Suspicions of the Heart Read Online Free

desk,
gave Candy a quick assessing glance, and then announced stiffly,
"Mr. Fargate will be right in."
    "Are you…?" The door shut before she
could finish and Candy shrugged.
    So this was Fargate's latest conquest;
no doubt about it. Nothing had changed in that department. And
obviously the woman knew who Candy was, too, from that tight
expression on her face.
    Finally, the door opened again and
Fargate walked in. He came straight up to her, hugged her and held
her at arm's length, his green eyes going over her
thoroughly.
    "It's good to see you again." His voice
sounded odd.
    Candy stiffened, trying desperately not
to pull away too quickly, and feeling very much like running.
Fargate was so unlike Doug Chapman... and yet so like him, too. She
just couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about the two of
them that made her wary.
    Unlike Doug, Fargate was very lean; his
tan was not from the weathered sun, but from a salon he insisted on
visiting three times a week like clockwork. His fingernails were
manicured, his hair styled. His clothes were impeccable. His smile
was charming.
    He could have been a manikin in a
storefront. A confident man who knew instinctively he could have
any woman he so desired.
    He was everything she had come to
dislike in a man. Why had she ever married him? She wouldn't go
there, though. In fact she refused to. This wasn't about her and
Fargate. She had come to hear her father's will.
    "Candy," he broke her reverie. "It's
been a long time."
    "Yes," she affirmed and moved away from
him quickly. "Let's get this over with, okay?"
    He nodded woodenly. "Of course." But an
arrogant brow shot upward. "So, you're still the little ice-maiden,
I see."
    She might have flinched if she hadn't
been half prepared for him to offer a little jab. "When I choose to
be, yes."
    He walked over to the desk and flipped
open the file. For a long moment he didn't say anything. Then, he
looked her straight in the eye. "Well," he finally smiled and
glanced at the file again. "It's all pretty cut and dried,
honey."
    Now she flinched. He seemed determined
to make this personal. Not that she wasn't used to being called
"honey", "darlin'", and even "sweetheart", but by
cowboys.
    Darn him for making her feel so ill at
ease. This would be difficult enough without Fargate playing it up.
Didn't he realize she was closing the lid on her father's life?
Even though she'd had her ups and downs with her father, she loved
him and missed him already.
    As though he suddenly decided to treat
this case quite impersonal he slipped a pair of reading glasses on
his nose and skimmed over the file once more. No doubt he was
giving her time to compose herself.
    "Want some coffee?"
    Coffee? No, she didn't want coffee. If
he really knew her, he'd know that, but Fargate had never paid much
attention to details. She nodded woodenly nonetheless.
    He buzzed his secretary and in less
than five minutes the attractive blonde brought a tray into the
office. Candy took a cup and leaned back in the chair, aware that
the secretary's eyes were on her all the while. The tufted leather
chair creaked like a well-worn saddle, and she instantly
relaxed.
    Fargate stirred several spoons of sugar
into his cup and settled back in his chair, giving her a good once
over. "Of course, as the only surviving child, you naturally
inherit everything, Candy. I'm sure that's no surprise to you. Your
father loved you very much and wanted better for you, but it just
didn't happen."
    Candy leaned her head back in the chair
and relaxed a little more, letting the tension flow away from her.
"I'm sure there isn't much."
    Fargate's eyes strayed to the open cut
of her dress, and the ample leg, a place he had no right to go any
longer. She quickly uncrossed her legs and pulled her skirt down.
"Hank wasn't exactly thrifty. Although I did my part to encourage
it," Fargate said.
    "Did you? I wonder why you
bothered."
    "Because he was my client, Candy--and a
friend. Despite what went on