Читать книгу Cowboy to the Core - Joanna Wayne - Страница 11

Marcus struggled to keep his eyes focused straight ahead and his mind and body from drowning in unadulterated lust as he drove the meandering blacktop roads to the festival grounds. If it weren’t for the two youthful chaperones in the backseat, he might have sneaked an arm around Dani’s beautiful shoulders and let his thumb ride the stately column of her neck.

Talk about totally inappropriate behavior for a man being paid to protect.

He was beginning to wonder if some other far more trusting guy had crawled into his skin. Not that he wasn’t as susceptible as the next male when it came to getting turned on by a shapely body and a pretty face. He’d been attracted to Dani from the moment she’d sashayed by him and into the dress shop this morning. He just didn’t usually let his urges get as out of control as they were right now.

But Dani Baxter, with her sultry, Southern charm and striking Elizabethan gown, defied the odds. She had an almost mystical quality about her tonight. The effect was magnified a thousand times when she touched her long, manicured fingers to the delicate charm resting just above the swell of her breasts and their intoxicating cleavage.

He forced his concentration back to the road and tightened his grip on the steering wheel, determined to rein in his libido. If he wasn’t careful, he’d lose the instincts he’d developed as a cowboy and refined to the nth degree as a frogman.

The cowboy elements of his personality kept him sane. The SEAL qualities kept him on the fighting edge, aware of every nuance of change in his environment and the people around him.

In spite of Dani’s attempts at lightheartedness since he’d picked her up, he knew she was still dealing with the same demons he’d seen reflected in the deep cinnamon pools of her eyes this morning.

Unfortunately, merely knowing that was not enough information for him to do his job well. He planned to get a lot more facts out of her the second they were out of the girls’ earshot.

For one thing, he didn’t see Dani Baxter as the swoon-and-faint type. She seemed a lot more like a take-charge filly. Self-assured. Spunky. But something had definitely spooked her today.

By the time they reached the festival grounds, he was firmly back in his operational frogman mode, detached from emotion and ready for anything the night threw at him.

That lasted until they reached the gate, and she linked her arm with his, just as a muscle-bound king and voluptuous queen rushed toward them.

“The bride and I’m guessing the groom,” Dani murmured, and then let go of his arm to plunge into a bear hug with the queen.

They exchanged introductions all around. He liked Bethany Sue instantly. She had a naive, girlish quality about her that made her enthusiasm seem genuine.

The groom was still up for debate. His muscles knotted all the way up to his thick neck, but strength did not always equate with toughness. Marcus knew that well from his stint with the SEALs. Some of the bravest, hard-hitting frogmen he’d known were half Arnie’s size.

“I thought you said you weren’t bringing a date,” Bethany Sue said. “And then you show up with this hunky cowboy.”

“Change of plans at the last minute,” Dani replied, trying to brush off the interest. “And you said the more the merrier.”

“Absolutely. You look stunning, girlfriend. That gown is to die for.”

“I owe full credit to Celeste and Katie. They picked it out.”

“Ohmigod,” Bethany said, as if she’d just spied the girls. “You two look like confections in a candy shop. Love those shimmering skirts.”

“This is such a cool idea for a wedding,” Celeste said.

“Yeah,” Katie agreed. “Way better than just walking down a plain old church aisle.”

“The ceremony will be in a wedding chapel,” Bethany Sue said. “There are several of them right here on the grounds.”

“Wow. Perfect,” Katie said.

“This was all Arnie’s idea,” Bethany explained. “He has friends who travel the Renaissance circuit a few months out of every year. You’ll meet them later tonight. They operate a couple of concessions at the festival—one who sells antiquestyle jewelry and one who deals in knives and swords.”

Marcus listened to the rest of the conversation, hoping for verbal clues as to what had led to Dani’s hiring him for the evening. He probably came across as less than attentive, but he was absorbing a dozen things at once.

The chatter. The setup for tonight’s dinner and entertainment. The lighting. The location of security cameras. Pockets of darkness. Basically, he wanted a blueprint in his mind of any and everything that would affect his providing protection for Dani and the girls.

When Arnie and Bethany Sue moved on to a group of new arrivals, he maneuvered Dani and the girls toward a face-painting booth set up near the tables and chairs circling a portable dance floor.

“Did I hear someone in the backseat of the truck on the way over say they wanted body art to complete their costume?”

The girls jumped and squealed their agreement. Who knew teenage girls squealed so much?

Once they’d chosen their designs, Marcus tugged Dani aside. “I’d be able to do my job a lot better if I had some facts.”

The expression on her face changed to one of pure dread. He put a hand to her shoulder and then pulled it away too quickly. Just touching her had some kind of bewitching effect on him, and he needed his head clear for this.

Dani fingered the pendant. “What if I said I just called you because I wanted to see you again?”

“I’d be damned flattered and a sight more gullible than I am if I believed you.”

She nodded, a look of resolution finally settling in her haunted eyes. “Okay, and if you charge me double for wasting your time, I’ll fully understand.”

DANI HAD DELIBERATED all afternoon on exactly how much she should confess to Marcus. She’d told no one in her adult life that her grandmother was clairvoyant. The only person she still had any contact with who knew about her inherited curse was Bethany Sue, and she had been sworn to secrecy years ago.

Under no circumstances did she ever intend for her daughter to find out about her psychic gifts—which was why she couldn’t even consider telling Marcus the whole truth. If she breathed a word of her fears that this morning’s episode might possibly have been a psychic vision, it would let her paranormal skeletons out of the closet to rattle their bones around Celeste.

Plus, he’d dismiss her as a kook.

