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  Then she stepped back and held out her wrist.

  “You put it on for me,” she said. Colin did so. When he finished, his smoky gaze met hers and her pulse began to drum wildly. His arms wrapped around her and dinner was postponed for another hour.

  Later that night while they were in each other’s arms in the bedroom, Colin asked, “What about your house?”

  “I’ll sell it. It’ll be easy. That area in Stallion Pass is in high demand so I’ll get my money back out of it and Boone can handle it for me.”

  “Maybe I should buy it,” Colin said lightly and she twisted around to look at him. A light was on in the bathroom and spilled slightly into the bedroom, giving enough light that she could see Colin.

  “You’re serious?”

  “Mike has asked me to go into business with him. My friends live here—I might settle here. This isn’t far from my folks and, actually, I can afford to move them here if they’d like to move.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, I won’t put my house on the market until you’ve made a decision.”

  “So I come first in one aspect of your life.”

  “You come first in more than one,” she said and turned to kiss him. Their conversation was over.

  Outside on a hill in the woods, still on the Double T property, a man stood in the darkness and gazed through binoculars at the guest house. Colonel Garrick thought he and his girlfriend were so secure, but they weren’t. He knew their every move.

  The Devlin woman had fired at him. For that, she would pay. Kill them both and make it look like a crime of passion.

  How easy it would be to have the ex-warrior appear to be overwhelmed by emotion, losing in love the second time. An unstable man on the mend who still couldn’t remember his past completely.

  She was leaving Texas for New York. How easy to make it appear that Colonel Garrick had gone to pieces over telling her goodbye, killing her and then himself.

  The man touched the pistol he carried. He could commit the crime and get away and none of those fools who were following the colonel could catch him or even know about him.

  With both of them dead—If the killing was done right, the military, the police and the public would accept a crime of passion. His friends wouldn’t accept it, but there wasn’t going to be any way they could prove differently. The man shifted weight as he swung around to view Boone’s house.

  He had to be patient, wait for the right moment to catch both of them.

  The man smiled in the darkness. Soon, he would be rid of Colonel Garrick, the man with the nine lives.

  Colin Garrick had used up all but the last.

  Chapter 13

  T he next day after Isabella had left for work, Colin called Boone to tell him that he was thinking about buying Isabella’s house. When he replaced the receiver, Colin sat in the quiet house, his thoughts on Isabella.

  Next week she would fly to New York to accept the job. He wanted her to take it and to fulfill her dreams, yet at the same time, the thought of telling her goodbye hurt.

  He wasn’t ready to commit to a woman on a permanent basis. He shook his head at that one. This was one woman who definitely wasn’t ready for a permanent commitment. No starry-eyed dreams of marriage here with Isabella!

  But it hurt to think of telling her goodbye. And he knew it would be goodbye. Their lives would take divergent paths. If he lived and worked in Texas and she lived in New York and traveled, they would see less and less of each other and then they wouldn’t see each other at all.

  He thought he could accept that better than he was. It hurt constantly to think of losing her.

  “Dammit,” he swore under his breath. He knew he wasn’t ready for commitment and she didn’t want any, but he hurt badly. He had found joy and excitement in her.

  He realized she had made him whole again. He was over Danielle, back into the mainstream of life, wanting to have friends and family around, wanting Isabella.

  He passed a mirror and stopped to face himself, not thinking about his image, but about Isabella. “Don’t you interfere with her happiness,” he told himself sternly. He didn’t want to do that, but he didn’t want to lose her. He might as well book a flight to New York now because the first week she was gone, he knew he’d want to see her.

  He suspected she wasn’t suffering any such pangs and he hoped his faded within days. He wasn’t in love—or at least he hoped to hell he wasn’t—and he didn’t want to be.

  All through the day at work, Isabella’s thoughts kept drifting to Colin. She began to make plans about the move, knowing she was going to accept the New York job, yet she constantly found she was doing nothing except gazing into space, thinking about Colin and hurting at the thought of telling him goodbye.

  In spite of what they had told each other about continuing to get together, she suspected when she moved to New York, it would be farewell. Colin might sink roots in Stallion Pass, going to work with Mike and buying her house, but she didn’t think he would fly back and forth often to see her and she saw no real future for them. He’d said that for a long time he wasn’t going to love a woman deeply enough again to be serious, and she didn’t have time for love in her plans. So why did she hurt so badly? she asked herself. And reassured herself that it was temporary and would go away. She had never wanted commitment to a man or marriage to interfere with her career.

  It was six days until she flew to New York. And if she took the job, she would probably start right away. Boone could handle things here for her. It would be easy to sell her house and to get rid of her studio because both were in areas that were in demand.

  With each passing day, her feelings seesawed back and forth. She told herself that there was nothing serious between Colin and her and once she was in New York, she wouldn’t hurt the way she was now over the thought of telling him goodbye.

  And he had made no overtures to her for anything continuing into the future except their reassurances that they would keep in touch and still see each other. But those were vague and indefinite promises. She thought neither one of them expected their romance to continue once she left Texas.

