Brackish pulled out another folder and Crew felt his heart nearly beat out of his chest.

  “These are the women I could find associated with you,” Brackish said, pushing the folder over.

  Crew took it, fidgeting in his seat with Darla next to him. He didn’t want to open it and expose his past to this woman he was becoming more and more interested in. Would it change what she was feeling toward him? Would it change how he felt about her if her entire dating world was put on display in front of him? He honestly didn’t know.

  With a sigh, he opened the folder. There were a dozen women in the folder. He gaped as he looked at the names. Then he glanced up at Brackish who was making himself a cup of coffee and helping himself to a cookie on the counter.

  “How in the heck did you find my middle school girlfriend? I forgot I even dated her. There definitely wasn’t sex with her,” Crew said. He knew of Brackish’s abilities, but he was wondering if he truly had no clue what this man did. Brackish seemed able to find things that weren’t possible to find.

  “I can find anything,” Brackish said. “Great cookie. Homemade?”

  “No, I got them at the store, but I like them in a container,” Darla answered. She’d brought all sorts of goodies to Crew’s house when she started coming over to work on this case with him.

  Crew looked at Darla as the two of them scanned the printouts on the women Crew had dated. Some he’d slept with, some he hadn’t.

  “What does this mean? Is there anyone on here I could have a child with?” Crew asked. His heart was thundering. This situation had been tearing him up for months. Why hadn’t he come to his family sooner? He could’ve saved himself a lot of hell.

  Brackish smiled as he pushed over one more folder. Crew was afraid of opening it. He couldn’t read that smile on Brackish’s face. He hadn’t known the man long enough to know his expressions.

  “Open the folder. It’s killing me,” Darla said. Crew could see her fingers itching to yank the tan folder from his hand.

  He opened it to a picture of an older couple. Crew looked up with confusion. “Now, I can guarantee I haven’t slept with this woman,” he told both Brackish and Darla.

  Brackish laughed hard, seeming very amused by this.

  “You never know. You could be a cougar chaser,” Brackish said.

  Crew glared at him.

  “Sorry. I had to,” he told him as he polished off his third cookie. “This is Dennis and Heidi Robo.” He stopped.

  “Those names mean nothing to me,” Crew said.

  “I didn’t think they would. But apparently they’ve been linked to a lot of scams for a lot of years. They’ve made a pretty decent living blackmailing people whether they have a nugget of truth or none at all. You happened to hit their radar,” Brackish said.

  “And?” Crew pushed.

  “And . . . you don’t have a long-lost child out there. If you’d come to me when you got your first note I would’ve found this and probably saved you a lot of sleepless nights,” Brackish told him.

  Crew felt a rush of emotion flow through him. Relief. Happiness. Despair. Anger. The emotions mixed and mingled, leaving him utterly exhausted.

  “You’re sure?” Crew asked.

  “I’m one hundred percent sure,” Brackish said.

  Crew’s eyes narrowed. “We can’t let them keep doing this to people,” he said, his fist slamming down on the counter.

  “I fully agree. That’s why the Washington police department received their very own folder listing all of their crimes with foolproof evidence. They were picked up this morning. It seems they also have committed a lot of check fraud as well. They’re going to prison for a very, very long time,” Brackish said.

  “So, this is over?” Crew asked, almost unable to believe it.

  “It’s over,” Brackish said.

  “You don’t look happy,” Darla pointed out. They were both staring at him, wondering at his reaction.

  “I don’t know what I’m feeling,” he said. “I’ve gone through a lot of emotions over the past few months, wondering if there was a child out there who needed me. The thought has been killing me. And then I knew I wasn’t ready to be a dad, but at the same time, the thought of a child of mine out there and not being a part of her life has killed me. So, I guess right now I can’t get my brain to switch over to the fact that I don’t have a little girl needing me.”

  “Oh, Crew, I’m so sorry,” Darla said, not caring that Brackish was there. She wrapped her arms around Crew and hugged him. He was glad for the embrace.

  “You do realize you’re not an old man. You could have a child the right way without any blackmail or shared custody,” Brackish pointed out.

  Darla let Crew go and he glared at Brackish. “Thanks for the advice,” he said with sarcasm.

  “No problem. I’m a man of many talents. I can hack a computer or soothe a male ego, whatever I’m called on for the day.”

  “I’ll take your hacking abilities but pass on the personal advice,” Crew said. “I know I should feel a lot more relief and maybe it’ll kick in once all of this really sets in. But for now, I just feel a bit lost.”

  “Maybe Brackish is right. Maybe you feel as if you lost something you hadn’t known you wanted,” Darla said with understanding and something else in her eyes he wasn’t quite sure how to read.

  “Maybe,” he said quietly. He wasn’t sure who in the room was more shocked by those words, the two standing with him or himself. He hadn’t had that urge to settle down and have kids, not with his job and all of the patients he spoke to on a regular basis, their lives ruined by bad marriages, bad parents, or even bad children. Why would he take a chance on that?

  As he had that thought, he looked at Darla, a flush stealing through him. She was safe. She was the kind of woman he could trust. She wasn’t into games, and she wasn’t someone who’d hide her thoughts or feelings.

