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MAGGIE WAS HALFWAY down the long, paved driveway between neat white fences when the sound of a pickup truck coming up fast from behind made her step off the pavement.
But instead of passing her, the truck stopped and the passenger door was pushed open.
Red Davis, one of Cords ranch foremen, leaned forward, his wide-brimmed straw hat pulled down over his red hair and blue eyes. He smiled. Its too hot to walk a suitcase to Houston. Get in, he said. Ill drive you.
She chuckled,
even as she was touched by an act of kindness she hadnt expected. She hesitated for just a minute. Cord didnt send you, did he? she asked abruptly. If he had, she wasnt taking one step into that double-cabbed, six-wheeled truck!
No, maam, he didnt, he replied. He didnt know you brought the suitcase. And I wouldnt tell him even if he tortured me, he swore with a hand over his heart and a twinkle in his eyes.
She laughed. Okay, then. Thanks! She slid her suitcase into the backseat and jumped up into the cab beside Davis, closing the door and fastening her seat belt.
He started up the engine again and roared down the driveway. I guess you didnt come from town? he probed.
Leave it alone, Red, she said. It doesnt matter.
You brought a suitcase, he persisted. Why?
Youre a pest, Davis!
And I dont respond to insecticide, either, he grinned. Come on, Maggie. Tell Uncle Red why you turned up with that trunk on wheels.
All right, I came from Morocco, she replied finally when he just grinned at her scowl. Straight from Morocco, at that, despite delays and layovers and flight cancellations. I havent slept in thirty-six hours. I expected to find him blind and helpless. She laughed. I should have known better. He laid into me the minute I walked into the house and booted me out the door. She shook her head. Just like old times. Nothing ever changes. Just the sight of me rubs him the wrong way.
What were you doing in Morocco? he asked, startled.
Having a vacation before I took up my new job in Qawi, she confessed. My best friend is taking it instead. So here I am with everything I own in a suitcase, no place to live, no job, no nothing. She shot him a half-amused glance. If I werent such a tough nut, Id bawl my head off.
Cord didnt offer you a room? he exclaimed, horrified.
Cord doesnt know I came from Morocco, she said stiffly. He doesnt even know I was in Morocco in the first place. I didnt tell him I was leaving Houston. Not that he would have cared, even if hed noticed. She leaned her head back against the leather headrest with a sigh and closed her eyes. Youd think Id stop bashing my head against stone walls, wouldnt you?
The thinly veiled reference to her feelings for her foster brother wasnt lost on the man beside her. He wasnt close to Cord Romero, but he recognized unrequited love when he saw it. He was sorry for this pretty, strong woman who looked as if she was at the end of her rope. He wondered why his boss couldnt see how much she cared about him. He was supremely indifferent to her, and had been ever since Davis had come to work for him.
Besides, she added in a voice that betrayed more than she realized, hes got June to take care of him, now, hasnt he?
He shot her an odd glance. Not in the way youre thinking, he volunteered.
She was suddenly interested. Excuse me?
June is Darren Traviss daughter, he explained. Hes Cords cattle foreman, looks after the purebred Santa Gertrudis herd. Junes taken over the housekeeping and cooking just temporarily, because Cords regular woman remarried and left. But Junes sweet on a Houston police officer, and vice versa. Shes scared of Cord. Most people are. He isnt the easiest boss in the world, and he has moods.
She was really confused now. But he said...! I mean she lowered her voice he insinuated that he and June were involved.
He chuckled. She has to be forced to go to him with problems. She usually tells her father and has him relay any requests. She thinks Cords a holy terror. She told me once she couldnt imagine a woman brave enough to take him on. It really amazed her that hed been married at all.
It amazed all of us, at the time, Maggie recalled reluctantly. His marriage had hurt her terribly. It was a whirlwind courtship at that. Maggie had wanted to die when he walked in the front door with Patricia. Their foster mother, Amy Barton, had been equally shocked. Cord didnt strike anyone as a marrying man.
He hasnt had women around in years, Davis said thoughtfully. He goes out occasionally, but he never brings anybody home, and hes never out late. Funny, that. Hes a good-looking man, only in his thirties, in a dangerous profession and rich. Youd think hed have pretty women tripping over him. Hes something of a recluse.
She glanced at him. That dangerous profession is probably why. He knows every assignment could be his last. I dont imagine hed want to wish that on a woman.
Danger draws women, though, doesnt it?
She laughed. Not this woman, she confessed, stifling a yawn and lying through her teeth. Id rather marry a guy who worked the drive-in