Because of the Ring

by Stella Bagwell

  He muttered a curse. “This is ludicrous and if I had any sense at all I’d call the cops and have them check up on you!”

  Claudia gestured toward the phone. “Go ahead. If they can explain any of this, I’d gladly welcome their help.”

  Glaring at her now, he stalked over to his desk, picked up the receiver and shook it at her. “I have a friend who’s a detective on the force,” he warned.

  “Good. That will be even better. He might have some ideas of how to solve this mess.”

  Seeing he couldn’t frighten her into confessing, he slammed the receiver back onto the hook. “Do you realize how stupid you sound? How stupid it makes me look just to be listening to this?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I realize.”

  “People don’t have visions. Not normal people. And they certainly don’t have them about me!”

  Unblinking, Claudia stared at him. “A month ago I would have said you were right. Now, unfortunately, I’m forced to disagree.”

  He strode back to the couch and, with his thumbs riding his belt, stared down at her. “I don’t know what you’re after Ms.—”

  “Claudia,” she interrupted. “You’ve already kissed me, so you might as well call me by my first name.”

  He didn’t want to call her by any name. And as for kissing her, that had been a big mistake. Because in spite of her lunacy, he wanted to do it again.

  “Like I started to say, Claudia, I don’t know what you’re after,” he bit out, “but you’ll not get anything from me and I mean anything.”

  Rising to her feet, she met his gaze and as she did so a terrible sadness welled up in her. Yet she could understand his doubts and suspicions. She couldn’t blame him for accusing her of being dishonest. She still couldn’t quite believe any of this herself. It would be stupid to expect him to swallow such a story.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Bedford. This is the last time you’ll ever see me.”

  Politely, she reached to shake his hand and felt a sense of gratitude that he didn’t object. “I apologize for taking up your time. Goodbye.”

  Bewildered by this sudden turn of events, he watched her start toward the door. “What will you do now?” he asked.

  Glancing back at him, she shrugged. “Go home and hope that I never see your face again.” And she wouldn’t, she told herself grimly. If she took off the opal. Claudia had not told this man about the ring. She’d understood it would’ve only made the whole thing even more farfetched. And now it didn’t matter. She was ending her search. And the visions.

  Hayden thought he would feel relief once the woman was out of his office. But now that she was gone, the room felt eerily empty, as though she’d taken the very life out of it.

  Raking a hand through his hair, he sank into the comfortable chair behind his desk and reached for the telephone. Halfway there, his hand paused in midair and, with a muffled groan, he flopped back against the seat.

  He’d kissed the woman! And not just a peck on the cheek. He’d really kissed her! What had he been thinking? Oh, he’d met women before that he’d been attracted to on first sight, but he’d never impulsively kissed one. In fact, he couldn’t think of one woman he’d kissed since he and Saundra had divorced.

  That notion was shocking in itself and he quickly leaned up and pushed the button on the intercom connecting him to Lottie’s desk.

  “Yes, Mr. Bedford.”

  The fact that the woman called him Mr. Bedford was laughable. She’d been with the company for thirty-five years and during that time she’d seen Hayden born and his father die. She knew everything about the family, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, public scandals and hidden affairs. But apart from her knowledge of the Bedford family tree, she kept the office running smoothly. No matter if they were experiencing times of joy or strife.

  “How long have I been divorced?”

  “Three years, sir.”

  “That long?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I just realized something about myself, that’s all.”

  “Are you ready to start taking your calls now?”

  “No. Not yet.” He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Lottie—”

  “Ms. Westfield is staying on the river walk. I have her hotel and room number.”

  “What makes you think I was going to ask you about her?”

  There was a pause and then his secretary said, “I just had a feeling.”

  “That’s a scary thought. The last time you had a ‘feeling’ crude oil bottomed out to a record low.”

  “Well, I hardly think Ms. Westfield could have any effect on crude prices.”

  No, but she’d already had an affect on him, Hayden thought. And he wasn’t a bit sure what to do about it.

  “Cancel the rest of my calls, Lottie. I’m going out to the site to see Vince and then I’m quitting for the rest of the day.”

  “What about Ms. Westfield?”

  He snatched up a pen. “All right, damn it, give me the hotel and room number. I’ve got some unfinished business with her.”

  “What sort of business is she in?”

  “Illusions, Lottie.”

  “Illusions? Did you have a few beers with your lunch, Mr. Bedford?”

  “I’m stone-cold sober,” he answered. “Although right now the idea of getting drunk has a mighty big appeal.”

  Inside her hotel room, Claudia snatched up the telephone directory. She was going to call the airport and get the next available flight back to Fort Worth. There was no point in staying in this town any longer. Hayden Bedford was a jerk and she’d been stupid for ever allowing Liz to dare her into making this ridiculous journey.

  As for the opal, she’d get rid of it as soon as she got back home. The only thing the ring had ever brought her was a pile of misery. Never again would she allow it to lead her anywhere. Especially to a worthless man!

  Claudia was on hold, waiting for the ticket clerk to make a search through scheduling when a knock sounded at the door.

