The Mighty Quinns: Cameron (2 page)

“What’s your name?” she finally asked.

He held out his hand. “Cameron Quinn. Most people call me Cam.”

Reluctantly, she shook his hand. “Sofia Reyes,” she said softly. “Most people call me Sofie.”

The moment he touched her, the sensation of her skin against his sent a flood of warmth racing through his veins. He didn’t want to let her hand go, but forced himself. “Now that we’ve met, you have to let me buy you lunch,” Cameron said. “You can tell me all about the virtues of Vulture Creek.”

“That would be a very short lunch. More like a snack.”

“Go ahead,” Millie urged. “Let the man buy you lunch.”

He felt a small measure of satisfaction when she nodded in agreement. Though he hadn’t held out much hope of finding anything of interest in Vulture Creek when he stepped off the bus, his prospects were getting better with every minute that passed. Sofie Reyes. Even her name was sexy.

* * *

S
OFIE
SIGHED
SOFTLY
as she took her first bite of Millie’s banana-cream pie. She’d been hanging around Vulture Creek for the past few weeks, and a slice of Millie’s homemade pie had become a daily ritual for her.

“I think pie is just about the perfect food,” Sofie said, emphasizing her statement with her fork. “You can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And it’s good for a snack, too.”

“I think you might be right,” Cameron replied, digging into the apple pie he’d ordered after his own meal.

The conversation was easy between them, which Sofie found odd. She usually wasn’t very comfortable around charming men, especially men she didn’t know. Her instincts usually tended to have her second-guessing everything that was said, looking for ulterior motives and hidden meanings. It was the side effects of working as a private investigator, she knew. Everyone she met was guilty of something.

But this man, this Cameron Quinn, should have set off all her alarms. His reasons for being in Vulture Creek were cloudy at best. His wardrobe was more suited to a man who drove an expensive European sports car than a guy who took the Greyhound. And yet she couldn’t help but be attracted.

In truth, she did need help. It had become almost impossible to cover all her bases with the case she was working, especially when she had to provide round-the-clock surveillance. And as a woman, she was more conspicuous in a small town like Vulture Creek. For whatever reason, people noticed her and they remembered her.

The sooner she wrapped up this case, the better, and if Cameron Quinn could help, who was she to refuse? She’d been chasing cheating husbands and deadbeat dads for almost six months, and it was wearing on her nerves. As soon as she was physically able, she’d be back on the job with the Albuquerque Police Department, back doing the job she was meant to do.

Sofie drew a deep breath. It had been two years since the accident, two years of recovery that seemed to progress an inch at a time. As much as she didn’t want to face it, she knew the reality of her situation.

She might not make it back. She might never be able to pass the physical again. All she’d be left with was a hip that ached in the cold and a limp that made her the object of either pity or curiosity. Though she might be considered attractive, she was still damaged.

Most men never saw beyond the imperfection. Hell, she couldn’t get beyond it herself most days. But sitting here, talking to Cameron, she could almost forget the flaw. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel as if she was the most fascinating woman he’d ever set eyes upon. And Sofie hadn’t felt that way in a very long time. Not since the “incident.”

Sofie came from a family of law-enforcement officers. Her father was a cop in Albuquerque, and each of her five brothers worked in criminal justice. So it was only natural that Sofie, the youngest in the family, had set her sights on the same career.

She’d begun work with the Albuquerque P.D. the year she graduated from college, and it had been a dream job. She’d worked her way up through the ranks and was undercover in Narcotics by the time she was twenty-six. Her team was in the midst of a major trafficking case when she got caught in a turf war between two rival drug gangs.

Sofie had known the dangers, but they’d been so close to making their case. She hadn’t listened to her instincts or her superiors, believing that she could handle whatever came her way. But a speeding car and a half-crazed driver put her safety in someone else’s hands. And the resulting crash had put her in intensive care for three months.

“You want another piece of pie?”

Sofie blinked, then glanced up from her empty plate. “What?”

“Pie,” Cam said. “The way you were looking, I was thinking you might just eat the plate.” He turned and searched for Millie. “Can we get another slice of the banana-cream pie?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I’ll have a piece of that banana-cream pie, please.”

He sent her a smile, and Sofie felt a shiver skitter through her. Was she just imagining it, or was there an attraction between them? Sofie felt it, but was it mutual, or was it merely wishful thinking on her part?

