Maverick / The Playboy's Passionate Pursuit
“Good.” He flicked a hand at the table. “Have a seat. We’ve got a lot of plans to go over.”
Wary but resigned, Bri slid onto the chair she had vacated moments before. She picked up the mug, took a sip, made a face and set it down again.
“That’s gotta be cold.” He grabbed the mug along with his own and turned away. “I’ll get us refills.” He raised his eyebrows. “What about your scone?”
Bri shook her head. “No, thank you. It’s fine this way.” Raising the pastry to her mouth, she took a bite. “It’s very good.”
“Whatever.” Shrugging, he turned away.
Chewing another bite of the scone, she watched him, studying him from the rear. It was a very nice rear, narrow, firm and taut. His back and shoulders weren’t bad, either, broad and muscular, not in a pumped-up way, but more lean and rangy.
Mugs refilled, Tanner returned to the table, giving her another chance to more closely examine the front of him. That was even better.
His flat, muscled chest veed to a slim waist. His legs were long, straight, his thighs nicely straining the denim of his jeans as he arranged his tall frame in the chair. He regarded her in calm, watchful silence.
Quiet and composed, his features appeared sculpted from marble, sharply delineated. His nose was straight, cheekbones high, jawline defined, square and hard, as if the sculptor had carved it lovingly. If it weren’t for those soft eyes and that tender smile, he’d look like a statue. That tiny flare of excitement flashed inside her again. Why? The question hammered at her mind. Bri couldn’t find the answer, and that seriously bothered her.
“What are you staring at?” His quiet voice jolted her out of her reverie.
Damn, once again he’d caught her brooding, staring. What in the world was the matter with her? she chastised herself. She had never been so strongly affected by any man. The closest she had ever come to feeling so drawn to a man had been a disaster, for he had proven to be a handsome, charming son of a bitch, a practiced user of young, susceptible women. At the time, she had been both.
“You,” Bri admitted, but that was all she intended to admit. “I’m trying to figure you out.”
He grinned. “How are you making out?”
“Not too well,” she said, deliberately grinning back at him. “You’re not easy to read.”
“Don’t feel bad,” he said, growing serious. “I can’t figure you out, either. You’re sure not what you appear to be.”
Bri raised her brows. “How do I appear to be?”
He studied her a moment. “My first impression of you was of a beautiful woman, very well dressed, well-bred and educated.”
Despite her suspicion of easy compliments—the SOB had been extremely easy with them—Bri felt her cheeks grow warm, flushed not only by his words but by the open admiration in his eyes. “I—I don’t know—”
Tanner silenced her with a quick shake of his head. “Don’t get all flustered. I doubt you’ll be as pleased with my opinion of how you’re different from my snap impression.”
Bri raised her mug to her lips to sip at the hot brew, looking relaxed, while in fact she was steeling herself for whatever he said next. “Go on.” How in the world she had managed a cool tone, Bri hadn’t a clue.
“I think you have been spoiled rotten,” he said with blunt honesty. “You want what you want, when you want it. I read you as self-centered, self-confident and too damned sure of yourself.”
Why Tanner Wolfe’s assessment of her personality should hurt her, she couldn’t imagine, but hurt it did, like the very devil. Odd, usually she wasn’t so sensitive to anyone else’s opinions of her. Since the episode with the silver-tongued weasel, she thought she had grown a thick skin.
“Now you want to take a shot at me?”
“Of course,” Bri said. “But first I’d like to know how you managed to come to that conclusion in such a short time with me.”
“Easy.” Tanner laughed. It sounded relaxed, genuine. “I recognized the traits because they’re very similar to my own.” He paused to laugh again. “The only difference is I’m not beautiful.”
Two
“You’re spoiled?” She couldn’t help laughing, thinking he was wrong on one point. He was beautiful, just in a different, masculine way.
“Sure,” he answered, laughing with her. “I have great parents. While instilling morals, values, ethics, good behavior and good housekeeping skills into their sons, they also spoiled the hell out of us. In a good way,” he quickly added, grinning.
“You have two brothers, both older than you, right?” she asked, although she knew the answer.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Justin’s the oldest, now thirty-two. Then Jeffrey, thirty. And lastly, yours truly, twenty-nine.” He grinned again. “There’s also a slew of cousins.”
“So I’ve heard.” She grinned back at him.