  With an impatient groan, she dropped the receiver onto the bed and walked across the room. At the door, she called cautiously, “Who is it?”

  “Me. Hayden Bedford.”

  Claudia was so stunned she grabbed the doorknob and gripped it to keep from falling over.

  “What do you want?” she asked warily.

  “Not to have this conversation through the door,” he said.

  Her hands shaking, she unbolted the lock, then opened the panel of wood wide enough for her to see him squarely. “Our conversation was concluded back in your office, Mr. Bedford.”

  “Call me Hayden. Since you’ve already kissed me, you might as well use my first name,” he said, using her earlier phrase.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m on the telephone. I don’t have time to talk to you now.” Nor do I have the courage, Claudia thought. This man made her feel weak, strange and vulnerable. Just looking at him reminded her she was a woman. One who didn’t know anything about men like him or how it felt to be in the grip of a passionate love affair.

  “I’ll wait,” he said, then pushed through the open door before she could stop him.

  Seeing she didn’t have much choice in the matter, Claudia hurried over and snatched up the telephone. Long before she placed the receiver against her ear, she could hear the loud buzz of the dial tone. Damn it, she’d lost her connection!

  Dropping the receiver back on the hook, she turned to find he’d helped himself to a seat in a stuffed armchair. As though he had every right to make himself comfortable in her room. She’d never seen anything like him!

  You need to correct yourself on that, Claudia. You’ve seen him before. Too many times.

  But those visions hadn’t given her a clue to what sort of man she was dealing with, she thought. A picture might speak a thousand words, but the real thing spoke volumes and she was getting the message that Hayden Bedford was a man who usually got his way, even if he had to get it by force.

  “What happene
d? Decided you didn’t want to talk now that you had me for an audience?” he asked.

  Claudia rolled her eyes. “The call had been disconnected. I’m sure the woman probably hung up when she came back on the line and found I wasn’t waiting. Now I’ll have to go through the ordeal of making another call.”

  “Sorry,” he apologized. “Was it important?”

  “Flight tickets back to Fort Worth!”

  “Didn’t you buy a round fare to begin with?”

  Like a replay in his office, her breathing was growing short again, along with her temper. Which didn’t make sense. She tried to be a kind, patient person with everyone, no matter what sex or age. And he really wasn’t being that awful.

  “Yes. But I want to leave this evening. Now!”

  He studied the aggravation on her face and the taut line of her slender body. She’d changed out of the white dress and into a pair of loose navy pants and short red top that exposed her arms and much of her back. The clip was gone from her hair and the honey-brown strands swished against the tops of her shoulders with each little movement of her head. This Claudia Westfield looked far different from the prim woman who’d visited his office. And far more appealing.

  “Why the rush?”

  Claudia wasn’t exactly sure why she felt such a desperate need to run back to Fort Worth. There wasn’t anything urgent waiting for her there. Yet the thought of home was consoling. Mainly because she knew there would be no outside chance of having to deal with this man again. Especially after she got rid of the ring.

  Claudia twisted the opal around her finger. Once she’d decided to try to solve the mystery of her visions, she’d returned the ring to her hand. But at this moment she was definitely getting the urge to slip it off and keep it off. “My business here is over.”

  “Meaning me?”

  “I guess you could put it that way.” She forced herself to look at him. “So why did you come here to the hotel?”

  “That’s a good question, Claudia. Maybe you can answer that. You say you can see things about me.”

  The husky tone of his voice cloaked her name in velvet and conjured up images in Claudia’s thoughts that were distinctly wicked.

  “I’m not a mind reader, Hayden. Not even yours. And I’ve never had visions before until…well, until a few weeks ago.” Disturbed by her outrageous thoughts and his probing gaze, she began to move around the room. “Furthermore, I’m not one of those people that dabbles in the psychic. Physics in the science lab, but never the supernatural.”

  “I find that hard to believe for a woman who claims to have visions.”

  She paused long enough to cast him a disgusted glance. “I imagine I find it even more preposterous,” she admitted. “I even had a medical checkup in hopes of finding an explanation. The doctor gave me none.”

  There wasn’t the slightest chance in hell that this woman had experienced visions, Hayden thought. He didn’t believe in such things. He’d come here because he wanted to know why or how she’d pulled him into this crock. And to see her again, to prove to himself that there was nothing special about her.

  “Magic, extrasensory perception, mystical powers—I’m not interested in those things. I’m a down-to-earth man, Claudia. I believe in facts. So the answer I really want from you is, why me? Of the millions of people in the world, why choose me for whatever it is you’re doing?”

  She walked over to where he sat and made a palms-up gesture as a display of innocence. “I’m not doing anything, Hayden. I’m not here to con you in any way.”

  He looked unconvinced. “I’m a rich man,” he informed her.

  The faint frown on her face turned to a glare. “I’m not interested in what your bank accounts look like. But if you’re worried that mine are flat, I can give you the names of some financial institutions in Fort Worth that will prove otherwise.”

  Maybe he should take her up on that, Hayden thought. Yet for some reason he believed that part of her story. The woman hadn’t been brought up in poverty. She just didn’t have that sort of bearing about her.