  “I can see the two of you want to be alone,” Brackish said with a chuckle. “I’ll see myself out. But remember, the next time you need me, try to make it more of a challenge. This was far too easy.”

  Crew should thank the man, but he was completely captured by Darla at that moment. What did all of this mean for the two of them? They heard Brackish walk away, the sound of his laughter trailing behind as he left.

  “What’s next?” Crew asked Darla when they were alone.

  “What do you want to be next?” she asked, turning the decision around on him.

  “I don’t want you to go,” he said.

  “Good. I don’t like playing games, and I want to stay,” she said. Heat once again surged through him.

  “But what excuse shall we use to keep you here?” he finally asked, a smile returning to his lips. Darla threw back her head and laughed. It was several seconds before she met his gaze.

  “Well, it can’t be just because we like being together,” she said, lifting a finger to her lips as if she was really thinking. “Maybe it’s a good thing you got those horses, because I’m a horse whisperer, and you aren’t. I better teach you how to take care of your animals.”

  His grin grew. “Maybe I’ll keep them after all,” he said, feeling lighter than he had in a while.

  Her grin shifted, and he saw the teasing light in her eyes grow more intense. He waited, finding himself holding his breath for what she was going to say next.

  “Then maybe we’ll talk about those babies you seem to want,” she told him. She winked as he felt the color in his cheeks quickly drain. She turned and left him standing speechless in his kitchen.

  Now her laughter trailed behind as she walked from the kitchen. He should tuck tail and run as fast as he possibly could. But he found the only place he wanted to run was after her.

  Crew was thinking he should simply follow his instincts, get the woman, and throw all rational thought out the window. He smiled.

  Chapter Eight

  Darla leaned against the fence and watched the horses frolic in the field. The older ones were still leery, but they were adjusting much better than she’d expected they would. That told her they’d been far more neglected than abused. An abused horse could take a very long time to heal, but they were worth the extra effort.

  Before long Crew walked up to her. She’d felt him coming before she’d heard a sound. She’d never been so in tune with a man. Yes, she was flirty with him and bolder than normal, though she was a confident woman. But something really drew her to Crew.

  That was why she hadn’t gone home all day. The two of them had worked with the horses for a few hours after Brackish had dropped his bombshell. The glances he’d been giving her all day had singed her skin. The words she’d shot out at him were most certainly hitting their mark.

  As bold as Darla was, she didn’t normally make it so clear she was interested in a man. She definitely wanted to scare weak men away, but she didn’t normally want to take a man to bed without being in a romantic relationship of some sort.

  She didn’t know how to define what she and Crew were. She couldn’t say they were friends. They’d moved past that the first night they’d met and shared that toe-curling kiss. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend; those terms horrified her. She wasn’t in high school.

  So, what in the heck were they? Maybe they’d be lovers soon. No, scratch the maybe, they’d definitely become lovers. Would it last long?

  When Darla had been next to him as he looked through a folder of his previous lovers, she’d felt an emotion she couldn’t remember feeling before — jealousy. She hadn’t known what it was at first. She’d never been the jealous type. She didn’t see a point in it. If a man didn’t want to be with her, she certainly wasn’t going to chase him down and demand he do it. If he was looking at other women, they could have him. But seeing Crew’s past, seeing the stunning women he’d been with, had sent a surge of jealousy through her.

  Darla knew who she was and knew she had a nice face and a great body. She worked hard to keep fit. She loved food, so she forced herself to love cardio as well. Maybe that’s why she loved horses so much. They exercised a body far more than people realized. If she took too long between rides, she’d be walking funny for a day or two after getting in the saddle again.

  “They really are quite beautiful,” Crew said.

  “Yes, they are, and they show such intense emotion in their eyes,” Darla told him.

  “Dinner’s ready,” he said. “I set it on the back deck so we can enjoy the warm evening and watch the horses play.”

  “Oh, really?” She turned and smiled at him. “Did you make a fire too?”

  He chuckled. “Does it count if I simply lit the gas firepit?”

  She reached over and squeezed his arm. “Oh, it certainly counts,” she told him. “I happen to like being wined and dined. You just might get lucky if you included wine.”

  The flare in his eyes told her he was hoping she wasn’t joking. She wasn’t sure if she was or not. The night before she’d been ready to climb into bed with him. And she’d finally made it to his bed by throwing up her entire stomach and having him take care of her. Not too sexy.

  “I get lucky every minute we’re together,” he said. Warmth flowed through her. Crew didn’t seem to be a man prone to lines. He said what he meant when he wanted to. It was another thing she liked about him.

  They walked to his impressive back deck that looked nearly as big as his house. She lived in an apartment that was smaller than his deck. She didn’t mind, though; she wasn’t home often. She’d much rather be out in the world, not home alone.

  True to his word, the table was set, wine was chilling in a bucket, and dishes were holding food in the middle of it all. His large gas firepit was burning, warding off the cooling air. It had been a beautiful day, but the sun was beginning to set, and Washington cooled fast when the sun went down.

  “What did you make?” she asked.

