Millionaire in a Stetson (13 page)

Plus, he was starting to truly like her. Maybe it was because his expectations had been so low in the beginning, but he’d been pleasantly surprised. She was bright and funny, and he hadn’t seen any of the conniving nerve he’d imagined from seeing her pictures and hearing stories of her mother.

He was now completely certain she didn’t know who he was. And he wasn’t even sure anymore that she was plotting against his uncle, or against anyone else for that matter.

He had to consider the possibility that she was simply trying to keep herself safe in the middle of a senseless situation. If that was true, she had a very big problem. Sawyer might be the first to find her, but he wouldn’t be the last, and not everyone would take this low-key approach to getting information.

At the breakfast table with Dylan, Sawyer’s cell phone chimed.

“She was heading back to Denver today,” Dylan was saying. He’d been describing his evening with the brunette he’d met at the rodeo dance.

“That’s a good thing?” Sawyer asked as he extracted his phone.

“Good thing for me,” said Dylan. “She was fun and all, but I don’t see happily ever after in the cards for us.”

“You never see happily ever after in the cards,” Sawyer replied, noting his uncle Charles’ office number on the screen.

“That’s because I stack the deck,” said Dylan.

Sawyer didn’t have any argument with that logic. He raised the phone to his ear. “Charles,” he greeted while Dylan gave him an eye-roll.

“I need a status report,” his uncle came straight to the point.

“You know the status,” said Sawyer. “I found her, and I’m trying to figure out where she’s hidden the diary.”

“You said you were going to seduce her. What’s taking so long?”

“I said romance, not seduce.” Sawyer regretted having told him anything at all.

“Don’t play with semantics. Get it done. The midterm elections are right around the corner.”

“I’ve got another date with her. Besides, we’ve got a few months to play with,” Sawyer replied.

“You do
not
have a few months. I want this settled and resolved asap.”

“I’m working my way in,” said Sawyer.

“Do you need more manpower?”

“It’s a one-man job.”

Dylan coughed out a laugh, and Sawyer sent him a glare.

“And are you the man for it?” Charles demanded.

“Yes,” Sawyer responded with conviction.

“Then get on with it.”

“Uncle, you are going to have to acquire some patience.”

“Easy for you to say. It’s not your career that’s on the line.”

“I’m also not the one who screwed around on his wife.”

Dylan’s brow rose in obvious surprise and clear admiration.

“Don’t get cocky with me, young man,” Charles sputtered. “I still control this family, and that includes the money.”

“Yeah?” For some reason, Sawyer felt more than the usual impatience with his uncle’s arrogance. “Well, I’m perfectly employable in the US Navy.”

“Is that a threat?” asked Charles.

“It’s a statement of fact.”

“Go ahead. I’d like to see you
try
to live on a Lieutenant’s salary.”

Sawyer regretted letting the conversation get off track. “You have to leave this to me, Charles. I’m the man on the ground, and I’m doing what’s best.”

“Do it faster.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I know something. Goodbye.” He hit the disconnect button before Charles could say anything else.

Dylan was the first to speak. “You decided to poke the bear?”

“What’s he going to do?” Sawyer tucked the phone away. “He knows damn well I’m his best chance to solve this problem.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I think your family should have ganged up on the bastard years ago. I just wonder why now.”

“Because this isn’t going to work his way.”

“Nothing ever works his way. But you usually humor him.”

“Guess I’m in a bad mood.” Sawyer polished off his coffee.

“Sexually frustrated, perhaps?”

Sawyer didn’t dignify the accusation with an answer. Although it was completely true.

“I’m taking her white-water rafting,” he noted.

Dylan asked in a wry voice, “Did you read somewhere that that was romantic?”

Sawyer frowned at Dylan.

“Did you even consider dinner and a movie?”

“She wants to go white-water rafting,” Sawyer countered. “Just because you’re completely unimaginative about your dates…”

“I got lucky after the dance. That’s not unimaginative.”

Sawyer grunted a noncommittal response.

But Dylan didn’t let it go. “I’m just sayin’ if you want to compare techniques.”

“
You’re
the one who told me to romance her, not seduce her.”

