“I am not on the prowl for a sugar daddy!”

Claudia said, bolting to her feet.

Hayden shot her a wry look. “I’m not old enough for that!”

Claudia tried to clamp down on her rising temper. Which, in itself, was a new task for her. She wasn’t a woman who let herself get angry about anything. Until now. But there was something about this powerful, compelling man that drove her crazy—and they’d only just met!

“The only—and let me repeat, the only—reason I’m here is because I tracked you through your boat’s registration.”

His expression suddenly wary, he stepped toward her. “Are you digging into my personal affairs? Because if you are, I’ll personally toss you out of here.”

“I’m here because—” She sucked in a fierce breath, then heaved out the next words. “Because you’re the man I—I can’t get out of my mind.”

Dear Reader,

With summer nearly here, it’s time to stock up on essentials such as sunblock, sandles and plenty of Silhouette Romance novels! Here’s our checklist of page-turners to keep your days sizzling!

A Princess in Waiting by Carol Grace (SR #1588)—In this ROYALLY WED: THE MISSING HEIR title, dashing Charles Rodin saves the day by marrying his brother’s pregnant ex-wife!

Because of the Ring by Stella Bagwell (SR #1589)—With this magical SOULMATES title, her grandmother’s ring leads Claudia Westfield to the man of her dreams….

A Date with a Billionaire by Julianna Morris (SR #1590)—Bethany Cox refused her prize—a date with the charitable Kane O’Rourke—but how can she get a gorgeous billionaire to take no for an answer? And does she really want to…?

The Marriage Clause by Karen Rose Smith (SR #1591)—In this VIRGIN BRIDES installment, innocent Gina Foster agrees to a marriage of convenience with the wickedly handsome Clay McCormick, only to be swept into a world of passion.

The Man with the Money by Arlene James (SR #1592)—A millionaire playboy in disguise romances a lovely foster mom. But will the truth destroy his chance at true love?

The 15 lb. Matchmaker by Jill Limber (SR #1593)—Griff Price is the ultimate lone cowboy—until he’s saddled with a baby and a jilted-bride-turned-nanny.

Be sure to come back next month for our list of great summer stories.

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Because of the Ring

Stella Bagwell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For two real heroes,

Kenneth Finster and Billy Wilson.

With much appreciation and many thanks.

Books by Stella Bagwell

Silhouette Romance

Golden Glory #469

Moonlight Bandit #485

A Mist on the Mountain #510

Madeline’s Song #543

The Outsider #560

The New Kid in Town #587

Cactus Rose #621

Hillbilly Heart #634

Teach Me #657

The White Night #674

No Horsing Around #699

That Southern Touch #723

Gentle as a Lamb #748

A Practical Man #789

Precious Pretender #812

Done to Perfection #836

Rodeo Rider #878

*Their First Thanksgiving #903

*The Best Christmas Ever #909

*New Year’s Baby #915

Hero in Disguise #954

Corporate Cowgirl #991

Daniel’s Daddy #1020

A Cowboy for Christmas #1052

Daddy Lessons #1085

Wanted: Wife #1140

†The Sheriff’s Son #1218

†The Rancher’s Bride #1224

†The Tycoon’s Tots #1228

†The Rancher’s Blessed Event #1296

†The Ranger and the Widow Woman #1314

†The Cowboy and the Debutante #1334

†Millionaire on Her Doorstep #1368

The Bridal Bargain #1414

Falling for Grace #1456

The Expectant Princess #1504

The Missing Maitland #1546

Because of the Ring #1589

Silhouette Special Edition

Found: One Runaway Bride #1049

†Penny Parker’s Pregnant! #1258

Silhouette Books

Fortunes of Texas

The Heiress and the Sheriff

Maitland Maternity

Just for Christmas

A Bouquet of Babies

“Baby on Her Doorstep”

Midnight Clear

“Twins under the Tree”

STELLA BAGWELL

sold her first book to Silhouette in 1985. More than forty novels later, she still loves her job and she says she isn’t completely content unless she’s writing. Recently she and her husband of thirty years moved from the hills of Oklahoma to Seadrift, Texas, a sleepy little fishing town located on the coastal bend. Stella says the water, the tropical climate and the seabirds make it a lovely place to let her imagination soar and to put the stories in her head down on paper.

She and her husband have one son, Jason, who lives and teaches high school math in nearby Port Lavaca.

Dear Reader,

Last spring my husband and I were invited by our county commissioner to join him on a trip to Matagorda Island, a forty-mile strip of land that lies off the coast of Texas and which was once the location of an army air base during WWII and for many years afterward.

Although most of the barracks and military buildings have been dismantled or washed away by Hurricane Carla and the island is inhabited only by a few Texas Parks and Wildlife rangers, the flat landscape is still crisscrossed with concrete runways and landing strips. As I stood on one such strip, I was instantly overwhelmed with the history around me, and my writer’s imagination took flight. The airmen who’d been stationed there to serve our country must have had lovers, wives, families. Did some of them go to war and never return?

I told myself that someday I would write about such an airman on Matagorda Island, and the chance came sooner than I expected when my editor invited me to do a book for the SOULMATES project.

Because of the Ring is more than just a story about a magical ring handed down from one generation to the next. It’s about a love so powerful it can transcend all time and distance and bring two troubled hearts together in the most unexplainable and wondrous way.

I hope you enjoy Claudia and Hayden’s mystical journey and, like them, I hope each of you is blessed with the magic of love.

Love and God bless,

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Chapter One

Claudia Westfield managed to slide into the seat of her car without spilling hot coffee down the front of her dress or dropping the stack of books and papers jammed beneath one arm.

Even though it was only six-thirty, she wanted to arrive at work early. Exams for the final semester were concluding this week and she had a scad of papers to grade and scores to register and average.

The motor was running and she was reaching to pull the gearshift into Reverse when a wave of dizziness suddenly sent her head spinning.

Alarmed, especially when she’d never been sick a day in her adult life, Claudia gently leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Hopefully, a few moments of quiet would straighten her equilibrium.

The next thing she knew a man’s face appeared against the canvas of her closed eyelids. The image was sharp and focused and so very real, she unconsciously gasped out loud.

Stunned by the unearthly sight, Claudia’s eyes popped open and she glanced wildly around her. The driveway leading up to her apartment and the small manicured lawns of her bordering neighbors looked normal. Yet she could still see the man in her peripheral vision. He had dark wavy hair and cobalt-blue eyes that seemed to be peering straight at her. A somewhat sexy smile twisted his lips and exposed bright white teeth against dark skin.

“Oh. No. No,” she whispered the denial. “This is—you’re not really there. I’m just tired. Too tired.”

Frantically she snatched the coffee cup from its holder on the dash and gulped at the still-hot liquid. The drink scalded her tongue, but she didn’t care. The feeling was real and normal.

