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“Ms. Radcliffe.” With the same unsmiling stare, he gestured to the chair across from him. “Buy you a cup of coffee?”
Normally she would’ve refused, politely enough. But now, for some intangible reason, Lee felt as though she had a point to prove. For the same intangible reason, she felt she had to prove it to him as much as to herself. “Thank you.” The moment she sat down, a waitress was there, pouring coffee.
“Enjoying the conference?”
“Yes.” Lee poured cream into the cup, stirring it around and around until a tiny whirlpool formed in the center. “As disorganized as everything seems to be, there was an amazing amount of information generated at the workshop I went to this morning.”
A smile touched his lips, so lightly that it was barely there at all. “You prefer organization?”
“It’s more productive.” Though he was dressed more formally than he’d been the day before, the pleated slacks and open-necked shirt were still casual. She wondered why he wasn’t required to wear a uniform. But then, she thought, you could put him in one of those nifty white jackets and neat ties and his eyes would simply defy them.
“A lot of fascinating things can come out of chaos, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps.” She frowned down at the whirlpool in her cup. Why did she feel as though she was being sucked in, in just that way? And why, she thought with a sudden flash of impatience, was she sitting here having a philosophical discussion with a stranger when she should be outlining the two stories she planned to write?
“Did you find Hunter Brown?” he asked her as he studied her over the rim of his cup. Annoyed with herself, he guessed accurately, and anxious to be off doing.
“What?” Distracted, Lee looked back up to find those strange eyes still on her.
“I asked if you’d run into Hunter Brown.” The whisper of a smile was on his lips again, and this time it touched his eyes as well. It didn’t make them any less intense.
“No.” Defensive without knowing why, Lee sipped at her cooling coffee. “Why?”
“After the things you said yesterday, I was curious what you’d think of him once you met him.” He took a drag from his cigarette and blew smoke out in a haze. “People usually have a preconceived image of someone but it rarely holds up in the flesh.”
“It’s difficult to have any kind of an image of someone who hides away from the world.”
His brow went up, but his voice remained mild. “Hides?”
“It’s the word that comes to my mind,” Lee returned, again finding that she was speaking her thoughts aloud to him. “There’s no picture of him on the back of any of his books, no bio. He never grants interviews, never denies or substantiates anything written about him. Any awards he’s received have been accepted by his agent or his editor.” She ran her fingers up and down the handle of her spoon. “I’ve heard he occasionally attends affairs like this, but only if it’s a very small conference and there’s no publicity about his appearance.”
All during her speech, Hunter kept his eyes on her, watching every nuance of expression. There were traces of frustration, he was certain, and of eagerness. The lovely cameo face was calm while her fingers moved restlessly. She’d be in his next book, he decided on the spot. He’d never met anyone with more potential for being a central character.
Because his direct, unblinking stare made her want to stammer, Lee gave him back the hard, uncompromising look. “Why do you stare at me like that?”
He continued to do so without any show of discomfort. “Because you’re an interesting woman.”
Another man might have said beautiful, still another might have said fascinating. Lee could have tossed off either one with light scorn. She picked up her spoon again, then set it down. “Why?”
“You have a tidy mind, innate style, and you’re a bundle of nerves.” He liked the way the faint line appeared between her brows when she frowned. It meant stubbornness to him, and tenacity. He respected both. “I’ve always been intrigued by pockets,” Hunter went on. “The deeper the better. I find myself wondering just what’s in your pockets, Ms. Radcliffe.”
She felt the tremor again, up her spine, then down. It wasn’t comfortable to sit near a man who could do that. She had a moment’s sympathy for every person she’d ever interviewed. “You have an odd way of putting things,” she muttered.
“So I’ve been told.”
She instructed herself to get up and leave. It didn’t make sense to sit there being disturbed by a man she could dismiss with a five-dollar tip. “What are you doing in Flagstaff?” she demanded. “You don’t strike me as someone who’d be content to drive back and forth to an airport day after day, shuttling passengers and hauling luggage.”
“Impressions make fascinating little paintings, don’t they?” He smiled at her fully, as he had the day before when she’d tipped him. Lee wasn’t sure why she’d felt he’d been laughing at her then, any more than why she felt he was laughing at her now. Despite herself, her lips curved in response. He found the smile a pleasant and very alluring surprise.
“You’re a very odd man.”
“I’ve been told that, too.” His smile faded and his eyes became intense again. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
The question didn’t surprise her as much as the fact that she wanted to accept, and nearly had. “No,” she said, cautiously retreating. “I don’t think so.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
She was surprised again. Most men would’ve pressed a bit. It was, well, expected, Lee reflected, wishing she could figure him out. “I have to get back.” She reached for her briefcase. “Do you know where the Canyon Room is?”
