Risky Engagement. Merline Lovelace

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      Of all the things she’d expected … Okay, she hadn’t known what to expect. But this certainly wasn’t it.

      “Are you talking about the older gentleman I met this afternoon?”

      “I’m talking about the man who invited you into his hacienda this afternoon.” His jaw hardened. “As for whether or not he’s a gentleman, you tell me.”

      This was getting way too bizarre. Frowning, Nina tapped a foot. “Before I tell you anything, I want some answers. Who are you and who do you work for?”

      “I told you my name. Most of the time I run a marine construction company.”

      “Other times?”

      “I do independent consulting. Hazard elimination. Debris removal. That sort of thing.”

      The sideline seemed legitimate. It was just the way he said it. As though there was more to removing debris than hauling it off in dump trucks or barges.

      Nina’s foot tapped again. “I want to see some ID.”

      With a sardonic shrug, he extracted a well-worn leather wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open to a California driver’s license.

      There he was. Rafael Conall Blackstone. Height, 6’2’. Hair: black. Eyes: Blue. Weight: a really buff 180.

      “‘Conall’?”

      “My grandmother’s Irish.” A gleam flickered in his eyes, quickly come and just as quickly gone. “It translates to ‘strong wolf'.”

      For some reason, the fact that he had a grandmother made him seem more human. Less dangerous. Which she knew was really absurd. Like murderers and rapists didn’t?

      “My turn.” He slid the wallet back into his pocket. “What were …”

      “Not so fast, Blackstone. I’m not finished yet.”

      Impatience rippled across his face. Making an obvious effort to contain it, he hooked one of the high stools from the marble counter separating the kitchen from the dining area and swung it around.

      Nina gave a huff of disgust. “Make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?”

      He did, with one long leg braced against the floor tiles and the other propped on the stool’s rung. “What else do you want to ask me?”

      “Oh, just a few little things. Like how you knew I hold a PhD. And where I’m staying. And that I met Sebastian Cordell this afternoon. Oh, yes—one more. There’s also the question of why in hell you didn’t ask me about this guy in town instead of kidnapping and scaring the crap out of me!”

      He had the grace to look a little ashamed. Not much. Just enough to suggest he didn’t go around abducting women every day of the week.

      “Yeah, well, I’m sorry about that. To tell the truth, I planned to pour a couple more margaritas down you, get you loose, and pump you for information there at the Purple Parrot. When that didn’t work, you forced me to resort to more direct measures.”

      “What information?”

      “For starters, how you know Cordell.”

      “I don’t know him! Or I didn’t, before my car broke down this afternoon.”

      “Pretty convenient, how you arranged for it to break down so close to his compound.”

      “'Convenient'?” Nina echoed, incredulously.

      “'Arranged'?”

      Thoroughly flummoxed, she groped for the other bar stool and yanked it closer so she could plop down. This whole thing was becoming more absurd by the moment.

      “Why would I ‘arrange’ a breakdown?”

      The rueful note disappeared from his voice. Hard and sharp-edged, it cut through the air between them.

      “Maybe because Sebastian Cordell has something to sell. Something you might want,” he added, his eyes locked on hers. “You and a number of other entrepreneurs.”

      The small sneer accompanying the last word brought Nina’s chin up with a snap. She’d worked damn hard to establish her company. She’d sunk every penny of her savings into start-up costs, then borrowed heavily to purchase the building Grant Medical Data Systems now operated out of. The first months—the first years—had been scary as hell.

      But she’d pulled it off. By sheer luck and perfect timing, she’d gotten in on the ground floor of a burgeoning and very necessary industry, and now turned an extremely healthy profit. One no one could sneer at!

      Bristling, she poked a finger at Blackstone’s chest. “You listen to me, fella. I’m going to say this one time and one time only. I did not arrange to have my car break down. I did not use it as a ploy to meet Sebastian Cordell. And I am not interested in whatever the man has for sale.”

      “Then why …”

      The shrill ring of the phone sitting at the end of the counter cut him off.

      “That,” Nina announced, with fierce satisfaction, “is most likely Ramon, checking to see if he should move the car to the parking lot. I’ll tell him to call you a taxi.”

      “Not yet.”

      “Yes, yet! This conversation is over.” Glaring at him, she snatched up the receiver. “Hola.”

      The smooth, cultured voice that came through the earpiece made her swallow. Hard. With a helpless look in Blackstone’s direction, she responded to the gracious inquiry.

      “Yes, Mr. Cordell, I made it home safely.”

      Every muscle in Blackstone’s body went taut. His narrowed gaze drilled into Nina as she clutched the receiver.

      “What? Lunch tomorrow at your hacienda? I … Uh …”

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