He sat quietly and didn't push, although she could read the curiosity on his face.
"While I was sitting in my house watching a sappy movie, my car blew up in my driveway. Luckily it wasn't close enough to catch my house on fire, but it did scare the hell out of me. And whoever pipe bombed the car was in my house, but I managed to hide outside until the fire department got there. He ran off, and I came here."
"And that's your fear of the paparazzi."
"No, I don't fear them. Most of the time they're just schmucks trying to make a buck. But while I suspect that this stalker is Curtis, my old co-star, I can't prove it, so I have to be wary of everyone."
"Do you think he's the one who let the horses out last night? This Curtis guy?"
"I can't see him being up here. He is too prissy for that. But other than the timing, I can't think of anyone who has it out for me. I mean, I'm not even working right now, so it's not like I'm pertinent to anything."
"What about secretaries? Producers? Planners?"
"I don't have any of those."
"Did you call to make your own reservation here?"
"Oh, no. I see what you're asking. That was my best friend, Nita. She had seen one of your brochures or something, so she called and made the reservation."
"Then she's the only one who knows where you were going?"
Ellie nodded. "Yeah, we kept it as quiet as we could."
He peered at her more intently. "And yet there were dozens of paparazzi waiting on you. How would they have known you were coming here?"
She thought about it for a minute. "Good question. But Nita wouldn't do anything like that. I've known her forever."
"Sometimes the easiest answer is the one right in front of us." He held up his hands. "I'm just saying. Stranger things have happened."
"I hadn't even thought of that." It was true. She hadn't even wondered how the reporters all knew she was going to be arriving at the ranch.
"The footsteps by the barn were not a woman's size, and they looked like a man's boot tread."
Ellie shook her head. "I can't see Nita up here either. So, unless she hired someone, we're back to square one."
"Not exactly. You told me. I wish you had done so in the beginning, but I understand your hesitance. It definitely shines more light on the situation, and I would have handled things a little differently if I had known."
"I'm sorry, Cole. I just wanted off the grid so bad that I wasn't thinking clearly."
He walked over to a box in the corner and pulled out a camera. "I'm going to set up a trail cam to watch the barn. It won't alert us if anyone is out there, but it'll catch them on video. Maybe we can figure out who this stalker of yours is."
"I appreciate it. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."
He winked at her. "Maybe I'll be your next stalker."
She grinned as he went out to set up the camera. Him being her stalker would turn her into a bad girl. She was already having enough impure thoughts about the man. Thinking about him lurking outside her bedroom just built up the libido.
When he came back, she had made coffee. "So, tell me, Mr. Cowboy. What secrets are you hiding?"
His dragon side took notice and almost dared him to tell her. He stared at her and decided that she just wasn't ready for that knowledge yet. It wasn't something that just worked its way into normal conversation.
"My dad died when I was a teenager, Mom brought us here after buying the ranch, and we've all grown up here."
"And your sister does all the baking, right?" She had heard Vinia talk about it.
"She does, when she's not causing trouble. We try to keep costs down and make the ranch sustainable on its own. With the new resort that opened up, things have been tight, but we'll make it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
