Just Pretending

He looked up and met the question in her eyes.

“Do you really think you can remain objective when this case is so tied into your own family?”

His brows drew together. He knew she had the right to ask although she’d already asked the question once before. It was a question that bore repeating given the gravity and the sensitive nature of the situation. Indeed, she had the obligation to demand the truth from him considering her responsibilities. But he knew her question was intended to raise a personal barrier as well as a professional one. She was letting him know that while he affected her breathing, she wasn’t going to let it matter.

“I’m a firm believer that the truth frees people,” he said. “I may not like the answers we discover, but I’ll do my best to make sure that we do, indeed, discover the whole truth. You’ll have my full cooperation no matter what. You can trust me, Gretchen.”

But he could see that there was still uncertainty in her eyes. There would probably always be uncertainty there until he could prove—if he could—that he meant what he said. She was wishing she had been sent any other man than him. Still, she took a deep breath and looked away.

“Down, Goliath. Sit,” she said softly but firmly when the little dog hopped around David, hoping for another chin scratching.

The dog immediately whimpered, but he did as he was told.

“I thought you said he was untrainable,” David said.

She shook her head. “I said that he was considered untrainable. I happen to believe that anything is possible if a person is determined enough.”

He smiled. “And yet you’re working with me when that really wasn’t what you wanted. You think you’re going to be rid of me?”

She smiled sweetly. “You don’t live in White horn anymore, David, do you? Don’t you think that if I really want to be rid of you, all I have to do is wait?”

David felt the impact of her smile—of her words—like a ball peen hammer to the chest. He forced a mock-sweet smile to his lips. “Ah, Gretchen, my dearest detective, what a wonderful, ripping way you have with words. Tears at a man’s heart just to hear you speak.”

She smiled back ever so innocently. “Oh, partner, I’m so glad we understand each other so well. Your candor is refreshing. Still, it’s late and we have lots of miles to cover in the morning, so go home now. I wouldn’t want to have to sic my attack dog on you.”

David looked down at Goliath, who was still obediently sitting.

“She’s pretty bossy, isn’t she, buddy? Guess I’d better get out of here before she starts ordering me to sit, too.” The little dog whimpered and wiggled slightly, obviously wanting a goodbye pat but not willing to leave his post.

Gretchen looked at the two doleful males in front of her and let out the grin she’d been holding back.

“All right, Goliath. Go ahead,” she said with a small shake of her head.

The little dog bounded over for a touch from David and received what he was looking for.

“You need some male companionship, buddy, you let me know,” David said. “Or maybe some tips on how to worm your way past some bigger dog into a lady’s heart.”

“David,” Gretchen drawled as the maddening man raised his brows and gave her that warm seductive smile she was beginning to know too well. Really, this man was just way too smooth for her to ever feel restful in his presence. He’d obviously been born to reel women in with just a look.

“Gretchen,” he drawled, imitating her tone. “Tomorrow I want to see the construction sites where the bodies were found. We’ll go right after morning coffee at the Hip Hop Café.”

She nodded before she realized he was calling the shots again. Automatically she opened her mouth to protest.

He tilted his head slightly and gave her a serious, questioning look with those deep emerald eyes of his that sent a spark zipping through her entire body.

“Yes?” he asked, his voice low and sexy.

He was playing a game with her. She knew that. She could either fall into the trap by arguing with him or she could refuse to play. Gretchen was absolutely positive that David was a master at the game of winning a woman’s attention. She was good at what she did, but so was he. And she was in way over her head right now in this cozy space with David Hannon’s broad shoulders filling up her kitchen and her vision.

Shaking her head, she dismissed the subject. “Thank you,” she said instead. “For carrying in my groceries.”

“Thank you,” he whispered back.

Confusion had her opening her eyes wider.

“For taking in a sickly little runt even though I know darn well he wasn’t what you really wanted. Even though you were probably kicking yourself all the way home, and he’s probably caused and will continue to cause you no end of trouble.”

Gretchen was pretty sure they weren’t really talking about Goliath anymore.

“I can handle trouble, David. I welcome trouble.”

He grinned again, then moved out the door and pulled it almost shut behind him. “That’s good, Gretchen,” she could swear she heard him say just before the door clicked shut.