More careful now, she took a second sip and then a third. After that she dared herself to look out the windshield again. Thankfully, the man was gone and everything was as it should be.

She allowed herself to breathe again. Then slowly she closed her eyes to make sure he’d disappeared from that aspect of her vision, too. Relief washed through her. The man with the smiling face had disappeared.

Deciding there was nothing to panic about, she put the car into Reverse and backed onto the street. But moments later as she headed into the already busy Fort Worth traffic, she realized her hands were slick with sweat and she was trembling from head to toe.

You’re cracking up, Claudia. Really and truly cracking up.

By lunchtime Claudia had more or less put the incident of the vision out of her mind. At least she thought she had until she met up with her friend, Liz, in the school cafeteria.

Secretary to one of the assistant principals, the high-spirited redhead who was slightly older than Claudia was the exact opposite of her quiet nature. Even so, they’d been pals from the first day they’d met two years ago.

Now as the women inched through the serving line, Liz’s worried stare had Claudia clutching an unwitting hand to her throat.

“What in heck is wrong with you?” she asked.

“Me? Nothing. Why?”

Liz said, “You look like the bride of Frankenstein right after she was shocked to life.”

Trying her best to joke away Liz’s concern, Claudia touched a hand to her smooth brown hair. “Why? Have I suddenly developed two gray streaks?”

“No. You look totally drained.”

“That shouldn’t be surprising. This is finals week, Liz. Where have you been?”

“Don’t play cute with me. This job never gets you down. Although, I don’t know why. If I had to deal with some of the lazy, insubordinate students that come through Judith’s office, I’d throw my hands up and scream. You, on the other hand, have a knack for bringing out the better side of these kids.”

After exiting the serving line the two women took a seat at a vacant table. Immediately, Liz dug into her plate of chicken pot pie, but as soon as she realized Claudia was ignoring her food, she looked up in silent question.

“Something happened to me this morning, Liz,” Claudia announced with grim resolve. “I think I’m going crazy.”

Liz chuckled. “Aren’t we all.”

Urgently, Claudia leaned forward and lowered her voice. “No. I mean, really crazy. Like delusional. I think…I need to make a doctor’s appointment for a checkup.”

Hearing the concern in her friend’s voice, Liz frowned. “Why? What happened?”

“I had visions of a man.”

Liz didn’t just chuckle this time, she outright laughed. “I’d be more worried if you weren’t having visions of a man,” she finally managed to say.

Frustrated, Claudia picked up her fork and jabbed at the lump of meat loaf on her plate. “I’m not talking about having a fantasy of the opposite sex, Liz. This was something totally different. This was a sharp, clear image that came to me out of the blue. No…it wasn’t exactly out of the blue. I got dizzy first and then—” A trembling deep inside her made it difficult to go on. She gripped the fork and tried to breathe normally. “This face appeared.”

“Aha! You got dizzy,” Liz repeated with confidence. “See, there’s a physical reason for this. And I’d say it was stress. Or it could be hormonal. Maybe your body is trying to tell you that you need a mate.” She studied Claudia with renewed thoughtfulness. “Did you recognize this man?”

“No.”

“Hmm. How strange. Was he nice?”

Claudia forked a piece of meat loaf to her mouth and chewed automatically. She didn’t want to think about the man. Or the incident. The whole thing had been completely out of the ordinary and totally frightening.

“What do you mean by ‘nice’? I’m not so far gone that I tried to talk to the man, Liz!”

Her friend waved an impatient hand at her. “I meant was his image appealing or did you get the feeling he was not someone you’d want lurking around you?”

Claudia’s head tilted to one side as she considered Liz’s question. “I was too stunned to think much. But I guess he was…nice. Not evil.” She shook her head and groaned with disbelief. “What am I doing? I’m a science teacher! My job is to teach students about logical reasons. For instance, the shamrock is green because of chlorophyll, not because some Irish elf painted it that way. A rainbow is created by refraction and reflection of sunlight in raindrops. It’s not some magical guide to a pot of gold. And a vision—well, there’s always an explanation for them, too.”

“Well, I’ll be hanged,” Liz said with exaggerated disappointment. “I guess I must have had too many absent days in science class. Here I’ve been chasing after rainbows, believing I was going to find some gold at one end.”

“This isn’t funny,” Claudia snapped.

Claudia’s testiness caused the other woman’s brows to arch. “I wasn’t trying to be funny. In fact, I feel sorry for you, Claudia.”

Claudia’s mouth gaped open. Sympathy was the last thing she expected from Liz. “Sorry! I don’t want that, either! I want—” She made a frustrated gesture with her hand. “I want explanations!”

Liz popped a cherry tomato into her mouth and chewed with pleasure before she replied, “Look, Claudia, one of these days you’re going to learn that there are mystical, magical powers at work in our lives. And they’re something that can’t be analyzed or reasoned out in a science lab.”

Claudia huffed out a breath. “Well, you believe what you want. As for me, I’m sticking to my science lab. Or a doctor’s office!”

A week later Claudia walked out of the doctor’s office and headed home without a prescription or a concrete explanation for the vision she’d had or the ones that had subsequently followed these past few days.

Physically there was nothing ailing her, the doctor had assured her. He’d went on to suggest that she take a long vacation to rest her mind from the stress of her job and later, if the visions continued, she could always make an appointment with a psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist! Was she really becoming that emotionally unhinged? There wasn’t any reason for it! She was an average young woman with a normal life, she reasoned with herself. Except that she spent odd times out of the day looking at a man she’d never seen in her life. And to make matters worse, the images were growing more detailed. The man appeared to be wearing some sort of uniform with a tie. Several times she’d pictured a stretch of water and a boat. There had also been a big white house with a widow’s walk. None of it seemed to tie together or to make any sense.

Inside her apartment, she went straight to her computer and logged on to the Internet. She was going to take her doctor’s advice and buy plane tickets to Cancun. A few days’ rest might be exactly what she needed.

A few days with a man is what you need, Claudia.

The words zinged through her head so quickly she didn’t know where they came from. But the suggestion sounded suspiciously like something her grandmother would have said to her.

Dear Lord, was she starting to hear voices now along with seeing things? she wondered wildly.

Shaking her head, she glanced down at her hands resting on the keyboard. Betty Fay’s opal ring was still there on her hand and for long moments Claudia studied the piece of jewelry as though it was a piece of bacteria on a microscopic slide. At one time she’d believed the ring had led her to Anthony. She’d believed it so strongly that she’d refused to give up on their rocky relationship. It had taken proof of his infidelity to finally make her see the light. But by then she’d already endured a great deal of pain and humiliation.

Claudia would be a fool to think the ring had anything to do with her visions. To even consider it would be admitting that she still believed the piece of jewelry carried some sort of magical power. And she didn’t believe in such things! It was pure hogwash!

