Free Hightower Affairs 2: Bedding the Secret Heiress by Emilie Rose Page B

and he needed to locate Lauren. According to the couple, she’d left soon after they’d checked in this morning. Where in the hell had she gone?
    “There’s our girl now,” Leon said.
    Gage’s abdomen tightened even before he looked in the direction his host indicated and spotted Lauren cresting the hill. A breeze lifted her straight hair away from her face. The setting sun streaked the strands with a copperish hue. Her jeans and zipped-up jacket outlined her slender shape. She paused, shifting her bag on her shoulder then turned toward Golden Gate Park as if soaking up the view one last time before retiring for the evening. Her jeans hugged her backside as faithfully as her leather riding pants had, but had interesting faded spots on each lower cheek. His body reacted predictably, given his recent all-work-and-no-play stint.
    Why couldn’t he get Lauren out of his head? The memory of that damned kiss and the feel of her pressed against him had disrupted his concentration all day, which was the reason he’d been forced to bring a case of files back to the B and B to work on tonight.
    She pivoted and resumed walking toward the house. Where had she been all day?
    She must have spotted the wildly waving Esmé because Lauren lifted a hand to wave. He knew the exact second she spotted him because her steps and hand faltered, and her blinding smile dimmed. Her fingers curled and her arm lowered. Even her stride changed from light and bouncy to laborious, as if she were slogging the last hundred feet uphill through knee-deep mud. Her obviously negative reaction nicked him, but he brushed it off. He didn’t want to be her friend. Or her lover.
    He might admire her confidence, competence and intelligence, but those were merely skills that made her a good pilot and a decent employee for Trent. Without trust none of those attributes mattered.She climbed the stairs and both Esmé and Leon jumped up to greet her like a grandchild they hadn’t seen in months.
    Esmé hooked an arm through Lauren’s and all but dragged her to the rocking chair beside Gage’s. “Did you find the Wi-Fi café and get your paper done?”
    “I did. Your directions were excellent. My paper is finished and e-mailed to my instructor days early.”
    She’d been online again? “What paper?”
    Lauren bit her lip and shifted on her feet. “I have an economics paper due Monday morning.”
    “You’re taking a class?”
    She hesitated as if debating answering…or making up one. “Yes. Online through the University of Central Florida. You didn’t need me, did you? You could have called my cell phone.”
    Her face looked honest enough, but his goal of keeping her offline had failed. He’d need a new strategy for tomorrow. “No. I didn’t need you.”
    Leon took her bag and pressed a glass of wine into Lauren’s hand. “Try this. It’s my latest batch of vino.”
    She smiled her thanks and the old man beamed.
    “Why are you taking classes?” Gage asked, recapturing her attention.
    “I’m working toward a four-year bachelor’s degree in business administration. In this economic climate it’s always good to have a backup plan.”
    Add ambitious to her list of assets. But was she the type to take shortcuts and use others for personal gain? Something didn’t add up. The discrepancy between what Trent believed and what Gage saw was too great. Good thing Gage enjoyed solving puzzles because Lauren was a complicated one.
    Esmé patted Lauren’s shoulder. “Smart girl. Andwhat about your mother? Were you able to reach her? Did she give you what you needed?”
    Lauren hid a frown behind her glass as she sipped her wine and eased into the chair. If he hadn’t been watching her closely, he would have missed her slight grimace. So she wasn’t a fan of wine. But she smiled at her host and nodded her head as if she loved the subpar stuff rather than hurt Leon’s feelings. “It’s good.”
    That was an outright lie, but he could hardly blame her