“You really think I could go to a rodeo without anybody recognizing me?”
“Sure. There are lots of pretty blondes at rodeos.”
She saw the amusement in his eyes and knew he was kidding.
“How about a wig?” he asked. “Do you have one? That can really make a difference. A different color, a different style, short maybe, with some big sunglasses, jeans with holes in the knees, boots, one of those girlie blouses that ties at the waist. You’d look just like any other Texas gal out for a day at the rodeo.”
His scenario sounded fun. They both could use a little fun. “I’d like to try it. Thanks for thinking of it. I haven’t seen a good rodeo since I was here last year. Did you ever try a bucking bronc?”
“I tried one of those electronic bulls in a honky-tonk a couple of times.”
“And?”
“And I learned to stay on pretty well. I even won a few bets. My fellow Secret Service agents didn’t think a geek could do it.”
“You’re not a geek,” she protested, certainly never thinking of him in that way.
“I know my way around computers. One of my specialties is Internet security. That makes me a geek. But it’s good to be a geek and your bodyguard. That fills in my résumé a bit.”
“As if you need it filled in,” she muttered.
He laughed. “I do have work to do for the next hour or so. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He picked up the bracelet and ran his thumb over it, letting it shimmer in the daylight. “It would look pretty on your wrist.”
“I’m not keeping it. I’m going to package it up, call down for Roger and ask him to send it back to Miko for me.”
“He’s escalating his attempts to woo you back.”
“They’re not going to work.”
For a moment she thought she saw turmoil in Rafe’s eyes. Then it was gone so fast she might have imagined it. She stood and went to the kitchen. He turned toward his room. They went their separate ways.
She’d have to get used to that.
“I thought we should have this meeting,” Eleanor said, looking nervous but regal that evening, “so everyone could air what they’re feeling. I want to keep my family together. You’ve all gone your separate ways and been silent. None of you have called me to discuss this. I spoke with Gabby and Katie when we went away for our spa day. But my own children, who I want to talk to, won’t talk to me.”
All of Eleanor’s children were gathered in one of the mansion’s sitting rooms, none looking too happy. Gabby almost felt as if she shouldn’t be there. She wasn’t one of the children and she could understand what had happened to Eleanor. But then, Devon hadn’t been her father and she didn’t have to absorb the fact that her mother had been unfaithful to her father.
Blake sat, blond head bowed, hands between his legs. He looked as if he were restraining every thought, every motion and every emotion in his body. He didn’t look up and he didn’t say a word.
Penny began, “This is hard for us to deal with, Mom. You’ve got to realize, we all thought we knew who you were. And now we have to rearrange our thinking.”
“You all knew that I was in love with Rex when I was a teenager. You heard the stories. We were committed to each other—we just couldn’t agree on when we would marry and we had a fight. I was young and I was foolish, and Devon had been trying to…to get my attention for a long time. We had dinner, we had wine and I gave in, thinking I had lost Rex.”
Blake’s body tensed even more and he finally turned his head toward his mother. But his voice was completely even, devoid of any emotion. “We all know what happened next. You got pregnant. You couldn’t be an unwed mother in those days, so you married our father.”
“I did. I tried to be happy with my life. But years later, Devon and I both knew something was missing. I suspected he’d been having an affair.”
Now all of her children were looking at her.
“Suspected,” Paige asked bitterly, “or knew?”
“I never had proof, if that’s what you mean. But a woman knows.”
Paige just rolled her eyes and it was easy to see she hadn’t forgiven her mother, either.
Tate looked deep in thought and seemed as if he didn’t want to venture into the subject. Not here, maybe not ever.
Charlie, however, had been restless ever since he’d come in. Now he said, “I’ve been close to all of you and I don’t want anything to change that.”
Penny moved next to him and took his hand. “You’re my brother, Charlie. You’ll always be my brother, whether your name is McCord or Foley.”
The name Foley brought silence to the room. After several awkward minutes, no one had broken it.
Eleanor sighed and looked as if she had tears in her eyes. “I know you think you have a lot to forgive me for. I’m not perfect, just as you aren’t perfect. We all want our lives to go along an easy road, but that rarely happens. But I can see trying to talk to all of you like this was wrong. I thought I could answer your questions, but you don’t even want to ask them. So I guess it will be up to each of you to talk to me about this on your own. Until then, just know that I love all of you very much. I always have.” She looked at Blake and then glanced away.
Gabby thought Eleanor was acting guilty. Maybe because she couldn’t bond to Blake as she’d wanted to after he was born. She must have resented him for putting her into this marriage with a man she didn’t love. What an awful situation for all of them to be in.
And Charlie? Had he been more loved because he was Rex Foley’s son? The son of the man Eleanor truly loved?
The questions weren’t Gabby’s to ask, or to know the answers to.
Eleanor stood. “I believe Blake and Paige have information to share with you about some plans they’re making. I don’t need to be part of this. I’ll be upstairs if anybody would like to talk afterward.”
Eleanor left the living room, looking hurt, frustrated and dejected. Gabby hoped her children could come to see her as a person, not just their mother, and maybe give her the understanding she needed.
