Free Queen of Hearts: (Family Stone #6 Shelley) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) by Lisa Hughey Page B

current problem?”
    “Don’t knock intuition.” Jack stared at the computer screen.
    “Fernandez.” Ric frowned. Oddly, his gaze was on Con’s hand on hers. “Shelley didn’t have anything to do with taking him down.”
    “Not really.”
    Con launched into a quick rundown of the situation with Jose Fernandez, the politician from Monterey who had used a horrific kidnapping of four young Hispanic girls to advance his career. “We exposed him for the fraud he was. But you’re right, Shelley wasn’t really involved, with the exception of giving Ava a place to hide until we were ready to confront him.”
    “True.” Shelley smiled reminiscently.
    “He could be attempting to get to you and Jack through Shelley,” Ric mused. “Does he know how close you all are?”
    “Everyone knows how close we are, ever since that article about the farm—”
    “What article?” Ric clipped out.
    “It should have been nothing.” She hated the attention on her. “The article was supposed to be about the program we, I, implemented. A new kind of way to support the Food for Life food bank. Supporters sponsor an acre of land. The cooperative farm grows the food. Then the harvest goes straight to the food bank so that the recipients have access to fresh produce.”
    “Instead, the reporter profiled Mom,” Jack said.
    “I knew having my picture taken in front of the house was a mistake.” Shelley shook her head. She’d tried to finger comb the tangled mess of her hair but it was still untidy around her face, distracting her from their serious discussion. She couldn’t control the shiver as she remembered how it became so messy. Ric’s hand fisted in her hair, holding her head tightly. Like he’d never let her go. Her body reacted to the visceral erotic memory, zooming her right back to that moment in bed.
    “The end result was still an increase in people willing to adopt an acre of land and a big boost for Happy Tummy Farm and the food bank, but it also brought attention to me personally. I’ve gotten several proposals and, um, offers.”
    “Proposals?” Ric said slowly.
    “Um, yes, marriage proposals.” Shelley shuddered. “From strangers.”
    It had been so weird to be the focus of that much attention. She tended to stay in the shadows. She supported plenty of causes but quietly behind the scenes. She’d learned long ago that having money meant many people wanted you to part with it. She’d finally had to pick a few philanthropic efforts, get involved in the process, and choose those projects that spoke to her.
    Ric’s lips quirked.
    “Laugh all you want but having a stranger show up on your front lawn with a marquee and marching band to ask for your hand in marriage is a little disconcerting.”
    The attention made her uncomfortable.
    Even the regard of the three other people in this room made her squirm. She was much better at lavishing attention on the kids, or her charities, than taking it for herself.
    “Okay.” Ric was suddenly all business as if he sensed her need to fade into the background.
    Con pulled up her email account.
    Her email. “How’d you do that?”
    He just looked steadily at her. “This is what I do, Shel.”
    “Invade privacy?” Indignation rose in her. First her hotel room, now Con was invading her personal email. “How’d you get my password?”
    “We need to have a talk about your password,” Con said.
    Shelley’s face burned. She knew it was dumb but that date changed her life. The day she’d gone to the live at the Stone mansion. And it was too personal to share with Ric Santana even if they had shared bodily fluids. “Not now.”
    Ric got them back on track. “Show me the emails.”
    She pulled them up. She wasn’t sure she should tell him. “I deleted the ones that were um, more personal.”
    “Personal how?” Ric was back in her space, his chest puffed and his body somehow bigger. He’d morphed into Mr. Protection.
    “More proposals offering to…satisfy