“Was he in several movies?” Bailey asked. She intended to find any movies he’d appeared in as soon as she left work.
“No, just two. One was a Matthew Birmingham flick, where Walker played opposite actress Carmen Atkins, as her brother. That was his very first. He was hot and his acting was great,” Chloe said, smiling. “According to Pam, although he didn’t get an award nomination, there are those who thought he should have. But what he did get was a lot of attention from women and other directors in Hollywood. It didn’t take him long to land another role in a movie directed by Clint Eastwood. A Western. He’d just finished filming when his wife and son were killed. I don’t think he hung around for the premiere. He left for Alaska and never returned.”
Bailey didn’t say anything. She was thinking about how to get back in Walker’s good graces. “I’ll apologize when I see him tonight.”
“Good luck,” Chloe said, chuckling. “When I left this morning, Thorn and his brothers and cousins had arrived for the wedding and you know what that means.”
Yes, she knew. There would be a card game tonight. Men only. And she had a feeling Walker would be invited. Then she had an idea. For the past ten years Walker had lived on his ranch on that remote island. He’d indicated last night that he wasn’t married and didn’t have a steady girlfriend, which meant he was a loner. That made him just the type of man she needed to interview for one of the magazine’s spring issues. She could see him being the feature story. She’d wait and share her idea with Chloe and Lucia until she had all the details worked out.
Bailey then recalled that Walker would be returning to Alaska on Monday after the wedding. That didn’t give her much time. She looked back down at Walker’s photo. Getting an exclusive interview with him would definitely mean big sales for the magazine.
She took another sip of her coffee. Now, if she could only get Walker to agree.
Four
Walker threw out a card before glancing at the closed door. How many times had he done that tonight? And why was he expecting Bailey to show up at a men-only card game? The main reason was because it was Bailey, and from what he’d heard from her brothers and cousins, Bailey did whatever Bailey wanted to do. But he’d heard more fondness than annoyance in their voices and figured they wouldn’t want it any other way.
So here he was, at what had to be close to midnight, in what was known as Dillon’s man cave, playing cards with a bunch of Westmorelands. He would admit that over the past three days he’d gotten to know the Denver Westmorelands pretty well, and today he’d met their cousins from Atlanta, which included those living in Montana.
Walker couldn’t help but chuckle at Bart’s accusation that the Westmorelands had targeted the Outlaws for monetary gain. Walker knew for a fact that wasn’t true. Even if their land development company wasn’t making them millions, from the talk around the table, the horse training business a few of the cousins owned was also doing extremely well.
“I hear you chuckling over there, Walker. Does that mean you have a good hand?”
He glanced over at Zane and smiled. “If I did you’d be the last person to know until it counted.”
That got a laugh from the others. In a way, he was surprised at the ease he felt being around them, even those Westmorelands he’d only met that day. When he’d returned to Kodiak from his stint in Hollywood, he’d shut himself off from everyone except the Outlaws and those members of the community he’d considered family. As an only child, he wasn’t used to a huge family, but he was being educated about how one operated, Westmoreland-style.
Thorn was telling everyone about the bike he’d just built for a celebrity. Walker just continued to study his hand. He could have added to the conversation, since he happened to know the man personally. But he stayed silent. That was a life he’d rather not remember.
Walker heard the knock on the door and all it took was the tingle that moved up his arm to let him know it was Bailey. The mere thought that he could want her with such intensity should have frozen him cold, especially after what she’d accused him of last night. Instead, the opposite was happening. He had dreamed of her, allowed her to invade his mind all day, and now his body was responding in a way it did whenever a man wanted a woman.
“Come in,” Dillon yelled out. “And whoever you are, you better be a male.”
Bailey stuck her head in the door. “Sorry to disappoint you, Dil. I decided to check and make sure all of you are still alive and in one piece. I can just imagine how much money has been lost about now,” she said with a grin as she stepped into the room.
Walker was the only one who bothered to look up at her. She was gorgeous. Her hair hung like soft waves across her shoulders and her outfit, a pair of jeans and a blue pullover sweater, emphasized her curves, making her look feminine and sexy as hell.
All he could do was stare at her, and then she met his eyes. Bam! The moment their gazes connected he felt something slam into him. He was sure it had the same effect on her. It was as if they were the only two people in the room, and he was glad her family was more interested in studying their cards than studying them.
One of the things he noticed was the absence of that spark of anger in her eyes. It had definitely been there last night. Instead, he saw something else, something that had heat drumming through every inch of his body. Had frissons of fire racing up his spine. Was he imagining it?
“Go away, Bay. You’ll bring me bad luck,” wailed her cousin Durango, who’d flown in from Montana. He held his gaze steady on the cards in his hand.
“You’re probably losing big-time anyway,” she said, chuckling, breaking eye contact with Walker to look at Durango. “Another reason I’m here is to rescue Walker.” Her gaze returned to Walker. “He’s probably tired of your company about now, but is too nice to say so. So I’m here to rescue him.”
Walker saw twelve pairs of eyes shift from their cards to him, but instead of seeing even a speck of curiosity, he saw pity as if they were thinking, We’re glad it’s you and not us. Their gazes then returned to their cards.
“We’re not stupid, Bay,” Zane Westmoreland said, grinning and throwing a card out. “You think you can pump Walker for information about our plans for Aidan’s bachelor party. But we’ve told Walker the rules. What we say in this room stays in this room.”
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Well, Walker, do you want to be rescued?”
He didn’t have to think twice about it, although he was wondering about her motive. “Why not,” he said, sliding back his chair. “But it’s not because I haven’t enjoyed the company,” he said, standing and placing his cards down. “It’s because I refuse to lose any more money to you guys. All of you are professional gamblers whether you admit it or not.”
Dillon chuckled. “Ian is the only true gambler in the family. We’re just wannabes. If he was here you wouldn’t be walking out with your shirt on, trust me.”
Walker smiled. “Can’t wait to meet him.” He moved across the room toward the door where Bailey stood. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
“Not too early, though,” Zane cautioned, throwing out a card. “This game will probably be an all-nighter, so chances are we’ll all sleep late.”
Walker nodded. “I’ll remember that.”
“Any reason you felt the need to rescue me?”
Bailey glanced over at Walker as they headed toward the stairs. “I thought you might want to go riding.”
“Horseback riding? This time of night? In this weather?”
She chuckled. “Not horseback riding. Truck riding. And yes, this time of night or, rather, this time of morning since it’s after midnight. And it’s a nice night. At least nicer than most. Besides, there’s something I need to say to you.”
He stopped walking and held her gaze. “Didn’t get all your accusations off your chest last night?”
She knew she deserved that. “I was out of line and jumped to conclusions.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you?”
“Yes, and if it’s okay with you I’d like to talk to you about it. But not here. So if you’re up to riding, I know the perfect place where we can have a private conversation.”
From his expression she could tell he was wondering what this private conversation would be about. However, instead of asking he merely nodded and said, “Okay, lead the way.”
Bailey nodded, too, and then moved forward. Once they made it downstairs she grabbed her coat and waited while he got his. The house was quiet. Everyone with a lick of sense had gone to bed, which didn’t say a lot for herself, Walker, her cousins and brothers. But she had been determined to hang around and talk to Walker.
When they stepped outside she saw the temperature had dropped. It was colder than she’d thought. She glanced over at him. “It won’t take long for Kent to warm up.”
“Kent?”
She nodded, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. “Yes. My truck.”
He chuckled. “You gave your truck a name?”