Dylan smirked into his coffee cup. “Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy your pain.”

Sawyer pushed away from the table. “I’ve got work to do.”

He’d found a white-water rafting outfit a couple of hours away, and now he needed to track down Niki and invite her along.

He rose. Just thinking about her made his steps a little lighter. His frustration over his uncle’s stubbornness evaporated, and his mood improved.

“Don’t wait up,” he told Dylan as he crossed for the door, snagging his cowboy hat.

“Big talker,” Dylan jeered.

Sawyer turned and gave a cocky grin.

A flash of worry crossed Dylan’s face. “Don’t do it. I’m just messin’ with you here. Don’t screw it all up by sleeping with her.”

“Have a little faith,” Sawyer returned.

“I have too much faith. I’ve seen you in action.”

“Nice of you to finally admit it.” Sawyer swung the door closed behind him.

He stuffed his hat on his head, chose the closest pickup truck, and peeled out of the yard, bouncing down the driveway toward the Terrell place.

* * *

Niki had expected a solid raft, a wide, stable craft with eight passengers and an experienced guide at the tiller. Instead, she was standing on the River Adventures dock, next to what looked like an inflatable kayak, narrow, wobbly, with only two seats, and not a guide in sight.

“It’ll be fine,” Sawyer reassured her, checking the clips and cinching down the straps on her bright orange life jacket. “You’ll have a blast.”

“What if I panic?” She struggled to hold on to her courage. First the white water, she had told herself. Then she’d figure out how to deal with the bad guys.

“What if we tip over?” she found herself asking.

“Then I’ll rescue you.” He handed her a two-ended paddle. “I’ve done it before.”

“Be serious,” she pressed.

“That’s what the life jacket’s for. It’ll keep you afloat until I get to you. Besides, the rapids are only grade four. We probably won’t go over.”

“Probably?” Her voice had gone embarrassingly high.

“Nellie.”

“What?”

“This is going to be fun.”

She stared at him, trying to ascertain the level of confidence on his face. He looked plenty confident. He also looked relaxed. He looked like he was laughing at her.

“You’ve done this before?” she confirmed, telling herself to buck up.

“Many, many times. In smaller boats and in bigger boats.”

“But, not this size.”

His face broke into a grin. “Has anybody ever told you, you worry too much?”

“Many, many times,” she muttered, thinking of her mother.

Gabriella had called Niki a worrywart. It was true that most of her worry had proved pointless. They’d usually gotten away with Gabriella’s schemes.

“You don’t need to worry.”

“That’s what my mother used to say.”

“And was she right?”

“Don’t worry, Niki,” Niki parroted. “The sign on the backstage door doesn’t mean
us
when it says No Admittance. Niki, you don’t
have
to be on the guest list if you know what to say. Niki, speed signs are for people who
don’t
know how to flirt with police officers.”

Sawyer grinned. “I think I might have liked your mother.”

“Everybody liked my mother,” said Niki. “That’s how she got away with it.”

He moved to where the small craft was tied up, crouching to release the ropes. “For today,” he said to Niki. “You truly don’t need to worry. I promise I won’t speed down the river.”

“That’s a comfort,” said Niki, squaring her shoulders.

“You get in the front,” said Sawyer. “And I’ll launch us. Remember, paddle when I tell you, like I showed you. If we do go into the water—”

Niki shot him a warning look over the bulky life jacket.

“If we do go into the water,” he repeated. “Keep your feet downstream. Try to avoid the white water, because there are rocks underneath it, and angle toward the shore.”

“I’m too young to die,” she told him.

“This was your idea,” he reminded her.

“I thought it would be different.”

“How?”

“I thought we’d have a professional guide.”

“I am a professional guide.”

“You know what I mean.”

His tone was patient. “Nellie, recreational river guides can be certified in a few weeks. It takes years to get my level of naval training. I’m better than a guide.”

Her confidence level inched up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now, get in the boat.”

Niki drew a bracing breath. “All right.”

It was now or never. She maneuvered carefully into the boat, balancing one hand on the dock as she compensated for the stiff life jacket. Beneath the jacket, she wore her bathing suit, covered by a little, cotton sundress, all topped with a white baseball cap.