With an inward chuckle, he dropped bills on the table. “Yes, I’ll show you.”
“That’s not necessary,” Lee began, rising.
“I’ve got time.” He walked with her out of the coffee shop and into the wide, carpeted lobby. “Do you plan to do any sight-seeing while you’re here?”
“There won’t be time.” She glanced out one of the wide windows at the towering peak of Humphrey Peak. “As soon as the conference is over I have to get back.”
“To where?”
“Los Angeles.”
“Too many people,” Hunter said automatically. “Don’t you ever feel as though they’re using up your air?”
She wouldn’t have put it that way, would never have thought of it, but there were times she felt a twinge of what might be called claustrophobia. Still, her home was there, and more important, her work. “No. There’s enough air, such as it is, for everyone.”
“You’ve never stood at the south rim of the canyon and looked out, and breathed in.”
Again, Lee shot him a look. He had a way of saying things that gave you an immediate picture. For the second time, she regretted that she wouldn’t be able to take a day or two to explore some of the vastness of Arizona. “Maybe some other time.” Shrugging, she turned with him as he headed down a corridor to the right.
“Time’s fickle,” he commented. “When you need it, there’s too little of it. Then you wake up at three o’clock in the morning, and there’s too much of it. It’s usually better to take it than to anticipate it. You might try that,” he said, looking down at her again. “It might help your nerves.”
Her brows drew together. “There’s nothing wrong with my nerves.”
“Some people can thrive on nervous energy for weeks at a time, then they have to find that little valve that lets the steam escape.” For the first time, he touched her, just fingertips to the ends of her hair. But she felt it, experienced it, as hard and strong as if his hand had closed firmly over hers. “What do you do to let the steam escape, Lenore?”
She didn’t stiffen, or casually nudge his hand away as she would have done at any other time. Instead, she stood still, toying with a sensation she couldn’t remember ever experiencing before. Thunder and lightning, she thought. There was thunder and lightning in this man, deep under the strangely aloof, oddly open exterior. She wasn’t about to be caught in the storm.
“I work,” she said easily, but her fingers had tightened on the handle of her briefcase. “I don’t need any other escape valve.” She didn’t step back, but let the haughtiness that had always protected her enter her tone. “No one calls me Lenore.”
“No?” He nearly smiled. It was this look, she realized, the secret amusement the onlooker could only guess at rather than see, that most intrigued. She thought he probably knew that. “But it suits you. Feminine, elegant, a little distant. And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ‘Lenore’! Yes.” He let his fingertips linger a moment longer on her hair. “I think Poe would’ve found you very apt.”
Before she could prevent it, before she could anticipate it, her knees were weak. She’d felt the sound of her own name feather over her skin. “Who are you?” Lee found herself demanding. Was it possible to be so deeply affected by someone without even knowing his name? She stepped forward in what seemed to be a challenge. “Just who are you?”
He smiled again, with the oddly gentle charm that shouldn’t have suited his eyes yet somehow did. “Strange, you never asked before. You’d better go in,” he told her as people began to gravitate toward the open doors of the Canyon Room. “You’ll want a good seat.”
“Yes.” She drew back, a bit shaken by the ferocity of the desire she felt to learn more about him. With a last look over her shoulder, Lee walked in and settled in the front row. It was time to get her mind back on the business she’d come for, and the business was Hunter Brown. Distractions like incomprehensible men who drove Jeeps for a living would have to be put aside.
From her briefcase, Lee took a fresh notebook and two pencils, slipping one behind her ear. Within a few moments, she’d be able to see and study the mysterious Hunter Brown. She’d be able to listen and take notes with perfect freedom. After his lecture, she’d be able to question him, and if she had her way, she’d arrange some kind of one-on-one for later.
Lee had given the ethics of the situation careful thought. She didn’t feel it would be necessary to tell Brown she was a reporter. She was there as an aspiring writer and had the fledgling manuscript to prove it. Anyone there was free to try to write and sell an article on the conference and its participants. Only if Brown used the words off the record would she be bound to silence. Without that, anything he said was public property.
This story could be her next step up the ladder. Would be, Lee corrected. The first documented, authentically researched story on Hunter Brown could push her beyond Celebrity’s scope. It would be controversial, colorful and, most important, exclusive. With this under her belt, even her quietly critical family would be impressed. With this under her belt, Lee thought, she’d be that much closer to the top rung, where her sights were always set.
