Colton Undercover

by Marie Ferrarella

  “Bed-and-breakfast?” Jade questioned, puzzled. “I thought you were staying at Mac’s. You know, in that little apartment he has over the stables.”

  “I was. But I’m not at the moment. Long story,” she said dismissively. She saw the suspicious look entering Jade’s eyes. Not wanting to make any more waves, she quickly added, “It has to do with my job at the museum. I’ll tell you about it someday.”

  With that, she gave her sister another warm embrace, and then hurried out of the stable.

  * * *

  Arriving back at the B&B, Leonor had no sooner entered the lobby than she saw Josh sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs near the registration desk. He appeared to be reading a newspaper—emphasis on the word appeared, Leonor thought, because she could see that Josh raised his eyes from the paper the second she crossed the floor, heading in his direction.

  Had he been waiting for her?

  “Are you stalking me?” she asked Josh in an amused voice.

  He folded the newspaper, abandoning all pretense of reading it, but for the moment, he remained seated.

  “Well, in the strictest sense of the word, you were the one who came over to me, so if anyone is stalking anyone here, it would look as if you were the stalker and I was the stalkee.”

  She laughed, shaking her head. The man was in a class all his own. “Is that even a word?”

  “Haven’t the foggiest,” he admitted, this time standing up. He left the paper on the chair in case someone else wanted to look through it. “And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was waiting for you,” he told her.

  “Oh?” The man had to have enormous patience, she thought, because she could have remained out all day and night, returning in the wee hours of the next morning. “Why?” she asked when he didn’t volunteer a reason quickly enough.

  “I still hate eating alone and it is getting close to dinnertime.”

  She glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even six o’clock yet. “Just how early do you eat?” she wanted to know, curious.

  His smile was extremely sexy, causing her stomach to tighten in response.

  “Anytime my charming companion is hungry,” he told her. And then he paused as if something had just occurred to him. “Unless, of course, I’m interfering with some previous plans you’ve made,” Josh qualified, giving her a way out.

  Since he left the invitation open-ended, Leonor didn’t feel hemmed in the way she might have a moment ago. David had been exceedingly attentive to the point that there were times he was practically volunteering to do her breathing for her. Looking back, she realized it had all been part of his plan to win her over and keep her too mesmerized to realize what he was really after: her story and her money.

  She shook her head in response to Josh’s question. “No, I’m fresh out of plans.”

  “Then does that mean that you’ll have dinner with me?” he asked hopefully.

  Even if she felt like digging in—which she didn’t—the look on his face would have had her weakening instantly.

  “Well, since you’ve twisted my arm, how can I say no?” Leonor asked. She turned in the direction of the elevator. “Just give me half an hour to freshen up and change.”

  “Take as long as you like,” he encouraged. “Although,” he added, “for my money, you look just fine the way you are.”

  As if to check out his assessment, Leonor deliberately glanced down at herself. She looked exactly the way she had when she’d left Jade’s ranch. Worn and dusty. She frowned. How could he want to be seen in public with her looking as if she was a weather-beaten ranch hand? The man obviously had an image to maintain, being who he was.

  “I look as if I came fresh off the farm,” she complained.

  To her surprise, he looked unfazed. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  Her eyes swept over him. He looked perfect—especially in contrast to her. “In case it escaped your notice, you look as if you came off the cover of an exclusive men’s clothing catalog.”

  His smile was easy. Warming. She struggled not to let it seep into her.

  “Don’t hold that against me,” he told her. “I think I’ve got a pair of jeans and a denim shirt packed in my suitcase somewhere.”

  She put her hand on his chest, as if to keep him from going toward the elevators. “Let them stay there. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll be right here,” he promised.

  Leonor hurried off toward the elevator, telling herself that she was only having dinner with the man to make sure he didn’t change his mind about doing business with her museum. This was just a business dinner, she insisted.

  The fact that she was smiling from ear to ear and had quickened her step only had to do with her desire to do a good job, Leonor told herself. It had nothing to do with the fact that the second she had seen Josh sitting there in the lobby, her pulse rate had accelerated. That was undoubtedly the result of her hurrying around earlier today, making sure that Jade’s horses would be delivered to Hill Country Farms at the same time that she arrived there.

  Coordination and her desire to have things as perfect as possible had taken a small toll on her.

  * * *

  Standing next to the chair he’d been sitting in, keeping vigil, Josh now watched as Leonor entered the elevator car.

  For just a moment, he had this uneasy feeling that he should accompany her—just in case. It wasn’t that he thought she was going to find a way to give him the slip and leave. There was no reason for her to do that. He was good at his job. That meant that he hadn’t acted suspicious in any manner, definitely nothing to set her radar off.

