wouldn’t kill him to pretend to be interested.
So after he’d dressed, he called down to his housekeeper and ordered strong coffee, scrambled eggs and bacon and wheat toast. Women always went for the wheat toast. He added biscuits for himself.
When he got downstairs Victoria wasn’t sitting. She was standing in front of one of his favorite pieces of art, a lone black stallion standing on a rocky, burnished mountainside, his nostrils flaring, his hoofs beating into the dust, his dark eyes reflecting everything while the big horse held everything back.
“I know this artist,” she said, turning at the sound of his boots hitting marble. “I covered one of his shows long ago. Impressive.”
Clint settled a foot away from her and took in the massive portrait. “I had to outbid some highbrows down in Austin to get it, but I knew I wanted to see this every day of my life.”
She gave him a skeptical stare. “Seriously?”
It rankled that she already had him pegged as a joke. “I can be serious, yes, ma’am.”
She turned her moss-green eyes back to the painting. “You surprise me, Mr. Griffin.”
“Clint,” he said, taking her by the arm and leading her out onto the big covered patio. “I ordered breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said, glancing around. “Nice view.”
Clint ushered her to the hefty rectangular oak table by the massive stone outdoor fireplace, then stopped to take in the rolling, grass-covered hills and scattered oaks, pines and mesquite trees spreading out around the big pond behind the house. This view always brought him a sense of peace. “It’ll do in a pinch.”
She sank down in an oak-bottomed, cushioned chair with wrought-iron trim. “Or anytime, I’d think.”
Clint knew all about the view. “I inherited the Sunset Star from my daddy. He died about six years ago.”
She gave him a quick sympathetic look then cleared her pretty little throat. “I know...I read up on you. Sorry for your loss.”
Her clichéd response dripped with sincerity, at least.
“Thank you.” He sat down across from her and eyed the pastureland out beyond the pool and backyard. “This ranch has been in my family for four generations. I’m the last Griffin standing.”
“Maybe you’ll live up to the symbol I saw on the main gate.”
“Oh, you mean a real griffin?” He leaned forward in his chair and laughed. “Strange creature. Kind of conflicted, don’t you think?”
Before she could answer, Tessa brought a rolling cart out the open doors from the kitchen. Clint stood to help her. “Tessa, this is Victoria Calhoun. She’s with that show you love to watch every Tuesday night on TRN. You know the one about cowboys and cars and cattle, or something like that.”
Tessa, sixty-five and still a spry little thing in a bun and a colorful tunic over jeans, giggled as she poured coffee and replied to him in rapid Spanish. “She’s not your usual breakfast companion, chico.”
Clint eyed Victoria for a reaction and saw her trying to hide a smile. “Comprender?”
“Understand and speak it.”
Okay, this one was different. “Coffee?” Clint shot a glance at Tessa and saw her grin.
“I’d love some,” Victoria said, thanking Tessa in fluent Spanish and complimenting the lovely meal.
Clint watched her laughing up at the woman who’d practically raised him and wondered what Victoria Calhoun’s story was. Single? Looked that way. Prickly? As a cholla cactus. Pretty? In a fresh-faced, outdoorsy way. But when she smiled, her green eyes sparkled and her obvious disapproval of him vanished.
He’d have to make sure she kept smiling. But he’d also have to make sure he kept this one at arm’s length.
“We have toast or biscuits,” he said, serving the meal so Tessa could go back inside and watch her morning shows. “Tessa’s biscuits make you want to weep with joy.”
To his surprise, she dismissed the skinny toast and grabbed one of the fat, fluffy biscuits. After slapping some fresh black-cherry jam and a tap of butter on it, she settled into the oversize chair and closed her eyes in joy.
“You’re right about that. This is one amazing biscuit.”
“Try her scrambled eggs. She uses this chipotle sauce that is dynamite.”
“I love spicy food,” Victoria replied, grabbing the spoon so she could dollop sauce across her cluster of eggs.
Clint hid his smile behind what he hoped was a firm stance of boredom. But he wasn’t bored at all. For someone who’d insisted she wasn’t hungry, she sure had a hearty appetite. He sat back and enjoyed watching her eat. “Where did you learn to speak Spanish?”
She lifted her coffee mug, her hand wrapped around the chunky center, bypassing the handle altogether. “This is Texas, right?”
He nodded, took in her tight jeans and pretty lightweight floral blouse. “Last time I checked. I mean, where did you go to school?”
She gave him a raised eyebrow stare. “In Texas.”
“Hmm. A mysterious...what are you? Producer, docu-journalist, director?”
“All of the above sometimes. Mostly, I’m a story producer, but I’ve worked in just about every area since joining the show a few years ago, first as a transcriber and then as an assistant camera person.”
“Are you always this tight-lipped?”
She finished her eggs and wiped her mouth. “Yes, especially when my mouth is full.”
And it sure was a lovely mouth. All pink, pouty and purposeful. He liked her mouth.
He waited until she’d scraped the last of her eggs off the plate and let her chew away. “When was the last time you had a good meal?”
She squinted. “I think yesterday around lunch. Does a chocolate muffin count?”
“No, it does not.” He loaded her plate again. “So you television people like to starve?”
“I’m not starving. I mean, I eat. All the time. I just got busy yesterday and...well...the time got away from me.”
“You need to eat on a regular basis.”
She gave him a look that implied he needed to back off. “I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions.”
Clint drank his coffee and inhaled a buttered biscuit. Then he sat back and ran a hand down the beard shadow on his face. “Okay, fair enough. So, now that you’ve had some nourishment, why don’t we get down to business? Why do you want me on your show? And I do mean you—not the suits.” He leaned over the table, his gaze on her. “And what’s in it for me?”
Tilting