The rental company provided a lunch, a blanket, rain jackets, and a first-aid kit, all packed in watertight containers and strapped to the inside of the tandem raft. She settled into the molded plastic seat.

“Here we go,” Sawyer called from behind, and the raft moved out into the river.

It swayed slightly, first to one side then the other as he settled into his own seat. The movement only ramped up the butterflies in her stomach.

“Paddle on both sides,” he called.

Niki dug in, moving the paddle through the water on her right, then on her left. Right, left, right, left.

As they neared the center of the river, Sawyer pointed them downstream. They bobbed along, and the paddling was easy. The little raft pitched and rolled as it gained speed in the swift, smooth current. The mountain scenery moved past, leaves rustling in the trees, birds flitting from branch to branch, and a few fluffy clouds high above in the blue sky.

“You’re doing great,” Sawyer called from behind.

“This is fun,” she returned, paddling in rhythm.

They rounded the first bend in the river, and the building and dock owned by the rental company disappeared behind them. The river was, maybe, thirty feet wide, snaking its way through quiet wilderness.

White water appeared in the distance, rock faces rising up on either side, with one huge boulder sticking up in the middle.

“I’m taking us through the left channel,” Sawyer advised. “It’ll get bumpy, but don’t worry. It’s plenty deep, and we won’t hit anything below.”

The raft sped up, and Niki gripped her paddle, nerves rising again. They went up a roller, then steeply down the other side, missing the boulder by a few feet. She forgot to paddle as they leaped sharply up again, sweeping in a turn, bouncing over rapids that splashed her from head to toe.

She gasped at the cold, and she could hear Sawyer’s laughter behind her.

“Well done,” he called encouragingly.

“I didn’t do anything.” She hadn’t paddled a stroke.

“Doesn’t matter,” he told her easily. “I can maneuver it by myself.”

The water smoothed out again, the raft bobbing gently up and down as they whispered along. Niki resumed paddling. The sun was warm on her head, the wind from their movement fresh across her wet face. A pair of mallards swam in the shallows of a back eddy, taking flight as the raft moved past. A fish jumped, clearing the water, its silvery body flashing in the sun.

The sound of the river grew louder.

“You’ll want to hang on tight through this,” said Sawyer.

She twisted around to look at him. “Is something about to happen?”

“There’s a small waterfall around the bend.”

“Are you joking?”

“It’s little. More a series of rapids than anything. But there’ll be a drop at the end. Hang on tight like I said, and let me do the work.”

The sound of the water grew louder. She glimpsed a plume of white spray shooting up in the distance, reminding her of the massive falls from last night. She blocked that image from her mind. Sawyer had said the waterfall was little.

It looked little.

Okay, maybe it looked medium.

There were an awful lot of rocks sticking up in the rapids.

The raft moved swiftly forward, and she gripped tight as they bounced their way down the incline of rapids. Sawyer took them around the rocks and through the deepest points that looked dark and mysterious. Although Niki’s stomach lurched a few times, she couldn’t help a grin that grew on her face.

This really was exhilarating.

She braced herself for the little falls, gripping tight to the handles and her paddle. The raft launched over the edge, dropping into a pool below, and a wave of water soaked her to the skin. The boat spun in a complete circle in the small whirlpool before Sawyer got them out the other side.

She sputtered and laughed, as Sawyer pointed them downriver again.

“That was a blast,” she sang out. “Are there more?”

“There are more,” he answered her.

She dipped her paddle in and began to help again. Her nerves had settled down. She felt proud of herself. She was conquering another fear.

“Where have you done this before?” she asked.

“Washington State, California, Alaska.”

“You’ve been to Alaska?”

“The navy likes to drop by Anchorage every once in a while.”

“Never been there.” Niki paddled harder. “My mother wasn’t the Alaska type.”

“What type was she?”

“Bright lights, big city.”

“Like Vegas?”

“Like Manhattan, LA, Paris. She enjoyed shopping on Rodeo Drive and dining at Boa’s.”

“Did she ever get married?”

Niki couldn’t help but smile at that. “Never. She used to tell me that the best way to get a man to stop paying attention to you was to marry him.”