Page 20 of The Playboy Meets His Match
“I didn’t intend to,” she answered as haughtily as she could.
Amusement flared in his eyes while he came to his feet. “Ready to check out of both rooms? You won’t be needing them.”
“I think I will just go home to Dallas. You can follow me.”
“No way, lady. Today you rented one of the most exclusive apartments in Royal.”
“How did you find out—” She clamped her mouth shut, determined she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how shocked she was that he already knew about the apartment. The man wasn’t as out of it as she had first thought. She couldn’t guess how he had learned about the apartment because she knew he hadn’t been following her. If he had, he would never had let her get near Dorian tonight.
“Do you want to call home and tell anyone where you’ll be? A boyfriend? Your sister? Your mother?”
“There is no boyfriend. I’ll call my sister.”
She called and got the answering machine. “Holly, I’ll be at Jason Windover’s ranch. The number is—” She handed him the phone and he said his number and gave her back the telephone.
“I’m fine and staying at the Windover Ranch. I’ll let you know any developments.” She broke the connection.
“Ready, Merry?” Jason asked.
When he said her name, another tingle slithered along her nerves. She nodded and headed for the door. He took her arm and she knew that, in the next few minutes, there wouldn’t be any escaping him.
She checked out and they left. “What about my car? I can’t leave it here.”
“You won’t have to. Give me the keys. I’ve already made arrangements to have the hotel keep it tonight and tomorrow one of my hands will pick it up and bring it out to the ranch.”
Silently she climbed into his pickup and sat far against the door while he drove.
“I’ll say it again—you should let me know now if you’ve been out doing something evil to Dorian.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you. You don’t believe me about him, anyway.”
“I’m open-minded about it. It would be nice if you could come up with some proof, so keep thinking back. Seldom do people avoid leaving some kind of trail. Where did he work when he was dating your sister?”
“At Denworth Technology.”
“There, we can check on that.”
Merry watched Jason as he drove. His answer implied he was thinking about her accusations. “Tell me again about the murder,” she said.
While Jason talked, she watched his hands resting on the steering wheel and then she looked at his handsome profile. The man was sinfully good-looking and she had to keep up her guard because she didn’t want her heart to become another trophy.
“You’re trying to find a murderer. I think it might be Dorian.”
Jason shot her a glance. “You don’t like the man, but don’t hang a murder charge on him when you have no proof.”
“You don’t like him either, do you?” she asked, feeling an undercurrent when Jason talked about Dorian. Jason’s head whipped around in another swift glance.
“No, I don’t,” he admitted. “I don’t have a reason either, which is bad. I usually like everyone I know. There’s just something about him—I don’t know what it is—”
“It’s probably his insincerity. He’s as phony as they come. Why don’t you let me help on this murder investigation?”
Jason smiled. “You’ll have to ask the police.”
“Cat’s whiskers! You and those Cattleman’s Club member friends of yours are investigating this, aren’t you?” The idea just occurred to her and the more she thought about it and the little things he had said, the more certain she was.
“What gave you an idea like that?”
“You’re not denying it, Jason. You know what I think—you said Sebastian had an alibi, but he couldn’t tell people at first. That snooty club of yours is a front. You’re involved in other things. Are you all a bunch of detectives?”
