Cameron, Paige - The Billionaire Maverick Bargains for a Wife [Wives for the Western Billionaires 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (12 page)

Brent headed to the shower. He needed some cold water to help keep him awake, lots of coffee, and a ton of luck if he was going to talk the proprietor of the local beauty shop into letting him use her back room. Yannell’s man would never think to look in that direction. And most of all, he had to get Angie to tell him her whole story.

He shivered under the cold spray as he stepped into the shower. He’d stay in here a few minutes. It was going to be a long day.

After he dried off and dressed, he went to the kitchen and poured a mug of coffee. He’d drank half when Janice came into the room.

“You riding out with Drake today?”

“Sorry, but I can’t. I do need to update Drake on what’s happening. Is he around?”

“He went out to the barn to check on the sick mare.”

Brent filled his mug. “I’ll catch him out there.” He waved, went out the back screen door, and took brisk strides along the dirt path. He met Drake on his way back to the house.

“You headed out?”

“Yes. I’ll need your truck again.”

“No problem. I have Janice’s. What’s up?”

He gave Drake a quick update on the situation. “I’m going to Angie’s first, and then the Cut and Curl.” He grinned. “One of them is bound to hit me over the head.”

“True. Take care and let me know when I can help.”

Brent nodded, took the keys Drake threw to him, and kept walking.

* * * *

Angie had slept a few hours, but woke restless. After a quick shower, she put on her shorts and a halter top then went to the kitchen. She’d bake, that always seemed to calm her. She berated herself as she mixed the banana bread. Losing her temper had been dumb. Of course, Brent being the inquisitive man he was would have started checking on her. And then their anger had turned to lust, and they’d both forgotten how it all started.

She smiled remembering how he made her feel when he kissed and touched her. She had no business thinking about marrying him. What she needed was a man who’d see the temporary marriage as a business deal. It was too easy to lose her heart to Brent, and he was not a forever kind of guy.

The banana bread went into the oven, and she started making a spice cake. Heat from the baking warmed the cool room. The sun had just come up, and shone through the window onto her kitchen table where she beat the batter. The wonderful aroma of the bread and the spices filled the air. Her coffee pot had begun to perk, morning music to her ears. She didn’t hear the truck or sense the man until he spoke.

“I think I’ve stumbled into paradise. Let me in, please. It smells and looks like heaven.” A wicked smile curved his mouth.

Angie wiped her hands on her apron and unlocked the screen. “I thought you’d sleep late this morning.”

He bent and brushed his lips across hers. “Tastes like heaven, too.” He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

“Down, boy. Sit. Do you want coffee? I’ll be taking the banana bread out in”—she glanced at the clock—“two minutes.”

“I’ll wait for the coffee and have it with the bread. Man, it smells delicious in here. You look sumptuous.” His eyes roamed up her long legs to her short shorts, and stopped at the tops of her breasts, exposed by the bra top she wore.

She put her hand over his eyes. “We’re not playing this morning.”

Brent kissed her palm. “No, we’re not. Still, a man can dream.

“You’re impossible.” She turned back to her cake. “What brings you here so early?”

“We need to finish our talk from last night.”

She glanced at him. “I know. Let me take out the bread and put this cake in. I’ll get our coffee and cut a slice of the banana bread for you. Then, we’ll talk.” Angie poured the cake batter into her greased pan and exchanged it for the hot bread.

His eyes followed her movements. They felt like a warm caress heating her insides. She forced her mind off the stirring of desire he could kindle in her so quickly. Today, she had to finally tell someone the story she’d kept locked inside for the past twenty-one years.

She’d handed him his cup and the plate with the bread. Her hand shook as she poured herself a cup.

“I need to get my mother’s chest.” She hurried into the bedroom where she’d kept the box on her bedside table during the night. When she went back to the kitchen, she sat across from Brent at the small table.

“Inside this box is where I found my father’s letters, some financial papers, my mother’s and my birth certificates, and a key.”

“Your mother was Beverly Starling, and you are Diana.”

“Your men are good. No one has called me Diana in years. I’ve become Angie.”

“She married Harmon Yannell and had another daughter. Why did she run and only take you?”

“Yannell would have never stopping looking for us. He’d have killed her and me. He loved Lily. Mother knew he’d keep her safe. It grieved her until the day she died that she’d forsaken her child.”

“What sent her and you on the run?” Brent took a bite of the banana bread. “This
is
delicious.”

Angie gave him a weak smile. Her stomach was jumping and a nerve ticked at the corner of her eye. “Mom saw something or heard something she wasn’t supposed to know. As I mentioned last night, she’d never tell me exactly what.” Angie took a swallow of coffee. She stared across at Brent.

“Until then, she didn’t realize what type of man Yannell really was, and it frightened her. He beat her and threatened her and me if she ever said a word to anyone.”

“So she took you and disappeared.”