But the first vision occurred the morning after she’d starting wearing the ring again, she argued with herself. What would happen if she took it off? Maybe that would fix her problem. Not a vacation in Cancun!

A week later Claudia smiled happily at Liz. “I’m fixed! I’m cured. No more visions.”

“I wondered why you sounded so chipper when you picked up the phone this morning. And I didn’t have to do much begging to get you to come over for a swim.”

The two women had already made a few laps around the in-ground pool in Liz’s backyard. They were now stretched out in lounge chairs and sipping iced lemonade.

“You can’t imagine what a relief it is to know you’re not losing your sanity, Liz. I wasn’t relishing the idea of getting on a psychiatrist’s couch.”

“So what happened?” Liz asked. “How do you know you’re cured?”

The hot sun was seeping into Claudia’s muscles, relaxing them from the workout in the cool water. For the first time in days she felt like a whole person again. “Because I haven’t seen him anymore. Not since I took off Gran’s ring and that’s been a week ago. Before, I was seeing him on a daily basis.”

Frowning, Liz sat up and swung her legs over the side of the lounge. “You mean to tell me that taking off a ring stopped your visions? That’s hard to swallow. Even from somebody who chases after rainbows.”

“I’d be the first one to admit it sounds farfetched, but I can’t dispute the facts. No ring, no visions,” Claudia told her.

“Hmm. Could be coincidental.”

Now it was Claudia’s turn to frown. “What is this? You sound like you don’t want me to be cured.”

“It’s not that. I’m just wondering—aren’t you the teeniest bit curious as to why this ring makes you see things? Looks to me like you’re just avoiding the problem. Not curing it.”

Claudia groaned loudly. “Oh, brother! Why should a person go around asking for trouble? School has just ended. I have the summer ahead to relax. I don’t want to spend it having some strange man pop up in my vision at any given moment.”

“It was only two weeks ago that you were telling me that as a science teacher you liked to have reasons and explanations. Well? Don’t you want them now?”

Claudia glanced at the pool of cool, glittering water. “No. I—I’m perfectly content to let things be. The visions were…” She swallowed and glanced back at her friend. “Frankly, they were too disturbing, Liz. There was something—oh, I don’t know—intimate about the whole thing. I kept getting the feeling that this man knows me. In here.” She tapped the middle of her chest, then shook her head. “It was eerie. I—I’ve decided the best thing for me to do is to get rid of the ring. So far it’s brought nothing but misery to my life.” Liz gasped. “Oh, no, Claudia! It’s a precious memento of your grandmother’s. Besides, without it you might never figure out any of this.”

“Figure it out?” Claudia repeated in disbelief. “I just want to forget it!”

“Coward!”

“I’m not!”

“Prove it,” Liz dared.

San Antonio. It wasn’t exactly Cancun, but for now Claudia considered it as a first step on her quest to find the man who’d been plaguing her waking hours ever since she’d returned the opal to her finger.

From her third-floor hotel room, she stared down at the Paseo del Rio winding its way through the city. Eighty-degree weather was mild for early June in south Texas and Claudia wished she could enjoy it with a boat ride or a drink at one of the outside cafés on the river walk. She wished she could do anything besides meet with a man she’d never laid eyes on. Especially when she had no idea how to explain the reasons that had prompted her to make this search. But she hadn’t come to San Antonio on a pleasure trip and the sooner she got this job over with, the better she would feel.

Claudia found the office building in the old downtown part of the city a few blocks away from the famous Alamo. Mr. Hayden Bedford. He owned a roustabout company and from what she gathered from the plush complex of offices, a very profitable one. But then, most businesses that had anything to do with the oil field were money-makers. With the right man at the helm, she corrected herself.

Apparently Mr. Bedford knew his business. He just didn’t know Claudia Westfield. And from the tone of his secretary when Claudia had called to schedule a meeting, he didn’t want to know her. But somehow she’d managed to convince the older woman to give her an appointment anyway.

Now that the time was here, Claudia realized her mouth was dry and her heart was thud, thud, thudding at an unhealthy speed. Which was totally out of character. She wasn’t a nervous person. Until now. And the suspicious, almost dour looks Mr. Bedford’s secretary was throwing her way didn’t help matters.

Damn it, Gran. This ring of yours is ruining me!

“All right, Ms. Westfield. Mr. Bedford can see you now.”

Rising from her seat, Claudia brushed at the wrinkles in her skirt then headed toward a wooden door with a gold nameplate attached at eye level.

After knocking lightly, she stepped inside.

“Just a moment. I’ve got to get this damn light off my desk.”

The deep male voice was coming from a man standing at the window, his back to her. At the moment he was adjusting the blinds so that the glaring afternoon sun tilted toward the ceiling rather than at him and the massive oak desk.

Claudia stood in the middle of the room, waiting for him to turn around. As the seconds ticked by she noticed he was dressed as a rancher rather than a businessman. Starched jeans. White tailored shirt, sleeves rolled back against his forearms. A dark leather belt studded with Texas lone stars. His dark wavy hair told her he was still young and his big, muscular body told her that he didn’t always sit behind a desk.

“There. That’s better,” he said, then turned to face her.

Claudia stared and wondered if she was going to faint. Her knees were turning to sponges and there was a faint buzzing in her ears.

“You!” she said weakly.

Baffled by her reaction, he stepped around the desk, all the while keeping a careful eye on her pale face. “I’m Hayden Bedford,” he introduced himself. “Are you Ms. Westfield?”

She nodded and attempted to lick her dry lips. “Yes. Yes, I am,” she said, then offered him her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m sure I must look like a fool, but I…wasn’t expecting to recognize you.”

He took her hand in his, but rather than shake it, he simply held it firmly as his gaze scanned her face.

Hysteria rose up in Claudia as heat seemed to arc from his fingers to hers. Those were the same blue eyes, she thought frantically. The same square jaw and chin, the same hollow cheeks. Seeing her vision in the flesh was incredible—and terrifying.

“I think I should be the one to apologize,” he said. “Because I can’t say that I remember meeting you.”

Hearing his voice seemed to help her pull herself together. Hoping she appeared far more normal than she felt, she said, “You haven’t.”

The marginal widening of his eyes had her quickly adding, “I mean…I’m pretty sure we’ve never met before.”

“Are you feeling up to this interview, Ms. Westfield? You look a little pale.”

In fact, Hayden was fairly certain he’d seen dead people with more color in their cheeks. But in spite of her paleness, she was an attractive woman. A little plain to suit his taste, but then, she wasn’t here to supply him with female diversion, he reminded himself.

She was dressed in a white linen sheath and her light brown hair was pulled back at her nape and fastened with a white clasp. Her eyes were a soft brown and her skin was tanned. And suddenly he had the image of biting into a warm, golden marshmallow.

“I’m…I’ll be all right,” she replied. “And I’ll try not to take up too much of your time, Mr. Bedford. Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice.”

