Less-than-Innocent Invitation Read online

  Logan shrugged. “I don’t know. They weren’t dating at the time. Christine wanted the items for the museum. Jake eventually made it up to her by donating them.”

  At the excitement building in Daniel’s eyes, Logan remarked, “You know, it’s only speculation that the map may lead to a treasure.”

  “That’s true. And we all know how rumors are always built out of proportion,” Melissa said. She didn’t want her producer getting ideas about staying in Royal any longer than they originally had planned. But from his excited expression he already seemed intrigued, which meant nothing but trouble for her. She was ready to leave Royal tonight, to put Logan and memories of their love affair behind her. Now, thanks to a hokey map, her plans were in jeopardy.

  Daniel’s excited expression faltered a fraction. “There’s a chance that the map is real.”

  “Daniel—”

  “You don’t know it isn’t and you won’t if you don’t look into the story. Also, one of the guests said he’d heard someone had vandalized an exhibit at the museum and it was close to where Jessamine’s things are on display.”

  Melissa frowned. “Which exhibit?”

  “The one on Edgar Halifax.” Daniel looked at Logan. “Who was he?”

  “Edgar was Royal’s first mayor and is credited with establishing the town,” Logan informed him. “He was shot and killed and the person responsible was never caught. For the anniversary celebration and because Gretchen Halifax, his descendant and also a mayoral candidate, pushed for it, an exhibit in his honor is on display at the museum.”

  “Do they have any idea why it was vandalized?” Melissa asked.

  “Not from what I’ve heard.” Daniel shifted his attention to his reporter.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like someone has an ax to grind, but I fail to see any connection to Jessamine Golden’s legend.”

  “That’s where you come in,” her producer told her. “We’re going to stay in town for a few days. You can spend some time working on the connection, if there is one. It’ll make a great addition to your story.”

  Melissa all but groaned, even though she had to admit that something suspicious was going on. Still, in her opinion it didn’t warrant them staying in Royal. “I think we have enough footage and information for the story we’re planning.”

  “Maybe for what we originally planned, but I’ve already talked to Jason. We’re covering Royal’s anniversary celebration, but we’re also planning a series on historical mysteries. Let’s investigate Jessamine Golden more thoroughly. And I want you to report on the vandalism when you put the story together. Do some digging. There’s no telling what you could turn up.”

  “Jason?” Logan asked, noticing the panicked look on Melissa’s face.

  Melissa explained, “Jason Bellamy is the news director at our station.” She turned toward her producer, her eyes wide. “This could take a while. Daniel, I don’t think—”

  “People love a mystery, and this one is rich with historic significance. You might even find a way to connect it to the town’s celebration.”

  Logan watched the two of them with interest. By Melissa’s replies and body language, it was clear she wasn’t crazy about staying in town. Why? Because of him? He discounted that theory. She’d walked away from him before without batting an eye.

  Well, he wanted her to stay until he found out what he wanted to know from her.

  “Do you have hotel reservations?” he asked, hoping they didn’t. If they hadn’t made reservations, they were going to need a place to stay.

  Melissa gave him a frustrated look. “No, we don’t. We checked out today because we weren’t staying,” she reminded her producer, pinning him with a hard stare. Remaining in Royal wasn’t an option. Nearly kissing Logan tonight was enough to tell her that her feelings for him went deeper than their years apart could erase.

  “Then you have a problem,” Logan stated, already thinking about setting them up at his ranch. “You won’t be able to get a hotel room.”

  “Nowhere in town?” her story producer asked. “Are you sure?”

  Relief rushed through Melissa and she released a pent-up breath. “Well, that’s that, then.” She almost did a happy dance. Now they could leave. And if Daniel wanted a more in-depth piece on Royal, he could come back—with another reporter.

  “Yes. Everything has been booked for weeks because of the celebration.” Logan checked the time. “At this hour, you’d have to drive for miles before you’d find an available room, if you’re lucky.” As Daniel’s face fell, Logan put his plan into action. “Tell you what. I’ll be glad to help you out.”

