“Lesley.”He said her name in a sober breath.“Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?”
Lesley opened and closed her mouth, then nodded eagerly.“Is it safe for you to be seen?”
That intense look came over him.“Safe enough, but if I stay in that apartment another minute I’ll go mad.”He smiled then, one of those rare, earth-shattering, wonderful smiles that would disarm even the most hardhearted.“But then, the reason for my insanity could be attributed to my lovely neighbor.”
“That’s unfair, I’ve been more than—” Lesley stopped.How easily she fell prey to this man’s games!
His eyes glinted with mischief as Lesley gave him a bemused smile.
“You like doing that, don’t you?”she accused, feigning anger.
“It’s easy to get a reaction out of you.”
The words had a strange effect on her.Her reaction, as he called it, had a lot to do with her feelings for him.
“You ready?”Cole stood and extended a hand to her.
Lesley glanced at her wristwatch.“It’s barely three.”
“I know.I wanted to avoid the dinner crowd.”
“You’ll give me some answers?”
Cole met her narrowed gaze and nodded thoughtfully.“If you insist.”
“I do,” she said more forcefully than she meant to.Why did it seem that after every meeting she was left with more questions than when she started?But not this time, she vowed.
They drove to Post Falls, a small community to the west of Coeur d’Alene, and ate at a restaurant that overlooked the Spokane River.
“Tell me about Coeur d’Alene?”Cole asked after the waitress had taken their order.Apparently Cole was hungry, since he asked for the largest steak in the house.Lesley’s own appetite was more modest, and she ordered salmon.
“Well,” she said with a smile, “it’s the largest city in the northern panhandle of Idaho and the county seat of Kootenai County.”
“Kootenai County?”
“Yes.Try saying that three times without a breath.”Her hand slipped around the chilled water glass.Lesley loved Idaho.She felt as if she’d been born and raised in some of the most beautiful country on God’s earth.
“I love the lake,” she continued softly.“It’s been said that Coeur d’Alene Lake is one of the ten most beautiful lakes in the world.It has a hundred miles of forested shoreline with naturetrails and scenic walks.This is God’s country, Cole Daniels.”She stopped, her eyes narrowing with frustration, when she realized what she’d said.
“Engstrom,” Cole corrected.
“Yes,” she mumbled and lowered her eyes to the white tablecloth.“I keep forgetting.”He’d done it again.She had come expecting him to explain some of the things that had been happening, and he had quickly manipulated her into doing all the talking.
Cole chuckled, apparently noticing that she was on to his game.“I wish you could see your eyes.I can’t recall seeing anything more expressive.”
“Oh no you don’t.”
“Don’t?”
“Change the subject again.”Cole was clever.She’d say that for him.“Cole, don’t do this to me, please.”The last words were issued in a soft pleading tone that spoke of weeks of uncertainty.
“Can you trust me just a little while longer?Within the week everything will be out in the open,” Cole said tightly.
“I think it’s a matter of faith, all right, but of your trusting me.”
“I got into this mess because I depended on someone else.”The hard, masculine line of his mouth narrowed.“I won’t be taken in so easily again.”
“I’m not trying to take you in.”Nervously her tongue moistened her lower lip.What kind of person did Cole think she was?“Do you think I’ll run to the press?Is that it?”
