Not That Kind of Girl (17 page)

Eli decided to glance behind him. Milt’s expression had frozen. His mouth was still smiling, but his eyes sure weren’t.

“Unless you want to tell me now,” Eli offered.

“No, no, it’s nothing,” Milt said, laughing it off. “Just tell your mother that Milt-in-Your-Mouth sends his regards.”

Eli lowered his jaw and blinked. “Right,” he said.

On the elevator ride down to the parking garage, Eli calmed himself by noting he had just one more of these god-awful errands to run. One more possibility. One more guerrilla meet-and-greet. One more sales pitch. One last lab test.

As Eli reached his truck he made himself a promise. Even if suspect number twelve wasn’t a match, he was done looking. That would be it. He’d given this his best shot, but it would have to be over. He’d survived three decades without knowing the identity of his biological father, and he could survive a few more.

Milt-in-Your-Mouth?

There was only so much of this shit a man could take.

*   *   *

Five hours into the drive, Roxie looked over at Eli’s golden-boy profile and it hit her—this thing between them wasn’t fading. It was only getting stronger. It felt right to be with Eli Gallagher. She felt calmer in his presence. And the peacefulness had nearly lulled her usually pragmatic mind to sleep.

She’d almost forgotten that she hated men. That she didn’t trust them. She’d nearly forgotten the sacred promise she’d made to herself—she would never again be the kind of girl who got lied to, used, and disrespected. No more stupid moves. No way. No how. Not her.

Roxie took another quick peek at Eli and frowned. He did have quite a few redeeming qualities, no question, but that didn’t change the fact that she was taking a whopping risk, putting herself in this position. She was in a strange man’s truck, on a deserted highway, headed to the strange man’s remote Utah compound, where God only knew what she’d encounter. Some kind of dog whispering religious cult? A survivalist fringe group? A polygamist’s paradise? She was headed to
Utah,
for crying out loud. Willingly. And with a man she hardly knew!

Roxie stroked Lilith’s fur, thinking this through. She’d never been to Utah. She’d never had any desire to go to Utah. There had to be a reason for that. Maybe she should insist Eli turn right around and take her back to the city, where she belonged.

God, what am I doing?

Roxie concentrated really hard, willing her heartbeat to steady, her breath to slow. It didn’t work. In her mind she pictured events as they might unfold a few years on. A lone hiker on a nearly inaccessible Utah trail would stumble upon a partially decomposed body in a shallow grave … dental records would finally solve the mystery of whatever happened to missing San Francisco blogger Roxanne Bloom … and people would shake their heads and say, what a pity … the girl had been an idiot to put herself in such peril … she should have known better … the girl had been too stupid to live …

“What are you thinking over there?” Eli asked, shooting a clean and sweet smile in her direction.

“Huh? Uh, nothing. Just thinking how relaxing all this is.”

“Yeah?” Eli asked, laughing. “I thought maybe you were sittin’ over there trying to convince yourself I’m not a psycho killer.”

Roxie laughed, a little too frantically, she knew, but by then it was too late to do anything about it. She continued to stroke Lilith’s fur and stare out the window.

Speaking of being pragmatic, Roxie had to acknowledge that this wasn’t exactly her idea of a fun time. She was windblown and sweaty. And she didn’t much care for the country music coming out of Eli’s sound system, even if it was the cultural icon variety. Truth was, she’d never been attracted to men who wore cowboy hats and Wrangler jeans and listened to Johnny Cash while driving their trucks down deserted highways. She’d always preferred the cool, sexy, intellectual types who wore gray flannel and drove their sports cars along city streets while listening to vintage Pearl Jam or Public Image Limited. In addition to all that, Roxie’s jeans were now covered in dog hair and silvery streaks of Lilith drool. As a bonus, she had to pee like Secretariat.

“Would you be up for stopping for lunch in Baker? It’s another half hour or so. It’s my usual watering hole.”

“That sounds perfect,” she said.

“If Lilith is crowding you, you can scoot over here a little and let her have the spot next to the window. I think she wants to let her head hang all the way out.”

“Oh. Sure.”

As she rearranged Lilith and edged closer to Eli, Roxie felt a shiver go through her. This whole situation was embarrassing. Confusing. Miraculous. And boy, was it ever
different
.

