Page 10 of Smokescreen

Reid stood. “I know we still have a lot to discuss. Patrick, I’m going to have my foreman show you to the bunkhouse where you’ll be staying. While you get settled in, I’ll give Olive a personal tour of the ranch. I want both of your arrivals here to seem natural.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Olive rose.

She’d known before coming to this massive ranch that she needed to dress the part of someone Reid Harrison would date. She’d done her research and knew the type of woman Reid was usually attracted to.

Slender. Check. That was thanks to both her genes and her workout routine.

Polished. Also check. She normally left her brown curls wild and untamed. Sometimes she used a tool to make them soft and more romantic. Still other times she straightened most of her hair and only added a slight wave at the end. For this assignment, it would be straight.

Affluent. Another check. Tevin had made sure the backstory about her family’s very profitable vineyard lined up.

“Very well then.” Reid glanced back at Trick again. “I’m going to introduce you to Cooper Domenech, my foreman. Olive, if you’ll give us a minute.”

“Of course.”

As Reid and Trick left the room, Olive began wandering the office, soaking in as much information about Reid Harrison as she could. She’d already done research online about the man. However, seeing someone in person and going inside their home always peeled back another layer.

The man had an impressive library. Olive had expected mostly business books. Instead, his shelves boasted a number of classics and even a well-worn Bible.

After she perused the books, she paused beside some shelves displaying not only trophies of his champion horses but pictures as well. One of the photos showed Reid with his mom and dad, Carl and Loretta Harrison.

Loretta had died fifteen years ago in a horse accident, and Carl passed away of a heart attack only three years ago.

Reid had no brothers or sisters other than a stepsister from his father’s second marriage, which had only lasted five years before they had divorced.

“See anything you like?”

Olive turned at the deep voice. Reid leaned in the doorway with an almost cocky look on his face. He’d been watching her, hadn’t he?

“That was fast,” she said.

“My foreman was waiting outside just like I asked.”

Olive would guess Reid’s employees knew to be punctual and to do exactly what he said or else. It wasn’t that he seemed cruel. But he definitely seemed like someone who couldn’t be walked on.

“C. S. Lewis has always been a favorite of mine,” she told him.

Creating a bond between them would work in their favor—and finding things they shared in common would help make their relationship seem more believable.

He tilted his head to the side, part of his lip curled in a smile. “Is that real, or is this a part of your persona?”

A grin flickered across her lips. “It’s definitely real. Lewis is one of my favorites.Till We Have Facesis a masterpiece.”

Surprise fluttered through Reid’s gaze as he joined her by the bookcase. “I agree.”

As he got closer, Olive caught a whiff of his woodsy cologne. It was very nice—and very expensive.

The familiar scent made her mind flash back to Jason Stewart. He wore a similar-smelling cologne that she’d found tantalizing.

She’d never expected to run into her first and only love during her last assignment three months ago. But she had. Their time together had been sweet . . . or maybe bittersweet was the better word—especially since she’d had to leave Chicago soon after.

In her line of work, it was difficult to have any type of relationship other than that with her coworkers. She’d long ago extinguished the hope of seriously dating or settling down. Once she’d shelved that idea, she’d taken the key to that mental library and thrown it into the abyss.

It was the single life for her. It was best that way.

She also knew that thirty-six-year-old Reid Harrison was the type who’d had a lot of girlfriends. A lot ofvery beautifulgirlfriends. Yet he’d remained single.

Olive found his relationship status interesting. The fact he’d never married didn’t fit her profile of him.

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