Just because they’d indulged in a little casual flirting over lunch didn’t mean that he was ready to pull her into his arms and ravish her. Cameron seemed like the kind of guy who kept a pretty tight leash on his desires.

Besides, if she decided against hiring him, he’d probably be on a bus out of Vulture Creek before she could find something else to like about him, rolling down the road like a tumbleweed in a dust storm.

Millie wandered over with the coffeepot and another slice of pie. She filled their cups, then slipped the check onto the counter beside Cameron. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card, then turned back to Sofie. She reached into her back pocket for money, but Cameron brushed her hand aside. “It’s on me,” he said.

“That’s not necessary. I can—”

“No, I want to.” He paused. “I was thinking maybe you might be able to help me find a place to stay here in town. Maybe show me around?”

She wanted to say yes, to imagine that this day might go on a little longer. But she did have work to do. “Sure,” she said. “I have some time.” Work could wait a few hours.

As he finished up his dessert, Millie returned, a scowl on her face. She handed Cameron his credit card. “It wouldn’t go through,” she said. “There was a flag on the account for me to call, and they said to take away the card.”

“What?” Cameron grabbed the card and stared at it. “But it’s my—” He cursed softly, then chuckled. “Oh. Okay, I get it.”

Sofie quickly stood. “What’s going on?”

“My grandfather is making sure that I stay in Vulture Creek,” he said, waving the card. He pulled out his wallet and riffled through the bills. “I have six dollars left. How the hell can I—”

“You need a job, son,” Millie said.

“Yeah. And the sooner the better. All right, first things first. I need to pay for lunch.”

“I’ve got some dishes piled up,” Millie said. “And those windows out front need washing. That should about cover it.”

“I can do that,” Cameron agreed. “I’ll start with the dishes. And maybe, if you’ve got something else I can do, I can build up a credit.”

Sofie stood, then reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out the wad of cash. A guy willing to wash dishes in a diner to pay his bill couldn’t be all bad, could he? She peeled off enough to cover the lunch and a tip for Millie. “That should take care of it,” she said. “You can pay me back later,” she said to Cameron. “Come on.”

Turning on her heel, she headed to the door. Everything inside her told her that this guy wasn’t what he said he was. But at the same time, he seemed nice enough. She’d just maintain her distance until she was sure. She glanced over her shoulder to find him standing there. “You’re hired.”

He picked up his bag and ran after her, pushing the door open for her. “Thanks,” he said. “Hey, you can take the lunch out of my first day’s pay.” He paused. “You are going to pay me, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m going to need a place to stay.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” she said.

“I’d kind of like to get it figured out now,” he said. “I’ve only got six dollars to my name.”

“Sheriff Wendall lets people sleep in the jail when it’s not occupied. But I think I can find you a place to bed down.”

“Great,” he said. He held out the six dollars and she waved him off.

“But before you start work for me, I have to do a background check,” she said, putting her straw hat back on her head. She stood in front of him, her hands hitched on her waist, observing him shrewdly. “Is there anything in your past that you’d like to confess to right now? Because, I guarantee, by the end of the day, I’ll know everything about you.”

“A background check? What do you want to know?”

Sofie stared at him for a long moment. In truth, she wanted to know what it felt like to kiss him. She wanted to know whether he tasted half as good as he looked. She wanted to know what his naked body looked like beneath those fancy clothes and what it would take for her to get him out of his clothes and into her bed. And she—

“I don’t have any secrets,” he said.

She blinked, startled out of her daydream. Sofie cleared her throat. “How old are you? Where were you born? What do your parents do?”

“I’ll be thirty in two months, I was born in Seattle, and my parents died when I was a kid. At least I think they’re dead.”

Sofie saw the look that crossed his face, a mix of resignation and pain. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up—”

“That’s all right,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t mind talking about it.”

“You said you thought they were dead. Don’t you know for sure?” She sucked in a sharp breath. Though her first instinct was to interrogate, she realized that there was a polite limit to her questions. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”

“They disappeared while ferrying a yacht across the Pacific. We don’t know if they were lost in a storm and sank or drowned or what happened. One day they were there, and the next day, they’d disappeared. What about your folks? Are they alive?”

Sofie regretted questioning him in such a businesslike manner, but she wasn’t about to drive out into the desert with a guy she couldn’t trust. “My father is a cop. And my mother is an artist. They live in Albuquerque, where my mother has a gallery.”

“And how old are you?”

“I’m asking the questions,” she said.

“You’re quite good at this,” he said. “You’re making me kind of nervous.”

