Free Cameron, Paige - The Billionaire Rancher Buys a Wife [Wives for the Western Billionaires 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) by Paige Cameron Page A

to his very pleasurable bombardment to her senses. She loved him, and hoped with all her heart he really loved her. When she’d lowered her defenses her realization that she loved him happened very quickly. She was still afraid to trust that he wouldn’t get bored after a time and go looking for someone else. Her heart was open, and bare. A delicate position to be in.
    “Are you ever coming out?” Drake called to her from the bedroom.
    “Just a minute, and I’ll join you in the kitchen.”
    She’d thrown on old jeans and a T-shirt and hurried to the kitchen. He’d made a meal and coffee. Seeing the soup and sandwich, her stomach growled.
    Drake laughed. “It’s a good thing I found some food for you, or you’d be attacking me.”
    Janice ignored him and bit into the grilled sandwich. She savored the flavor of the melted cheese. He’d made good, strong coffee, and the caffeine began to revive her.
    “Just what I needed, thank you.” She looked across to see him starting to eat. She raised an eyebrow. “Was I the taster to be sure it wasn’t poisoned?”
    “I like to watch you when you’re enjoying something.”
    They ate in companionable silence. Janice heard the truck, picking up the curbside trash, stop in front. Someone was mowing the grass a few doors down. Ordinary people with regular lives. Her life had been very regular until the midnight calls, and until she met Drake, a force to be reckoned with. She smiled at that thought.
    Drake got up and refilled their cups. “Time to talk.”
    Staring into her coffee cup, Janice told him of the midnight calls, the newspaper, the writing on her car. “The police haven’t any clues. I thought he’d get tired of calling and go away. He did for a short time, but it didn’t last. He’s escalating in the words he’s saying and writing.”
    “Neither my car, the shelf, nor the house were accidents. In two of those incidents you were with me. I thought I was the target.” He took her hand. “I believe you are, or perhaps both of us. Can you think of anyone who might be obsessed with you? Our getting together may have made his emotions boil over.”
    “Since my fiancé died, I buried myself in my work and seldom dated, and certainly no one in the past eighteen months but you. Still, there was a strange incident yesterday.” She proceeded to describe the scene at the bar. “He left ahead of me.”
    “What’s his name?” Drake glanced around the kitchen.
    Janice reached behind her and handed him a pen and pad. “His first name’s Clyde . The last name keeps eluding me.” She sat back trying to recall, but nothing came to mind. “I can call the office. My secretary can search the files. He left about six months after I started at the firm.”
    “Call her.” He sat back and waited.
    “I thought you’d be on your way out of town,” her secretary said when she answered the phone.
    “Almost. I have a question, though. I met a man the other night, and he used to work at the office. His first name is Clyde . I can’t remember his last name.”
    “Oh, I know who you mean. The poor thing had such a crush on you, and you were so engrossed in planning your wedding you didn’t even notice how many times he came by with poor excuses to see you. His name is Clyde Braun.”
    “Thank you. It annoyed me when I couldn’t remember.”
    Janice closed her cell phone before her secretary asked any questions.
    “Clyde Braun is his name. From what my secretary says, he had a crush on me and made frequent excuses to come around.”
    “I’ll call Brent right now. Go pack. We need to leave in the next hour or so.”
    Just telling Drake about all the scary incidents had lifted a weight off her shoulders. Clyde must be the one bothering her. Drake and Brent would check him out. She opened two suitcases and began to pack one with warm clothes and the other with lighter outfits. She added underwear, a bathing suit, and several pairs of shoes. She’d just snapped the