  Daniel leaned toward Logan. “How?”

  “I own a ranch just outside of town. I can put you and your crew up while you’re here.”

  “What?” Melissa squeaked.

  “That would be great.” Daniel missed his reporter’s look of alarm. “Thank you!”

  “Wait a minute—”

  “My pleasure.” Ignoring Melissa’s protest, Logan shook Daniel’s hand, sealing the deal. “How many are in your crew?”

  “Three. The two of us and Rick Johnson, our videographer and sound person.”

  “I have plenty of room. I’ll give my housekeeper a call and let her know to expect you later tonight.”

  “Logan, wait!” Melissa grabbed his arm as he started to turn away. “We can’t possibly impose on you.”

  He smiled at her. “It’s the least I can do.”

  Not fooled by his innocent expression, she dropped her hand. “So you’re doing this for the town, is that it?” She knew better than to trust him. He had an ulterior motive, but at the moment she was at a loss as to what it could be.

  Logan looked down at his arm where she’d touched him. He could swear he’d felt the heat of her through the fabric of his suit. His gaze swung up to her face. “What other reason could I have?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

  “None, I assure you, sweetheart. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a call to make.”

  She glanced at the bracelet watch on her arm. “It’s late,” she blurted, stopping him again, this time with only her words. “You can’t expect your housekeeper to make up rooms for us at this hour.”

  Logan grinned at them both. “Wait until you meet Norah. Believe me, she won’t mind a bit. She’ll make you feel right at home.”

  Melissa’s heart sank. This can’t be happening! She did not want to stay in Royal.

  And she surely did not want to stay at Logan’s ranch.

  That would be just too darn close to the man for comfort. The farther away from Logan she was, the better. She started to protest again, but Logan turned away and began dialing his cell phone.

  Melissa frowned at Daniel. Though she wanted to argue about his decision to stay at Logan’s ranch, how could she? Daniel would want to know her reasons. As it stood, her colleagues knew nothing about her past with Logan.

  And she wanted to keep it that way.

  “Staying on a ranch. This will be exciting,” Daniel said, breaking into her thoughts.

  “Yeah, exciting.” Her voice revealed she was anything but. It was just her luck to have a boss who was a history buff.

  Logan punched a button on his phone, then tucked it inside his jacket. He turned toward them. “Everything is all set. Norah will have your rooms ready for you by the time you arrive.”

  Daniel clapped him on the back. “We can’t thank you enough, Logan.”

  Logan was glad things had turned in his favor. “The pleasure’s mine.” He looked at Melissa. “All mine, I assure you.”

  Daniel’s face lit up like a Boy Scout earning his first merit badge. “If you’ll give us directions to your ranch, we’ll leave the celebration in a short while. The last thing we want is to be an inconvenience.”

  “That’s not necessary. Stay as late as you like. I wouldn’t want you to miss a minute of it.” He gave Melissa a long look. Putting her on the defensive, he said,
“Besides, Melissa can find the Wild Spur. She already knows the way, don’t you sweetheart? I’ll meet you when you arrive.” Touching the brim of his hat, he walked away.

  Her mouth dropping open, Melissa stared after him as he exited through the doublewide front doors. From her producer’s silence, she knew Logan’s comment had left him speechless, too. Facing him, she explained, “I knew Logan in high school.” She hoped that would be enough information to satisfy his curiosity.

  It didn’t work. Daniel’s raised eyebrows caused her stomach to wrench.

  “I got the feeling there was more between the two of you than being school chums,” he commented. “So there’s another side to my wonderful workaholic reporter?”

  Melissa’s lips tightened into a straight line. “I am not a workaholic.”

  “No? Dear, you haven’t been on a date in months.”

  “I’ve been busy working for a promotion, which Jason has promised me after this assignment,” she reminded him.

