Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell Read Free Book Online Page B

when you think out loud.”
    She felt the flush that spread from her breasts to her cheeks. “Did I? I’m not usually so . . . scattered.”
    “Good thing I’m here.”
    “Why?”
    “Putting pieces together is part of my job description.”
    Even if it’s just matching John Does with a missing persons report.
    But that wasn’t something he wanted to talk about with Shaye Townsend. He wanted to know what she liked, what she hated . . . and just how she wanted to be touched by a lover.
    Too bad she isn’t giving off free-to-a-good-home vibes.
    A round of applause went up. In a flash of red, Kimberli stepped out of the spotlight. Part of Tanner’s mind caught her final words, something about honoring Lorne’s intentions and giving to his dream of preserving small ranchers.
    So much for the eulogy, Tanner thought. Back to business—for the Conservancy and for me.
    “I’ll bet you’re the only real mourner here,” he said. “Lorne wouldn’t have pissed on these people if they were on fire.”
    She turned a laugh into a cough. “Kimberli understands how to turn glitter into money. For the Conservancy, that means galas, which are underwritten by corporate sponsors. All but a handful of the people here tonight paid at least a hundred bucks a head to come.”
    “So the showgirl act in the red dress is shilling for a good cause.”
    “My boss truly enjoys parties.”
    “You don’t?”
    Shaye shrugged, but the shadows under her eyes and the tightness in her mouth said a lot.
    “Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” he pressed, wondering how deep her temper was buried beneath the polite exterior.
    “There’s true and then there’s polite. When I’m in a place like this, I do polite. When I’m on the valley floor, with the livestock and the flies, I do truth.”
    Tanner’s smile was slow and hot. “No wonder you got assigned to my uncle. He didn’t have any use for lies, polite or otherwise. That’s why I’m having a hard time believing he was anybody’s guest of honor.”
    “He was just himself,” she said simply. “He didn’t have a fancy suit and he wouldn’t have rented one for tonight.” She looked pointedly at the dark, almost-tuxedo Tanner was wearing. “Why did you bother?”
    “Maybe I like champagne and short dresses.”
    A smile came and went swiftly from her lips. “I can believe half of that. Is that why you never visited your uncle? No short dresses?”
    “He and my dad had a real fence-lifter of an argument. No dresses involved, short or otherwise. Lorne could be a real bastard, in case you didn’t know it. My family left Refuge. End of argument.”
    “Your dad never made peace?” she asked.
    “You ever try to make peace with Lorne Davis?”
    She rubbed her hands over her arms as though chilled. “No. I didn’t have the chance.”
    It was just the opening Tanner had been waiting for.
    But before he had the chance to ask a question, he felt a hand on his arm. Perfume slid around him like a jungle night, alive with primitive possibilities.
    “Shaye, you simply must introduce me to this handsome stranger,” Kimberli said breathlessly. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes. “I know we haven’t met before, because I’d remember a man like you.”
    Normally Shaye was amused when her boss turned up the heat on a male, but this time it wasn’t funny. Kimberli could ruin everything. Despite the rocky meeting last night, Shaye didn’t think the ranch was lost, but it was far from a done deal. She could tell that Tanner was about as thrilled by Kimberli as Lorne had been.
    Kimberli wouldn’t see that as a problem so much as an opportunity.
    Shaye’s voice was just a bit clipped when she spoke. “Kimberli Stevens, Tanner Davis. Tanner, Kimberli. She’s your hostess.”
    “Davis?” Kimberli asked. “What an odd coincidence.”
    “Lorne was his uncle,” Shaye said quickly.
    Kimberli blinked as though unable to comprehend. “Uncle? You’re his nephew?”
    “Pleased