The Pretender Read Online Free PDF Page B

Actually I’m surprised you didn’t. The whole terminalheard her. Hey, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t very well let go of her.”
    “I’m surprised you don’t look more beat-up than you do,” Sage said, picking up the carrier and beginning to walk alongside her as they headed for the baggage claim area. She had a long, graceful stride, he noticed. And was nearly as tall as he was, in those boots.
    “I had her wrapped in my jacket,” she explained,sounding out-of-breath, although they weren’t walking that fast. “I thought I could handle her. And except for the noise, it was kind of okay, at first. It was just when I tried to put her back in the carrier. That’s when she really chomped me.”
    He gave a low whistle. “ Chomped you? Sounds like a pretty bad bite. Think maybe you should see a doctor?”
    She shrugged dismissively. “I don’tknow. It bled like crazy, which I think is good, right? They took me to this first aid place in the airport and put antibiotic stuff on it and bandaged it, so I think I’m good.” She swore under her breath, fairly mildly, he thought, under the circumstances. “Stupid cat. She’s bitten me before, lots of times. But never like this. I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t have tried to…” Her voice seemedto wobble, and she took a breath and held it.
    “She’s just upset and scared. She’ll get over it,” Sage said.
    She exhaled in a gust. “Yeah…I’m sure.” But she didn’t sound convinced.
    They joined the cluster of people waiting at the baggage carousel. Sage set the cat carrier on the floor. And then…there it was again, that unfamiliar unease he couldn’t define and didn’t know whatto do about. Some part of it—maybe a big part—he put down to plain old ordinary sexual attraction. Which wouldn’t have been surprising, considering the woman standing next to him was chock-full of sex appeal, except she wasn’t the type he would normally be attracted to. Tall, Nordic, blond city girls? Not even close. Not in the same hemisphere.
    There had to be something else going on here.What, he didn’t know, and that meant he was on guard and meaning to stay that way.
    It occurred to Sage that she was looking at him, in a sidelong kind of way that made him wonder if she was as wary of him as he was of her.
    She had the grace to look embarrassed, at least, when he met her gaze and said, “What?” in a challenging tone. There was just a touch of color in her cheeks thatmade her eyes almost seem to shimmer. And made him a little dizzy.
    “You’re not—” She stopped, but didn’t look away, and the way she was studying him, a little frown between her eyebrows, appraising....
    He got it. And felt a sinking in his belly he hadn’t in a very long time. His skin grew hot.
    “Yeah, I am,” he began, quietly but with a touch of attitude, but before he could goany further she was shaking her head, looking confused.
    “But…you can’t be—” she said, at the same time he said, “I am Indian.”
    There was a moment of utter silence. Then she said dryly, “Well…I was going to say, ‘the lawyer.’”
    “Ah.” His momentary spurt of anger died as quickly as it had risen, leaving him off-balance once more, and a little ashamed of himself. He stretched hislips in a smile. “No. That would be Alex Branson. Like I said, my name is Sage. Sage Rivera-Begay. I manage the ranch.”
    She went on gazing at him, and the off-balance sensation grew. He felt as if he were falling into her eyes. Then she smiled—really smiled—and his breath stopped.
    “So, you are Indian… And if you’re the ranch manager,” she said, “that would make you also a cowboy, right?”
    He gave a short bark of surprised laughter, and somehow found himself smiling back at her, the defensive belligerence stuffed back in the bottom drawer of his past where it belonged. She didn’t deserve it.
    She’s not Heather.
    “I prefer Native American, but yeah, I guess it does. Half and