A Daughter's Perfect Secret by Kimberly Van Meter

his receptionist, nothing more.
     
     
    Darcy was fairly certain she was shaking with nervous energy and not because she’d been tempted to accept Rafe’s offer of dinner. She hadn’t needed his assurances that he wasn’t looking for an easy or convenient bed partner when he’d extended the offer—somehow she doubted he was that kind of man anyway—but just hearing the words had caused all manner of inappropriate images to crowd her brain, and her own reckless reaction was troubling. There were moments when she questioned the impetuousness of her decision to leave everything behind to go on this quest for answers, but when she found herself waffling, all she had to do was remind herself that she didn’t have anyone else to watch her back, and if Samuel was dangerous, she needed to be aware of the threat. Plus, someone in this town had to know something about her birth mother. She had to believe that. Maybe she had family on her mother’s side. Maybe she wasn’t alone, after all. But she wouldn’t know if she allowed fear to make her decisions.
    After spritzing her face and dusting her lashes with some mascara, she headed back out. She wanted to nose around, see if she could get some information about Samuel and her mother. But where to start? She didn’t want to just randomly approach people and pepper them with questions. That would only make her look suspect, for sure. So how did she make it appear as if she were like everyone else in this town? Laughter drew her attention and she realized the community center—the seeming hub of the town—was alive and teeming with people.
    Must be some kind of shindig going down tonight, she surmised. What better way to get involved than to jump in with both feet, right?
    Absolutely.
    She walked straight to the community center and filed in with everyone else.
     
     
    Bo Fargo stood at the door of the community center at his usual post as people, smiling and laughing like the sheep they were, walked into the center for the nightly meeting. Bo nodded in greeting to a few but otherwise kept his expression neutral. It was no good to get too personal with these people because he never wanted to have to make a choice between loyalty to Samuel and his own feelings for someone else.
    A woman—someone he didn’t know—walked by, her eyes scanning the crowd without recognition, plainly a newcomer. Not bad on the eyes, she was a brunette with a nice butt and just the kind of rack Samuel preferred. Maybe his hunting expedition wouldn’t be so difficult, after all. Newcomers were easy picking. They were eager to please, blinded by Samuel’s charisma and charm, and usually ridiculously flattered and awestruck that Samuel wanted to spend time with them. His mouth twitched with a smile. Good. Now that he had his quarry selected, he could put a plan into action. Knowing that part of his assignment was completed, his mind wandered to his own desires. It’d been a while since he’d bedded a woman. Maybe tonight he’d find one of his regular lays, women who didn’t mind spreading their legs for a little extra favor in Bo’s regard, and ease up on some of the tension that seemed to ride him harder than any of the women he picked up.
    Speaking of which, Brenda Billings tried to walk by without being noticed, but he snagged her arm before she could get away.
    “Nice to see you, Brenda,” he said, rubbing his thumb along her forearm, communicating his intent without having to spell it out for everyone to hear. She ducked her head and nodded with a slight tremble of her lip. “I haven’t seen you around. Everything okay?” he asked, not truly caring, but he liked to give the appearance of a protector. “I’ve missed your pretty face at the meetings.” The only reason he’d noted her absence was because he was horny and she was the best of his little stable of regulars. He liked the way her little body squirmed beneath the weight of his and the way she let him do unspeakably