Helaughed a deep, throaty laugh that made her toes curl. “Fine. I’ll stay in thecar.”

“Great.Be right back.”

Aftershe slipped out of the car, she shut the door and hurried toward the side doorof the hotel. Luckily, her room was on the second floor, so it wouldn’t takemuch to get her big suitcase and her computer bag down to the car. She reallydidn’t want Joel seeing all her makeup, toiletries, and personalunmentionables. It seemed weird to have a guy in her room, especially sinceshe’d only known him a few hours.

Thedoor lock beeped opened as she slid the keycard into the slot. When she pushedthe door, the darkness of the room surrounded her for a few moments until sheflicked the lights on with a press of the button on the wall. She grabbed hersuitcase from the closet and quickly folded her clothes to pack back in thebag. Shampoo,conditioner, makeup bag. Ithink I got it all.

Shegrabbed her computer and slid it into the case. That didn’t take long. She glanced around the room to make sure shehad everything as she pulled up the roller bar on the suitcase. The conferencehad included her hotel room so she would be losing the money there, but thechance for front row seats to a real ranch setting would be worth it in thelong run. Her book would be authentic and her hero would be to die for!

* * * *

Joelchecked the reflection in the side mirror of the car. He could clearly see thedoor Mesa disappeared through in the glass. Whatto make of her? When he’d found her stranded in her car, he wasn’t sure shehad a brain cell in her pretty head. Who would take a drive out into the middleof nowhere without enough gas to get back? But while he chatted with her, herealized she actually was a very intelligent woman with a big heart. She sure is beautiful with all of her long,dark hair and brown eyes.

Hechecked his watch. She’d been in there for several minutes. What the hell is taking so long?

Tap, tap, tap.

Joelturned his head to see a security guard tapping on the window with hisflashlight.

“CanI help you?” he said, after he rolled the window down.

“CanI ask what you’re doing sitting in this car?”

“I’mwaiting for a friend to come out. She’s getting her stuff.”

“She’schecking out?”

“Yes.”

“Whydidn’t you go in and help her?”

“Sheasked me not to. Come on, man. I’m just sitting here.”

“Ina guarded parking lot of a nice hotel. How do I know you aren’t casing cars tobreak into?”

“DoI look like a thief? I’m sitting here in muddy jeans, cowboy boots, and a T-shirt.”

“Stepout of the car please.”

“Areyou a cop?”

“Yeah,I am.”

Joelglanced at the man’s shirt and noticed the San Antonio police badge. Shit. This is all he needed. Trouble with a capital T. He pushed open the car door andstepped out. His six-foot-four frame towered over the cop, but he didn’t try tointimidate the guy. Be nice to thepoliceman, Joel. He heard his mother’s voice in his head as clearly as ifshe were standing next to him. After all, the man had a gun.

“What’sgoing on here?”

Mesaskidded to haul next to him with her suitcase dragging behind her.

“Ourfriend here thinks I’m casing cars.”

“Heis not, officer.” She tapped her chest with her finger. “He’s with me. I cameto check out and get my things before I headed back to his house.”

“Hishouse?” the cop asked with a raised eyebrow.

Great. Now the guy thinks I’msoliciting or something. Shit. He stuffed his hands inthe front pocket of his jeans. “It’s not like that, officer. My family owns adude ranch out in Bandera. She’s a guest. I came with her to get her things soshe wouldn’t get lost driving back out there since it’s dark now.”

“Doyou have your check out paperwork?”

“Notyet. I brought my suitcase out here first to put into the car before I walkedback into the front desk.”

“Putyour things in the car then and we can all walk in together.”

“Seriously?This is ridiculous,” she snapped, hitting the trunk latch on her key fob. Sheslid the suitcase in the back before she slammed the hatch with a loud bang.

Joelwalked behind her with the cop beside him. He couldn’t help but notice how herass jiggled a little as she stomped her feet. The girl had a temper, it seemed.He liked girls with enough gumption to stand up for themselves.

Theywalked in through the sliding doors. The desk stood off to the left with largeplants flanking either side. Mesa had her dander up now. She slapped her handdown on the counter and snapped, “Tell this idiot I am a guest at this hoteland I don’t appreciate my guest beingharassed in your parking lot.”

“Andyou are?”

“MesaArraguso. I’m here with the writer’s conference and I’m checking out.” She slidher keycard across the counter. “My room is 2103.”

“Ofcourse, ma’am.” The guy tapped on a few keys of thecomputer. “You do realize there won’t be any refund on your hotel stay becauseof the special rate and…”

“Yes,I know. Just check me out while I deal with this idiot.” She stomped back towhere he and the cop were standing. “Now do you believe us? We weren’t givingyou a line of shit, officer. What we told you was the truth.”

“I’msorry, ma’am, but we’ve had a rash of car break-ins around the area and yourfriend here looked suspicious when he kept checking the doors.”

“Ikept looking for her. Nothing more.”

“I’msorry but you have to understand, we are only protecting the hotel guests.” Atleast the man looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean to harass you.”

“ThenI suggest you go out there and find whoever is really breaking into these cars.It’s not my friend.”

“Noharm done, Mesa. Really. He’s doing his job.”

“Believeme, I know how these guys work. I deal with the same crap in Los Angeles withthe police out there. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent, not the otherway around.” The cop tipped his hat before he walked out the doors. Mesa huffedout a sigh. “Really, he should have been more apologetic. I hate being harassedlike I’m some kind of criminal.”

“It’sfine. I get into trouble with the police sometimes in Bandera. Luckily, theyall know us. They don’t here in San Antonio.” He shrugged. “I didn’t give himmy name or he might have recognized me. I don’t like throwing names around, youknow?”

“Yeah.I appreciate you standing up to him, though.”

“Ididn’t do anything.”

“Ms.Arraguso? Here is your receipt. Thank you for staying with us.”

“Iappreciate it. I’ll keep this hotel in mind should I have need for a room inSan Antonio again. Thank you.”

Joelgrabbed her hand as they walked outside. Knowing there were people out casingthe cars in the lot didn’t sit well with him. He had a permit to carry a gun,which he did in his truck, but not in someone else’s car. Bandera didn’t havethese kinds of problems. The small town kept to themselves most of the time. To each his own. They took care of each other with theirsmall police force and didn’t have much trouble in the way of things in SanAntonio. The bigger city had a lot more issues.

“Areyou okay?”

“Yeah,why?”

“You’resqueezing my hand kind of tight,” she said, tugging on her limb although hedidn’t release her.

Hekind of liked how her hand felt in his so he pulled her in tighter. “Sorry,darlin’. Knowing there are people possibly hanging out in the parking lot fornefarious reasons makes me nervous for you.”

“Aw,how sweet. I’m fine though. I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe,but as the man, I’m supposed to take care of you.”

“Verychivalrous of you.”

“It’sthe way my mom raised us. The men take care of the ladies.” They’d reached theside of her car. Once she unlocked it, he opened the door for her, and thenshut it behind her before going around to the passenger side.