“If I did, I’d want something stronger than soda, damn it.”
“Not in the middle of the day,” she said.
“Is that an order?”
“Yes, that’s an order.”
They were standing toe-to-toe by then. She had slung her head back to look way up into his face. She was conscious of how muscular and sexy this man was. Though she frowned at him, she wanted nothing more than for him to bend down and kiss her. Deeply. Then lead her—
“Stop teasing me, damn it!” He pounded one fist against the wall behind them so hard that she wondered for a moment if she was hearing the bones in his knuckles break.
And then she realized it was a different thing she’d heard, as something small and thick fell from behind the portrait of Dora Wellesley. They both turned to look.
“What’s that?” asked Dex suspiciously.
“I don’t know.” But Colleen stooped to pick it up from the floor where it had fallen. It was dusty, but it appeared to be made of leather. A book of some kind. A very old book.
She opened it, very carefully, and gasped. “I think it’s Dora’s journal!”
“Really?” Dex leaned over her as she rose. She bumped into him. Her eyes met his, and she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
She wanted him to kiss her, damn it.
And it sure looked, from the desire glowing from his eyes, that he wanted to kiss her.
“Dex,” she said softly. Trying to encourage him.
For a moment, he stood still, as if trying to work up the nerve to—what?
And then she heard a noise. Dex took a quick step away from her, and she turned, furious, toward the door.
Fiona stood there. She looked embarrassed and distressed. “Sorry, Colleen,” she said. “There’s something I need to talk to you about right away. Something important has come up.”
Something, she didn’t need to say, involving Colorado Confidential.
“Er—I’ll take care of cleaning that journal up so you can read it,” Dex said, as if that had been the only reason they had been so near one another.
“Thank you,” she said formally, handing the little book to him. She was curious about its contents, eager to read it.
And very, very frustrated.
Damn it all! Colleen thought as she hurried out the door behind Fiona. Some days she wished she was only a rancher. Being the head of an organization so covert that she couldn’t even talk about it with the person she was interested in was hell.
On the front porch, as Fiona began animatedly but quietly to describe the latest Colorado Confidential dilemma, Colleen glanced left, toward the horse barn. Little Jenny Stanton stood on the bottom rung of the split rail fence, watching the horses inside. Wistfully, Colleen watched Shawn, who stood near his stepdaughter-to-be, take Kelley into his arms and kiss her, very tenderly.
Someday, Colleen thought wistfully, thinking of the moment with Dex that had been interrupted. Someday…
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Linda O. Johnston for her contribution to the COLORADO CONFIDENTIAL series.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-4091-9
SPECIAL AGENT NANNY
Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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