  The remaining days passed swiftly until it was the day she was to leave for New York.

  The first faint rays of daylight spilled into the bedroom while outside a mockingbird chirped loudly, heralding the new morning. The world around the ranch house was still and peaceful, but Colin knew it was an illusion.

  Somewhere outside a killer lurked and as long as he was free, Colin knew he was in danger and so was Isabella.

  For that reason Colin was glad she was getting out of Texas. He would miss her, but he would feel better about putting her on the plane.

  In the quiet of his bedroom, in the big king-size bed, Colin held Isabella in his arms while she slept. This was the morning he would kiss her goodbye. At nine o’clock, her flight to New York City was scheduled to leave. For the past week she had been as excited as a child, and Colin thought the separation might be best for both of them. He hadn’t planned to go from one engagement to falling for someone else again so soon.

  Making her more appealing than ever, she had been bubbling with anticipation last night. He stroked tendrils of silky brown hair from her face and kissed her lightly. A pang contracted his heart. He was going to miss her terribly, but this was what she wanted and he was happy for her. Why was it so damned hard to let her go?

  He hoped he had hidden his feelings from her well enough because she was so ecstatic about the job. He wanted to share in her joy and not take one degree of it away by letting her know how much he hated to see her go.

  He brushed a feathery kiss on her temple. She wound her arm around his head and pulled him close. Her eyes opened and she smiled at him before tugging him down for a kiss.

  For the next hour, he didn’t give a single thought to danger.

  Colin drove her to the airport and kissed her goodbye, watching her as she walked along the jetway then turned to wave to him. She wore deep purple slacks
and a blue-and-purple-plaid blouse and her hair was tied behind her head.

  He returned the wave and watched the slight sway of her hips until she disappeared from his sight.

  “’Bye, darlin’,” he said quietly, knowing she had just walked out of his life.

  Relieved to think she was safe now and away from the killer, and trying to keep focused on that and how happy she was, he headed back to his car.

  As he sped away from the airport, a big jet roared overhead and he wondered if it was her plane. The hurt he felt was as raw and sharp as if she had been his fiancée and broken her engagement.

  “Get over her,” he told himself, knowing they had nothing serious between them and neither one had wanted anything serious.

  Tomorrow it wouldn’t matter as much and he needed to go talk to Boone about buying her house in Stallion Pass. If he could keep himself busy, he wouldn’t think about her nearly as often.

  Out of habit, he glanced at the rearview mirror. He changed lanes and moved into traffic, heading north from San Antonio, back to the ranch.

  When he entered the house, it was empty—a different kind of emptiness than before. He could see her everywhere he looked, remember each place in the house where they had made love, still smell her perfume.

  “Get over her. She’s gone,” he said out loud, telling himself that he would get used to her absence and forget her in time, that he’d never been seriously involved with her anyway.

  “Dammit,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair. He was failing at trying to convince himself he didn’t care. Give it time, he reassured himself. In a week he would be accustomed to her absence and moving on with his life.

  Aboard the plane Isabella had a window seat. She knew they wouldn’t fly over Stallion Pass or the Double T, but they were flying over terrain similar to the ranch.

  She prayed Colin would be safe. When she got back, she would show him his photographs. She had looked at them on her computer the next day and selected the ones she’d wanted to print and frame.

  She opened her purse and pulled one out, looking at his likeness and thinking his pictures might be among the best photos she had ever taken. He did have a brooding expression and was ruggedly handsome, an excellent combination for a subject.

  She put his photo away and thought about her appointment tomorrow morning.

  She closed her eyes. The In Our World Today offer was all she had dreamed of since the first photography class in college. This is what she wanted. She thought of Colin and wished he were here with her. She couldn’t wait to call and hear his voice even though she just left him.

  It was late afternoon when she arrived in New York. As she entered the busy terminal, she saw a chauffeur standing with a sign that read Devlin. She waved and hurried over to him. In minutes he had whisked her and her bags to a waiting white limousine.

  The minute she was alone in the hotel room she phoned Colin and talked to him as she shed her slacks and shirt.

  “I’m going to shower now and get a cab to meet them at the magazine office before we go to dinner.”

  “I wish I were there to be with you.”

  “Photography talk would probably bore you,” she said, untying her hair.

  “I meant in the shower, not while you have a business dinner,” he said dryly.

  She laughed and lowered her voice. “I wish you were, too. I have to go now. You can think about me, and I’ll think about you.”

  He groaned and told her goodbye and she rushed for her shower.

  When she walked into the lobby of the office of the magazine on the fourteenth floor of a twenty-story building, a short brunette with straight hair came forward to greet her.

  “Isabella, we’re so glad you’re here,” Natasha Harding said. “We’re looking forward to this evening.”

  “So am I,” Isabella said, flattered by their offer and their picking up all her expenses.

