Renegade Moon (CupidKey) by Karen E. Rigley, Ann M. House Read Free Book Online Page B

there was a contest going on.
    She’d read the message in that alabaster face. She wasn’t a naturally clumsy person. How ridiculous that Iris’s mere presence could turn her into a klutz. She ran her fingers through her hair, patted her face with water, and returned to the battlefield.
    Iris, obviously finished, had left half her food on her plate. The men scooped up taco leavings from their plates with their forks. Destiny picked up her fork and ate a few bites of her crumbled taco.
    “I guess one must first crush these to eat them,” she said, allowing her cheerful smile to take in everyone at the table.
    No one paid any attention to her. Iris talked about people Destiny didn’t know, but whom both Lee and Eric did. She pushed her remaining food around briefly, then moved her plate aside and sipped her ice water. From the tone of the conversation, Destiny concluded that Eric and Iris had known each other when they were younger, and Lee, though he didn’t fit in that particular notch, now appeared to know all the people under discussion.
    Destiny shifted impatiently. She didn’t want to hear all this abstract talk about people she didn’t know. What she wanted was the background story of how these three people fit together.
    The sensation of being watched crept over Destiny. Her gaze wandered around the room, seeking the source. Two men sat at a table by the wall. One, completely bald, swarthy, thick-necked and brutish featured, bent intently over his plate. The other, pale haired, pale complexioned, appearing for all the world like a Nazi SS officer out of uniform, focused on her with strange, colorless eyes. A twitch of his cruel mouth acknowledged her stare. She quickly averted her gaze.
    Turning her attention back to her dining companions, she saw Iris smile intimately at Eric, touching his wrist lightly with a slim finger to emphasize some point of the conversation. Destiny glanced at Eric for his reaction. No answering smile creased his unreadable face.
    Another man entered the restaurant and crossed to the table where the Nazi sat with his comrade. Destiny noted the new man’s ordinary appearance and nondescript brown hair. He talked to the Nazi for a moment, turned and left again. He received only a swift glance from the brutish companion, still involved with his food. Yet, Destiny saw Eric’s eyes follow the third man until the man walked out the door. Then Eric quickly finished his water and stood abruptly.
    “I have to get back to the ranch.” He tossed some money onto the table. “Enjoyed the lunch,” he added, and walked out without so much as a kiss-my-foot to Destiny or any of the others, for that matter.
    “Excuse me.” Destiny stood, hoping to cover her confused embarrassment. “I have photos to download.” She refused to sit here with Iris Blake Rampton while that pale-eyed weirdo stared at her. “Goodbye, Lee. Nice meeting you, Iris.” With this she left, her new boots thudding softly on the floor.
    Her car was hot in spite of leaving the windows cracked. She felt totally out of sorts. She stood beside the car a moment, then slammed the door and went into the Mercantile where she bought the dress boots, a ruffled denim skirt, and a high-necked lace blouse. Lee was standing beside her car when she came out.
    “A little shopping?” he inquired with his boyish smile.
    She nodded, returning his smile. He continued, “There’s a dance tonight at Wes’s Wagon Wheel. Would you like to go with me? I understand they’re having a good band, a local Country-western.”
    “Why, yes, Lee. Thank you. What time shall I expect you?”
    “Eight-thirty okay?”
    “Fine. I’ll be ready.” With a little wave, she started the car and drove away. What a coincidence. The dance at the Wagon Wheel was exactly what had prompted Destiny to spend too much money in the Mercantile. Determined not to pine over Eric’s abrupt rudeness in abandoning her, she’d decided to go out and have a good time. She