  “I grilled burgers and have all of the fixings. I also had one of those salad kits,” he told her. “It was an easy dinner. I told you I don’t normally do meals. I do like to grill, though.”

  “Yummy. I could eat burgers every day in the summer. Well, except when I go to baseball games. Then it’s all about hot dogs loaded down with every topping possible. You’ve cooked twice for me today. I’ll have to make it up to you.”

  “I know a few ways you can,” he said with a wiggle of his brows. Darla laughed with joy. Each day Crew grew less stiff. He’d practically had a board attached to his back the first few times she’d been around him. Now, he was flirting with her while wearing his typical slacks, but at least his shirt had been untucked and his hair might have a strand or two out of place. She considered that progress.

  Crew held out her chair and she took a seat, thanking him as he handed her a hot burger on an open bun. She prepared her burger, adding double cheese and extra pickles, dished up some salad, then gratefully took the wine glass after he filled it.

  “I think this is where I’d eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she told him as she leaned back and took a bite of her hamburger, gazing out at the horses that had trotted closer to graze on the nearby grass, looking up every so often to see that they were still there.

  Darla had begun her life on a farm in eastern Oregon, and she’d loved every minute of it. Her family had owned horses and cows, and she’d never been unhappy about early morning feedings or staying up all night with a sick animal, even when she was young. Being on a farm had been all she’d wanted, and then life changed. If it hadn’t been for Daisy, Darla wasn’t sure she’d have survived the move to Washington.

  But if they hadn’t moved she never would’ve met her best friend, so everything in life happened for a reason. She had no regrets.

  “I know you and Daisy went through school together, but I don’t know a heck of a lot about you,” Crew said after a bit.

  “I’m an open book,” Darla told him, which was mostly true. “I don’t have any skeletons or baggage in my closet. There’s not much to hide.”

  “You don’t have much?” he asked with a grin.

  “We all have to carry some secrets,” she told him. “Otherwise there’d be no mystery, and how boring would that be?”

  “When do I get to learn these secrets?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never shared everything about my life with anyone other than Daisy,” she admitted.

  “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance I can squeeze it out of you,” he pushed.

  She laughed. “I think we’d both be better off if I’m the one doing the squeezing,” she said, loving the instant flush in his cheeks at her blatant reply.

  “You really do enjoy playing with fire, don’t you?” he asked with a low growl that pleased all the parts of her body.

  “Oh, most certainly,” she agreed. She finished her burger and leaned back, then stretched out her arm and ran her hand quickly through the dancing flame of the firepit next to them. His eyes narrowed a bit.

  “I think you’re dangerous to any man’s health,” he said.

  “I sure hope so. I wouldn’t want to be in a man’s life who didn’t jump a bit when I walk into the room,” she said. She finished her glass of wine and smiled as he refilled it.

  “Do you want them to jump to attention or jump in fear?” Crew asked.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?” she asked.

  He started laughing hard, leaning back in his seat. “Maybe,” he said.

  It took a second, and then she was laughing too. “I almost fell for that. You’re paying me back for all of the sex comments, aren’t you?”

  “Damn, Darla, you’re so unlike most women I know. You have zero problems saying whatever’s on your mind.”

  “Life’s too short to keep things inside. I say spew it all out and let the pieces fall where they may.”

  “What if the pieces land wrong?” he asked.

  “Then you have a whole new puzzle to figure out,” she assured him.

  He laughed again, and she leaned back, loving the deep throaty sound escaping him. Crew hadn’t laughed a lot when she’d first met him, but the joyous sound was coming out more and more. Just like the horses, the more comfortable he was around her, the more he let his guard down. She wondered if she’d be able to eventually chip away at all of his defenses.

  “Have you lived here since you were a little kid, Darla?” he asked after another minute.

  “Yes, since we moved from eastern Oregon when I was five. We had horses and cows, and I was very upset when we moved away. I cried for weeks. It was the middle of the school year, but I didn’t care about my friends, I cared about my animals.”

  “You didn’t get to bring them?” he asked.

  She felt the familiar pang of sadness thinking about her first horse, but she pushed it down. “No, they stayed with my uncle. I’d go back every summer and be with them, and when Daisy got older she’d come and spend a few weeks out there with me, but I had to leave them behind. I was so angry for a while. But I met Daisy on my first day of school, and we bonded instantly. I forgave my parents, saying Daisy was the sister I’d always wanted. And I’d get to go back and see my animals anyway.”

  “Why don’t you have animals here?” he asked her.

  “I haven’t had time. I realize now how much time and energy it takes to have horses. Gramps would’ve let me have a horse on his property since my parents definitely don’t have room, and it’s beyond expensive to board them anywhere near Seattle. It comes down to time. When I need a fix I go to one of the ranches around here or fly to Bend for the weekend and visit my uncle.”

  “So, you’re telling me that you want me to keep these horses that take so much time and money when you aren’t willing to do the same?” he asked with his brow raised.

  She laughed. “Exactly. If you have them here, I can come ride every single day. And you’re saving horses. It’s a win-win.” She hoped her innocent smile would soften him up.