What's in a Name? Read Free Page A

those big glasses, met his. “No need.” She edged
into the space, turning sideways, arms tight at her sides, managing
to avoid any contact when she bent over to scrape her leftovers
into the trash can.
    Something creaked outside. He jumped
backward, jostling Kelli. The trash can tipped, spilling its
contents over the linoleum. His stew can rolled across the floor,
leaving a trail of gravy drippings. Kelli sucked in a loud
breath.
    “ Hey,” he said.
“Sorry. I heard something outside and it startled me.”
    She pushed her glasses up on her nose,
but didn’t look up. “It’s okay.” She bent over, cramming everything
back into the trash.
    He wet a paper towel and crouched down
beside her. She smelled of soap and—green, like outside. Not the
expensive perfume he was used to on women. Strangely enticing. “Let
me. It was my fault.”
    Avoiding his eyes, she scrambled to her
feet and backed out of the kitchen, almost cowering. Thoughts of
domestic abuse flashed in his mind. But how would that relate to
Dwight? Blake had been so busy jumping to do Dwight’s bidding, he
hadn’t really played out why his boss would want to find someone
like Casey—or Kelli.
    A clattering from outside had him on
his feet. “Did you hear that?”
    Kelli half-turned and shrugged.
“Probably a raccoon. They like to get into the garbage cans if the
lids aren’t secured.”
    “ Raccoons. I can
handle that. Davy Crockett tails, Lone Ranger masks, right?” He
smiled. The tiniest quirk of her mouth told him he’d made his first
bit of headway.
    She raised her eyebrows. “Of course it
might be a bear.”
    “ A bear?” Bears? Holy crap. Involuntarily, he stepped back and
saw one corner of Kelli’s mouth turn up. First law of the
boardroom, and he’d blown it. Never let them see fear. Round two to
Kelli.
    He tried to recover some ground. “Um …
should I check to see if the lids are tight?”
    She gave an exasperated head shake and
rolled her eyes. “They’re fine. Besides, the bears knock over the
cans. That wasn’t loud enough.”
    “ It doesn’t bother
you, having bears so close?” He did not want to get up close
and personal with the natives. He wondered if Kelli would think he
was a wuss if he drove the fifty yards to the cabin every
day.
    “ Oh, I don’t mind the
bears,” she said. “It’s when the deer eat my herbs that I get
really mad.”
    “ Touché.” He held up
his hands, palms out in mock surrender.
    “ Actually, the
two-legged creatures cause most of the problems. One of the rangers
called to tell me about trouble with some campers. The Park Service
takes care of it. Nobody’s ever come out this far.”
    “ Anything to do with
the bikes I’ve been hearing?”
    She nodded. “Bikers and frat guys. But
the rangers are on top of things.”
    As if on cue, the bike noises were
back. Kelli glanced toward the door.
    “ Are the building
supplies secure?” she asked.
    “ Not really.” As the
roar grew louder, he glanced in the direction of the cabin. “I
thought you said nobody ever came by.”
    She lowered her head and massaged her
neck. “There’s a first time for everything. I’m going to go check
it out.”
    “ No. Let me
go.”
    Her head lifted. “That won’t be
necessary, Mr. Windsor.” Her expression belied her words.
    “ I insist. No need for
you to go out. It’s late. I’ll move everything inside the cabin and
get a padlock on the door.”
    She studied him for a moment, as if
weighing all the options and consequences. “Suit yourself.”
    “ I’ll get a jacket.”
He went to his room, wondering what had possessed him to volunteer
to go outside in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.
In bear territory. He thought of the expression on Kelli’s face
when he’d volunteered, and he knew.
    He pulled a leather string from his
pocket and tied back his hair. Shrugging into his parka, he had one
hand on the front doorknob when Kelli came out of her room.
    “ Here,” she said