Chapter Ten #4
That was a good argument, one she thought they’d buy.
Wilder sighed, and she looked up at his face to see a mixture of exasperation and male amusement.
She narrowed her eyes at him and did her best to scowl.
She had never been particularly good at scowling, but she thought she might get in some practice with her friends at their next get-together.
It was very clear to her that she was going to need that expression in her bag of armor.
She lifted an eyebrow, stared down her nose at him and gave him her haughtiest look, the one she was good at. She’d perfected the princess-to-peasant look in her early teens, when she was facing the cameras and reporters during the senator’s endless bid for fame and adoration.
“What?” She’d perfected that haughty, sarcastic tone as well.
For some reason, her tone and look didn’t faze Wilder in the least. He burst out laughing, and the sound played along her nerve endings and, sadly for her, reduced her annoyance with him.
There was just something beautiful about the man’s laughter, even if he might be laughing at her for no good reason.
“Baby, you just refuse to get the fact that your man is a hunter. If I have to brag so you get it, I’ll tell you I’m one of the best. No one runs from me and gets away. Tracking runners down is what I do. If you need confirmation, you can ask Rainier. You know the man won’t tell you a lie.”
It wasn’t like she’d forgotten, she’d just buried that knowledge somewhere deep so she didn’t have to think about it too much.
“Fine.”
Rainier laughed. “Wilder, you’re new to relationships, and I can give you a little piece of advice.
A woman says fine to you, that means you’re in trouble.
Big trouble. Shabina doesn’t say it often, but when she does, I consider putting on my vest just in case she decides the best course of action is to shoot me. ”
“Shabina is too crazy about you to shoot you.” Harlow stuck her chin in the air. “On the other hand, I don’t know how crazy I am yet about Wilder. He’s very bossy.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Rainier agreed. “But just to be fair, someone already shot and stabbed him a few times. That might be enough to humble him a bit.”
Wilder burst out laughing. “You two should take the show on the road.”
Rainier raised an eyebrow. “Shabina has never displayed a jealous streak, but you have,” he pointed out to his friend. “I know Shabina wouldn’t shoot me, and neither would Harlow. You, on the other hand, might consider it if you thought for a moment I was spending too much time with your woman.”
“That could be true,” Wilder said, without the least bit of remorse.
Harlow rolled her eyes. “There’s something wrong with both of you.
I have an idea. I’d like both of you to just consider it.
Rather than you picking up Guadalupe, why don’t you let me invite Guadalupe to lunch at the Sunrise Café with Raine, if Rush allows her out, and any one of our other friends who can attend. You can easily monitor us there.”
Rainier shook his head even before she finished speaking.
Harlow found herself so frustrated she could barely speak. She despised the dismissive attitude. He hadn’t even given her time to explain her plan. It wouldn’t be the first time she and her friends had managed to get the needed information over a simple lunch.
“Wait a moment,” Wilder said. His fingers tightened around hers. “She might be onto something, Rainier. I think you should hear her out. The one thing about our women, Rainier, is they’re smart. They have ideas; we should listen to them.”
Harlow could have kissed Wilder. He listened to her. He knew this mattered to her, and he was more than willing to hear her out.
Rainier nodded. “Point taken. I did interrupt you, Harlow, although it wasn’t because of your idea, just where you thought to hold the lunch.
Rush will never agree to allowing Raine to go there at this point.
She would be very uncomfortable. You can’t have it at your home for obvious reasons, but if the idea has merit and the others cooperate, I’m certain Shabina would host it for you. ”
That made her feel even better. “Guadalupe will come if we want to talk real estate. I’m going to ask her to look up who owns the land with the old barn and the climbing rocks.
As a group we can be interested in purchasing it, but we need to find out about the water rights and whether we can build there.
That sort of thing. It’s right up her alley. ”
“How will you get her to talk about the letters?”
“I don’t plan to mention the letters unless everything is going well.
I plan to talk about my relationship with the senator and how he is threatening me.
That’s when one of the others, most likely Raine, will talk about the letters, but not to her.
To me. We’re pretty good at this, Rainier.
Just let me try. If nothing helps, you can always pick her up after. ”
She didn’t even like saying that. It made her feel responsible for whatever happened to Guadalupe if she didn’t tell the truth to the two men.
But this was the only way she could see to protect Guadalupe.
Whatever the reason her friend had to betray her had to be a good one, at least in Guadalupe’s mind. Harlow needed to know what that was.