He could feel her trembling even as she blinked hard and deliberately looked away. So, that much was real, he decided. She couldn’t be faking a reaction like that, for devious purposes or otherwise. Which meant her reluctance to commit to anything more than the casual encounters they’d shared thus far was pure cussedness on her part.

Or perhaps a belated attack of ethical considerations, he amended. Maybe she’d decided she couldn’t get any more involved with a man she intended to try to fleece out of his land. He supposed even would-be thieves had a code of honor they wouldn’t breech.

He finally allowed his hand to drop away. “You trying to tell me that doesn’t mean anything?” he chided.

“It doesn’t,” she insisted stubbornly.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Okay, I’m attracted to you,” she snapped. “Is that what you wanted to hear? Does it make your heart go pitty-pat? Is your oversize ego satisfied?”

He chuckled at her irritation. “As a matter of fact, yes on all counts.”

She lifted the menu and pointedly retreated behind it.

“You two planning on arguing all afternoon or were you thinking of ordering lunch?” Rosa inquired, not even trying to hide her amusement.

Harlan wondered with a sigh exactly how much she’d heard before she spoke up. He supposed whatever it was, his sons would know every word before nightfall. He wondered idly if Rosa’s silence could be bought. He glanced up and studied her speculatively.

“Rosa, darlin’, what would it take to keep you from telling Maritza or any of your other myriad relatives in Los Piños that I was even in here today?” he asked.

Janet peeked around her menu, curiosity written all over her face. “You’re trying to bribe Rosa to keep silent?” she demanded.

“You bet,” he muttered grimly. “Come on, Rosa, what will it take?”

The heavy-set Mexican woman shook her head as she regarded him with an expression of pity. “You cannot buy loyalty, old friend.”

“I can’t seem to get it, either,” he grumbled. “Whatever you heard here today, just forget it, okay? That’s not so much to ask, is it?”

Rosa’s expression was perfectly bland. “But I heard nothing.”

Harlan sighed. “I’ll bet.”

Not trusting her one whit, he still dropped the subject and asked Janet what she wanted. When he’d placed the order, he leaned back and focused once more on the woman seated opposite him.

The color in her cheeks was high. That was probably a sign of guilt, he decided. She’d wound her hair into some sort of prim knot on top of her head, but she’d done it in a way that made a man’s fingers just itch to tug it free. He considered it another contradictory message in a whole sea of them he’d been getting lately.