  “Okay. You’re not after my money or my—shall we call it affections—so what’s the deal? And be honest this time.”

  Claudia studied the rough, craggy lines of his face and wondered how just the mere touch of his lips against hers had been enough to knock her feet out from under her. Men had never affected her that way. Even Tony, with his smooth looks and practiced lovemaking, had never made her swoon.

  Tony had called her frigid. She’d considered herself systematic. All that talk about passion and fire between the opposite sex had seemed like overexaggeration to her. Now, after meeting Hayden Bedford, she wasn’t quite so sure.

  “Sorry, but I have been honest with you. I came here for your help. Nothing more.”

  He raised up to the edge of the chair and stared at her through narrowed eyes. “Help?”

  Breathing deeply, she turned her back on him and stared down at the opal on her hand. She desperately wanted to rip it off and order this man out of her room. But something stronger, some intangible force, was preventing her.

  “Yes,” she answered quietly. “To help me figure out exactly why you’ve barged into my life. If I can find out why, then maybe I can get rid of you. For good!”

  “You’re making me feel so wanted,” he said dryly.

  “You don’t want to feel wanted,” she muttered. “Not by me.”

  Suddenly one of his hands was on her bare back and electric frissons rippled over her skin. Her first instinct was to move away from his touch, but she was frozen, mesmerized by him and the strange things he was doing to her.

  “I think the best thing we could do is forget about this vision thing and get to know one another a little better. Why don’t we go down to one of the cafés on the river walk and have dinner? Maybe between the two of us, we can come up with a practical solution.”

  Oh, she had a solution, Claudia thought. Simply throw Betty Fay’s ring out the window and forget she’d ever possessed such a piece of jewelry. But would that help explain things? Could she go home then and be satisfied that Hayden Bedford had no connection to her life?

  “I’m sure you’re a busy man. Having dinner with me is unnecessary.”

  His hand moved slightly but oh so seductively against her back.

  “I’m not so busy that I don’t take time to eat.”

  The tips of his fingers were toying with her hair and she wondered if he was this intimate with all the women he met over the course of the day. Surely he wasn’t. Surely he couldn’t find a reason to kiss one of them. Not the way he’d kissed her.

  “All right. When is a good time for you?” she conceded while hoping she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt.

  “Right now,” he purred.

  She closed her eyes and prayed for the shaking inside her to stop. “Let me call the airport again. I might be able to get a later flight tonight.”

  With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her around to face him. “Forget about leaving San Antonio tonight, Claudia.”

  “And why should I do that?”

  His hands slid up both shoulders, beneath the hair framing her neck, then cupped her face.

  “Because I want you to.”

  Like a rose suddenly thrust into the desert heat, she felt herself wilting. If he hadn’t been holding her she would have collapsed at his feet.

  “Your idea of help isn’t exactly what I needed from you,” she said.

  He chuckled lowly and the sexy sound fanned her cheeks like a tempting caress. “There you go again, reading my mind. Maybe you do have some sort of sixth sense.”

  He was making fun of her and she hated him for that. Hated him for making her feel so weak and vulnerable. For not understanding how lonely and terrified she’d felt these past weeks.

  “Being a woman gives me enough power to read your mind!”

  That seemed to sober him and he stepped back as though he couldn’t quite believe he’d been hold
ing her in such an intimate way.

  “Sorry. Something comes over me when I get close to you,” he said, and Claudia could see that the admission shocked him as much as it did her.

  “Then we’d better make sure we don’t get close,” she countered.

  With a grim nod of agreement, Hayden motioned her toward the door.

  Chapter Three

  Once they were out of the hotel room, Claudia began to breathe normally and by the time they were seated at a small, sidewalk café overlooking the river walk, she’d almost convinced herself that she hadn’t just taken a leap off the high dive.

  “Have you visited San Antonio before?” he asked as the waitress served them their drinks.

  Tourists and locals were everywhere in the boutiques and restaurants lining the river. Since it was the height of the dinner hour, Claudia was surprised they’d managed to find a vacant table fairly close to the hotel. It was positioned on a small terrace made of wooden planks. A nearby sago palm dappled the late-evening sun with cooling shadows and secluded them from the main group of diners. Any other time, she would have appreciated the extra privacy, but with Hayden as her dinner partner she would have welcomed the diversion of a noisy family sitting next to them.

  “Yes. But it’s been a while.” She stirred sugar into her iced tea. “Do you live here in the city?”

  “A few miles west and south, in the hill country.”

  “So you commute here to the city to your offices.”

  He nodded. “Bedford Roustabout has always been headquartered here in the same old building. My grandfather developed the business in the late nineteen forties. When he died my father took over the reins. After I graduated college at Texas University in Austin, I joined him.”

  “Is your father still helping to run the company?”

  He reached for his glass. “No. Unfortunately he died about five years ago.”

  Claudia had always been close to her parents. They’d provided her with a solid foundation through her childhood and because they’d always been there for her, the idea of losing either one of them had seemed impossible. Until her grandmother Betty Fay had passed away. Her death had jolted Claudia and reminded her that her family was mortal and not something to take for granted.