Her Unforgettable Fiance. Allison Leigh

let them know that he’d backed out of the case once he made it back to Grandview.

      If there was a flight back to Texas soon, that meant she had only a few hours before the news hit and the shock waves spread this far east. Unless Brett used that handy, dandy cell phone he carried and lessened the time even more.

      Her stomach churned just thinking about it.

      She’d desperately wanted—needed—to do something active. Something productive in helping to find her mother, even if it meant having to deal with Brett.

      So what was she doing sitting there, totally inactive, feeling sorry for herself?

      There was nothing preventing her from going to the airport after Brett. If she was careful, if she kept her big mouth shut, she could salvage this.

      She straightened and strode out to the curb just as a cab pulled up. Perfect. A good sign.

      The back door opened and a man climbed out.

      A tall man. Broad-shouldered. With hair as dark as teakwood and eyes as dark as chocolate.

      Her mouth parted. She was so glad to see him, she nearly threw herself into his arms. She actually took several steps toward him, curtailing the impulse just in time. She stared at him, a tangle of emotions nearly choking her. “I’m glad you came back.”

      He looked none too happy about it. He handed over his luggage to the doorman with a quiet word, then took Kate’s arm in his. “We’re going to get some things straight.” He drew her, unresistingly, across the street toward the park. They walked a long while, as if he didn’t trust himself to speak just yet. And she, she didn’t know what to say. Eventually he found an empty bench and nudged her toward it.

      “I’ve never walked away from a case yet, Kate.” His shadowed jaw was tight. “And I’m not gonna walk on this one. But I swear, if we have to go through this kind of crap every day, I’ll stuff a gag in your mouth and cuff you to the bedrail. Understand?”

      She flushed. He was still so coldly angry that she could well imagine him carrying out the threat. “I’m sorry. I’ve said I’m sorry! You just…I, we…”

      “Make each other crazy,” he muttered.

      She chewed the inside of her lip. “I didn’t expect to have to share a room with you, Brett. It…threw me. I’m not proud of it.”

      Brett frowned. Kate had always been generous with her temper in the past, and equally generous with her apologies. “I think you were right,” he said. “That we need to forget what we know about each other and concentrate on the task at hand.”

      “Well, obviously I was so successful at that. Thirty-five minutes, I believe you said.”

      “Thirty-three,” he corrected.

      “An even more impressive failure.” She smoothed her hand over the stone bench beside her. “Brett? Do you really think she doesn’t want to be found?”

      The hard knot of anger inside him eased some at her diffident question. “Only Madelyn knows that, Katy.”

      He heard her sigh, then she stood, managing to look impossibly young and fragile for someone he knew had already hit the thirty-mark. He shifted his gaze, watching a pair of joggers passing by instead.

      “Is it necessary to hide my name?”

      “I’ve seen some weird things in my business. Someone overhears someone talking and the next thing you know, half the city is privy to a secret that only two people were supposed to know. From what I’ve learned, the art world is a small one. Word travels. I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

      “So you decided I should go by your name instead of my own.”

      “You’re the one who insisted on coming here. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t need a cover in the first place. But since we do, it’ll be a simple one. Newlyweds, looking for a new LeClaire piece to add to our collection.”

      “Newlyweds,” she repeated faintly. “How…ironic.”

      “It’s simple,” he said again. He didn’t want to think about ironies. He didn’t want to think anything about the fact that they should have been newlyweds—for real—many, many years ago.

      She worried her lip between her teeth for a moment. Then swallowed and spoke. “Why did you agree to take on this case, Brett?”