Truth and Dare

“I aim to please, ma’am…”

“But to be honest, where you’re concerned my thoughts aren’t very gentlemanly,” Cade continued, before leaning in and kissing Patience. He meant it to be a soft taste, but at first contact she pressed herself into him, and Cade’s instincts took over. He gently twisted a hand in her hair so he could tilt her head to better explore her mouth.

“Cade,” she whispered against his lips.

“Yes.” His breathing was heavy. All he wanted to do was take her upstairs and make love to her until the morning. For a moment, her hand traveled down his hip and he thought she might cup him. The mere hint of her touch made him harden into a brick.

When Patience suddenly stepped away from him, he groaned.

“Didn’t we promise your grandmother we’d be there by eight?”

He grunted and leaned his forehead against hers. “You don’t play fair.”

“Oh, I can think of all kinds of games we can play later. And none of them will be fair,” she promised.

Dear Reader,

I used to spend a great many of my summers in East Texas where my grandparents had a farm. It was a way for my parents to get cheap summer babysitting, but I also learned useful skills like how to ride a horse, shell peas, oh, and the most important one, how to flirt with boys.

When I decided to write my first cowboy story, Truth and Dare, I looked back to those country summers. Skiing on the lake, dances where the whole town turned out and there were so many handsome cowboys. Cade, my hero, is an amalgamation of those guys, with a little bit of my husband thrown in. He’s from good solid stock and he’s a man who goes after what he wants.

And he wants Patience.

She isn’t sure what to make of Cade. All she wants to do is solve her first case and get back to her nice safe lab. Cade is anything but safe, and the more she gets to know him, the tougher it is for her to keep up her emotional walls. Will she be able to step out of her shell to be with this incredible guy? The answer awaits you in Truth and Dare.

Please email me at candacehavensbook@gmail.com and tell me what you think about the book. You can also find me on Twitter.com/candacehavens and MySpace, Facebook and Live Journal, all of which you can find on www.candacehavens.com.

Enjoy!

Candace Havens

Truth and Dare
Candace Havens

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author and columnist Candace “Candy” Havens lives in Texas with her mostly understanding husband, two children and two dogs, Scoobie and Gizmo. Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist for FYI Television. She has interviewed just about everyone in Hollywood from George Clooney and Orlando Bloom to Nicole Kidman and Kate Beckinsale. You can hear Candy weekly on The Big 96.3 in the Dallas–Fort Worth Area. Her popular online writer’s workshop has more than thirteen hundred students and provides free classes to professional and aspiring writers.

To my husband, Steve,

thank you for believing in my dreams

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

1

“YOUR FATHER IS DEAD.”

It took a few seconds for the Phosphor County sheriff’s cautious words to register. Cade Randall’s chest tightened with pain, but he pushed the emotion away.

Figures the old man would show up today, of all days. Even dead he still caused trouble.

Cade didn’t want to care about the man who abandoned his family twenty years ago. He glanced around the offices of Stonegate Investigative Agency wondering why the sheriff brought him here to tell him the news when a simple phone call would have sufficed.

The woman behind the desk watched him carefully. He struggled to remember her name—Patience something. He didn’t know who she was, exactly. She was beautiful. A professor type, with long blond hair that framed a perfect face featuring high cheekbones and nearly translucent green eyes. She wore a suit jacket over a miniskirt, he recalled her legs were the kind men dreamed about. And she smelled like honeysuckle, which for some reason was the most distracting thing about her.

His father was dead.

Judging from the looks on the sheriff’s face and Patience’s, they were waiting for him to respond.

“Sheriff, I appreciate you letting me know.”

He checked his phone. There were six messages from his executive assistant. “I’m sorry, but I need to go.” The merger was happening today, and he couldn’t be late for his next meeting. Cade rose to leave.

“Wait.” Patience held out a hand as she stood. “Don’t you want to know what happened to your father?” Her eyes narrowed with recrimination. To her, Cade probably looked like a heartless bastard.

“Ma’am, he left our family many years ago without so much as a goodbye. He just didn’t come home one night. So, no, I don’t care how he died, or where he was when you found him.” He paused reflecting for a moment. There was someone who would care. “Though I’m certain my grandmother would like to give her son a proper burial.”

