No Risk Refused

Old habits died hard. He’d left a note for Vi near the coffeemaker in the kitchen that he was going into Glen Loch to let the sheriff know about the earring. He’d also wanted to stop by the library to refresh his memory about Eleanor’s missing dowry.

Both were perfectly valid excuses—but not the only ones he’d had for wanting some time before he came into contact with Adair again.

Cam moved quickly down the incline and grabbed the bag the librarian had given him to carry the books and copies he’d made at the library. His mother had used the Glen Loch library when she’d researched the missing sapphires for her book. It was always best to look at the primary data. Partly that was his CIA training talking and partly it was the curiosity he’d always had about those missing jewels. When he and his brothers had played with the MacPherson girls during that long-ago summer, his favorite game had been “pirates.” And the treasure they’d always sought had been the sapphires.

His mother’s research had never turned up even a hint of what had happened to them. But the proof of their existence had always been right there in the main parlor of the castle in Eleanor Campbell MacPherson’s portrait. When his mother had been researching, she’d picked up on the story that the sapphires had once been worn by Mary Stuart and that they’d been Eleanor’s dowry. But exactly when or how they’d disappeared was still a mystery. And no one knew exactly how the sapphires had come into her family’s possession. The mystery had always drawn him. And it was one of the reasons his mother was in Scotland right now researching the Campbells and MacPhersons on that end.

And mysteries surrounding the sapphires had drawn someone else to the Glen Loch library that morning. The librarian, a tall, spider-thin woman with sharp eyes, had greeted Cam warmly as soon as he’d identified himself, telling him that she remembered when his mother had brought him and his brothers to the library that summer when they’d first visited the castle. And she’d been very willing to tell him about the stranger who’d come in the moment she’d unlocked the doors. He’d asked for help in locating anything on the missing MacPherson sapphires. She couldn’t give Cam a name, but she’d described the stranger as a man with brown hair, a receding hairline, mid-forties, with a portly build. He’d been wearing khaki slacks, a baseball cap and glasses. And he’d printed copies of some of the materials he’d accessed on their new computers.

There were two things that bothered Cam about the guy. His timing and the fact that he was a stranger. His own reason for visiting the library, besides avoidance, was the fact that he knew one of Eleanor’s earrings had surfaced. Was it just a coincidence that a stranger had dropped by the library the same morning to gather information on the missing sapphires?

Cam had never put much faith in coincidence. He wasn’t even willing to bet that it was some kind of coincidence that had pulled him back to the castle right now.

Shouldering the bag, he started up the hill. Adair was different for him. He’d sensed it on a bone-deep level seven years ago when she’d stood beneath the stone arch with him while their parents exchanged vows. He trusted his gut instinct, something that had always served him well at his job. And working for the CIA had also honed his skills at analyzing data. What he’d learned from his encounter with her on the floor of the foyer last night was that avoiding her hadn’t changed a thing. She was still different for him. And he still wanted her.

This time he couldn’t just leave the way he’d done when he was twenty-two. He was stuck here until he’d done what their father had requested and thoroughly checked out the security. For now, he’d made sure that the earring was safe. But there was someone else who was suddenly interested in the sapphires. And there was still the job that Daryl had asked him to do. His boss hadn’t contacted him yet, which meant he still hadn’t been able to definitely identify Saturday’s groom as his longtime nemesis. But Adair or Vi might know something about Lawrence Banes that would help him out.

So avoidance time was over.

He hadn’t even kissed her yet. But in spite of the fact that he had a lot on his plate, he wasn’t sure that he could resist the urge to taste her for very long. And they weren’t twenty and twenty-two anymore.

Last night he’d lain awake in the guest room reliving what it had felt like to have every soft curve and angle of her body pressed against his, and the devouring heat, the churning in his gut, that the contact had triggered. The sensory memories had kept him from sleeping for hours.

