Chapter Four #3
“Maybe I do,” Rey confessed. “But she’s in a position to do a lot of damage if she isn’t what she seems. You could have been killed, or suffered brain damage,” he added quietly. “If she’s in cahoots with the guys who mugged you…” He let the sentence trail off meaningfully.
Leo grimaced. “I don’t like poking into peoples’ private business,” he replied. “But you’re right. It’s risky not to check her out.”
“I’ll get the agency on it first thing tomorrow,” Rey said. He took another bite of the pie. “She’s a hell of a good cook,” he murmured.
“Makes good coffee, too,” Leo commented.
They looked at each other and grimaced. It was going to upset Meredith if she found out what they were up to.
But it was too much of a gamble not to find out what they could about her background and character.
On the other hand, Leo promised himself, he was going to intercept that background check before Rey had a chance to see it.
If Meredith had secrets she was hiding for a good reason, he wasn’t going to give her away to Rey.
* * *
It took several days for the private detective to get to the case and send a report to the Harts.
Rey was out of town at a one-day seminar on a new spreadsheet computer program the brothers were using for herd records when the report arrived. Leo carried the report into his office and closed the door while he read it.
When he finished, he let out a harsh breath.
So that was Meredith’s secret. No wonder her father drank.
No wonder she was so reticent and quiet about her past. He smiled as he considered her true profession, and he was determined that Rey wasn’t going to know about it until disclosure was inevitable.
Rey was too prone to conclusion-jumping and rushing to judgment.
It was about time he had a set down, and Meredith was just the woman to give it to him.
Meanwhile, he’d let Rey work on hanging himself.
Obviously Meredith was enjoying her anonymity, and considering the high-powered pressures of her daily job, it wasn’t surprising that she found mundane housekeeping a nice change.
It wouldn’t hurt to let her enjoy the vacation from stress, without probing into her feelings.
No doubt she still felt the grief, even after several months.
He touched the report with idle fingers, frowning as he recognized one of the names on it.
Mike had been a Houston policeman. He was also a friend of Colter Banks, a Texas Ranger and cousin of the Harts, who worked out of the Houston ranger office.
It really was a small world. He wanted to tell Meredith that he remembered Mike, but he didn’t want to blow her cover.
He also didn’t want her to know that they’d been checking up on her.
He put the file into the filing cabinet, deliberately putting it under the wrong letter of the alphabet. If Rey asked, he’d just tell him that the agency was working on it but had other, more urgent cases to assign agents to first.
* * *
Meredith was alone in the house when Rey came in, late that night, from his business trip. Leo had gone to dinner at the Brewsters’ house again, presumably at the invitation of Janie’s father, to talk about a new breeding bull the Brewsters were trying to sell him.
She’d just started the dishwasher and was ready to turn the lights off in the kitchen when she heard Rey come in.
He paused in the kitchen doorway, a black Stetson slanted over one dark eye, wearing a grey vested suit that clung lovingly to the hard, muscular lines of his tall body.
Meredith felt ragged by comparison in her jeans and red T-shirt, and barefoot.
Her hair was disheveled because she’d been scrubbing the floor with a brush, and she wasn’t wearing makeup.
She hadn’t expected to see either of the brothers before she went to bed.
Rey’s dark eyes went to her pretty feet and he smiled. “You don’t like shoes, do you?”
She grimaced. “No, and it’s not good to go without them. No arch support.” She studied his lean face. He had dark circles under his eyes. “Would you like some coffee and something to eat?”
“I would,” he said heavily. “They gave me peanuts on the plane,” he added with absolute disgust.
She chuckled. The sound was pleasant, and Rey was surprised at how it touched him to hear her laugh.
“I’ll make you a nice thick low-fat ham sandwich with sauce.”
“Thanks,” he said, sliding a chair out so that he could straddle it. He tossed his hat into the chair beside him and ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “Make the coffee first, Meredith. I’ve got paperwork that has to be done tonight before the accountant comes to do the books in the morning.”
“Can’t it wait?” she asked gently. “You look worn to a frazzle. You need an early night.”
His eyes searched hers intently. “I don’t need mothering,” he said, angered out of all proportion.
She flushed and turned away. She didn’t apologize or say another word, but her hands shook as she filled the coffeepot and started it brewing.
Rey cursed himself silently for snapping at her.
It was unkind, especially after she’d volunteered to feed him.
She’d been working hard, too, he could see the spotless floor and the brush and bucket she’d been using on it.
She must have done it on her hands and knees.
It was a big kitchen, too. He wasn’t the only one who was tired.
He got up from the chair and moved to stand just behind her. His lean hands caught her small waist and pulled her back against him. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice deep and husky with sudden emotion.
Her cold fingers came to rest on his and her whole body went rigid as a flash of white-hot pleasure shot through it. She caught her breath. He heard it. His own body tautened and the hands around her waist suddenly grew possessive, rough, insistent, as they pulled her tight against him.
He could hear her breathing change. He could feel the faint tremor of her hands over his. Impulsively he bent his head and his mouth touched the side of her neck.