thing. I’ve got wedding cakes, my family, you, whoever is following one of us, the newspaper pictures. I just can’t deal with any more.”
As she spoke, she reached for her purse, then dug out her bottle of antacids. After popping two and chewing them, she sighed.
“I’m such a rock, huh?” she asked softly.
“You do okay.”
“I’m not so sure. I thought coming back here would be easy, but it’s not. Who was that guy last night? Is he after me or you? I’m guessing you, because of the election. Plus you have the debate in a couple of days. But it’s creepy. And I hate the newspaper thing. The picture. I feel so bad about it, but it wasn’t my fault. Still…”
She pulled up a bar stool and sat down. She rested her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands.
“I’m being a lousy hostess,” she said. “There’s cake in the cupboard and stuff to drink in the refrigerator. Help yourself.”
She didn’t look like someone planning his demise, he thought. If he had to put money on it right now, he would say Gracie wasn’t involved. But was that his gut talking or his dick? Because even now he wanted her. Slumped shoulders and pouty expression, it didn’t matter.
“Don’t you have any real food?” he asked.
She turned her head so she could stare at him. “What?”
“You’re always offering me cake. What about a sandwich or meat loaf?”
She straightened. “I don’t keep bread in the house. What kind of insanity would that be?”
“But you have cake.”
“I make cakes. It’s tough not to have them in the house when I actually bake them. But I don’t really cook, so you’re not going to find meat loaf ever. I think I have a few cans of soup. And my tuna salad. That’s a staple in my life.”
“Do you eat anything other than cake and tuna?”
“Sure. Salads. Fruit. I have some soy-based granola in the cupboard.”
He grimaced and claimed the stool next to hers. “No thanks.”
“It’s really good.”
“You’re really lying.”
“A little.” She turned so she faced him. “You still mad at me?”
“I was never mad.”
She sighed. “Yeah, you were. When I first got here. Are you thinking…” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t know what you were thinking, but it can’t have been good. I didn’t… I’m not the one doing all this.”
“I know,” he said, because he wanted to believe her. “I hired a private detective from L.A. He’s coming up in the morning and he’ll find the photographer. Once we know who’s taking the pictures, we’ll find the person behind it.”
He watched her as he spoke, looking for hints of panic or concern. Instead she held his gaze and when he’d finished said, “I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this. We’ll both feel better with some answers.”
Which meant what? That she wasn’t the one setting him up? He wanted Gracie to be innocent, which bugged the hell out of him. He didn’t get involved-not ever. He’d yet to see the purpose of anything longer than a night with a woman. Keeping his distance meant he didn’t get betrayed. So why was he still here?
“My sisters had an intervention today,” she said. “It was pretty horrible. Alexis thinks I’m obsessing about you. She seems to have completely forgotten that I only got involved because of her. Vivian is convinced I had a completely horrible time in high school, that I was a social misfit with no friends and no boyfriend. Where do they get that? I was normal. I was a cheerleader.”
“Yeah. I can see that shallow perkiness in you.”
Her gaze narrowed. “I’m not shallow and I’m not especially perky.”
“You’re a little offbeat.”
“I can accept that. My world view is slightly skewed, but I like that about me.” Her shoulders slumped again. “Pam is confusing.”
“Pam? My ex-wife?”
“That would be her. I’ve been using her kitchen at the bed-and-breakfast, which means I run into her. She’s been really…nice.”
He’d expected a lot of words, but that wasn’t one of them. “Are we talking about the same Pam?”
“Sure. Tall, skinny, blond. Great clothes.” Gracie leaned back on the bar stool. “It’s annoying, let me tell you. But the thing is, she’s been really sweet. Saying nice stuff about you, even.”
“What a humanitarian.”
“It’s kind of creepy. I almost want to like her, but I can’t. Still, I don’t know why she’s acting this way. Jill told me she was still really bitchy, but she hasn’t been to me. You think she’s up to something?”
“You don’t want to take her at face value?”
“I should, huh? I mean it’s totally horrible of me to judge her, but I can’t help it. I want to like her but every time I try a little voice in my head starts screaming. Which means either she’s faking me out or I’m a really bad person.”
“You’re not a bad person.”
“You don’t know me well enough to decide.”
“Sure I do.”
He stood and reached for her hand, then pulled her to her feet and drew her into his arms.
“It’s okay not to like Pam,” he said, his lips pressing against her forehead. “I won’t tell.”
“Thanks.” She snuggled closer, pressing her body against his.
She felt good, he thought. Warm. Soft.
“You’re not supposed to be doing this,” she told him. “What about the three
He stared into her blue eyes. At that moment he would swear he could see down to her soul. There weren’t any secrets, any dark places. Which meant one of two things-either he was a complete sap and she was a great actress, or he was messing where he didn’t belong.
“I already told you, I can’t forget you,” he said.
Her gaze held his. “We didn’t do the other
It wasn’t something he liked to think about, but he nodded in agreement. “Yes, Gracie, we made love.”
The words came from a place deep inside. He wasn’t sure he’d ever said them before and he knew he’d never meant them. Until Gracie.
What the hell was he doing?
He released her and stepped back. “I gotta run,” he said.
“Okay. Thanks for stopping by.”
He waved, then turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.
Priorities, he told himself. He had them and he couldn’t forget them. He didn’t get involved, he didn’t care, he didn’t stick around. Nothing was going to change that. Not this town and certainly not Gracie.
RILEY SPENT the morning of the debate in his office at the bank. The loan department had just sent up its weekly report, which Diane handed to him.
“Business is up,” she said as he flipped through the file. “A lot of home loan refinancing.”
“I can see that,” he said, aware she was making a point that he was just as determined to ignore.
“Those people-the customers-are going to expect to have the thirty years to repay. What’s going to happen to them?”
Riley didn’t answer. They both knew what would happen. If he closed the bank, the loans would be recalled. Every single customer would have less than three months to secure new financing. If they couldn’t, they would lose their house.
“I know you think your uncle was a bastard, Riley, but are you sure you’re making the right person pay for that?”
The soft words couldn’t have been more shocking if Diane had written them in blood. He stared at his secretary, wondering which was more surprising-that she’d called him by his first name or that she’d used foul
