Page 6 of The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

Boss lady.Ifthat were true, she would not be in this ridiculous position. She sat behind the wheel of her new conveyance, a sleek red Mercedes convertible. But she had kept the top up. Only an idiot would run around on a Texas ranch on what gave all indications of being a scorcher of a day ahead in a ritzy little car with the top down. The AC was already running in the early morning and still she felt stifled. But then only she knew that it wasn’t just the heat of the day making discomfort. It was the fact that she was now masquerading not as the sassy saloon keeper but as a refined Southern magnolia-type from a blueblood racing family in the South. She knew she could pull that off. It was stock and trade to take on any number of masks.

But to add the fact that she was taking on a fiancée role to the insufferable rancher Cole Connors…well that was stretching it even for her. Although on one hand, it might prove amusing to pull his chain now and then in his own home. Perhaps aperkof the job? Well, whatever would get her closer to nailing the man who was responsible for so much crime and deaths along the border…and in particular to the real fiancé she had only been engaged to for one week before he lost his life in a drug bust attempting to capture the man behind all of this mess. That determination was still there and would make her shovel manure into a pit of rattlers to achieve that result. Yes, Cole Connors was about to get quite a surprise. Sliding the straps of her leather handbag over her shoulder, she exited the vehicle. A smile on her face…not too warm, not too aloof…just professional. She punched the doorbell and waited.

*

The nightmare wasabout to become reality.Cole had not slept much in the last forty-eight hours. Not since Madeleine’s phone call about Emmie, and certainly less after the man appeared on his doorstep with badge and news that struck fear in his heart for his daughter and anger at the woman bringing such a menace to his doorstep and all on his ranch. But whatever it took to put Madeleine and her threats out of their lives for good, and to keep his daughter safe, he would do what was needed. And that included agreeing to a charade of such magnitude that surely something would go wrong. And he knew he would breathe easier knowing that the chime of the doorbell heralded the beginning of the unknown and an agent would be on hand…to ensure that harm would not come close to Emmie. This person was their best for this operation, and he needed to trust her. Her file had certainly been impressive. But all he really cared about was that it was her job to protect. He knew what he and his wranglers were capable of and they would secure the ranch. But the unknown was what could go wrong. He stepped up and opened the door. Then he stopped. There was something about the woman on his doorstep…he couldn’t put his finger on it. And he didn’t have time to dwell on it as she spoke first.

“Cat got your tongue, cowboy? I assume that you emptied your house of any staff so that we can speak freely?”

What was it about this woman’s demeanor? Had they met before?

She held up a black leather ID case and a gold badge rested on one side and her photo ID on the other. Jessie Russell. The name did not ring a bell.

“In the interest of time, let me paint you a picture to help you get your brain in gear. Imagine me with big blue eyes, platinum curls, and tight jeans. Wouldn’t I give a big fat dollar to know what you are thinking right now. But perhaps you should sit down before you fall down.” She stepped around him and then shut the door behind her.

Light was dawning in a flash. And the woman before him was transposed in his memory of one with the name of Delilah and he felt speechless for the first time in a very long time. “The saloon. That’s you? And now you are here as someone totally different.”

“You catch on quick. The details of the case I was originally here to work…as the saloon keeper…has apparently morphed into another chapter and I am required here. I believe you were read into the plan? Trust me…it is vital to all concerned that you learn your part and don’t deviate from it…for any reason. And no one else is to know anything of my real identity or what brings me here other than an adoring fiancé who I apparently can’t be parted from. You flub up on our backstory and we all could be in jeopardy.”

“Jeopardy. You say that casually enough. But this involves my daughter. She is the only reason I agreed to go along with any of this masquerade.”

“And that is the only reason I am here…as I am certain my boss spoke with you about. I’ve had experience dealing with children before in situations such as this. And I can assure you that I will do all possible to safeguard her should there be a real threat. Plus, I do have more than a fair share of knowledge about one or two of the players regarding this Desmonde person.”

“You sound as though you might have some form of doubt about this whole situation?”

“Make no mistake.” She met his steady gaze. “I have spent three years of my life tracking the elusive ghost who bankrolls the head of the Robles cartel’s main trafficking activities along the border. If my chief believes that the intel is so credible as to pull me from the time invested already here in Red Cliffs, then I trust that this is where I need to be. Have you been contacted again by your ex-wife regarding their arrival?”

“Madeleine has never been much on sharing helpful information. She chooses to be secretive and spring her decisions on people just to keep them off-kilter. So, no, she has not deemed it necessary to share with me where her plans stand right now. She could just as easily drop on the doorstep in the next five minutes as five days from now.”