“Please, hear me out.” Her voice was firm. “I promise you I won’t take more than two more minutes to explain.”

Stubborn woman.

Cade didn’t have time for any of this. He had to get back to the office. Though something in her eyes compelled him to stand still. “Fine. You have my attention.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She didn’t bother sitting down. “As the sheriff said, I’m Dr. Patience Clark, Stonegate’s forensic anthropologist. Your father’s remains were brought to Austin by the sheriff for identification.”

Cade inclined his head slightly to let her know he understood.

“I’ll cut to the chase, since you have no interest in what happened to him. I felt you should know your father was murdered about twenty years ago on some land just outside of your hometown.”

Murdered?

In Phosphor?

The knot in Cade’s chest tightened even more. That meant… No, she had to be wrong. Why was this happening now? His phone vibrated again and Cade took it out and glanced at it as the sheriff and Patience watched him.

His father didn’t leave the family, after all. Cade rubbed his forehead and tried to process the information, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t deal with this today.

Cade shoved what Patience told him on a mental shelf. He’d deal with it after the merger. His employees were depending on him making this deal work.

“I apologize for my behavior and I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. Unfortunately, I have to go.” He started to back out the door.

Patience gave him a wary glance. “One more minute, please.” She pulled out a two-page document. “If you’ll sign this, it’ll give me permission to pursue your father’s murder on your behalf, then I’ll get out of your hair. You may not care who killed him, but my company, Stonegate Investigative Agency, has a one hundred percent close rate when consulting on cases. I need to find your father’s murderer. The sheriff will be supervising the investigation.”

Cade’s gut burned with anxiety and he ran his fingers through his hair. He had to get out of there. “I’ll sign anything you want, but I’m not sure what you think you’re going to find after twenty years. Seems like a waste of time to me.”

She pushed the documents toward him on the desk and pointed where she needed his signature. “My guess is you’ve never been on an archeological dig. You’d be surprised what can be found even after thousands of years. The sheriff told me the bones were discovered by hikers in a shallow grave that had been wasted away by erosion in a remote area, so if it’s been untouched there’s a good chance I’ll find something.”

“It’s your time.” He shoved the papers toward her.

“Thank you.” She pulled the signed papers to her chest.

The lifted eyebrow told him she didn’t approve of his attitude, but he couldn’t worry about that. The merger about to take place meant big things for his company. The value of his employees’ stocks would rise through the roof, and he could start the new research division for their microchip and have an entirely new brand of supercomputers out next year.

He shook the sheriff’s hand and took Patience’s hand in his. It was soft, and he had a feeling her scent would linger on his skin. “Thank you, again.”

His phone buzzed, and he answered it.

“Sir, Greg is here and he says he has to talk to you now.” His assistant was excited, which meant something had happened.

“Give me thirty seconds and then put him on.”

Cade tried to smile at the sheriff and at Patience but was sure that it came off more as a grimace.

“Again, I appreciate your efforts.” He turned to leave.

“Here,” she said. “This is my information, in case you have any questions.”

He stuffed the folded piece of paper into his pocket and hurried for the door, the phone at his ear.

As Greg spoke, he tried to listen, but his mind was on his father and the woman who had given him the news. While Cade usually didn’t care what people believed of him, it bothered him that she might consider him a coldhearted jerk. Well, he could be when it came to business, but that was different.

“Cade, did you hear me? The meeting has been moved up to ten. You have to get here now,” Greg yelled through the phone. Normally, Cade wouldn’t take such insubordination from an employee, but Greg was also one of his best friends.

Cade slipped into the limo waiting for him and the driver shut the door.

“Greg, calm down. I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five. We have plenty of time to go over any last-minute issues.”

The other man went on to tell Cade some of the details, but he only half listened. He pulled the folded sheet from his jacket pocket. Her business card slipped out, the scent of honeysuckle filled his senses. He opened the piece of paper to find a brief note.

“I dare you to help me find your father’s killer.”

She’d met him less than ten minutes ago and she knew exactly how to get to him.

Cade wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

PATIENCE SAT IN THE BASEMENT of Phosphor’s

County Courthouse, staring at six giant boxes of records. Her job usually involved identifying bones, some of which were centuries old. This was her first time to do any real detective work, something she normally left to others at the agency.

