Simmer All Night (33 page)

"Used to, out in the East Texas forests. I don't know if any live there still today."

Chrissy's gaze skimmed over the armadillo, a pair of prairie dogs, a particularly ugly javelina before halting in shock. She blinked, but the image didn't go away. "A camel?"

Bennet grinned. "A dromedary. Not native, of course, but imported to Texas in 1856 for use as pack animals. I thought I should have one in my Texas Room."

"Certainly," Cole observed, eyeing the ugly beast with wonder. "No Texas Room would be complete without a camel."

Chrissy gouged his side with her elbow. "Quit being snotty," she murmured, moving toward the center of the room. It was quite a collection, no doubt about that. Along with the menagerie, paintings of Texas scenes hung over every available inch of the walls. Over a dozen display cases stood scattered across the floor, filled with various items of interest. Chrissy glanced in the one nearest to her and saw that it contained pen and ink sketches of prominent Texans such as Sam Houston and Ben McCulloch. Next to it sat a beautiful ebony case displaying paraphernalia relating to Texas railroads. She spied arrowhead collections, a barbed wire sampling, and branding irons by the dozen. Nowhere did she see anything that resembled a historical document, much less the highly valued Republic of Texas's Declaration of Independence.

Disappointment washed over her. Maybe Lord Melton's information was wrong. Maybe Bennet didn't have the Declaration after all.

Cole made a show of examining the display cases closely. Every so often he'd
hmm or ahh.
Bennet spent the time pointing out various items of interest to Chrissy.

Finally, Cole wandered back to the front of the room and said, "This is interesting," he observed. "I'm sure that someone unfamiliar with Texas would find this collection quite illuminating."

Bennet puffed up like a toad. "Certainly my collection must be interesting to Texans, too."

Chrissy shot Cole a chastising look. What good would it do to alienate the man? "Of course it is, Lord Bennet," she assured him, favoring him with a smile. "Why, I've lived in Texas all my life, but I've never seen a javelina this closely."

Cole seemed determined to be a bore, however. He stuck his hands into his pockets, rolled back on his heels, and shrugged. "This is all nice, but I was hoping to see something unique, something that a fellow wouldn't see looking out the back door of the log cabin."

This time she moved close to him and used the width of her skirt to hide the fact she stepped on his foot. "You don't have a log cabin."

He flashed Bennet a grin. "She's telling me to be nice. Sorry,
mi amigo
, I didn't mean to cast aspersions on your Texas Room. It is a fine collection, and it has certainly set off a wave of homesickness in me. I guess I'm just disappointed. I had thought I'd try to talk you into doing some swapping, but I don't see anything here I'd consider trading my Ranger badge for. I have a special interest in old things, you see. Your collection here is mostly modern Texas. Except for the bear, maybe. And I don't think he'd fit in my pocket."

Bennet drew himself up straight as the branding iron beside him. "I have older items. I have a collection of items from the mission period."

Cole trailed his gaze across the cases. "Where? I don't see 'em."

"They are not currently on display."

"Oh." Cole's mouth pursed in a disappointed pout that had Chrissy blinking her eyes and giving him a second look. She'd never before in their lives seen that particular expression on his face.

"Well..." he continued with a heavy sigh. "That's not my favorite period, anyway. I have a real affinity for the days of the Republic. I oftentimes wish I'd been born fifty years earlier. Why, imagine what it would have been like to be alive during the War for Independence. I could have followed the army and fought at San Jacinto."

Chrissy felt obliged to point out, "You could have fought at the Alamo, too."

Cole looked at Chrissy, then his gaze skidded over to Bennet. "Maybe I did. Maybe I died at the Alamo and was reincarnated because my life was cut tragically short."

Chrissy started to laugh, but the look on Bennet's face kept the sound frozen in her throat.

His eyes glimmered with interest and excitement. "Do you believe in reincarnation, Mr. Morgan?" he asked.

"I don't know. I tend to wonder about it at times. Why else would I be attracted to certain periods of history so intensely while others barely scratch the surface of my interest?"

