Holding the note by its edges, she went to the trunk and dug through the shopping bags until she found the item she was looking for. She carefully slipped the note into a zip-up sandwich bag then placed it in her purse. It gave her the heebie-jeebies to see that they knew her by name, and alternately pissed the hell out of her that the writer of the note didn’t have the balls to sign it.
She climbed in the car and thought about texting one of the guys. It was three o’clock and she knew if she let them know now they would worry about it the rest of their workday. There wasn’t anything she could do about the threat except go home and continue on with her day. She was cooking supper tonight and wanted to get an early start.
She backed the blue sedan out of the parking space, taking a moment to look around at the other cars in the parking lot. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, no stalkers lurking. She gave herself a mental shake.
One of those two women had probably tucked that note into her window, expressing their moral outrage, hoping to intimidate her. They didn’t know Maya Daire very well if they thought she was going to slink away like a whipped puppy with her tail tucked between her legs. She didn’t value their opinions, and what they thought wasn’t going to change her plans. She was staying in Divine, and she was going to socialize with whomever she damn well pleased.
* * * *
“There you are,” Frank Reeves muttered as he sat hunched in front of his laptop computer, staring at the online newspaper article featuring Maya. The unlucky girl had tangled with a rattlesnake and made the front page of the small-town newspaper. It hadn’t occurred to him until yesterday that if he was going to set up Google Alerts for her, there was always the possibility her name might be misspelled “Dare” instead of Daire. Such had been the case, as he looked at the caption that went along with the article. It was just his luck the small-town newspaper reporter had gotten it wrong. But that hadn’t stopped him from finding her. Nor would he be impeded in bringing her ass back to San Marcos where she belonged. Right beside Morgan Daire, six feet under.
Chapter Seventeen
Maya was checking the bubbling casserole in the oven when a knock sounded at the door. Boone got up from the couch where he’d been doing paperwork for the ranch and answered it. She closed the oven door and looked behind her as Ethan waved and said hello to her from the doorway and murmured to Boone. He slipped outside with Ethan, and she went back to slicing a tomato for a salad.
She smiled as she rinsed the knife and laid it aside. The casserole needed at least fifteen more minutes. Richard was in the shower and might need assistance with lathering up or rinsing off. Or toweling dry.
One of her favorite new hobbies was sliding her hands over Richard’s hard, soapy body. The shower was still running as she walked down the hall, hoping she wasn’t too late. In light of the fact they were going out of town the following morning, she looked upon this escapade as “getting while the getting was good,” as Richard would say.
Boone had needed to get his paperwork done, and so she’d behaved herself and allowed him to work when she’d really wanted to climb in his lap after he’d gotten home. Kendall was expected home any moment. Her heart raced at the thought of a little alone time with one of her men.
She slipped into the steamy bathroom, removed her clothing, and pinned up her hair. She could hear Richard humming to himself as she watched him lather up through the translucent shower curtain.
“Would you like some company?” she asked as she peeked around the edge of the curtain.
Covered from head to toe in soap suds, Richard turned to the spray to rinse his face and looked back at her. His long dark eyelashes were wet and spiked together. He grinned and nodded as he reached for her bodywash and bath sponge.
Quietly, Maya watched him as he lathered the sponge with his big hands. It made her hot and wet to think of his soapy hands sliding all over her body.
“Supper is in the oven, and I wanted to spend time with you since you have to leave in the morning.”
Richard caressed her shoulder, massaging her tense muscles. He kissed her and murmured, “I’ll miss you.”
He didn’t go on and on, but the warmth and emotion were there in his words and his eyes.
“Me, too.”
Their slick bodies slid together as he kissed her again. He slid a hand down her back to cup one of her ass cheeks and held her close to him as he tilted his head and deepened their kiss. As she parted her lips, his tongue penetrated and slowly stroked hers, making both her heart and her pussy throb. Richard was an excellent kisser, alternating between stroking her with his tongue and smooching her lips gently. He was going to get whatever he wanted with his kisses because she was putty in his hands.