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Oh, Cruz. Sweetheart. Lorena s voice softened and a smile lit up her face. I am
so glad you re home. You need to tell everyone who I am. And explain to me what in
hell all that building is going on out there?
First of all, he asked, how did you find me?
Oh, honey, she simpered, there was a big spread about you and Rancho Castillo
that hit all the newspapers. You know how I love ranching. So here I am. She threw
her arms wide as if to embrace Cruz but he neatly sidestepped her.
Get one of the hands, he told Safina. Have them take Miss Gordon s luggage
back to her car.
Don t you do it, Safina, Lorena raged. Put my bags in Señor Castillo s room.
Now that little tramp is gone there s plenty of room for me.
Cruz clenched his fist and made a supreme effort to control himself. He d never hit
a woman before but he was close to it now.
Don t ever let me hear you refer to Shea Prescott like that again. Comprende? And
you d better get your ass to the nearest hotel before I have you arrested for trespassing.
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Desiree Holt
She stood with one hip arrogantly cocked. It wouldn t look too great in the media
for you to have your wife arrested, now would it?
We re divorced, Lorena. Finished. Done.
Look again, Cruz. Your attorney never filed the final papers. I never got my copies
and it occurred to me the other day I ought to check into it.
So you could hold me up for more money? He couldn t hide the bitterness in his
voice. You can bet I ll clean this mess up. Pronto. But in the meantime, I don t want
you anywhere near me or this place. Leave on your own or I ll have someone hogtie
you and take you.
Lorena gave it her best shot but Cruz refused to budge. Finally she stormed out of
the house to her car, where her luggage had already been returned. Tires squealed as
she pulled away from the house.
Cruz ran his hands through his hair in frustration, dropped into his chair and
pulled out his cell phone. In seconds he had his newest attorney on the phone.
Jess? We have a big fucking mess here that your predecessor left. I ll be at your
office in an hour. We need to clean this up yesterday.
By late Friday evening Cruz finally had things in hand. The papers had been filed at
last, updated and with Lorena s new signature affixed. At first she demanded more
money but Cruz threatened to have her arrested on extortion. Construction had
resumed at the ranch and the crews would be working overtime on the weekend to
catch up.
That left just one thing.
The most important thing.
Shea.
He tried alternately calling her home phone and her cell phone with no luck at all.
He couldn t get anything out of Marta who still wasn t sure if the whole mess was his
fault or not.
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Just Say Yes
There was just one thing left to do.
Show up in person and get down on his knees. But he was afraid that would prove
more difficult than he liked to think.
* * * * *
Although she buried herself in as much work as possible, even pulling potential
clients out of the call-back file, the days seemed to drag by. Saturday was the expected
date of Cruz s return. Before she went to bed Friday night she turned off her cell phone,
unplugged the house phone and finished off a bottle of wine.
When she awoke late Saturday morning, for a moment she thought the pounding
she heard was in her head, a present from an empty bottle of wine. But after stumbling
into the bathroom and swallowing three aspirins with a glass of water, she realized the
pounding not only continued but was accompanied by the furious ringing of her bell.
Pulling on a robe and pushing her disheveled hair back from her face, she went to
the door and hollered, Whoever you are, go away. No one s home.
Open the damn door. Cruz s voice was loud and angry.
Go away, she hollered again. I have nothing to say to you.
Well, I have plenty to say. Do you want me to stand out here and yell so all the
neighbors can hear me?
Try it and I ll call the police, she told him. One more time. Go away.
Shea hurried into her bathroom, shut the door and clapped her hands over her ears.
In another moment, obviously tired of making a fool of himself, the noise died down
and she heard the roar of Cruz s engine as he pulled away. She waited on edge all
weekend for a return visit, wondering what she d do if he actually came back. Once or
twice when she peeked through the slatted blinds she thought she saw his car parked
across the street but if it was him, he never approached the house.
Monday morning, with her phones still shut off, she turned on her cell and called
the office to see what was happening.
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Desiree Holt
Not much, unless you count a very angry man who was waiting for me when I got
here. Marta s voice held a hint of laughter.
He s there? Shea s hand trembled holding the phone. Marta, you have to get rid
of him.
How do you suggest I do that? He s just sitting in the reception area, not bothering
anyone.
He s bothering me, she practically shouted.
Marta chuckled. Then you should come down here and get rid of him. Personally,
I like having a hot stud to look at.
I don t ever want to see him again, Sea said through gritted teeth. The man is a
liar, deceitful, a& a& a& lothario.
Marta burst into a full-throated laugh. Boy, that s a word I haven t heard outside
historical romance novels. Listen, Shea, whatever the misunderstanding is, you need to
see him and clear it up. The man is miserable.
I ll say he is. The man has a wife he conveniently forgot to tell me about.
Oops. Well, that s a little different. But if you come to the office you ll stumble
over him. He says he s not leaving until he sees you.
Then I guess I just won t come to the office. She d go to any lengths to avoid this
confrontation.
Well, Marta sighed, I guess sooner or later he ll give up and go away. But where
will you be?
Not here. He ll just hound me like he did this weekend. She was silent for a
moment, shuffling her thoughts around. Maybe I ll go to the cabin. No one will find
me there.
Shea s grandfather had left her a two-room cabin at the back end of the Hill
Country. He d used it during hunting season but for Shea it was the best place to escape
life.
68
Just Say Yes
And what about the office?
I leave it all in your capable hands. Everyone s got their assignments. I ll call in a
couple of days.
Listen, Shea
But Shea had already disconnected the call and headed to her bedroom to pack.
* * * * *
One of the things Shea had always liked about the cabin was the tiny stream that
ran behind it. It wasn t deep enough for swimming nor did it produce much fish. But
sitting on a flat rock at its edge and listening to the water bubble over the stones always
helped her relax.
Not so much this time, she thought ruefully. She hadn t even been able to get a
good night s sleep. And after four days she wondered if she ever would again. She d
gone against her own instincts and ended up being made a fool of. She could just
imagine what John Reston thought.
She checked in with Marta once a day, promising that by the following Monday
she d come back to work, Cruz or no Cruz. She d give herself the rest of the week to
pull up her big girl pants and that was that. She had clients who needed her and she
couldn t afford to throw away her practice, not even with the exorbitant fee she d
charged Miguel Cruz Castillo.
Dios! Could you find a more isolated place to hide out?
The deep voice behind her nearly made her topple into the stream. She jumped up
and whirled to find Cruz standing less than a foot away. He d been so careful she
hadn t even seen him approach. Even as angry as she was, he took her breath away. His
dark hair was ruffled by the breeze, his cream-colored sweater accented the olive skin
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