"I know exactly what you mean. Exactly! I, myself, am fascinated about the Republic of Texas. I have studied every piece of information I could find on that ten-year period. So many times I've asked myself why. Why do I crave knowledge concerning that place and that time? Why do I need to surround myself with items that were made and used by people in the Republic of Texas? Why have I been drawn to that short sliver of history?"

Because you are crazy,
Chrissy thought. Perhaps as crazy as Cole was smart, drat his hide. The man was subtly goading their host, obviously hoping to get Bennet to show him those items not "currently on display."

This was pure Cole Morgan. He needed but a few minutes with a person in order to identify which strings required pulling to manipulate the fellow where Cole wanted him to go. The talent served Cole well both personally and professionally, though it was one Chrissy always considered her duty to resist.

"You have a collection from the Republic of Texas?" Cole asked, closing in on the kill.

Chrissy added, "I do recall your mentioning a knife from San Jacinto, I believe."

A wince betrayed Bennet's regret at having allowed the slip. "Well, yes. Yes, I do."

"Now that I want to see."

"It's my private collection. I normally don't show it to anyone."

Cole slapped him on the back. "Then it's a good thing Christina and I are Texans and not just 'anyone.' Shall we go see it now?"

Bennet backed away. "Oh, no. That's not possible, Not possible at all. My other guests will begin to arrive at any time, and I must be here to receive them. Then too I must prepare for the lecture I am scheduled to give tomorrow." He walked over to a bell pull and rang for a servant, who responded almost immediately. "My staff will show you to rooms now. Allow me to say once more, welcome to Harpur Priory."

As they were ushered from the Texas Room and down a carpeted hallway, Chrissy said, "You pushed him too hard, Cole. That's not like you."

"Well I don't like
him.
Mark my words, Christina. Something is wrong with that man."

* * *

Cole stood in front of the bedroom window staring out at the longhorns in Harpur Priory's park as the door snicked shut behind the footman. Idly, he reached toward the marble-topped table nearby and snagged an apple from the tray of fruit and cheeses provided for his comfort and took a bite. Flavor exploded on his tongue, juicy and sweet, and he'd just lifted the fruit to take a second bite when he heard the door behind him open. "Well, well, well," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "If it's not the apple of my eye."

"Oh, just eat your fruit," Chrissy said, stepping into Cole's bedroom and shutting the door behind her. "We need to talk."

"You know, Bug, as often as you sneak into my room, I have a difficult time understanding why you balk at moving in permanently."

She scooped up a small square pillow off the settee and chucked it at him before sitting down. "Bennet must have moved the Declaration to his private collection. We need to plan how we'll get him to show it to us. We must see it before we can make him an offer for it."

"Ah, don't worry. He just needs a little convincing. I'll take care of it."

She sat back and folded her arms. "Like you 'convinced' him earlier? What were you thinking of? What happened to your smooth, subtle approach?"

"I guess I used it all up on you last night," he replied, shooting her his wickedest grin.

That took some of the pepper out of her chili. Her lips lifted and her eyes softened, "This is the first bit of privacy we've had all day. I missed you when I woke up this morning."

"I missed you, too. Be glad you weren't in my bed, though, Lady Bug. I was still asleep when Michael decided he needed to show me the new puppy Welby gave him yesterday. I tell you what, as good morning kisses go, I'll take yours over that mutt's any day."

She sailed across the room, went up on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Then she punched him in the gut. "You say the sweetest things."

He pasted on a pained expression when what he really wanted to do was grab her up and carry her to bed there and then.
My
love.
The sound was as sweet as an entire bushel of apples. "Marry me, Chrissy."

"Don't, Cole," she said, wincing.

He felt a sudden rush of frustration at her response. "I'll just keep asking."

"Tell me something I don't know. That's thirty-seven times since we left the plunge bath."

"You've kept count?" The idea soothed away his frustration. Now he really wanted to take her to bed.

She shrugged. "Marriage proposals are something a woman tends to keep track of. But they are not what I came here to talk to you about."

He tugged at his tie. "You came to tell me the basket of fruit in your room didn't satisfy your hunger and only I can do that?"