“Yes. We went a roundabout way to Oklahoma. It was there she found a way to change our names and get new identification. We settled in a little apartment.” Angie shook her head. “I never knew why, but suddenly one day she came home from work, packed us up, and late that night we left. She was scared. I noticed, and consequently, I got scared. Again we went a circuitous route to Texas. Along the way she dyed her hair and bought me a wig.”

Angie wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I was angry having to leave my friends. I hated the wig. She told me if I didn’t wear it at all times, or if I told anyone our secrets, that Yannell would find us and kill us.”

“Damn, what a thing to tell a kid.”

“I was fifteen by then. My world had turned upside down when we ran. I had a new name, and now I had a new appearance. I withdrew from people. At the new school I was known as the shy girl that wouldn’t talk.”

“You were scared you’d say something to hurt your mom or you.” Brent reached across the table and took hold of her hand.

“A year or two later I came out of my shell a little. I made a few friends, dated a little. But overall, most of my life has been my mom and me. Wanting to have a baby and take my appearance back were difficult decisions to make.”

“Is the baby to replace your mother?”

His eyes stared into hers, his facial expression serious and concerned.

She shook her head vehemently. “I’ve always loved children. That’s one reason I became a teacher.”

“But you haven’t wanted a husband?”

“Not after what I saw happen to my mother. She thought she was getting a good man, kind and considerate. Instead, he was a monster.”

“And you fear you’ll make the same mistakes she did.”

“I won’t give myself the chance. I don’t want love. I want a child to love.”

“We’re digressing. My fault. What do you know about the key?”

“Nothing. It hasn’t any identifiable markings, but it looks like a key to another safety deposit box. I did notice some markings in my father’s letters. Some words are underlined, a few letters have a faint mark somewhere around them, and every few pages there is a small number somewhere on the page. I wrote down the words, letters and numbers in case you know a person able to figure out code.” She handed him the paper she’d made her notations on.

“Did your mother know how to write code?”

“I don’t think so, but she was good with puzzles and all kinds of letter or number games. I believe she made up a code. My guess would be this is to a safety deposit box in a bank, in Oklahoma City. That’s where we lived at first.”

“A friend of mine is an FBI agent. He’s been trying to find enough on Yannell for years to put him in prison. The FBI will have someone who can decipher the code, if it is one. He’s heading this way. I’ll give it to him as soon as he gets here.”

Brent stood and came around to pull Angie into his arms. “I have some other news. My man has been tracking your sister. We suspect she's headed to Saddle Creek and possibly Yannell, too.”

He held her close while she cried. His hand rubbed up and down her back.

“My whole world is crumbling.”

“You’ll build a new one. If you let me, I’ll help.” He kissed the top of her head.

She let her body lean into his. He was warm, and felt safe. His musky cologne tickled her nose. She wanted to stand here letting his strength hold her up, for hours. The idea of Yannell coming to Saddle Creek sent her heart rate soaring and shivers up her spine. But Brent had to be wrong. Yannell couldn't know she was here. Still, it looked like her sister had traced mother and her tracks.

“Honey,” he whispered in her ear. “I think your cake might be done.”

“Oh my gosh.” She jerked away and ran to the oven. Grabbing a pot holder, she opened the oven door. “Just in time.” She pulled the spice cake out and placed it on a cooling rack.

Turning, she looked at him. His light blue eyes matched the early morning sky, and twinkled at her. Those eyes and his tall, lean frame made him irresistible. He had on a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows showing tanned, muscled arms. Faded jeans clung to his strong legs, and he wore his usual cowboy boots.

“Honey, when you give me that look I just want to climb all over your body. Unless you want me to take you to bed, you’d better get me another cup of coffee and go put on some decent clothes.”

“There’s nothing wrong with what I have on.” Her chin rose.

“Not if I’m the only one seeing them, and I have time to take them off of you and give you a good lovin’. But not today. I’m sorry to say.”

She sniffed at him, but went to her room. She changed into black slacks and a blue shirt, tied her hair back, slipped into sandals, and hurried back to the kitchen. She didn't want to slow down and think about Yannell. She had to smile, when she saw Brent. He'd tipped his chair against the wall and was eating another piece of banana bread. She liked having him in her kitchen.
I like having him in my life. What am I going to do? I’ve fallen in love with him.

His chair hit the floor. “What’s wrong?”

Angie took a deep breath and told a big lie. “Nothing, I’m just worried about what my sister thinks about Mother and me. And about Yannell coming here.”

When she got close enough, Brent took her hand and pulled her into his lap. “She’s going to love you.”

“Hah!”

“Well, you’ll have time to find out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want you and her out of here before this thing comes to a head. I’m sending you both to my brother in Montana.”

She jumped up and moved away from him. “No. I have a right to be here.”

He stood and began to stalk her. If she moved left, he did. She backed further away and zigzagged across the room to run out the door. He caught her and threw her over his shoulder.