  “I know, and you’ll get it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t slow down occasionally, have a little fun.”

  “I do things for enjoyment. I went out with the gang last week.”

  Daniel shook his head. “Going out for drinks with a group of friends from work isn’t the same as dating and you know it. You only travel in a pack.” As if jolted by his own words, he looked at the door Logan had just left through, then back at Melissa.

  “Don’t go reading anything into that wicked mind of yours. I knew Logan a long time ago. That’s all.”

  “Oh, really?” Daniel raised his dark, bushy eyebrows. “C’mon, Melissa. I’m surprised I’m not singed from the vibes between the two of you.”

  “What you were feeling is your imagination getting away from you.”

  “You can deny it all you want, but there’s something going on between you and Logan Voss.”

  “Daniel, you’re crazy! I haven’t seen the man in years. How could there be anything between us?” Logically, it made sense and she hoped Daniel bought it. Because before he’d walked into the foyer and interrupted them, Logan had been about to kiss her. And she would have let him.

  Worse, she would have kissed him back.

  Oh, Lord, what had she been thinking? When she’d learned the reason Logan had wanted to marry her, her heart had broken in two. She’d prayed that Logan would come after her and tell her she’d been wrong to believe what she’d heard. But he hadn’t. It had been years before she’d been able to think of dating again.

  Now, back in Royal for a few hours, she’d been tempted by that same destructive path.

  Exasperated, Melissa glared at Daniel. “Let’s go into the party. There are a few more people I want to talk to.”

  “All right.” Daniel followed her. “I’ll find you, say, in about an hour.” He opened the door for her. After she entered, he walked in behind her. “Let me know if you’re ready to leave earlier.”

  Melissa nodded as she made her escape, Daniel’s words echoing through her mind.

  Let me know if you’re ready to leave earlier.

  Ha! As if that was even a possibility. The last place on earth she’d thought she’d end up tonight was at Logan’s ranch.

  There had to be some way to get out of going there. Perhaps Logan had been wrong. It was possible that the hotels weren’t solidly booked. How could he even know that for sure, anyway?

  She looked around for Rick. Since she’d ridden to Royal with him, she didn’t have a car, but maybe she could borrow his truck and check a few of the hotels on her own. There had to be some other place she could stay.

  Because going to Logan’s wasn’t an option.

  Three

  “There it is.” Melissa pointed out a road off the highway to Rick as they passed a small country food market that had long closed for the day.

  He put on his blinker and made a sharp right turn onto the narrow paved road. In the distance caught beneath the moon’s glow, she could just make out a house beyond several fenced pastures.

  “So this guy you know has a real ranch?” Rick asked.

  “Yeah, it’s the real thing.” Melissa turned her head away from the window and gave Rick a faint smile. Five years younger than her, he was what women referred to as beautiful—not a common word used to describe a man, but it fitted Rick completely. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail, which accentuated his high cheekbones and gorgeous blue eyes. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to realize how perfectly God had made him. He was a nice person, too, and they shared a great working relationship.

  “How do you know him?” he asked, shooting her a glance.

  A flash of her past whipped through her mind. “We met at a party when I was twenty.” Actually, because she and Logan had gone to the same high school, she’d known who he was. He’d been three years ahead of her and hadn’t even known her name. Back then, all the girls had had crushes on Logan Voss.

  Except she’d never grown out of hers. A couple of years after graduation they met and began dating and she’d fallen madly in love with him. Ruggedly male and hard-working, he was also as gentle as he was intense, as loving as he was stubborn.

  “An old boyfriend?” Rick wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  “Something like that.” An old boyfriend. A former lover. The man she’d planned to marry.

  The man who had broken her heart.

  Rick slowed the truck to navigate a sharp curve. “So you grew up here?”

  “My father was in the service and was transferred to Reese Air Force Base near Lubbock when I was twelve. We passed through Royal on our way there. He liked it here, so he commuted to work. Once I graduated high school I didn’t want to move with my parents when they retired to Florida. So I stayed in Royal.”