Still holding her hand, he cupped her elbow with his free hand and led her over to a leather chair that was angled toward the front of his desk.

“There now,” he said as she sank onto the cushion. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what it is you wanted to see me about. It’s pretty obvious you’re not here to contract a roustabout crew.”

She tried to swallow, but her throat was so dry it refused to work. “No. I don’t dabble in oil or gas wells, Mr. Bedford. I’m here because—I’m looking for a man.”

Surprise flickered across his face. Then folding his arms across his chest, he shot her an amused smile. “There aren’t any available men where you come from, Ms. Westfield?”

Claudia was so rattled it took her a moment to digest his meaning. When it did finally register, her spine stiffened to a prim line. Her chin jutted forward. “Fort Worth has plenty of men. I’m looking for one certain one.”

Still amused, he said, “Hmm. I’m intrigued that your search brought you here. I wasn’t aware that I’d made any bachelor lists.”

Somehow his arrogance angered her enough to get her shocked juices going again. Color blossomed in her face and her eyes darkened. “I’m not aware of it, either, Mr. Bedford,” she said in a clipped tone. “In fact, I know nothing about your marital status. I found you because of a number. Or maybe I should say, a number on a boat.”

A puzzled frown pulled his dark brows together and Claudia realized that, as the man in her vision, this man was by no means handsome, yet there was a rough masculinity about his craggy face and sinewy body that made his appearance totally unforgettable.

“I’ve got to admit I’ve had some odd encounters with women over the years. But I’ve never had one go to this length to meet me.”

She silently groaned with impatience. “I’m not here to meet you, Mr. Bedford!”

“You’re not here to hire roustabout services and you’re not here to meet me. If that’s the case, then it looks as though you’re taking up my valuable time, Ms. Westfield.”

She bolted to her feet. “And frankly, Mr. Bedford, your assumptions are downright insulting! For your information, I’m not on the prowl for a sugar daddy!”

He shot her a wry look. “I’m not old enough to be your sugar daddy.”

Claudia’s nostrils flared as she breathed deeply and tried to clamp a hold on her rising temper. Which in itself was a new task for her. She wasn’t a woman who let herself get angry about anything. Until now.

“I don’t care how old you are, mister!” She pushed the words through gritted teeth. “The only—and let me repeat—the only reason I’m here is because your name and address matches the number on the boat registration.”

Her outburst seemed to get through to him and his eyes narrowed as he studied her with new regard. “What boat are you talking about?”

She slashed a hand through the air. “I’m not sure what kind of boat it is. Except that it has sails and I think the name written on the bow was something like Stardust or Skydust.”

“Stardust,” he informed her. “And what has my boat got to do with you? She’s not for sale.”

Claudia met his cool blue gaze and tried not to shiver from the contact. “I’m not interested in buying your boat. It just happened to be the only clue I had to start with.”

His expression suddenly wary, he stepped toward her. “Start what? Digging into my personal affairs? Are you with some insurance company? Because if you are, I’ll personally toss your little butt right out of here.”

To her horror, her hand was suddenly itching to slap his face. She, a person who wouldn’t even step on a spider, wanted to inflict bodily pain on another human being! This man was doing something to her and whatever it was had to be bad.

“I am not with any sort of insurance company. I’m a high school science teacher and I’m here because—” She sucked in a fierce breath, then heaved out the next words. “Because you’re the man I—I can’t get out of my mind!”

Chapter Two

The man had the nerve to laugh.

“Oh, honey, come on, you got some mixed signals somewhere. I never did think I was God’s gift to women. And you shouldn’t, either. In fact, the opposite sex seems to want to take me in small doses. You probably will, too.”

“I can certainly see why,” Claudia intoned, then stomped toward the door.

Suddenly he was blocking her path and she teetered back on her heels to keep from plowing into him.

“Where are you going?”

Her jaw rigid, she folded her arms across her breasts. “Goodbye, Mr. Bedford. I can’t really say it’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

His head swung back and forth in a menacing way and Claudia found her gaze sliding from his thick shoulders and wide chest to his long, muscular legs. She’d been around strong, athletic men before, but this man was different. There was something blatantly masculine about him. Something that made her think of procreation rather than recreation.

Dear heaven, it was time she got out of here, Claudia thought. The last thing she needed was to add sexual fantasies to her visions of the man.

“No,” he corrected in a voice too smooth to be nice. “You’re not going anywhere just yet. We haven’t gotten this matter straightened out.”

She arched a haughty brow at him. “There is no matter. I—I found what I was looking for. And that’s the end to it.”

Wrinkles furrowed his forehead. “You wanted to find me and now that you have, that’s it? You’re going to leave?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“Just a minute,” he muttered, then opening the door, he said to his secretary, “Hold all my calls, Lottie, and radio Vince to let him know I’ll be late getting out to the site.”

Claudia stood her ground and tried to gather herself together as she waited for him to shut the door. When he finally turned back to her, she said, “I think it’s you who are wasting my time now, Mr. Bedford. I have no intentions of discussing anything else with you! You’re arrogant and assuming and—”

His features tight, he took her by the arm and this time led her to a long leather couch positioned against one wall of the office.

“You’re the one who made an appointment to see me,” he reminded her as she sat. “And you’re the one who barged in here and started spouting nonsense.”

“‘Nonsense’!” she echoed with outrage, then jumped to her feet.

Immediately, he caught her by the shoulder and pushed her back down to the couch.

“Stay put!”

Claudia bounced right back up in his face. “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m leaving! Now step out of my way!”

Ruefully he shook his head. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” he told her. “But it looks like I don’t have any other choice.”

Air whooshed from her lungs as she suddenly found herself flattened against his hard chest.

“What—”

The question was literally smothered beneath his lips. Unprepared for such an intimate onslaught, she stood paralyzed. Then her mind began to spin and she felt herself going hot and cold, then hot again.

Her hands formed two fists and she raised them to whack at his shoulders, but they never reached their destinations. Before she could fight back, he pulled his mouth away from hers and grinned down at her.

“Feel better now?”

He needed his foot stomped, but she realized she just didn’t have the strength to do it. Kissing this man had left her weak and quivering.

“I’ve never been so insulted in my life!”

“Sorry, I’m out of practice.” He lowered his mouth toward hers. “Maybe I should try again.”

Ducking away from him, Claudia collapsed onto the couch and gulped in several breaths of air. “You’ll do nothing of the sort!”

He’d been wrong a few moments ago, Hayden realized as he looked down at her. She wasn’t a plain woman. Now that he’d kissed her, every nuance of her soft features had come alive. Fire blazed in her brown eyes, heat burned brightly in her cheeks and passion had pouted her rosy lips to an enchanting curve.

It would be nice to taste her again, he thought. But he was a busy man and didn’t have time for such pleasantries. Besides, he’d not flirted in years. Not since he was a teenager. A few kisses now would lead his body straight toward the main course. Now that he thought about it, he was already straying in that direction. Why had he kissed her like that? He usually waited until he’d dated the woman! And yet, there was something about this particular woman….

