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  He threw back his dark head and let loose with a laugh, the sound so rich and deep that she felt surrounded by warmth. “We’re back to the elk conversation, are we?”

  Rainie almost cringed. Getting lippy with her prospective employer wasn’t smart. But it had just popped out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic.”

  The deep dimple slashed his cheek again as he grinned. “No worries. I enjoy someone who gives back as good as she gets.”

  At one time in her life, Rainie had occasionally enjoyed a bit of verbal sparring herself, but those days were far behind her now.

  “It’s good to know Thomas is a cat,” he said softly. “Can I take that to mean there’s no significant other in your life at the moment?”

  The gleam of masculine interest in his eyes made Rainie’s heart trip. She clutched her purse close to her waist, her fingers embedded in the leather so rigidly that her knuckles ached. “As it happens, I am unattached at the moment, but for the sake of office harmony, Mr. Harrigan, I think we should keep our relationship purely professional.”

  “We don’t have much harmony around here, only chaos. But I see your point.”

  Rainie was relieved to hear it. Having an affair with her boss wasn’t on her agenda. The very thought made her stomach clench with nausea again. She ran her gaze over the office once more. “Well,” she said, hating the tremor she heard in her voice, “I’ll see you at eight in the morning, then.”

  “Hold on. You’ll need a sticker.” He stepped over to the other desk, opened a drawer, and drew out a small square of paper. “Just affix this to the upper left corner of your windshield. We call it the ‘open sesame’ sticker. If it doesn’t work, back up and come in farther to the left. The camera has to be able to see your windshield.”

  When he reached to open the door for her and started to follow her out, she held up a staying hand. “No, please, I’ve interfered with your workday enough as it is. I can see myself out.”

  “Toby should be finished lunging Monte Carlo by now, so I guess that works.” His dark eyes lingered on hers. She got the unnerving feeling that he could see far more in her gaze than she wanted to reveal. “Eight in the morning, then,” he agreed. “I’ll have the coffee on.”

  Rainie turned to leave, only to have him stop her with, “Oh, wait a sec.” He reached into his hip pocket and drew out a well-worn wallet. “You need to get a cell phone.” He handed her three one-hundred-dollar bills. “Consider it an advance on your first paycheck.”

  “Cash?” Rainie’s mouth twisted into a reluctant smile. “There’ll be no record of the exchange, Mr. Harrigan.”

  “Parker, and you can document it tomorrow.” He folded her fingers over the money, the heat of his touch sending jolts of sensation shooting up her arm. “Like I said, I don’t worry about stuff like that.”

  “I can see I’m going to have my hands full.”

  His gaze trailed slowly over her upturned face. “Yeah, I think you just might.”

  Chapter Three

  En route to the ranch the next morning, Rainie still suffered an upset stomach. Last night, she’d gotten worried that the sudden onslaught of nausea might be an early sign of pregnancy. To her inestimable relief, the home test she’d purchased at a corner drugstore had been negative. She tried not to think about the fact that those tests weren’t always conclusive in the early stages of gestation. Nerves, she assured herself. She’d always had a sensitive digestive tract. God forbid that she should be pregnant with Peter’s child. What on earth would she do? Getting a clinical abortion wasn’t an option for her. Somehow, she couldn’t see Parker Harrigan being very happy if his new bookkeeper had to take maternity leave in eight months’ time.

  Her hands tightened convulsively over the steering wheel. She had enough problems without borrowing trouble. Yes, Peter had often gotten so caught up in his own sick sexual pleasure that he’d forgotten to use a condom, and she’d been a virtual prisoner during the last few months of the marriage, not allowed to go grocery shopping un-escorted, let alone sneak to a clinic for birth control pills. So there was a possibility that she could be pregnant. But it wasn’t likely. During a less volatile stage of their relationship, when she’d still been stupid enough to think they might make it work, she’d wanted a baby more than anything, but her cycles had remained as regular as clockwork. Maybe it had been her failing. Maybe it had been Peter’s. She knew only that she hadn’t been able to conceive.

