Kady had expected protestations of the perfections of the woman he probably loved. “On what?” she asked, wide-eyed. How did one spend so much so quickly?
“Jewels, a yacht, a jet or two, houses around the world,” he said as he squatted by the fire and revived it.
“It’s a good thing you stayed rich then, isn’t it? Maybe she wouldn’t be so anxious to marry you if you were poor.” She knew she was fishing to find out if he was engaged. And she wanted to kick herself for wanting to know.
“If that’s supposed to shock me or make me reconsider marriage to Leonie, it isn’t working. She and I suit each other. I work all the time, and I’m gone a great deal, so I can’t have a wife who is constantly nagging me because I’m never home.”
“So why bother to marry at all?”
“Children. I’d like to have a few.”
“So you think Leonie will be a good mother?”
“I think she will look good on my arm, and the very loving couple who raised me will raise my children.”
“Ah, I see, and look how well you turned out.”
Her barb made him chuckle. “So let me guess, you’re holding out for a man who loves you to death and gives you three perfect kids. And you also want to have a career, not a job, but a real career, one that fulfills you.”
She refused to answer him, but her silence said it all.
“So who do you think is the dreamer, you or me? I try for what I can get; you try for the dream that everyone wants but no one gets.”
Perhaps his words should have bothered her, but they didn’t. “Without hope you die,” she said, smiling at him, and he smiled back.
“Like you have hope that you’re going to be able to make a dead man live?”
“Ruth seems to think that I can, and I’m certainly going to try.”
Standing, he stretched, looking like a dark animal in the firelight. Taking a burning twig, he lit a lantern and set it near her. “Want to tell me exactly what it is you plan to do?”
If Kady had been honest, she would have told him that she had no idea, that she had no plan. But she doubted that a businessman would understand such a strategy. It was like not knowing what you are going to cook until you see what food is fresh in the market that day. “I think I’ll keep my plans to myself for a while,” she said, trying to sound mysterious, but from the way he smiled, she had an idea he knew what was in her head—or, more precisely, what was not in her head.
Standing, she looked at the tent in apprehension, and another laugh made her turn back to him. “Don’t look so frightened. You can keep your virginity for another night.”
“I’m not—” she began, then halted because she could see that he was teasing her. “What in the world did you do for amusement before you met me?” she demanded.
“Worked eighteen hours a day. You can have the tent, I’ll sleep in the Jeep.”
“Sure you wouldn’t rather bunk with your horse?”
“Is that what Cole would have done?” he asked, suddenly serious.
“What do you know of him?”
“If you can have secrets, so can I. Good night, Miss Long,” he said, then slipped into the darkness, where she couldn’t see him.
Picking up the lantern, Kady went inside the tent to the sleeping bag. At first she thought she might slide between the layers of down fully dressed, but she knew that was ridiculous. He’d reassured her that he wasn’t intent on harming her, and whatever else she thought of him, she knew that she was safe with him. So safe that if she was in danger, no matter where she was, he would appear and protect her. Hadn’t he appeared in her dreams throughout her life? And hadn’t he shown up in Colorado when she’d thought he was thousands of miles away?
As she drifted asleep, she thought she heard the words, “Good night, Kady,” but she wasn’t sure. Whether it was the wind or not, she went to sleep smiling.
Chapter 24
“WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?” KADY ASKED, A MUG OF hot coffee in her hands as she stared up at Tarik Jordan. It was early morn
ing, and they were alone in the beautiful wilderness.
“Play hooky,” he said, smiling. “Ditch school. Take the day off.”