Mystery Bride

“There is a good explanation for all of this, right?” he asked, sounding pathetically hopeful. He glanced over at her when she didn’t answer.

She no longer had the gun resting on her thighs. The late-afternoon sun slanted into the car, turning the wisps of hair around her face golden as she slowed the Firebird to an almost legal speed and glanced over to meet his gaze.

“There is always an explanation. I’m just not sure it’s one you’re going to like.”

Chapter Three

A fork in the road loomed ahead. Left would take her to the nearest town where she could get rid of Will. Right would put some distance between her and the kidnappers and take her to someplace safe for the night.

Relatively safe, she amended. Being around Will made her feel anything but. He reminded her too much of her girlhood dreams of love, marriage, babies and happily ever after. All the things she didn’t want to be reminded of, especially right now. That’s why she’d like nothing better than to take Will into town and be done with him.

“Just out of curiosity, how many men have you handcuffed to your dash?” he asked, jerking her from her dilemma.

“Not that many,” she said, sounding defensive even to herself. Most males gave her a wide berth. Her mother said it was because she intimidated men. “Act helpless,” her mother advised. “Men like that. Look at your cousin Shelly. Men just flock to help her. Have you ever met a more helpless woman?”

The truth was, she was no Shelly. She didn’t even think she could act that helpless.

As she slowed for the fork in the road ahead, she felt Will studying her like a bug in a mason jar.

You should never have kissed him!

Oh? What would you suggest I should have done? Get us both killed?

You could have told him the truth after the kiss.

Oh, come on, give me a break. I thought I was never going to see him again. And anyway, I liked the kiss—

“Hello?”

She blinked and glanced over at him. He was looking at her oddly. She stared out over the hood and saw that she’d stopped in the middle of the road at the fork.

“Well?” he asked, looking worried.

She glanced down at Zack. He looked worried, as well. She smiled at him and winked as if to say, No problem here. But even as she hit the gas, she wasn’t sure she was making the right decision. That alone scared her.

She took the fork to the right, heading for the hills. Will Sheridan be damned. She had to hide out for a while until the dust settled. Until she figured out what was going on. There was little doubt in her mind that something was wrong with this case.

And as for Will—well, he’d just have to cool his heels, too. She still couldn’t believe he’d tracked her down— Let alone tracked her down to ask her for a date! Her luck with men definitely wasn’t improving.

When he’d first gotten into the Firebird, she’d been so sure it was about her busting the commissioner at his sister’s party. Obviously he still didn’t realize what she’d been doing there. But when he did—

She glanced over at him. What would he do? She’d thought she had him all figured out. Until he climbed into her car and refused to get out. From what she’d learned about the man, that was so far out of character that it wasn’t even in his solar system anymore.

She eyed him, wondering what had caused such impetuous behavior.

Hello? Remember the way you kissed him at the party?

Come on, one little kiss?

She narrowed her gaze at him. Did she have reason to be concerned about what he’d do next? No, she didn’t think she could expect any more surprises out of him. What you saw was what you got: a successful businessman in control of his normal everyday life and happy about it. Except, he didn’t look all that happy right now.

She grimaced at the thought, as the Firebird left the pavement and barreled up the narrow dirt road toward the mountains. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will’s brow shoot up. She ignored his pointed look.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not taking me to the next town where I can get out?”

“We can’t go there just yet,” she said. “But trust me, I’m as anxious to let you out of this car as you are to get out.”

“I highly doubt that.”

She groaned inwardly, wishing they could have met under other circumstances— Who was she kidding? It wouldn’t have made any difference. Eventually he’d find out the truth about her, and a man like Will Sheridan wasn’t going to take that well.

No reason to think about might-have-beens. She had to deal with now, and that was going to be challenging enough.

WILL LOOKED UP the empty road, at the sun setting behind distant low mountains, the day fading into the horizon. This was all his fault. What kind of fool spotted a woman at a party and followed her out to the patio with two full glasses of champagne, thinking to himself, This is the woman I’m going to marry?

He didn’t even want to consider what kind of fool would get into her car and refuse to get out.

Just a fool who knew what he wanted and went after it, the consequences be damned. He’d planned his life since before kindergarten, from when to become skilled at the alphabet to what point he should move on to the multiplication tables.

In high school he’d decided he wanted to construct buildings and eventually start his own construction company. He wasn’t like his college friends who changed majors four times. Or who, unbelievably, started college not even knowing what they wanted to be.

He couldn’t imagine letting life toss him around like a fallen leaf, blowing wherever the breeze took him. He had a plan—from the clothing he wore to the food he ate to the woman he wanted to marry.

So what was he doing handcuffed to the dash of this woman’s Firebird? This had definitely not been in his plan.

Worse yet, he’d never been so aware of a woman. Or less happy about it: the faint smell of her perfume, the soft sound of each breath, the warm pulsing air around her.

Not that she was making it easy to ignore her. Especially the way she was dressed. What little her sparse clothing did leave to the imagination, he had no trouble supplying.

But she was all wrong for his bride. That much was obvious. He wanted a woman with a career that at least complemented his. A woman who wanted to bear his children. Not steal someone else’s. A woman who didn’t carry a gun. Or beat up strange men in broad daylight in front of rest homes. Was he asking too much?

God, I’ll bet she hasn’t even started a 401K, he thought miserably.

He watched as she drove up a narrow dirt road as if she knew where she was going. He didn’t doubt she did.

The road ended high on a mountainside at the bottom of a rock cliff. Through a stand of dark green ponderosa pines, he spotted a house set back against the cliff.

He stared at the small wood-frame house with the two-car attached garage. The place appeared empty, the curtains drawn, no lights glowing behind them in the growing dusk.

Samantha pulled up to the garage door on the left and reached under her seat. He half expected her to come out with a weapon again. Or a crowbar to break into the place. Nothing would have surprised him at that point.

Except a garage-door opener. She hit the button, and the door groaned open, the light coming on inside to reveal a single empty bay separated from the other half of the garage by a wall with a door.

“You live here?” he asked in shock.

She shook her head as she pulled the Firebird into the space and shut off the engine. “It’s my cousin’s place.” She put an arm around Zack. “I would imagine you’re hungry.”

The boy nodded, unhooked his seat belt and stood again to look out the rear window as if he feared they’d been followed.