“Then, get packed. We’ll fly to Reno tonight—or early in the morning. The sooner the better.” He began to slide into his pants in his urgency to persuade her.

“We have time….”

“No!” he nearly shouted. And then, in a somewhat calmer voice, he continued, “No—we don’t have any time.”

“But, Kane,” she argued, fearing the continuation of the discussion, but unable to stop herself. “You have to put certain things into perspective. We have to take Krista’s feelings into consideration—surely you can understand that. And the bank—”

“Erin!” He grabbed her shoulders roughly, and forced her to look up at him. His grip tightened on her forearms, and his face was a harsh mask of determination. “It’s got to be soon. You know that.”

“Why? We have the rest of our lives…”

“No, we don’t!” he snapped. “Don’t you understand?” His eyes were shadowed by the darkness of the gazebo, but Erin could feel the pain and torture of his words without being able to probe his desperate gaze. Why was he so insistent? A cold strange feeling passed over her, transferred from him by the urgency of his forceful grasp on her upper arms.

With an unsteady voice, she asked, “Kane, just what is it that you’re trying to say?”

“I’m asking you to be my wife, pure and simple. Is that so difficult to understand?”

She wasn’t convinced. “There’s more, isn’t there? Has it got something to do with Krista, because she’s already made it plain to me that she doesn’t have room in her life for a ‘new mother.”’ In the blackness Erin tried to read the expression on Kane’s face. Hoping to find love, she was disappointed. A cloud passed over the moon, and once the pale light was restored, she found his eyes torn with an emotion she couldn’t understand. She tried to draw away from him but still he held her desperately, passionately.

Slowly the grip on her forearms relaxed, and resignation covered Kane’s features. “Get dressed,” he commanded softly. “And then I promise you we’ll talk.”

Hurriedly she did as he instructed her, running her pantyhose in her hasty efforts. Was it the chill of the night that made her shudder, or the cold look of determination heightening the masculine angles of Kane’s face that cooled her blood?

As she was smoothing the silk dress over her hips, he began to speak in a distant voice that was dry with dread.

“When I was in California,” he started, stepping away from her and pacing the length of the gazebo, “some more money was embezzled from the dividend account…three thousand dollars to be exact.” He whirled to face her, and his guarded eyes found hers. The expression on her face was one of confusion.

“I don’t understand—I thought that Mitch was the suspect….”

He cut off her conjecture. “Of course he’s the prime suspect, but it’s become apparent that he has an accomplice in the department!”

“No!” she gasped.

“Yes!”

Her voice was faint, barely a whisper. “But who?”