They drove past Boothill and the road curved into Tombstone. The center of town where the tourist attractions and performance groups resided still had wooden sidewalks and dirt roads, but cars didn’t venture into the center of town. Horse-drawn buggies ruled the road.
He drove past the town’s museum and pulled into the driveway of the one hotel he knew had decent rooms. He ducked into the back of the truck and unlatched Wyatt’s car seat from its base. Swinging it beside him, he strode into the small lobby of the hotel with Emily leading the way.
Emily tapped the bell at the front desk and a woman dressed in frontier garb poked her head out of the back and said, “Howdy.”
Emily pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile. “Hello. Do you have a room for one night?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t. I’m actually surprised because July is not typically a big month for tourists—too hot.”
“Oh.” Emily turned to Nash, scrunching up her face. “What now? Did you say there were a couple of hotels here?”
The pioneer woman interrupted, “I’m afraid the other hotel is full, also, but my friend has an Airbnb not far from here and she loves babies.”
“Do you know if she has a vacancy?” Nash raised his brows at Emily, and she shrugged.
“She does, unless someone booked with her in the past hour. I was just talking to her.” The helpful woman raised one finger. “Give me a minute and I’ll call her for you.”
Nash set Wyatt’s car seat on the floor, and Emily crouched before the baby to make faces and grab his feet to bicycle his legs.
The hotel clerk picked up her phone and touched the display. After a few seconds, she said, “Cora? This is Teri. I have a young couple here with a baby, and they’re looking for a room. Do you still have one of yours available?”
Young couple with a baby? Not quite. Nash opened his mouth to explain they’d need separate beds, but Teri burst out in her loud voice. “Perfect. I’ll send them right over.”
Teri ended the call and hunched forward on the counter, folding her hands. “She has one room left, out of three, and she has a crib. You’ll have to book the room through the website, but she’s holding it for you.”
Emily popped up. “Thank you so much, Teri. We’ve been driving all day, and my husband is a big fan of Wyatt Earp and has been looking forward to visiting Tombstone for a long time.”
That fabrication came easily to Emily’s lips. Too easily.
Teri’s cheeks shone like polished apples as she tucked a strand of gray hair that had escaped from her long braid behind her ear. “So happy to help.”
She slid a piece of hotel paper across the counter and scribbled on it. “Here’s her Airbnb and the address. You two enjoy.”
After Nash had lifted his jaw from the floor, he grabbed the car seat and exited the hotel while Emily clutched the piece of paper.
When they stepped into the heat, he tapped Emily’s arm. “Why did you lie in there? All that stuff about your husband and how I was a Wyatt Earp fan?”
“Why not lie? Why not play the happy couple on vacation with their baby? If someone comes looking for us—now or later—we might as well cover as much as possible. Yes, there was a couple here with a baby, but they were tourists. You know, cover our tracks.”
“Is this Private Investigating 101?” He tugged on a lock of her hair, on fire from the sun. “You’re a redhead. An unforgettable redhead.”
She tilted her head and dragged her sunglasses down her nose, where they perched on the tip. “You think so?”
“I mean—” heat surged across his chest “—not many people have red hair. All anyone has to do is ask if the woman with the baby had red hair.”
“You have to at least try. Doesn’t hurt to throw a few lies out there.”
Nash aimed the key fob at the truck and unlocked it. “Maybe you’re in the wrong profession. You lied to me, but you included just enough truth that I discovered your identity. Not that clever.”
“Ugh, don’t say that. This is my new profession, and I’m going to stick with it.” She opened the back door for Wyatt’s car seat.
In less than thirty minutes, they had checked into the Airbnb, which was actually a small cottage behind the main house, and secured a crib in the corner.
As Emily crouched next to Wyatt on the floor of the room to change his diaper, Nash eyed the king-size bed. Emily hadn’t blinked an eye when their hostess, Cora, had ushered them into the room with the lone bed.
He chugged down half the bottle of complimentary water and then grinned at Wyatt kicking his legs in the air. Wyatt could be their guardian. Parents with babies didn’t have sex, did they? That would be too weird, trying to make the moves on Emily with Wyatt across the room in his crib.
Staring at Emily through half-closed eyes, Nash swirled the water in the bottle. Not that Emily wanted his moves. Maybe the undeniable heat was all on his side. Hell, she’d duped him without a second thought and was getting ready to kidnap his friend’s baby.
He needed to keep her close.
She glanced up from her diapering duties and her eyebrows shot up. “What? You look like you’re ready to interrogate me.”
“Would it do any good?”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
Emily snapped Wyatt’s onesie into place and scooped him up. “Can you feed him while I wash my hands? We might as well do some sightseeing while we’re here. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to explore Tombstone. It’ll get our mind off more unpleasant things right now and