  At least she had no worries about possibly having an STD. Peter had been perversely monogamous and totally focused on Rainie—possessing her, abusing her, and controlling her being his only passions. There’d been no room in his life for other women, so though it had been a small consolation, Rainie had never been worried about his bringing home diseases. Every dark cloud truly did have a silver lining.

  Clinging to that thought, Rainie tried to calm down. Just getting through today would be challenging enough. Most employers checked out an employee’s references. Parker Harrigan seemed to be lackadaisical about things like that, but she would be foolish to forget the gleam of intelligence in his eyes. The man was no dummy. He’d invested heaps of money in security systems to keep his horses safe. How likely was it that he would toss her application aside and never look at it again? Surely he would at least want to make sure she had no criminal record.

  A background check didn’t concern her. The persona of Anna Pritchard would appear to be bona fide. She had a driver’s license, passport, and Social Security card that would hold up under close scrutiny. But if Harrigan decided to check out any of her references, her goose would be cooked, pure and simple. So far as she knew, no Anna Pritchard had ever attended Pepperdine University, and all the former employers she’d listed were fictitious. With one phone call, he’d discover, lickety-split, that she was a complete fraud.

  Rainie could only pray he was as lazy about stuff like that as he pretended to be. She needed this job desperately. The tires on the Mazda were worn down to nothing. The engine was throwing oil. Now, thanks to Parker Harrigan, she also had a cell phone bill to pay. She needed to start bringing in some cash.

  Parker was mixing prenatal vitamins into Monte Carlo’s morning grain when Anna arrived for work. After entering via the personnel door, she hesitated for a moment, looking more than a little uncertain. The men who composed this morning’s stable crew stopped what they were doing to stare. Parker couldn’t blame them. A couple of the gals on Parker’s payroll were pretty easy on the eyes, but Anna Pritchard was downright stunning, despite the timeworn cotton skirt and faded knit top that she wore. Her hair fell to below her slender shoulders in a cloud of rebellious, gold-tipped brown curls. Even at a distance, her hazel eyes and delicate features grabbed a man’s attention and wouldn’t let go. In Parker’s estimation, she was a little too thin, but what there was of her packed a wallop.

  “Put your eyes back in your heads,” he grumbled at his men as he exited the mare’s stall. “That’s Anna, the new bookkeeper.”

  “She can fiddle with my books anytime she wants,” Gary Morton, a twenty-eight-year-old part-time employee, observed in a low voice.

  Parker rounded on the younger man and jabbed a finger at his nose. “There’ll be no more talk like that. If any one of you gives her a moment’s grief, you’ll be pickin’ up your final check and hightailin’ it out of here. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal clear,” Gary replied. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I was only saying—”

  “I know what you were sayin’,” Parker snapped, cutting the hired hand short. “And I’m tellin’ you comments like that aren’t gonna fly. Let it go at that.”

  Parker went to greet his new bookkeeper. Her face was pale. As he drew closer, he noticed dark circles under her lovely eyes. Yesterday, she’d seemed inordinately tense during the application and orientation process, but he’d decided maybe that was normal. Lots of people grew rattled while interviewing for a job. The job was hers now, though, and she still
looked coiled tighter than an eight-day clock.

  “Mornin’,” he said, making a point of glancing at his watch. “You’re a few minutes early.”

  She shifted her old purse from under one arm to the other. “I prefer to be a bit early rather than late.”

  The members of Parker’s family jokingly said that he would be late to his own funeral. Parker couldn’t argue the point. It was his philosophy that hurrying up to wait was a total waste of his time. “Maybe that’ll rub off on me. I never get anywhere early.” He stepped in close to grasp her pointy elbow. “Come on. I’ll walk you back.”

  She stiffened under his hand. “I know the way.”

  He didn’t release his hold. “Not sayin’ you don’t, but this time of mornin’ is busy. Until you get used to it here, I’ll escort you. If someone brings a horse out of its stall, I don’t want you gettin’ stepped on.” He glanced down, pleased to see that she wore sturdier footwear. “Nice boots.” They were Western-style riding boots that looked kind of corny with the ruffled skirt, but he’d seen other young women in similar getups. “At least they’ll protect your toes.”

