Reilly's Woman Read Online Free PDF

parents. They, in turn, would contact her brother. With luck, by then she would be rescued.
    "You were planning to surprise him?"
    Leah nodded, her cheek moving against the damp denim of his jacket. "For his birthday. It's tomorrow," she sighed, then pulled her mind away from its depressing path. "You were expected, weren't you?"
    "Yes, by some business friends."
    "Who do you work for?" She tipped her head back against his shoulder, peering through the darkness of their cocoon for a glimpse of his face. The suggestion of intimacy at being in his arms seemed to banish the need for diplomatically worded questions. Her curiosity surfaced without disguise. "An arch rival of the mining firm that employs my brother?"
    "I work for myself," he replied.
    "You own a mining company?"
    "No." There was amused patience in his low voice. "I design jewelry."
    As Leah digested the information, she remembered the nugget of turquoise he wore around his neck. "Turquoise jewelry?"
    "Or Indian jewelry, whichever you prefer to call it." The mockery was unmistakable in his tone.
    Leah stiffened defensively. "I didn't mean my comment to sound derogatory earlier. I was cold and wet and thought a fire would be the logical remedy. I simply didn't know how to build one—not from scratch." She hesitated, irritated that he had even indirectly referred to her thoughtlessly cutting remark earlier. "Grady had mentioned that you were part Indian. I only referred to it because I thought you would have the experience at building fires which I didn't have."
    "You didn't need to explain. I'd already guessed that," Reilly Smith returned complacently.
    Sputtering inwardly, Leah longed to demand why he had let her make the apology if, as he said, he had already guessed. It was pointless to begin an argument about it, though, since initially the fault had been hers.
    "Then why were you flying to Austin?" Leah swallowed her irritation and switched to a less personal topic.
    "There are turquoise mines in the vicinity that I periodically visit," he said with a thread of indulgence. "I deal directly with them, purchasing the stones I want to use for mounting."
    "I didn't know that." She frowned slightly, trying to remember if Lonnie had mentioned the turquoise mines in one of his letters. "About the mines being there, I mean."
    "There's a line of turquoise deposits that runs almost directly down the center of the State, starting around Battle Mountain through Austin. At Tonopah it curves north-west. The line would look like a 'J' if you drew it on a map."
    "I guess I always thought most of the turquoise was found in Arizona."
    "Arizona does produce quite a bit, but mostly as a by-product of their copper mining." His fingers gently pulled her long, wet hair free of the coat collar, smoothing it over her back. "I think it's time we got some sleep. It's going to be long day tomorrow."
    The truth was Leah didn't want to stop talking. As long as her mind was occupied with other things, it couldn't dwell on the crash.
    "I suppose you're right." she sighed reluctantly, adding a silent "again" to the admission. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy. "What time is it?"
    "Nearing midnight, I imagine. Are you comfortable?"
    "Yes," she nodded, nestling her head closer to his chest. "Goodnight."
    "Goodnight."
    Silence closed in. Despite the crash of thunder and lightning and the tapping of rain, it was silence. There were none of the sounds of cars and people or streetlights shining through the window that usually lulled her to sleep.
    The ground was hard and unyeilding beneath her hip. Her pillow, Reilly's chest, rose and fell in even breathing. The steady rhythm of his heart beat against her ear.
    If things had been different, she would have been sleeping in a strange bed tonight, but none as alien as this. And Lonnie would have been close by. Her throat tightened as she remembered that if things had been different, Grady would be alive, too.
    "If we'd left earlier," she