Blake waited until his mother left and he could hear her footfalls on the hardwood floor.
Penny looked up at her brother. “Blake, you were awfully hard on her.”
“If you want to forgive her, that’s fine. But don’t tell me I should. I have a lot more to forgive her for.”
“Just think about her living with our father all those years and not loving him,” Paige said, shaking her head. “How could she do that?”
“She probably did it for us,” Tate reminded them.
Blake stood and paced to the mantel. “Enough about all that. I want to tell you what Paige and I have planned. As I told you before, from the clues on the deed to the mines, we believe the Santa Magdalena diamond is in the Eagle mine on Travis Foley’s ranch. Paige is going to…nose around…get the lay of the land…and then steal it.”
“Steal it?” Gabby asked in spite of herself.
“Those mines are still ours, Gabby. Travis just has a lease to the land. So we have every right to look in that mine. We just don’t want Foley to know what we’re doing.”
“So you’re going to sneak in?” Penny asked her twin.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And then I’m going to find that diamond and put the McCords on the upswing again.”
At one time Gabby might have gone along with a plan like this. It seemed dangerous and adventurous and exciting. But what if Paige got caught? Wouldn’t this only make the feud worse? And what about the diamond? Would the McCords try to break the lease and put Travis off the property? It was all so complicated and she wasn’t sure Blake and Paige knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Especially Paige. Sure, she was the gemologist. But still…
“Gabby, don’t look so worried,” Paige entreated her. “I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl, and very inventive. Believe me, before you all know it, this will be over. We’ll have the Sant
a Magdalena diamond and a PR campaign that really cooks.”
Gabby thought Paige was being naive. Or maybe her cousin just wanted this so much she was rationalizing her way into it, just as Gabby had rationalized her relationship with Miko.
The brothers and sisters began talking among themselves. Gabby stared into space for a few moments, thinking about Rex and Eleanor and how they’d been in love as teenagers. And how that love had never died. Would Charlie want to speak to his father? Just how would he feel about him?
She didn’t hear her name until Blake asked, “Gabby, are you here with me?”
He was standing over her and she smiled up at him. “I’m here.”
“I just want to tell you, you’re doing a great job. I’ve had positive feedback from my customers and we’re getting a good response to the print and TV ads.”
“I’m glad this is working.”
He glanced over his shoulder at his family. “What spa did you and Katie and Mother go to?”
“The Yellow Rose Spa. It was a real women’s getaway.”
“So, Katie enjoyed it?”
“I believe so. She’s serious much of the time, but she smiled a lot and liked the treatments.”
Blake paused and seemed to hesitate. Then he dug his hands into his trouser pockets and met her gaze again. “Did Katie ask about me?”
Gabby remembered what Katie had said about Blake, the admiring note in her voice. Was she rethinking her relationship with Tate? Were there sparks between her and Blake that had never been fanned into flame? Gabby supposed that was possible. But what would happen between the brothers if Katie severed her involvement with Tate and began a relationship with Blake? Would Tate be able to accept Blake in Katie’s life?
Another triangle! Maybe if this did happen, Blake could see how his mother might have gotten caught up in a triangle just as easily.
Gabby answered Blake’s question. “Our conversations were in confidence and I don’t really feel I can share them. But Katie did say you’re a good listener.” Gabby thought it was best to leave Tate out of this.
Blake looked as if he’d found another batch of canary diamonds. “Thanks for telling me,” he said with a genuine smile. “I know you’ll be leaving for Italy soon. Give me a call when you get home and we’ll plan what’s next.”
After taking another glance at Paige, Penny and Tate, who were involved in a discussion, Gabby said, “I’ll do that. Do you think there’s any reason for me to stay now?”
“Do you have something going on tonight?”
She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Rafe. They didn’t have that many days left. Maybe they could take out the golf cart again or something fun like that. She just wanted to be with him.
Even if he doesn’t want to be with you?
She didn’t know if he did or not. Maybe tonight she’d have to ask him.
After the meeting at the McCord mansion, Gabby sat with Rafe at the suite’s dining-room table, picking at her room service meal. So much of everything was filling her head…not only what had gone on at the McCords’—Eleanor’s sadness, her children’s bitterness and resentment—but all of Gabby’s feelings for Rafe. They hadn’t spoken on the way home and Gabby had realized Rafe looked almost as preoccupied as she felt.
Now here they were, pushing their food around, not exchanging much more than, “Can you pass a packet of salt?” She tried to search for a topic, a safe one, and finally she simply asked, “What do you think of the McCord family crisis?” He’d been standing outside the parlor where the family had met. He’d certainly heard Eleanor’s plea to her children for understanding.
“I don’t get involved.”
She knew what he meant. When he was a bodyguard, he simply stood like a statue. He didn’t listen or have an opinion. Hogwash!
“Don’t act as if this is simply another assignment.” That brought his gaze to hers.
“What do you want to know? What I think doesn’t matter in all this.”
