The Calamity Janes: Gina and Emma: To Catch a Thief

“You didn’t tell them you were a lawyer?”

“No.”

“You didn’t tell them you’d followed me out here?”

“No.”

“You never mentioned Bobby?”

“Nope.”

That seemed to silence her. Rafe couldn’t help himself. He reached out and cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m just after the truth, Gina. Nothing else. If you have nothing to hide, talk to me, tell me the truth.”

“You wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you in the butt.”

“You have a very low opinion of my ability to judge character, don’t you?”

“Can you blame me? You’ve come after me as if I’m some hardened criminal, when I’m as much of a victim as any of the people you say that Bobby swindled. The man has all but destroyed my business. He has turned my life upside down. And because of him, an annoyingly persistent attorney won’t leave me alone.”

Rafe grimaced at the characterization. He’d always considered persistence to be a virtue, but he could see her point. Moreover, he was forced to admit that he was beginning to believe in at least the possibility of her innocence, but he was a long way from having any evidence for or against her. She might not see that as much of a shift in his opinion, but in truth it was a major concession. He usually trusted his initial gut reaction in any given situation, and he rarely let go of preconceived notions this easily.

“You could go a long way toward making your case, if you would just sit down and get this deposition over with,” he pointed out.

“Not without my attorney present.”

“Of course not, but isn’t your friend Emma an attorney?”

“Yes, but her practice is not in Wyoming, and besides, she’s here this weekend because she’s overworked and badly needs a break. I’m not going to get her involved in this,” she said flatly. “Hell, I’m here because I need a break, but I haven’t had five seconds to think with you trailing around after me. I started to take a drive, but I stopped for coffee instead. I glanced outside and spotted you heading in this direction. I had this horrible feeling this was exactly where you were going. Lo and behold, here you are, sneaking around behind my back to cross-examine my parents.”

“I was not cross-examining your parents,” he repeated patiently. “I stopped by looking for you. Your mother invited me in. Your father did most of the talking. That’s it.”

She gave him a plaintive look. “Couldn’t you go away?” she asked in what had become a familiar, wistful refrain. “Go home? I’ll be there in a couple of weeks and answer every single question you have.”

“Much as I would like to get out of the wilds of Wyoming and back to civilization, I can’t take a chance that you’ll disappear. You’re my best link to Rinaldi.”

“I haven’t heard from him. In fact, if he’s smart, I will never hear from him, because if I ever get five minutes alone with him, I will wring his scrawny neck.”

She said it with such heartfelt conviction that Rafe’s faith in her shot up another notch. That still didn’t mean he could go running back to New York the way she wanted. Unfortunately, he was here for the duration.

And gazing into her sad, vulnerable eyes was making that more and more difficult with every passing day.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said finally. “I’ll make you a deal.”

She regarded him with suspicion. “What sort of a deal?”

“What’s on the reunion agenda for the day?”

“A picnic in the park.”

“Is that the last event?”

“No, most of us will be here for the Fourth of July fireworks later in the week.”

He regarded her solemnly. “Do you swear that you will not skip town on me?”

She sighed. “I’m not going anywhere. How many times do I have to tell you that? You can turn your back on me. In fact, it might be nice if you just forgot all about me.”

Rafe grinned at her wistful tone. “I can’t do that, but I will back off. I have some paperwork to do.”

“Hallelujah!” she said, though her tone was less than enthusiastic.

“I’m not saying I won’t cruise by the park—”

“I should have known it was too good to be true,” she murmured.

“That could be just because I’m longing for a glimpse of you,” Rafe suggested.

“Oh, of course,” she said sarcastically. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

He was surprised by her skepticism. “You don’t think that could be true?”

“You are not hanging around here because you’re attracted to me. You’re here because you want to nail me with a crime.”

“Maybe that’s how it started,” Rafe said quietly, regretting the admission almost before the words were out of his mouth.

She gave him a startled look. “What are you saying?”

“I’ve already said it. Never mind. The point is I will try to give you a little space. Just don’t make me regret it. I have a lot of resources and I will use them to find you, so save yourself the trouble.”

He’d taken half a dozen steps, almost made it to safety, when she called out to him. He turned back.

“What?” he asked, noting the confusion in her eyes.

“Are you saying that kiss yesterday...” Her gaze locked on his. “Did it mean something?”

Rafe couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips. Her words were too close to an invitation, way too close to a dare, or maybe he’d just been searching a little too desperately for any excuse at all to do it again.

“I don’t know,” he said nonchalantly. He walked slowly back to her. “Only one way to find out.”

Alarm flared in her eyes just as he bent down and lightly touched his mouth to hers. He could have stopped with that. He should have. But her soft little moan, the way she swayed toward him, they were too much. The next thing he knew she was in his arms and he was devouring her mouth.

The morning had been unseasonably cool up until then, but now the temperature shot up until it felt hotter than it had under the blazing sun on his walk back into town the day before. His heart pounded and his body turned hard, even as hers went pliant, molding to his in a way that left him shaken and her trembling.

His breathing was ragged when he finally pulled away. “I guess we have our answer,” he murmured, his voice husky.

She stared back at him with dazed eyes. “Answer?”

“That kiss definitely meant something.”