Mel nodded. “Yes, sir, that’s what they want you to think.”
“My momma loves that show,” Cam said, his southern accent suddenly thick. “Now, I’m not an agent any more, but I still have contacts. I can call and ask about where your cases have gone.” Mel’s eyes narrowed. “You would say that if you were an alien.” He held out his beeper. It went off, but weakly.
“I spent all morning in that car,” Cam explained. “We rented it out in Alamosa.”
“You got the rental agreement?”
“It’s in the glove box. I assure you, I am one hundred percent southern boy. And self-employed. I left the FBI years ago. You just can’t trust big government.”
Now Mel was all smiles. “Well, hell, I came from the south myself. I was from Georgia until the mothership picked me up and dropped me just outside of Denver. Now they don’t usually do that.
They’re usually real good about dropping you back off right where they took you. But they were sneaky with me. You see, I managed to stay awake through my probing. Now, that wasn’t all unpleasant. I mean, first you’re real scared and all, but there are times when it feels nice. I just wish they wouldn’t play so much Britney Spears. Those aliens really like that Britney Spears. Come on, son, let’s go get some lunch at Stella’s, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Cam turned his head and gave Rafe a helpless smile as he allowed himself to be walked off. Mel started in on what alien lubrication was like, and Rafe just stood there feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.
Laura had a grin on her face that would have made the Cheshire Cat proud. “Guess your brand of charm doesn’t work here in Bliss.” She placed her arm through Wolf’s and walked off after Cam and Mel.
The cell in Rafe’s pocket buzzed. He was grateful for the distraction. He looked down at the number. His chief. Joe’s voice cracked over the line.
“You ma…okay?”
Yeah, well it was far too much to ask for good cell reception.
“Joe, I can’t hear you.”
“Wha…can’t…where?”
“You’re cutting out.” He raised his voice, somehow hoping that louder would be better.
“On his…Bliss. New information.”
“What information?” He was screaming now, frustration taking over. Was it on the case? Was it about Laura? His hand tightened on the worse-than-useless phone.
There was a click and a buzzing sound as the call disconnected.
Someone slapped him on the back. Rafe turned and saw a man with a cowboy hat on his head. He was dressed in khakis, and there was a gold badge on his chest.
“You know yelling at it doesn’t fix things. If you want to yell at someone, yell at the Farley twins. They had the brilliant idea to turn our nearest cell tower into a SETI receiver. I have no idea how those boys managed to screw it up so badly, but it doesn’t work anymore.
The phone company says they’re working on it, but we’re so small, I don’t think we’re a priority. We’re all scrambling,” the man said. The badge on his chest proclaimed him to be the sheriff of the town.
“We’ve had to make do. Now, if you want really good reception, there’s this hill right outside the Harper Stables. You tend to have to stand on one leg, and it’s best if you take a friend with you because the really good spot is about four feet off the ledge, but as long as someone holds on, you should be all right.” The sheriff tipped his hat and started to walk off. He didn’t look back as he said his final words of wisdom. “And watch out for bears!
And Max Harper. He can be worse than a bear. If you see him coming, I would shoot first and ask questions never.” Yeah, Rafe fucking hated this place.
“Are you planning to tell me why we’re lying to federal agents, or have you had an abrupt change of heart? Because if the latter is true, then we have to talk about the way you proposed. A guy needs some romance with his marriage proposal. And you didn’t get down on one knee.”
Normally, Laura would have laughed at Wolf’s teasing. Now she found herself frowning his way. She shouldn’t be pissed at him, but he was the only one around. “If you could just go along with it, it will only be a couple of hours. I assure you, once they tell me what they need to say, they’ll be right back on a plane to DC. Those two are very career oriented. They don’t belong in Bliss.” Wolf helped her step up the curb as they walked toward the parking lot beside Stella’s. Holly had driven Laura into town, but she’d decided it would be best if Wolf drove her home. It was all the better to keep up her little deception. She couldn’t feel too bad about it. After all, they had deceived her. At least she hadn’t slept with them before she lied to them.
Wolf walked her toward his dually. The massive black truck was a lot like Wolf, enormous, powerful, and very comfortable on the inside. He opened the door and handed her up.
“I was a little surprised you didn’t listen to them.” Wolf stood just outside her door. The height of the seat allowed her to look straight into his calculating dark eyes. “If what you say is true, then one little conversation could clear everything up and send those boys on their way. Makes me wonder why you put them off.” Bastard. He shut the door and walked around the truck. She didn’t want to think about that. She wanted to stew. She wanted to rail. Why had she decided to let Wolf drive her? If she was with Holly, she could simply sit and fume. Holly would fume with her. Wolf was far too busy psychoanalyzing her.
Wolf hopped into the driver’s seat and started the truck to purring.
“No answer for that?”
“Is one required?” She hadn’t meant to sound that icy, had she?
He turned to her, one eyebrow climbing up his handsome face.
“No, but some courtesy would be nice.” And she finally, really figured Wolf Meyer out. He had always reminded her of someone, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on it. That arched brow and the demand for courtesy did it. Stefan Talbot. Oh, yeah, Wolf Meyer was a Dom. He’d mentioned that his brother was in the lifestyle, but he’d conveniently left out his own interest in BDSM. She sighed. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to be rude. I’m afraid they threw me for a loop.” She allowed her lips to quirk up a bit. “Will you forgive me if I call you Sir?” His cheekbones stained a slight red. “Gave myself away, did I?
Well, I always knew you would be hesitant about that part of my life.
It was never going to work, was it?”
He pulled out onto the road.
“Sorry, I’m afraid that’s not really my cup of tea.”
“But I’m guessing ménage isn’t out of the question.” Now she was the one blushing. “And you go there, why? Most normal people would ask which one I had been involved with.”
“I’m not normal, and both of those men want you. They both wanted to murder me. You don’t get that possessive about a woman unless you’ve had her—or you’re completely insane. Given where we are, it could be either option.”
“It was just a fling.” She heard the hollowness in her voice. Damn it. She’d been good at hiding her emotions once. Now they were just hanging out all over the place.
“Do you really believe that?” Wolf asked as he turned toward the valley where a small cluster of cabins lay. “I don’t know if we were listening to the same conversation. I heard that they had been looking for you. The big guy quit his precious job in order to spend all of his time trying to hunt you down. The other guy practically ate you up with his eyes. They didn’t seem to be disengaged agents doing a job.” She wasn’t falling for their crap again. She wasn’t sure why they were here, but it didn’t matter. If anything, it was likely guilt that caused them to search for her. They had felt guilty when she’d been kidnapped. She could still remember waking up after surgery to the sounds of the two of them fighting about who was really at fault. Cam had blamed Rafe for selling her out. Rafe had pointed out that Cam hadn’t believed her profile either. It had been a nasty way to wake up.