Cole shook his head. “No. Tallie is going to be here for a while. I’ve done all I dare do to entice her to leave. I’m just going to let it play out. She had Tom Mitchell call me.”
“I was there the day he called, remember?” The grin on Wade’s face said he was not above teasing Cole about the entire ordeal, somewhere Cole didn’t want to go. Circumstances had changed but he didn’t intend to enlighten Wade tonight.
“I don’t think it’s that damn funny.”
“Do you honestly think she doesn’t know who was behind all the shenanigans?”
“She does. But she is as good at giving back as she is at taking.”
“Really?” Wade tilted his head for a harder look at his brother. “I’ve always wanted to meet the girl who brought Cole Masters to his knees.” He chuckled again. “She must be one hell of a woman minus the mud pack.”
Before Cole could answer, the small bell above the door tinkled, indicating a new customer had entered the diner.
“You’re about to get your chance to find out.”
Cole watched his brother turn and gaze at the sexy woman who’d just come in, her long black hair swinging against her shoulders and down past her waist. She responded to the wave from a man at a table not far away. A man several years her senior.
“Brother—” Wade leaned toward Cole “—I’d have to say you have a bigger problem than putting up with an archeology dig. Damn. She is hot. I’ll trade places with you anytime. Just say the word.”
“I don’t think there is a word,” Cole responded, suddenly overwhelmed with a protective instinct. He wasn’t sure what brought it on or what triggered it but his love-’em-and-leave-’em brother could stay the hell away from Tallie. And another quick glance at Tallie with the older man clearly showed they had a close rapport. Dr. Tallie Finley might be taken, anyway. And didn’t that set well? Small wonder she didn’t want to stay at Cole’s house.
Tallie immediately spotted Stan as he waved to her from a table. When she drew closer she was surprised to see David Sloan sitting with him. They were all employees of the museum and all great friends. After hugs all around, they sat and barely stopped talking long enough to look at a menu. After ordering, the two men wanted to know the focus of her dig—why she was here.
“Sterling is tight-lipped,” Stan said. “We didn’t think he was even going to tell us where you were. So, what’s the deal?”
“There isn’t one,” Tallie replied. Seeing the skepticism on their faces she added, “There really isn’t. When my grandmother died she left me a map, supposedly marking the spot of the original village of our ancestors, and asked me to see if I could find it.” She shrugged. “So that’s what I’m doing. I had some leave time before the Brazil trip so Sterling said if I wanted to do this...do it.”
“And here I was imagining the find of the decade and getting jealous as hell,” Stan admitted and everyone laughed.
“Dr. Sterling did say something about your host, the guy who owns the land. Is he really that bad or is Sterling making mountains out of molehills again?”
“He really is that bad,” came a deep voice from behind Tallie. “I can guarantee it. Wouldn’t you agree, Dr. Finley?”
Tallie tensed as she realized Cole Masters was standing directly behind her. Her dinner partners’ eyes were focused above her head; their mouths hung open. She turned partially around in her seat so she could answer him.
“Absolutely. Without any doubt whatsoever he is, by far, the worst landowner I’ve ever had the bad luck to work with.” She forced a broad smile.
“See, I told you,” he addressed the group.
“Cole, these are my friends and coworkers, Doctors Stan Bridger and David Sloan.”
“And, like Dr. Finley, both of you dig up bones for a living?”
His eyes sparkled. He was so handsome, so charming. He would undoubtedly have her associates eating out of his hand in no time.
“We confess.” Stan laughed. “Would you care to join us?”
Had Stan just invited him to sit at their table? She didn’t want Cole sitting with them. He wouldn’t understand half of their dialogue and she, at least, wouldn’t understand his. They were so different. He dealt with blueprints and erecting skyscrapers; she with old maps and digging up the past. She felt the warmth of his large hands on her shoulders as though he was ensuring his claim was known by all. She might be carrying his child but that didn’t mean she had become his property.
