“Don’t forget the presents,” Hattie added, a grin on her face. “My Sam, he’s not the best gift giver, but he always goes all out for Christmas.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “I didn’t know that you were married.”
“Over forty years, last June,” Hattie said, with a sigh. “Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday. Sam is the groundskeeper. I’m sure he’ll pop in soon; he usually likes a cup of coffee about this time of day.”
They worked in silence for a little while. Then, the back door burst open, and an older man came walking in, followed closely by Ryan, who scanned the room until he found her. He narrowed his eyes at her, giving her the same look he had the last time they ran into each other and she knew that he thought she was up to something. The problem was that he was right; she was trying to uncover the truth about what she saw, and she had a gut feeling that was the last thing he wanted.
His reaction to her presence was telling, reinforcing the feeling that what she’d seen was real and that Ryan, along with the rest of his friends, had something to hide. “Wow, it looks like a cookie bomb exploded in here,” Ryan said, heading for the coffee pot. “That’s a lot of cookies.”
“Twenty dozen, enough to get us through the entire season with a few to spare for emergencies,” Hattie said, picking up an unfrosted tree. “With Paula’s help, these will all be stashed in the freezer by tonight.”
“I don’t suppose there are a couple of rejects with our names on them,” Sam said. “I’d kill for one of those with this cup of coffee right now. It’s cold out there and they’re talking about more snow.”
“We’re on target for a white Christmas,” she said, plucking up a tree and adding white icing to the green to imitate snow on the branches, then held it up. “I love snow this time of year, but then it needs to go away.”
They all laughed. “I think I’ll take my coffee and cookie into the study and sit by the fire for a bit to defrost,” Sam said. “Idon’t suppose I can talk you into joining me for a few minutes, Hattie.”
“I’d be honored,” Hattie said, getting to her feet. “I’m due a break, just let me grab a fresh cup of coffee.”
Silence fell over the kitchen as soon as they were gone and Paula found herself shifting restlessly in her chair as a mixture of guilt and attraction sent confusing messages to her body. The longer they sat there in the quiet, the only sound the ticking of the clock and her pastry bag rustling, the worse it became. She finally had to take a break when her cookies began to look sloppy.
“What are you doing here?” Ryan asked, just as she started to get up. “I know who you are. I did a little research. I don’t believe for a second that this is a coincidence. You’re here for a reason.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, getting up and walking over to the coffee machine so she could turn her back on him. “I needed to make some money during the break, that’s all.”
“I’d believe that, but you pretended not to recognize me when you saw me the other day,” he hissed suddenly right behind her. “That seems a bit suspicious. Maybe you were hoping I wouldn’t remember you, that I’d forget you were the damsel in distress that night. I’m warning you right now, there’s not a story here, there’s no mystery, just a couple of idiots doing stupid things and if you try to turn it into something else…”
“I’m not here because I’m writing a story, there isn’t anything to write a story about, unless you count stupid frat boy pranks,” she said, turning to look up at him. She was instantly sorry when her body began to tingle with desire. “I was just doing what you told me to do, pretending that night didn’t happen, but if you’d rather, you can admit that there was something strange going on that night and we can have a nice long talk about it, right here, right now.”
After just a short pause, he stepped back and she let out the breath she’d been holding. “There’s nothing to talk about, I think we’ve established that,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re wasting your time, princess, you won’t get a juicy story around here. Go back where you came from and leave us alone.”
“Don’t call me that, I have a name, use it,” she snapped, then marched back over to the table and sat down again. “I’m just here to make some extra cash for the holidays, and Hattie is depending on me now, so you’ll just have to figure out a way to control your paranoia until the job is finished.”
“I’m going to be watching you, don’t think for a second that I’m buying this innocent act of yours,” Ryan said, putting his coffee cup into the sink. “It would be much safer for both of us if you walked away and left this alone, unless you’re exactly where you want to be.”
When she didn’t react, he let out a grunt, “Have it your way then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, there’s only so much I can do if you keep pushing,” he said, then walked out of the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Any thoughts of letting the mystery go fled her mind in the next breath. Anyone who was that desperate to hide their secrets must have something good to hide, and there was nothing she loved more than digging for the truth. What she did with it when it was hers might take some careful thought, but if anyone was being hurt, she’d do the right thing, no matter how attracted she was to Ryan.
CHAPTER 7
***RYAN***
It had been three days since Ryan started his stakeout at the end of the kitchen table, and he wasn’t looking forward to the fourth. Sitting around watching Hattie and Paula bake wasn’t exactly entertaining. He’d already been through chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and snickerdoodles, and he was actually dreading the moment he’d have to taste what came out of the oven that day, but he couldn’t back down. He’d just have to grin and bear it.
Not that Paula had done anything suspicious, in fact, she’d been perfectly polite, too polite, and that was driving him crazy, especially since the urge to kiss her had grown to almost unbearable proportions. It hadn’t happened all at once; instead, it had crept up on him so slowly that he’d almost let the desire overrule his common sense, nearly turned a completely innocent trip to the coffee pot into something entirely different. The whole situation was making him increasingly frustrated and he’d been taking it out on everyone around him, but he didn’t trust Paula enough to leave her alone.
Looking around his room, which was a total disaster, he made a mental list of all the other things he could be doing instead of babysitting a reporter, then grabbed a book he’d beenmeaning to read. He took the front stairs instead of the back and paused in the entryway to watch the snow falling for a moment, then turned and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. The sound of someone in the study caught his attention, and thinking it was one of his friends, he popped his head inside, his mouth open to call out a greeting.
He clamped it shut again when he saw Paula sitting at the computer, tapping away and humming quietly, then crept into the room so quietly she didn’t hear him. “What are you doing in here?” he demanded, making her jump and let out a little scream. “I knew that if I waited long enough, I’d catch you! Get away from that computer, you’ve done all the snooping you’re going to do for one day.”
“You scared the hell out of me,” she said to him, putting her hand over her chest. “What the hell were you thinking? You don’t just sneak up on people like that. I could have…”
“I wouldn’t have scared you if you hadn’t been in here snooping. You don’t belong in here; the kitchen is on the other side of the house,” he sneered, stomping over to her. “Did you lose your way? Maybe you need an escort back to where you belong. Maybe Hattie should hear about what you’re doing in here.”
“Wow, I thought you were just paranoid, but now I can see that you’re a bit dramatic too,” she said, leaning back in the chair, clearly not planning to move. “Why don’t you go see Hattie while I finish what I’m doing? Maybe she can calm you down. I don’t get paid enough for this nonsense.”
He could feel his face turning red as anger slowly built inside him. “If you think I’m just going to walk off and leave you in here digging through all our personal information, you’re wrong,” he growled. “Now get up out of that chair, you’re coming with me.”
