Page 24 of Cursed
She gave him a little nod. “I guess not.”
He used the opportunity to change the subject. “You already know two men followed you from town. You think someone at the gas station may have sabotaged your car.”
“Yes.”
He spread his hands. “Focus on them—not her.”
“I guess I have to. But appearances can be deceiving. I met some other people, too. Like the head of the Chamber of Commerce, Dwight Rivers. And probably Sadie Delay. You did a good job of filling me in on the players. They seemed nice, but they didn’t know I was coming out to Belle Vista.”
“You’re right, of course.” Thinking that he shouldn’t have wedged the two of them into this small room, he pushed back his chair and stood up. “We should take a look at the library and my book collection.”
“Why?”
“So, if anyone comes by, it will look like you’re doing the job you told them you were hired to do.”
“Is it likely that someone is going to check up on me?”
He managed a small shrug. “You never know which busybody from town is going to drop by—at least in broad daylight. And there’s your car. I arranged to have it pulled out ofthe ditch and towed into town. Someone will bring it back here when it’s finished.”
She made a rather unladylike exclamation.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quickly.
“I forgot all about getting the car towed. Thank you for taking care of that.”
“You’ve had a lot on your mind since you got here.”
She studied his face. “Don’t tell me the car is being towed to the same gas station where I stopped?”
“That’s the only alternative. I talked to the rental company, and they asked me to pay the bill—then get reimbursed from them.”
“I’ll do that,” she said quickly. “But I hate trusting that guy Bubba to fix the brakes.”
“I’ll check out everything when it comes back.”
“You can fix a car?”
“Yes. Out here, you have to be self-sufficient. I would have done the repair work myself. But that would have meant dealing with the gas station for parts. And I’m trying to have as little to do with the town as possible—until the situation is resolved.”
“I understand,” she answered.
Of course, there was no way she could really understand the whole picture yet. That would have to wait. Or maybe his plans were only a pipe dream. Before she’d arrived, he’d convinced himself that everything was going to work out the way he wanted. Now he was feeling as if the ground was slipping out from under his feet.
“Come see the library,” he said, then strode out of the room.
This was the most unsettling job she’d ever accepted, Morgan thought. She’d come here on assignment for a guy who turned out to be a hunk. But that was no reason to start having erotic dreams about him as soon as they met.
She followed her host down the hall, staring at his broad shoulders, his narrow hips. In truth, she didn’t want to be alone with him any longer. She wanted to escape into town. But that was impossible, with her car out of commission. Besides, she had come here to solve a major problem for him, and that meant she couldn’t avoid listening to anything he wanted to tell her about the case.
Because her mind was focused inward, she almost bumped into him as he stopped to open a pair of pocket boards.
When she made a small sound, he turned. “Are you all right?”
“Yes!” she snapped, then modified her tone and added, “I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep too well.”
“I’m sorry that you had a disturbing night,” he answered as he stepped into the room beyond the doors.
Before she could stop herself, she shot him a question. “What about your night? How was it?”
