Page 34 of Brandon’s Mate

Then he drove back to Farville, trying not to think about Kitty and failing in the most epic way possible. The taste of her lips, the softness of her breasts pressed against him, the feel of her arms around him, the sexy little sound she made when she surrendered to his kiss.

Every now and then, over the years, he’d broken down and let himself fantasize about her. But the fantasy was not even close to the real thing.

Want, his panther said.

You and me both, buddy.

But nothing could come from that but heartache and tragedy. Kitty deserved better than that. And she obviously knew it, because after the kiss her walls had slammed into place like the Louvre under a security lockdown.

All the same, he couldn’t help looking forward to their dinner. A couple of hours where he could watch her, listen to her voice, find out how she was really doing and what she wanted from her life and everything he’d never had the chance to find out about grown-up Kitty.

He could scratch the surface, anyway, and pretend he had all the time in the world to learn the rest. He could pretend that after dinner they’d go up to her room and make love in that big fancy bed, and she’d be all his.

A gray panther ghost drifted into his headlights and disappeared again.

Or he could spend the evening hoping dead panthers weren’t going to start ghosting through people’s dinner tables.

But even that might be worth it, to spend a couple of hours with Kitty before he sent her on her way and went back to his mission.

He was almost back to Farville when a text message pinged onto Ray’s phone from an unknown number.

I have information you want. I want to make a deal. Meet me at the Willow Bend trailhead 8:30. Sharp.

Brandon stared at it, then tossed the phone into the passenger seat with a curse.

His first thought was that it was a trap. Someone was trying to lure him out into the middle of nowhere and take him out, just like they’d taken out Nick.

Except it didn’t seem like their M.O. They’d come at Nick in his own house, taking him down by force of numbers.

Of course, they might have tried this first, and Nick was too smart to fall for it.

On the other hand, it might be a legit informant. Could he afford to pass it up?

He pulled off an exit and looked up the Willow Bend hiking trail on his GPS, part of a network of trails that meandered through the woods for miles. It was a good place for a private meet—or an ambush.

He checked the time, and cursed again. The trailhead was the opposite direction from the Clover Hill Inn. There was no way he could make this meeting and get to Kitty when he’d said.

He’d have to call her and—

Dammit. He didn’t have her phone number. All he had was Ray’s phone. He thought about calling the inn and asking them to find Kitty and give her a message, but that would draw attention to her, which he didn’t want. And she might come looking for him, which he really didn’t want.

He was just going to have to be late, and explain when he got there. If this was a lead on Nick’s killers, he couldn’t afford to pass it up. And if it was a trap by Nick’s killers, well, that would save him a shit-ton of work hunting them down.

He texted back to his unknown informant: I’ll be there.

At eight o’clock he pulled onto a side road half a mile from the trailhead, where he could conceal his truck from casual sight.

Then he made his way through the woods, staying out of sight from the road, keeping a lookout for any kind of ambush. There was no one around.

When he got near the meeting point he took to the trees, moving from one to the next until he was overlooking the trailhead.

Below him was an information board with a plastic pocket that held trail maps, a dim light illuminating it.

He sniffed the air. No one was concealed nearby, waiting to jump out at him. Maybe this was a legit meeting.

He pulled out his weapon and waited for 8:30 to come.

Chapter 13