Cam reached the top of the hill the red convertible had shot over and caught his favorite view of the lake, the sturdy castle with its terraces and balconies nestled in the tall pines, the lush gardens and the blue lake glimmering like a sapphire below it. From this spot, he could even see part of the stone arch. He knew how to do his job. What he still had to figure out was what he was going to do about Adair. And as he started down the hill to the castle, he wondered if he had a choice.

* * *

ADAIR DRAGGED THE last potted plant into position, then stepped back to survey what she’d been able to accomplish since the departure of the Maitlands. Her aunt had returned to the kitchen to work on the groom’s cake. The mix of lavender hyacinths and purple irises offered a stark contrast to the gray stones, and the colors would pick up the tones in the maid of honor’s and flower girl’s dresses.

The physical exertion of moving the pots into place had helped her get a clearer perspective on Rexie’s wedding. Focusing on a task and finding a solution had always been one of her strengths. But that skill hadn’t worked for her in Chicago. In hindsight, she could see that she’d been so focused on the projects she’d been doing with Bax that she hadn’t picked up on the fact that he was taking all the credit for them.

Maybe she just didn’t have good judgment when it came to men. Which made it very good that her attraction for Cam Sutherland was one-sided. And he’d no doubt be leaving today. How long could it take to check out their security and reassure her father?

Pushing the thought out of her mind, she backed up to the first row of chairs and sank down. She had a wedding to pull off and she was going to do her best to ensure it went forward. Everyone wanted it to, including the bride.

In her mind, she pictured the bridal couple standing beneath the arch and imagined what she hadn’t seen yesterday. The minister saying, “You may now kiss the bride.” Rexie wrapping her arms around Lawrence and kissing him.

Visualizing your goal was essential to achieving it, just as important as writing it down. That was business school 101. It had been hammered home in every self-help book she’d read, every entrepreneurship course she’d taken. Even her ex-boyfriend, Bax, had talked about it. He probably believed that she’d been axed and he hadn’t because of his superior visualization skills.

Or had the problem been that she hadn’t been able to “see” what he’d been doing? Maybe she hadn’t wanted to see reality. Instead she’d wanted to believe in the fantasy she’d created in her mind of their perfect partnership.

Focus. Bax was history, and Cam soon would be. What she needed to concentrate on right now was the upcoming wedding. The fate of her new business plan depended on its success.

Closing her eyes, she summoned the image to her mind. Rexie kissing Lawrence. Rexie kissing Lawrence. Digging into Rexie’s first marriage to Barry was not her problem. Pulling off the second one to Lawrence was. Slowly her imagination delivered. Pretty Rexie, her blond curls all pulled up with pearls threaded through them. And the groom, holding her close.

Keep your focus. Wait for it.

The image grew clearer and closer. A tall man with lean, chiseled features and sandy-colored hair finally lowered his mouth to Rexie’s.

But he definitely didn’t look anything like Lawrence Banes.

Cut. Stop action.

Adair snapped her eyes open, but the stranger’s mouth had been brushing Rexie’s before she’d pushed the image out of her mind.

She pressed her hands to her temples. Think of something else. A quick glance at her watch told her that she still had forty-five minutes until her next appointment. A prospective client who’d called first thing that morning. Nathan MacDonald. He’d been driving through the mountains and stopped at the diner in Glen Loch, and the patrons had been talking about the upcoming wedding. He and his fiancée were looking for the ideal place to schedule their own wedding. Adair had set him up for a brief tour.

She dragged one of the chairs out of its straight line and propped her feet on it. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and just for a minute, she made her mind go blank. She concentrated on the sensation of the warm sun on her face, smelled the scent of fresh mulch, pine and flowers. In the distance she heard the rumble of the lawn mower and much closer the chattering of birds, the hum of bees.

As she let herself drift, another image filled her mind. It was blurry at first, but as it slowly came into focus she saw that she was standing beneath the arch, not Rexie. And the man holding her? Hard to see in the shadows cast by the stones. But she grew steadily warmer as the features slowly sharpened in her mind—the dark unruly hair, the lean face with its slash of cheekbones. Familiar.