Undercover Hunter(111)

                “Oh, yeah. She mentioned you. Cade Denton.” He offered his hand, and Sweet shook it. Cade was surprised that anyone with such an unmarred face could have hands that felt as if they did rough work.

                Calvin smiled. “Nice to meet you. I invited DeeJay out to my place to take some photos. Great view of the mountains. I’ve got some time tomorrow and wondered if you both would like to do that.”

                Cade smiled back. “Are you that proud of your view?”

                “You bet.”

                “Well, come on in. Do you like coffee? The two of us were just getting ready to go out, but we haven’t turned it off yet.”

                Already his mind was racing like mad. All that stuff spread on the kitchen table. He had to keep this guy from following him out there. He waved toward the living room to direct Calvin that way and wondered how to handle this.

                “I won’t keep you long,” Calvin said as he walked into the living room. “I’ve got to go to work in a few hours anyway, but I just wanted to set up something with DeeJay, if you guys are interested.”

                Cade knew a moment of relief when Calvin took the armchair. Now what about the dang coffee? He decided not to ask again. Best to make sure there was no opportunity for him to go to the kitchen.

                “DeeJay?” he called.

                “Be there in a second.” It sounded like she was in the kitchen.

                “I would like that coffee,” Calvin said.

                God, thought Cade, how could a monster have such a sweet smile? But maybe he wasn’t the monster. He had to keep that in mind.

                Not that he believed it was likely any longer.

                He crossed the narrow entry to the kitchen and halted in the doorway, waiting to see if Calvin followed. The sight that met his eyes, however, almost made him smile. DeeJay was in the process of gathering up the last of their papers. A kitchen cabinet was open, and he could see the bulk of them already stashed up there.

                “You’re quick,” he said, keeping his voice to a murmur so Calvin couldn’t hear.

                “You betcha.” She scooped up the last items and stuffed them into the cabinet.

                “He wants coffee.”

                “I’ll get it. You just keep him entertained.”

                Back in the living room, Cade sat across from Calvin. “DeeJay’s bringing the coffee.”

                “Thank you.” Calvin was still smiling, although to Cade his dark eyes held something not nearly as angelic as his face or smile. He dismissed it as imagination. He cast about for something to say.

                “DeeJay was pretty impressed with your crisis center. It must be difficult work.”

                “I like helping people,” Calvin replied. Cade felt another jolt as he recognized the absolute sincerity with which Calvin spoke those words. “I can’t imagine, though, why the sheriff thought travel writers would want to know about it.”

                A prickle crept along Cade’s neck. Was that fishing or an innocent question? And what the hell did he himself know about writing a travel piece? He sought for something that sounded sensible in answer. “People are going to spend a lot of money to come here,” he said slowly. “They like to know about important services.”