  But there was something else that was bothering him, and right now he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  Josh glanced at his watch and silently marked the exact time she entered the elevator car. He’d give Leonor half an hour to get ready. If she wasn’t down by then, he’d go up to her room and find out what the holdup was. He could always tell her that he hadn’t eaten lunch and that his hunger was getting the better of him. Having been at this job for a while now, he knew exactly what to say and how to say it. What was new, however, was this annoying prick of his conscience that kept surfacing more frequently lately.

  * * *

  This was nothing more than a business dinner, Leonor told herself for the third or fourth time as she let herself into her room and locked the door. There was absolutely no reason for her to regard it as anything else.

  Certainly not as a date, she silently insisted.

  And yet, she couldn’t seem to convince the butterflies—they were back—of that. They felt as if they were bigger than ever and they were entrenching themselves firmly in her stomach.

  At this point, if they grew even a tiny bit, there wasn’t going to be any room left for dinner. That meant that she was going to be able to do nothing more than move the food around on her plate until they were ready to leave the restaurant. She certainly wasn’t going to be able to consume any of it.

  “Enough stalling. Just get into that shower and get ready before he loses interest—in exhibiting his art collection,” she added weakly.

  Even she was beginning to realize how flimsy that sounded.

  Showering quickly, Leonor freshened her makeup, fussed with her uncooperative hair for exactly three minutes—why couldn’t she have been blessed with Jade’s straight hair instead of this unruly mass of red waves and curls? she thought accusingly, looking at her reflection—and then got dressed in record time.

  The last part was easy. She threw on an emerald-colored sheath dress that brought out her eyes as well as her curves.

  Maybe if he looked at that, he wouldn’t notice her hair, she thought.

  Slipping on a pair of cream-colored high heels, Leonor grabbed her all-purpose shoulder bag and hurried back to the eleva
tor. She had exactly one floor to catch her breath and collect herself.

  Good luck with that.

  Preoccupied with trying to look nonchalant, she stepped off the elevator car and nearly collided with Josh. He was standing right by the elevator doors, waiting for her.

  “Whoa,” Josh cried, catching hold of her shoulders to keep her from falling backward from the impact. He flashed her a smile, completely and gallantly glossing over her apparent clumsiness. “Anyone seeing you might think that you were really eager—to eat,” he concluded at the last minute.

  Nice save, she thought.

  She offered him a grateful smile, one that Josh found particularly enticing and strangely compelling, especially given that he wasn’t exactly a novice in this area. If anything, he had a problem with women throwing themselves at him. He didn’t mind it, but it did get in the way of work.

  She went with the excuse he gave her. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  Josh offered her his arm. “Then by all means, let’s go,” he urged, guiding her toward the revolving door.

  The restaurant he took Leonor to specialized in Mexican food, the kind that attracted customers who were raised on that fare and in general avoided restaurants that claimed to offer “genuine” Mexican cuisine because what was offered usually paled in comparison to the actual thing.

  But not this time. La Cocina de Mi Madre was the real deal.

  Josh waited until after they had been seated and had given their orders to the slightly overworked-looking server before dispensing with what he regarded as small talk that served as merely a “filler.”

  Taking a sip of the glass of wine he had ordered, Josh put the goblet down. His eyes met hers and he smiled at her like a man who knew something.

  “What?” she heard herself asking, her voice sounding just a wee bit uncertain to her own ear.

  “I take it this afternoon was a success?” Josh asked. It was obvious he expected her to agree.

  But she still wasn’t sure just what he was talking about. “Excuse me?”

  “When you came back to the B&B this afternoon, you had this satisfied look about you. The kind that said you’d accomplished whatever it was that you set out to do today.”

  So he had been waiting for her—and watching her the whole time she walked across the lobby, she thought. What else did he think he knew? She decided to proceed with caution. It never hurt to be careful.

  “I didn’t know you dabbled in mind reading.”

  “I don’t,” he assured her. “But I do like to study people whenever I can. I find it comes in handy,” he explained, “given my chosen field.”

  “Reading people comes in handy in art?” she questioned. She didn’t see the connection.

  An uneasy feeling washed over her and had Leonor looking at him more closely.

  Once bitten, twice shy, she couldn’t help thinking. David had caused her to lose faith in her own judgment as well as in people. It caused her to see red flares, even when they didn’t seem likely.

  “Absolutely,” he told her. “You’d be surprised how many so-called ‘legitimate’ museums have tried to separate me from my paintings. There are a lot of people waiting to get their hands on valuable art collections so that they can sell them on the black market.”

  She supposed that being leery of underhanded people went both ways, for a moment seeing things from his perspective.

  “Well, I assure you that the museum I represent is most definitely legitimate—as well as very trustworthy,” she told him.

  “I know,” he replied, casually adding, “I checked it out.” He saw her eyes widening. “But getting back to you,” he went on quickly to distract her, “when you entered the B&B, you looked very pleased with yourself. It was obvious that you were happy with the way something had gone. That’s why I asked about this afternoon being a success.”

