hungry. I’ll fix you breakfast.”
He cooks, too? “Okay.”
“In the meantime…” He dug into his jacket pocket, pulled out a jeweler’s box and opened it. Inside was a platinum-and-three-diamonds wedding band. “You’ll need to wear this tomorrow.”
The ring was stunning. Her first instinct was to try it on. She curled her hands into fists instead. “Pretty sure of yourself, Gideon.”
He shrugged slightly. “I knew if you were any kind of businesswoman you’d want to see the site in person. You would be there as my wife.”
“I haven’t given you my answer yet. What if you show up with a different ‘wife’ later?”
“You’ve decided.”
His confidence irked her—and pleased her. She liked that he had that much sense of himself.
He plucked the ring from the box and held it up. “Want to see if it fits?”
She held out her hand. The ring seemed on fire, as if chiding her for telling a lie by pretending to be married. “It’s fine,” she said, then tugged it off immediately and handed it back to him. “Did you get one for yourself?”
“I did. It’s plain.” Instead of tucking the ring back in the box, he pulled out a tissue-wrapped packet that contained a long silver chain. He slipped her ring onto it, lifted it over her head and let it dip inside her blouse.
She felt it slide into her cleavage, then nestle.
“For when you’re not playing the part,” he said.
Her mind went blank as he turned her around.
“Thank you for doing this,” he said, and then he kissed her, a soft, electric brush of his lips against hers. “See why I can’t come up?”
“It takes two to tango.”
“Yes, and we’ve both got the moves.” He gave her a knowing look. “I’ll see you in the morning, Mrs. Falcon.”
She laughed but made no move to go into the building. She didn’t want the evening to end. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that way, and this hadn’t even been a date.
Well…actually, it had been considerably more than a date. She’d just sort of gotten married.
“I can’t leave until you’re safely indoors,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.
It would be useless to tell him she came and went from this building every day without incident, so she went inside. He lifted a hand to her, then took off, his stride long and easy. She watched until he was out of sight. In her condo a few minutes later she stared at her phone. She’d almost asked him to call when he got home so that she knew he made it okay, before the rain. He would’ve laughed at her.
So instead she waited a little over an hour, then dialed his number.
He picked up on the first ring. “Safe and sound. And dry,” he said instead of hello.
She hesitated. She really needed to remember how intuitive he was, that he would’ve seen in her eyes that she was worried about him riding Hilda in the rain. “That’s not why I called.”
“You have some burning question that can’t wait until morning?”
She heard laughter in his voice. Lighten up, she told herself. Have fun, like he is.
“It doesn’t bother me that you were worried,” he said before she could think up a reason for calling. “It’s nice. Wifely.” He did laugh then, soft and low. “Did you try on the ring again?”
Her face heated. She’d not only tried it on, it was still on. Really, how could she work with someone who’d figured her out so well, so soon?
“I gather you don’t want to lie to me, so you’re keeping silent instead,” he said.
“Or it could be that your ego doesn’t need more feeding.”
“Touché. We’re going to need to talk about this attraction, don’t you think? Get it out in the open so that we can work together?”
“I think that’s a good idea, Gideon.” She hadn’t figured him to be the kind of man to “talk.” She’d spent her life around men who didn’t talk about anything risky, emotional or otherwise.
“It’ll make great breakfast conversation. Anything you hate or are allergic to?”
“I’m game for anything.”
“Anything?”
“Food-wise,” she said with a smile. He was going to keep her on her toes.
“See you tomorrow morning, Mrs. Falcon.”
She tried to think of something witty to say in return, but came up empty. “Good night, mountain man.” She hung up, left her hand curved over the receiver. She stared at the brilliant wedding band.
She couldn’t fault the man for his taste, or his brains. Or his body. He was the real deal, the whole package.
And if she wasn’t careful, he would end up being the death of her grand plans for herself.
Chapter Three
Denise thoroughly enjoyed her drive the next morning up into the gorgeous and green Sierra foothills. The farther away she got from Sacramento, the more her shoulders relaxed, which surprised her. She loved her city life. She had a prosperous business, good friends and a busy social life. She thrived on action and purpose. This trip was making her forget work completely.
Except, of course, there was something else to worry about—Gideon. She’d taken some risks in her life, but this was one of the riskiest, getting involved with a man embarking on a new enterprise that would take years of focus and concentration.
At five minutes to nine, she turned into Gideon’s driveway and followed it a long way back, not seeing the house until she’d made a couple turns. She had to laugh. He’d said his house had all the amenities of her condo, including underground parking. She guessed he’d meant the parking area under his deck, which stood probably twelve feet above the ground, the front of the house raised on thick beams. A silver-gray SUV was parked below the deck, Hilda next to it.
The structure itself, more cabin than house, melded aesthetically with the surroundings of oak and pine trees, evergreen shrubs and craggy rocks. Frost rimed shady spots.
She parked in a graded space off to the side. By the time she’d gotten out of her car, he was walking toward her. The quiet struck her—even the fact she couldn’t hear his footsteps. She shivered, wondering what the temperature was.
“Welcome,” he said, his breath billowing in the cold air, his gaze intense.
She wanted to hug him hello. Instead she said,
