He hung up the phone and put it back on his belt.
“You don’t think someone tried to tamper with it, do you?” she asked worriedly.
“It’s unlikely that an intruder would have gotten this far.” He chuckled as he vaulted back into the saddle. “We’re about six miles off the main highway at the house. This is a quarter of a mile from there.”
She glanced at him. “I don’t want to put you and Delsey in harm’s way,” she said. “I could leave...”
He stared at her over the saddle horn. The leather creaked as he moved. He’d never had anyone worry about his safety, except Delsey. He was surprised at how much he liked it. Angie had never pretended to care if something happened to him.
“I have state-of-the-art surveillance,” he reminded her. “And some of the toughest ex-mercs in the country. You’re safe here. So are we. Okay?”
She let out a breath. “Okay.”
He started riding, waiting for her.
“Randall should have told you,” she said. “About why I came here, I mean.”
He shrugged. “He knew you’d be safe. He just told me you’d had a stalker and you needed a place to get away from him.”
“That would truly be the day.” She sighed. “Although I think I’d prefer that to what I have. Imagine a man sending a contract killer against two women because he wanted vengeance on their father. I still can hardly believe it.”
*
HE WAS QUIET as they rode.
“Do you think Sari and I might turn out like that, because of our father?” she asked worriedly. “I mean, I’ve never even hurt a fly. I catch them and put them outside...”
“Did you know that horses are pretty savvy about people?” he interrupted. “Hurricane savaged one of my men. He wouldn’t let any of us touch him. But he let you doctor his cuts. If there was something evil in you, do you really think he’d have reacted to you that way?”
She drew in a breath. “I guess not. It just bothers me.”
“What do you know about the killer?”
“Paul—my brother-in-law—says he’s unique in the business. He’s been at it for a long time and he has a reputation. He’s managed to stay out of prison by bribing or even killing witnesses to his crimes. He’s so confident, Paul said, that he dresses himself very distinctly and wears a ring that would help anybody identify him.” She shivered. “They say he never misses.”
The thought of a bullet going into that sweet, gentle woman contracted his heart. She was unique. He’d never known anyone like her. She evoked protective instincts in him that he’d never felt.
“He won’t get to you here,” he told her. “I promise you, he won’t.”
She managed a smile. “Thanks.”
“Cold?”
“Not really. I love this coat! It’s so warm!”
He wondered that she didn’t thank him for it. She was unfailingly polite. Perhaps she’d grown to expect things from men. She was very pretty. He felt the old doubts creeping in. She could be sweet and still be like Angie. People had good qualities and bad. She might not think of using men as a failing.
He was suspicious of her. She seemed like the genuine article, but he wasn’t certain that everything about her wasn’t some sort of act. Angie had been sweet at first, curling around him like a kitten. She’d pretended to be just what he needed.
Not that she was innocent, or that she even tried to give that impression. She was ready for whatever he wanted from the day they met. Randall’s woman, but she wanted Ren, because he was richer.
His face hardened. Women loved his money. He was sick of the fawning, the coy looks, the come-hither glances. He’d been pursued for years, mostly by women his brother brought to the ranch as guests.
This one seemed different. But she was still Randall’s woman. He hated that. He’d never thought of being the only man in a woman’s life before, but as he grew older, he found that most women left him cold. He’d worked himself half to death and founded something of a ranching empire out here. But when he died, it would go to Randall. And Randall would put it on the market before the coffin was in the ground. He knew that with absolute certainty. His brother didn’t have the attachment to it that Ren had.
“You’re quiet,” she said, bringing him out of his dark thoughts.
“I was thinking about the ranch,” he said.
“Delsey told me about it,” she said. “It’s so big! I don’t see how you ever would have enough men to work that many head of cattle, or to do all the things you have to do in winter to keep the livestock from freezing to death.”
He glanced at her and smiled. “Did you watch that other DVD, the one we did of winter on the ranch?”
“Is there one?” she asked excitedly. “I didn’t see it!”
“I’ll find it for you when we get home.” He chuckled. “It shows all the hard work we do to get ready for production sales in the spring.”
“What’s a production sale?” she asked.
“A big headache.”