Page 6 of Seaside Cowboy's Fairy Tale

“No. I’m single, too.” Her answer sent his heart surging. But her next words made it drop onto the asphalt. “I’m not interested in romance whatsoever.”

He swallowed hard. “Me, either.” Until tonight.

His security team was rushing down the road by now, and Tex and Rachel were close to the building.

“Put me on the ground, please.” Did regret flash in her eyes?

No mistaking the stab of regret that surprised him as he complied. He wasn’t this touchy-feely. He was a practical man. Sometimes too much.

“Thank you for the jacket.” She handed him the tuxedo and marched into the warm building. Her head high, feet bare, and confidence displayed, she carried the show like she’d always meant to.

“You’re very welcome.”

Then a whirlwind of questions and answers accosted them as they entered the building. Thankfully, the diamond necklace had been insured, as he’d hoped, but he still wanted to find the culprit. Too much to be a coincidence—another guest had her heirloom ring stolen at his charity gala last year. Not surprising that guest hadn’t attended tonight.

Was someone targeting his events?

“Cinderella, would you be willing—” He turned where she’d been minutes ago and found her gone. Disappointment sliced through him. But he hadn’t made it to where he was now by giving up easily.

As much as everything in him wanted to rush to find her, he had to think about more pressing issues.

He squared his shoulders and slipped into business mode as he began damage control and gave orders to his employees while reassuring his guests. He approached the victim. His wonderful assistant, Jennifer, had already provided the woman, Vanya Patel, with a cream-colored blanket she was now wrapped in, hot tea that emanated a mint aroma, bottled water, and boxes of tissues, as well as verbal reassurance.

“Thanks, Jennifer. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“My pleasure. I’ll attend to the rest of the issues now.” Efficient and fast, Jennifer disappeared from the room.

He knelt before the theft victim. “Miss Vanya, my apologies for this happening. Please be assured that we’ll do everything in our power to have this resolved and your necklace returned.” He ground his teeth. After all, he’d created the opportunity for a thief to steal something so valuable, so how could he not feel somewhat responsible?

Vanya Patel wrapped her fingers around the golden-trimmed cup. “I’m still in shock. I don’t understand how this could’ve happened.” She was young, about nineteen, with freckles covering her face, neck, arms, and bare shoulders. Her copper-hued hair was swept up in an updo, but it was messy now as if she ran her fingers through it too many times. Her eyes were wide, and her pink lipstick was smeared.

“That’s understandable. I’m so sorry you have to go through this. Can I do anything to help you while we’re waiting for the police?” He leaned closer to her.

“My mom is going to kill me. It’s her necklace. She loved it.” The cup trembled in Vanya’s hands, so she put it down and pressed a tissue to her eyes. Then her shaking fingers moved to her bare neck as if hoping by some miracle the necklace had reappeared there.

Poor kid. Rumor was her parents were going through a public and painful divorce. “I’m sure she’ll understand. It’s not your fault. If you’d like me to, I can talk to your mother.”

“Would you? Please!”

After more reassurances and calming words until Vanya’s fingers stopped shaking, he left for the camera room.

A young blond security person rolled his chair back from the bank of computers. “I assume you want to see the camera footage for the exit in question? I’m sorry, I can’t bring it up, sir. I’ve only just come back to my post after a break, and it appears that the two cameras facing it stopped working half an hour ago.”

Tex cringed. “Hmm, how convenient.”

“Isn’t it, though?” The younger man rolled back to the desk, his face glowing an eerie blue in reflection of the monitors. “But at least there were eyewitnesses. The victim and whoever that was who gave chase tonight—that was so cool, by the way! I've played back the recordings trying to see if the perp can be seen. She’s on the tape, even if the thief isn't.”

Cool? “So the police will have to rely on the description of the perp.” Tex rubbed between his eyes. “While Vanya’s here, she seems shaken up, and”—he almost called her Cinderella—“the eyewitness who gave chase and seemed to have it together has now disappeared.”

He’d wanted to search for the mystery gal, and now he had an excuse for it besides his infatuation. Yet a promise was a promise, so he made a call to Vanya’s mother.

When he hung up, the security person swiveled his chair to face him, seeming genuinely concerned. “How’d that go?”

“Quite well, actually. The lady sounded more worried about her daughter’s well-being than the expensive necklace. She’ll be arriving soon to pick up her daughter. Please ensure security personnel stay with Miss Vanya until her mother arrives.”

“Of course, sir.” The uniformed man turned back to his screens. “I hear sirens, so the police are close—ah, yes, you can see a cruiser coming up the drive.” He pointed to a monitor where an officer soon entered the building.

Tex nodded. “Thanks. I’d better go update him.”

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