by Mallory Kane
“All of which will take about an hour and a half.” Cade narrowed his gaze as he assessed Laurel. She was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Was she that eager to leave? He knew she harbored no love for Dusty Springs, but he’d like to think she was reluctant to leave him.
Hell. She had a whole life back in D.C. Of course she was ready to go.
What he’d heard her say to her boss still fascinated him though. What business had she left unattended in this town she hated? He knew what he hoped might cause her to want to stay, but he also knew it would never work. He loved her. But that was his problem.
She’d never let herself fall for a hometown boy. She’d said it herself. She hated Dusty Springs.
He followed her out to her rental car, taking one last look at her sexy figure, bouncy dark red hair and determined, no-nonsense gait.
He tried to help her load her bags into the trunk, but she ignored him. She opened the driver’s side door, but before she could climb in, he took hold of the door. She turned, startled.
“Laurel, is there something you want to say to me?”
Her eyes flickered. “Th-thank you?”
“Come on, Gillespie. Give me a break. Are you just going to drive off without talking about what’s between us?”
“Between us?”
“You haven’t spoken two words to me since you moved back to the bed-and-breakfast two days ago.”
“Cade, I’m so sorry about looking at your letter from the FBI. I never meant to snoop.”
His heart sank in disappointment. So that was her unfinished business. Apologizing. His defenses rose, trying to shield his heart. “But you did.”
“I know and I apologize. Have you—” She stopped, and he saw her throat move as she swallowed. “Have you ever thought about going back?”
“Back?”
“To the FBI.”
Her words echoed through him like a pinball machine on tilt. “That’s not possible.”
She looked down at her feet, then raised her gaze to his. To his surprise her eyes were damp.
The way she was acting scared him. What was she about to say?
“You know I never wanted to come back here. The only reason I let Misty talk me into coming was because of the picture. I had to find out what had really happened to Wendell. But I was determined to get in and out of Dusty Springs without getting any dust on me.”
He opened his mouth but she held up her hand.
“If you don’t let me finish I’ll never get this out.” She took a deep breath. “One huge reason I didn’t want to ever come back here is because in high school I had the biggest, most desperate crush on an older boy. I knew coming back would hurt. And what I was afraid of is exactly what happened. I was just as smitten as I’d been back then—more so.”
“James.” He held his breath. He couldn’t believe how much it hurt to know that she’d had a crush on James. Or maybe what hurt was that she’d never gotten over his brother.
“James?” Laurel stared at him, her hazel eyes glittering in the noonday sun. “No. It was never James.”
He frowned. “But what about the homecoming dance—what the CeeGees did and how much it hurt you? Why did they target you unless they knew you had a crush on him?”
“Because that’s what they did. And because to them I was an easy target.”
“But if it wasn’t James, then who—?” Cade’s voice gave out.
Laurel’s lips were trembling and tears were gathering in her eyes. “These last few days made me realize I’ve fallen in love with a solid, honorable, wonderful man who never knew I existed and apparently still doesn’t.”
He couldn’t stop staring at her. He watched a tear slide down her cheek to come to rest at the corner of her mouth. He wanted more than anything to lean forward and kiss it away.
She held up her hand. “So, now that I’ve humiliated myself, let me get going. I need to get to Memphis.”
He caught her hand and pulled her close enough that he could bend his head and capture the tear on his tongue.
She closed her eyes against the poignant pleasure of breathing in his rain-fresh scent.
“Think there’s any hope for the solid, honorable lunkhead?” he whispered against her mouth.
“I don’t know,” she croaked. “Maybe we can ask him.”
He gathered her into his arms and kissed her deeply and thoroughly. By the time he’d finished, she was flushed and dewy-eyed.
“I love you, Special Agent Gillespie.”
“You do? But it’s only been three days.”
He shrugged and shook his head. “Once I make up my mind, my dad says I can be pretty stubborn.”
“He’s right about that. Oh, Chief Dupree. I love you.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “Of course you know we’ve got a problem.”
“I was thinking we had more like a couple dozen problems, but I’ll be happy to settle for one. What is it?”
“I don’t know about you—but I want to do this right. You know, marriage, the whole bit. But there’s one huge obstacle.”
She rubbed her forehead lightly against his, but he felt her arms tense.
“What obstacle is that?” she asked quietly.
He leaned back so he could watch her face. He wanted to catch her first unguarded expression when he mentioned the problem. “You’re a big-shot FBI agent in Washington, D.C., and I’m a small town police chief in Dusty Springs, Mississippi.”
To his surprise, Laurel’s face transformed. Her cheeks flamed and she looked happy and nervous and excited all at the same time. “There may be a solution, if you think you could consider relocating,” she said. She looked at her watch. “I wonder if I can switch my plane reservation to a later flight.”
“I don’t suppose you can just cancel it?”
“No. I do have a job to get back to. But before I can leave, you and I have a lot to discuss.”
“Like what?”
“Like that letter and my boss. But most of all—like you and me, Dupree.” She tossed the car keys onto the front seat of the rental car and threw herself into the strong, safe arms of the man she loved.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2558-3
HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
Copyright © 2008 by Rickey Ricks Mallory
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Mallory Kane, Ultimate Agents - High School Reunion
