He popped it open and pulled out the paperwork.
She turned right and accelerated up the steep driveway, pulling into a carport at the top beside her château.
Beau shoved the papers back into the glovebox. “Rent-a-Junker? I’ve never heard of a company like that. Who would want to rent a beat-up old car?”
“People who want to blend in. Like me. Besides, it’s only a junker on the outside. The engine purrs like a kitten.” She shut it off and popped open her door. “Welcome to my little mountain getaway.”
He got out and stood beside her. “Remind me later to talk to you about how to blend in. Because this mansion…isn’t it.”
She cocked her head, studying the two-story stone and log facade. “I agree it’s bigger than your place—”
“You could put four of my homes inside that. Maybe more.”
“I wanted to be comfortable. Besides, you can’t see it from the road. It’s completely private and hidden. I’ll bet not a single person in town even realizes anyone’s living up here.”
He gave her a sideways look as they started across the gravel toward the front door. “You haven’t spent much time in small towns, have you?”
“No. Why?”
“I guarantee people know you’re here. You’re probably the talk of the town and don’t even realize it.”
She frowned at him as she stopped at the door. “If that was true, you’d have known I was here. When I showed up at your home, you were definitely surprised.”
“Only because I’ve been avoiding town since before you arrived. Otherwise I’d have been plugged into the local gossip and would know all about the pretty Spanish lady renting the old Haversham place. It’s been vacant a long time. No one can afford the rent except, apparently, you.”
She punched a code into the electronic keypad, and the lock clicked. “We’re not going to get along at all if you refer to me as Spanish. I came from Cuba, not Spain.”
“But you speak Spanish.”
She put her hands on her hips, tossing her hair over her shoulders. “It’s not at all the same.”
“Noted. My apologies.”
She wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not. “I’ll give you a tour of the place later. Right now I want to show you the office.” She led him down the marble steps into the soaring two-story family room to the far side where a set of double doors stood open.
Excited to show him what she’d done, she headed inside and stopped in the middle of the room, turning around to see his reaction.
“What the—” He let out a low whistle. “This setup rivals a NASA control room. What is all of this?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re completely exaggerating.” She led the way around the room, showing him the setup she’d put together. “It’s just a handful of computers daisy-chained together on one server. Well, and a backup server of course. You can’t be too careful. Most of what you see on all of these tables are monitors, three per computer. It’s not all that sophisticated. But it was the best I could do in a hokey little town like this. I had to make half a dozen trips to Chattanooga to get the equipment. Can you believe this place didn’t have even one computer in itwhen I rented it? Ridiculous. How do you people survive in such low-tech conditions?”
His silence had her looking at him to see if something was wrong. He was staring at her from a few feet away, shaking his head.
“What?” she asked.
“You brought in all of this equipment?”
“Um, yeah. How else would I get it here?”
“And you connected it together, thatdaisy-chainthing you mentioned?”
“Again, yes. Why?”
“I’m not sure what I expected of a mobster’s daughter, but this wasn’t it. What are you, some kind of computer genius?”
“No one’s ever called me agenius, so the answer is no. But I get by. I like technology and the advantages it provides. And I’m fortunate enough to be able to afford it, so why not utilize it?”
“Why not? Right. Aside from being beautiful and a technology guru, what else do I need to know about you?”
