Wyoming Tough - Diana Palmer [38]
“You might as well be,” she said flatly. “He thinks I’m after his money.”
His eyebrows arched. “He does?”
She lowered her eyes to the splash of coffee on her knee. She sipped more coffee. “I’m not,” she said with quiet pride, “but it’s what he thinks.” She looked up. “I’m fairly certain his girlfriend is helping him to think it. She really hates my guts.”
“I noticed.”
She looked up at him solemnly. “You watch her,” she said with sudden passion. “She’s pretending to be something she’s not.”
His eyebrows arched. “And you know this, how…?”
“For one thing, she’s wearing last year’s colors. For another, the shoes she favors are far out of style. Her jewelry is just as dated, and the purse she carries is couture, but it’s not a new one.”
His eyebrows arched more. “Excuse me?”
She shifted restlessly and averted her eyes. “I have a friend who models,” she lied. It was her mother, who was her closest friend. “I know what’s in style and what’s not, something Ms. Bruner seems unaware of. I suppose she thinks men don’t follow fashion and wouldn’t know.” She met his gaze. “She’s trying to pose as a socialite, but something’s not right about her. Want some advice? Get a private detective to do just a surface check of her background. I’m betting you’d find something interesting.”
“Why don’t you tell Mal?” he asked.
She laughed coldly. “Oh, sure, he’d listen to me. He already thinks I’m a gold-digging opportunist.”
He sighed. “You’re not what you’re pretending to be, either, are you?”
She smiled wryly. “No,” she confessed. “But I’m an honest person. I’m not hiding from the law or contemplating breaking it. Actually, I have a cousin who’s a Texas Ranger. I’ve known him and looked up to him since I was able to walk. He’d disown me if I did anything criminal. So would my parents.”
“Why are you working here?”
“You’d be surprised,” she assured him.
“I might be, at that.” He hesitated. “Want me to go ride fence with you? I’ve got some free time. That killer is still on the loose.” He sobered. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
She was pleasantly surprised at his protective attitude. “Thanks,” she said and meant it. “But I’m fine. I’ve got the cell phone the boss was kind enough to provide, and I’ve got a gun that Darby loaned me. I’ll be fine.”
He regarded her quizzically. “Okay, then. I’ll leave you to it. A cold biscuit. You call that lunch?”
She sighed. “It’s a lovely biscuit. Mavie made them for me.”
“She’s a super cook.”
“Yes, she is. Thanks again,” she added as he mounted his horse and started to ride off.
“You’re welcome.”
He tipped his hat and rode away. Morie finished her biscuit and coffee and went back to work.
CHAPTER SEVEN
MORIE WAS CONFUSED about her feelings for Mallory and her growing concern about Gelly Bruner’s interference and antagonism. The woman really hated her, and she was going to find a way to make trouble. Not that Morie was willing to run from a fight. If worse came to worst, she could always tell them the truth about herself. Except that Mallory, who hated lies, would think her a hopeless liar and probably never speak to her again.
She finished her cold biscuit and cooling coffee and sighed. Just as she started to get up, she heard a twig snap. There was another sound of movement, rhythmic. Any hunter knew that to walk normally was a dead giveaway to prey he was stalking. Animals never moved rhythmically. They’d hear the odd rhythm and know it was a human even before they caught his scent.
Morie looked toward her saddled horse, where her pistol was. She did have her cell phone in her pocket, though. She stood up and pulled it out, fumbling as she tried to turn it on. Of all the times not to have it activated…!
“Don’t do that” came a curt, masculine command from behind her.
She whirled, frightened and shocked, to see a tall, sandy-haired man with a hunting rifle standing just a few yards away. She trembled and dropped the phone. Her wide brown eyes were appalled as she looked at the rifle