Free Dangerous Lover by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page B

like that, her corn-silk hair fell over her face, and she had to push it back with one hand. And for some reason his gaze got stuck on her face, on the way she grimaced at the antlers.
    Then he managed to look back to the rack again.
    â€œPoor freaking deer,” she muttered.
    â€œElk,” he said.
    â€œHow do you know?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “Good question.”
    She frowned at him for a moment, then sighed and got out of the car, hauling her backpack from the rear seat and slinging it over her shoulder. “I guess we might as well go in. It’s too late to seek alternative options tonight. But I swear, if there are animals’ heads mounted on the walls, I’m sleeping outside.”
    He nodded, and told himself it was pretty clear she’d never been up here before, or if she had, it had been awhile. He didn’t think she was faking her reaction to the elk rack. And he saw further evidence of it when she picked up three or four rocks from the ground near the door, before locating the one that wasn’t a rock at all, and took the key from within it. Then she unlocked the door and stepped into the utter darkness inside.
    â€œWait a sec. I don’t know where anything is here, but—” He heard movement, the sound of a zipper. Then there was a click, and she was aiming a flashlight beam around the place.
    He spotted a kerosene lamp. There was a book of matches beside it, so he went to it and lit it. As he did so, she was lighting another, and pretty soon they had four of the lamps burning and filling the place with soft, yellow light.
    No animal heads graced the walls, he noted, and was grateful for reasons he couldn’t have named. Just relieved on her behalf, he guessed. They’d walked into a large living room with a cobblestone fireplace as its focal point, and comfortable-looking furniture all around.
    â€œTessa said the place was well-stocked. Are you hungry?”
    â€œStarved. Who is Tessa?”
    She stiffened enough to tell him she hadn’t meant to mention the name. “She’s a friend of mine. This is her husband’s cabin.”
    â€œI see. Is she one of the other nude-nymphets from the woods?”
    She sent him a frown. “We were not nude.”
    â€œNude enough.”
    Shaking her head she said, “I’m not telling anyone who else was out there with me, so there’s no point in asking.”
    â€œI don’t need to ask. You just told me.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t tell you anything. And I’m not going to.”
    â€œThen you admit you have something to hide.”
    â€œI don’t have a thing to hide, Cory. But some secrets just aren’t mine to tell. I promised those women I would keep their names out of it, and I keep my promises. Now, why don’t you start that fire and I’ll go see what I can find us to eat.”
    She walked away, across the room and through a darkened doorway, carrying one of the kerosene lamps with her. The kernel of a thought came into his mind that she suddenly seemed to know her way around this place pretty well, but before it became a fully developed suspicion, she reappeared in the doorway, looking sheepish.
    â€œNothing to eat in the bedroom,” she said.
    â€œOh.” She shot his newborn theory down with a self-deprecating grin that did something to his insides. “Try that one,” he suggested, pointing out another doorway, at the opposite side of the room.
    â€œOn it.” She crossed the room in front of him. “Holler if you need me.”
    He watched her go, and for a second, the image of her, dancing half-naked in the forest, wearing nothing but a colorful cloth tied at her waist, that long silvery-blond hair falling around her shoulders, grabbed hold of his mind and wouldn’t let go.
    He took a mental grip on himself, reminded himself he could be fantasizing about his would-be killer. Or his would-be