The shrill of the house phone came as if on cue, breaking the conversation. “I have to pick that up. I’m expecting a call from the vet. Excuse me.” He headed toward an open doorway which she could guess by the cluttered desk visible inside that was his domain of an office. She moved deeper into the living room and allowed her gaze to take in its furnishings. The deep leather couches and chairs were grouped around the large stone fireplace centered on the far wall. Landscapes and bronzes of horses adorned the shelves and walls. Her eyes were drawn to the photographs grouped on a long sofa table. Most centered around a child. The infant held in the crook of Cole Connors’s arm and then others across the years with animals from puppies to horses, awards and ribbons in hand and always the smile of a happy child.

“Sorry about that. Where were we?” Her host strode into the room and took her attention back to the matter at hand.

Cassie decided to gain more insight into the incongruous attraction of a cowboy for a European jetsetter and vice versa. “How did you two meet?”

Cole gave her a considering look before bringing forth the response she waited on. “I think you worded that with more diplomacy than it began with in your brain.” That got her attention. “You are really wanting to know what a world-wise lady from Paris would find of interest in just an egotistical rancher from the wilds of Texas.”

She didn’t drop his gaze. But did rearrange a quick side trip in her brain to forget the brilliant silver gray of eyes that any female would covet…except for her. He had a job. Nothing more. A means to an end that hopefully would be worth the last three years of her life. And become the final chapter in her search for the person responsible for the ending of her fiancé’s career…and his life.

“Any and all information regarding your ex-wife might be the nugget we need to break the case open and get both her…and me…out of your life. Consider it in that light.”

“I won’t pretend that I am buying into all of this cloak and dagger and secret agent stuff involving Madeleine. But if my daughter is in danger, because of her and this new fiancé of hers, then I will do whatever it takes to protect her. And as I said to your chief Handlin, I can make this place a fortress if need be. My hands are armed as a rule because of the land they work in, but they are also loyal and not afraid of a good fight. In the meantime, I will go along with this cover he has devised until I can’t. He agreed.”

“He shared your discussions with me. And your concerns. But after this discussion between us, then we are on. Keep your mind in the game or it can go bad fast. And you follow my lead. I haven’t invested years in this to have anyone…including you…toss a wrench into the works with a misplaced word or look or whatever. Is this crystal clear?”

Had she said something amusing? The corner of his mouth twitched in that tell-tale laughing manner she recognized from their brief encounters. “Crystal. You keep my daughter safe, and you’ll have my cooperation.”

*

Cooperation.He mighthave said it, but odds of it lasting didn’t have much chance in his way of thinking. Who was this woman? She showed up as a sexy saloon keeper with a sassy attitude and a heck of a right hook. Then she knocks on his door, flashes a badge, looks totally different and ready to take no prisoners…including him if he reads between the lines. All he knew was that his life had just been turned upside down in the last forty-eight hours beginning with Madeleine’s call and now having strangers directing his life for the foreseeable future. But if it meant that once and for all his ex would be removed from his life and that of Emmie’s, then he would go along for his child’s sake. Whatever the trouble was that Madeleine was bringing along with her on this trip would be sent packing along with her as fast as possible.

He remembered his uncle’s words again to him the day he had first brought his intended fiancée home to the ranch for the first time. “That one will lead you a hell of a dance boy, if you aren’t careful. You best be sure she’s the one to stick it out for the next sixty or so years here. Unless you plan to get used to speaking French and trading the Rio Grande for that river in Paris…and I don’t mean Paris, Texas, either.”

And he remembered the silent look the older man had given him the day he came out of the courthouse with a fresh divorce decree in his pocket and a five-years-old daughter in his arms. Madeleine wanted nothing to do with the dirt of west Texas, and even less of him. She tried to take him for a lot more. She got a small fortune, but he got more…full custody of his daughter.

Emmeline Marie had become Emmie and the three of them…Emmie, his uncle, and he had become a family, and life had fallen into place. Sure, Madeleine had managed to make the first two visits with her daughter that Cole had been agreeable to, but then she had stood her daughter up for the next two. Once in a great while a package might arrive from France or some other exotic locale usually with a fancy outfit that Emmie would hang in her closet and never wear. She loved her jeans and T-shirts in favor of designer labels. Cole was grateful for that. But as she got older, he knew that she might need some help with hairdos and makeup and other things that he would be at a loss over. That time was coming much too fast in his mind.

One day at a time. Uncle Joe was retired and living in a cabin on a bit of land on the banks of Destiny’s River in the next county. He still came over every other Sunday and holidays for dinner and to visit with ‘lil missy’ as he had named Emmie from the beginning. They had become fast pals, and he delighted in teaching the child about fishing…after gifting her with her own fishing pole that first Christmas. Cole shook his head at the memory. Madeleine would have a coronary if she had known that her daughter would prefer to get muddy and smell of fish rather than dine in a fine restaurant on their fish eggs.

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