Hearing the fierce passion in her words, seeing it in the defiant look in her eyes, Roan nodded. “So the FBI or local law enforcement aren’t trying to follow down the phone used for those faxes?”
“Correct.” She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, feeling the frustration. “I mean, the only way they’re going to believe me is when they find me dead in my apartment someday. Then it will be too late.”
Just the thought of Shiloh dead made his heart feel as if a fist had suddenly squeezed it. “Do you have any idea who it might be? A pissed-off male fan?”
Shrugging, Shiloh sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve gone through my e-mail correspondence with my readers and I can’t find anything to suggest something like this.”
“You do have male readers, don’t you?”
“I do. Not many, though, mostly women.”
“If it were a man, Shiloh, why would he want to do this to you?”
Rolling her eyes, she muttered, “I don’t know. Maybe my love scenes? In a romance there’s always love scenes. I’m known for hot scenes. Not erotic, but hot.”
Roan tried to keep focused on the discussion, and not forming fantasies of love scenes and erotic images of her in his bed. His senses told him she’d be damned sensitive, hot, and a little wild in bed. He’d bet money on it. But this wasn’t the time to go there. He saw the hurt in her eyes, the worry. Her lips were thinned. “So, do all authors get some men who are like that? They get turned on by the love scenes and then start stalking you? Unable to separate reality from fiction?”
“I don’t think it happens often. But it’s happening to me,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “That’s sick, Roan. I’m writing a novel. I’m not the heroine in that novel.”
“There’s some people who can’t separate out reality from fantasy,” he told her quietly. “They’re mentally ill.”
“That’s also what I think is going on but I can’t prove it.”
“He’s a sexual predator.” The thought turned Roan’s stomach. Shiloh was a beautiful, sensitive soul, completely unable to defend herself against someone like that. He felt every protective cell in his body stand at attention. There was no way in hell anyone was going to touch or hurt her. No one.
“I hope I’m wrong,” Shiloh admitted quietly. “I hope he’s gone by the time I get back to New York. Forgotten me.”
Grimly, Roan didn’t think that was the way it worked with a sick son of a bitch like that. “Look, maybe there’s room to investigate this in other ways. You need to first get caught up on a lot of lost sleep. Then, some fresh air, sunshine, and working yourself physically will help too.” He saw a grin come to her lips, her eyes starting to sparkle.
“Now you sound just like Maud. Get on a horse! Roll up your shirtsleeves! Wear a pair of leather gloves and cowboy boots! Go to work.” She laughed a little. “Did you two conspire?”
Her laughter was like a creek singing to him. It was low and smoky. His flesh riffled with possibilities. Roan tamped down his reaction. She was running scared from a sexual predator. And what was he? One in disguise? Wanting her? But he would never stalk Shiloh. If there was some kind of connection, Roan would know it. And he had no problem in asking Shiloh to her face if she’d like to go to bed with him. Roan had rarely been turned down, but he was more than willing to risk it because, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Shiloh made him run hot and he wanted to capture that smile of hers for himself.
Chapter Five
Roan watched Shiloh’s reaction to the black-and-white paint horse named Charley, a fifteen-year-old gelding. She approached his box stall in the large barn the next morning. Charley was generally used at the dude ranch portion of the Wind River Ranch and was a children’s horse. Maud decided Charley was a good fit for Shiloh.
The air was chilly at nine A.M.; most of the dude families who were in for the week were over at the chow hall. Roan had dropped in to see Maud, who was out in her machine shop. She was an ace at welding, fixing small engines and making spare parts to fit some of their aging farm equipment. He’d best let her know that Shiloh was going to be with him for the day. Otherwise, he’d be missing in action. Maud had glowed and smiled, giving her nod of approval.