“I’ve had training. Do you have a photo ID with you?”

Cameron pulled out his wallet and handed her his Washington state driver’s license. Sofie groaned inwardly. He even managed to look gorgeous on his license photo. This man was just too good to be true.

“Anything else you’d like to know?”

She shook her head. “I guess that will do for now.” She gave him back his license.

“Good.”

Sofie pointed to a battered Jeep sitting a short walk down the main street. When they reached it, Cameron tossed his bag in the backseat and hopped it. The Jeep had no doors, so he fastened his seat belt and braced his feet against the floor.

Sofie slid into the driver’s side and grabbed a pair of sunglasses off the dash. “We’re going to need to get you a proper hat,” she said.

“Like yours?”

She grinned, then took her hat off and placed it on his head. “Yeah, just like mine,” she said, turning the key in the ignition. “It’s a good look on you.”

Sofie made a wide U-turn and headed east out of town. Though her thoughts still strayed into fantasyland when she looked at the handsome stranger sitting beside her, at least she had a reason to keep him close by. She needed an extra set of eyes and ears to investigate the case she was working on. And with his looks and charm, he’d be the perfect undercover investigator.

2

“W
HERE
ARE
WE
GOING
?” Cameron shouted.

“Into town,” Sofie said over the sound of the wind and the Jeep.

“Weren’t we just in town?”

She shook her head. “We’re going to Holman. It’s a bigger town. I’m going to check you out, and then, if you’re cool, we’re going to get you some work clothes and get started.”

“So tell me about the case,” he said.

“I’m working for a woman whose husband may or may not be cheating on her. There’s a prenup, but she needs proof before she can file for divorce. Her family has a lot of money and he’s a pretty powerful guy in Albuquerque politics. It’s going to be a messy divorce.”

“What do I do?”

“Mostly anything I can’t,” she said. “No one knows you, and as a guy, you can go places that I can’t without being noticed.”

“Like where?”

“Strip clubs,” she said. “Roadhouses.”

“You’re going to make me go to a strip club?” Cameron asked. He chuckled to himself. Now, this was a job he could get behind.

Maybe his grandfather had the right idea. When would he ever have had the chance to be a private investigator? It was the last thing in the world he could imagine doing for a living. He sat back and turned his face up into the sun.

Though Seattle was home, he couldn’t help but like the midday heat of the desert. And though he first thought the landscape was bare and lifeless, he was quickly learning to appreciate the stark beauty of it.

He had so many questions to ask, but it was impossible to talk with the noise of the wind and the Jeep’s engine. Instead, he made a careful study of the woman he’d now call “boss.”

He was usually more attracted to blondes and had dated the occasional redhead. But Sofie was something different. She was beautiful, but she was also tough and determined, resilient and focused. This was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted in life.

By the time Sofie pulled the Jeep into a parking spot in front of the Holman Public Library, he’d jumped out and circled around to help her out.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said.

“I’m hoping to be your right-hand man,” he said. “So I need to make myself indispensable.”

She reached behind his seat and pulled out a backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. Then he took her hand and steadied her as she hopped out of the Jeep. As they strolled up to the front doors, he realized that her limp was more pronounced. He took the backpack from her and placed his hand on the small of her back. At this point, he was willing to use any excuse to touch her again.

“My hip gets stiff if I stay in one position too long,” she explained. “Like when I’m driving.”

Cameron wanted to ask her about the injury. But he knew she’d tell him when she was ready. “Maybe I should do the driving from now on,” he offered. “Then you can move around a little more.”

She smiled at him and he felt the warmth right down to his bones. “That would be nice,” she said.

When they got inside the library, Sofie headed directly for the reading tables. She opened the backpack and pulled out a small laptop, then signed on to the internet. “Cameron Quinn,” she said, typing his name into a Google search. “Seattle, Washington.”

He grinned as a list of hits came up on her screen. “Try this one,” he said, pointing to the website for Quinn Yachtworks. “I designed this then hired someone to code it all.” He pointed to a picture. “See, that’s me and my three brothers and my grandfather.”

“So you are who you say you are,” she said, glancing over at him. He couldn’t help but notice the reluctant smile that teased at the corners of her mouth.

He reached over and clicked on his bio, and another screen popped up, this with more pictures. She looked at them carefully. “You’re very…”

“Handsome?” he teased.

“Accomplished,” she said. “So explain to me again why you’re looking for a low-paying job in Vulture Creek, New Mexico?”

