Granite Man by Elizabeth Lowell Read Free Book Online Page B

don't ever push him," Luke added, looking directly at Cash. "Even you. Nevada doesn't push worth a damn."
     Cash smiled thinly. "My mother didn't hatch any stupid chicks. I saw Nevada fight once. If I go poking around in that lion's den, it will be with a shotgun."
     "But where is Nevada taking the map?" Mariah asked in a plaintive voice.
     "I don't know," Luke admitted. "I do know you'll get it back in as good shape as it was when Nevada took it. Better, probably."
     "Then you must know where he's taking it."
     "No, but I can make an educated guess."
     "Please do," Mariah said in exasperation.
     Luke smiled. "I'd guess that map will end up in an FBI lab on the east coast. Or some other government agency's lab. Nevada wasn't always a cowboy." Luke stretched and yawned again, then looked at Mariah. "Did you get everything moved into the old house?"
     "Yes."
     "All unpacked?"
     "Well, not quite."
     "Why don't you go finish? I'll be along in a few minutes to make sure you have everything you need."
     "Why do I feel like I'm being told to leave?"
     "Because you are."
     Mariah started to object before she remembered that Luke wanted to talk with Cash in private about going prospecting with her.
     "I'm not six years old anymore," she said reasonably. "You can talk in front of me."
     It was as though she hadn't spoken.
     "Don't forget to close the bathroom window," Luke said, "unless you want a battle-scarred old tomcat sleeping on your bed."
     Mariah looked at Cash. "Why do you let him insult you like that?"
     There was a two-second hesitation before Cash laughed out loud, but the sudden blaze in his eyes made Mariah's heart beat faster.
     Shaking his head, Luke said, "Good night, Muffin."
     "Don't forget to bring my cookies and milk," she retorted sweetly, "or I'll cry myself to sleep."
     Luke grabbed Mariah, hugged her and ruffled her hair as though she were six years old again. Laughing, she stood on tiptoe and returned the favor, then found herself suddenly blinking back tears.
     "Thank you, Luke," she said.
     "For what?"
     "Not throwing me out on my ear when I turned up without warning."
     "Don't be silly. This is your home."
     "No," she whispered. "it's yours. But I'm grateful to share it for a while."
     Before Luke could say anything else, she kissed his cheek and walked quickly from the dining room. Cash stood and watched the outer door for a long, silent moment, admiring the perfection with which Mariah played the role of vulnerable child-woman. She was very good. Even better than Linda had been, and Linda had fooled him completely. Of course, Linda had had a real advantage. She had told him something he would have sold his soul to believe – that she was carrying his child.
     What he hadn't known until too late was that Linda had been sleeping with another man. That was another thing women were good at – making each man feel like he was the only one.
     "You don't have to worry about Nevada," Luke said calmly.
     Startled, Cash turned toward his friend. "What do you mean?"
     "Oh, he's a handsome son, but it's you Mariah keeps looking at." Deadpan, Luke added, "Which proves that there's no accounting for taste."
     "Despite the beard, Nevada isn't a prospector," Cash pointed out coolly, "and the lady's heart is obviously set on gold."
     "The lady was looking at you before she knew you were a prospector. And you were looking at her, period."
     Cash's eyes narrowed into gleaming slits of blue. Before he could say anything, Luke was talking again.
     "Yeah, yeah, I know, it puts a man between a rock and a hard place when he wants his best friend's little sister. Hell, I ought to know. I spent a lot of years wanting Carla."
     "Not as many as she spent wanting you."
     Luke smiled crookedly. "So I was a prize fool. If it weren't for her matchmaking older brother, I'd still be waking up alone in the middle of the night."
     "Is that what you're doing now? Matchmaking? Is that why you want me to