“How old are you?”
Well, no one would ever accuse him of being hesitant. The thought brought a smile to her lips. “I’m twenty-seven.”
“You’re too young to risk your life traipsing around in the mountains, looking for a killer.”
Bri rolled her eyes while heaving a sigh. “I believe we’ve already plowed that field, Mr. Wolfe. I’m going, period.”
“I know, but I had to try one more time.” His sigh was heavier than hers. “And the name’s Tanner. It would get pretty tiresome hearing Mr. Wolfe over and over for who the hell knows how long.”
“Okay…Tanner,” she agreed. “My friends call me Bri.”
“That’s too bad.” He smiled at her startled look. “I like Brianna better. It’s a lovely name and fits you perfectly. Like you, it’s classy.”
Bri grew warm with pleasure. He thought she was beautiful and classy? Though many men before him had called her beautiful, his compliment left her speechless for a long moment. Finally she found her voice, if rather weak and a bit breathless.
“Thank you,” she murmured, feeling herself grow warmer. “That was very nice of you.” Oh, gag me, she thought, disgusted with the inanity of her response.
“You’re welcome.” Tanner’s lips twitched, betraying his urge to grin.
She didn’t blame him. She joined him, laughing easily at herself. “Pretty lame, huh?”
He shook his head. “No, surprising. I would have thought you’d be used to compliments.”
“Well, yes,” she said. “But—”
“But what?” His eyes gleamed with a teasing light.
“Oh, let’s just forget it,” she said, certainly not for a moment about to admit he flustered her simply because she felt a physical attraction to him. A strong attraction.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” She frowned. “Because it’s getting silly, that’s why.”
“Too bad.” He sighed. “I thought it was just getting interesting.”
Bri rolled her eyes. This man is impossible. Gorgeous, sexy as hell, but impossible. “I think it’s time to get down to the business at hand.”
He gave another, deeper sigh. Boy, this guy was some actor, Bri thought, struggling against the urge to laugh, amazed at how much she was enjoying their banter, not to mention his company, his appeal. No, let’s not go there again, she told herself. As they were going to be spending a lot of time together, it would be in her best interest to avoid thinking about his appeal.
“Are you sulking?” she asked after several long moments—moments in which she had thought about nothing but him.
He smiled. “I never sulk. Children sulk. And, just on the odd chance you hadn’t noticed, I’m a man, not a child.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed,” she said, thinking she had noticed too damn much.
He smiled again. “Oh, I’ve noticed you, too.”
His smile was an invitation to sheer temptation. Pull it together, Bri told herself, fighting to control her rapid heartbeat and leaping pulse. You’ve had one go-round with a sweet-talkin’, overconfident type. That encounter was one too many.
But Tanner was an attractive, sexy man. And she was every bit as susceptible as any other normal woman. Why did the devil have to look so angelic?
Tanner smiled—a devilish, suggestive and too damned appealing smile.
Now Bri not only felt warm, she felt hot all over. And tingly. And funny inside. Stop it, she told herself. As if that helped.
“Uh…um…business,” she said, stumbling a bit over her words—something she had never done. “I really think it’s time to get down to business.”
“Too bad.” Tanner shook his head, looking or trying to look sad. His gleaming eyes gave him away. “But, if you insist, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty.”
“I do. And that is?”
“Set a day to leave and gather the supplies needed for this hunt.”
“I can leave tomorrow.”
“I haven’t told you yet everything we’ll need to take with us,” he said. “So how can you be ready by tomorrow?”
She shot him an impatient look. “If you’ll recall, I did tell you I have been hunting since I was a kid. I know how and what to pack.”
“Okay, kid,” he said, heavy on the kid. “But I think I’ll do a list, just to be on the safe side, make sure we’re on the same page, so to speak.” Getting up, he walked to the counter and pulled open a cabinet drawer. He took out a pencil and a pad of paper, then hesitated, turning his head to glance at her. “More coffee?”
“No, thank you.” Bri shook her head and shot a glance at her watch. “How long is this going to take?”
His lifted one brow. “Why? Are you in a hurry?”
“No, but the only thing I did was check in to the hotel and get my room card. I left my stuff with the bell captain and came right here.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“Lisa told me.” She smiled, maybe a bit smugly. “She spoke to your mother last night, who told Lisa you had called and said you had just returned.”
