It’s good to see you again, Isabella,” he replied, standing and gathering the rest of the dishes to help her. “In fact, it was downright agreeable after the first ten minutes.”
“Well, what were you expecting when you broke into a house?”
“I expected to find Mike and to talk to him and leave. But then, life is always full of unexpected twists and turns.”
They cleaned together, restoring order to the kitchen, and then Isabella motioned toward a door. “Let’s sit in the family room.”
When he walked beside her, she was conscious of how tall he was. “So where do you go from here?”
“You don’t want to know. It’s better if no one knows.”
“Do you trust anyone?” she asked, wondering about his solitary life. He was ruggedly appealing with dark, brooding, craggy looks. What was it about him, she wondered, that attracted her? When they looked at each other or barely touched, sparks all but danced in the air. She couldn’t understand the unwanted, volatile chemistry between them. He was not the man to take home to the family.
Not in the next hundred years. He was solitary, dangerous, in trouble, cynical, brooding, hurt. Everything undesirable, yet when he had held her close in his arms to try to stop her attack, she had felt an electrifying charge that she couldn’t recall experiencing with a man before.
Now, as she strolled beside him, she tried to focus on what he was saying to her.
“I trust Mike, Boone and Jonah. For their own sakes, there are things I won’t tell them, because they’re better off not knowing.”
“Do the doctors ever think your memory will fully return?”
“They don’t know. But they didn’t know about some things that have already happened,” he said.
She gazed at his full lower lip, the slightly full upper lip, a sensuous mouth. Unbidden images of his mouth on hers had her pulse beating faster. She tried to stop unwanted thoughts and to concentrate on their conversation.
As she switched on a light in the family room, he paused to look at the room. Trying to see it through his eyes, she also glanced around at the cozy room with its leather furniture and huge fireplace, thick, patterned area rug and mahogany furniture.
“Mike’s mansion is elegant,” Colin said. “I’m pleased for him. I hope he’s happy.”
“He and Savannah seem blissful, and they love little Jessie.”
“I’m glad for him and the life he’s found here.” Colin sat in a winged chair and Isabella sat in a corner of the brown sofa, tucking her legs beneath her. When he stretched out his long legs, her gaze drifted down the length of him and then up again to find him watching her.
While a blush heated her cheeks, she was at a loss for conversation.
“Bring me up to date about my friends, Isabella,” Colin said. “I have only sketchy information.”
“Okay, Mike has a security business, and Savannah still practices law although she’s home a lot with Jessie. Jonah inherited a cattle ranch and he and Kate live there,” Isabella replied, but her thoughts were more on Colin.
“I heard Jonah has a son.”
“That’s right, Henry. And another baby on the way.”
“So he and Kate got back together. Miracles never cease. I suppose the bone of contention between them is gone since he’s out of the service. What about your brother?”
“Boone just married Erin, the manager of the horse ranch that he inherited.”
“All the guys are married,” Colin said, once more bitterness clearly filled his voice. “And you’re not. So what do you do, little sis?”
“I’m a photographer. I have a shop in Stallion Pass.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“I love it. As a matter of fact, why don’t you let me photograph you, Colin. You have an interesting face.”
He shook his head. “If I didn’t know you were Isabella, I’d be highly suspect of your request.”
“You have an interesting face,” she protested.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been told that. I’m sorry, but no, I don’t let anyone take pictures of me. Too dangerous to have them around. I don’t want anyone who’s looking for me to pick up my trail.”
“What if I take a few pictures of you and keep them to myself until this is over?”
He locked his hands behind his head. “It may not be over for years.”
“Then I’ll keep your pictures hidden. Let me take them. You’ll be a grand subject.”
“Sorry, Isabella, but the answer remains no. Photograph Jonah or Mike.”
“I have pictures of all of them already.”
“My answer is still no.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she said, certain that he would.
“You’re a bit stubborn, aren’t you?”
“No more than you are,” she replied easily.
“Tell me about your life, Isabella,” he said. Every time he pronounced her name, it sounded different from when anyone else said it. Everything about Colin was unique. Sympathy created a strong tie to him. Also, was she empathetic just because she had known him for years and remembered who he had been?
She did know he held a dazzling appeal for her, and he must have felt something, too. She had glimpsed his reactions, heard his voice drop to a husky note. But Colin was the last man on earth she would want to find captivating. He was hard, cynical and cold. She was appalled and saddened that he hadn’t seen more of his family or let them know sooner that he was alive. Still, she could remember Colin as the happy person he had once been. His harshness was easier to understand when she considered the trauma he had experienced.
No matter what the reason, it was an incredible loss and waste for him to give up on life. She looked at his thickly lashed, smoky eyes. They were startlingly pale and intense against his dark looks. Locks of black hair fell over his forehead. He was thin, the hollows in his cheeks dark shadows beneath the prominent bones. He was ruggedly handsome and she knew he would photograph spectacularly. In a picture, the brooding look in his eyes would tell its own story.
“Remember when you rode the roller coaster with me?” she asked, wishing she could get a smile out of him.
One dark eyebrow climbed and he stared at her. “I sort of recall that day. Don’t be insulted, but that wasn’t high on my list of unforgettable moments. You were a skinny little girl. How old are you now, Isabella? Seems like you ought to be about nineteen, but I guess that’s not right.”
She laughed. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ask a woman her age? But then, to you, I don’t qualify as
