Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell Read Free Book Online

with our dear friend Lorne Davis, in honor of his gift of more than a thousand glorious acres of ranch land to the Conservancy.”
    A low murmuring passed through the crowd. Smiles and small conversations faded.
    “Just last month, Lorne verbally agreed to have his will amended. Tonight he would have formalized the eventual transfer of his ranch to the Conservancy by signing a contract. Instead . . .” She trailed off and touched just beneath her right eye as if to stop a tear. Then she straightened and said, “Instead, we raise a glass in his memory. To Lorne Davis, taken away from us too soon.” She lifted her champagne glass.
    Tanner was still half a room from his destination—the slender honey blonde in the simple, heart-stopping dress—and was doing his best to ignore the speaker’s breathy words. He knew he’d seen the honey blonde before, but was having a tough time remembering where.
    Last night? Was she the one I was so abrupt with?
    He’d been blocking most of the light last night and cross-eyed tired, but still . . .
    I was just mad that her voice made me hot. Actually, I was just mad, period.
    God, he really didn’t want to be in Refuge, Nevada. Not last night, not now. Not ever.
    And here he was.
    “Lorne was a vibrant gentleman,” continued the Hollywood blonde in the siren dress.
    What? Tanner thought, not believing his ears. The uncle that Tanner remembered shared very little with the Lorne Davis being celebrated at this party. Either his uncle’s grip on reality had slipped, or these party people hadn’t known the living man.
    “He loved the land above all else.”
    Well, she got that right, Tanner thought. The old bastard loved dirt more than he loved kin.
    Mentally he dismissed the speaker as one of those L.A. or Vegas females he couldn’t stand—showstoppers at thirty feet, and too thin and anxious up close. He’d take the real blonde he was heading for. Hopefully tonight.
    He heard his own thought echoed in the elevation of his pulse.
    Dude, you’re crazy. You all but kicked Shaye’s lovely ass off the ranch.
    My bad. Temporary insanity.
    And this isn’t? his rational self shot back.
    He dropped the mental argument. He couldn’t remember the last time his pulse had kicked this hard outside of sex. Shaye had wide dark eyes, sunny hair piled loosely on her head, and a smile that kept wanting to slip into sadness.
    Her simple dress made his mouth dry.
    The cloth wasn’t spray-painted on and it wasn’t loose. It was a dark silk shadow flowing over a body made for a man’s hands. Her shoulders and neck were exposed, showing fine bones and sleek skin. Nothing was cut too low or too high, nothing demanded attention.
    Unbelievable. Last night she was dark circles, working clothes, and temper.
    And I was an idiot.
    Good thing I have something she wants. It’s the only way I’m going to get within spitting distance of her.
    With a cop’s eye, Tanner measured the man who had beaten him to Shaye. Ace Desmond had a shaved head and a dark blue suit tailored for his solid body—money, power, and plenty of intelligence to use both to his advantage. Gold flashed at Ace’s white cuff as he put his hand on her mostly bare shoulder.
    She flinched, then caught herself and smiled.
    Dutiful and polite, not spontaneous and happy-to-see-you, Tanner thought, more satisfied than he should be. She might be taken, but not by him. She reacts like a woman who isn’t into kissing everyone.
    Ace chucked Shaye lightly under the chin, brushed a kiss to her cheek, and allowed himself to be drawn back into the crowd by someone who probably had something to sell him.
    Tanner made himself look away from the woman who had caught him off balance. Twice.
    I should be checking out the rest of the crowd. Somebody here might have actually known Lorne. Played poker with him, anyway.
    Yet for all that Lorne’s name was hanging from a ceiling banner, none of the conversations Tanner had overheard had told him any