The Dakota Man by Joan Hohl Read Free Book Online Page A

“I’ll see what I can do about the Bullock.”
    “Thanks. Ben’ll contact you when he gets in.”
    They talked for several more minutes, discussing family business, ranching business, casino business.
    “Oh, and Mitch, keep an eye on Ben for me. He seems okay now, but I’d hate to see him go off the rails again,” Justin said before hanging up.
    Wonderful, Mitch thought, frowning at the dead phone receiver. Now he was to play keeperto a thirty-year-old man. Thinking the role had better not interfere with his plans for Maggie Reynolds, he disconnected, punched in the number for the Bullock and secured a room for Ben without a problem.
    Maggie drove Karla to work on Monday morning, as prearranged with Mitch Grainger when he drove Karla home from work the previous Friday afternoon.
    Maggie and Karla had spent so much of the weekend together, their budding friendship had truly blossomed. Which was fortunate, Maggie figured, as her stream of chatter during the drive could be attributed to the easy camaraderie they now shared.
    The nervy, almost queasy feeling had been incrementally growing inside Maggie with each passing day until, this morning, she couldn’t seem to shut up.
    “Are you feeling all right?”
    Well, so much for the cover of easy camaraderie, Maggie thought, slanting a quick glance at Karla and seeing her quizzical expression of concern.
    “Oh, sure, I’m fine,” Maggie answered, in forced tones meant to reassure. “I guess I’m abit nervous.” A bit? Try a bunch, she thought, swallowing an anxiety-induced bubble of self-derisive laughter.
    Karla’s look of concern gave way to a smile. “I suppose that’s understandable, with starting a new job,” she said. “But, trust me, as I told you before, there’s really nothing to be nervous about.”
    Trusting Karla was easy, Maggie thought, managing a smile for the cheery woman. During their gabfest over the weekend, Karla had been open and candid about herself, her life, even her reasons for not telling her parents about her pregnancy. She’d been open about everything—with one exception. Not once had Karla mentioned the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, or the man who had fathered the child growing inside her.
    So, of course, in light of Maggie’s suspicions as to the identity of that man, and that tingly, almost electrifying sensation she had experienced while in his company, it was trusting Mitch Grainger she had doubts about. The troubling thing was, she didn’t have anything concrete on which to place any of those doubts. All she had were her feelings, the vibes her senses had picked up while she had been in his office.
    Her senses might have been wrong.
    Yeah, and she might win a million-dollar lottery.
    Maggie sighed as she pulled onto the employee parking lot. Crunch time. She’d soon know if she had been wrong, at least so far as that charged atmosphere was concerned.
    “The first day’s always the hardest,” Karla said as she opened the outer office door. “So, the sooner we get started, the sooner it’ll be over.”
    “Makes sense to me,” Maggie agreed, catching the scent of fresh-brewed coffee as she followed Karla into the room. She’d skipped breakfast, and coffee, to allow herself more time to choose just the right clothes to wear—she’d tried on and discarded three perfectly suitable outfits before settling on a favorite skirt suit. The distinctive aroma of coffee set Maggie’s senses clamoring for a strong dose of caffeine.
    Alas, it was not to be. Karla sent them crashing with the information that, not only had their esteemed employer started the coffee—a cause for speculation in itself—it was decaf.
    “Sorry,” Karla said, her smile rueful. “But Mitch insisted we switch to decaffeinated after Itold him I was pregnant…he said the caffeine was bad for the baby.”
    Uh-huh, Maggie mused, her suspicions deepening. But she smiled and shrugged. “No problem,” she said. “It wouldn’t hurt me to cut