Taming the Carefree Billionaire - Marie Higgins Page 0,42

you.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven tonight. Wear a dress.”

Grinning, she swung her head to look at him. “Are you going to be one of those guys who tells his date what to do the whole night?”

Thomas shrugged. “Then wear whatever you like, but I’m taking you somewhere fancy.”

She shook her head and turned forward again. She started the motorcycle and took off. Thomas was becoming more and more irresistible. She still wondered if that was a good thing or not.

FIFTEEN

A cold shower was the only thing that made Morgan wake up. She’d been sleeping so cozily in her soft bed and dreaming about a man she really shouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts about, but it was nice, anyway.

An hour later, she sat at her home computer and tried to lighten the pictures she’d snapped last night from her cell phone. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried to make them lighter, it was still very hard to see faces. There was nothing distinctive enough about each man to give away their identities. It was her word against theirs. Of course, Thomas had also seen them, but all he knew was that they were by his gate. The police would dismiss the complaint quicker than flies heading toward a manure field.

Groaning, she rested her elbows on the desk while rubbing her forehead. There had to be more that she could do. Garth Sorenson was behind these fires, she just knew it, and she worried that Thomas’ vineyard would be next. If she could spy on him every day, maybe she’d catch him doing something, but unfortunately, she had a job, and paying the bills – and helping to pay off her parents’ home – was more important right now.

She sat back in her chair, clicked out of the program she was in, and stared blankly at the screen. Today would drag until her date tonight, so she must try to keep herself busy.

The chirping of her phone snapped her alert. Caller ID showed that Joslyn was calling. Morgan clicked on the accept button. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I just received a notice that another vineyard is on fire. It’s in Oakland.”

Morgan jumped to her feet and headed to grab her camera bag. “Text me the address. I’ll leave now and meet you there.”

Joslyn chuckled softly. “I’m getting dressed right now. I’m determined to be the first one on the scene, again.”

Morgan wanted to laugh. Joslyn didn’t sound like she was fully awake. Of course, knowing her coworker, she was sure that Joslyn had taken home a man from Thomas’ party last night. “Text me the address.”

“I’ll do it as soon as I hang up.”

Morgan clicked off the call and finished getting her things ready. She slipped on her black jacket and zipped it up before grabbing her helmet and camera bag and hurrying out the door. She checked her cell, she saw the address Joslyn had texted her, so she searched the internet to find the quickest way there.

Close to thirty minutes later, she slowed her motorcycle and weaved through the onlookers parked in the road close to the vineyard. The fire was mostly contained but smoke still filled the air. She parked her bike and grabbed her camera. As she moved closer, she took pictures – as many as she could get. One-fourth of the vineyard was burned. From what she heard from the onlookers, the fire began around seven o’clock, and the fire spread quickly. No one saw what happened. At this point, the police were guessing arson.

A few times, she tried getting closer to the police as they talked with the owners of the vineyard, but when the cops noticed her, they shooed her away. She hadn’t heard anything that pointed toward Garth unfortunately, but she was able to get some pretty amazing pictures of the charred fields. Her heart wrenched, knowing these people had just lost part of their livelihood.

Two hours later, she walked to her bike. Joslyn was still busy interviewing people, but Morgan had done all she could. She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Joslyn about what happened with Garth and his friends. After all, this was Morgan’s story – not Joslyn’s. Without a doubt, the reporter would steal any information Morgan had and claim it as her own.

She stuffed the camera back in her backpack and slipped the straps over her shoulders. She put on her helmet and climbed on her bike. More people had gathered on the street, so once again, she moved