“I don’t know. She seemed too wrapped up in you to even notice me.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. Tiffany may seem oblivious, even like one of those vapid ladies who lunch. But she’s sharp as a steak knife. I learned that during Jace’s campaign.”
“If it is her, do you think someone—maybe even Jace—could ask her to zip it? I’d like to not have to move again.”
He glanced over at her. “Thought you hated it here and were dying to get back tocivilization.” He mimicked the way she’d said it when she was trying to provoke him.
“I do and I am,” she said. “But who’s to say that the next place your mother finds for me to hide isn’t Siberia. At least Dry Creek Ranch has Wi-Fi.”
Hell yeah, it did. He’d emptied his bank account to get high-speed internet on the ranch. If Jace and Cash had had their druthers they would still have dial-up.
“Besides,” she added, “I’d miss Charlie and Aubrey.”
He slid her another glance, this time hitching his brows above the rim of his sunglasses. “Charlie and Aubrey, huh?” He was flirting when what he should’ve been doing was putting the skids on whatever this was that they were doing. Yet, he couldn’t help himself. Just like he couldn’t help himself from tearing off her PJs this morning after watching her bounce around the kitchen, making him crazy with those long legs of hers.
“I might miss the sex.” She flashed him a cheeky grin.
He started to say that she was going to miss it all right because they weren’t having any more. But he knew the words for what they were: Lies. As long as she lived here, they were having sex. Lots of it. The sooner he came to terms with that the better off he’d be.
“I’ll ask Jace to feel out Tiffany,” he said. “If he thinks she knows something, he’ll tell her to keep it on the down low.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now put on your disguise, we’re almost there.”
* * * *
That evening he took the situation up with Jace and Cash. Both agreed that it could’ve easily been Tiffany. Sawyer thought Jill was also a possibility and kicked himself for exposing Gina that way.
“Nah,” Jace shook his head. “Even if Jill had recognized Gina, it wouldn’t have occurred to her to call theNational Enquireror any of those other rags. I’ve known her all my life. What she did to Brett…but this thing with Gina doesn’t have her mark. Take my word for it.
“Tiffany is the more likely culprit. If it was her she didn’t do it to be spiteful.” Jace had a soft spot for his old campaign manager. “There’s not a mean bone in her body. She just likes to talk, like everyone else in this town. She also likes to one-up everybody with the quality of her gossip. I suspect finding out that Gina DeRose is hiding at Dry Creek Ranch was quite a nugget. More than likely she told a friend, who told another friend, who knew someone who works for one of the tabloids. She wouldn’t have intentionally sent a stranger with a camera to our back door.”
Sawyer hung his arms over the top rail of the fence as they watched the horses graze in the pasture. It was a pastime they’d adopted when he and Cash had moved to the ranch. The women did their wine and cheese; he and his cousins watched the livestock and pretended to be masters of their domain.
“Could you talk to her, express how important it is that she not tell anybody else?”
“Yup.”
“What did you do with the camera guy?”
“Cited him for trespassing, gave him a stern lecture about how lucky he was that he didn’t get his ass shot off, and sent him on his way. He whined about getting his memory card back. I ignored him.”
“What do we do about the gate?” Cash held out a slice of apple to Ellie’s horse, Sunflower. “I figure these paparazzi guys are like cattle, they travel in herds. We can keep it closed but that won’t help Aubrey and Charlie’s business.”
“I say we keep it open for now.” Sawyer didn’t think the gate would keep out a determined reporter or photographer anyway. A fence never kept him out.
“What about Gina? Did the dude freak her out?” Jace toed a clod of dirt with his boot.
“Nah, she took it pretty well. But if this becomes a bigger situation where there’s press camping outside her cabin she’ll have to relocate.”
Jace patted Sawyer’s back. “That’ll suck for you.”
Sawyer flipped his cousin off. The truth hurt.
He didn’t know how it had happened, but he’d done a complete 180 where Gina was concerned.
Cash, who pretended he wasn’t amused by Sawyer and Jace’s back-and-forth, said, “You have any luck with analyzing that picture?”