Tanner scowled.
Bri rushed to clarify her statement. “Your mother knew I was coming here to try to hire you.” She drew a breath and went on more normally. “She told Lisa she would let her know as soon as she heard from you.”
“Women.” He heaved a sigh and shook his head.
She bristled at his dismissive tone. “What’s wrong with women?”
Tanner slid a wry look at her. “Most of the time, like children, they should be seen and not heard.”
Stunned, Bri was speechless for a moment. Though sorely tempted to explode all over him, she forced herself to remain calm, icy calm. “Mr. Wolfe, that is the stupidest, most sexist remark I’ve ever heard. What century are you living in?”
“Honey, I’m right here and now,” he said, every bit as calm and icy. “I may not be politically correct, but I’m honest. I’m a women jabber. Simple as that.”
“Forget it.”
“Gladly. Now…”
“No,” she shook her head, sliding her chair back and rising. “I mean forget about finding that poor excuse for a man. I’ll hire someone else.” Before the last word was out of her mouth, she turned to leave. “Or hunt him myself.”
“No, you won’t.” His voice was sharp with command. “I’m going, with or without you,” he repeated her earlier ultimatum back to her. “Now, Brianna, sit down and let’s get down to business.”
Bri hesitated, telling herself that if she had any sense or pride, she would tell Tanner Wolfe to go to hell, walk out of there and look up another hunter. Her sense must have deserted her, for she sighed and swallowed what was left of her pride. In the final analysis, she was determined Minnich would be caught and she wanted the best mountain hunter. So, still glaring at Tanner, she reseated herself.
“Smart girl.” He offered a slight smile. She refused the offer. Instead he shrugged. “Okay, let’s get it done.”
Smart girl. Yeah, right. She had caved to the caveman, dammit. She soothed her tattered composure by reminding herself Dani’s well-being was worth her pride.
“Guns.”
Bri blinked herself out of her musings. “What?”
“You said you had your supplies,” he said patiently. “What kind of weapons do you have?”
“Oh.” Bri felt flustered and foolish. Telling herself to get with it, keep up with him, prove she was a smart girl, she replied, “I’ve got a.270 rifle with a three-by-nine scope and a.357 hunting revolver.” She arched her brows at his sudden intent expression. “What do you pack?”
“A.30-06 and a 7mm rifle with the same scope, and a.44 mag.” He looked impressed. “And you really do pack some heavy-duty heat.”
Not as much as you do, she thought, referring not to his weapons but to his body. “I told you I knew what I was doing,” she said, working at not sounding too smug or too breathless. “Anything else?”
His lips twitched, evidently amused by her. “Clothes, backpack, sleeping bag?”
“Yes.” Now her lips twitched. “All of the above.”
He smiled. “Wanna tell me about them? Just a hint?” His smile grew into a grin.
Bri gave a mock sigh, fighting the smile tickling the corners of her mouth. Darn him, why did he have to be so attractive? “I have clothes suitable for mountain terrain, including a ski jacket neatly packed in my backpack, along with other necessities. My sleeping bag is the best available and waterproof. I lay it on a nearly weightless ground sheet. Now are there any other questions?”
“As a matter of fact, there are,” he said. “What about food? Have you thought of that?”
This time she gave him a droll look. “Of course I have, but I didn’t bring much with me. I figured we could get what we needed here in Durango.”
He nodded. “You figured correctly.” He pushed the chair back and stood. “Let’s get lunch. We’ll take my truck.”
“Wait a minute,” she protested while standing and following him from the kitchen. “Who said anything about lunch?”
“I just did.” He shot a glance at the big red-rimmed clock on one wall. “It’s nearly one. I’m hungry for something more substantive than a scone. Aren’t you?”
“Well, yes,” she admitted reluctantly, because she was feeling too attracted to the arrogant Neanderthal. “Why not take separate vehicles?”
Tanner paused, holding open the door for her. “You know your way around Durango?”
She had never even been to Durango, Colorado, before. “Well, no, but—” She was about to mention the restaurant in her hotel, but that’s as far as she got before he cut her off.
“That’s what I thought. We’ll take my truck.”
Bri had no intention of doing so. She shook her head. “I want to go to the hotel and freshen up a bit. Give me directions. I’ll meet you at the restaurant in a half hour.”
