Unexpected. Lori Foster

My home—that is, where I prefer to be—is in Kentucky. I have a ranch there.”

      That appeased her. “It would have been too much of a coincidence for us to both live in Illinois.”

      “True. I’m staying here now because you’re here.”

      He waited for some sort of reaction to that, but Ray only nodded and started into the building. “You own a chain of department stores?”

      Technically, they were his grandfather’s, but that was probably more information than she wanted. “That’s right.”

      A gentleman by nature, it was difficult for Eli not to take her arm as they walked. But she’d been quietly obvious in her wishes not to be touched. It was one more thing to add to her mystery. “We can do the shopping you think is necessary in my Chicago store tomorrow.”

      “No. We’ll do the shopping at the local thrift shop. I don’t want you standing out or I’ll be rescuing you and your brother both.”

      Behind her, where she couldn’t possibly see him and take offense, Eli grinned. She was a bossy little thing, giving orders without thought and fully expecting them to be obeyed. It was a novel sensation for him, since he was usually the boss, commanding hundreds of people.

      She had a slow sassy walk, too. She may have thought wearing the dark clothing would make her less noticeable, but Eli doubted anything could make her fade into the woodwork. Her confident, take-charge aura was too out there and in-your-face.

      Even the shortness of her shiny, coal black hair appealed to him. It had a slight natural wave and curled over her ears and nape. Her wispy bangs were longer and she fiddled with them a lot. Eli wondered if that’s why she’d left them long—to give her fingers something to do.

      Despite the mannish swagger, her hips swayed gently as she made her way up the hallway to his door. Eli pulled his gaze away from her derriere and fished in his pocket for his door key.

      He wasn’t disappointed that the moment he had his keys in hand, she reached for them.

      He lifted them over her head. “I think I can manage.” His words were gently teasing.

      She actually flushed, then forced a nonchalant shrug. “Habit.”

      The blush nearly did him in, so sweet and so telling about the real woman. If he weren’t careful, he’d spend more time contemplating her than rescuing his irresponsible brother.

      Eli unlocked the door and pushed it open. They stepped inside, and for the briefest moment, they stood in the dark. Ray was so vital, bursting full of energy and life. He could smell the light, feminine fragrance of her skin and hair, see the glimmer of her witchy eyes as she watched him. Then he flipped the wall switch and the room became flooded with light.

      Ray looked around, but showed no reaction to the lush furnishings. “We need to talk, but first, you want to show me where you want me to sleep?”

      The lady was full of loaded questions. First, she’d asked if he “wanted her,” and now she left the sleeping arrangements up to him. If he hadn’t already seen her emasculate one guy with a kick in the jewels, he might have offered a suggestion or two. But judging by the flat look in her beautiful eyes, she expected some snide sexual comment on his part. He wasn’t about to oblige her.

      Regardless of her biased views, he was not an idiot.

      He’d needed a distraction from his worries, and Ray Jean Vereker, lady mercenary, was certainly that.

      “I’ll fix us something to drink while you put your things in the first room on the right down the hall. It’s a guest bedroom with a private bath.”

      “Fix something to eat, too. It was a long drive for me and I’m so hungry my ribs are clanking together.”

      Eli shook his head, bemused. She certainly didn’t pull any punches. “What would you like?” he asked politely.

      “What do you have?”

      That threw him. “You know, I don’t have the faintest idea. I told the cleaning lady to stock a few things since I knew I’d be staying here. Do you want to take a look yourself?”

      “No. Just surprise me. I’m hungry enough to eat anything.”

      Five minutes later when Ray came in, Eli had a can of soup simmering on the stove and had just finished making sandwiches. “Baloney and cheese. That okay?”

      For an answer, Ray took the sandwich from his hand and sank her teeth into it. As she chewed, she pulled out a chair and lounged back in it, reaching for her case at the same time. “What exactly did your brother do to get himself in this fix?”

      “You don’t know yet?” That surprised him. She seemed to know everything else.

      She swallowed before answering. “It wasn’t pertinent. Mercenaries don’t have a conscience. We don’t decide who is right or wrong in a situation. We just work for the highest offer.” She saluted him with her last bite of sandwich. “Your offer was right.”

      He knew, damn it, he knew it was all an act—and still he stiffened. “Then I suppose I’m lucky the guerillas didn’t want you to kill him.”

      “I told you that particular village isn’t violent, and they’re far too poor to afford me.”

      She didn’t deny that she might kill for money and it pissed him off. He knew her rules, but still he said, “And if the circumstances were different?”

      “If they were violent and rich?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Your brother would already be dead—but not by my hand.”

      Eli chose to take that as reassurance on her morals, whether she meant it that way or not. “My brother Jeremy foolishly went to the wrong place at the wrong time.”

      “Why?”

      He slashed a hand through the air. If Jeremy were here now, he’d get an ass-kicking that’d last him a lifetime. “He wants to be a photojournalist. He’s a good student, but he hates to study. I suppose he had this half-baked idea about firsthand experience. Since parts of Central America are still accounted to be underdeveloped, he hoped to get some prime photos and ace his finals report.”

      “You allowed him to go?”

      “He’s nineteen, too old for me to forbid him anything. But no, I didn’t know he was going. He asked for the money to fund the trip, but he told me he was going to Europe with some friends over semester break.” Eli glanced away, silently cursing his own gullibility. Time and again, he tried to make up for the fact that Jeremy had lost his parents, and with Eli’s entrance into the family, his position as heir apparent. In the process, he’d spoiled him. “If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with business, I might have known what he was planning.”

      “Blaming yourself won’t help him, and you didn’t answer my question. What happened to get him in trouble?”

      Rubbing his face, Eli stood and walked to the stove. He was amazed by how quickly Ray put her food away. She didn’t seem indelicate, but the food rapidly disappeared. He ladled a bowl of the soup and placed it on the table. Not bothering to sit, he said quietly, “Jeremy isn’t really a bad kid, but he has this stupid chip on his shoulder. He was in a bar with the friends he’d taken along. They were drinking, showing off, trying to pick up some local women, and they managed to offend a few of the men.”

      Ray laughed, a genuine laugh this time. “I hadn’t heard that part of the story. Your brother has to have a screw loose to go provoking a guerilla.”

      Eli couldn’t argue with that assessment. “A disagreement erupted, things got heated, and they took him.”

      “How long ago was this exactly?”

      “Less than a week. It took a few days for his friends to return home and contact me. They first tried getting him out on their