  “Let me show you around our offices,” Natasha offered. Isabella nodded. Excitement electrified her and made every moment memorable. She met another vice president, Jake Sargent who would join them for dinner. She was dazzled by the friendly people, the blown-up, framed copies of pictures from different issues of the magazine on display. Yet during the tour of the offices and then on the way to dinner, her mind drifted to Colin and she missed him. Each time, when she realized she wasn’t hearing what was being said to her, she turned her attention to those with her.

  Geena Ward from Layout and Design, joined them for dinner and over pasta and salads, they talked about their plans for the magazine.

  By the time she got back to the hotel, it was almost ten o’clock. The moment Isabella was in her room, she yanked out her cell phone to call Colin who answered quickly.

  They talked until she lost power in her phone, and he called her back. Then they talked for another hour before she finally told him she should get some sleep.

  “You’re going to tell them yes tomorrow, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I’ve wanted a job like this since I started taking pictures. Colin, it’s a fantastic opportunity.”

  “I know it is, but I’ll be glad when you’re back in Texas because I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too,” she said softly, realizing she did miss him and when she took the job, they would part ways.

  “Good night, Isabella,” he said in his deep voice. “I wish I could hold you and kiss you.”

  “’Night, Colin.” She replaced the receiver and lay in the dark, wanting his arms around her and surprised how much she did miss him.

  The next morning she sat in a large corner office. Light spilled into the room. Dressed in a tailored dark brown suit, she gazed around at the gray decor with splashes of color in the pictures that decorated the walls.

  Natasha Harding, Jack Sargent and Geena Ward were conducting the interview and Isabella felt at ease with all three of them after spending time with them yesterday.

  “We’re eager to have you join our staff,” Natasha said. “The job will involve assignments abroad, but last night you said that’s what you had always wanted to do.”

  “It is,” Isabella replied.

  “You’d start here your first year—let you get settled and accustomed to how we work, do your training, before there would be any assignments away from here. Those will come later.”

  Isabella nodded and thought about Colin. She felt a pang because she was going to have to tell him goodbye. She realized Jake Sargent was talking to her about the usual assignments with In Our World Today, and Isabella tried to focus on what was being said.

  It was an hour later when Natasha turned to her, her pale brown eyes filled with curiosity. “We’d like to have you on our staff. If you need time to consider this because I know it means uprooting your life from Texas to New York, take the time you want. We don’t have to have an answer this minute.”

  “The position is yours if you want it,” Jake Sargent said.

  “Thank you. I can say yes right now,” she said, but as she gave her acceptance, a pain tore at her heart and she could see Colin gazing solemnly at her.

  Breaking into her thoughts, Natasha, Jack and Geena came to their feet to shake her hand. Isabella stood. The three from the magazine were enthusiastic, telling her how happy they were to have her.

  “We want to introduce you to our president, Ralph Westmyer, who wasn’t in yesterday,” Natasha said.

  Isabella went with them, meeting more employees, but all the time, she was thinking about Colin.

  “How soon can you start?” Natasha asked.

  For a moment the question hung in the air. Isabella rubbed her chin while she speculated. “I have a house to sell and things to wind up in Texas. This is last of April. I’d like to wait until the first of June.”

  “That’s fine,” Geena Ward said, smiling at her. If you’ll come with me to our Human Resources people, I can give you a packet about the company to take back to Texas with you. You can get started on filling out
papers.”

  It was another hour before Isabella left the offices. They were taking her to dinner again tonight to celebrate her joining the company.

  As she rode back to her hotel in a cab, her thoughts were in Texas. She missed Colin and wanted to be with him. She missed him more than she had dreamed she would and what was worse, with each hour of separation, the longing to see him grew.

  The job with the magazine didn’t seem nearly as wonderful as it had the day they had called to make the offer. Was this her future? Traveling from city to city, staying in hotels, being alone constantly, not seeing Colin or hearing his laughter or sharing hot kisses with him?

  Growing up, she and Boone had promised each other that once they got away from the family, they would both enjoy freedom. Yet there was her brother, supremely happy with Erin and eager for his first baby.

  Was she really going to continue to enjoy this freedom she had treasured for years now? At the moment it seemed lonely and less than exciting.

  She’d had a wonderful business in Stallion Pass, friends, her brother was there and Colin was there and he planned to stay.

  She bit her lip and watched the crowd as the taxi wove in and out of traffic. The minute her driver stopped in front of her hotel, she paid him and rushed inside, wanting to hear Colin’s voice more than anything. She wouldn’t go home until tomorrow, but she couldn’t wait to be there and in Colin’s arms.

  The moment she heard Colin’s voice, she sprawled on the bed and held the phone close. She missed him dreadfully, imagining his gray eyes and wishing his arms were around her.

  “I did it! I took the job!” she exclaimed.

  “Congratulations!” he said, sounding sincere. From his tone, he seemed happy with her decision. “You’ll have to come home. How long before you start that job?”

  “I asked them to wait until the first of June so I can get things wound up at home.”

  “Home is going to be New York, Isabella,” Colin said quietly.