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Authors: Carla Neggers

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BOOK: Tempting Fate
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“You're very observant.”

“However,” he said, the humor flickering back to his eyes, “if you're Dani Pembroke, and I take it you are, you could have gotten banged up fetching a kite down from a tree or climbing rocks.”

She straightened, suddenly acutely aware of the position in which this man had found her. Bruised, scared, robbed. “Are you a reporter? Can't you guys leave me alone? Look, I haven't admitted anything—”

“I'm not a reporter.” Zeke Cutler pulled himself from her car. His eyes never left her. He was, she thought, one intensely controlled man. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Did you get a good look at the man who attacked you?”

She refused to answer. What if this was an act and he was the one who'd attacked her? What if he really was a reporter?

“You didn't call the police,” he said.

“What makes you so sure?”

His expression was unreadable now, any humor gone. “It's an educated guess.”

“Well, Mr. Cutler, I appreciate your concern, but if you don't mind, I'd like you off my property. Under the circumstances, you're making me nervous. I'm sure you understand.”

“Suit yourself.”

Without further argument, he started down the driveway. His running shoes scrunched on the gravel. Dani made herself notice his clothes: jeans and dark blue pullover. Black sport watch. No socks. He looked clean enough. And he moved with a speed, grace and economy that struck her as inordinately sexy and not entirely unexpected. It suddenly occurred to her that he could be a lost guest from the Pembroke. But he didn't seem the type to stay at a spa-inn, nor, certainly, the type to get lost.

He seemed more the type who could have pitched her across her room and lied about it.

She waited until he was out of sight. Then she returned to her cottage, pried the frying pan from her grip and picked up the phone again.

This time she didn't stop dialing until she'd finished. But it wasn't Ira she called, or the police, or Pembroke security, or any of her friends, or, God knew, her father or grandfathers or her sweet aunt Sara. She called the one person she could always call when she found her house ransacked and a strange man in her garden, and that was her grandmother, Mattie Witt.

Dani Pembroke wasn't what Zeke had expected.

He entered the rose garden, figuring that if
he'd
just robbed Dani Pembroke, it was where he'd head. But as he stepped through the iron gate, memories—dreams that were dead and done with—assaulted him. He pictured how the garden had looked twenty-five years ago, with Mattie Witt sitting in its overgrown midst, wearing her orange flight suit as she'd worked on the basket of her hot-air balloon.

He'd been a fool to let the past determine his actions. He couldn't afford to make that kind of mistake again.

But there was a lot of Mattie in her granddaughter, in her dark good looks, her independence. And with her zest for a fight—an iron skillet, for pete's sake—a flash of Nicholas Pembroke.

Instinctively Zeke knew all those qualities were what Dani wanted people to see in her. She wouldn't want them to see the mystery and vulnerability he'd detected behind her direct manner, the parts of her she held back, the parts that would remind people of her gentle, sensitive, lost mother. Her eyes, as black as Lilli's had been blue, said she had secrets and knew you knew she had them but wasn't going to tell you what they were anyway.

There was a lack of self-pity about the owner of Pembroke Springs that Zeke could admire.

And, given the circumstances, a hotheadedness that worried him.

The rose garden covered two acres and was, in his view, the best part of the estate. There were fountains, gazebos, marble statuary, stone benches, low iron fences and dozens of beautiful, perfectly pruned rosebushes. Their fragrance filled the afternoon air.

He noticed a discreet plaque dedicating the rosebushes to the memory of Lilli Chandler Pembroke. His throat tightened. He needed distance. Control. Squinting against the bright sun, he scanned the crowd meandering along the brick walks. He'd come to do a job. Time to get on with it.

He went utterly motionless.

Quint Skinner.

There was no mistaking the bull-like physique, the cropped red-blond hair, the scarred face. Skinner had served with Joe Cutler. After he got out of the army, he'd become a journalist and hooked up with his old unit, discovering that morale was low and Joe's sense of pride and honor had deteriorated. He'd seen Joe's men die. And he'd seen Joe die.

Joe Cutler: One Soldier's Rise and Fall
was Quint's book. He hadn't done much since.

What the hell was he doing in Saratoga?

Tucked between two teenage girls, Skinner edged out of the rose garden. A small pack was slung over one massive shoulder. Zeke would bet he'd find Dani Pembroke's belongings in that pack. But there was nothing he could do. Not right now—not that made sense. Pulitzer Prize winner or not, Quint Skinner was perfectly capable of ransacking a woman's bedroom and smacking her around. He was also capable of using a couple of innocent girls to get his ass out of a sling with Zeke.

And it occurred to Zeke that Dani Pembroke just might not appreciate his efforts. The media would pounce on a confrontation between Quint Skinner and Joe Cutler's brother in the Pembroke rose gardens. Zeke had already noted that Dani hadn't reacted to his name. Seemed she had no idea who he was. What all hadn't Mattie told her?

He let Quint go. For now.

It was teatime at the Pembroke. Wild-blueberry muffins, fresh fruit and Earl Grey tea were being served on the veranda. Zeke headed on up. Afterward maybe he'd try to scare up a fifth of George Dickel in this Yankee town.

If he was lucky, in due time he'd bump into Quint Skinner on neutral turf. If not, he'd just have to hunt him down and have a little chat.

Ira Bernstein was not pleased to learn a burglar had been prowling the Pembroke grounds. He was even less pleased to find out over an hour after the fact. “Why didn't you call me?” he screamed at Dani.

She leaned back against the couch in her office. Now that the crisis was over, she was aching and tired; even thinking was an effort. And talking to Mattie hadn't helped. Instead of offering her usual love, wisdom and concern, she had been shocked and withdrawn, which led Dani to worry something was wrong with her grandmother. But Mattie had denied that Dani had caught her at a bad time, assured her she was well—and then urged her not to call the police, because she didn't need the added publicity.

