Millionaire in a Stetson

She struggled to remember the original question. But then she met his eyes, and her mind went completely blank. Another shot of desire raced through her system. He was a fantasy man come to life, all strength and purpose, silhouetted by the mountains and the smooth blue sky. She suddenly wished with all her heart that the life she had here was real.

Two

The ingenuous, puzzled expression on Niki’s face told Sawyer two things. One, she hadn’t the first clue who he was. And two, there was a reason his Uncle Charles had risked everything for an affair with Gabriella.

Niki’s eyes were large, dark fringed, beautiful, clear green beneath perfectly arched brows. Her cheeks were pink, her face heart-shaped, and her mouth was a lush bow of red that telegraphed a lethal combination of eroticism and innocence. If Gabriella had even a fraction of Niki’s enticing sensuality, Charles could be forgiven absolutely.

“Reed said you all grew up on the ranch.” Sawyer changed the topic, intent on learning as much as he could about her cover story.

“Reed and Caleb grew up here,” Niki responded, her attention going back to the view. “I’m their half sister.”

“You grew up somewhere else?”

“Boston.”

Boston, not D.C. It was only a slight alteration, and the tactic earned his respect. Deception 101—keep your story as close to the truth as possible.

While they conversed, random shouts and the squeals of children crossed from the crowd of people around the house.

“A remarriage?” Sawyer pressed.

Niki shook her head. “Just me and my mom.”

Another true statement. “Did you visit here in summers?”

“I never knew my father.”

“Interesting story?”

“Not really,” she said. “My mother passed away a few months ago. That’s when it came to light.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” On a human level, Sawyer couldn’t help but be sorry that she’d lost her mother. His own mother had died when he was in his early twenties. Though the Laytons were never the most loving or attentive of parents, he still missed her.

“Thank you,” said Niki.

They both fell silent.

“Do you wonder why she kept it secret?” he asked.

She shot him a curious look, and he realized it was time to back off.

“You must be hungry,” he said, nodding toward the barbecue.

But instead of picking up on the topic change, her voice took on a faraway tone. “I came as quite a shock to them.”

“Reed and Caleb?”

“Yes.”

Sawyer quickly readjusted. “It must happen a lot these days. Strangers showing up, claiming to be relatives. You know, what with all the new social media and technology.”

“And DNA doesn’t lie.”

“You took a DNA test?” Sawyer couldn’t quite keep the astonishment from his voice.

“Of course. How else could we be certain? And, yes, I am hungry.” She abruptly pulled back from the rail and started toward the crowd of people.

It took Sawyer a moment to recover. Niki was actually a Terrell? In addition to a dozen or so judges, politicians and captains of industry, Gabriella had slept with a rancher from Colorado.

It didn’t fit her pattern. And, unfortunately, it meant Sawyer had just lost some of his leverage. He couldn’t threaten to out Niki with Reed and Caleb if they were truly her brothers. That got him wondering if they knew who she was. Were they playing along with the ruse to protect her, or had she kept her true identity a secret from them?

If they knew the truth, then he was working against the entire Terrell clan, not just Niki. He scrambled to wrap his mind around that possibility. If they were all on alert, then a single misstep on his part would be a disaster.

He quickly caught up to her as she climbed the small rise toward the house. “You must have been excited to find them,” he probed.

When she answered, there was a tightness to her tone.

“You mean because I went from being all alone in the world to having two of the greatest brothers in existence? Yes, I was excited to find them.”

He tried to decipher her meaning. Were they great brothers because they were protecting her secret? “So, no other siblings?”

“None,” she answered briskly, skipping into a jog.

She paused by a blue-and-white cooler, flipping the lid, dipping in to pull out a soft drink.

Sawyer hung back, pausing at the edge of the crowd.

“Travis Jacobs.” Another cowboy stepped up and offered his hand.

“Sawyer Smith.” Sawyer shook, forcing himself to regroup. More than ever, he knew he had to take his time with this. Finding the diary was going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

“I hear we’re neighbors,” said Travis.

“Word gets around fast.”

“I’m Mandy and Katrina’s brother. We have the spread that borders southeast of the Terrells.”

“Mandy and Katrina are sisters?” Sawyer’s research had told him as much, but the two women certainly didn’t look anything alike.

“Jacobs, both of them.”

And both married to Niki’s brothers, which tied Travis to Niki, as well. If the Terrells and the Jacobs were anything like the Laytons, family was family, and they’d protect their own.

“Beer?” Travis asked, filling the temporary gap in conversation.

“Sure.”

Travis crossed to the nearest cooler and extracted two cans of Budweiser, returning to pass one to Sawyer.