Blind Love (9 page)

As he slid his hand under her shirt, he looked up and spotted a man hiking about a half-mile away. The man raised his hand to shade his eyes and stared at the building. Tony pulled Catherine back from the window. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” A crop the size of this one could be worth shooting someone for, and Tony didn’t have anything to shoot back with.

“He’s just a hiker, Tony.”

“Maybe, and maybe he’s living here. Maybe he’s guarding the place.” He pointed toward the stairs. “Go.”

She raced down the stairs, her sandals slapping hard against the stone steps. He was right behind her, and they were in the car in seconds.

As she strapped herself in, she asked, “What are they doing in the building?”

“Processing pot.” He started the engine. “They’ve been burning the residue in the fireplace. Didn’t you smell it?”

She screwed up her pretty face. “Was that what that was?”

“You’ve never smoked pot?”

“God, no. I’ve never smoked anything. I’m allergic.”

He chuckled. “How did you get through high school and college without smelling pot?”

“I didn’t get out much,” she said with a serious face, and Tony burst out laughing.

“Well, I didn’t. I sure as hell didn’t meet anyone like you in school. You’re an education all by yourself.”

He could probably teach her a few things in the bedroom. He wanted to make love to her, and from the hunger in those big green eyes, she wanted him, too, but the timing was all wrong. He didn’t want to start something tonight and then leave in the morning, and she wouldn’t want to make love with her mother in the house. Catherine would be at Cara’s estate for a few days before the show began, and they’d have some time alone then. If they took this flirting to the next level, they’d have some privacy there.

He shook off his thoughts of Catherine and concentrated on the job at hand. What could they use the property for? There had to be a well, because someone was watering that field, but there was nothing else there. Stringing utilities out that far could be costly. “I wonder why the original owners closed up the place.”

“They were probably burned out. The building is stucco and the roof looks like clay tiles. That wouldn’t burn, but the timbers holding up the roof would. If they had gardens or orchards, they would have been lost in a fire.”

He glanced at her and back at the road, if you could call this rocky path a road. “Is that why the road goes all the way around the hill at your place?”

“My great-grandfather had a switchback drive, but my grandfather put it all the way around the hill to use as a fire break. My father had sprinklers installed on both sides of the drive, and at the first sign of fire, they get turned on. There’s a pump on the well that puts out enough water pressure to fight nearly anything. It wouldn’t stop a major forest fire, but it’s better than nothing.”

Tony blew out a breath of relief when he pulled back onto the paved road. “We need to find the nearest town.”

“Why?”

“To see a mechanic and make sure we didn’t damage your car. And I want to report what we found to the authorities, so Nick doesn’t get blamed.”

“You can tell them how to get there, because I’m completely turned around. It looks like the sun is setting on the wrong side, and don’t ask me which way is home.”

Tony chuckled, but he had more serious problems. The engine was starting to smoke, and it felt like they had a soft tire. He pulled into the first gas station he saw.

The mechanic had gone home for the day, so Tony made temporary repairs and hoped it was enough to get them home.

While Tony washed the grease off him, Catherine called 911 and offered to meet an officer somewhere convenient, anywhere but the gas station. The cops would need to see Tony’s map, but she didn’t want to hang around this grease pit for one minute longer than absolutely necessary. The lecherous old man behind the counter smiled at her like she was a giant lollipop and he wanted a lick. Tony had been too busy to notice.

The operator put her on hold, and when she came back, she said an officer would meet them at a nearby diner. It wouldn’t be the romantic dinner Catherine had envisioned, but Tony had grease on his clothes, so they couldn’t go anywhere nice. She couldn’t believe he’d fixed her car himself instead of having it towed. He had talents she hadn’t even imagined.

She was lost in thoughts of Tony’s other talents when he asked, “Did you make the call?”

She nodded. “We’re supposed to meet someone at
Dinah’s Diner
, about six miles down the road. She said to drive south and it’ll be on the right.”

He leaned down close and his warm breath tickled her neck. “Which way is south?”

“You’re asking
me
?”

He was still laughing when he drove down the road. “Princess, I’m going to miss you. I hope Cara invited you to her birthday party.”

“Yes, she did.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. Tingles ran up her arm and down through her body, settling in a pool of moist heat below her belly. What she wouldn’t give for a night alone with him.

If she slept with him, it could ruin the show, and if she put him on the show, he’d find another woman. She must have been out of her mind to get herself in this predicament, but it was too late to back out now. Henry had already shown Tony’s pictures to the sponsors. If she pulled Tony off the show now, it would put Henry in an awkward position, and his production company might not survive. She couldn’t do that to Henry.

After Tony talked with the officer who was waiting at
Dinah’s Diner
, they ordered dinner. Catherine picked at her food, while Tony ate everything in sight. He glanced at her plate. “Not hungry?”

She shrugged.

“Worried about your father?”

She looked up at him, her green eyes filled with sadness. “Wondering what I’m going to do without you.”

He’d been wondering the same thing about her. “You could come back with me. I’ll build the gazebo while you check out the house for your show.”

“I can’t go anywhere until I get my father settled at home, and I’ll have to go into the office in LA and get some work done. The girls Mitzi chose... Well, let’s just say they won’t all work for this show.”

“Why not?”

She glanced at his face and wanted to talk it over with him, but if he knew, they wouldn’t get the reaction they wanted on camera. “I can’t talk about it, Tony.”