“My grandfather owns the Yachtworks. He has to decide who to put in charge when he retires. He wants us all to explore our options before we commit to the company for good.”

“Couldn’t you figure that out in Seattle?”

“Yeah. But you don’t know my grandfather. I think he wanted us to see a totally different lifestyle. He sent me to Vulture Creek because I had a childhood dream to be a paleontologist. I guess he thought there were dinosaur bones around here.”

“There are,” she said. “My uncle owns a ranch west of Vulture Creek. He has a wash that’s filled with all kinds of old bones. We used to dig around there when we were kids.”

“Really? I’d like to see that.”

“I could show you,” she murmured. “There are also a lot of Anasazi sites around here. You should see those, as well.”

Cameron reached out and pulled the laptop in front of him. “Can I do a Google search on you?”

“If you have any questions, you can just ask me.” She closed the computer. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“All right. How long have you been a private investigator?”

“About a year and a half.”

“What did you do before that?”

“I was on the police force in Albuquerque for four years,” she said. “I worked patrol at first, then transferred over to Narcotics. I was undercover until I got hurt. Now I’m working for my uncle until I can pass the physical and get back on the force.”

“How did you get hurt?”

Sofie turned to meet his gaze. “I made a stupid mistake.” For a long moment, she just stared into his eyes, as if trying to read his reaction. But all Cam could think about was leaning forward and touching his lips to hers.

He wanted to kiss her. He already knew how it would feel, the surge of desire that would wash over him, the heat that would snake through his bloodstream. He hadn’t found much time for a social life in the past few months, and he was feeling the need for physical contact.

Cameron didn’t usually spend a lot of thought on the pursuit of women. He was of the belief that when he really needed companionship, a woman would appear in his life. The philosophy had worked out well for the most part. There were periods in his past when he’d lost himself in the pursuit of pleasure and other times when he’d go months without any social contact with the opposite sex, being so preoccupied with work.

It had been a while since he’d shared his bed, Cameron thought to himself. He’d been involved with a new hull design at work, and it had taken every last minute of his time to perfect it before they’d put it into production. Now would be a perfect time to indulge.

Yet every instinct he possessed told him to take his time. Sofie Reyes wasn’t the kind of female one could simply bed and then abandon. She was cautious and guarded, and he wasn’t sure how to break down the walls between them. He saw something else in her—a vulnerability, a fragility, that warned him to proceed carefully. He would need to control his impulses and school his desires until she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

“Any more questions?” she asked.

Cameron shook his head.

“I have one more,” Sofie said in a soft voice. Her gaze drifted down to his mouth.

“What is it?”

“You have to be completely honest,” she said. “Can you do that?”

Cameron nodded. “Ask away.”

“What are you thinking about? Right now? What’s running through your mind?”

He paused. Was he really prepared to tell the truth? If he did, there was every chance he’d feel compelled to turn thought into action. “I’m not sure I should—”

“Answer my question,” she said.

“Honestly?” Cameron cleared his throat. “I was thinking about what it would be like to kiss you. Not that I had any intention of trying to kiss you. It just crossed my mind. And hey, you asked for honesty.”

She didn’t seem at all surprised by his reply. The only reaction he saw was a quick blink of her eyes and a barely perceptible gasp.

“I’m not sure that would be wise,” Sofie said.

Cameron looked around, taking in their surroundings. “Not here. And not now. But maybe sometime. In the future.”

“When?” Sofie asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You can’t really plan things like that. They’re much better when they come spontaneously, don’t you think?”

Sofie nodded. “We should go. We have a lot of work to do today.” She stood up and gathered her things, putting her computer back into her backpack.

“Just tell me what to do,” he said. “I’m ready.”

She pulled a file folder from her pack and handed it to him. “You can read this.” She started for the door.

Curious, Cam took the folder and opened it as they walked. A black-and-white photo of a middle-aged man smiled back at him—the kind of guy that everyone loved, everyone trusted. “He’s a politician?”

She shook her head. “No. But he knows a lot of politicians. His name is Walter Fredericks. He’s a real-estate broker and developer around Albuquerque. He owns most of the property in Vulture Creek, including Millie’s diner, plus land in almost every little town between Albuquerque and Gallup. He’s very well connected.”

“Does Millie know you’re investigating him?”

