He swallowed the rising need to defend himself. He would let his character speak for itself.
One thing was certain: Emberly McQuaid was different from any other person he’d ever met. And he liked her that way.
5
“Rummy!” Emberly placed her run of hearts onto the table.
Winzig tossed his remaining cards down with a grunt. He’d spoken in German to Braun and Max a few times during the evening, but mostly he just grunted.
Across the table from her, Max studied the cards in his hand, then he peered over the edges at her. His brows were furrowed, his eyes serious, and his expression intense. He was competitive and smart and had been challenging to play with, learning the game easily.
Next to Max, Braun paused in knitting a scarf to assess Max’s hand. His eyes widened, then he tsked before his needles began clicking again at top speed. A bright-green cashmere scarf was taking shape quickly because, apparently, Braun was an expert knitter.
“Just admit defeat, Max.” Emberly couldn’t keep from taunting Max the same way she did her brothers. All throughout the evening, she’d done her best to treat Max like a brother, hopefully sending him a clear message that she wasn’t interested in being his call girl.
Tyler had been worried that Max was setting her up to be more than just his ambassador. He’d practically yelled at her in her office when she’d told him about going there for a meal tonight. “I’m not letting you have dinner with a stranger in his cabin. You’re not his call girl this week.”
Tyler had been so opposed to her exclusive arrangement with Max and her plans to eat dinner with him in his cabin that he’d dragged her up to the house in order to gain Dad’s support in making her cancel.
Surprisingly, Dad hadn’t taken Tyler’s side. Instead, he’d studied Emberly’s face for a long moment before telling Tyler to let her continue the relationship with Max. At Tyler’s exasperation, Dad had finally agreed to the overbearing regulations Tyler had demanded—that ranch employees go regularly to check on Emberly, that she could only be in the cabin if Max’s staff remained with him, and that she had to leave no later than ten o’clock.
It was nearing ten, and strangely, she wasn’t ready for the evening to come to an end. The whole night from start to finish had been much more enjoyable than she’d expected. Dinner had been relaxed, and Max had regaled her with stories from his childhood in Vollenstadt, which was the capital of Karltenberg. Braun had chimed in with eccentric comments about Max from time to time, which had made both her and Max smile.
After dinner, she’d offered to teach everyone how to play Euchre. Max had known a little from his days in college, but neither Winzig nor Braun had caught on, and eventually she’d decided Rummy would be easier. Winzig had been a good sport and joined in, although he hadn’t won a round.
“I cannot admit defeat, Emberly.” Max spoke in a voice that mimicked hers. Then he slowly lowered his cards to reveal an even longer run in diamonds—one that put his score into the lead.
She grinned. “Guess I owe you dessert.”
“It appears you do.” Max grinned in return, his eyes lighting with both playfulness and pleasure. “Double chocolate French silk pie.”
They’d decided that whoever won the game owed the other person dessert. It was all in good fun, and she had forgotten to ask the servers to include dessert with their evening meal. So either way, dessert was in order.
“I shall relish every morsel of the pie.” Max’s voice filled with teasing.
At a knock on the cabin door, she startled. Winzig was up and at the door before she could even move. For a man of his size, he was surprisingly nimble. He was also intimidating, as most protection agents were, including her brother Dustin, who’d been an elite Army Ranger for a number of years before retiring and becoming an executive protection agent.
He now lived in California when he wasn’t on assignment, usually out of the country. Whenever he visited the ranch—which had been more often since Dad’s diagnosis—he was very close-mouthed about who he was assigned to. Dustin was the quietest of them anyway, and the secrecy of his job made him even more so.
Whatever the case, she understood Winzig’s job and wished she could ask him questions about it. But the guy spoke mostly German, and she hadn’t yet admitted to everyone that she knew German and could understand them when they switched over to it, which had only been a couple of times.
As Winzig opened the door, he positioned himself so that whoever was on the front porch couldn’t see inside very well.
“I’m here to walk Emberly back to her cottage,” came her brother Kade’s voice.
Emberly stood and quickly crossed to the door. “I don’t need anyone to walk me home, Kade.”
She knew he wasn’t to blame for showing up. Tyler had probably texted him and asked him to come. Even so, she was irritated he was here. The walk to her place in the woods near the lodge was less than a quarter of a mile, and she was used tobeing out and about the ranch on her own at all times of the day and night.
“Got my orders.” Kade tipped up his cowboy hat and angled himself so he could see past Winzig and get a look at Max, who had left the table now too and was crossing to the door.
At twenty-three, Kade was the closest sibling in age to Emberly, and he was also the closest friend among her family. He had a brawny body like the rest of the McQuaid men, all muscle, ruggedly handsome with dark hair and dark eyes. He was slightly taller than the rest of the family, and his face was narrower and more boyish, giving him a charm that made him a favorite among the women for miles around.
Kade spent most of his days as the head of the ranch hands. Though the ranch didn’t have a large herd of cattle anymore like in the early days, they still had enough cattle to use as beef for their guests. Mainly, the ranch hands took care of the dozens of horses they bred and raised, and they helped with the weekly rodeos the ranch sponsored during the summer.
“This isn’t the military.” Emberly couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her tone. “And there are no orders. Especially from Tyler.”
Kade was still sizing up Max. “Hey.”
