The Quiet Seduction by Dixie Browning Page A

missing D. A. It’s just too big a coincidence—the initials and everything. As for the other J. S. Harrison, you’d probably have an unlisted number if you really were the district attorney. But whatever else is going on in your life right now, you’re certainly no friend of that pair who came looking for you.”
    â€œIn that case, why were they looking for me?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œOkay, I’ll give you three choices. One, you’re wrong about my identity and they’re really friends of mine. Or two, they’re on the run, and they were looking to steal a car.”
    â€œOh, hush up, that doesn’t even make sense! They already had a car.”
    â€œToo easy to identify. Look, if you’re right and they’re the bad guys and I’m the good guy, why would they come looking for me? Seems to me, even withmy impaired sensibilities, they’d be running hard in the opposite direction. The border’s just a hop, skip and a jump from here.”
    They were both silent as his words sank in. Ellen said, “What’s the third choice?”
    â€œMore of an option than a choice. Until I get this mess figured out, I’d like to stay here, if it’s all the same to you. Whoever I am, whatever I’m mixed up in, I have a strong feeling that making a sudden public appearance might set off a chain reaction I’m not ready to deal with.”
    Great choice, he thought bitterly, sponging off a woman who was too short of money and too long on pride.
    â€œOf course you’re going to stay here. I can’t let you leave until—well, until you know where you’re going.”
    Not to mention a few other bits of vital information. “Thank you. Then if you don’t mind, we’ll go on the same way we have been, with you and Pete and that worthless pair of barn rats doing all the heavy lifting while good old Storm makes a mess of trying to keep house and do the cooking.”
    â€œOh, but you don’t have to—”
    â€œDo we have a deal?”
    â€œI suppose so.” And then, green eyes snapping, she added, “Of course we have a deal!”
    â€œGood. Now, back to your old friend Greg. I had the distinct impression you weren’t too happy to see him. Anything you’d like to share?”
    â€œNot really. At least nothing I can’t handle.”
    He waited, then drawled softly, “Right. Like you handled Booker.”
    She twiddled with the coffee spoon, not meeting hiseyes, which wasn’t like her, so he waited a couple more beats. He’d discovered that it was an effective tactic.
    â€œWhat makes you think I wasn’t glad to see him?”
    â€œYou weren’t exactly rolling out the Welcome mat. The man came bearing gifts, yet I’m the one who had to invite him inside for refreshments.”
    â€œI was…surprised, that’s all.”
    â€œThat’s not all, Ellen, but you’re right—it’s none of my business. Point conceded.”
    She managed to smile, looking closer to tears than amusement. Or maybe he was reading too much into nothing. That was the trouble with straining to read a blank slate, you were apt to read all sorts of mysterious implications in a scratch or a flyspeck.
    â€œLook, my father and I are…estranged. And if you must know, Greg’s the man I was supposed to marry.”
    His spoon clattered into the saucer. “What? You were engaged to that…that stuffed shirt?”
    This time her smile was genuine. “Actually, we never quite got that far. I was supposed to graduate first, at which time my family would announce the engagement with proper fanfare. Then, after a suitable period, we were to marry. A small exclusive wedding, no more than three or four hundred carefully selected guests, followed by a couple of weeks in Bermuda or maybe Paris. After that, Greg would be made a full partner and I would take my place among