"That is second on my list," she replied, smiling, though he could tell she didn't want to. "Don't take this personally, Cole, but I think your approach with Lord Bennet is all wrong."

Dammit, she
had
to talk business. "I almost had him," he said.

"Perhaps. We can't be certain. I'll admit the reincarnation business was inspired."

"Do you ever think about that sort of thing, Christina?" Grabbing her hand, he pulled her back to the settee and sat her down beside him. "Every now and then, I do. Especially when I get a very intense sensation that I've lived that moment before."

"Yes, I know that feeling. I'm experiencing it right now. You're trying to change the subject because you know I'm right. Believe me, I've been in this place a thousand times before."

"Now wait just one minute—"

She reached up and brushed a lock of his hair off his forehead in a gesture more motherly than intimate. Cole scowled as she told him, "You rushed him, Cole, and now he'll retreat."

"Temporarily, maybe, but the man is anxious to please. I'll talk him into showing me the Declaration."

She shook her head. "I'll have more success working my wiles on him. Here's what I—"

Temper rolled inside him as Cole lurched to his feet. "No. I forbid it."

Christina visibly stiffened. "Careful there, Morgan," she said in a tight, brittle voice. "It's not your place to forbid me anything. We're here for only four days. We have no time to waste. I could tell at Hartsworth that Lord Bennet is not immune to my charms, so it makes more sense for me to approach him."

"Honey, only dead men are immune to your charms, and I'm not sure about all of them. But it doesn't matter because I won't have my wife playing the flirt with another man, period."

She stood and faced him. "I'm not your wife."

"You are in my heart."

"Oh, Cole." She sighed heavily. "And you dare to call me stubborn."

"So it's a character trait we share. Imagine how our children will be. Of course I reckon the girls will be more stubborn than the boys. Something about being female takes stubborn to new heights."

"As much as I'd like to lay into you about this, I won't be distracted, Cole."

Distraction was exactly what both of them needed, in Cole's opinion. He winked and said, "Oh c'mon, Lady Bug. Lay me."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "I'll lay you out flat. My fist to your face."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, but it's all you're going to get. For now at least." She approached him and grabbing his shirt front, tugged him down toward her and kissed his cheek. When she drew back, her eyes were solemn. "Cole, cooperate with me on this."

"I can't, honey. It would tie me into knots. Besides, it's not right. It's not honorable."

She flinched, then stepped away from him. Injury dulled her eyes and when she spoke, her voice was brittle. "Yes, of course. What was I thinking. Mother wouldn't approve of such behavior, would she?"

"Now, Christina. Don't—"

"Batting my eyelashes and sweet-talking a man in order gain his cooperation, why, it borders on prostitution, doesn't it?"

Whoa. Where did this come from?
Cole frowned at her. "Don't be stupid. This has nothing to do with whoring."

"No, you're right. It doesn't. I exaggerated. What I didn't exaggerate, however, is what my mother would think of my methods."

"Elizabeth isn't here."

"Thank heavens for that particular favor," she exclaimed, throwing her arms wide. "All right. Fine. Let's hear your plan, Morgan. What are you going to do to ensure that you walk away from Harpur Priory with our Declaration in your hand?"

"Well, I'm not going to flirt with Bennet, for one thing."

The minx stuck out her tongue at him.

Cole folded his arms and glared. "We've been over this before. Nothing has changed. First, since Bennet apparently considers himself an expatriated Texan of sorts, I intend to appeal to his ego, to promise him a place in Texas history."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I'll buy it from him."

"And if he's not willing to sell?"

"I'll steal it from him."

"Now that's honor, Cole Morgan," she said, shaking a finger in the air. "I am continually amazed at how your mind works. A while back you mentioned having doctors in London study me. Well, I think they could create an entirely new level of psychiatric study with you as their subject.

"It's obvious we can't work together on this. But don't worry, Cole. As soon as I have the Declaration of Independence in my possession, I'll turn it over to you. I won't have any more time to waste on such trivialities. You see, I intend to go with Lana and the children to visit Lord Welby's castle. He tells me he has three brothers. He thinks I'd be the perfect match for one of them."