Page 9 of Fatal Deception

He wasn’t stupid enough to think it was some reaction to him catching her, but the fact hewantedto believe that irritated him enough to be frustrated. “Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you?”

She jerked out of his grasp, and he thought she was more angry with herself than at him, but took it out on him just the same. “I’m exhausted and starving, that’s what’s wrong with me.”

“Well, why don’t you eat and sleep?”

“Gee. I hadn’t thought of that.” She took the horses into the stables. He knew enough about the whole process that she had to take the saddles off and he knew how to do all that, so he nudged her out of the way. “I can do it,” he muttered.

He couldfeelher wanting to argue with him, but she didn’t. She watched, and once she seemed satisfied that he wasn’t completely ignorant, she filled something in each stall with water and handled other things he supposed were important.

He got the equipment off and put it all back where she’d had it before the ride. They worked in silence until done. Then she shut the stall doors. He followed her back out into the freezing cold night.

“Thanks,” she muttered. “Listen, I’ve got some food, if you’re hungry. We can discuss next steps.” She started walking toward the house.

“You don’t want me to eat with you.”

She didn’t respond for a moment. “No, I don’t, but it’s the polite thing to offer.”

Something about that really amused the hell out of him. That she was honest enough to admit she didn’t want him there, buthad a belief that politeness should trump what she wanted. Ridiculous.

But kind of sweet.

He should get the hell out of here. What was he doing being intrigued bysweet? Not his MO.

But he couldn’t deny he was curious to see what the inside of the house looked like. What Audra’s dinner might look like. How exactly this woman, who claimed no one would be mad at her, lived.

“Then I guess it’s the polite thing to do to take you up on it.”

He didn’t miss the way she sighed regretfully. In fact, it made him grin. But she didn’t try to get out of it, just trudged toward the house in the dark, with him close behind.

Chapter Four

Audra didn’t know why she let good manners put her in this situation. Copeland Beckett in her house. Eating her food at her table. And why? Because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Because manners her parents had taught, but not employed themselves, still ruled her no matter how hard she might try to be more like Rosalie and not care about what people thought of her.

Oh, he’d only accepted the invitation to irritate her, no doubt. He was one of those people who lived to irritate.

She could recognize it when she saw it. She’d grown up with Rosalie. She even kind of respected it, because too often in her life she bent over backward for someone else, to her own detriment.

She’d promised herself she’d turn over a new leaf after Dad had died, after all his secrets came to light, and sometimes she managed. Telling Copeland they were going to ride horses had been a needling move.

But then he’d handled the horse just fine. And thinking about the horse had her thinking about thedismountfrom the horse.

She would have fallen. Even now, her hands were shaky and she didn’t feel remotely steady. She knew she needed food. She’d pushed herself too hard too many days in a row, and sheknewbetter, but sometimes life just didn’t let a person take care of themselves.

But he’d grabbed her. Just snatched her and kept her from falling over. He was strong. Stronger than he looked. And thatwas saying something because he didn’t look like any kind of slouch.

She pushed into the front door, fighting between the instinct to say nothing and the desire to tell him to wipe his boots. Trying to shove down her ridiculously physical reaction to him helping her not face-plant because it had been a lot more than simple relief.

But he spoke first, after he wiped his boots on the mat and hung up his coat on the hook on the wall without her having to tell him.

“You don’t lock your doors?” he demanded.

She sighed. She usually did. When Vi had lived with them, after running away from her abusive ex-husband, they’d gotten in the habit of locking up to make Vi feel safer. But Audra still sometimes forgot when she was stressed because it had never been a habit. “No one came out this way” was the old mantra.

But someone had done that to her fence, hadn’t they?

“I do at night. During the day, I don’t always remember.”

“I’d start remembering.”