two nights there, flown to New York and spent a week there. On the way home they had stopped in Chicago and had had dinner with the sister. He barely remembered Emily because at the time he only had eyes for Amber. The honeymoon had lasted until she discovered she was pregnant and then she had thrown a screaming fit, telling him she was getting an abortion. He had talked her out of it. Zach drew a deep breath. Every thought about Amber stung. Anger burned, flickering between fury at himself for being so blind, and rage at Amber for her attitude toward her children.
And he only half believed the sister. He didn’t know what she was up to. When Amber had sashayed into the bar last week, she hadn’t acted frightened. He remembered her sitting next to him, flirting as her hand played over his thigh. Even though she wore Husband Number Three’s wedding ring, Zach knew he could have brought her home to his bed. She would have stayed a while, grown restless again, especially with the children, and gone on her way. He didn’t intend to fall into that trap again, or to let her get the children’s hopes up—only to disappoint them again.
“Did she tell you anything about another man?” Emily asked, bringing his thoughts back to her.
Zach shook his head, knowing he was being uncooperative. But he had been badly hurt by Amber. And he blamed himself for being such a fool over her and letting his body rule his mind and heart. The woman was shallow and selfish, and he should have seen it clearly.
He didn’t want to deal with her sister, either. He wanted to get her out of his house and send her on her way. He wasn’t concerned with this woman’s problems. Let her search for her sister. Never again did he want to be involved with Amber.
And all the time he was angrily deciding to get rid of her, Emily’s big green eyes tugged at him. In spite of the pull, he intended to stay out of it—even though it was obvious she didn’t know the first thing about searching for a missing person.
“Did you see her with any other man?”
“She talked to other guys. That’s the last I remember.”
Feeling defeated and frustrated, Emily stared at Zach. Something didn’t seem right about him. He was a rancher, yet he kept to himself. She had always thought ranchers were friendly people. But Zach kept the road to his house fenced and locked.
“I tackled you pretty hard,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “In the dark, I thought you were a man.”
“That comes from being almost six feet tall,” she remarked dryly.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, touching ribs that ached badly. “A little sore.”
“I’ll get the kids, and we’ll drive you back to your car. You shouldn’t have left it on the highway.”
“Don’t wake them at this hour. I can walk back.”
“No, you can’t. I think they’re awake, anyway. I’ll go see.”
“Isn’t it late for little children to be awake?”
“They went to bed a long time ago. They woke up and wanted drinks of water. Since my divorce, they don’t sleep well. If they’re asleep again, I’ll carry them down.”
“May I come see them?”
He glanced at her, seeing the uncertainty in her expression. He knew Amber’s moods and the chronic liar and actress that she was. He suspected the sister was the same, and wondered if she was trying to soften him up. She couldn’t give a damn about the children because she knew nothing about them.
“I suppose.” He leveled a look at her that made her draw a shaky breath.
Emily felt anger and dislike radiate from him like heat from a wood stove. “You don’t even know me, yet you dislike me.”
He had started toward the hall. He stopped and swung around. “I know you’re Amber’s sister. You’re blood kin. Your sister is coldhearted, completely wrapped up in herself. There are two little children upstairs that have been hurt damnably by her.”
He left the room and Emily trailed behind him, watching the play of muscles in his back. She was stunned by his anger. She couldn’t argue with him. And she suspected that this man had been as badly hurt as the two children.
As she walked beside him into the hall, she was aware of his height. She was nearly six feet tall, yet he was taller than she by a good seven or eight inches.
“Why aren’t the police searching for Amber?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.
“They have started searching,” she replied. “Last weekend they found her car abandoned and burned.”
Zach frowned. “I saw that car on the television news, but it didn’t say anything about Amber.” And in the numerous times Zach had spoken with Nunez about Amber, the sheriff never once mentioned the burned-out car or that Amber was considered a missing person.
“They found my name on a slip of paper that was in the grass near the car. They called me before they were absolutely sure it was her car.”
“I can’t imagine your sister isn’t somewhere doing exactly what she wants. On the other hand, maybe she finally went too far with someone.”
“I’m worried about her. She sounded terrified when she called me.”
He shrugged and continued up the steps in silence. At the top of the stairs, he motioned toward an open door. As they entered, she heard a thumping. Zach switched on another light that revealed a black retriever sprawled on the floor, his tail thumping loudly. The dog got to its feet and crossed the room toward them.
“This is Tiger.”
“I was afraid of a watchdog.”
“Yeah, well, this is one of them—and he’s as tough as vanilla pudding.”
She scratched the dog’s head and followed Zach across the room to a narrow child’s bed that had a play castle as a headboard. He leaned over the bed and Emily reached out to grasp his arm. The instant her fingers closed around his muscled forearm, she felt an acute awareness of him. “Don’t wake her,” she whispered. “I can walk to my car.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her hand and then at her.