  “I know I’m not making a fashion statement, but for the moment, these are all I have.”

  Parker had a hunch she’d stopped off at a thrift store on her way home yesterday and the riding boots had been all that she could find. Telltale scuffs on the toes told him the leather had seen a lot of abuse, and he couldn’t believe Anna had been wearing the boots when it occurred. By her own admission, she’d never been around horses until now.

  “Nobody here worries much about fashion,” he assured her. “Come winter, you may be wearin’ moose-hide mukluks lined with sheepskin.”

  Her soft mouth curved. “Does it get that cold?”

  “There are times when my breath freezes in the air and causes a small hailstorm as it hits the ground.”

  “Are you given to telling tall tales, Mr. Harrigan?”

  He grinned and ignored the question. “You get a cell phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. There are a couple of dead zones between here and town, but mostly the reception is dependable. I’ll worry a lot less about your makin’ the drive if you can call for help.” Drawing her along with him, he cut a wide berth around an open stall gate. All of his horses were gentle and well mannered, but Parker had learned long ago never to let down his guard around such large animals. “I made a pot of coffee,” he told her. “Don’t know if it’ll measure up to your high standards, but it’s hot and wet.”

  When they reached the hallway, he released her arm and stood back, lifting a hand in farewell. “I’ll check in with you later. If you need anything or have any questions, just holler.”

  She paused in the corridor to glance back at him over her shoulder. “I won’t need you. Thanks for making coffee.”

  “You bet.”

  Once Rainie settled in to work, she found it difficult to concentrate. She kept expecting her boss to storm into the office to confront her about all the lies she’d told on her application. What would she say to him? I’m sorry I fibbed? It wasn’t in Rainie’s nature to deceive people, so she had no experience in how to handle it when the truth came out. Parker Harrigan struck her as being a direct, honest man. He wouldn’t be happy if he discovered that she’d played him for a chump.

  An hour into sorting through the office rubble, Rainie froze in motion when he suddenly burst into the room. Oh, God, he’d found her out. A scowl drew his black eyebrows together over his prominent nose. His firm mouth had thinned into a grim line. When he settled those intense brown eyes on her, Rainie’s skin felt the burn.

  “Have you seen my checkbook?”

  Rainie struggled to regain her composure. “I, um, didn’t think you used one much.”

  “I don’t.” He advanced toward his desk to paw through the clutter. “Damn it. I’ve got a new guy deliverin’ hay. He won’t bill it to my account. Says he was told to collect payment on delivery at all his drops, and his boss isn’t answerin’ the phone.”

  Rainie opened a drawer and tugged out a large dark blue binder notebook. “Is this it?”

  “You’re my guardian angel.”

  He opened the book and bent to fill out a draft. When he failed to document the amount in the register, Rainie did it for him.

  “Thanks,” he said as he exited the room, banging the door closed behind him.

  Rainie was trembling. After closing the checkbook, she hugged her waist and shut her eyes, so shaken that she almost wished she hadn’t taken this job. Her nerve endings were raw with tension. Her mind kept circling the fact that he was bound to check up on her sooner or later. At this point, she hoped it would be sooner. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand this waiting.

  What had she been thinking yesterday to interview for a high-paying, permanent position? People like her took jobs at fast-food joints to avoid any questions. They didn’t set themselves up for detection by accepting sixty thousand a year in wages, plus benefits. Employers who offered that kind of package were successful business owners who hadn’t gotten where they were by being naive.

  Sweat beaded on Parker’s face as he swung another hay bale off the stack and carried it into the storage shed. Normally, he used the forklift, but right now he needed the physical exertion. It was a habit he’d developed over his lifetime. When confronted with a problem, he worked while he sorted his way through it.

  Anna Pritchard was definitely a puzzle he needed to figure out.