“Thank you, but I’m here with my brother. We have some business to discuss. Maybe another time?”
Tallie looked to her left toward the table where Wade was sitting. Their gazes met and he smiled and nodded.
Wade stood and made his way over to their table. Cole seemed surprised but made the introductions. Wade seemed keen on holding Tallie’s hand far longer than the norm. She couldn’t miss the sparkle of interest in his eyes.
“I hope all of you have a nice dinner,” Cole said, stepping between Tallie and his brother. “I can vouch for Frieda. Everything on the menu is delicious. It was good to meet you all.”
“You, as well,” Stan and David chimed in.
Cole and Wade returned to their seats just as a waitress set their plates on the table.
“Don’t say it,” Cole warned his brother.
“Say what?” Wade asked, total innocence on his face.
“I know you’re about to say something crude having to do with my relationship with Dr. Finley. She is just an archeologist doing some work on land I happen to own.”
Wade finished chewing and wiped his mouth. “I was merely going to suggest you put it in a higher gear before someone beats you to it. The way you looked at her? The way she looked at you? I know how much you were hurt by Gina. But that was over three years ago. If you let this one get away, you’re an idiot.”
“Well, thanks for sharing your thoughts.”
“Hey, any time, brother.”
Eleven
Cole continued to watch Wade with a knowing eye. Often Wade’s glance would trail back to Tallie, but he never said another word about her, which was the norm for Wade. He would speak his mind once then drop the subject. The problem was that Cole saw the same thing. He felt what Wade described. The one thing he was dead wrong about was assuming three years was long enough to get over what had happened with Gina and the baby she’d carried.
The emotions that ran through Cole were strong, deep and confusing. His wife had been pregnant with another man’s child yet had vowed that she loved Cole. She’d sworn her love to him while all the time she’d pledged that same love to someone else. That was if the woman could love at all. If there was even such a thing as love. If Cole had it to do over, knowing what he knew now, he’d just give her whatever she wanted. Then, perhaps, he wouldn’t have ordered her from the house and she wouldn’t have driven so recklessly that she went over the cliff, killing her and her baby. But she had played him. And he’d sworn he would never be caught with his pants down again. He wouldn’t be the idiot twice.
He’d assumed what he felt for Gina in the beginning was love. But the bitterness that rose within him at her treachery trumped any other feeling. He didn’t know, would never know, what love was or if there really was such a thing. The entire concept was dubious, at best, and eventually he’d grown weary of trying to make sense of it. If he needed a woman, he’d find a willing one and that would be the end of it. Never again would he be made such a fool.
He looked toward Tallie. She was talking and laughing with her friends. It hit him hard: this was the first time he had really seen her laugh and show true happiness. A sickening knot grew in his throat as he remembered all the mean pranks he’d thrown her way. Any one of them could have caused her to be hurt in some way. From now on he would do anything necessary to ensure her safety. And that included getting her to move into the house and out of that shack.
“So, what’s your schedule like?” Cole asked his brother. Anything to distract himself from thinking Tallie might be a crook in archeologist’s clothing.
“I have a full day tomorrow, meetings back-to-back, then a return to Paris for the meeting with Yves Bordeaux.” Wade laid his napkin next to his empty plate. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to cut out on you early.”
“I understand. Before you leave...has there been any news on Dad’s will?”
“Not a word. Apparently it’s more involved than we thought.” Wade shrugged. “Valuing a company whose holdings continue to change and grow daily will be a challenge. I don’t envy the team of attorneys and CPAs whose task it is to figure it all out.”
“I agree. I only mentioned it because I don’t like something hanging over my head. Dad acted so different the last few years of his life. There are several deals hinging on what’s in that will. It’s been months. People are starting to call. I’d just like to get it off my plate.”
“I’m with you, bro. That thought has run through my head more than once.”
“I’ll call the attorneys tomorrow. Whatever Dad decided in the will, all we can do is agree with it or contest it, but it’s past time we got to it.”