If he was talking about the McCords, that was one thing. If he was talking about the two of them, that was another. Still, she kept her exasperation tamped down, trying to put out of her head the image of his hands on her body, the feel of his kisses, the way his beard stubble had grazed her cheek. “Blake’s pretty upset, although he’s trying not to show it.”
“I wouldn’t want to be Charlie,” Rafe mumbled.
“I guess he is the one smack-dab in the middle of two feuding families. And now he might have allegiance to both of them.”
Silence drove a wedge between Gabby and Rafe once more. She put down her fork. It was silly to pretend she was eating. “What are we going to do about the photo?” She guessed she didn’t have to explain which photo.
“I’m still tracing the person who sent it.”
“I thought we weren’t going to go ahead with that.”
“It won’t hurt to have the information, no matter what we decide to do.”
No matter what they decided to do. If that picture was published, it could ruin Rafe’s reputation and career. “Would the publication of it be as damaging if it came out after I go back to Italy? Would people wonder if it was a fake?”
Rafe shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. But he said, “The people who count would still wonder if I had had a personal relationship with a client. It would affect who would sign on with me.”
“You could just work for the McCords forever,” she tried to joke, knowing it was a feeble attempt.
Rafe didn’t even try to smile. Instead, he tossed his napkin down, stood, crossed the room and went out to the balcony.
Should she follow or not? Did he want her to? Or did he want to be alone? She’d never seen him show even a bit of temper. She’d never seen him show much emotion—until they’d made love. Since then he’d been so much more introspective, quiet in a different way than his stoic Secret Service persona.
The balcony was the hot spot, the place where it had happened. But she couldn’t keep herself from going to him. She loved him.
They stood in the silent night, looking out into the darkness. “Do you think anyone is watching now?” he asked.
This time she didn’t think about “should” or “shouldn’t.” She laid her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
He turned toward her so fast her hand dropped from him. “Don’t say that, Gabby. You have nothing to be sorry for. This is just the situation we’re in. And when you touch me, even like that—”
The hunger in his eyes amazed her. It was all wrapped up with desire and longing and the knowledge they only had a few days together. She wanted and needed intimacy with Rafe. So she went for it. “What happens when I touch you?”
He grabbed her hand, pulled her back inside the suite, then pressed her against the wall inside the door. His lips came down on hers hard, until he was her world. He couldn’t get enough, and neither could she. They could have been anywhere—on a desert island, in the middle of Times Square, atop a ruin in Cozumel. It simply didn’t matter. Only their passion mattered. Only the fact they would soon be separated mattered.
Only the fact that she loved him mattered.
He laced his fingers into her hair, held her head, angled his lips and searched her mouth with his tongue, chasing the desire that would match his. Gabby’s blood was running so hot, so fast, she didn’t need to breathe. She just needed to follow wherever Rafe led.
When he leaned his body into hers, she could feel how badly he wanted her. She was already ready. The slightest pressure at the right place and she’d unwind before she even had her clothes off.
Rafe must have felt the same way because his hands left her hair, moved down her body to the hem of her shirt and yanked it up and over her head. His gaze was penetrating and inquiring. Did she want to do this here and now? Did she want him in this way?
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
With her assent, he ridded her of her shorts and her panties. She helped him undress until they were
both panting, eager, more than ready.
She took him in her hands.
“Gabby, I can’t take much foreplay.”
“Only a little,” she promised, stroking him with a sensuality that had him gritting his teeth.
“You can be a vixen,” he whispered.
“Only around you.”
“Turn around,” he whispered.
She did as he said, trusting him.
She braced her hands on the wall while he held on to her hips. And then he was inside her, fast and furious, pushing and withdrawing, until she thought she’d go crazy with needing him.
“Rafe,” she called.
“I’m here.” Her world as she knew it exploded, and she wished the moment could last forever. Seconds later he found his release, then he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
After they caught their breath, she turned to face him, not at all embarrassed, proud she’d matched his desire, pleased that they could ignite such passion in each other.
“Are you okay?” he asked, searching her face.
“I’m great,” she replied with a wide smile.
Laughing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her through the living room and the hallway into his bedroom. She held on tight, wondering if she could ever tell him she loved him…wondering what would happen if she did.
Chapter Thirteen
Gabby exited the car Marjorie had sent for her and slipped through the back door of McCord Jewelers. It was midnight and Rafe was back at the hotel sleeping. She hoped to heaven he wouldn’t wake up until she was back in her room.
The past twenty-four hours had felt gloriously like a honeymoon. She and Rafe had explored each other’s bodies, shared meals, spoken of their childhoods and made love in every room. At least she was making love. Rafe cared for her, that was obvious in the way he touched her and kissed her and held her. But he hadn’t said the words, and she didn’t know what he was feeling. Maybe she was just an escape for him—from his past, from his work, from everything outside the hotel window.
The past two weeks had flown by. She didn’t have any more personal appearances and she was relieved. The reality was, she’d be gone in a few days. She wanted to give Rafe something special to remember her by. When she left it for him, she couldn’t have regrets.
The Texas Bodyguard’s Proposal Page 17
