Seduction Of The Reluctant Bride. Barbara McCauley

intend to do what?”

      “He’s out there somewhere.” She pulled off her glasses, dropped them back in her purse. “I intend to find him.”

      Based on the serious tone in her voice and that stubborn little tilt of her chin he’d already come to recognize, Sam thought it best not to laugh. “A search team already combed the area. Twice. The force of a flash flood in a canyon is without mercy. It takes everything in its path. Digger’s camp was directly in that path, almost entirely washed away. There was no sign of him or his horse. His body could be miles away, under dirt and rocks.”

      Faith’s face went pale. He hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but under the absurdity of what she was suggesting, there seemed to be no other way.

      “Could be miles away,” she repeated his words with a catch in her voice. “But you don’t know for sure, do you?”

      “Of course we don’t know for sure. We’ll never know anything about what happened for sure. Life’s like that sometimes. You just accept it and go on.”

      She shook her head. “I can’t accept it.”

      “Darlin’, you don’t have any choice.”

      “There are always choices,” she said firmly. “Some people are simply more active in their decisions.”

      He narrowed his eyes. “I was down in that canyon for six days straight with two different search-and-rescue teams. Nobody knows the Lonesome Rock area better than me.”

      “Then you take me in.”

      Startled at her suggestion, all he could do was stare She was serious. She wanted to go into Lonesome Rock Canyon, and she wanted him to take her.

      “I’ve been riding since I was five,” she went on. “I know how to handle a horse. Please, Sam, take me into the canyon.”

      His name on her lips was a quiet plea. When she leaned in close to him, her eyes imploring, he felt his insides twist. It would be absolutely ridiculous, foolish even, to waste his time, or hers. But then—he thought of those long legs and curvy hips—he realized there could certainly be worse ways to spend a few days.

      “I’ll pay you anything you want.”

      She might as well have poured ice water down his pants. Money. Everything with Faith Courtland seemed to be about money or business. He mentally kicked himself to think he had nearly lost his sanity to those blue eyes.

      “Sorry, Ms. Courtland.” He almost felt a touch of regret. Almost. “Not interested. You’re just going to have to learn how to deal with your business problems some other way.”

      Her shoulders went as rigid as her voice. “If you won’t take me, I’ll just hire someone else.”

      He shrugged. “It’s your money. Waste it any way you choose. I suggest you don’t try to hire anyone from these parts, though. You tell anyone that you’re going into the mountains to look for Digger’s body because his twohundred-million-dollar business is in trouble and they’ll put you in a padded cell.”

      “You can’t stop me from looking for him,” she said coolly.

      “Who said anything about stopping you?” He felt unreasonably angry. “That’s your unofficial fiancé’s job. And speaking of him, I’d like to know what kind of a man would let his wife-to-be go traipsing off into the mountains with a strange guy?”

      Imperceptibly, her chin rose higher. “Harold is extremely understanding. He would never presume to tell me what to do. Our relationship is based on mutual trust and respect.”

      “Mutual stupidity, is more like it.” He grabbed both arms of the chair she sat in, effectively caging her in. “That would be the day I’d let the woman I loved go off with another man.”

      She held her calm gaze level with his, but Sam could have sworn the pulse at the base of her neck was trembling. He felt strangely torn between wringing that gorgeous neck and kissing it.

      “I’m not ‘going off with anyone.” Icicles hung from her words. “And fortunately, your antiquated attitude toward the modern woman has nothing to do with me. I don’t like loose ends, Mr. McCants. Especially where Elijah Jane is concerned. Once this matter can be put to rest, the company can proceed smoothly and effectively. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a great deal of paperwork I’ve brought with me and several phone calls to make.”

      He knew when he’d been dismissed. Damn if this foolish woman didn’t know how to test a man’s patience. His hands tightened around the arms of the chair, and he leaned closer to her. The flicker of fear in her eyes gave him tremendous satisfaction. “What will you do, Faith,” he murmured, “if you do go off into those mountains with the wrong man?”

      “Well, Mr. McCants—” her breathing had deepened, but she didn’t budge or look away “—I guess I’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

      

      “Jake Stone,” Savannah softly chided her husband, “our guest has been here at least two full minutes and she hasn’t a drink in her hand. Shame on you.”

      Faith, still recovering from Jake’s bear hug greeting and Savannah’s warm welcome, barely had time to open her mouth and decline before Jessica, Jake’s younger sister, pressed a glass of white wine into her hand.

      “The boy’s slow, but harmless,” Jessica said, referring to her brother. Then she handed her husband Dylan a bottle of beer. The baby boy in his arms leaned close, mouth open and ready to clamp onto the bottle. “You give our son a taste of that beer, Dylan Grant, and you’ll spend the next week sleeping in that shed you’re building behind the jail in Makeshift.”

      Dylan and the baby both looked disappointed, until Jared walked in carrying a blond-curled toddler wearing a darling denim dress. Annie, who looked even more pregnant than the day before, waved off Jake and Jessica’s offer of assistance.

      There were more greetings, more hugs, more kisses. No kiss-the-air, stiff-backed hellos that Faith was used to, but rib-crunching hugs and loud smacks on the cheeks that made her head spin.

      She nearly had the names straight when a beautiful young girl around thirteen years old came into the living room with a pink-cheeked, dark-haired toddler perched on one slender hip. The teenager, with her dark hair and deep blue eyes, looked like Jessica’s clone.

      “This is our sister Emma.” Jake kissed the youngest Stone sibling on the top of her head, then scooped up the toddler, who shrieked with delight as she was tossed up in the air. “And this is Madeline.”

      Without warning, Jake pushed the laughing child into Faith’s free arm.

      “Swift work, brother-in-law.” Annie fell into the couch with a sigh. “Throw your daughter up in the air, then hand her over to your guest whose gorgeous pantsuit is not only white, but also happens to be a Peter Nygard.”

      From the blank expression on Jake’s face, Annie might as well have been speaking a foreign language. Faith suddenly felt out of place here again, wishing she’d worn something more casual. Which would have been impossible, since she hadn’t brought anything casual.

      But her wardrobe seemed to be the least of her worries right now. Afraid to move, afraid to breathe, she stared at the baby in her arms. She’d never been around babies before. She’d never even held one. The cherub grinned at her and bounced up and down, wanting to be tossed in the air again. She smelled wonderful, Faith thought. Like baby shampoo and soap. Madeline pushed the end of Faith’s nose with one chubby finger.

      “You’re supposed to honk,” Jared offered.

      Honk? Self-conscious, she uttered a tiny squeak that sounded more like a pig. Madeline didn’t seem to mind, though. She giggled with delight and pushed Faith’s nose again. Warming to the toddler, Faith gave it another go, then laughed herself when Madeline squealed in pleasure.

      That’s