Free The Rogue Hunter by Lynsay Sands

said firmly.
    "But I can't possibly eat all this," she protested as the steak landed on her potato salad mountain.
    "You're too skinny. Eat up." He passed the platter on to Bricker without further comment and then turned his attention to his own meal.
    Sam stared with disbelief as he proceeded to eat. She couldn't believe the sheer gall of the man. Bossing her around, deciding what she should and shouldn't eat, and then ignoring her when she'd intended to ignore him to begin with. Somehow the evening had turned topsy-turvy and she hadn't a clue how or why.
    Shaking her head, she glanced toward Alex and then Jo, frowning when she saw that rather than being offended for her, both of her sisters seemed amused. She could have smacked them. Neither one would enjoy being treated like a child.
    "It's all right."
    Sam glanced to Bricker in question.
    "He's just trying to help you," Bricker said, though she didn't think she'd seen his mouth move. Sam was frowning as that realization tried to grab hold of her thoughts, but it was the oddest thing… the thought was as slippery as a fish, slipping out of her grasp before she could get a proper hold on it.
    "Don't be angry with him."
    Those words distracted her from the worry about his lips moving and Sam stared at him silently.
    "Just relax and enjoy yourself."
    Relax and enjoy herself, she thought slowly. Yes, that made sense. She was on vacation, after all. She should relax and enjoy herself, Sam thought. Feeling her tension slipping away, she smiled serenely and turned to the food on her plate.
    They ate in silence at first, everyone concentrating on the meal.
    "This is good," Bricker said suddenly as he took a second of the thin strips of steak from the platter. "What did you put on the steak?"
    "It's Alex's special marinade," Jo announced with a proud grin. "She won't tell you what's in it so don't even bother to ask."
    "It's really good," Bricker complimented again, making Alex flush with pleasure. "So is the dip. What's—?"
    "That's Alex's recipe too," Sam informed him. "And again, don't even bother to ask the ingredients. She guards her recipes like a miser hoards his money."
    "She has to. It's her business," Jo said in Alex's defense and then announced proudly, "Alex is the owner and head chef at La Bonne Vie, one of Toronto's premier cordon bleu restaurants. Normally any meal she cooks would cost the earth, so enjoy."
    A round of murmuring went up at that, and there were several compliments on her cooking, but Sam couldn't help but notice that only Bricker and Mortimer were actually eating the food. Decker Pimms was mostly pushing his food around his plate. There was no worry about leftovers, however; Justin Bricker and Garrett Mortimer were eating enough for four men. She caught Decker and Bricker exchange a meaningful smile as they watched Mortimer eat, but didn't understand what that was about since Bricker was matching the man.
    "What do you do, Sam?" Decker asked suddenly. His tone sounded interested, but she couldn't help but notice that his gaze was on Mortimer as he asked.
    "I'm a junior lawyer at a firm in Toronto," she admitted.
    Apparently deciding that her explanation was too tame, Alex elaborated, "She works for Babcock, Hillier, and Bundy."
    A moment of silence passed as the men exchanged questioning glances. It was obvious none of them had heard of the firm, but then why should they? Unless they'd had legal difficulties or were in law themselves, they wouldn't. Alex decided to enlighten them. "Babcock, Hillier, and Bundy are one of the most prestigious firms in Canada. Lawyers from all over the country would kill to work for them, and she was headhunted straight out of university. It was a major coup."
    "It's not that big a deal," Sam said modestly when the men all turned interested glances her way. "Mostly I'm a glorified law clerk. I do a lot of research and information gathering and gofering—"
    "For Babcock, the head guy," Alex interjected firmly, and then