The seasoned professionals at Stonegate knew exactly how to tackle cold murder cases. With so many colleagues busy with other projects and a burning desire to get out of the lab, Patience couldn’t let this case rest. She couldn’t stand the idea of this poor man being murdered and no one caring enough to do something about it.

Her mind flashed to the sexy Cade Randall. The instant their eyes met, her body reacted with a heated blush. That sort of thing never happened to her and she’d been worried she might be coming down with a cold. But when those steely gray eyes of his had narrowed in on her, she could tell he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. Anthropologically speaking the reaction was an interesting phenomenon, one she wouldn’t mind pursuing.

Too bad he’s a jerk.

Shoving her hair up into a ponytail, she moved toward the boxes, grateful experienced agency detectives Shannon and Katie had given her advice on where to start. No one seemed to know who owned the land where the bones were discovered. Finding the answer was her first assignment on the well-ordered plan she’d devised.

“More than likely, no one wants to lay claim because they are worried about the consequences,” Katie had informed her. “Some of the records may be really old, and property lines shift all the time. When land is inherited or sold and the surveyors don’t know what they’re doing, anything can happen. There have been cases where fifty years later a farmer discovers part of the land he’s been working on most of his life, isn’t his. Disputes over land, especially in Texas, are a big deal. It’s a good place to start.”

Lifting the lid on the first box, dust assaulted Patience. She sneezed, and reached for a tissue in her bag. Evidently, people didn’t hang out in the Phosphor records room very often. The whole place could use a vacuum and about a hundred dust rags. Patience had a slight case of OCD and preferred her spaces neat and tidy. She kept her labs pristine, and she wasn’t a fan of moldy smelling dustbins like the basement.

Pulling out an armful of files she sat down at the long table and began to peruse them. For three hours she sat searching for one mention of the property in question. She didn’t find a thing.

Her first day in town, and she was doing not so great. Frustrated, Patience returned everything to its proper place and put the lids back on the boxes.

Way to go, detective.

Her friends made it look so easy.

Glancing at her watch she realized it had been several hours since she’d eaten.

Guess it’s time to check out the Bluebonnet Café.

She’d seen the establishment across the street when she parked in front of the courthouse. It was almost one and when she entered the café she could tell it had been a busy afternoon. Dishes were stacked high in a big tub behind the counter, and the waitresses were wiping down all the tables and refilling salt and pepper shakers.

“Hey, darlin’, why don’t you take that booth in the corner, we’ve got that one cleaned up for you,” said the waitress with a long brunette ponytail, jeans and a pink T-shirt that read “Shut up and eat.”

Patience nodded her thanks and walked toward the back. A group of older gentlemen sat at a center table. They looked like regulars, and she wondered if maybe she should try to talk to them to see if they knew who owned the property. But food was her first priority.

The menu was on the table, and from the delicious smells in the kitchen she had a feeling the selections were comfort food greatness. She ordered a cheese-burger, fries and lemonade. She thought seriously about a piece of coconut cake, before deciding the burger and fries would do enough damage.

She didn’t mind her curves, unless they made her jeans too tight, which was why she usually stuck to meat, vegetables and fruit.

The waitress delivered her lunch, and Patience gasped. The hamburger was almost as big as the plate. Even with her appetite she would barely make a dent in the food.

A shadow crossed in front of her table. Patience glanced up to see three of the men from the other table standing over her.

“Hello.” Patience was curious as to why they were there.

“Heard ya was over at the courthouse digging into property records,” the oldest man said. He wore a dark gray hat, jeans and his skin was so leathery it didn’t look real. His nearly black eyes were downright hostile, as was his tone.

“I might have been,” Patience ventured. She didn’t know what they were up to, but she refused to be intimidated. “I’m not sure how it concerns you, one way or the other.” Her right eyebrow rose. She’d dealt with bullies all of her life, she could handle a couple of rednecks in a Podunk town.

“Quite a mouth you got there,” said the youngest of the three, who was probably somewhere around fifty, though it was hard to tell with his black hat pulled down over his face so low she couldn’t see his eyes. He leaned forward.

Patience refused to move, holding her chin even higher.

“Reckon you should keep to your own business and leave our town alone,” the man threatened.

