to King's ranch home. King Tanner was viewing Rani and her background with the eyes of a man who thinks he's falling in love. Illusions.
The one item among Rani's furnishings that should have given King the clue he needed caught Gage's eye the moment he ambled out of the kitchen and into the living room. The exquisitely designed Regency-style dollhouse was exhibited on a special table near the fireplace. Behind it were shelves of books on the history of dollhouse furnishings and Regency England interior design.
"It's incredible," Gage murmured, lowering himself in front of the dollhouse to gaze into its many small rooms. "Absolutely incredible. Did your sister give it to you?"
She smiled, drying her hands on a kitchen towel as she came up behind him. It was an effort to resist the urge to run her fingers through the darkness of his hair as she had done the night before. Gage was wearing a white shirt and a pair of dark slacks. A conservative dresser, she decided in amusement. "I've had it for three years now. When it arrived in Donna's shop, I couldn't resist It's a perfect Regency villa with curved window bays and tiny balconies, complete with ironwork railings. Take a look at the front," she urged. "It's even stuccoed , and there's a little canopy."
"Amazing! But all the furnishings? Do you get them through Donna?" Gage delicately fingered a small sculptured figure that sat on a little claw-footed table.
"She keeps an eye out for the best things, and my parents are always on the lookout, too."
"Your parents?" he questioned.
"Umm. They're in England on a tour at the moment. They live in Houston."
"Mine live in San Diego. My father's a retired Navy man. For some reason retired Navy officers always gravitate toward San Diego," he said.
"How did you wind up in Albuquerque?"
He flicked her a short glance before going back to studying the well-furnished miniature drawing room. "My interest in military history has proven to be purely of an intellectual orientation," he told her very dryly. "It was soon evident to me that, in spite of my father's fondest hopes, I wasn't going to make a career out of the military. I did my bit in Vietnam, but the blood was a little too real."
Rani caught her breath in quiet understanding. She sensed the tension in him as he spoke. "When I got out of the Army, which I had joined in a small gesture of rebellion toward my father, who wanted me in the Navy, I'd had enough of the real thing. I moved to Dallas and started my security consulting service and then, later, came here to Albuquerque."
"But you still have an academic interest in military history?" she questioned gently.
"I stick to pre-twentieth-century battles," he confessed grimly.
Rani nodded. "I can understand that. The twentieth-century stuff is far too real."
"Yes." He took her comprehension of that at face value. She understood.
He insisted on driving her to the shop and came inside with her while she opened up. Gage still hadn't returned to the subject of his next weapon, and while she was enjoying the truce, Rani was beginning to grow very, very curious. Was he delaying because he wasn't sure it would work or because he thought it might anger her? The idea that he didn't want to anger her was rather touching, she thought as she checked out the cash register.
Once she had prepared The Miniature World for a day of business, Rani turned her gaze to Gage.
"What are you doing?" she asked, seeing him seated in front of one of the tables used to display the military miniatures. He appeared deeply involved in the battle scene he was arranging.
"Do you mind if I set these up?" he asked absently, indicating a box of medieval French cavalry.
"No, of course not They always sell better when they're displayed in action," she told him as she unlocked the front door. Then she wandered back to peer over his shoulder. "That's why I was setting up Hastings a couple of days ago. Donna always encourages me to handle the military
The one item among Rani's furnishings that should have given King the clue he needed caught Gage's eye the moment he ambled out of the kitchen and into the living room. The exquisitely designed Regency-style dollhouse was exhibited on a special table near the fireplace. Behind it were shelves of books on the history of dollhouse furnishings and Regency England interior design.
"It's incredible," Gage murmured, lowering himself in front of the dollhouse to gaze into its many small rooms. "Absolutely incredible. Did your sister give it to you?"
She smiled, drying her hands on a kitchen towel as she came up behind him. It was an effort to resist the urge to run her fingers through the darkness of his hair as she had done the night before. Gage was wearing a white shirt and a pair of dark slacks. A conservative dresser, she decided in amusement. "I've had it for three years now. When it arrived in Donna's shop, I couldn't resist It's a perfect Regency villa with curved window bays and tiny balconies, complete with ironwork railings. Take a look at the front," she urged. "It's even stuccoed , and there's a little canopy."
"Amazing! But all the furnishings? Do you get them through Donna?" Gage delicately fingered a small sculptured figure that sat on a little claw-footed table.
"She keeps an eye out for the best things, and my parents are always on the lookout, too."
"Your parents?" he questioned.
"Umm. They're in England on a tour at the moment. They live in Houston."
"Mine live in San Diego. My father's a retired Navy man. For some reason retired Navy officers always gravitate toward San Diego," he said.
"How did you wind up in Albuquerque?"
He flicked her a short glance before going back to studying the well-furnished miniature drawing room. "My interest in military history has proven to be purely of an intellectual orientation," he told her very dryly. "It was soon evident to me that, in spite of my father's fondest hopes, I wasn't going to make a career out of the military. I did my bit in Vietnam, but the blood was a little too real."
Rani caught her breath in quiet understanding. She sensed the tension in him as he spoke. "When I got out of the Army, which I had joined in a small gesture of rebellion toward my father, who wanted me in the Navy, I'd had enough of the real thing. I moved to Dallas and started my security consulting service and then, later, came here to Albuquerque."
"But you still have an academic interest in military history?" she questioned gently.
"I stick to pre-twentieth-century battles," he confessed grimly.
Rani nodded. "I can understand that. The twentieth-century stuff is far too real."
"Yes." He took her comprehension of that at face value. She understood.
He insisted on driving her to the shop and came inside with her while she opened up. Gage still hadn't returned to the subject of his next weapon, and while she was enjoying the truce, Rani was beginning to grow very, very curious. Was he delaying because he wasn't sure it would work or because he thought it might anger her? The idea that he didn't want to anger her was rather touching, she thought as she checked out the cash register.
Once she had prepared The Miniature World for a day of business, Rani turned her gaze to Gage.
"What are you doing?" she asked, seeing him seated in front of one of the tables used to display the military miniatures. He appeared deeply involved in the battle scene he was arranging.
"Do you mind if I set these up?" he asked absently, indicating a box of medieval French cavalry.
"No, of course not They always sell better when they're displayed in action," she told him as she unlocked the front door. Then she wandered back to peer over his shoulder. "That's why I was setting up Hastings a couple of days ago. Donna always encourages me to handle the military
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