“What do you know about Stephen Rialto?” Rafe asked softly.
“More than I want to know.” She knew he saw the small shudder she couldn’t control. “He’s lower than a snake and far more deadly. I intend to help you see that justice is served.”
Rafe studied her in silence. The sweeping glance of his eyes was disturbing, making her uncomfortably aware of herself in a whole new way. Until this moment, her lack of attractiveness had never bothered her one whit. She’d take brains over useless beauty any day.
Rafe, on the other hand, was gorgeous—in a purely masculine way. He was cocky with the self-assurance that came from being handsome and confident in who he was. When she’d decided to use him, Kendra had made a complete study of the man. He loosed his lethal charm on any unsuspecting woman that came within range—an ingrained habit on his part no doubt.
But she was supposed to be immune.
“Let me guess,” he said quietly. “You used to work for Rialto.”
“Hardly.”
“A jilted lover?”
“Of course not!” She shuddered at the very thought of letting Stephen Rialto touch her for any reason at all. Stephen Rialto had climbed over the bodies of the people he’d killed to become Tomaso Calderone’s number one henchman here in Texas. Kendra squared her shoulders. “I’m not going to stand here and spar with you. My motives don’t come into this. All you need to know is that I’m going to help you destroy him.”
The moon darted behind another cloud. Rafe didn’t so much as twitch at her words. He watched her in unnerving silence while the dampness of the grass they had rolled in soaked its way through her jeans to chill her skin uncomfortably. She had to remind herself that she’d left behind the safety of her computers for one reason and one reason only. Rafael Alvarez was going to help her achieve her goal—whether he wanted to or not.
“I think,” he said softly, “this conversation requires a different setting. Would you like to ride back to the Smoking Barrel Ranch with me?”
She released the breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding.
“I hadn’t planned…”
“Hadn’t planned what?”
She pushed back her uncertainties. “On meeting you tonight.”
“But you did plan to meet me, huh, darlin’?”
“Not the way you mean.”
“Really.”
He ruffled her anger all over again with the simple arrogant inflection of the word.
“Yes, really.”
“Then what were you doing out here at this hour?”
“I was enjoying a quiet ride.”
“At four o’clock in the morning?”
“Yes!”
“On posted land.”
“I wasn’t here to steal any of your precious cattle.”
“Perhaps not, but you do realize you could easily have run into whoever is.”
“It never occurred to me that anyone would have the temerity to steal from the Smoking Barrel.”
“No? Your computer didn’t give you that little fact?”
He was trying to provoke her again. “Has anyone ever told you that you can be real annoying?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, Penny tells me that on a regular basis.”
“Penny Archer?” She was Mitchell Forbes’s indispensable right hand.
“Do you know her?”
“We’ve never met. I know of her.”
Rafe’s jaw clenched, but he inclined his head. “You do have a lot of knowledge.”
“I told you, I know all about the setup here.”
“So you did. Then you must know that you and Penny have a lot in common. She has a sharp tongue, too. I think you should come with me and meet her for yourself.”
Kendra hesitated. What would he do if she refused? Would he force her? A shiver of something that might have been anticipation but was probably fear, worked its way down her spine. She shrugged off the sensation. After all, she hadn’t come out here to play word games with him. She’d planned to reconnoiter the area before approaching the ranch later this morning.
“I’m tempted, but thanks to you, my horse took off.”
“No thanks necessary,” he said wryly. “Fortunately, my horse is better trained. He won’t mind if we ride double.”
“Maybe he won’t, but I will.” Get on top of that big horse he’d been riding—with him? No way.
“It’s a long walk.”
“So go catch my horse for me.” She saw the flash of his teeth as he smiled and she tried not to clench her jaw. She’d spent so much of her life talking to computers, she was finding it more difficult than she’d expected to deal with a man like Rafe face-to-face.
Rafe whistled, startling her. His horse lifted its head, whuffed and trotted over obediently. Kendra was impressed despite herself.
“How’d you train him to do that?”
“Charm,” Rafe replied. “You ought to try it sometime.”
She refused to let him see how that stung. “Charm only works on susceptible females.”
“Nope, he’s a gelding.”
“Very funny.”
Rafe took up the dangling reins and swung himself into the saddle with grace and an economy of movement she had to admire. He was incredibly sensual without even trying.
“I’m not riding double with you,” she said defensively.
“I believe I mentioned the long walk.”
“Settled Sue can’t have gone far.”
“Settled Sue? You rented one of Chet’s broken-down ponies? She’ll be halfway to Ash Pond by now.”
So he recognized his neighbor’s horse, which meant he must realize Kendra was staying at Chet Thilgarde’s dude ranch several miles away. Kendra watched as he reached for his saddlebag and withdrew a cell phone, quickly punching in a series of numbers. The call must have been answered immediately because he began speaking almost at once. “Hey, beautiful, what are you doing awake at this hour? Oh. Sorry. Does that mean you’re still in bed? Want to describe what you’re wearing? Something black and sheer, I hope.”
His rumbled chuckle resonated right through Kendra along with a stab of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy.
“Ah, Penny.” Rafe lowered his voice. “And here all this time I never thought of flannel as particularly erotic.”
Kendra realized that while he was speaking to Penny, he was actually watching Kendra from beneath long sooty eyelashes a woman would kill to possess. She tried to keep her face impassive, but it was more difficult than it should have been.
“You wound me, darlin’, but I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone that conversation for another time. I called to give you a heads up. I’m on my way in with company. Nope. I’m afraid Ms. Kendra Kincade assures me she isn’t a rustler, but she does pack a rather wicked six-inch knife.”
He flashed Kendra a grin and listened some more.
“Hey, what can I tell you? A man like me simply isn’t safe guarding the range anymore. Apparently we’ve got women hiding behind every shrub out here. Next time I pull guard duty you’ll have