  Parker had visited the office precisely four times over the course of the morning, and the lady had nearly jumped out of her skin each time. At first, he’d chalked it up to nervousness because it was her first day on the job, but then he’d noticed the fear in her eyes. Unless he was misreading her, she was terrified of him. How the hell did that make sense?

  Parker had never spent much time analyzing how he might be perceived by others, so he didn’t go around guarding his every word or gesture. People either accepted him or they didn’t. He supposed it was fair to say that his manner could be a little gruff sometimes, and he’d be the first to admit he completely lacked the sophisticated polish a lot of guys had. But never, to his knowledge, had he terrified anyone.

  Something about her wasn’t right. It reminded him of a slightly crooked picture on a wall. He always noticed immediately, and it bugged the hell out of him until he straightened it. It was that way with Anna. Something about her just didn’t line up. He wasn’t a boisterous man. He didn’t lose his temper at the drop of a hat and punch holes in the walls. He seldom raised his voice in anger. So what was it about him that frightened her?

  Parker couldn’t say. He knew only that Anna trembled in her secondhand boots whenever he entered the office. Weird. He didn’t know what her deal was, but he hoped she got it ironed out. He didn’t relish the thought of working with a woman who jumped a foot every time he so much as looked at her.

  For the rest of the afternoon, Parker did his best to put Anna at ease, but by the end of the day, he’d decided that nothing short of a Valium chased by two fingers of whiskey would do the trick. He gazed thoughtfully after her rattletrap Mazda as she drove away. The lady was a puzzle, no question about it. She’d done a great job of straightening his office. It wasn’t organized to her satisfaction yet, but he felt sure it soon would be. She’d also made fast work of logging today’s expenditures, not only the hay delivery, but also several nickel-and-dime purchases, one from a traveling salesman who peddled Parker’s favorite brand of equine supplements. Normally payouts like that never got recorded because Parker forgot to do it.

  All in all, he was happy with her performance so far. But her odd behavior disturbed him. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was too late to do anything about it today, but first thing tomorrow morning, he needed to check out her references.

  When Anna got home, she kicked off the boots, sank onto a kitchen chair, and lay forward over the table, resting her head on her folded arms. Ner
vous tension had drained her empty. Her limbs felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds each, and she had a painful crick in her neck she couldn’t massage away. At least Parker Harrigan hadn’t made any phone calls today, she reminded herself. Instead he seemed willing to accept her at face value. As crazy as it was, that only made her feel guiltier for lying to him.

  Thomas leaped up onto the tabletop to nuzzle Rainie’s hair. She smiled wearily and sat back to scratch the cat behind his ears. “Hi, there, skinny boy. Did you miss me, or are you just hungry?”

  He started to purr, the sound a deep rumble in his chest. Rainie continued petting him for a moment and then pushed up from the chair to feed him. She’d purchased some cat food yesterday, but the tom seemed to prefer the kibble mixed with tuna.

  As she opened a can, she said, “I guess I can afford a can of tuna per day now that I’m making good money and have health insurance.”

  The cat rubbed against her bare calves while she prepared his meal. After setting the bowl down, Rainie returned to the table to watch him eat.

  “Let’s just hope I can keep the job,” she added. “If he finds out I lied to get it, he may fire me on the spot. Then I’ll be lucky to get work at Burger King.”

  No reply from the cat. Rainie sighed. Bottom line was, she missed her friends. Oh, how she wished she could unload on Margaret right now or hear Janet crack one of her silly jokes. Smiling slightly, Rainie tried to imagine what her irreverent friend might say. A cowboy? They’re all dumber than boxes of rocks. That’s why they engrave their names on their belts, so they know who they are when they put their pants on in the morning. Still grinning, Rainie rested her chin on the heel of her hand, gazing thoughtfully at Thomas. Maybe, just maybe, Parker Harrigan wouldn’t check out her references. He hadn’t bothered to record a single check that he’d written today, and he’d tossed the receipts at his desk, not even looking to see where they landed. Being so meticulous by nature, she found that inconceivable, but it took all different types to make the world go around.