LITMIR.BIZ

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      The bed was intact, as far as he could tell without stripping it completely, but underneath…

      Coffee cans. Four of them. And an old-fashioned suitcase. That’s what he opened first, checking his watch, appalled at how long everything was taking. She could come back any second, and she’d have every reason to call the cops on him.

      The suitcase was full of paperback books and music CDs. He checked every pocket twice, flipped through the books and popped open the CD cases, but he didn’t find anything noteworthy. Disappointed, he shoved the case back under the bed.

      He hit one of the cans of coffee, and just to be sure, he checked. It was unopened coffee. So was the next, and the next.

      The fourth one had an unsealed envelope. Inside, it was a single sheet of paper with a typed number and password. He was certain the number was for a bank account. There was also a driver’s license in the name of Alison Bishop, with a picture that sort of looked like Annie, and a roll of cash thicker than his fist.

      After he took a picture of the license and the account number, he put it all back under the bed just the way he’d found it. Then he got the hell out of there before she caught him red-handed.

       5

      THE KIDS WERE GONE, AND WITH them, Melanie. It was relatively quiet outside, as quiet as it ever got around Safe Haven. Annie was grateful because she had to calm herself before she went in to see the pregnant mares. They didn’t need her fear and worry, and no one would ever convince her that animals didn’t respond to human energy, good and bad.

      It made perfect sense that Brennan would need to make some business calls, that he’d like to be alone when he made them, and also not have to worry about the background noises that were inescapable on the property.

      She’d already decided that the website photo had not blown her cover. She’d researched Brennan and he was legit. Even Shea had done some of her magic and given him the thumbs-up.

      Besides, a man like Brennan wasn’t the type to go snooping. And even if he did, he wasn’t going to look inside coffee cans stored under her bed, for God’s sake.

      Some deep breathing made her wince, but it also helped calm her down long enough to dismiss her concerns about him discovering her real identity. Which left her wide-open to worry about everything that had actually gone wrong since he’d arrived.

      Annie had known for a while now that wishes and daydreams were a waste of time. That didn’t stop her from wishing that she could start the day over, or at the very least ask Tucker to leave and come back tomorrow.

      She didn’t even dare think that nothing else could go wrong because that was just inviting catastrophe. She still had on her stinky, now bloodstained and torn work clothes. The man she so desperately wanted to impress had walked in on her making a fundamental mistake in caring for animals—one that could have cost them both physically, and certainly may have cost her financially. What foundation wanted to invest in a sentimental idiot?

      Then, to make everything a billion times worse, the libido she’d managed to stifle for two long years had decided to rejoin the party by filling her mind and body with so many hormones she could barely see straight. She’d actually had to bite back a moan when he’d touched her.

      Thank God he’d put his shirt back on. It didn’t erase the memory of his muscled chest and the smattering of dark hair, or his small hard nipples or the perfect V from his broad shoulders to his trim waist. But at least she didn’t have to dig her fingernails into her palm to stop from touching him back.

      Dammit, now she wished she’d brought her coffee. And taken some ibuprofen. She thought about going back to the cabin, but they kept a bottle of aspirin in the stable med kit. She should have offered him something when she’d bandaged him, but with all that chest showing, she’d been distracted.

      “Is everything okay?” Tucker asked from behind her. “Are you feeling dizzy?”

      She must have jumped a foot. She hadn’t heard him walk across the gravel. He had to think she was nuts, standing in the middle of the path, staring at nothing. “No, I’m fine. Sorry, just thinking about…We should go check on the horses.”

      “Right.” He smiled, although it seemed a little forced and made her edgy. “FYI, in my younger days, I spent a lot of time in foaling stalls.”

      “Good, then you can help if it looks like things have progressed that far. I think Glory might foal tonight. She’s been up and down a lot today, sweating like crazy. I wouldn’t be surprised if her water’s already broken.”

      “Is this her first?”

      Annie shrugged, but she was relieved that the conversation was squarely in safe territory now. She could talk animals till the cows came home and feel fairly sure she wouldn’t make a misstep. “Don’t know. She arrived pregnant and undernourished. We fattened her up, but it’s impossible to say what that period of malnutrition did to the fetus. So Doc Yardley is on call, and I’ll be setting up camp out here tonight.”

      “You’ve done this a lot, then?”

      “Often enough to know when to call for help.” She stopped at the stable door. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” she said, looking directly at him as the sun cooperated and moved from behind a cloud. The butterflies she’d never expected to feel again came back, but she couldn’t afford not to watch him, because the issue had been bothering her since that first email. “You’re the head honcho of the Rocking B ranch. Your foundation has a director by the name of Rafael Santiago. So how come you’re here instead of him?”

      Oddly, the question made him smile. A half grin, actually, the right side of his mouth lifting for a few seconds. “I think it’s important to do some things personally.”

      “You go to each nonprofit yourself?”

      “Not all of them, no. This is a special case.”

      That made her blink. “Why?”

      “Okay, I admit it.” Tucker gave the impression of shrugging without moving his shoulders. “I may have had some other business in the area, but I figured this might be a nice break from the daily grind.”

      Annie laughed. “You picked a lousy place to find rest and relaxation, Mr. Brennan. I only have six permanent part-time volunteers. Levi and Kathy have been keeping an eye on the mares today, but they leave when the sun sets. I’m pretty much it until eight tomorrow morning, and I’ll have my hands full. I can’t even offer you dinner, unless you want a frozen bean and cheese burrito.”

      The half grin came back. “Hey, at least I got to wrestle a goat.”

      This time her laugh was accompanied by a sense of ease. “To each his own,” she said, although she didn’t for a minute think his answer was silly. Her last real vacation had been spent working at a horse rescue shelter in upstate New York.

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