9- wise

I would see you outside, please.”
He grinned. “Sure thing. Mr. and Mrs. Petrillo, it’s been a pleasure. Thanks
for the coffee.”
“I do hope you’ll come back and visit with us,” Jane said. “Perhaps you
could come for dinner before you go back to New York.”
“Sorry, Mom, he won’t be around that long,” Hazel said. “Will you, Mr.
Lee?” He gave her a penetrating look. “My schedule is actually pretty
flexible. Last
I heard I’ll be in town for at least two weeks.”
Her mother beamed. “Then I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.
You must be staying at the hotel. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” he said, then followed Hazel outside. Since she
couldn’t seem to stop pacing up and down, he leaned against the porch railing
and waited to see what she had to say.
Finally she stopped in front of him. “I do not want you here.”
“So I gathered.”
“My parents don’t know anything about my business. They don’t know
anything about Bobby. Leave them alone.”
“I was not pumping them for information. In fact, I thought I was doing a
darned fine job of evading all of your father’s questions about how we knew
each other and what I do for a living.”
“You didn’t tell them you were a lawyer?”
“No.”
“You didn’t tell them you’d followed me out here?”
“No.”
“You never mentioned Bobby?”
“Nope.”
That seemed to silence her. Mr. Lee couldn’t help himself. He reached out and
cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m just after the truth, Hazel.
Nothing else. If you have nothing to hide, talk to me, tell me the truth.”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you in the butt.”
“You have a very low opinion of my ability to judge character, don’t you?”
“Can you blame me? You’ve come after me as if I’m some hardened
criminal, when I’m as much of a victim as any of the people you say that Bobby
swindled. The man has all but destroyed my business. He has turned my life
upside down. And because of him, an annoyingly persistent attorney won’t leave
me alone.”
Mr. Lee grimaced at the characterization. He’d always considered persistence
tobe a virtue, but he could see her point. Moreover, he was forced to admit that he
was beginning to believe in at least the possibility of her innocence, but he was a long way from having any evidence for or against her. She might not see that as
much of a shift in his opinion, but in truth it was a major concession. He usually
trusted his initial gut reaction in any given situation, and he rarely let go of
preconceived notions this easily.
“You could go a long way toward making your case, if you would just sit
down and get this deposition over with,” he pointed out.
“Not without my attorney present.”
“Of course not, but isn’t your friend Emma an attorney?”
“Yes, but her practice is not in Wyoming, and besides, she’s here this
weekend because she’s overworked and badly needs a break. I’m not going to
get her involved in this,” she said flatly. “Hell, I’m here because I need a break,
but I haven’t had five seconds to think with you trailing around after me. I
started to take a drive, but I stopped for coffee instead. I glanced outside and
spotted you heading in this direction. I had this horrible feeling this was exactly
where you were going. Lo and behold, here you are, sneaking around behind my
back to cross-examine my parents.”
“I was not cross-examining your parents,” he repeated patiently. “I stopped
by looking for you. Your mother invited me in. Your father did most of the
talking. That’s it.”
She gave him a plaintive look. “Couldn’t you go away?” she asked in what
had become a familiar, wistful refrain. “Go home? I’ll be there in a couple of
weeks and answer every single question you have.”
“Much as I would like to get out of the wilds of Wyoming and back to
civilization, I can’t take a chance that you’ll disappear. You’re my best link to
Rinaldi.”
“I haven’t heard from him. In fact, if he’s smart, I will never hear from him,
because if I ever get five minutes alone with him, I will wring his scrawny
neck.”
She said it with such heartfelt conviction that Mr. Lee’s faith in her shot up
another notch. That still didn’t mean he could go running back to New York the
way she wanted. Unfortunately, he was here for the duration.
And gazing into her sad, vulnerable eyes was making that more and more
difficult with every passing day.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said finally. “I’ll make you a deal.”
She regarded him with suspicion. “What sort of a deal?”
“What’s on the reunion agenda for the day?”
“A picnic in the park.”
“Isthat the last event?”
“No, most of us will be here for the Fourth of July fireworks later in the week.”
He regarded her solemnly. “Do you swear that you will not skip town on
me?”
She sighed. “I’m not going anywhere. How many times do I have to tell you
that? You can turn your back on me. In fact, it might be nice if you just forgot all
about me.”
Mr. Lee grinned at her wistful tone. “I can’t do that, but I will back off. I
havesome paperwork to do.”
“Hallelujah!” she said, though her tone waslessthan enthusiastic.
“I’m not saying I won’t cruise by the park—”
“I should have known it was too good to be true,” she murmured.
“That could be just because I’m longing for a glimpse of you,” Mr.
Lee
suggested.
“Oh, of course,” she said sarcastically. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
He was surprised by her skepticism. “You don’t think that could be true?”
“You are not hanging around here because you’re attracted to me. You’re
here because you want to nail me with a crime.”
“Maybe that’s how it started,” Mr. Lee said quietly, regretting the admission
almost before the words were out of his mouth.
She gave him a startled look. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve already said it. Never mind. The point is I will try to give you a little
space. Just don’t make me regret it. I have a lot of resources and I will use them
to find you, so save yourself the trouble.”
He’d taken half a dozen steps, almost made it to safety, when she called out
to him. He turned back.
“What?” he asked, noting the confusion in her eyes.
“Are you saying that kiss yesterday…” Her gaze locked on his. “Did it mean
something?”
Mr. Lee couldn’t help the smile tugging at hislips. Her words were too
close toan invitation, way too close to a dare, or maybe he’d just been searching
a little too desperately for any excuse at all to do it again.
“I don’t know,” he said nonchalantly. He walked slowly back to her. “Only
one way to find out.”
Alarm flared in her eyes just as he bent down and lightly touched his mouth
to hers. He could have stopped with that. He should have. But her soft little
moan, the way she swayed toward him, they were too much. The next thing he
knew she was in his arms and he was devouring her mouth.