“All right. Then maybe you’re in the mood for talking,” he said as he took a seat a few inches away from her.

She scooted to her left to put an even safer distance between them. “I—I don’t think it would do any good to talk now, Mr. Bedford. We’d both be wasting our time.”

He studied her for a moment as though he was weighing whether this meeting between them actually held any importance. “Perhaps you’re right. But I would like to know one thing. What did you mean when you said you couldn’t get me out of your mind? You don’t know me.”

Before he could see the bewilderment in her eyes, her gaze dropped to a spot on the hardwood floor. “I suppose I didn’t phrase that quite right. You’re not exactly ‘in my mind.’ I just see you—at odd times.”

His expression said he was completely confused and Claudia couldn’t blame him. She’d been confused for days now.

“What does this mean, you see me?”

She made a palms-up gesture with her hands. “I see you. For no reason at all. Your face comes to me out of nowhere.”

Baffled, his head swung back and forth. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you first walked into this office, you told me we’d never met.”

“That’s true. We haven’t.”

“Then how…how did you know what I looked like? You had a picture? Where did you get it?”

“I didn’t have any idea what Hayden Bedford looked like until I walked into this office! Look, Mr. Bedford, this isn’t…some crazy infatuation and I’m not stalking you. It’s nothing like that. I’ve been—well, I’ve been very worried and confused because this problem has been going on with me for two or three weeks now and frankly, I want to know why.”

“Are you—” He rubbed the heels of his palms against his thighs, then rose to his feet and glanced down at her. “Are you suggesting that you’ve been seeing me in some sort of—vision?”

She passed a shaky hand over her forehead. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.”

He chuckled. Shook his head. Then chuckled again. “Really, Ms. Westfield. This is San Antonio, not the Twilight Zone.”

“You don’t have to tell me where I am, Mr. Bedford,” she said primly.

His blue eyes were full of suspicion as they raked her from head to toe. “How could a vision lead you here? How did you know my name? Am I supposed to believe that I talk to you, too?”

She sighed. This is exactly what she’d been dreading, she thought. Questions for which she had no answers. “No. So far you haven’t said anything to me. But I picked up on things in the background. Like your boat. And then it finally dawned on me to trace the numbers through registrations. I can tell you that I was pretty shocked when I found out there was such a boat and an actual person owned it.”

“I keep that boat docked down on the coast at Port O’Connor. You were obviously there and copied the numbers,” he accused.

Sadly, she shook her head. “I wish that were true. That would prove I might not be going crazy. But now, after seeing you—seeing that you’re the man—I really don’t know what to think.”

He muttered a curse. “This is ludicrous and if I had any sense at all I’d call the cops and have them check up on you!”

Claudia gestured toward the phone. “Go ahead. If they can explain any of this, I’d gladly welcome their help.”

Glaring at her now, he stalked over to his desk, picked up the receiver and shook it at her. “I have a friend who’s a detective on the force,” he warned.

“Good. That will be even better. He might have some ideas of how to solve this mess.”

Seeing he couldn’t frighten her into confessing, he slammed the receiver back onto the hook. “Do you realize how stupid you sound? How stupid it makes me look just to be listening to this?”

She nodded. “Yes, I realize.”

“People don’t have visions. Not normal people. And they certainly don’t have them about me!”

Unblinking, Claudia stared at him. “A month ago I would have said you were right. Now, unfortunately, I’m forced to disagree.”

He strode back to the couch and, with his thumbs riding his belt, stared down at her. “I don’t know what you’re after Ms.—”

“Claudia,” she interrupted. “You’ve already kissed me, so you might as well call me by my first name.”

He didn’t want to call her by any name. And as for kissing her, that had been a big mistake. Because in spite of her lunacy, he wanted to do it again.

“Like I started to say, Claudia, I don’t know what you’re after,” he bit out, “but you’ll not get anything from me and I mean anything.”

Rising to her feet, she met his gaze and as she did so a terrible sadness welled up in her. Yet she could understand his doubts and suspicions. She couldn’t blame him for accusing her of being dishonest. She still couldn’t quite believe any of this herself. It would be stupid to expect him to swallow such a story.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Bedford. This is the last time you’ll ever see me.”

Politely, she reached to shake his hand and felt a sense of gratitude that he didn’t object. “I apologize for taking up your time. Goodbye.”

Bewildered by this sudden turn of events, he watched her start toward the door. “What will you do now?” he asked.

Glancing back at him, she shrugged. “Go home and hope that I never see your face again.” And she wouldn’t, she told herself grimly. If she took off the opal. Claudia had not told this man about the ring. She’d understood it would’ve only made the whole thing even more far-fetched. And now it didn’t matter. She was ending her search. And the visions.

Hayden thought he would feel relief once the woman was out of his office. But now that she was gone, the room felt eerily empty, as though she’d taken the very life out of it.

Raking a hand through his hair, he sank into the comfortable chair behind his desk and reached for the telephone. Halfway there, his hand paused in midair and, with a muffled groan, he flopped back against the seat.

He’d kissed the woman! And not just a peck on the cheek. He’d really kissed her! What had he been thinking? Oh, he’d met women before that he’d been attracted to on first sight, but he’d never impulsively kissed one. In fact, he couldn’t think of one woman he’d kissed since he and Saundra had divorced.

That notion was shocking in itself and he quickly leaned up and pushed the button on the intercom connecting him to Lottie’s desk.

“Yes, Mr. Bedford.”

The fact that the woman called him Mr. Bedford was laughable. She’d been with the company for thirty-five years and during that time she’d seen Hayden born and his father die. She knew everything about the family, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, public scandals and hidden affairs. But apart from her knowledge of the Bedford family tree, she kept the office running smoothly. No matter if they were experiencing times of joy or strife.

“How long have I been divorced?”

“Three years, sir.”

“That long?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I just realized something about myself, that’s all.”

“Are you ready to start taking your calls now?”

“No. Not yet.” He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Lottie—”

“Ms. Westfield is staying on the river walk. I have her hotel and room number.”

“What makes you think I was going to ask you about her?”

There was a pause and then his secretary said, “I just had a feeling.”

“That’s a scary thought. The last time you had a ‘feeling’ crude oil bottomed out to a record low.”

“Well, I hardly think Ms. Westfield could have any effect on crude prices.”

No, but she’d already had an affect on him, Hayden thought. And he wasn’t a bit sure what to do about it.

“Cancel the rest of my calls, Lottie. I’m going out to the site to see Vince and then I’m quitting for the rest of the day.”

“What about Ms. Westfield?”

He snatched up a pen. “All right, damn it, give me the hotel and room number. I’ve got some unfinished business with her.”

“What sort of business is she in?”

“Illusions, Lottie.”