  To be near Logan. But she didn’t say that.

  She’d never forgotten the moment she’d seen him sitting alone at that party. For years she’d admired him from afar, so, gathering her courage, she’d sat beside him and struck up a conversation. They’d spend the remainder of the evening together, then Logan had taken her home.

  The instant chemistry between them had led to a heated kiss. A few dates later, with their passion still burning hot, she’d given him her virginity.

  Over the next few months, their relationship had grown more intense. And emotional. As a teenager, Melissa had sworn she wouldn’t turn out like her mother, a talented dancer who had given up her chance at stardom to become the wife of a career military man and follow him from base to base as he moved up the ranks.

  Not her. She had wanted to do so much more.

  Until she’d fallen in love with Logan.

  For the first time in her life, it all made sense. Love, happiness, being with the man you couldn’t live without. Having his children. Growing old with him.

  She’d wanted all those things with Logan so much that she’d tossed away her dreams of leaving Royal and becoming a reporter.

  Logan had asked her to marry him.

  Melissa sighed just thinking about how happy she’d been at that very moment. “Yes,” she’d whispered. And Logan had kissed her tenderly. Then he held her in his arms and said, “I’ll have everything I’ve ever wanted, Melissa. I’ll have you and the Wild Spur.”

  It hadn’t occurred to her that it might be an unusual thing to say at all. He’d always loved the ranch. But the next day she’d learned from a casual friend the cold truth of why Logan had asked her to marry him—a far cry from his whispered words of love.

  The truck traveled over the cattle guard, jarring Melissa out of her thoughts. Her stomach felt like lead as they drove under the Wild Spur entrance and up the long drive to the main house. She stared out the window, mesmerized by how the landscape had changed. Three cottages dotted a circular drive she couldn’t recall. Next to them, the trees had flourished, blocking their view of the main house.

  Several outbuildings lay to her right, each very large and well-kept. Beyond them in the distance stood an impressive r
ow of stables and several large corrals. Progress and improvements had changed the small ranch she’d known into a major, thriving business.

  The truck rounded a small curve and at the sight of Logan’s home, she caught her breath. It barely resembled the small, functional ranch house she’d remembered.

  Pulling into a driveway of cocoa-colored stone, Rick stopped his truck in front of a grand courtyard enclosed with an equally impressive stone wall. A majestic fountain stood like a monument in the center of it, welcoming them.

  She opened her door, climbed out of the truck and her stomach knotted tighter as she took in the massive house. Although she recognized a part of the original building, the majority of it had clearly been constructed since she’d left town.

  It was, in a word…stunning.

  The Spanish-style house boasted a low-pitched terracotta roof, rounded windows and stucco walls painted a pale shade of peach. An array of native foliage gave the iron-gated entryway and courtyard lushness, as did the beautiful flagstone patio and walkway.

  It seemed Logan’s management of the ranch had paid off nicely. He’d always been devoted to this place, she thought with a sense of resignation—enough to marry her to acquire it. Obviously he’d succeeded in getting the ranch, despite the fact that she’d refused to be used as a ticket to secure his heritage.

  Had he and his brother Bart struck another deal of some kind, or had one of them married to lock down their legacy? What had happened to Bart? she wondered.

  The brothers had had little in common. Unlike Logan, Bart, a few years younger, had hated living in the country, raising cattle and handling horses. Though Melissa hadn’t thought he’d been a bad seed, he’d found his way into his share of trouble. Aware Logan’s father had favored Bart, Melissa once had asked Logan why.

  He’d told her that their mother had died of cancer when he was eleven and Bart was six. At first, Bart had withdrawn, then later he became difficult to handle. His father had tried to compensate for his distress by giving into his demands. Logan hadn’t expressed bitterness or jealousy; he’d simply accepted his father’s obvious favoritism without complaining. Or showing emotion.