Blinking, she brought her thoughts back to the present and trying to recover who she used to be.Patience,she told herself. Surely if she gave it enough time, she’d be herself again. Surely.
If not for the stranger who’d found her, who knew how long she might have lain there, unconscious and unprotected. Dangerous, especially because in this Texas town clear across the country from Leaning Tree, she didn’t know her friends from her enemies. Though she’d needed to go far, far away from Leo’s little empire, she knew no one here. She’d chosen this place because she’d watched a fishing show while in protective custody, and Anniversary’s lake had been featured. Leo didn’t know the place and hopefully he never would.
Still, she’d have to be more careful. Wincing as she rose, she headed for the kitchen to make a cup of calming herbal tea.
A reporter knew where to dig. Within minutes of chatting with Reba Mae Evans at one of the local real-estate offices, Colton learned that the woman who’d rented the old Pryor place was named Jewel Smith. An unusual first name to make up for a perfectly ordinary last name. He wouldn’t be surprised to learn the entire name was bogus.
Her face still haunted him—he had seen those hollowed cheekbones and brilliant eyes somewhere before, but where? Had she been a model or an actress?
A search of public records revealed that no one named Jewel Smith held a valid Texas driver’s license. No surprise there—he’d detected some kind of northern accent when she’d spoken.
Still, just to be certain, he checked criminal records next. Nothing. No reason whatsoever to suspect her of illegal drug use—except for the fact that he’d found her naked and unconscious in the woods, bleeding. From the way she’d tried to jump his bones, without even knowing him, he guessed she hadn’t been the victim of a violent rape.
Here was an interesting story.
What reporter could resist? Colton smelled more than just an ordinary story. This just might be a chance to make good on his promise to his dead daughter and prevent another senseless death from drugs.
Two hours later, he leaned back in his chair and admitted defeat.
For now.
Locking up after himself, he left the newspaper office and headed home, where he planned to order a pizza, pop a cold beer and zone out in front of the TV.
When the ten o’clock news came on, Colton grabbed the remote and switched off the television. What kind of reporter was he, when he couldn’t even bear to watch the news? Luckily, Floyd, his boss at theAnniversary Beacon,didn’t know about that little quirk.
Too restless to sleep, he took the boat out instead, ostensibly to do some night fishing. He hated that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Jewel Smith. Beautiful, sensual and elegant. Familiar. He knew he’d seen her somewhere before, but where? Where? The memory nagged at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t make it come.
Still feeling vaguely unsettled, he moved across the lake slowly, his headlight cutting a wide swath in the darkness. With the wind in his face and the roaring in his ears a poor substitute for what he inexplicably craved, anger rose in him. Images of her naked, her creamy skin damp with dew, were burned into his brain. He’d been afraid to sleep because he knew he’d dream of her, sleek and sexy and moving underneath him. He both wanted her and wanted to find out the truth about her.
He was worse than a fool.
Knowing that didn’t keep him from pointing his boat toward her cove.