“Illusions? Did you have a few beers with your lunch, Mr. Bedford?”

“I’m stone-cold sober,” he answered. “Although right now the idea of getting drunk has a mighty big appeal.”

Inside her hotel room, Claudia snatched up the telephone directory. She was going to call the airport and get the next available flight back to Fort Worth. There was no point in staying in this town any longer. Hayden Bedford was a jerk and she’d been stupid for ever allowing Liz to dare her into making this ridiculous journey.

As for the opal, she’d get rid of it as soon as she got back home. The only thing the ring had ever brought her was a pile of misery. Never again would she allow it to lead her anywhere. Especially to a worthless man!

Claudia was on hold, waiting for the ticket clerk to make a search through scheduling when a knock sounded at the door.

With an impatient groan, she dropped the receiver onto the bed and walked across the room. At the door, she called cautiously, “Who is it?”

“Me. Hayden Bedford.”

Claudia was so stunned she grabbed the doorknob and gripped it to keep from falling over.

“What do you want?” she asked warily.

“Not to have this conversation through the door,” he said.

Her hands shaking, she unbolted the lock, then opened the panel of wood wide enough for her to see him squarely. “Our conversation was concluded back in your office, Mr. Bedford.”

“Call me Hayden. Since you’ve already kissed me, you might as well use my first name,” he said, using her earlier phrase.

“I’m sorry, but I’m on the telephone. I don’t have time to talk to you now.” Nor do I have the courage, Claudia thought. This man made her feel weak, strange and vulnerable. Just looking at him reminded her she was a woman. One who didn’t know anything about men like him or how it felt to be in the grip of a passionate love affair.

“I’ll wait,” he said, then pushed through the open door before she could stop him.

Seeing she didn’t have much choice in the matter, Claudia hurried over and snatched up the telephone. Long before she placed the receiver against her ear, she could hear the loud buzz of the dial tone. Damn it, she’d lost her connection!

Dropping the receiver back on the hook, she turned to find he’d helped himself to a seat in a stuffed armchair. As though he had every right to make himself comfortable in her room. She’d never seen anything like him!

You need to correct yourself on that, Claudia. You’ve seen him before. Too many times.

But those visions hadn’t given her a clue to what sort of man she was dealing with, she thought. A picture might speak a thousand words, but the real thing spoke volumes and she was getting the message that Hayden Bedford was a man who usually got his way, even if he had to get it by force.

“What happened? Decided you didn’t want to talk now that you had me for an audience?” he asked.

Claudia rolled her eyes. “The call had been disconnected. I’m sure the woman probably hung up when she came back on the line and found I wasn’t waiting. Now I’ll have to go through the ordeal of making another call.”

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Was it important?”

“Flight tickets back to Fort Worth!”

“Didn’t you buy a round fare to begin with?”

Like a replay in his office, her breathing was growing short again, along with her temper. Which didn’t make sense. She tried to be a kind, patient person with everyone, no matter what sex or age. And he really wasn’t being that awful.

“Yes. But I want to leave this evening. Now!”

He studied the aggravation on her face and the taut line of her slender body. She’d changed out of the white dress and into a pair of loose navy pants and short red top that exposed her arms and much of her back. The clip was gone from her hair and the honey-brown strands swished against the tops of her shoulders with each little movement of her head. This Claudia Westfield looked far different from the prim woman who’d visited his office. And far more appealing.

“Why the rush?”

Claudia wasn’t exactly sure why she felt such a desperate need to run back to Fort Worth. There wasn’t anything urgent waiting for her there. Yet the thought of home was consoling. Mainly because she knew there would be no outside chance of having to deal with this man again. Especially after she got rid of the ring.

Claudia twisted the opal around her finger. Once she’d decided to try to solve the mystery of her visions, she’d returned the ring to her hand. But at this moment she was definitely getting the urge to slip it off and keep it off. “My business here is over.”

“Meaning me?”

“I guess you could put it that way.” She forced herself to look at him. “So why did you come here to the hotel?”

“That’s a good question, Claudia. Maybe you can answer that. You say you can see things about me.”

The husky tone of his voice cloaked her name in velvet and conjured up images in Claudia’s thoughts that were distinctly wicked.

“I’m not a mind reader, Hayden. Not even yours. And I’ve never had visions before until…well, until a few weeks ago.” Disturbed by her outrageous thoughts and his probing gaze, she began to move around the room. “Furthermore, I’m not one of those people that dabbles in the psychic. Physics in the science lab, but never the supernatural.”

“I find that hard to believe for a woman who claims to have visions.”

She paused long enough to cast him a disgusted glance. “I imagine I find it even more preposterous,” she admitted. “I even had a medical checkup in hopes of finding an explanation. The doctor gave me none.”

There wasn’t the slightest chance in hell that this woman had experienced visions, Hayden thought. He didn’t believe in such things. He’d come here because he wanted to know why or how she’d pulled him into this crock. And to see her again, to prove to himself that there was nothing special about her.

“Magic, extrasensory perception, mystical powers—I’m not interested in those things. I’m a down-to-earth man, Claudia. I believe in facts. So the answer I really want from you is, why me? Of the millions of people in the world, why choose me for whatever it is you’re doing?”

She walked over to where he sat and made a palms-up gesture as a display of innocence. “I’m not doing anything, Hayden. I’m not here to con you in any way.”

He looked unconvinced. “I’m a rich man,” he informed her.

The faint frown on her face turned to a glare. “I’m not interested in what your bank accounts look like. But if you’re worried that mine are flat, I can give you the names of some financial institutions in Fort Worth that will prove otherwise.”

Maybe he should take her up on that, Hayden thought. Yet for some reason he believed that part of her story. The woman hadn’t been brought up in poverty. She just didn’t have that sort of bearing about her.

“Okay. You’re not after my money or my—shall we call it affections—so what’s the deal? And be honest this time.”

Claudia studied the rough, craggy lines of his face and wondered how just the mere touch of his lips against hers had been enough to knock her feet out from under her. Men had never affected her that way. Even Tony, with his smooth looks and practiced lovemaking, had never made her swoon.

Tony had called her frigid. She’d considered herself systematic. All that talk about passion and fire between the opposite sex had seemed like overexaggeration to her. Now, after meeting Hayden Bedford, she wasn’t quite so sure.

“Sorry, but I have been honest with you. I came here for your help. Nothing more.”

He raised up to the edge of the chair and stared at her through narrowed eyes. “Help?”

Breathing deeply, she turned her back on him and stared down at the opal on her hand. She desperately wanted to rip it off and order this man out of her room. But something stronger, some intangible force, was preventing her.

“Yes,” she answered quietly. “To help me figure out exactly why you’ve barged into my life. If I can find out why, then maybe I can get rid of you. For good!”

“You’re making me feel so wanted,” he said dryly.

“You don’t want to feel wanted,” she muttered. “Not by me.”

