by Kat Martin
“Yes, and look where that got me. I married Mark, and he turned out to be a total snake. I’m not falling for Kade. With any luck, I’ll find the person who killed his wife and be on my way back to Denver.”
“After some great, very hot sex, I hope.”
“Exactly. What about you?”
“I’m dating a guy named Chad Wilson. We met at a gaming convention. He’s really great. Especially in bed.”
Zoe was petite, with short blond hair, a generous mouth, and an upturned nose that made her look like a pixie. Her nickname in college was Tinkerbelle.
“So this guy, Chad,” Ellie said. “Sounds like you really like him.”
“I do.”
“Then maybe you should give him a chance. He might turn out to be Mr. Right this time.”
“Yeah, maybe.” But Zoe didn’t sound convinced. She was even less trusting than Ellie. “So how can I help with your investigation?”
“Actually, there are two things going on at the ranch.” She explained about the shootings and the mine explosion. “I need you to look at a guy named Frank Keller. We think he’s behind the trouble Kade’s been having.” She gave Zoe everything she had on Keller, including the fact he was army EOD.
“What else?” Zoe asked.
“I was hired to solve Heather Logan’s murder. She disappeared eight years ago.” She gave Zoe the details, which included the discovery of Heather’s body two years after her disappearance, then the police recently finding the woman’s missing car.
“I need you to look at the Eagle County sheriff, Glen Carver. He was having an affair with Kade’s wife a few months before she died, might even have been seeing her when it happened.”
“So Heather was cheating.”
“That’s right. And Carver wasn’t the only one. Apparently, she was involved with half the guys in Coffee Springs and maybe some in Vail.”
“And Kade didn’t know?”
“Not at first. He didn’t want to believe it, I guess. Once he was sure, he filed for divorce. The night she packed up and moved out of the house was the night she disappeared and possibly the night she was murdered.”
Silence fell. “No wonder Kade’s gun shy.”
“Including you and me, that makes three of us.”
Zoe laughed. “Okay, I’ll get on it. Things are kind of busy at work right now, so it might take a while, but I’ll make it a top priority.”
“Thanks, Zoe, you’re the best.”
Zoe hung up the phone.
* * *
Kade returned to the ranch in time for supper. He’d found Conner Delaney, who now sported a dark shadow of beard along his jaw, and they’d talked about the security detail.
“I’ve got men patrolling the area twenty-four seven,” Conn said. “They’ll be watching for any sign of this guy—on foot, in a vehicle, or on horseback. I’ve shown my men a photo of Keller, so they know who they’re looking for. He shows up, we’ll be ready.”
Delaney was a professional, and it showed. The hands had all worked with Keller and would recognize him; they’d be watching for him too. “You see anything suspicious, I need to know.”
“Will do,” Conn said. The men who worked with him all wore camo, which was no big deal out here. Half the guys in Coffee Springs hunted in the fall, along with the passel of hunters who came up from Denver each year.
Delaney took off on an ATV, and Kade went in to join the men for supper, along with a couple of the security guys who had just come in off patrol. Ellie and Maria set out the food, a macaroni-and-cheese casserole made with baked ham. The guys served themselves and sat down at the table.
Kade fidgeted, anxious for the meal to be over so he and Ellie could be on their way to town.
“I’m going upstairs to change,” he said as soon as the men had walked out the door. “We’ll leave for the Elkhorn around seven, if that works for you.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready.”
He let his gaze wander over her, didn’t hide what he was thinking. He wanted this woman. And tonight he planned to have her.
“I’ll . . . umm . . . see you at seven,” Ellie said with a hitch in her voice that told him she’d received his message loud and clear.
Arousal heated Kade’s blood. If he had his way, he’d cancel their plans for the evening and haul her directly upstairs.
It wasn’t going to happen. He wanted Heather’s killer even more than he wanted hot, erotic sex with Ellie Bowman.
But not by much.
The Elkhorn was just getting wound up when they arrived. It was a country bar at the end of Main Street, a log building with pine ceilings, walls, and tables. Even the top of the long bar was made from a slab of ponderosa pine, varnished to a glossy sheen.