That left Dani only one realistic alternative. She pulled the note from her pocket, smoothed it with her fingertips and handed it to him.

“Someone at the festival gave me this. It’s probably nothing, but it frightened me when I read it. That’s when I decided to call you.”

He grimaced as he studied the note. “Did you see the person who delivered it?”

“Yes. It was a young teenage boy, but he was just the messenger. All he could tell me about the man who gave it to him was that he was wearing a blue polo shirt.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, but when I was shopping earlier today, I noticed a man in a blue knit shirt staring at me. Well, I didn’t exactly see him, but I saw his reflection in the mirror. When I turned to see if I knew him, he ducked out of sight. It might not have even been the same man, but I found the possibility a bit disturbing. Hence my call to you.”

“Do you have any idea who the dark knight refers to?”

“Not even a clue. The only people I know here besides you and the girls are Bethany Sue and Arnie, and I only just met him.” For that matter she‘d just met Marcus, as well.

“There are no shortage of knight wannabes milling around us tonight,” Marcus noted.

“It was probably from someone just getting into the spirit of the festival,” she said.

“Or hitting on you, though sending a note like this is an odd way to score points.”

“I’m thinking it could have been a case of mistaken identity. There is someone else at the festival today who looks a lot like me. The two of us practically collided when I was leaving the jousting arena.”

“Is this the first threat or warning of this nature you’ve received?”

“Absolutely.”

“And the first time you’ve noticed that man was this morning?”

“Yes. And that was before I fainted, so that can’t be why he was staring at me—if he was actually staring at me.”

“I know you said you’re not seriously involved with anyone, but what about your nonserious love life?”

“That’s pretty much a draw between Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman and George Clooney. As yet, they haven’t participated. ”

“No stalkers?”

“Not since college.”

“What about someone you may have dumped who didn’t take it well?”

“I haven’t been in any serious relationships since my ex.”

“And he’s totally out of your life now?”

“Except for a few guest appearances as Celeste’s father, and he avoids those unless it suits him.”

“Then you don’t know of anyone who’d have reason to harm you?”

“No.” Which made her hiring him sound all the more ridiculous. “I probably overreacted,” she admitted. “I should never have called you.”

He nudged his Stetson a little lower on his forehead and leveled his gaze at her. “What really happened this morning in that costume shop, Dani?”

A cold knot settled just below her breastbone. This was the exact path she didn’t want the conversation to take.

“I’ve been under a lot of stress at work.” Not a total lie. “I guess it took its toll.”

He looked skeptical. “I’m here on your dollar, Dani, so you can stick with any story you want. But you clearly had more going on than mental fatigue when the salesperson held that green dress in front of you.”

She looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about your need to level with me. You’re running scared. I think there’s more to that than someone handing you a note.”

She sucked in a huge gulp of the bracing fall air. It was as if the man could see right through her. Obviously, he couldn’t or he’d be running in the opposite direction.

A small band began to play in the background. People were starting to take their seats in anticipation of the predinner entertainment.

“You can trust me, Dani.”

Marcus’s words wrapped around her. She met his gaze again and sank into the depths of his eyes. It was tempting to take him at his word. So very tempting.

“You’ll think I’m nuts.”

“Try me.”

He stepped closer, reached over and took her hand in his. The warmth of his touch added a new layer of vulnerability to her senses.

She had to be very, very careful what she said at this point. “I had a nightmare about a month ago,” she admitted reluctantly. “It was incredibly vivid and disturbing, and I haven’t been able to totally shake it from my mind.”

“What happened in this nightmare?”

“A woman was murdered while wearing an Elizabethan ball gown very similar to the one I was looking at when I fainted.” She hesitated. Even to her the explanation sounded bizarre. She’d already said too much. “Believe me, I’m as baffled by this as you are, but apparently the whole thing just got to me.”

“Was the woman in the dream someone you knew?”

“Not really, except that…” Dani shuddered.

Marcus stepped closer and reached for her hand. “Go on.”

Her breath caught, and she did a hard intake of oxygen. “You know how nightmares are. I thought the woman might be me, but I didn’t actually see her face.”

He squeezed her hand. “No wonder seeing the dress and then getting the note made you nervous.”

“I still feel foolish for letting the situation get out of hand over a nightmare. I’m sorry for wasting your time tonight, and if you want to leave right now, I’ll not only understand but still pay the full amount I owe you.”

“And miss the party?” He flashed his devastating smile. “Besides, a deal’s a deal, and it’s not often I get to spend the evening in old England with a beautiful woman.”

Moonlight, music and the company of Marcus Abbot. If she could put the whole premonition of danger behind her, it just might be the best deal she’d struck in years.

THE REST OF THE EVENING passed without even a glimmer of trouble, unless you counted Marcus’s total infatuation with Dani Baxter a problem. She got to him on a number of levels, not the least of which was that he hadn’t totally bought her story of why she’d come to him for protection.

The more he talked to her the more he realized just how levelheaded she was. It was obvious she was a great mother, and she had a responsible job that she was apparently good at.

All said, it made it difficult to imagine that she’d let a nightmare cause the kind of reaction he’d witnessed this morning. It had been more than just passing out. She’d been two-stepping with terror—at least it had looked that way to him.

“You two should dance ,” Celeste encouraged.

“I have two left feet, big left feet,” he said, sticking out one of his booted feet to prove his point. “Stomp on dainty toes with these clodhoppers and it could break bones.”

Actually he wasn’t that bad of a dancer when they were playing a boot-scootin’ number, but the tune the band was dishing out now sounded like a cross between a minuet and a watered-down Hail to the Queen. Still, there were several couples on the floor including the bride and groom.