“No,” Sofie said. “He’s got a mistress in Vulture Creek. He’s got her set up in a nice little ranch outside town. I’m pretty sure he’s been paying her expenses with kickbacks he’s getting on some of his construction projects. And the people in his office are aware of this. I also suspect that there’s something else going on. He does a lot of business out of the local strip club, which seems to be the regular gathering place for the criminal element in these parts.”

When they got to the Jeep, she got in behind the wheel and Cameron slipped into the passenger seat. “He spends the morning at his office in Albuquerque, drives out to Vulture Creek and has lunch at the Bunny Shack most days, then spends the afternoon with his mistress. He heads back to Albuquerque at about three and has dinner with his wife.”

“You said he buys and sells real estate? Maybe I could mention that I’m looking to make some investments in the area.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” she said, nodding.

“It’s a good idea,” he said. “I could have lunch at the Bunny Shack tomorrow. Chat him up.”

“We’ll have to work on a cover story for you. Why would a yacht designer from Seattle want to buy land in Vulture Creek?”

“I’m looking to start over. Someplace where it doesn’t rain every day. I’m about to come into some big money when my grandfather sells the family business and I’ve always been interested in paleontology. I really don’t have to do anything but tell the truth.”

“All right, you are good at this. The closer you stay to the truth, the easier it is. But you need to get personal information out of him without seeming too nosy. Steer the talk toward women. You’re alone in town. You’re lonely.”

“But I’m not lonely,” he said.

“You’re going to have to pretend. I need to know as much as I can about this woman. Her name. Where he met her. How long he’s known her. What their arrangement is.”

“Maybe I should wear a wire,” he said.

Sofie laughed. “A wire?”

“Yeah. To record our conversation. That way you know exactly what he says and I don’t have to remember it all.”

She turned on the ignition and pulled the Jeep out of the library parking lot. “We’ll practice before we throw you in the deep end.”

“So, I have the job?” Cameron asked.

“Yes, you have the job. For now. But only as long as you do everything exactly as I say. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Cameron said. “We should probably discuss compensation. I’m going to have to find a place to stay.”

“I’ll take care of your expenses,” she said. “If you do a good job, I’ll give you a small stipend. And if we get what we need, then there’ll be a bonus for you.”

“All right,” he said. “I can live with that.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry, I plan to get my money’s worth out of you,” Sofie teased.

* * *

C
AMERON
STARED
AT
himself in the mirror, nodding his head. “I like this one,” he muttered, tugging at the sleeves of the pale blue work shirt. “It feels good. The sleeves are long enough.”

Once they’d found a hat, Sofie realized that Cameron would need a few long-sleeved shirts to protect his arms from the sun. All he’d brought along were dress shirts and T-shirts. But she hadn’t prepared herself for the fitting-room ordeal of watching him actually try the shirts on.

“That is a nice one,” she said. “It fits…well.” Sofie swallowed hard. He had such a beautiful body—long limbs, a finely muscled chest, broad shoulders. “And it will keep you from getting sunburned.”

“The heat down here is pretty intense,” he agreed as he unbuttoned the shirt. “Not like Seattle. That’s a city made for Irish skin.” He grabbed her hand and held it next to his. “I’m downright pasty next to you.”

She shrugged “I owe half of that to my Mexican father and the other half to my Hopi mother.”

“It’s a nice combination,” he murmured. “They did a good job.”

Her gaze skimmed over the naked width of his back as he slipped out of the shirt and handed it to her. Sofie’s fingers trembled as she fought the urge to touch him. “I—I should probably put the roof on my Jeep. That would help with the sun.”

Cameron pulled on another shirt, this one a deep garnet color. “How about this? Good for lunch at the Bunny Shack.”

She watched as Cameron toyed with the mother-of-pearl buttons on the pockets. He did look good in the deep red. It set off his dark hair and impossibly blue eyes. “The girls there are going to love you. They’ll be all over you before you even sit down.”

“You think so?” he asked, frowning.

“You need to be careful. They’ve been around—they know how to read men, how to get exactly what they want from a guy. And they have really good radar. They’re going to know if you’re hiding something or lying to them.”

“I can handle it. I got you to hire me, didn’t I?”

“I could always fire you,” she said. “You’re still on probation.”

“You have too much invested in me to fire me. You bought me lunch.”

And she was about to pay for his new wardrobe. In truth, Sofie was curious about their future together as partners. As she’d worked her way up through the ranks at the SFPD, she’d always had male partners, but they’d been more like brothers or uncles. She’d never once considered indulging in a sexual affair with one of them.