“Aren’t you going to seduce me?”
“You need the sleep.”
She began to nibble on his lips. “What about you?”
Cash knew what he needed, what he wanted. But everything was happening so fast. He needed time to convince her it was what she wanted, too.
“I want you to love me,” she murmured against his mouth.
“I do.”
Cash’s mind began to reel. The words had slipped out of him, and as his heart tumbled into freefall, he realized that they were true. He did love her. When had it happened? How?
Even as he tried to recall, his body was slowly being seduced. Her lips, softened by sleep, were busy on his, teasing, tormenting. There was something familiar about her touch as her fingers grazed over his skin. And something new about her taste. When had it turned so dark, so addictive?
She brushed her mouth over his eyes, his face, his throat. There were so many things he wanted to tell her. So many questions he wanted the answers to. But now wasn’t the time. With her name on his lips, he let himself sink into the sensations.
Using her mouth and hands, she began to work her way down his body, nipping one place, caressing another. Ribbons of fire skipped and skimmed along his nerve endings. Her tongue toyed with his nipples, then moved slowly lower, leaving a trail of ice and searing heat in its wake.
Cash tried to reach for her, but his arms were suddenly heavy. When she finally took the hard length of him into her hands, he felt his bones melt. And as her mouth closed around him, pleasure shot to a peak that bordered on agony.
Helpless. He couldn’t move, could barely think. No woman had ever made him helpless before. The feeling streamed through his blood, slithered up his spine and steamed his brain. His world had narrowed to Jordan and the slow, steady movement of her mouth on him.
She’d set out to seduce him, to lose herself in him one more time before they had to face the realities of the day. But every time his breath caught or his skin trembled, her own pleasure shot to new heights. Each time he shuddered or moaned her name, her needs grew stronger. Should she have known that in making a man weak she would become as seduced as he was?
When he closed his hands around her shoulders, she still didn’t want to relinquish control. Moving quickly, she straddled him, then raised her hips and lowered herself onto him. They locked fingers and eyes, but for a moment neither of them moved. It was as if by mutual consent, they wanted to stretch out the moment.
When she finally began to move, she did so slowly, fighting against the urge to quicken the pace. Each time she lowered herself, she felt more of him fill her—more and more until she wasn’t sure where she left off and he began. More than anything, she wanted to spin out the time for both of them.
When the first rays of sunshine streamed through the window, Cash gripped her hips and with one last hard thrust shattered both of them.
11
“I’M STUFFED,” Jordan said, pressing a hand to her stomach when Cash emptied a fresh skillet of scrambled eggs onto the platter in front of her.
“I’ll take some of those off your hands.” D.C. dumped half of the eggs onto his plate, then offered the rest to Cash.Jordan shifted her gaze to Cash as the platter was emptied. “I’d think that D.C.’s possibly bionic leg might be hollow, but you’re eating as much as he is.”
“It’s the cowboy life,” Cash said. “We load up when we can. Besides, there’s no telling when we’ll get a chance to eat anything again today.”
Jordan tapped the open catalog in front of her. “The hotel is offering a free buffet lunch to exhibitors and attendees.”
“According to your sister, jewelry shows aren’t exactly known for their hearty buffet lunches,” Cash said.
Because she knew from experience he was right, Jordan made no further comment as the two men made their way through a huge amount of food. She might have eaten more than the one slice of bacon and half a piece of toast if the nerves in her stomach hadn’t objected.
“You’re going to do a fine job of representing Maddie,” Cash said before taking a last swallow of his coffee. “You’ve been practicing how you’re going to display her designs for over an hour. I can tell you she never spent that much time figuring out a display in her life.”
The phone rang and Jordan jumped. “Who would be calling now?” It was only shortly after seven. “Maddie?”
Cash slid off his stool and went to the phone. “Yes?”
In the silence that followed he mouthed the word Shay, and Jordan’s stomach settled a bit. Of course it would be Shay. He had planned to speak to Pete Blackthorn before he went into surgery. She had to get a grip.
“And you’re not going to arrest him?”