Once she was there, all the hard work, the long hours, the obsessive dedication, would be worth it. Because once she was there, she was there to stay. At the top, Lee thought almost fiercely. As high as she could reach.
On the other side of the doors, on the other side of the corridor, Hunter stood with his editor, half listening to her comments on an interview she’d had with an aspiring writer. He caught the gist, that she was excited about the writer’s potential. It was a talent of his to be able to conduct a perfectly lucid conversation when his mind was on something entirely different. It was something he roused himself to do only when the mood was on him. So he spoke to his editor and thought of Lee Radcliffe.
Yes, he was definitely going to use her in his next book. True, the plot was only a vague notion in his head, but he already knew she’d be the core of it. He needed to dig a bit deeper before he’d be satisfied, but he didn’t foresee any problem there. If he’d gauged her correctly, she’d be confused when he walked to the podium, then stunned, then furious. If she wanted to talk to him as badly as she’d indicated, she’d swallow her temper.
A strong woman, Hunter decided. A will of iron and skin like cream. Vulnerable eyes and a damn-the-devil chin. A character was nothing without contrasts, strengths and weaknesses. And secrets, he thought, already certain he’d discover hers. He had another day and a half to explore Lenore Radcliffe. Hunter figured that was enough.
The corridor was full of laughter and complaints and enthusiasm as people loitered or filed through into the adjoining room. He knew what it was to feel enthusiastic about being a writer. If the pleasure went out of it, he’d still write. He was compelled to. But it would show in his work. Emotions always showed. He never allowed his feeling and thoughts to pour into his work—they would have done so regardless of his permission.
Hunter considered it a fair trade-off. His emotions, his thoughts, were there for anyone who cared to read them. His life was completely and without exception his own.
The woman beside him had his affection and his respect. He’d argued with her over motivation and sentence structure, losing as often as winning. He’d shouted at her, laughed with her and given her emotional support through her recent divorce. He knew her age, her favorite drink and her weakness for cashews. She’d been his editor for three years, which is as close to a marriage as many people come. Yet she had no idea he had a ten-year-old daughter named Sarah who liked to bake cookies and play soccer.
Hunter took a last drag on his cigarette as the president of the small writers’ group approached. The man was a slick, imaginative science fiction writer whom Hunter had read and enjoyed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be there, about to make one of his rare appearances in the writing community.
“Mr. Brown, I don’t need to tell you again how honored we are to have you here.”
“No—” Hunter gave him the easy half smile “—you don’t.”
“There’s liable to be quite a commotion when I announce you. After your lecture, I’ll do everything I can to keep the thundering horde back.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll manage.”
The man nodded, never doubting it. “I’m having a small reception in my suite this evening, if you’d like to join us.”
“I appreciate it, but I have a dinner engagement.”
Though he didn’t know quite what to make of the smile, the organization’s president was too intelligent to press his luck when he was about to pull off a coup. “If you’re ready then, I’ll announce you.”
“Any time.”
Hunter followed him into the Canyon Room, then loitered just inside the doors. The room was already buzzing with anticipation and curiosity. The podium was set on a small stage in front of two hundred chairs that were nearly all filled. Talk died down when the president approached the stage, but continued in pockets of murmurs even after he’d begun to speak. Hunter heard one of the men nearest him whisper to a companion that he had three publishing houses competing for his manuscript. Hunter skimmed over the crowd, barely listening to the beginning of his introduction. Then his gaze rested again on Lee.
She was watching the speaker with a small, polite smile on her lips, but her eyes gave her away. They were dark and eager. Hunter let his gaze roam down until it rested in her lap. There, her hand opened and closed on the pencil. A bundle of nerves and energy wrapped in a very thin layer of confidence, he thought.
For the second time Lee felt his eyes on her, and for the second time she turned so that their gazes locked. The faint line marred her brow again as she wondered what he was doing inside the conference room. Unperturbed, leaning easily against the wall, Hunter stared back at her.
“His career’s risen steadily since the publication of his first book, only five years ago. Since the first, The Devil’s Due, he’s given us the pleasure of being scared out of our socks every time we pick up his work.” At the mention of the title, the murmurs increased and heads began to swivel. Hunter continued to stare at Lee, and she back at him, frowning. “His latest, Silent Scream, is already solid in the number-one spot on the bestseller list. We’re honored and privileged to welcome to Flag staff—Hunter Brown.”
The effusive applause competed with the growing murmurs of two hundred people in a closed room. Casually, Hunter straightened from the wall and walked to the stage. He saw the pencil fall out of Lee’s hand and roll to the floor. Without breaking rhythm, he stooped and picked it up.
