“Okay,” she said after a long moment. “That would be nice.”
“Great.” He stood up and looked down at her. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“I’ll give you my address.”
“I know where you live,” he told her. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He knew where she lived. What was she supposed to make of that?
“Can I carry your suitcase down to the car?”
“What? Oh. No, thank you.” She glanced around the room. “I’ve still got a few things to pack up.”
“All right then, I’ll leave you to it,” he said, heading for the doorway. When he got there, he paused, turned around and speared her with an unfathomable look. “See you tonight.”
When he left, Colleen stared after him for a long minute. Her heartbeat was racing and her knees felt a little wobbly. Her reaction to Sage was so staggering, she wasn’t really sure how to deal with it. However, as the sound of his footsteps faded away, Colleen told herself that she couldn’t really be blamed for her response to his presence. He was like a force of nature. Sage Lassiter was a gorgeous steamroller, flattening everything in his path.
And Colleen realized that now, for whatever reason, she was in his path.
Four
“So how’s the rest of dealing with the will going, Walter?” Sage drove straight from Big Blue to the lawyer’s office. He wanted a chance to talk to J.D.’s lawyer without the explosive release of emotion that had happened when the family was gathered together. Not that he’d been able to dismiss the anger churning inside him. The plan had been to arrive, calm and cool, and outstare the older man. That didn’t happen though, because he was far from feeling cool and detached.
Tension played in every one of his muscles and tugged at the last threads of his patience. Being with Colleen had ramped his body up to the point where he’d practically had to limp his way out of the ranch house. Just sitting beside her on the bed in her room had tested his self-control, because what he’d really wanted to do was lay her back on the mattress and explore those amazing curves she kept so carefully hidden.
Instead, he’d talked to her. And talking to Colleen hadn’t solved a damn thing—it had only muddied waters that were already so damn thick it might as well have been concrete. He couldn’t make her out. Was she the innocent she seemed to be? Or was she working him as she had worked J.D.? He had to find out...but that was for later. Right now, he had a couple of questions for his late father’s lawyer.
“It’s coming along but I’m not discussing it with you, Sage, and you damn well know it.” Walter Drake steepled his fingers, leaned back in his leather chair and looked at Sage with the barely hidden impatience he would have shown a five-year-old. “J.D.’s will is a private matter. I’ve already read publicly the parts that affect the family. As for the rest...”
Sage jumped out of his chair and stalked to the far window. Yeah, he was too on edge to be facing down a lawyer. He should have known better than to come here today, but damn it, there were just too many questions about the will.
Looking down on the street below, he focused for a second on the traffic, the pedestrians wandering along the sidewalks and even the mountains jutting into the sky in the distance. He looked anywhere but into the smug features of J.D.’s lawyer.
Going in, Sage had guessed that Walter wouldn’t talk. Hell, he wouldn’t have even if he could. The man liked holding all the power here. Liked having information that no one else did. And getting anything out of him would probably require dynamite—or someone with far more patience than Sage possessed. Fine, then. He’d back off the topic of the rest of the will for the moment and try a different tack. Half turning, he faced the man watching him through hooded eyes.
“All right,” Sage said, “never mind.”
Walter nodded magnanimously.
“But there’s still the matter of J.D. leaving control of Lassiter Media to Evan instead of Angelica.”
Walter frowned at him, sat up and braced both elbows on his desktop. “J.D. had reasons for everything he ever did, Sage. You know that.”
J.D. had sure thought so. But Sage had given up trying to figure out the old man years ago. The whole time he was growing up, the two of them hadn’t even been able to be in the same room together without snarling and growling like a couple of alpha dogs fighting for territory.