The Borrowed Ring

Still wearing that annoyingly inscrutable smile, he merely looked at her.

“Will you at least reassure me that I won't be helping you break the law if I stupidly agree to go along with this ridiculous charade?”

He never changed expression. Nor did he bother to say anything.

She scowled fiercely-not that she figured it would affect him. “So my choices are to cooperate with everything you say even though you won't tell me why or refuse to go along and risk having Bernard make me disappear.”

“The options haven't changed since I first outlined them to you.”

“Maybe it has taken me this long to make myself believe this is really happening,” she grumbled.

“Since I assume you're choosing the option that keeps us both alive, we need to go over a few things.”

Though B.J. couldn't help but resent Daniel's assumption that she would make the choice he wanted her to make, she couldn't really argue with him either. She had no wish to face the business end of Bernard's weapon. “I suppose you're right. If I'm to play a part, it would be helpful if I have a script.”

A sudden thought occurred to her. “Wait a minute. Did you never mention your wife's name? You introduced me to Creepy Guy as B.J.”

“That's not a problem.”

Something in his voice struck her as odd, but he was speaking again before she could define it. “There's very little that you have to remember. We've been married for two years. You are a homemaker and community volunteer who leaves all business and financial matters to her husband.”

“Oh, gee, thanks for making me such a progressive, modern woman.”

He ignored her—something he did entirely too easily, she thought. “Last fall you suffered a miscarriage and you've been somewhat despondent since. You've had even less interest in my business dealings with your money, which means I'm free to speculate with it at my own discretion.”

The more he told her, the less enthused she became with her role. A mopey housewife. Terrific. “I suppose I adore the ground you walk on?”

That seemed to fit in with the chauvinistic tale he had concocted.

He looked almost amused by her resigned question. “Of course. I've been the loving and solicitous husband since your loss. Which, of course, makes you less inclined to question my actions away from you.”

“So you don't love me?” It felt foolish to ask that of a man who was a virtual stranger—but it was only a charade, after all, she reminded herself.

A tiny shiver slipped down her spine when his dark eyes held hers for a heartbeat before he replied. “I've implied to Drake that I love your money more.”

She pulled her gaze from his, glancing down at her hands. “Then I would say you're in sorry shape, considering I don't have any.”

“My wife has plenty of money,” he corrected her.

The gold ring on her left hand glittered. She touched it with her right forefinger. “You just happened to have a woman's wedding ring on a chain around your neck? Just in case someone stumbled into your story?”

“The ring was my mother's. I've worn it for almost a dozen years.”

Despite the utter lack of emotion in his voice, B.J. felt her throat tighten anyway. She knew enough about his mother's fate to understand how much this ring must mean to him. He had carried it with him when he left the Walker ranch and he had worn it since as a reminder of—what? His mother's life? The injustice of her death?

“I'll take very good care of it,” she assured him.

“Thank you.” He stood then, glancing toward the bedroom. “Feel free to rest a while if you like. I'll make sure you aren't disturbed.”

“Actually…” Rising, she put a hand to her midsection. “I'm starving. It's been hours since I've had anything to eat.”

The smile he gave her then was quick and apparently genuine. “We can't have that. Room service or restaurant?”

Dragging her gaze from his amazing smile, she looked ruefully down at her wrinkled and travel-worn clothing. “Maybe room service would be best.”

Following her gaze, he nodded. “What size do you wear?”

“Size two. Why?”

“Shoe size?”

“Seven. Why are you—?”

“You'll need some clothing.”

He picked up a phone from an ornately carved and gilded writing desk. She listened in astonishment as he briskly and efficiently ordered a meal and then requested that an assortment of clothing, shoes and lingerie be sent to their suite for his wife's consideration. Despite what she knew about his impoverished background, he seemed to have adapted very well to a life of privilege.

Hanging up the phone, he moved toward the bedroom. “I'll set up the computer for you. You can send your e-mail while I unpack.”

She followed him into the bedroom. This room, too, was overly formal for her taste. Done in French style, it featured carved woods and lots of chintz and toile on little chairs and benches that looked barely substantial enough to support her weight, much less Daniel's.

Whose idea of a vacation room was this? She couldn't see herself putting her feet up on this furniture or lolling around still damp and sandy from a romp on the beach. Did people who were comfortable in rooms like this even like romping on beaches?

Daniel chuckled again in response to her expression. “You don't care for the decor?”

It irked her that he read her so easily when she could never tell what he was thinking. She waved imperiously toward another French writing desk. “Set up the computer. I have an e-mail to write.”

He reached for a leather computer case. “By the way,” he said casually, “you won't be able to hit send until I've read the message. Sorry, but I have to make sure you stay safe while you're under my protection.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “I'll have you know I've been working for the investigation agency for over a year. I can keep myself safe.”

“Since my guess is that you've been working primarily at a desk, doing computer searches and making telephone calls, I doubt that you've learned a great deal of self-defense during your stint at the agency.”

Without giving her a chance to challenge his guess, he opened the computer, turned it on, then stepped back from it. “Let me know when you're ready, and I'll enter my code so you can send the e-mail. After I've read it, of course.”

“Jerk,” she muttered beneath her breath as she sank into the tiny chair in front of the desk.

Again he surprised her by laughing softly. “It's not the first time you've called me that,” he reminded her. “I'm sure it won't be the last.”

His voice grew more serious then. “But you will leave this resort safely. You have my word on that.”

The message had been approved and sent by the time their early dinner arrived. Daniel had read every word carefully, weighing the implications and trying to predict her family's reactions to the e-mail. She had said simply that she had been unable to find Daniel and wanted to take a few days to think about her future. She had sent her love and promised to call soon.

“They all know I've been increasingly dissatisfied with my job lately,” she had rather grudgingly admitted. “Sitting at a computer all day wasn't what I had in mind when I talked my uncles into giving me a job.”

“Most P.I. work these days comes down to just that,” he had observed with a slight shrug. “From what I've heard, anyway.”

“So I've discovered.”