I want to do is put the past in the past.” Miller retrieved his checkbook and a key from an inner pocket of his suit jacket. “This is for the first month,” he said, handing her the check he’d prepared in advance.
“Oh, my goodness! Thank you!” Candy broke out into a huge grin and her eyes shot to Halliday. “My first standing order, Turner!”
“You’ll have to photocopy that and frame it, baby,” the sheriff said.
“What a great idea!”
If Miller didn’t get out of there in the next few seconds, he feared he would vomit. “And here’s the key to the kitchen door,” he said to Candy, noting the way she averted her eyes shamefully as she took it from him.
And rightly so. Gerrall had let her in through the kitchen night after night so she could illegally stay in her mother’s apartment. It still made his blood boil that she’d had no respect for the bylaws. Despite his attempts to be friendly, he couldn’t pass up a chance to stick it to her. “I know that you’re familiar with the kitchen entrance, Miss Carmichael.”
Candy laughed uncomfortably. Miller felt Turner’s eyes bore into the side of his skull. Time to go.
He said his good-byes and got out of there. Fun was fun, but the last thing he needed was to give Turner Halliday a reason to be unhappy with him.
* * *
Tanyalee didn’t know how much longer she could keep up this charade. After she’d blown her top because he’d popped up in her life without warning—which was just plain wrong—she did manage to cool off and stay cool. Since then, she’d been striving for aloof. No-nonsense. She wanted to appear as if she were completely unwilling to give an inch. She needed Dante Cabrera to understand that she was a woman who would not tolerate nonsense from a man under any circumstance.
Why? Because Tanyalee knew if she revealed even a sliver of what she was really feeling—that she was deliriously happy to see him and thrilled she’d been more to him than a no-tell motel rendezvous—she’d likely scream with happiness, rip off her clothes, and jump in his lap!
She fanned herself and stared out over the stillness of the lake. Sweet baby Jesus, help me keep it together.
He touched her hand again. Lightning strikes of delight zapped through her. She kept her eyes on the water and willed the thudding in her chest to subside.
“All right, Tanyalee. I’ll skip the sweet talk and get to the point. And then I’ll disappear, just like you want.”
Tanyalee whipped her head around. No! She hadn’t really meant it! She loved the sweet talk! She wanted him to stay! Tanyalee felt her pulse spike in alarm. Had she pushed too hard? Had she pushed him away?
Then she saw the smile in his eyes. Dante Cabrera knew her game, and he knew exactly how to play. Something about that made her panties wet and her heart soar.
Tanyalee tried hard not to smile. “I’m listening, Agent Cabrera. Just get to the point.”
Dante placed his other hand on hers, which meant he was now cradling her wrist, palm, and fingers in complete safety. She felt his fingertip brush against the tender inside of her wrist. She nearly moaned.
“Yes, I did track you here to Bigler,” Dante said, his voice soft and rhythmic. “To be perfectly honest, I’ve been thinking about you a lot since we met. I told myself it would be best to let it go but I just couldn’t.”
“I see.”
“As difficult as this might be to believe, I work out of the DEA’s field office in Asheville.” He looked at her expectantly, like he thought she was going to jump in with a comment.
“I didn’t know that.”
“Because I didn’t tell you.”
“No, you didn’t, Mr. Big Cheese.”
Dante smiled sheepishly.
Tanyalee shook her head. “That is quite a coincidence, I will give you that, but then how did you find out I lived in Bigler?”
His eyes flashed, and Tanyalee suspected that whatever was about to come out of his mouth wouldn’t be entirely truthful. “I thought I saw you in Asheville one evening, so I decided to find out who you were and where you lived.”
“Really, now?” Tanyalee hadn’t been spending much time in Asheville these days, except to attend 12-step meetings, and she sure as hell hadn’t seen Dante Cabrera at one. The man would have stuck out like a fly in a bucket of buttermilk. “Where exactly did you see me?”
He inclined his head over his