The macho-man pack leader routine aside, Eli had been nothing but a gentleman. When he left her house the other night, he left behind a dog with a wagging tail and a woman with her honor intact. Eli had patted Lilith affectionately and kissed Roxie softly. He’d promised to call her the next day. And he actually had. During the call he suggested what she should pack and promised to pick her up at six
A.M.
He’d been right on time. It was truly unusual.

And now, five hours into the trip, Roxanne was stunned to realize that they’d talked and laughed most of the way from San Francisco to close to the Nevada border, covering everything from favorite movies and food to the collapse of American journalism, politics, music, and travel. And despite her occasional worries about cults and shallow graves, Roxie had felt herself unwinding with each passing mile, inching closer to reaching an understanding with herself. Maybe this hadn’t been a stupid call, after all.

Roxie grinned at Lilith, happy that her girl was discovering the joy of hanging her head out the window of a moving vehicle, just like a normal dog, her ears flying back and her eyes half closed in ecstasy.

Maybe her decision to come with Eli to Utah would turn out to be the smartest thing she’d ever done.

Bea had certainly thought so. “That’s awesome!” she’d cried, nearly jumping with glee as she’d hugged Roxie. “You’re going to have a wonderful time—I just know it.”

Ginger had been supportive, as well. “Good for you,” she’d said. “Relax and enjoy. You deserve to have some fun.”

On the phone, Josie squealed with delight at the news.

But Bea also mentioned that Mrs. Needleman had had a minor stroke and was in the hospital. And Josie confessed that her doctor had ordered bed rest for the last couple weeks of pregnancy. Then Ginger had informed Roxanne that her baby’s head had dropped, a development Roxanne didn’t quite understand, nor did she want to. All she knew was it couldn’t be good.

After hearing all that, Roxanne decided the time wasn’t right for her to leave town.

“We’ll all survive a few days without your supervision, I guarantee it,” Bea had said. “Besides, I’ll strangle you with my bare hands if you don’t go.”

“We’re here,” Eli said, slowing the truck and pulling into the Baker Town Diner parking lot. “I’ll take Lilith for a stroll if you want to freshen up before we eat.”

Roxanne nearly ran to the ladies’ room. When she came out, Lilith was content under the shade of the front porch, lapping at a bowl of water. Remarkably, the dog barely seemed to notice the three men who strolled out of the diner just a few feet from her bowl, which shocked Roxanne, seeing that her dog’s usual reaction would have been snarling, barking, and a display of fangs.

“It’s a miracle,” Roxie said, striding up to Eli. She noticed he wasn’t even holding her leash.

“No, just simple communication,” he said, glancing from the dog to Roxie’s face. “I show her how it is. She knows it’s in her best interest to follow the program.”

“Because she feels safe? Because it makes her happy?” Roxie looked up into Eli’s smoky green eyes when she asked her questions.

“You’ve been paying attention, Roxie Bloom.”

Over a lunch of barbecue sandwiches and homemade potato chips, Eli dropped the bomb. “I’ve got eight dogs at the ranch,” he told Roxanne, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “We’ll introduce Lilith to a couple at a time. There’s only one who might give her a hard time.”

“Excuse me?” Roxanne stared at him in disbelief. “You’re going to force her to deal with eight strange dogs in a strange environment? She’ll go ballistic!”

Eli smiled. “Let’s give her a chance to show us what she’s made of, okay?”

Roxanne had barely recovered from that news when, as an afterthought, Eli mentioned that his mother and sister would be stopping by.

Roxie fell back against the vinyl booth and let her chin fall toward her chest. “You’re taking me to meet your
family
?”

Eli laughed. He tilted his head back and Roxie watched in wonder as his whole handsome face relaxed into happiness. Hot desire swept through her. She wanted him. She wanted to get her lips and hands all over that man, all over his flesh and his happiness. She wanted to wrap herself up in him, pull up to the pump of everything good and wonderful that was Eli Gallagher.

“Damn,”
she breathed.

Roxanne hadn’t wanted any man since Raymond. She hadn’t dared. Only Eli. She’d wanted him since the second she laid eyes on him all those months ago and she still wanted him, right here at this diner in the middle of nowhere.

