The Eligible Suspect Read Online Free PDF

She smiled but the message was clear. She
would
bite if he got out of line.
    Although he didn’t smile or grin, his eyes showed his humor—or was that shrewdness? “Then we’re both safe.”
    She went to the stereo. Shutting that off, she turned on the television. The channel was set to a local station. The news.
    Korbin appeared, walking slowly, observing as he had before, missing no detail. He picked up the remote from where she’d set it on a side table.
    “Do you mind?” he asked.
    She shook her head and he changed the channel to something on the wilderness of China. She sat down on a white leather chair, debating whether she should call Hurley back and ask him to come pick this man up and take him to the lodge.
    “What’s a young, beautiful woman like you doing living in the mountains all alone?” He sat on the other leather chair. “What are you? Twenty?”
    “Thirty-three. You?”
    “Thirty-eight.”
    “Where do you live?”
    “Is this where we get to know each other?” he asked, now with a slight grin.
    She didn’t think he was flirting, just keeping it light. “I’ve never had a stranger in my house before.”
    “I live in Denver. I bought a house in Montana, but I don’t go there much.”
    Two houses? Why Montana? And why didn’t he go there much? “Not married?”
    “Not anymore.” His terse answer and the dousing of any sign of humor alerted her to something amiss. With his arms on the rests, he tapped his palm against one in agitation.
    She didn’t push him further. She understood the need to avoid those types of subjects. “Are you from Montana?”
    “No. I grew up in North Carolina.”
    Work must have brought him to Colorado. She suspected the house in Montana had something to do with the woman he’d married.
    “Your family lives there?” she asked.
    “My parents. I’m an only child.” He looked at the television but she could tell he wasn’t paying attention to the program.
    “What’s it like being an only child?” Savanna asked. “I have seven brothers and sisters.”
    His brow raised and he whistled, his mood lifting.
    “It’s a miracle any of us got any attention growing up.”
    “How do families manage with that many kids?” he asked.
    Delighted that he didn’t recognize her name, Savanna almost didn’t tell him. “Jackson Ivy is my dad. They managed just fine.”
    “Jackson Ivy?”
    He seriously did not know her father? Savanna’s jaw dropped open as she gaped at him. “You don’t know who Jackson Ivy is?”
    “No. Should I?”
    “Well, if you watch any movies you should.” But then again, why should he? Why did anyone have to care about the producer of a movie they watched?
    “He’s an actor?”
    Savanna started laughing. “No. He’s a movie producer. Did you see
The Last Planet
?”
    “No, but I’ve heard of it. That’s your
dad
?”
    She laughed again, softer now. “Yes.”
    “Your parents live in a mansion in California. I caught a documentary about that once.” He stared at her as though she were an alien now.
    “Changes the dynamics, doesn’t it?” Although she joked, she was actually quite serious. All of her brothers and sisters dealt with this in one way or another.
    He only continued to stare at her.
    Savanna began to feel uncomfortable. What was he thinking? That he’d struck gold? If he owned two homes he had to have money. She didn’t know what computer engineers made but it must be decent.
    “My dad founded Maguire Mercantile,” he finally said.
    Stunned, Savanna stared back at him while the significance of that sank in. Maguire Mercantile was a Fortune 500 company, a well-known leader in ranch and farm supplies, but their Maguire outerwear was popular with anyone. Mountaineers. Skiers. School kids. You name it. They were experts at keeping people warm and dry.
    “Wow,” Savanna breathed. “Your dad might be richer than mine.”
    His deep laughter made her laugh with him, and then she became aware of other things. His