The restaurant Tanner had directed her to was done in Western decor, not honky-tonk but with style and ambience. Now, in early afternoon, there were few patrons, so the place was quiet.
“This is very nice,” she said to Tanner, seating herself in the chair the host held for her. She smiled at the man. “Thank you.”
“Wait till you’ve tasted the food,” Tanner said.
She looked over the long list of dishes offered on the menu. Her glance halted at shrimp and pasta in a light herb dressing. On the spot, she dumped the idea of her normal luncheon salad.
She placed her order when the waitress came, then looked up at Tanner. She felt certain he would order red meat, like a rare steak. He surprised her. A talent he seemingly had in abundance.
“I’ll have the pasta, as well, but with chicken.”
The server no sooner turned away when a young woman came to an abrupt stop at their table. She was blond, petite and more than pretty. Her big blue eyes sparkled with surprised pleasure. Her teeth gleamed in a brilliant yet sensuous smile.
“Tanner, honey!” Miss Sunshine exclaimed, moving into his arms when Tanner stood. “I haven’t seen you in ages. What have you been up to?”
For some inexplicable reason, everything about the young woman annoyed Bri, from her cooing voice to the possessive way her arms curled around his neck. For a few seconds Bri was even more annoyed at the way Tanner smiled down at the small woman clinging to him. Her annoyance fled with his drawled response.
“Well, Candy, I’m up to the same six feet four inches I was at the last time I saw you… ‘ages’ ago. What has it been—all of a week or two?”
Somehow Bri contained the laughter bubbling up inside her at his reply. And her name! Candy. It certainly fit, all right. She was arm candy for hungry males.
The thought sobered Bri. Was Tanner one of the hungry males? She was so startled, so bothered by the very idea of Tanner being that predictable, she almost missed him setting the woman from him and turning to her. She quickly rose.
“Brianna, I’d like you to meet Candy Saunders. She’s from back east, too—”
“The Hamptons,” Candy was quick to arrogantly insert, rudely cutting Tanner off. All sweetness and light were gone, her eyes and smile calculating as she swept a dismissive glance over Bri.
Looking bored, Tanner rolled his eyes at Bri, a wry smile twitching the corners of his mouth. “Candy of the Hamptons, meet Brianna Stewart of Pennsylvania.”
Candy gave a delicate sniff, obviously not impressed. “How nice. Are you visiting someone here in Durango?” She arched one perfect bleached eyebrow. “One of Tanner’s friends, perhaps?”
Bri didn’t know whether to laugh or slug the overbearing woman. She did neither, of course. Instead she answered drily, “No, I’m not visiting. I have business with Mr. Wolfe.”
“Really?” Both eyebrows went up.
“Yeah, really,” Tanner said, now sounding as bored as he looked. “If you’ll excuse us?” He indicated a table toward the back. “I think your friend is getting impatient for you to join him.”
Candy turned back to him, instantly changing to Miss Sunshine again. “Yes, of course, darlin’,” she cooed, raising a small hand to lightly drag her dagger nails down his face. “Toodles,” she said, drawing her hand away and wiggling her scarlet-tipped fingers at him. “Call me.” Without so much as a glance at Bri, she sashayed away.
“Toodles?” Battling another bubble of laughter sparked by the drama queen, Bri resumed her seat just as the server approached the table with their meals.
“That’s Candy,” he said, shrugging.
Yes, Bri mused, but did he like candy? Mentally dismissing the oddly disturbing idea, she asked, “A good friend of yours?” The question was out before she could stop herself. Dammit, she didn’t give a rip either way…did she?
Tanner saved her from her self-condemnation. “No.” He shook his head, setting his long waves rippling, brushing his shoulders. “She’s a bit of an airhead, I’m afraid, and calls every man ‘darlin” in that cloyingly sweet voice.” He shrugged. “But she can be polite and even amusing at times.”
“I see.” Bri hid a frown of dissatisfaction by lowering her head to inhale the aroma wafting from the steaming plate the server set in front of her.
The food was delicious. The conversation, which didn’t include candy of any sort, ranged from favorite foods to favorite movies to general likes and dislikes. Bri relaxed, let her guard down.
It was a mistake she rarely made.
On leaving the restaurant, feeling mellow—too mellow—she soon realized she had been led down the conversational garden path, so to speak.