  Leonor momentarily debated with herself over the wisdom of making an admission. She supposed that there was no reason not to tell him about her sister and the ranch she had. It certainly wasn’t any deep, dark secret. Everyone in the area knew about it. And, when she came right down to it, she was proud that Jade had found something to be passionate about. Her youngest sister was doing a service, giving former racehorses shelter while creating a place where children could come and cultivate a love for horses by having firsthand experience with them. Jade also had a few other animals on the small property, hence the word farm. Her sister had also created a total experience for the younger set.

  Leonor raised her eyes toward his and guilelessly told him, “I guess you inspired me.”

  It was Josh’s turn to be confused. “How’s that again?”

  “Well, you’re going to be sharing some of your art collection with the general public by putting it on display at my museum.”

  He still didn’t see how that could inspire her to do something along those lines. He thought back to the point of his assignment. Was what she was talking about somehow connected to Livia, and if so, how?

  “Go on,” he urged.

  “My younger sister has a ranch where she keeps retired racehorses. They’re past their prime but some are perfect for children to ride. A couple of her older horses died a while back, so I brought her a couple to replace them, along with three more. This way, more children can come ride them.”

  He was still waiting for a useful piece of information to come out of this. If it did, it would most likely wind up incriminating her eventually. This was his job, what he was sent to do and yet... And yet, the idea was making him feel guilty.

  He had to be crazy, he told himself. Just focus, damn it. Focus.

  “And by ‘brought’ you mean—?”

  “I bought them—bargain prices,” she added in case he was going to say something about her generosity. She didn’t want to dwell on that the same way she didn’t want to dwell on the fact that she’d used her money to bail Mac out. She was doing it to help, she thought fiercely, not to get any kind of praise for it. “Like I told my sister, I see this more as a matchmaking arrangement.”

  “Matchmaking,” he repeated, saying it as if it was a foreign word he’d never heard before. That didn’t make any sense, he thought. “I’m afraid you lost me.”

  She looked amused, he realized, and once again found himself captivated by her expression.

  “My sister needed some more horses for her ranch and the horses needed an alternative to being put to sleep while they still had so much to offer.” She lifted her shoulders in a careless shrug, as if her part in all this was negligible. “I just made it happen.”

  The woman had a lot of good qualities, he thought. So far, he hadn’t been able to find one thing anyone could hold against Leonor.

  “She’s lucky to have you for a sister,” he told her.

  “Works both ways,” was all Leonor said.

  Because he sensed that she wanted to change the subject, he did.

  But meanwhile, she had really started him thinking. Maybe this wasn’t a self-absorbed puppet who was a junior version of Livia Colton the way some of his superiors believed. Because from everything he had picked up since he had met her, there was a lot more to Leonor Colton than met the eye.

  The more he got to know her, the more unlikely it seemed to him that she had been instrumental in her mother’s escape.

  But he was going to need more than just his gut instincts to go on. Somehow, he was going to have to find proof.

  Not to mention that he also needed to find not just who helped Livia escape, but even more important than that, he needed to find the “queenpin” herself.

  For now, that meant he was going to have to stick around Leonor a while longer.

  He watched as she raised the glass of white wine to her lips and took a sip, her eyes never leaving his.

&nb
sp; He’d definitely had worse assignments, Josh thought.

  Chapter 10

  “You seem a lot happier,” Mac observed when she dropped in on him.

  It had been almost a week since Leonor had moved out of the small apartment over the stables. Wanting to touch base with Mac, she had come by to see how he was doing.

  It was a spur-of-the-moment visit and she had arrived unannounced. As always, Mac was very happy to see her. Leonor might not have had a drop of his blood flowing through her veins but like her sisters, Claudia and Jade, he thought of Leonor as his daughter, in spirit if not in reality.

  Mac had been in the corral working with some of his newer horses when he saw her driving up. Calling to his ranch hand to take over, he left the corral and was on the porch by the time Leonor reached the front door of his modest, three-bedroom, single-story home.

  Giving her a big hug, Mac invited her inside for a cup of coffee.

  “Or we could have it out here, on the porch,” he told her, nodded at the swing where they had spent the first few nights when she’d arrived at his ranch, talking until well after midnight.

  Not wanting to put Mac to any extra trouble, she’d opted for having coffee in the kitchen.

  There was still half a pot left from that morning. Taking it, he was about to pour it out in the sink.

  “I can make a fresh pot,” he offered.

  She was quick to stop him. “No need. It gets stronger the longer you have it on the burner. I like it strong.”

  “I remember,” he told her, pouring her a cup, then one for himself.

  They’d sat down at the kitchen table and after a few pleasantries were exchanged he had made his observation about her appearing to be happier now than when she’d first arrived on his doorstep.

  “I do?” she asked, hiding behind her cup as she took a long sip.

  “Don’t play the innocent with me, little girl. I can see right through you,” Mac chided with a laugh. “You’re happier. I can see it. That wouldn’t have anything to do with that art collector your museum boss has you babysitting, would it?” he asked, leaning back in his chair and studying her.