Colin led the way through the open door at the end of the hall. “Here’s my room, and I wasn’t expecting company.”
When she stepped inside, her attention was caught by the panoramic view through large windows and glass doors that opened onto a deck. Snow fell in big, tumbling flakes and the countryside looked like a Christmas-card scene. She glanced around the room at the king-sized bed with rumpled covers, jeans tossed on a chair, a shirt draped on a television set. Fishing poles were in a corner and boots kicked off on the floor in the middle of the room.
The bedroom had the same pine paneling and the same navy-and-maroon decor as the rest of the house. A potted plant in the corner had one of his ties draped over it.
“I’m not compulsively neat,” he said, flashing a grin. Katherine’s heart missed a beat because the smile gave him a come-hither appeal. Creases lined his tanned cheeks and his teeth were white against his dark skin, the grin softening the harshness of his features. And she was surprised at herself and her reaction to his smile. Until this moment, she would have bet all the money in her purse that she would not find any male appealing for a long time.
“I’m glad to be in out of the storm. I don’t mind the clutter,” she replied, turning away from him.
“This is it, my small castle. Let’s get Mom’s chili on the stove. Do you eat chili?” Colin asked, aware she was still clutching her purse tightly, pressing it against her side beneath her arm. He remembered a skittish colt that he had purchased. The animal was terrified of anyone coming within yards of him and Colin suspected the former owner had beaten the animal badly. It had taken a long time to calm the colt and to finally turn him into a riding horse.
“Yes. It smelled wonderful at your mother’s.”
In minutes they had both washed up and Katherine moved around the kitchen, tearing greens into a bowl for salad while Colin reheated Nadine’s chili. Katherine worked silently, and Colin noticed she was never too far from her purse. Once when her back was turned, he picked it up, feeling the heft of it and deciding she was packing a pistol.
Colin’s gaze shifted back to Katherine, and he wondered about the hair pulled up and pinned close to her head, wisps escaping the pins to wave slightly over her ears and her slender neck. Diamond stud earrings were in her ears, but she wore no other jewelry. Since they arrived at his house she seemed tense, and he suspected if he made a sudden noise, she would jump a foot into the air.
They sat down to eat over steaming bowls of chili, hot corn tortillas and bowls of green salad. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
He wondered again if she was a showgirl, yet she was a long way from Vegas or Reno. Someone with money was involved, for three men to be after her.
Colin glanced at the darkened windows, feeling safe with the storm raging outside. Where were the men now who were after her today? In a Stillwater motel? In this storm they couldn’t scour the countryside, so they had to be holed up somewhere.
Colin stretched out his arm and picked up the television remote control. “We might as well have the television on in the background.”
“Do you mind if we don’t?” she asked hastily, her eyes wide and fear plain in their green depths. His gaze locked with hers while the air seemed to crackle with tension between them. A log fell in the fire, yet all of Colin’s attention focused on the woman facing him. Her lashes fluttered and she turned away abruptly.
Studying her, he placed the remote control on the table with deliberation. “You don’t want to go to the cops. You don’t want the television on. Maybe it’s time you tell me a little about the trouble you’re in.”
Three
Katherine’s heart lurched. She had expected him to quiz her more when she first climbed into the pickup with him. But gradually, as the hours passed, she had stopped worrying. Sitting attentive and still, he was waiting for her answer. Awareness that he was a lawman made her blood run cold. As far as she knew, Sloan had not gone to the police to get her back, but that could change at any time.
Stalling for a moment while she decided how to answer, she sipped ice water and wiped the corners of her mouth with her fingers, staring down at her plate. “I’m divorced now, but I had an abusive husband.”
“If you’re divorced, why do you still fear him?”
Lies swirled in her mind, stories that might satisfy Colin, but one look into his alert brown eyes and she decided to tell him the truth. “I’m pregnant and my ex-husband wants me back.”
“He wants his baby?”
“It’s my baby,” Katherine replied fiercely, and then realized how she had snapped her answer at him. “I’ll be gone tomorrow, so why don’t we just leave it at that,” she suggested, holding her breath and praying he would stop questioning her.
“Look, you had three pros chasing you,” Colin replied with an obvious note of impatience in his tone. “That’s big muscle with money and power behind it. I’ve given you shelter and run a risk. I’d like to know just how big a risk I’m taking here. I’m not going to run and call your ex-husband, but I want to know what I’m up against as long as I have you under my roof.”
“It shouldn’t matter. I’ll be gone as soon as the snow stops, and they can’t get to us until it stops.”
“Katherine, I can imagine all sorts of scenarios. If you know about someone’s million-dollar fraud, if you know where a body is hidden—lots of reasons that even after you are gone, those guys might come after me. They might want to know what you told me.”
“Oh, no! Oh, it’s not anything like that. I have an abusive husband who wants me back badly.” She could see the doubt cloud his eyes, and once again she debated what to say. Watching orange flames curl around logs, she bit her lower lip. “My name didn’t mean anything to you, did it?”
“Katherine Manchester.” He shook his head. “No. Should it?”
“My ex-husband is Sloan Manchester,” she answered cautiously.
The name struck a chord, and Colin tried to remember where he had heard it. “That sounds familiar,” he said and memory stirred. Manchester Oil. “Louisiana. He’s a political candidate. Oil and big business.”
“That’s right,” Katherine said with resignation. “His father is Tyson Manchester of Manchester Oil. There are politicians who want Sloan to run for governor of Louisiana.”
“I wouldn’t think a man running for governor could risk having his ex-wife stalked, much less gamble on taking you back against your will. There’s a law against that.”
“He expects them to get me and take me back without anyone knowing.”
“Go to the press. Let me take you to the police.”
“No!” She pushed back the chair, her eyes going wide and color draining from her face as she stood.
Katherine seemed ready to bolt in spite of the storm. Colin stood and reached out to take her shoulders. She flinched and jumped away from him, her hands going up to shield herself.
“Hey, hey!” he said in a gentle voice, holding up his hands. “Calm down, Katherine. I swear I won’t hurt you.”
She backed away from him, biting her lower lip, and he wondered what kind of monster Sloan Manchester must be.
“Sit down and we’ll talk. Just relax. I won’t call the police if you don’t want me to,” he said, keeping his voice low, trying to bank his anger.
Her ex-husband was running for governor while Katherine was sitting in Colin’s kitchen, six months pregnant with the man’s baby. He was sheltering a woman on the run from one of the most powerful men in the country. Colin wondered what he had gotten himself into.