LITMIR.BIZ

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fit on the head of a pin? I’ve been struggling with that one for years.”

      Alicia laughed. She could totally picture Maria’s raised brow. “We figured about forty, as long as their wings were folded.”

      Maria tut-tutted. “Come on now, Alicia. Stop playing with me. Did you, or didn’t you?”

      Alicia hesitated, glanced over her shoulder, then whispered, “We did.”

      “I knew it!” Maria’s joyous whoop almost deafened her. “Well, this calls for a celebration. Want to meet me at T.J.’s for lunch?”

      “Actually, Rick’s just gone to a meeting and he’ll be back by eleven.”

      “And let me guess. You’d rather have lunch with some new hunk than with your oldest and dearest friend?”

      “Well…”

      “You’d better! You know I’d ditch you in a second for the right guy.”

      They both laughed. It was so true.

      “Now that we’ve established that I have no principles, you’d better tell me all the details so I don’t rat you out to Alex.”

      “Alex! Oh, my gosh, I totally forgot about him. He’s all alone at the ranch.” Guilt pricked her like a needle.

      “All alone? You’ve got at least ten different employees living there.”

      “You know what I mean. Who’ll make him breakfast?”

      “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can pour himself a bowl of Wheaties.”

      “What if the arsonist came back? I’ve got to call him.”

      “Not until you tell me more about last night.”

      “Maria! I’ll tell you all about it another time. And believe me, I really appreciate you covering for me, otherwise nothing would have happened at all.”

      “Okay, okay, but one thing before you cut me off.” Maria had stopped teasing and her voice was filled with concern. “I know I joke around a lot, but this Rick Jones better treat my very best friend like a princess or he’s going to have me to answer to. Did he make it wonderful for you?”

      Alicia nodded, then realized her friend couldn’t see. “Oh, Maria, it was more than wonderful. He was so gentle, so tender. It was…beautiful.”

      “Phew.” Maria laughed. “Well, then enjoy your day with him and wish him all the best from me. And give me a call if you want to come up for air.”

      Alicia shut off her phone and caught sight of her face in the bamboo-framed mirror on the dressing table. Her goofy grin almost made her laugh.

      Then she remembered Alex, and her grin vanished.

      She punched in his number and waited while the phone rang, cold anxiety trickling through her.

      “Hey, ‘Manita. How’s Maria?”

      Alicia gulped. “She’s great. How are things at the ranch?” Her voice sounded nervous and false. She hoped he wouldn’t press for details about Maria. She didn’t want this lie to get any more elaborate.

      “No more trouble. The vet’s been out to check the animals and the insurance guy was here. The police have interviewed all the workers, but I don’t think they have any leads yet.”

      “I’m coming home, then.”

      Even as she said it, her entire body screamed no. She wanted to stay here, with Rick.

      “No way. You stay with Maria. We still have no idea who’s behind this, so there’s no way to predict what they’ll do next. I’ve got enough problems already. I don’t want to have to worry about my baby sister being in danger.”

      Alicia’s relief mingled with stone-cold guilt. “Are you sure you’re okay? Did you eat breakfast?”

      “I’m not an invalid.”

      “Did you eat breakfast?”

      “I wasn’t hungry.”

      “Alejandro Montoya, you’d better go make yourself something—”

      “Stop fussing. Maybe it’s better I learn to do things for myself, otherwise how will I manage when you leave to get married?”

      His teasing tone told her he was joking. He probably didn’t think she’d ever leave to get married. And until this morning, she’d worried the same thing.

      But now everything was different.

      She fingered her blue topaz necklace and let her smile return. “All right, don’t eat anything, then. See if I care.”

      Her reflection in the mirror revealed red lips and flushed cheeks. Her eyes were glassy and her hair—well, her hair needed work. “I’ll call you later and you can reach me on my cell if you need me.”

      She hung up the phone. How shocked Alex would be if he knew what she’d been up to last night. If he knew that—right now—she was waiting for her new boyfriend to return.

      Her lover.

      Finally.

      Justin marched up the walkway into the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Things were getting too complicated for his taste and he intended to do a little untangling. At least as much as he could without making Alicia run for cover.

      “Good afternoon, Mr. Dupree.” The doorman nodded to him. “Mr. Brody’s waiting for you in the library.”

      “Justin!” Mitch rose from a leather club chair near the carved-stone fireplace as Justin entered, his dark eyes shining with amusement. “You’ve been hard to find lately.”

      “Busy. We’re in the midst of a deal. I’m wearing a suit right now because I just signed a contract. Saturday morning, can you believe it? But the guy’s heading back to Athens this afternoon.”

      His tall friend narrowed his eyes. “That’s not the only thing keeping you tied up. I saw how well you hit it off with Alicia Montoya.”

      Justin just smiled.

      “Did you dig up any dirt on her brother?” Mitch asked.

      Guilt trickled through Justin as he eased himself into a chair. He wished he’d never volunteered to get information about Alex from Alicia.

      Both Mitch and his brother, Lance, suspected Alex of the sabotage at Brody Oil and Gas, but because of the longtime enmity between Lance and Alex, there was no way they could approach him without things quickly escalating to a confrontation. It happened every time Lance and Alex got near each other.

      “Pretty suspicious that a fire broke out on the Montoya place, don’t you think?” Mitch asked.

      “They don’t know who’s behind the fire at El Diablo. The police are looking into it but there are no suspects yet, from what I hear.”

      “Do you think it’s possible that Alex set the fire to divert suspicion from himself about the fire at our refinery?”

      “Why would he destroy his own property?”

      “For the insurance money.” Mitch took a sip of whiskey. “That old barn was begging to be burned down. He probably had it insured for twice its value.”

      “Alicia said it was a historic building. One of the oldest in Somerset.”

      “Maybe they wanted to clear the way for a state-of-the-art setup. Alex has some of the finest breeding cattle in the entire state of Texas these days. He always was a competitive son of a bitch.” Mitch signaled to the bartender to bring a drink for Justin.

      “I don’t think he’s behind it.”

      Mitch looked at Justin closely. “Who else could it be?”

      Justin leaned back

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