Kade escorted Ellie to one of the wooden bar stools, and she climbed up on the brown-leather seat. She’d hung her coat on the rack beside the door, and he had hung his sheepskin jacket beside it. Underneath, she wore a short denim skirt with her boots, showing off her pretty legs, and a white sweater cut low enough to reveal the soft mounds of her breasts and the deep cleavage in between.
Looking at her made his mouth water.
A buxom blonde sauntered toward them behind the bar. Maisie Gaines was a few years older than Kade, a good-looking woman he had known for years. He’d slept with her a few times the year after Heather had left, but the sparks just weren’t there. They decided they made better friends than lovers, and Kade considered Maisie as good a friend as he had in Coffee Springs.
“Well, look who the cat dragged in,” Maisie drawled in a voice that sounded like the smoker she had been when she was a kid. Her eyes slid over him in a more than friendly manner, but it was a game she played with all the men who came into the bar.
“Maisie, this is Ellie Bowman. She’s running our kitchen while Mabel is visiting family in Arizona. Ellie, this is Maisie Gaines. She owns the place.”
Maisie turned her shrewd gaze on Ellie. “Pleasure to meet you, Ellie.”
“You too, Maisie.” Ellie’s big green eyes were equally assessing. Kade had a hunch she was just as shrewd as Maisie. How a woman knew which particular lady a man had taken to bed he would never know, but clearly these two were reading each other perfectly.
“What are you drinking, darlin’?” Kade asked, hoping to move the situation in a different direction.
“Jack and Coke,” Ellie said.
Kade almost smiled. He’d bet it wasn’t her usual alcoholic beverage. But when in Rome . . .
“Make that two,” he said.
Maisie mixed the drinks and set them on the counter. “Enjoy.” She winked at Kade and sauntered off to help a cowboy at the other end of the bar.
“Old friend?” Ellie asked dryly.
“Exactly that and nothing more, as least not for a long time. Just so you know.”
Ellie relaxed a little. “Not my business.”
“At the moment, it is.”
Her eyes met his. He didn’t hide the desire he felt for her. He wasn’t interested in another woman. Not Maisie or anyone else.
Kade glanced around the room, which was more than half full. Cowboys in jeans, western shirts, hats, and boots; women in tight jeans and sexy tops. Turquoise jewelry glittered here and there around the room.
More people drifted in. Dark came early, and this was ranch country. The band started playing at eight o’clock on the nose—a guitar, fiddle, and drum. They started with an Alabama fiddle tune to warm up the crowd. The next song was a Texas two-step, George Strait’s “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?”
“Let’s dance,” Kade said as couples poured onto the dance floor. Any excuse to hold her.
“One dance,” Ellie said. “Then I need to get to work.”
“Fine.” Hauling her off the bar stool, he swept her onto the dance floor to join the other couples circling to the music. Ellie had no trouble following his lead, and in seconds, they were dancing together as if they’d done it a hundred times. She felt good in his ar
ms, fit just right.
He thought how well they would fit together once he had her in his bed, and the blood began to pound in his veins. Arousal slid through him, and he started getting hard. Kade silently cursed. They had a long evening ahead, and he needed to focus on the reason they were there.
The song came to an end. Kade glanced toward a table in the corner. “I see some friends sitting in the back. I’d like you to meet them.”
“All right.”
He led her over to where Sam Bridger sat with the petite blonde he had been dating. Kade hadn’t talked to him since the day the sheriff had pulled Heather’s car out of the lake.
“Kade,” Sam said, rising. “Good to see you.”
“You too.” They shook hands. “Sam, this is Ellie Bowman.” He debated telling Sam the truth about who she was, then decided against it since his friend wasn’t alone. “Ellie’s filling in for Mabel while she’s down in Arizona.” Kade turned. “Ellie, this is my good friend, Sam Bridger. He owns the Bridger Ranch down the road from the Diamond Bar.”
“Nice to meet you, Ellie,” Sam said.
