Cowboy to the Core

“I haven’t been in any serious relationships since my ex.”

“And he’s totally out of your life now?”

“Except for a few guest appearances as Celeste’s father, and he avoids those unless it suits him.”

“Then you don’t know of anyone who’d have reason to harm you?”

“No.” Which made her hiring him sound all the more ridiculous. “I probably overreacted,” she admitted. “I should never have called you.”

He nudged his Stetson a little lower on his forehead and leveled his gaze at her. “What really happened this morning in that costume shop, Dani?”

A cold knot settled just below her breastbone. This was the exact path she didn’t want the conversation to take.

“I’ve been under a lot of stress at work.” Not a total lie. “I guess it took its toll.”

He looked skeptical. “I’m here on your dollar, Dani, so you can stick with any story you want. But you clearly had more going on than mental fatigue when the salesperson held that green dress in front of you.”

She looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about your need to level with me. You’re running scared. I think there’s more to that than someone handing you a note.”

She sucked in a huge gulp of the bracing fall air. It was as if the man could see right through her. Obviously, he couldn’t or he’d be running in the opposite direction.

A small band began to play in the background. People were starting to take their seats in anticipation of the predinner entertainment.

“You can trust me, Dani.”

Marcus’s words wrapped around her. She met his gaze again and sank into the depths of his eyes. It was tempting to take him at his word. So very tempting.

“You’ll think I’m nuts.”

“Try me.”

He stepped closer, reached over and took her hand in his. The warmth of his touch added a new layer of vulnerability to her senses.

She had to be very, very careful what she said at this point. “I had a nightmare about a month ago,” she admitted reluctantly. “It was incredibly vivid and disturbing, and I haven’t been able to totally shake it from my mind.”

“What happened in this nightmare?”

“A woman was murdered while wearing an Elizabethan ball gown very similar to the one I was looking at when I fainted.” She hesitated. Even to her the explanation sounded bizarre. She’d already said too much. “Believe me, I’m as baffled by this as you are, but apparently the whole thing just got to me.”

“Was the woman in the dream someone you knew?”

“Not really, except that…” Dani shuddered.

Marcus stepped closer and reached for her hand. “Go on.”

Her breath caught, and she did a hard intake of oxygen. “You know how nightmares are. I thought the woman might be me, but I didn’t actually see her face.”

He squeezed her hand. “No wonder seeing the dress and then getting the note made you nervous.”

“I still feel foolish for letting the situation get out of hand over a nightmare. I’m sorry for wasting your time tonight, and if you want to leave right now, I’ll not only understand but still pay the full amount I owe you.”

“And miss the party?” He flashed his devastating smile. “Besides, a deal’s a deal, and it’s not often I get to spend the evening in old England with a beautiful woman.”

Moonlight, music and the company of Marcus Abbot. If she could put the whole premonition of danger behind her, it just might be the best deal she’d struck in years.

THE REST OF THE EVENING passed without even a glimmer of trouble, unless you counted Marcus’s total infatuation with Dani Baxter a problem. She got to him on a number of levels, not the least of which was that he hadn’t totally bought her story of why she’d come to him for protection.

The more he talked to her the more he realized just how levelheaded she was. It was obvious she was a great mother, and she had a responsible job that she was apparently good at.

All said, it made it difficult to imagine that she’d let a nightmare cause the kind of reaction he’d witnessed this morning. It had been more than just passing out. She’d been two-stepping with terror—at least it had looked that way to him.

“You two should dance ,” Celeste encouraged.

“I have two left feet, big left feet,” he said, sticking out one of his booted feet to prove his point. “Stomp on dainty toes with these clodhoppers and it could break bones.”

Actually he wasn’t that bad of a dancer when they were playing a boot-scootin’ number, but the tune the band was dishing out now sounded like a cross between a minuet and a watered-down Hail to the Queen. Still, there were several couples on the floor including the bride and groom.