“Where are you staying?” Tanner asked as they headed for their vehicles.
“The Strater Hotel. It’s lovely.”
“Yeah, a landmark, built in 1887.” His tone held a tiny note of the proud resident. “You know, Will Rogers stayed there. And Louis L’Amour wrote several of his Western novels while he was staying there.”
“He must have stayed a while,” she said, smiling at his instructive tone. “Or written very fast.”
He grinned.
Bri felt something inside go all squishy. Why did he have to have such a sexy grin? She swallowed a sigh of self-disgust—or was it longing?—and was relieved when they came to her rental SUV. “This one’s mine.”
“I’m right behind you.” He moved his head, indicating the much larger, kick-ass SUV. “I’ve got some calls to make before I go for the food supplies and some loose ends to tie up tomorrow. Suppose I pick you up the day after tomorrow? I want to get an early start. Is five okay with you?”
In that instant Bri became wary of his intentions. “You will be here, won’t you?”
At once, his pleasant expression changed, his features growing taut. “Didn’t I just say I will?” His voice carried both anger and insult.
“Yes.” Bri was not about to apologize. “But I want to be certain you won’t take a flit on me.”
“A flit…” He shook his head. “What are you getting at? Do you believe—” As he paused, she pounced.
“That you’re going to take off on your own, leave me cooling my heels here in Durango?” she finished for him. “Oh, yeah, Mr. Wolfe, that’s exactly what I think you might try. I guess I should have listened to your cousins. They warned me you were a loner, a maverick who went his own way alone.” He started to speak, but she charged on. “And that’s what you intend to do to me, isn’t it?”
“Okay, I admit I prefer to do my hunting alone, as I always have. But I had agreed to your going with me, so why in hell did you get the idea that I was planning to take off without you?” Now Tanner sounded angry, and his features had hardened, turning the saint into the bounty hunter.
Bri wasn’t impressed by either his voice or the hard look of him. At least she worked to appear unimpressed. In truth, she was shaken, trembling inside. But that was because she was just as angry.
“Oh, couldn’t be because you now seem eager to get rid of me while you get your stuff together, now could it?” She didn’t wait for him to ditch the stunned, speechless look, but continued, “It might even have worked except for one minor detail. You forgot that I’m carrying the check.”
“I didn’t forget a damned thing.”
Whoa. If she had thought he was angry before, she was now seeing real anger. More like fury. And furious, Tanner Wolfe was downright frightening.
“Good, because even if I’d have bought into your softening-up routine in the restaurant—” he again opened his mouth to interrupt but she held up her hand, keeping him still while she rushed breathlessly on “—and you skipped off on your own and brought in that bastard, you wouldn’t have gotten anything but the original ten thousand bounty.”
“Finished?” His cold tone was chilling.
The tremor inside Bri turned into an icy shiver she was hard-pressed to hide from him. “Yes.” How she had managed so calm a tone amazed her.
“Feel better for having your little rant?” There was something new and dangerous in his voice that froze the icy shiver solid.
Bri stiffened her spine and raised her chin to a defiant angle. “I was not ranting.”
“Coulda fooled me,” he drawled. “And there was no softening-up in the restaurant. I guess I’m not too bright, because I thought we were having a nice time getting to know each other.” He gave her a quizzical look. “What made you think I was setting you up, anyway?”
How did one explain a feeling, a sudden onslaught of intuition? she asked herself. A hard lesson learned from another man who’d been a pro at stringing along women?
“I’m not quite sure myself,” she admitted. “When we were talking, I relaxed, and the next minute I began to feel suspicious.” She told herself the sudden feeling had nothing to do with how he had allowed that man-eater Candy to step into his embrace.
At the back of her mind, another unsettling suspicion niggled at her. The suspicion that he might have been in a hurry to send her packing so he could go back to the restaurant to indulge in some after-dinner candy. Then he would collect his stuff and head into the mountains without her.
Bri brushed the suspicion off, not about to recognize it. There was no way she would voice it to Tanner. His heavy sigh dissolved her uncomfortable reverie.
“Do you want to spend the next two nights with me?”
Yes, she thought at once. “No,” she said in firm denial of her first response.
“Then I suppose you’ll have to trust me.” He smiled quite like a chess player who had his opponent checkmated. “That is, if you still want to go with me.”