Round-the-Clock Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

I feel like we’re missing something. Something obvious.”
    â€œI could come into the club sometime this week.”
    â€œI don’t want to drag you away from your—” he glanced at Nita “—business. Why don’t I bring it by Nita’s place later this week, after Nita’s father is feeling up to the company?”
    â€œNita?” Connor asked.
    â€œFine by me,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind getting a peek at that map to see what all the fuss is about.”
    â€œSettled then,” Gavin said, dropping his hat on his head. “I’ll see you two later this week. Enjoy your lunch.”
    When he was gone, Nita said, “Well now, aren’t you Cattleman’s Club men covert.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œHe doesn’t want to drag you away from your business? Why doesn’t he just say ‘assignment’? That’s what it is, right?”
    â€œYou asked for help, and I’m helping. That’s all there is to it.”
    â€œUh-huh. Whatever you say.”
    â€œTwo cheeseburgers and fries and two sodas,” Valerie said, unloading her tray onto the table. “Can I get you anything else?”
    Nita shook her head. “Nothing for me.”
    â€œI’m good, too,” Connor said.
    Valerie reached in her uniform pocket for their bill, but as she pulled it out, it slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor. “Oops.”
    As she bent over to get it, a gold, heart-shaped pendant suspended from a delicate chain slipped from inside her uniform. Etched on its face were two intricately intertwined roses.
    â€œOh, my sister would love that,” Nita said.
    Valerie set the bill on the table and looked at Nita questioningly.
    She pointed to the pendant. “Your necklace. Her name is Rose. She likes anything with roses on it.”
    â€œOh!” Valerie pressed a hand over it and slipped it back beneath her collar.
    â€œDid you get it here in Royal?” Nita was always on the lookout for a birthday or Christmas gift.
    â€œFamily heirloom.” She flashed them a forced smile. “You two enjoy your lunch.”
    â€œShe’s an odd one,” Nita said after Valerie was gone. “I’ll bet she’s hiding something. Some juicy secret.”
    â€œWhat makes you say that?”
    â€œEveryone has a secret. Something they’ve done or said or felt that they don’t want anyone to know.”
    â€œOh yeah,” Connor said, his interest piqued. “What’s yours?”
    Nita’s violet eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it?”
    Okay, so he hadn’t really expected her to just blurt out that she’d done in Jonathan Devlin, especially after she’d so vehemently denied it that morning. But a tidy little confession would have been convenient. Though he had a tough time imagining her killing anyone, she did seem to have a quick temper. If she felt her family was threatened, who knows what she might be capable of?
    They ate in silence for a while, and he could tell by the glances she kept shooting his way, the quiet would be short-lived. Finally she said, “So, tell me about yourself. Your brother says you used to be in the army.”
    â€œRangers.”
    â€œSounds exciting. Why’d you quit?”
    Talk about secrets. When he’d left the military, it wasn’t exactly by choice. “Just wasn’t for me anymore,” he told her—the oversimplified version of the events that led to his leaving.
    â€œWhat do you do now?” she asked, then added with a knowing smile. “Besides your Cattleman’s Club missions.”
    â€œMy father retired recently and I took his place at his engineering firm.”
    â€œEngineering? Sounds boring.”
    â€œSomeone has to do it,” he said, even though she’d pretty much nailed it. Engineering bored him to