She couldn’t help smiling. She couldn’t help wondering why her skin felt alive and tingling even though the only touch she and David had shared had been slight and over too quickly. But there was something about the lazy way the man looked at her, that made her feel that he had touched her time and time again. There was something about the quiet, deep tone in his voice when he said her name, that made her feel he’d been thinking about what it would be like to slide his naked skin over hers.

“The man is definitely right,” she whispered to no one in particular. “It’s a good thing you know how to handle trouble, because top-notch agent though he may be, David Hannon is going to be a major source of very deep trouble.”

And as she climbed into bed that night, another thought traipsed through her consciousness. It was a good thing she’d never taken a man like David to one of her friend’s or relative’s weddings. He was just the kind of man that would make people start urging her to think seriously about getting married lest she fall prey to some dangerous man with hot eyes and hot lips and deliciously seeking hands.

Maybe someday, she thought, she’d find the right man to haul off to one of those weddings. For now, though, she had to think about taking David off to examine those construction sites.

They had two bodies on their hands—and no answers to their questions.

They had barely gotten their coffee at the Hip Hop the next morning when Lily Mae Wheeler called across to their table.

“David, how are your parents? And your aunt? Your sister and your cousins? And those nice young men Cleo and Frannie married? I haven’t been out to the Big Sky in a billion years.”

David did his best not to laugh as the elderly lady leaned forward more and more with each question. The long bright dangling beads that dripped from her ears shook with each movement, but even more amusing was the fact that his mother had just been complaining that Lily Mae had been out to the Big Sky way too much lately. Her excuse was that she was checking up on the family and the newlyweds, but Yvette was sure that Lily Mae just wanted the latest dirt on what had happened between Jeremiah Kincaid and Raven Hunter thirty years ago.

“Everyone is doing great, Lily Mae,” he said gently, all too aware that half of the lady’s nosiness stemmed from the fact that she was alone after being widowed and then divorced twice after that. She could be a wicked gossip and cruel, but at the heart of all of that was a kind of pathetic need to be the center of attention. He knew that, but it didn’t mean he was sharing any information the lady didn’t need to know. Such as the fact that his aunt was so worried about this case that lately she could be heard quietly pacing the floor on certain dark and lonely nights. “The Big Sky has its usual complement of summer customers out to view the beautiful Montana scenery.”

“You obviously love the view, too,” Lily Mae said, shaking her head. Her glow-in-the-dark temporarily red hair, unlike her earrings, was wrapped around her head and there fore immobile. “How can you stand to live in the city after growing up out here?”

“I miss it every single day, Lily Mae,” David said quietly, and he was surprised to realize how much he meant that. Not that it mattered. His work was important to him, and his work was elsewhere, but there was something about home…

“The city’s not so bad, Lily Mae.” Gretchen’s soft voice brought him out of his reverie. He turned to look into her determined green eyes over her coffee cup. He wondered if she meant what she said, or if she was trying to defend him from Lily Mae. A touching thought. Probably not true, however. More likely Gretchen Neal was simply trying to convince him that he’d be better off scurrying back to Atlanta as soon as possible.

“Well, you grew up in the city and yet here you are,” Lily Mae argued. “Although I hear you’re taking a trip to Helena soon.”

Gretchen froze. A small, almost imperceptible groan slipped through her lips, and she had an undeniable urge to reach across to Lily Mae’s table and shove the words back into her mouth. How had the woman found out? And why did she care that Lily Mae knew?

“A bridesmaid again?” the woman was saying, shaking her head sadly. “How many times does that make now?”

Gretchen looked into the eyes of her friend Emma who was waiting on the next table. “I’m sorry,” Emma mouthed, and was instantly forgiven. Gretchen knew all too well how good Lily Mae was at worming secrets out of people.

She somehow managed to smile at Emma and shrug her shoulders. But it was difficult. She knew Lily Mae’s condescending tone too well. She’d heard it from any number of people lately. As if everyone thought she couldn’t get a man of her own. As if they didn’t understand that she just didn’t want to get married. Ever.

“I’ve rather lost count of how many weddings I’ve stood up at, Lily Mae,” she said, telling the truth. “I guess I’m just lucky, though, to have so many friends who love me enough to want me to be a part of their weddings.”