Since when had Mattie worried about publicity?

When Dani didn't answer, Ira paced, hands thrust in his pants pockets, hair wild. “You don't have any description?”

“No.” She paused. “Not of the burglar. But there was another man…I was wondering if you've seen him around. Dark hair, dark eyes, maybe six feet tall. Looks really fit. Very controlled.” And sexy, she thought, but judiciously left out that assessment. “He says his name's Zeke Cutler. Ring any bells?”

It hadn't with Mattie, but Ira stopped pacing and hesitated.

“What?” Dani prodded.

He looked at her. “You won't fly off the handle?”

“Ira.”

“He's a guest.”

Hell's bells, she thought. Just her luck. She decided not to tell Ira she'd thrown a bottle at him. “Go on.”

“He arrived this afternoon—”

“He had a reservation?”

“Not exactly. Apparently he called in a favor and got the room of a former client or the daughter of a former client—something like that.”

“A client? Who is he, what's he do?”

“He's a security consultant. From what I understand, he's very good at what he does.”

Dani could feel her face redden. What in blue blazes had she gotten herself into?

“Anyway,” Ira went on, “I believe he's having tea on the veranda—”

She was on her feet and out the door, leaving Ira Bernstein to do what he would about her burglar. A professional white knight. What next?

Her head throbbed, and her antibacterial goo hadn't done a thing to stop her scraped shin from hurting. But she pounded down the wood-paneled hall, past the library, through the ballroom and out to the veranda, which looked out onto a formal garden and a small fishpond.

Zeke Cutler was there, alone.

“Tell me, Dani Pembroke,” he said, rocking back in his rattan chair. “What's the difference between a wild blueberry and the regular kind?”

She inhaled, remembering he was a guest. “Wild blueberries are wild, for one thing. They're smaller, and many people think they're more flavorful than cultivated blueberries.”

“Ah.”

“Mr. Cutler—”

“Zeke.”

The rhythms of his southern accent and his subtle but unmistakable humor softened the hard edges of his voice. But his eyes, she noticed, remained alert and intense, taking in everything. She became aware of the spots of blood on her T-shirt, the ratty socks she'd quickly pulled on before heading up to the main house, her crummy sneakers, her short, messy hair. She usually dressed up when she was in a spot where she could run into guests.

“I understand you're staying here at the Pembroke.”

“That's right.”

“What brings you to Saratoga?”

He shrugged, his eyes never leaving her. “Curiosity.”

That could mean anything, and she suspected he knew it. “My manager tells me you're a professional white knight.”

He gave a short laugh. “I've never thought of it quite like that.”

“You're not looking at a potential client, in case the thought crossed your mind.”

The dark eyes narrowed. Suddenly self-conscious, Dani ran one hand through the pink geraniums in a marble urn, looking for a wilted blossom. There wasn't one, so she snapped off one that was still healthy.

“Was your being in my garden a coincidence?” she asked.

“I didn't rob you.”

A man of few but well-chosen words. Dani didn't know what to make of him. “If you think you saw an opening to get yourself hired to protect me or some such thing, you're wrong.”

There was a distinct gleam of amusement in his eyes. “Honey, I'd rather protect a pack of pit bulls.” But the humor vanished; he became, once again, calm and steady, utterly in control. “I'm not in Saratoga on business, if that's what you're getting at. You want to tell me what happened at your cottage?”

“No, I don't.”

“You surprised your thief, didn't you? He pushed you from behind—I take it you didn't see him. Did he get away with anything of value?”

“Nothing much.” She wished she hadn't come out here. She imagined Zeke Cutler was very good at what he did.

“Did he snatch your gold key?”

Dani controlled her surprise. So Zeke Cutler had read the article on her. Was that why he'd come to Saratoga, to the Pembroke? Had he robbed her after all? Or had he staged the burglary to get her to hire him? She saw that her hand was shaking and pulled it away from the geraniums; she clenched it at her side so he wouldn't see.

“That's not your concern,” she said.

“I suppose it isn't.”

“If I find out you are a leech,” she said, “I'll have you thrown off my property.”

He stretched out his long legs. “Fair enough.”

“Meanwhile—” she managed a gracious smile that would have done any Chandler proud “—enjoy your stay at the Pembroke.”

Having survived tea and being called a professional white knight, Zeke headed into town for something real to eat. Dinner at the Pembroke had included flowers. His waiter had promised they were edible. Zeke had passed. Besides which, he had an appointment to keep.

Roger Stone was waiting for him on the terrace at a hopping restaurant just off Broadway that did, indeed, serve hamburgers. A good-looking man in his mid-forties, Roger had taken over as vice president of Chandler Hotels after his brother-in-law—Dani Pembroke's father—was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was now president and chief executive officer; Zeke had checked. Roger rose, and the two men shook hands.

“It's good to see you,” Roger said, as if they'd seen each other since the summer his wife's sister had disappeared, which they hadn't.

“Sorry I'm late.”

“I'd begun to wonder if you'd gotten my message.”

It had come to Zeke's room at the Pembroke, before he found himself ducking Dani Pembroke's mineral water bottle. “Word travels fast. How'd you hear I was in town?”

Roger shrugged evasively. He was fair and tall and fit, with angular features, pale blue eyes and impeccable taste in everything. His suit, Zeke noticed, was custom tailored. He himself had put on a fresh shirt but had left on his jeans. “A friend arrived at the airport the same time you did. It's a small airport. And half the fun of coming to Saratoga is keeping track of who else is here.” Roger had already ordered a bottle of wine; he poured Zeke a glass. “But I suppose if you'd wanted to keep a low profile, I'd never have found out you were here.”

BOOK: Tempting Fate
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