Fire Brand. Diana Palmer

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      Gaby went down the long hall of the first floor, skirting the staircase that led to the upstairs bedrooms, past the sweeping Western motif of Bowie’s study, past the elegant grandeur of the traditional living room, past the library with its wall-to-wall bookcases, pine paneling, and leather furniture, past the huge kitchen, and down the covered walkway to the pool house. And there was Bowie.

      He was cleaving the water with powerful strokes, easily covering the length of the Olympic-sized pool and turning with quiet strength to slice back through the water to where Gaby stood watching.

      His head came out of the pool, his blond hair darker wet than dry, his black eyes examined her curiously. She was wearing designer jeans, but they weren’t tight. The long, trendy, red-and-gray overblouse disguised her figure, except for its slenderness and the elegance of her long legs. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon, and her dark glasses were still propped on her head.

      “Taking inventory?” she asked.

      “Not particularly. You’re late.”

      “I’m early, and what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Canada,” she reminded him.

      “I couldn’t stop worrying about Aggie,” he said simply.

      He put his big hands on the side of the pool, and with devastating ease, pulled himself out. As he got to his feet, Gaby found herself gaping at the unfamiliar sight of him in nothing but white swimming trunks.

      They were very conventional trunks, but they did nothing to disguise the sheer magnificence of his powerful body without clothing. She’d seen him this way before a time or two, but it had never affected her so much. Bowie had a physique that was nothing short of breathtaking. He was a big man, formidable in height as well as size, but there wasn’t a spare ounce of excess weight. He was perfectly proportioned—streamlined from his broad, hair-covered chest to his lean hips, flat stomach, and long, powerful legs. He had a natural tan that the sun only emphasized, its darkness enhancing his blond hair and giving his body a particularly masculine glow. He wasn’t pale or flabby, and while there was hair on his chest and flat stomach and legs, it wasn’t unsightly.

      Bowie wasn’t unaware of that keen, helpless scrutiny. He rested his hands on his hips, his black eyes narrowed, as he studied her expression with open curiosity. She’d never looked at him in quite that way before, and he found it disturbing. He found her disturbing. It hadn’t been only Aggie’s unknown suitor who’d brought him here today. He’d brooded all weekend about the way he’d felt when he’d taken Gaby to supper in Phoenix. It had worked on him until he’d put the Canada construction project in the hands of his project foreman and hot-footed it down to Lassiter.

      Gaby didn’t know that, and he had too much intelligence to let her know. He was sure that if he signaled his interest, she’d turn tail and run. The very way she dressed spoke volumes about her repressions.

      “Why don’t you get into a swimsuit? I’ll race you across the pool,” he said with a faint smile.

      She lifted her eyes to his and felt her heart race in her chest. “I didn’t bring one,” she fabricated. She didn’t own one.

      “There are several in the pool house,” he replied.

      “I have to unpack,” she said. “And get my things out of the car...”

      “Montoya will already have done that, and Tía Elena will have your things in the drawers before you can get upstairs,” he mused. “If she’s out of the bathroom.”

      “I hear that you sent her in there in the first place,” she said with a nervous laugh.

      “Lies. All lies. I’m not half as bad as my publicity around here,” he told her. He pursed his lips, letting his eyes search over her flushed face. “The water’s cool, Gaby,” he coaxed, a note in his voice that Gaby hadn’t heard before.

      Her body tingled. It was so tempting. But she might be unleashing emotions that she couldn’t handle. She knew Bowie only as Aggie’s son, as the heir to Casa Río. It would be dangerous to start thinking of him as anything more personal. A man his size was a considerable threat out of control...

      “Maybe later,” she said, forcing a smile. “Okay?”

      He didn’t press his luck. He didn’t want to scare her off. He smiled back, his black eyes kind. “Okay, honey.”

      The endearment made her knees weak. That smile had done some damage, too. Bowie was by far the handsomest man she’d ever seen in her life. She could only imagine how many hearts he’d broken over the years.

      “Just what are we supposed to be doing here?” she asked, biting her lower lip. “Aggie’s going to be furious, and she’ll know immediately why we’re here.”

      “We’ll throw her off the track,” he promised. “You aren’t backing out on me?”

      “Heavens, no,” she said. “I don’t want Aggie hurt any more than you do. But if we look like we’re interfering, she may very well send us both packing. Right now, it’s her house. We’re interlopers, even if we are family to her.”

      “I know that, too. I don’t like trespassing on her privacy. I didn’t do it much, even when Dad was still alive.”

      “I guess you resented me more than you ever said,” she ventured, studying him.

      He smiled faintly. “From time to time. I didn’t fall in line when he wanted me to; then, we didn’t speak for two years while I was in Vietnam. After I got back, I worked in a construction gang for a rival company. It was Aggie who persuaded me to talk to my father, and he eventually wore me down. That was the year before you showed up. There’d been no time before, and there was none after. You were their hearts. They both wanted a daughter. They got me.”

      “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I never knew the whole truth.”

      “You still don’t. But it was a long time ago. No need to brood about it, tidbit. Did you have to fight for your time off?”

      “I told Johnny I’d get him a great scoop on that agricultural conglomerate that’s trying to locate here.”

      His face went hard. “Is the job all you think about?”

      “That’s not fair,” she replied. “I had to have an excuse. You don’t just walk out the door and tell your boss you’re taking a vacation!”

      “Why in hell not?” he demanded. “My God, Gaby, you’ll inherit part of Casa Río. There’s more than enough here to support both of us for life.”

      “I don’t want part of Casa Río!” she shot back. She knew she must be pale; she could feel the blood running out of her cheeks. “It’s your birthright, not mine. If there’s any outsider here, it’s not your mother’s friend, it’s me!”

      He moved toward her, big and confident and a little frightening because of the sheer size of him. She had to look up to see his eyes, and all the while she was aware of the hard muscle of his body, the broadness of his chest, the masculine beauty of the darkly tanned hands holding the towel as he patted his chest with it absently to absorb the moisture.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