There was another stretch of silence, and as it lengthened, Cash’s frown deepened.
“How’s Pete?” she asked as soon as Cash had hung up.
“He’s lucid and strong enough that his surgery’s been scheduled for nine a.m. Shay got ten minutes with him before they wheeled him off for tests.”
“Who isn’t Detective Alvarez going to arrest yet?” D.C. asked.
Cash poured more coffee into all the mugs. “Pete didn’t recognize the man who pushed him. His attacker shoved him from behind. Luckily, the first fall was short, and Pete grabbed a handhold on a ledge. The man followed, and that’s when Pete got a look at him. The description he gave Shay could be Daniel Pearson. According to Shay, it could be someone else. But the diamond on the pusher’s pinky finger narrows it some.”
“Pearson was wearing a diamond on that finger yesterday,” Jordan said.
“Yeah. He asked Pete why someone might have attacked him, but Pete was evasive. Shay thinks Jordan would have a better chance getting him to open up. And by the time Pete gets out of surgery and recovery, Shay hopes to have a DNA report from the lab on those cigarette butts.”
“He left cigarette butts behind and let himself be seen by the vic?” D.C. shook his head sadly.
“Shay doesn’t want to arrest Pearson or even alert him until he has all his evidentiary ducks in a row.”
“I can’t fault him there,” D.C. said with a shrug. “You do want him to pay.”
“I’d like to get my hands on him,” Cash said.
There was an angry edge in his tone that had Jordan staring at him. It wasn’t often that Cash let his laid-back facade crack.
“Do you think this Pearson will be at the jewelry show?” D.C. asked.
“He said he would stop by,” Jordan said. “Margo may drag him along with her.”
D.C. smiled at Cash. “That will give us some time to get a little proactive and see what else we can learn before Alvarez arrests him.”
Cash’s eyes narrowed. “You have a plan?”
D.C. spread his hands palms down on the table. “I have an idea. My leg kept waking me up, so while I waited to fall back asleep, I started thinking. One of the things we want to know is if Daniel Pearson has a specific client who wants to buy Maddie’s ranch. I’m betting he does.”
Cash nodded his agreement.
“A client who had knowledge of the turquoise mine we speculate might exist,” D.C. continued. “Otherwise, why would Pearson develop and execute this elaborate plan of escalating vandalism to pressure Maddie into listing the ranch? Especially a ranch that was already struggling to keep afloat.”
“That makes sense,” Jordan said. “And as far as we know, Pete is the only person who might be able to confirm the existence of such an untapped mine.”
“Exactly. While we’re waiting for that, my plan is to put some pressure on Pearson. I’m wondering what he would do if he learned he had some competition—someone else who wanted to buy the ranch.”
“Who?” Jordan asked.
“None other than one of my buddies during my last tour in Iraq. Greg Majors. His father is rolling in oil money. He’s back home now and is always looking for some kind of investment or other.”
Cash’s eyes narrowed. “And Greg is going to go along with this?”
“Nah,” D.C. said. “We’re just going to pretend he is. I’ll impersonate him, walk up to Jordan’s booth, turn on my Texas charm and give her an outrageous offer for the ranch. We just want to spook Pearson. I’m betting if he’s threatened or if he thinks there might be a bidding war on the ranch, he’ll call his client ASAP. Then we steal his cell and get the number.”
There was silence in the room for several seconds.
“It sounds crazy, but it might work,” Cash said. “Who’s going to lift the cell?”
D.C. grinned. “I think I can handle it. The cane gives me the perfect excuse to stumble up against him.”
Jordan looked from one man to the other. “You two are serious.”
D.C. turned to her. “It will give us something to do besides sit on our hands while we wait for Shay to get his evidence in order.”
“I have plenty to do representing Maddie’s jewelry,” Jordan said.
“And you can still do it,” Cash said. “It shouldn’t interfere with the show at all. We’ll work around you.”
She wasn’t going to talk them out of it. She could see it in their eyes. They reminded her of two boys planning some mischief on the playground. Except this was for real. And there was a killer out there.