Alarm rose as another thought occurred to her. “He’s not stalking you, is he?”

“Not the way you mean,” Gina said wryly. “Drink your wine. I’m going to fix your dinner. Forget spaghetti. This will make your mouth water. It will transport you straight to a trattoria in Rome.”

Karen noticed that, on her way across the room, Gina paused to splash a little wine into the man’s glass, though she carefully avoided his gaze, ignored whatever he said and kept right on going toward the kitchen, where the waitress was no doubt filing her nails.

Interesting, Karen thought. And troubling. Gina had never been known for her reticence. In fact, her bubbling enthusiasm and firsthand knowledge of Italian cuisine, combined with her innovative technique in the kitchen, had made her the perfect candidate for running a successful New York restaurant. She wasn’t bubbling now, though. At least not with the mysterious stranger.

And in all these months there had been no mention of that New York bistro or who was running it in her absence. Direct questions had been ignored or evaded, which was very unlike the candid Gina of old.

Another mystery, Karen concluded with a sigh. Her life seemed filled with them lately. And Grady was the biggest one of all. Had he been insulted, even hurt, by her cavalier dismissal that day? Had he simply given up the fight? As incredible as that might be, it was a possibility.

Maybe he was simply away on a sudden trip. She knew he had a ranch, but he also had other business interests. Perhaps he’d had to go to Cheyenne or Denver or who knew where else he might have his finger in some corporate pie. Maybe this disappearing act had nothing to do with her at all.

She sighed at the thought. More troubling than his disappearance was her reaction to it. She missed him, dammit. As Gina had guessed, Karen had gotten used to Grady’s company, exasperating as it was at times.

“It was just a habit,” she muttered. Like anything else that was bad for her, it could be broken.

“Deep thoughts?” a familiar male voice inquired behind her.

Her head snapped around, her gaze clashed with Grady’s, the wine she held with suddenly trembling fingers splashed on the table.

“Where have you been?” she asked before she could bite back the words. Even she recognized they were a stark contrast to her previous greetings demanding to know why he was there.

“Miss me?” he asked, a devilish twinkle in his eyes.

“No more than I would a swarm of bees,” she retorted.

He slid into the seat opposite her, taking note of the second glass of wine. “Where’s your date?”

“I’m here alone.”

“Good. Then I’ll join you,” he said, taking a sip from the untouched extra glass Gina had left for herself.

Karen frowned, annoyed by his presumption and by her own eagerness to have him stay. “Grady, you can’t just waltz in here and invite yourself to have dinner with me.”

“Why not?”

“Just because.”

“Because it’s going to stir up more talk?” he asked, regarding her with a pointed look.

“That, too,” she agreed.

“And what else?”

“Maybe I don’t want to have dinner with you.”

“Maybe?” he teased. “Let me know when you decide, then we’ll discuss it. Until then, I’ll just sit here and enjoy the wine and the vision of a beautiful woman sitting across the table from me.”

“I don’t want you here,” she said with more conviction. “And you know perfectly well why it’s a bad idea.”

He studied her thoughtfully, then shook his head. “Yes, you do want me here. You just feel compelled to deny it. You’re tough enough to stand up to a little idle gossip.”

“If you believe that, then why did you leave the house when I asked you to?”

“Because my being there had clearly upset you and because I was way too tempted to kiss you senseless to make you forget that inconvenient conscience of yours.”

“And now?”

“You’re here. I happened by. I consider that fate.” He smiled, then turned his attention to the menu. “What are you having?”

Because she knew from experience there was little point in arguing, she gave up. Besides, the truth was, she was so happy to see him, so happy to know that he wasn’t furious with her, that her heart felt lighter than it had in days.

“I have no idea what I’m going to eat.”

“You haven’t ordered?”

“Gina wouldn’t let me. She’s fixing what suits her.”

Grady nodded. “Maybe I’d better stick my head in the kitchen and make sure she fixes enough for two.”

As he crossed the restaurant, Karen watched him intently. Her pulse had kicked into high gear the second she heard his voice and hadn’t let up since. This wasn’t good, she thought. Not good at all.

Gina came stalking out of the kitchen on Grady’s heels and followed him straight to the table. Her indignant gaze came to rest on Karen. “Are you okay with this?”

“He’s not going away,” Karen said with an air of resignation. “I guess I’ll have to make the best of it.”

“I can kick him out,” Gina offered.

“You and who else?” Grady demanded, regarding Gina with amusement.

Gina’s gaze strayed to her mysterious man. “I can muster up some help if I need it,” she declared.

“No need,” Karen said. “Grady will be on his good behavior.” She looked at him. “Won’t you?”

He winked. “The best. And I’m a really big tipper.”

Gina grinned then, apparently satisfied that there would be no fireworks. “I’m counting on it.”

After she’d gone, Grady looked at Karen. “She’s very protective of you.”

“As you’ve figured out by now, I’m sure, there are five of us who grew up together. We’ve been best friends ever since. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do if one of us needed something.”

“And these are the friends who are willing to bankroll your vacation?”

“Some of them, yes.”

“It must be nice to have a circle of friends you can count on.”

Her gaze narrowed at that. “Don’t you?”

“I have acquaintances,” he said with no trace of self-pity. “And I have my grandfather. That’s always been enough.”

She thought she detected a rare note of wistfulness in his voice. “It has been? Not now?”

His gaze met hers. “No,” he said quietly. “Not now.”

Deep inside, she felt something give way. It was the last of her defenses crumbling…and for the life of her, she couldn’t seem to regret it.

Even though she’d been anticipating-no, dreading-the call, hearing Anna Hanson’s voice on the phone first thing the next morning would have been disconcerting enough for Karen under any conditions. But Grady had arrived not five minutes earlier. He was standing right next to her. That was enough to fill her with guilt. Added to the discovery she’d made the night before about just how vulnerable she was to this man and the guilt tripled.

“Anna,” she said with forced enthusiasm. “How good to hear your voice.”

“Is it?” Anna said in that dire tone that meant she had plenty to say to Karen, none of it good.

Anna Hanson hadn’t entirely approved of her son’s choice of a wife for reasons that had never been clear. Maybe she would have resented any woman chosen by her only son.

And when Caleb had died, Anna had all but said she believed Karen was responsible in some way. Had she known that Karen, in fact, blamed herself, she would have thrown it in her face at every opportunity. Even as it was, the tension between them had been thick ever since the funeral. Anna called only when she felt duty-bound to check in on the condition of the ranch, and seemed to have no concern about how Karen was managing with her grief.

“Of course it’s good to hear from you,” Karen said, scowling at Grady, who rolled his eyes, clearly aware of the reason for this call. “How’s everything in Arizona? Is Carl doing okay?”

“He’d be much better if we hadn’t been hearing certain things,” Anna said, her tone grim.