Covert Christmas by Marilyn Pappao

Author:Marilyn Pappao [Pappao, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-10-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

A few hours after the meal was over and dishes put away, Tara felt groggy from sitting quietly in front of the fireplace. She noticed the couch cushions jiggling under her bottom and when she opened her eyes, Cam was sitting close. He carried two after-dinner glasses, both containing a dark liquid that glowed amber in the firelight.

“You’re awake,” he said softly. “The electricity is off again and I added logs to the fire. Would you like a glass of brandy?”

“It’ll probably knock me out cold, but thanks.” She took a tentative sip. “Is everything all right?”

He shrugged and swirled the aged liquid in his glass. “The snow is falling harder now but everything is quiet. I’ll probably have to shovel off the porch roof if we get much more of this. Don’t want it collapsing.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

Cam shook his head. “Not really. Are you still tired?”

“Not really.” She used his own words and gave him a wry smile. “I’ve been resting my eyes. Why?”

“Nothing.” Cam stared at the brandy in his glass. “So why don’t you tell me about your private life. What have you been doing for the last ten years?”

“Are you asking if I’m married or involved?” The idea that he would be curious was intriguing. “I’m neither. Never married. I was too busy working my way through school and then starting my career. Recently, undercover work hasn’t left much of an opening for, uh…entanglements.”

“I imagine. But about your schooling. I thought—”

Tara felt the heat flare in her face and the anger pushing at her patience, but she fought to bank them. “You thought your parents paid my way through school in return for breaking it off with you. Still believe that? As I tried to tell you then, scholarships and government loans helped me pay my own way. I never took a dime from them.”

She caught the surprise and rebuke in Cam’s eyes and was about to put up her hackles and continue the fight that had been interrupted ten years ago. But in his typical politically correct style, Cam’s face dimpled into a huge grin before she could say a word.

“Good for you for making it through on your own,” he murmured. “I always said you were the smart one and a hard worker.”

His parents hadn’t thought so. They’d been stunned when she turned down their offer of a bribe. That was the only word for what they’d offered. It had made her so angry. And had embarrassed her even though in the end, they were probably right to try ending the relationship.

But his parents were dead now, and she wasn’t here to fight with Cam. If he really believed her or not, she needed his help. Moreover, he seemed to need her too. He’d saved her life this afternoon, and Tara wondered if she could do anything to help him in return.

What was he really after with his questions? As a trained investigator, she clearly saw the underlying angst and hunger in his eyes. The hunger she understood.

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