“And I’m Libby,” the woman said with a smile.
“Nice to meet you both.” The couples talked briefly, and then she and Kade started back to their seats.
“They both seem nice,” Ellie said.
“I’ve only met Libby a couple of times. Sam just met her this summer. She had some trouble when she first got here, but it all worked out.” Kade glanced back at the two blond heads bent close together. “Looks like he’s got it bad.”
Ellie laughed. “How long have you and Sam been friends?” Kade didn’t miss the speculation in her eyes. “You aren’t thinking Sam was one of Heather’s conquests?”
Ellie looked back at the tall, good-looking blond rancher dressed in jeans and boots, like most of the guys in the bar. “You don’t think so?”
“Sam and I have been friends since we were boys. He saved my life once, pulled me out of a swimming hole after I took a shallow dive and hit my head. Sam never approved of Heather. I think he knew what she was doing. The reason he never said anything is because he’s my best friend.”
Ellie made no reply. Kade figured she would be on the computer first thing in the morning, looking up information on Sam Bridger. But Sam was the one man in Coffee Springs Kade didn’t have to worry about.
“Who’s the other bartender?” Ellie asked as they crossed the room back to their seats.
Kade glanced over. On dance night, it took two people to handle the drink orders. “Name’s Rance Sullivan.” A guy Kade didn’t much like.
Sullivan was a handsome bastard, with too-long black hair and an olive complexion. He was always spouting off about being part Native American, but it was just a line he fed to the ladies. Kade had wondered for years if Heather had been one of Rance’s women. If she had, part of him didn’t want to know.
“How long has he been working here?” Ellie asked.
“His family’s from Eagle. Claims he’s part Arapahoe, but I doubt it. He’s worked here off and on for years.”
“Since before Heather’s disappearance?”
His jaw tightened. “Yeah.”
As Ellie settled herself on the stool in front of her drink, she flashed Kade a look of warning. Remember, I’m here to work, that look said.
He almost smiled. She was right, so he nodded, though she hadn’t said a word. “I see a couple of guys I know. I’m going over to say hello.”
“Take your time,” Ellie said pointedly. She turned around and casually took a sip of her drink.
As Kade started toward the local veterinarian and his wife, he watched Sullivan easing his way down the bar in Ellie’s direction, a predatory gleam in his black eyes.
Kade’s hand unconsciously fisted. Looked like Sullivan had set his sights on Ellie tonight.
Kade’s temper inched higher. The notion of Sullivan with Ellie stirred a hot, dark feeling inside him. He didn’t understand it. He had never been a jealous man. Or at least he had learned to control it. Until now.
Kade forced himself to keep walking.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ELLIE TURNED A WARM SMILE ON THE BARTENDER. SHE’D BEEN watching him since they’d walked in. Rance Sullivan was tall, dark, and handsome. He had the kind of persona that promised a ride on the wild side, a broad-shouldered, well-muscled body, and a masculine gleam in his eyes that said he’d be good in bed.
He paused in front her, mopped the bar with a white terrycloth towel. “I haven’t seen you before. You must be new in town.”
She smiled. “Ellie Bowman.” She held out a hand, and Rance shook it, held it a little too long. “I just started working out at the Diamond Bar Ranch.”
“Nice to meet you, Ellie. I’m—”
“You’re Rance Sullivan. I know who you are. A friend of mine mentioned you. But it was a long time ago.”
“A friend, huh? What was his name?”
She glanced surreptitiously over her shoulder as if she wanted to be sure Kade couldn’t hear. He was talking to a couple of cowboys at the back of the room. “Her name was Heather Logan. She was married to Kade at the time. We met in Vail.”
Sullivan’s black eyes followed her gaze to the back of the room, checking to see where Kade had gone. “Heather mentioned me?”
“That’s right. I guess you guys were . . . umm . . . seeing each other for a while.”
His gaze sharpened. “That what she said?”
Ellie shrugged. “We got to be pretty good friends, always skied together when she came to Vail.” She smiled. “Heather had a real thing for you. Said you were tall, dark, handsome as sin, and wicked as the devil in bed. She told me you were the best she’d ever had.”
