Chapter 10

As she readied for bed that night, someone knocked on Leigh’s bedroom door. Opening it, she encountered Cy and sucked in a breath at seeing him wearing only his underwear. He backed her into the room silently, a heated look in his eyes.

“Is something wrong?” she asked as he closed the door behind him.

“Do you always eavesdrop?”

She tried to be indignant, but it was hard when her eyes were filled with his hard, muscular torso. A light smattering of dark hair covered his chest and she longed to run her hands over him.

“No. It was an accident,” she said. “Who’s Valerie?”

He flinched at the mention of the name.

Leigh thought for sure that he would brush off her question, but he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Leigh deserved to know the whole story, and Cy wanted her to hear it before they got married. He motioned to her bed and sat on it, attempting not to think about what he’d like to do with her on it. Suddenly he regretted not wearing a robe even though it was hot weather.

She perched as far from him as possible, keeping her gaze trained on his face, which was now covered with a five o’clock shadow.

“Valerie Bradshaw was an agent I worked with. We fell in love and became intimate, which was prohibited by Pinkerton rules. Although we often posed as a married couple, we were never to step over that line. We couldn’t help ourselves, though. The attraction was too strong. We were so careful, but one of the other agents found out and squealed on us.

“Our superiors strongly reprimanded and separated us. They sent me to New York and her to California, but we still found ways to communicate and be together whenever we could. Our separate cases happened to bring us together at the same party one night, and when it was over, we stole away together for a while.

“The agent she was working with that night guessed where she’d been and got violent with her because he was jealous. When I found out, I lost control and almost killed him. They immediately fired me and sent me home. It would have embarrassed them if law enforcement had known that they hadn’t been able to control two of their agents, so they didn’t involve the police by having me arrested. So, that’s why I’m here trying to save our ranch instead of still working as an agent,” Cy explained.

Leigh looked over his well-developed physique and could imagine that he had the ability to mete out physical harm. However, she also sensed that he wouldn’t do so without provocation.

“Did you see her after that?” Leigh asked.

“No. She took an assignment overseas, and I’ve never attempted to find her.”

Leigh tamped down a tide of jealousy. “Do you still love her?”

Cy’s lips thinned for a moment. “No. My feelings for her have changed over time. But it still makes me furious that I lost something special because people couldn’t keep their nose out of our business. We weren’t hurting anyone, and our relationship never got in the way of our work.”

“Would you get back together with her if you could?” Leigh asked.

The apprehension in her eyes brought out Cy’s protective nature. She was worried that if they married and Valerie showed up that he would desert her. Cy took her hand.

“Leigh, my time with Valerie is over. I’m moving on and looking to the future and that future includes you, not her. I’m marrying you and I’ll always honor that commitment. I’ve never cheated on anyone when I’ve been in a relationship, and I would never do that to you,” he said.

His answer allayed her fears, and she squeezed his hand. “I’m glad because I’m not the kind of woman who would take something like that lying down. I’ll warn you right now, if you do ever cheat on me, I’ll make you real sorry.”

He brought her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss to the back of it. “Based on how hot and bothered you make me, I don’t think I’ll ever need to look elsewhere for sexual satisfaction.”

Just like that, the fire between them ignited. Raw hunger turned her insides to liquid and Leigh couldn’t breathe for a moment. Her gaze lowered to his mouth, and she yearned to kiss him. Since her husband’s death no other man but Cy had made her feel like that.

With lighting quickness, Cy moved closer and pulled her against him. He gazed into her wide eyes for a moment before lowering his mouth to hers. Leigh’s hands splayed over his wide chest, moving over his warm skin as his lips parted and he teased hers with his tongue.

On a moan, Leigh opened for him, winding her arms around his neck, and bringing her body in harder contact with his. Their tongues danced as Cy ran his hands up and down her back. One of her hands plowed through his hair and fisted in it. He groaned against her mouth and slid a hand around to cup her breast through her nightgown.

Leigh jerked back, abruptly breaking the kiss, and Cy took his hand away.

“I’m not gonna apologize for that,” he said, his voice raspy. “I better go or you’re gonna wind up flat on your back. We need to get married soon because if we don’t, I’m going to bed you with or without that piece of paper.”

Leigh’s baser nature wanted to tell him to go ahead, but her conscience wouldn’t allow it. It might be just a piece of paper to him, but it represented commitment to her, and she wouldn’t give in to her desire without it.

“When?” Cy pressed. “How long? Never mind. We’ll talk about it tomorrow when I’m thinking with my brain and not something else. Goodnight.”

He left so quickly that Leigh never got a chance to utter a single syllable. She sat with her mouth open a little, staring at the door as her body still longed for his. After several minutes, she got up and blew out her lamp. Lying down, she thought about his question.

How long did she want to wait until they married? Why wait? He was right about his job intruding upon the situation. There was no way he could go on a honeymoon, and neither could she. They both had too much work ahead of them to go away somewhere.

Their wedding wouldn’t be a large affair, and Cy wasn’t the sort of man who needed a lot of frills and fanfare. The only thing she really needed for the ceremony was a nice dress and a bouquet of flowers. A simple ceremony was just fine with her since her first wedding had been lavish.

Besides, she didn’t have the time that planning something fancy would take, and there wasn’t anyone to send invitations to. She’d written her parents about her upcoming nuptials before leaving Tucker Springs and sent a letter to Stan informing him that she’d made the trip safely. There was no one else she needed to contact.

Why wait to start her life with Cy? Smiling in the dark, she thought that being married to him would never be boring. The man who solved mysteries was one himself and she looked forward to peeling off his layers and discovering all his secrets. As the sound of crickets came through her open windows, Leigh drifted off, dreaming of the charismatic man who slept across the hall.

Carly’s younger sister, Catherine Branson, was too excited to sleep that night. She’d waited for Sly to show up even though she knew that he hadn’t planned to see her until the morning when they would announce their intentions to marry. However, she’d hoped that he would come to her. When one o’clock came, she gave up on him, but remained awake.

Frustrated, she rose, threw on a robe and padded downstairs, heading for her father’s study for a drink of scotch in the hopes that it would help her sleep. A noise ahead of her stopped her and she realized that it was coming from the study. Sly never told her how he got in the house, so she thought that maybe he’d come to see her after all.