“Better hold on to this,” he advised, looking into her astonished eyes. As he handed it back, he watched astonishment flare into fury.
“You’re a—”
“Yes, but you’d better tell me later.” Walking the rest of the way to the stage, Hunter stepped behind the podium and waited for the applause to fade. Again he skimmed the crowd, but this time with such a quiet intensity that all sound died. For ten seconds there wasn’t even the sound of breathing. “Terror,” Hunter said into the microphone.
From the first word he had them spellbound, and held them captive for forty minutes. No one moved, no one yawned, no one slipped out for a cigarette. With her teeth clenched tight, Lee knew she despised him.
Simmering, struggling against the urge to spring up and stalk out, Lee sat stiffly and took meticulous notes. In the margin of the book she drew a perfectly recognizable caricature of Hunter with a dagger through his heart. It gave her enormous satisfaction.
When he agreed to field questions for ten minutes, Lee’s was the first hand up. Hunter looked directly at her, smiled and called on someone three rows back.
He answered professional questions professionally and evaded any personal references. She had to admire his skill, particularly since she was well aware he so seldom spoke in public. He showed no nerves, no hesitation and absolutely no inclination to call on her, though her hand was up and her eyes shot fiery little darts at him. But she was a reporter, Lee reminded herself. Reporters got nowhere if they stood on ceremony.
“Mr. Brown,” Lee began, and rose.
“Sorry.” With his slow smile, he held up a hand. “I’m afraid we’re already overtime. Best of luck to all of you.” He left the podium and the room, under a hail of applause. By the time Lee could work her way to the doors, she’d heard enough praise of Hunter Brown to turn her simmering temper to boil.
The nerve, she thought as she finally made it into the corridor. The unspeakable nerve. She didn’t mind being bested in a game of chess; she could handle having her work criticized and her opinion questioned. All in all, Lee considered herself a reasonable, low-key person with no more than her fair share of conceit. The one thing she couldn’t, wouldn’t, tolerate was being made a fool of.
Revenge sprang into her mind, nasty, petty revenge. Oh, yes, she thought as she tried to work her way through the thick crowd of Hunter Brown fans, she’d have her revenge, somehow, some way. And when she did, it would be perfect.
She turned off at the elevators, knowing she was too full of fury to deal successfully with Hunter at that moment. She needed an hour to cool off and to plan. The pencil she still held snapped between her fingers. If it was the last thing she did, she was going to make Hunter Brown squirm.
Just as she started to push the button for her floor, Hunter slipped inside the elevator. “Going up?” he asked easily, and pushed the number himself.
Lee felt the fury rise to her throat and burn. With an effort, she clamped her lips tight on the venom and stared straight ahead.
“Broke your pencil,” Hunter observed, finding himself more amused than he’d been in days. He glanced at her open notebook, spotting the meticulously drawn caricature. An appreciative grin appeared. “Well done,” he told her. “How’d you enjoy the workshop?”
Lee gave him one scathing look as the elevator doors opened. “You’re a fount of trivial information, Mr. Brown.”
“You’ve got murder in your eyes, Lenore.” He stepped into the hall with her. “It suits your hair. Your drawing makes it clear enough what you’d like to do. Why don’t you stab me while you have the chance?”
As she continued to walk, Lee told herself she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of speaking to him. She wouldn’t speak to him at all. Her head jerked up. “You’ve had a good laugh at my expense,” she grated, and dug in her briefcase for her room key.
“A quiet chuckle or two,” he corrected while she continued to simmer and search. “Lose your key?”
“No, I haven’t lost my key.” Frustrated, Lee looked up until fury met amusement. “Why don’t you go away and sit on your laurels?”
“I’ve always found that uncomfortable. Why don’t you vent your spleen, Lenore; you’d feel better.”
“Don’t call me Lenore!” she exploded as her control slipped. “You had no right to use me as the brunt of a joke. You had no right to pretend you worked for the hotel.”
“You assumed,” he corrected. “As I recall, I never pretended anything. You asked for a ride yesterday; I simply gave you one.”
“You knew I thought you were the hotel driver. You were standing there beside my luggage—”
“A classic case of mistaken identity.” He noted that her skin tinted with pale rose when she was angry. An attractive side effect, Hunter decided. “I’d come to pick up my editor, who’d missed her Phoenix connection, as it turned out. I thought the luggage was hers.”
“All you had to do was say that at the time.”
“You never asked,” he pointed out. “And you did tell me to get the luggage.”