Suddenly one of his hands was on her bare back and electric frissons rippled over her skin. Her first instinct was to move away from his touch, but she was frozen, mesmerized by him and the strange things he was doing to her.

“I think the best thing we could do is forget about this vision thing and get to know one another a little better. Why don’t we go down to one of the cafés on the river walk and have dinner? Maybe between the two of us, we can come up with a practical solution.”

Oh, she had a solution, Claudia thought. Simply throw Betty Fay’s ring out the window and forget she’d ever possessed such a piece of jewelry. But would that help explain things? Could she go home then and be satisfied that Hayden Bedford had no connection to her life?

“I’m sure you’re a busy man. Having dinner with me is unnecessary.”

His hand moved slightly but oh so seductively against her back.

“I’m not so busy that I don’t take time to eat.”

The tips of his fingers were toying with her hair and she wondered if he was this intimate with all the women he met over the course of the day. Surely he wasn’t. Surely he couldn’t find a reason to kiss one of them. Not the way he’d kissed her.

“All right. When is a good time for you?” she conceded while hoping she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt.

“Right now,” he purred.

She closed her eyes and prayed for the shaking inside her to stop. “Let me call the airport again. I might be able to get a later flight tonight.”

With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her around to face him. “Forget about leaving San Antonio tonight, Claudia.”

“And why should I do that?”

His hands slid up both shoulders, beneath the hair framing her neck, then cupped her face.

“Because I want you to.”

Like a rose suddenly thrust into the desert heat, she felt herself wilting. If he hadn’t been holding her she would have collapsed at his feet.

“Your idea of help isn’t exactly what I needed from you,” she said.

He chuckled lowly and the sexy sound fanned her cheeks like a tempting caress. “There you go again, reading my mind. Maybe you do have some sort of sixth sense.”

He was making fun of her and she hated him for that. Hated him for making her feel so weak and vulnerable. For not understanding how lonely and terrified she’d felt these past weeks.

“Being a woman gives me enough power to read your mind!”

That seemed to sober him and he stepped back as though he couldn’t quite believe he’d been holding her in such an intimate way.

“Sorry. Something comes over me when I get close to you,” he said, and Claudia could see that the admission shocked him as much as it did her.

“Then we’d better make sure we don’t get close,” she countered.

With a grim nod of agreement, Hayden motioned her toward the door.

Chapter Three

Once they were out of the hotel room, Claudia began to breathe normally and by the time they were seated at a small, sidewalk café overlooking the river walk, she’d almost convinced herself that she hadn’t just taken a leap off the high dive.

“Have you visited San Antonio before?” he asked as the waitress served them their drinks.

Tourists and locals were everywhere in the boutiques and restaurants lining the river. Since it was the height of the dinner hour, Claudia was surprised they’d managed to find a vacant table fairly close to the hotel. It was positioned on a small terrace made of wooden planks. A nearby sago palm dappled the late-evening sun with cooling shadows and secluded them from the main group of diners. Any other time, she would have appreciated the extra privacy, but with Hayden as her dinner partner she would have welcomed the diversion of a noisy family sitting next to them.

“Yes. But it’s been a while.” She stirred sugar into her iced tea. “Do you live here in the city?”

“A few miles west and south, in the hill country.”

“So you commute here to the city to your offices.”

He nodded. “Bedford Roustabout has always been headquartered here in the same old building. My grandfather developed the business in the late nineteen forties. When he died my father took over the reins. After I graduated college at Texas University in Austin, I joined him.”

“Is your father still helping to run the company?”

He reached for his glass. “No. Unfortunately he died about five years ago.”

Claudia had always been close to her parents. They’d provided her with a solid foundation through her childhood and because they’d always been there for her, the idea of losing either one of them had seemed impossible. Until her grandmother Betty Fay had passed away. Her death had jolted Claudia and reminded her that her family was mortal and not something to take for granted.

“That must have been devastating,” she murmured.

“It was. He was only in his fifties. He was driving home one night when a drunk ignored a yield sign and smashed into the driver’s side of Dad’s truck. To make matters worse, I’d lost my mother only a year before that happened.”

“In another accident?” she asked, stunned that any one person could be handed such a double dose of grief.

“No. She had a blood disease that had weakened her immune system. She contracted pneumonia and wasn’t able to recover.” He looked at her over the rim of his tea glass. “What about you? Do you have parents?”

“Yes. In Fort Worth. Not far from where I live.”

He smiled as though her answer was what he’d expected. “So you’re still close to the nest.”

Claudia put down her spoon and leaned back in the wooden chair. He made it sound as though she was still wet behind the ears and needed protecting. “I don’t see that you’ve exactly strayed far from the home range yourself.”

He studied her with something like appreciation. “I guess I asked for that, didn’t I?”

She shrugged as her expression turned rueful. “Actually, I shouldn’t have said that to you. It wasn’t exactly nice. Not with your parents being gone.”

He chuckled lowly and she was reminded of a few minutes ago in the hotel room. He’d been so close she’d been able to see the green flecks in his blue eyes and the faint shadow of beard threatening to break through his skin. His male scent had enveloped her like a forbidden aphrodisiac and the urge to kiss him a second time had nearly overwhelmed her.

“I don’t expect niceness out of people, Claudia. Just honesty. Besides, you didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t say to you.”

Because he was too potent a man to look at for more than a few moments at a time, she turned her gaze to the narrow river. A few feet from their table, a small boat was passing by. A young couple were aboard, hugged close together on the simple seat near the bow. Their foreheads nearly touched as they exchanged words meant only for each other. Clearly, the outside world had been forgotten by the lovers and the sight of them filled Claudia with a strange sort of melancholy.

Most people considered her a cool person, a woman more interested in science and learning than femininity or romance. But at one time she’d believed in love and all the ecstasy that went with it. She’d hoped and believed that somewhere in the world there was a man that was meant to find her and sweep her away, a man who would give her children and love her for the rest of their lives. It was something she longed for and she’d thought, with the help of Betty Fay’s ring, she would find him. But Tony had shattered that idea and now it looked as though she was allowing the ring to drag her into another hopeless situation.

“I guess it’s a little late to wonder if you’re married.”

She said the words more to herself than to him, but he answered her just the same.

“If you’re feeling guilty about that little kiss we shared, Claudia, then don’t. I was divorced three years ago.”

Surprised, Claudia looked at him. “You were married?”

“For a couple of years.” The corners of his lips turned down with bitter humor. “I guess I was difficult to live with. At least, Saundra thought so.” He shrugged. “I left too many dirty socks and wet towels on the floor to suit her.”

It was obvious to Claudia that he was making light of the experience to cover up some deeper problem that had gone on between him and his ex-wife. “She didn’t divorce you for that reason.”

“No. But put a bunch of little things together and you get a big thing. And then there was the fact that Saundra liked men. Young and old. She couldn’t waste her life on just one.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Some men have to compete with money. I had to compete with other men. I didn’t like that.”

