amaze him that she’d admitted so readily what she was. Despite that, he felt an uncontrollable urge to shake her up a bit. Turnabout was fair play, after all.
“Where I come from, we have another word for what you’re doing,” he murmured.
“What word is that?”
“Teasing. Didn’t anyone ever teach you what happens to teases?”
A defiant light lit her eyes. “No. What happens to them?”
“They often find themselves in sticky situations. The kind where they could easily get hurt.”
She gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve survived so far.”
He gritted his teeth. “I can see that you have. So tell me, Ruby, why are you an incorrigible flirt?”
“It’s simple, really.” She gave a delicate shrug. “I like having men look at me, and I like looking back.”
Antonio recalled the way her smile hadn’t quite reached her eyes. “Really?”
Her gaze grew watchful. “Yes, really. What other reason could there be?”
This time, he was the one who shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you flirt so blatantly with men because you want to keep them at arm’s length. Is there a reason you don’t want a man close?”
She looked taken aback. When she spoke, however, her voice was calm.
“You’re forgetting one thing. I’m very close to Joseph. And he’s very possessive of his belongings.”
How close was she, really? Close enough to possess the secrets Antonio needed to learn?
“So I’ve heard. Never fear, Ruby. You may be on display, but I have no intention of sampling the merchandise.”
Before she could comment, Joseph joined them. Behind him, standing at a respectful distance, was his shadow, Matthew Rogers. Antonio wondered if Ruby had to send the man out on made-up errands, just to get some time alone with Joseph. The irreverent thought cheered him.
Clasping Antonio’s hand, Joseph gave it an effusive shake. “Nice job, Michael. Very nice job.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Joseph turned to Ruby. “I just got off the phone with Howard Cabot. We got the Bickham estate.”
“That’s wonderful, darling,” she exclaimed, rushing into his arms. “You’ve been negotiating with the heirs for months now. All your hard work has finally paid off.”
“Yes, it has.” Joseph broke the embrace and stood back to survey the two of them. “I’m sure you’ll both understand that in this case, time is of the essence. I want the whole place catalogued, valued and auctioned off before the heirs have a chance to change their minds. Pack your bags, you two. You leave first thing Tuesday morning.”
A shout from the other side of the room claimed Joseph’s attention, which was a good thing, since it prevented him from seeing the look of dismay that crossed Antonio’s face.
“We’re having dinner together later?” he asked Ruby when he turned back.
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you then.” He nodded to Antonio. “I’ll leave it to the two of you to work out the fine details of the trip. Sorry to run, but as you can see, I’m needed elsewhere.”
Antonio stared after Joseph’s departing figure. He’d just started his job, and already Joseph was sending him out of town. Was something big going to happen while he was gone? Was that why Joseph was sending him away?
“Where’s the Bickham estate?” he asked.
“A tiny town in the extreme southeastern tip of West Virginia,” Ruby replied.
“How big is it?”
“In the ten-million-dollar range. Excluding the house and grounds, of course.” She sounded as disheartened by the whole thing as he was.
“So it’s not something we can value in a day and be home in time for dinner.”
“We’ll be lucky if we’ll be done in three days, and that’s working overtime.”
Great. Just great. Still, it gave him a chance to prove himself to Joseph, and early on in the game, too. It also gave him a chance to get to know Ruby better. Much as he found her character lacking, it was an opportunity he’d be foolish to ignore.
“What kind of car do you drive?” he asked, turning his attention to her.
“Corvette. A two-seater. Why?”
“I gather you don’t pack light.” His voice was dry.
“You gather right.” She looked amused.
“Then we’d better take my truck. It’ll give us more room.”
Her look of amusement fled. “Your truck?”
“Yes. That a problem?”
“It’s a long drive to the Bickham estate, a lot of it through mountainous terrain. It’ll probably take us six hours, not counting rest stops, to get there.”
Just his luck to be trapped in a vehicle with her for six hours. At least it wouldn’t be a cramped Corvette.
“I assure you, the ride will be quite comfortable. I also have a cap over the bed. You could bring along ten suitcases, and there would still be room. Can’t say that about your Corvette, can you?”
“Hardly,” she replied.
“You weren’t thinking I’d make you ride in the back, were you?” he couldn’t help chiding.
Her chin went up. “A gentleman would never do that.”
Now was as good a time as any to let her know that he might be more than he presented himself to be. That, if given the right incentive, he might be willing to cross the line from lawfulness into illegality.
“Who said I’m a gentleman?”
“My mistake.” Her voice was downright frosty.
“Is 8:00 a.m. okay with you, or do you need more beauty sleep?”
Now she was the one gritting her teeth. He’d obviously struck a nerve. Good. He didn’t know why he felt the need to get a rise out of her, he just did.
“Eight o’clock is fine.” She turned on her heel and hurried off in the direction Joseph had taken.
“See you then,” he called after her.
Watching her retreating figure, Antonio wanted to kick himself. What had happened to his detachment? Why had he made his distaste for her so obvious? Why had he goaded her the way he had?
He
