“But who would have known we’re here?”
“Good question.” And he didn’t like the answers. “Pearson and your friend Margo knew we were headed for the exhibition room.”
“But if something happens to me, Daniel won’t get to list the ranch. He seemed very focused on talking me into that tomorrow night at dinner.”
“Perhaps he only wanted to injure you, make you vulnerable to his offer.” Cash ran a hand through his hair even as his gaze raked the room again. “Or maybe I’m getting paranoid.” He met her eyes. “Do you have everything you need for now?”
“Yes.”
“C’mon.” Cash urged her toward the door. He wanted to get her someplace safe.
Jordan’s cell rang the moment they stepped out of the exhibition room. Even as she pulled it out of her pocket, Cash nudged her against a wall between two potted plants. From their position, he could keep his eye on the lobby and the main door to the exhibition room.
“Maddie? What is it?”
Cash heard the fear in Jordan’s voice. Neither had expected Maddie to call again. It couldn’t be good news. Moving closer, he leaned down, and Jordan tipped her cell so he could hear.
JORDAN SAT in the pickup next to Cash as they drove back to the ranch. Her head was still spinning from the news that Maddie and Jase had given them.
A professional hit woman had tried to shoot Maddie in Central Park.Just thinking about it had fear tightening in her stomach. She’d nearly lost her sister.
When Cash had reported what they’d learned to Shay Alvarez and related what had happened at the exhibition hall, the detective suggested that they return to the ranch and provided them with a police escort home. The two men in the cruiser following them would stay, keep the ranch under surveillance and escort them back into Santa Fe for the jewelry show in the morning.
As they started up the hill where they’d nearly been driven off, Cash said, “You’re too quiet. You have to be worried about Maddie. Talk to me.”
She turned to study him. In profile, he looked tough and rugged. And he was. But he also had a streak of kindness that ran bone-deep.
“I can’t seem to get my mind around it.” She swallowed hard. “Someone tried to shoot my sister.”
He flicked her a glance. “Someone tried to kill you, too, Jordan.”
“I know. It’s hard enough to accept that, but when I think of Maddie being in the sights of a professional sniper…I might never have gotten a chance to know her. And what if it happens again? What if the next shot hits its target?”
Now that she’d started talking, Jordan couldn’t seem to stop. “That’s why I didn’t tell her about the man trying to drive us off the road. I didn’t want her to feel helpless and angry. More than anything, I want to go to her. I want us both to go to New York and help protect her. But because of the will, we can’t. And we don’t have a clue about who’s behind all of this.”
She could hear the rising hysteria in her voice, so she clamped her mouth shut.
“I think you were right not to tell her. Jase and she need to focus all their energy on figuring out who’s trying to kill her. But it may be the same person who’s trying to kill you.”
Jordan stared at him. “You think?”
“Two professionals hired to take out two sisters on the same day?” Cash’s tone was dry. “It’s hard to think there isn’t a connection.”
He was right. She knew that. But she just hadn’t wanted to think about it. A wave of disgust moved through her. “I’m being a coward.”
Cash snorted. “A coward? You wouldn’t know how to be one.”
“Ever since the phone call, I’ve been wallowing in fear and self-pity. I don’t do that. I deal with things.”
He glanced at her again. “You don’t have to deal with this alone, Jordan. And Maddie doesn’t, either. Your friend Jase owns a security firm. He’s got men he can call on for backup. And according to Maddie, he was the one who saved her life in Central Park.”
His voice was as calm, as if he were trying to settle a skittish horse, but Jordan could see the tension in his jaw. When he reached over to cover her hand with his, she felt it in the tightness of his grip.
“You’re worried that you don’t have enough backup to protect me.”
“Yeah. I’m worried. I’ll feel better when Jase’s brother, D.C., gets here,” he said.
That was the one thing that Jase had insisted on—sending his brother to Santa Fe—and Cash hadn’t objected.
“Have you ever met him?”
“Yes, back in the days when Jase and I were in college. He’s a year younger than Jase and he went into the army right after he graduated. I didn’t even know he was in New York.”
“What’s he like?”
“Jase used to tell me stories about the trouble they’d gotten into as kids. He claimed that D.C. was the brains behind most of their escapades. Even in college, he had a reputation for being a bit on the wild side. But I imagine a couple of tours of duty in Iraq have settled him down.”
“He’s in the military police, right?”
“Yes.”
Cash glanced at his watch. “He’s going to call when he lands in Santa Fe, but I don’t imagine that will be until late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
Jordan turned to study him. “You worry too much. I’m used to taking care of myself.”
“I’m beginning to understand that. I’m wondering why.”
She could have given him an evasive answer. But he was always so forthright with her. “My mother was always focused on her jewelry design business, so I grew up trying to take care of the practical stuff. When I discovered early on that I didn’t have her creative flair for jewelry design, I went to business school. I figured I could make my contribution that way.”
“Your contribution to what?”
“Her dream.”
“What about your dreams? Do you ever do anything just for Jordan?”
“Of course.”
But when he said nothing more, she started to think. She’d done things for herself. She’d wanted to get her business degree. For as long as she could remember, she’d wanted to make a contribution to Eva Ware Designs. But had she ever done anything only for herself? Once more she turned to study Cash. Immediately, she felt the tingle of awareness, the heat of anticipation that he could ignite in her by simply being there. She wanted to touch him. And more.
“In your whole life, what have you done exclusively for yourself?” he asked.
“You. You’re what I’m doing for me.” She hadn’t expected him—wasn’t sure she was even ready for him. But if she hadn’t ended up with him in Maddie’s bed…if she’d had to go through life not knowing him, not knowing what they could bring to each other…she didn’t even want to think about that.
“I have to confess I don’t understand what’s happening between us, but I’m sitting here right now wondering what would happen if I touched you.”
He shot her a slow smile. “If that police cruiser weren’t right on our tail, I could come up with a few ideas of exactly what we could do if you touched me. Have you ever made love in the back of a pickup?”
“No.” But she was already starting to imagine what it might be like.
“We’ll have to put it on our to-do list. Once we get back to the ranch, what do you have to do to get ready for the show tomorrow?”
“I want to take Maddie’s jewelry out of the safe and experiment with some ways to display it. Then I’ll review her notes again on the various buyers who might drop by. There are also a couple of designers she’s friends with besides Lea. Luckily I can look them up in the catalog and match names with photos.”
He shot her a smile. “Sounds like a pretty full agenda. Before you dig in, why don’t we take the horses out for a ride?”
The idea delighted her. “You mean it?”
“I don’t say things I don’t mean. I think we both need a break. It should be safe enough. It would be pretty tough for anyone to follow us—unless they were on horseback, too.”
A careful man, she thought. And something inside of her warmed. She really wasn’t used to someone looking out for her. Of course, Jase cared about her, but she’d never thought of him as her…what? Protector?
“We’ll ride in the direction of the hills east of the ranch. There’s a canyon there I want to show you. And it has the added attraction of being a place where Pete Blackthorn does a lot of his prospecting.”
“Two birds with one stone?”
He shot her a grin. “Busted.”
It occurred to her that the more she got to know Cash, the more she liked him. And she had a strong hunch that it was going to complicate their relationship. Big-time. He might not like to predict endings, but she did. So she couldn’t let herself forget that whatever they discovered together would end in three weeks. But maybe they could enjoy each other and part as friends.
Something tightened around her heart. Perhaps if her parents had foreseen the inevitable ending, they wouldn’t have been forced into difficult decisions.