“Big secret, huh? Okay, we won’t talk about it. How about a swim when we get home?”

Gazing into his warm brown eyes, Catherine wanted more than a swim. She wanted a night of hot sex with the man of her dreams. As if that was going to happen.

He cleared his throat. “Are you going to be one of the women on the show?”

His question surprised her.
“Me?”

“Yeah. Are you looking for love, or have you given up on men?”

“If I went on a show like that, I’d be the first one eliminated.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said softly, and her skin tingled. Maybe a night of hot sex wasn’t such a far-fetched idea after all.

In the gathering dusk, with traffic thinned to a tolerable level, Catherine leaned her head back and watched Tony drive toward home. She didn’t want to be one of those clingy, possessive women who didn’t know when to give a man his freedom, and she didn’t want to make a play for a guy who’d soon have a baker’s dozen of eligible, love-starved women to choose from. But she wanted this man with everything in her.

Did he really want her to be one of the women on the show? She couldn’t do it, of course, or her career would be over in a heartbeat. Still, the fact that he asked had to mean something. How could he be attracted to her? There was nothing special about her except the size of her breasts and the size of her trust fund, and she didn’t think money would matter that much to Tony.

Instead of driving her to the house, Tony headed for the hospital. “I want to say goodbye to your father before I leave, and I don’t think I’ll have time in the morning.”

Father would appreciate the gesture, but Catherine didn’t want Tony to leave. It was selfish of her to want to keep him to herself, but the thought of going through an entire day without him left her with an overwhelming sense of sadness.

He pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and unfastened his seatbelt and hers, and she drifted into his arms. The gentle kiss of friendship turned into a passionate, bone-melting kiss, and his big hand covered her breast. “Definitely natural,” he whispered. “The best kind.”

Tony rubbed his cheek against hers and licked her earlobe, electrifying her body.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this now, when you’re leaving tomorrow.”

He pulled back far enough to gaze deeply into her eyes. “Let’s go visit your father and then go home.” Threading his fingers through her hair, he pulled her in for a lusty kiss that left her wanting more.

No man had ever made her feel more alive.

They walked inside together and found Father in a rare good mood, smiling and joking with his nurse. Catherine hadn’t seen him this happy in a long time, maybe since her mother left.

“Catherine, Tony, how was your day?”

“Eventful,” said Tony. “The property is out in the middle of nowhere, and someone is growing a nice crop of marijuana, so we didn’t hang around. I scratched up Catherine’s car, blew out two hoses, and punctured a tire on the way out. I patched the hoses and changed the tire, but it’s only a temporary fix.”

“But you got her back safe and sound. She can drive one of my cars.”

Catherine slowly shook her head. Any other guy and Father would have given him a scalding rebuke for damaging the car, but Tony had been up front about it, and Father respected a man who didn’t try to hide things or blame someone else.

It didn’t matter if the SUV was dinged. It was hers, bought with money she’d earned herself. “I’ll drive my own car, thank you.”

“
After
you have the tire fixed and have a mechanic check it out,” said Tony. “I don’t want you driving into LA in that car until you make sure it’s safe.”

“She’s not going back to LA,” said Father.

Catherine’s jaw clenched and her body stiffened. He was bossing her around as if she were sixteen, and she didn’t like it any better now than she did then.

“My daughter doesn’t have to work.”

Megan walked into the room with a little bag from a bakery. “Listening with half an ear again, Walt? It isn’t a matter of money.”

Father motioned Catherine closer. She walked to the side of the bed and took his hand. “I didn’t know you wanted to run the hotel business, Catherine. If I’d known, I would have saved a hotel for you.”

“Not the whole business?”

“No. After nine-eleven, the business went into the toilet. We were already overextended, and I had to sell or lose everything, including the house. I wanted to tell you the day I signed the papers, but you’d already left.”

Catherine had to swallow the lump in her throat. “I thought I wasn’t good enough.”

“Good enough? Honey, you’re too good to put up with the business crap, and you’re too good to be Henry’s gopher. I want something better for you.”

“Henry gave me the television show. The concept is mine, and he put me in charge. I have to go back to LA and get things set up for the filming.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

No, it wasn’t what she wanted to do, but she couldn’t quit now. “I have to finish what I started.”

“That’s my girl. You want to run a hotel someday?”

“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have listened?”

He lifted his hand and dropped it. “Probably not, but I will from now on. You can’t use the Timmons name. I sold that with the hotels.”

“I’ll think of another name.”

“Princess Catherine,” said Tony. “Lady Catherine, Queen Catherine, Duchess Catherine.”

“I like it. Start out small, with one place,” said Father. “Don’t take on more than you can handle, and hire experienced, trustworthy people.”

Was he saying he thought she was capable of running more than one hotel? Why had he never given her any validation as a businesswoman? She’d worked for Timmons Hotels for four years, and he’d never given her a word of encouragement. “I thought you sold the business because you didn’t have a son to take over.”

“Nonsense. A son couldn’t do any better than my daughter.”

“Everyone knew about the sale before I did. I felt like an idiot, with everyone talking behind my back. They were all angry, because they thought I knew all along and they didn’t see it coming.”

“I was going to tell you that night. The buyers weren’t supposed to say anything until the next day, until after I spoke with the employees, but once the deal went through, it was out of my hands.”