Claudia wasn’t surprised by his admission. That kiss he’d given her had tasted more than a little possessive. She’d already decided that once he branded a woman as his, he would expect her to never stray from his range.

“I know all about infidelity, Hayden. It’s a humiliating experience. One that I don’t ever plan to go through again.”

The tart sting of her voice had him searching her face. “What do you know about cheating spouses? You haven’t been married, have you?”

She shook her head as the memory of that fateful day she’d walked into Tony’s apartment filled her mind. She’d wanted to surprise him with lunch, instead she’d been shocked to find him in the shower with another woman. “You don’t have to be married to be cheated on,” she said flatly.

He started to say something else, but the sudden appearance of the waitress interrupted him. By the time the young woman served them their meals, he seemed to have forgotten where their conversation had left off and Claudia wasn’t about to remind him. The less she remembered that painful episode in her life, the better she liked it.

“You know,” he said as he forked up a bite of rib eye steak, “the more I think about this vision thing of yours the more I think there has to be a logical explanation. Are you sure you’re not just having daydreams? Sometimes when a person’s mind gets tired it wanders off to other things—things that don’t necessarily make sense.”

The food and the laid-back atmosphere of the open café were beginning to make her feel human again. In fact, if Hayden Bedford hadn’t been the image in her visions, she would have been enjoying this time with him. He was unlike any man she’d ever been around and she sensed that, if he was so minded to, he could charm a woman right out of her shoes.

“I’m not dreaming, Hayden. This happens when I’m totally awake and focused.”

The fact that she seemed so resolute appeared to irk him. “All right,” he conceded, “even if you do ‘see’ this man, you can’t be certain it’s me. Could be some old acquaintance or relative in your subconscious thoughts and you just think it’s me.”

She swallowed a piece of grilled chicken breast, then said, “I’ve already considered that avenue. I can’t think of anyone I know that resembles the man in my visions—except you. Besides, that still wouldn’t account for the boat.” She frowned as another thought struck her. “Have you ever worn khakis?”

Hayden shook his head. “No. Why?”

“Because I think that’s what you’re wearing when I see you. But I’m not entirely sure about that. The edges are usually blurred. It’s your face that I can see clearly. Or sometimes the boat and the water.”

She spoke of the visions in such a cool and collected way that it made Hayden feel uncomfortable. He didn’t want to think this woman was flat-out lying to him. Yet there was no way in Hades that he believed in such supernatural nonsense.

“You’ve been sailing before. Down on the gulf. You’ve seen the Stardust and it stuck in your mind,” he reasoned. “Even though she does belong to me, I have to admit she’s pretty and would catch most anyone’s eye.”

“Yes, I agree. The boat has a wooden hull and waxed deck and a carved dolphin at the head of her bow.”

“Like I said, anyone would remember her,” he countered with a grimace. “Or you could have taken a picture.”

“That’s true.”

She didn’t say more and with each silent minute that passed, he grew more and more irritated. “Well? Aren’t you going to argue? To deny my theories?”

Claudia studied him calmly. “I’m tired of doing that, Hayden. Your mind is closed and I’d just be wasting my time.”

“Look, I thought we came down here to discuss this—to try to find some solution or reason!”

She slipped another bite of food into her mouth. “I thought we did, too. But it’s obvious to me that we’re headed nowhere.”

He put down his fork and reared back in his chair. “Only because you want me to swallow everything you say hook, line, and sinker. Sorry, honey, I’m not that gullible.”

Her nostrils flared as she met his dark blue eyes. “And I don’t like to be called a liar.” She looked away from him, sucked in a sharp breath, then looked back at him. So much for being relaxed, she thought wryly.

“You know, a few minutes with you has made me understand why people are afraid to admit they’ve seen a UFO. It’s not pleasant having someone make you out as an idiot.”

“So now you believe in UFOs along with having visions. Lady, you need to put some lead in your shoes and get yourself back down to earth.”

It wouldn’t do to get angry with him again, Claudia silently told herself. Losing her temper wasn’t gaining her anything except a dull headache.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t mastered the art of floating yet,” she said with sarcasm.

What in hell was he doing? Hayden wondered. He was a busy man. There were never enough hours in the day to cover his busy schedule. Yet he’d canceled several pressing phone calls and another appointment just to see this woman again. If he told anyone about this, they’d drive him straight to the mental ward.

Leaning forward, he picked up his fork. “Okay. When you said you wanted my help, just what sort of help were you talking about?”

Her gaze fell from his to the food on her plate. “I’m not exactly sure. I was hoping when I saw you that—” She stopped and shook her head. “Maybe a simple explanation would just fall into place. Dear God, I never expected you to be him!”

“Who did you think I’d be?”

One of her slender shoulders lifted and fell. “Someone connected to the man in my visions. Someone who could lead me to him.”

He forked up the last bite of his steak. “Well, you found me. Has it done you any good?”

If anything, Claudia was more disheartened than ever. This narrow-minded man didn’t care about her problem or feel any kind of urge to help her. He didn’t even believe her!

“Actually, I suppose it has,” she said with false cheeriness. “I do know that you’re a real person now. And I’m also convinced that you’re not supposed to be in my life in any way.”

She spoke the last with such certainty that Hayden couldn’t help but feel insulted. “Sorry I’m such a disappointment to you.”

Suddenly, Claudia couldn’t take any more. The past three weeks had drained her and this man’s sarcastic indifference was too painful to take. There was no reason to keep putting herself through this.

“I’m sorry, too,” she muttered as she jerked the opal from her finger. “Sorry that I ever put this damn ring back on.”

She slapped the ring down next to her plate and quickly rose to her feet. “Thank you for dinner, Hayden. I hope you have a happy life.”

Hayden wasn’t expecting her to just walk away without another word. When she did, he stared after her in stunned silence, then down at the ring she’d left on the table.

“What in hell?”

“Looks like your fiancée doesn’t want to be engaged anymore.”

Hayden’s head jerked around to see that the waitress was standing just behind his shoulders. “Fiancée?” he repeated blankly before it dawned on him that the woman had seen Claudia leave her ring behind. “Uh, actually, I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

The young waitress looked at him with as much disappointment as Claudia had.

“Then maybe you should go after her?” she suggested.

“Bring my ticket,” he told her.

She scurried away without bothering to ask if he wanted a refill of iced tea.

Hayden reached for the ring and studied it with thoughtful scrutiny. The simple piece of jewelry had been worn for a long time. The edges were all smooth; the band in the back worn thin. It didn’t make sense that she would leave it, he thought. But then nothing about the woman or his connection to her made any sense.

Dropping the ring into his shirt pocket, he rose to his feet and tossed enough bills on the table to more than cover the cost of the meal, then headed off in the same direction Claudia had taken before she slipped out of his sight.

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