Emily’s gaze ran past him to the child, and she forgot the man.
“Oh, great saints,” she whispered and moved closer, forgetting Zach Durham’s existence as she looked at the hauntingly familiar sleeping child.
Two
Zach stared at Emily. Her face paled and she moved closer, brushing against him as she leaned over the bed. He looked from her to his sleeping baby and he knew why she was stunned. The child looked like her child. Two heads of red ringlets caught the light and reflected gold in their depths. Two pairs of eyes were fringed with thick, auburn lashes. Two straight noses were sprinkled with freckles. And he knew if Rebecca opened her eyes, they would match the green of Emily’s.
Amber had been a natural redhead, but she had always kept her hair dyed blond. And it was straight, bearing little resemblance to Rebecca’s curls.
Zach watched Emily reach out to touch one of those cuds, letting it wind around her finger. He frowned and studied her, remembering the times Amber had played him for a fool with her lying. Did the sister really feel moved by the sight of her niece, or was this some ploy?
She stepped closer, and he wondered whether she was aware of his existence. As he stared at her, he fought a strange battle with his emotions. He didn’t want to soften his feelings toward her. She was Amber’s sister! Yet he couldn’t help feeling less hostile toward her as she stared at Rebecca. Tears glistened in Emily’s eyes, and he watched her swipe her hand across her face.
If she was so moved by the sight of her niece, why hadn’t she written or contacted them? Yet already he knew the answer. Amber kept no ties to anyone. He knew almost nothing about Amber’s family except that the father was in prison for robbery.
He walked to the center of the room and waited until Emily turned from the bed. Her face was pale and her expression was forlorn as if she had just lost something valuable. He had a ridiculous urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her she could stay and get to know Rebecca.
He shook off the impulse. “You can stay here tonight and we’ll take you to your car in the morning,” he said, wondering if even this gesture was a sign that he had lost his wits.
“Oh, no! I don’t want to put you out. It wasn’t that bad a walk. I really don’t mind.”
“We have plenty of room here,” he said, realizing she didn’t want to stay any more than he wanted to have her. “Either you stay or I wake them.”
She bit her lip as if torn and glanced back at Rebecca. “I’ll stay. Please don’t wake them. May I see Jason, too?”
“Sure,” he answered, realizing there were things she probably wanted to know about her sister—things he didn’t want to get into right now.
“Don’t turn the light on in his room. The hall light will be enough,” she said.
“Nothing except bad dreams will wake them. They can sleep through storms, noise, light.” He crossed the hall with her at his side and switched the light on in another small bedroom. Two fuzzy mutts blinked sleepy eyes and wagged their tails.
“The dogs are Tater and Spot.”
Barely noticing the small dogs, Emily crossed the room to a narrow, four-poster bed. She leaned over it and looked at the sleeping three year old. The little boy had a mass of brown ringlets, the same freckled nose, the same pointy chin. Again shocked by the unmistakable resemblance, Emily moved closer, lost in thought.
How could Amber have run away and left them behind? Emily glanced over her shoulder at Zach, who lounged in the doorway and watched her. Was he to blame?
Emily felt a pang. She had never expected to have marriage, a husband, or children in her life. God knows, her family genes should not be passed on to another generation. Or so she had always thought—these two little children carried those genes and they looked sweet, innocent and adorable.
How could Amber have left them? The question tore at Emily again. It had to be Zach. No mother would willingly leave such angels—not even Amber, though she had never taken responsibility for anything in her life.
Zach turned and motioned toward the door. Emily tiptoed out while his boot heels scraped the floor with each step.
“The dogs stay up here?”
“They won’t leave those kids.” He changed the subject. “Let’s get something to drink. I have ice tea, coffee, milk or beer.”
“Tea’s fine,” she said, then lapsed into silence. Zach wanted some answers from her and he knew there were things he should tell her. Sheriff Nunez was a closemouthed, noncommunicative man and must not have said much to her about Amber. Nunez hadn’t even told him everything the police knew. And the sheriff certainly hadn’t mentioned talking to Emily.
Zach switched on the light in the kitchen. As soon as Emily stepped inside, he turned to face her, blocking her path. “Before I get drinks, let’s talk.”
“Sure,” Emily replied, puzzled, wondering whether there was something about Amber she didn’t know. Was he going to tell her?
Zach placed his hands against the wall on each side of her, hemming her in, moving in too close. She could feel the warmth of his body, smell his hair. The determination in his eyes made her want to duck and run.
“You said you came looking for your sister. I think you ought to tell me more about it. Amber could be involved in anything with anybody. She wasn’t very discriminating. You may be in danger, too. You may have led someone to us and put us both in danger.”
Startled by his remarks, Emily frowned. “You’re standing too close.”
