Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell

to meet you, Ms. Stevens,” Tanner said, hoping she would vanish as quickly as she had appeared.
    “Well, I certainly wish someone had told me sooner,” Kimberli said breathlessly, pouring wattage into her smile. “We have so very much to talk about and so many people to meet!”
    Kimberli couldn’t be deflected short of a very public battle. Tanner considered just that, then decided he might as well meet the local movers, shakers, and players. Some of them might be helpful when he started asking questions about Lorne.
    For the next half hour Tanner was paraded in front of wealthy businessmen and their trophy wives. The former greeted him like an old friend. The latter sized him up for sex before Kimberli saved him by throwing him to a fresh pack of wolves.
    Through all of it he hung on to Shaye’s hand, ignoring the fact that Kimberli’s brassy hair and cleavage were always in his face.
    Shaye allowed herself to be pulled along, telling herself that the movement of Tanner’s thumb back and forth across her palm wasn’t a caress.
    But it was. And she liked it way too much.
    “There’s the judge who will be overseeing the probate of Lorne’s will,” Kimberli said into Tanner’s ear.
    And she knows this before my lawyer does? Tanner asked silently. Let the good times roll.
    “Judge, I’m so pleased to introduce Tanner Davis, Lorne’s nephew. Isn’t he just the spitting image of Lorne?”
    The judge was a steel-haired, hawkish man who looked like he’d just eaten a serving of frozen nails. He nodded curtly, whether to the introduction or to Tanner’s supposed resemblance to Lorne.
    Tanner nodded. “Judge.”
    Shaye said, “Mrs. Hudson, you look like you’ve been to a spa rather than riding herd on your grandsons while your daughter and son-in-law are celebrating their twentieth anniversary in Hawaii. How do you manage it?”
    As if surprised at being noticed, the white-haired woman standing in the judge’s shadow smiled. “They’re good boys. Lively, but good.”
    The judge rolled his eyes. “Hellions will be lucky not to stand before my bench in a few years.”
    But he smiled at Shaye.
    “Judge Hudson will be taking care of things, since Lorne died intestate,” Kimberli said.
    Tanner decided the good times were over. Sooner or later, everyone would know. Sooner saved time.
    “My uncle didn’t die intestate,” he said easily. “He left a handwritten document with his lawyer stating that he was severing all connections with the Conservancy. As I’m my uncle’s executor and beneficiary, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, Judge.”
    The other man nodded and held out his hand.
    While the two men did the polite, pleased-to-meet-you dance, Kimberli looked like she’d found half of a mouse in her champagne glass.
    “But he said in front of witnesses that he was leaving his land to the Conservancy,” she protested finally, watching Tanner with wide, confused eyes. “You’ll honor that, of course.”
    It wasn’t a question.
    “Lorne’s written and dated instructions specifically and categorically revoke any preceding business with the Conservancy,” Tanner said. “He left the ranch to family. To me. You’ll honor that, of course.”
    “But—I—we—” Kimberli said.
    “A pleasure, Judge, Mrs. Hudson,” Tanner said, nodding to the couple before turning back to Kimberli and sliding another secret caress along Shaye’s palm. “It has been a long, unexpected two days for me and the next few aren’t going to be any easier. You’ll understand if I leave early.”
    “But—but,” Kimberli said, “we need to talk about the ranch.”
    “That’s why Shaye is coming with me. We’re going to discuss Lorne, land, and the Conservancy. I’m sure she’ll present your case well to me.”
    With that, he led Shaye toward the exit.
    She knew she should have at least put up a minor objection, but she was too relieved for the excuse to get out of the party.
    “Call me with