She wanted Eli Gallagher with a fierce and bright longing that wiped out her memory of every other man she’d ever given herself to. Even Raymond was reduced to a shadow in Eli’s light. Eli made Raymond seem like a cheap imitation. Her head was spinning with the heat of her thoughts. The way she sat in the booth suddenly felt unbearable. Her underwear felt too tight. Then it felt too loose. She began to fidget.

“My sister Sondra only lives about a half hour away and she’s been taking care of my place while I’m in California,” Eli was saying. Roxanne had to force herself to pay attention. “My mom lives in Cedar City, but she wants to come up and make dinner for us tonight.”

Roxanne took a sip of her iced tea and tried to pull herself together. She worried she wouldn’t be able to hide her interest in Eli from his mother and sister. How could she play it cool when this man made her so
hot
?

“Are you okay over there?” Eli asked, a grin on his face.

“Fine. So …” She paused, smiling. “Do they know you’ve got a woman and her psycho dog in tow?”

“They do.”

“What have you told them about me?”

Eli reached over the table and held out his hand palm up. She slipped her hand into his, the soothing warmth of his touch moving into her center. Like always.

“I’ve told them the truth—that you are a client and a woman I want to get to know much, much better.”

Roxanne managed to take a deep breath. “So I’m a client and a potential … uh … well…?”

“Whatever you want to call it is fine with me,” Eli said. “A woman I’d like to start dating. A potential girlfriend. A friend who happens to be a girl.” Eli unleashed a grin so sly and sexy that Roxie feared she’d slide off her booth.

“Girlfriend?”

“That’s how I see it.” Eli raised one of his eyebrows. “How about you? How do you see it?”

Roxanne went very still. She removed her hand from his. Technically, there was nothing wrong with his description of what they were doing, but she didn’t know that she wanted to be anyone’s girlfriend. Ever again. Plus, she needed clarification on a few things. Immediately.

“Have you ever felt that way about a client before?” she asked.

“Never,” he said.

“Do you kiss all your clients?”

He shook his head. “No. Just you.”

“Not even Jennifer Aniston?”

“Nope.”

“Do you stretch out on the bed of all your clients?”

“Pretty much,” he answered, the corners of his mouth turning up in delight.

“Aha!” Roxie felt smug. “So everybody gets in the bed and snuggles with you?”

“No and no. You were the first one invited to join me for a snuggle.”

“Have you ever brought a client to your ranch?”

“Hell, no,” he said, chuckling. “In fact, I do my best to keep my address out of the public domain. That’s one of the benefits of using a P.O. box in town.”

She felt herself smile. This was just the kind of clarification she needed.

“I can’t get enough of that smile, Roxie,” he said.

She felt her cheeks redden. This thing was going really fast. In a few hours she’d be in Eli’s home, with his family and his eight freakin’ dogs! But something didn’t feel right, and she remembered what her city editor used to tell her—if she felt uncomfortable turning in a story, it meant she had more reporting to do, more information to get.

“I have to know everything about you,” she whispered.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said.

She sat up straight, suddenly inspired. “Would you fill out one of your own questionnaires for me?”

Eli roared with laughter. “You drive a hard bargain, Roxie Bloom.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Absolutely.”

Roxie nodded, relieved. “All right, then,” she said, relaxing back into the booth, hands clasped in her lap. “But there’s one thing I need to know right away.”

“Have at it.”

“Why did you turn me down for lunch?” Roxie said. “I think I’m ready for that explanation now.”

Eli nodded. He reached for his wallet and placed a twenty on top of the check. He stood, offering his hand to Roxanne and helped her from her seat. “We’ve got a seven-hour drive ahead of us. That’ll be just enough time for an explanation.”

She laughed at what was obviously a joke.

“But only if I talk real fast.”

*   *   *

Carole hopped out of the front seat of her ancient Ford F-150 to unlatch the gate and smiled. She did that every time she drove up this dirt road and looked out at the endless sparse beauty framed by desert mountains. Eli had managed to carve out a little piece of hallelujah for himself here, and she was proud of her son.

She hopped back in the truck and continued on, marveling at the sight of her boy’s log home as it appeared above the rise in the lane, behind the stand of towering cedars. The simple elegance of the structure still surprised her, even after five years. That Eli had paid for this place by using his God-given talent to help the world—that was plenty. But knowing her son had designed and then helped build the house with his own hands always made her shake her head in wonder. Eli was something special. Her son was one of a kind. He always had been.