Sullivan’s shoulders subtly straightened. “I’m surprised she told you.”
“Like I said, it was a long time ago.”
His white teeth flashed. “Truth is, we did have a few good times.”
Ellie felt the rush of satisfaction that came with uncovering information. She took a sip of her drink. “When I started working at the ranch, I wondered if you’d still be here.” She smiled. “And what do you know, here you are.”
Ellie didn’t miss the wolfish gleam in his eyes that shifted from friendly to hungry. “Heather and I . . . it was wild and hot, but it didn’t last long. With Heather it never did.”
“So she dumped you?”
Anger glinted for an instant. “I wouldn’t call it that, more a mutual parting of the ways.” The smile he summoned looked forced. “But you aren’t Heather, are you? You’re a beautiful woman, and if you’re in the market for a good time, I’m happy to oblige.” He tipped his head toward the man at the back of the room. “Unless you’re more interested in your employer.”
“Kade just gave me a ride into town since I’m new to Coffee Springs.”
The hungry gleam was back. “I promise you, sweetheart, I can give you a far better ride than Kade Logan.”
Ellie smiled at him from beneath her lashes. “I’ll give it some thought.” She watched Rance swagger off to wait on a customer at the other end of the bar, amazed at how easily people gave up information. Then again, time changed everything. After eight years, Sullivan wasn’t worried about being linked to a murder investigation. He just wanted to get laid.
Which Kade seemed to realize as he strode up to the bar, his square jaw in a rigid line.
“I thought you wanted to visit with your friends,” Ellie reminded him.
“I talked to them. They’re fine.” He took her arm and urged her down from the bar stool. The band was playing Willie Nelson.
“I want to talk to Maisie,” she said.
“Later. There’s something I want to show you.” His eyes were dark and hard as he led her down a hall at the back of the bar.
“Where are we going?”
Kade opened the door to a storeroom, dragged her inside, closed the door, and turned the lock. Ellie gasped as he pulled her into his arms and his m
outh crushed down over hers. Firm soft lips mixed with iron-hard determination, and heat engulfed her. Dampness slid into her core. She found herself gripping the front of Kade’s western shirt, kissing him back with the same hungry need she sensed in him.
His hands moved down to her breasts, cupping them over her sweater, then sliding underneath, reaching around to pop the hooks on her bra, filling his palms with the fullness. He abraded her nipples, turning them diamond hard, and she moaned.
Kade’s hat fell off as he deepened the kiss, turning it hotter and even more demanding. She felt dizzy and out of control. She was in a storeroom in the back of a bar. Through the fog of lust, it occurred to her that Kade’s former lover was the owner and that he had probably done the same thing in here with her.
Ellie broke away, her breath coming in quick sharp pants. “Did you bring her here? Did you have sex with Maisie in this storeroom?”
“Hell no. The few times I had sex with Maisie was in her house, not the bar. I never wanted Maisie the way I want you.” Then he fisted a hand in her hair to hold her in place and kissed her deeply again, ravishing her mouth as his other hand slid over her body.
Ellie’s legs went weak. She clung to Kade’s broad shoulders and kissed him back. The next thing she knew, he was shoving aside a stack of bar towels piled on a counter, wrapping his hands around her waist, hoisting her up, and setting her firmly on top. Her skirt rode up as he moved between her legs and started kissing her again.
Kade tugged her sweater off over her head and tossed it away, followed it with her bra, and captured a breast in his mouth. Moaning, she slid her fingers into his hair and arched her back to give him better access.
Restless hunger poured through her. “I need you, Kade,” she whispered as she clung to him, her body aching and on fire.
“Just hold on, darlin’.”
Hearing the buzz of his zipper, Ellie gripped the front of his white western shirt and jerked it open, popping the row of pearl snaps on the front. Her hands slid over his powerful chest, savoring its strength and breadth. Wanting to taste all that warm male skin, she pressed her mouth over his heart.