“I reckon you should leave my friend Patience there alone,” said a voice from the doorway of the café. There was a silhouette of a man who wore a cowboy hat, white shirt, boots and jeans, but she couldn’t see his face.

“Her business is my business,” he continued, “and I don’t appreciate you making threats to my friends.”

The older man held his hands up in surrender.

“Just looking after the town, Cade. We don’t like nosey folk in our business.”

Cade walked to the table and Patience had to forcibly shut her mouth with her hand. The man had been sexy in his suit, but in these jeans, he was nothing less than smokin’ hot, as her boss, Mariska, the owner of Stonegate, would say.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hey, there. Everything okay?”

His lips scorched her skin, and she couldn’t breathe.

She nodded.

Cade slid into the other side of the booth. “I see you ordered enough for the both of us.” He gave her a dazzling smile.

She willed her mouth to work, but it didn’t. Though her heartbeat did double-time.

Cade glanced at the men. “Moses, Jim, Ralph, I’m sure you have better things to do than watch us eat.” He smiled but his tone implied they should leave quickly.

Up until six weeks ago when he came to town to check on his land at his grandmother’s request, it had been two years since Cade had been in Phosphor to visit his family. Not much had changed. For the most part the townspeople were friendly, but these old characters were the exception.

The men stared at him, but eventually backed away, mumbling as they left the café.

Cade jumped up to grab an empty plate from the waitress, and ordered a sweet tea.

Patience remembered the last time she’d seen him. He was like some kind of Jekyll and Hyde—a mind-bendingly sexy Jekyll and Hyde.

“Thanks,” she said finally. “I could have handled them on my own.”

Cade nodded. “I’m sure you could. But I don’t like aggressive types, especially ones who pick on beautiful women.”

He called her beautiful. No one had ever said that about her. The man was a flirt.

She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here?”

Cade took her fork and knife and cut the hamburger in half. Then he scooped a handful of fries and put everything on his plate.

“I’m taking your dare.”

2

THE SUN SHINING THROUGH the diner windows danced along Patience’s angelic locks giving the appearance of a halo, but Cade’s thoughts weren’t close to heavenly. The woman was more intoxicating than he had remembered and for the past week she’d been haunting his dreams.

Twice while closing the merger deal he’d lost track of what he’d been saying thanks to sudden visions of her face flashing in his mind. More than anything he wanted to wash away that look of disappointment she’d given him just before he’d walked out of her office.

He tried to convince himself that he’d been upset when they met and that he’d made her into much more than she was. But he was right the first time. He’d known that as soon as he walked into the café.

Taking a bite of his half of their hamburger, he studied her as she concentrated on her fries. She was obviously surprised to see him, and he’d arrived just in the nick of time. If she had any inkling of how he really felt, Patience would run straight back to Austin and lock her door.

If he had any brains at all, he’d do the same thing.

“Thanks for sharing your food with me.”

A slow smile crept across her mouth. “Uh, sure. So, you came to help me out?”

“Thought it was the least I could do after being so rude to you the other day. I’m usually never rude to women.” It was true. Many in the business community thought him to be cutthroat and they weren’t wrong. Cade was driven and wanted to provide a solid company for his employees, most of them had been with him from the beginning and sometimes that meant making tough decisions. Combining his company’s resources with that of another would in the long run make both companies stronger.

Patience pushed the stray hairs that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ears. “That’s sexist in a way, you know.”

He nodded. “You can blame my mom, and after she died, my grandmother. Gentlemen are always supposed to speak kindly to the ladies.” He gave her his best sweet Southern accent. “I can honestly say I was in shock. All these years I thought my dad was some sorry bastard who ran off with another woman. Then I find out he’d been murdered.” Cade took a sip of his tea.

“The sheriff explained as much, so I didn’t hold it against you—much.”

Cade had to stop himself from leaning across the table and kissing her when she smiled at him like that.

Whoa, boy, slow it down.

“So what were you doing that got those boys’ attention?”

She shrugged. “I was going through old property records in the courthouse. I didn’t find anything. If Moses had given me the chance, I would have told him he had nothing to worry about. And, well, there’s something I need to tell you. I’m not sure you’re going to like it, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain.”

Now he was curious. “I can’t imagine anything you could say that would upset me, Patience.” He liked the way her name sounded on his lips.

After glancing around the restaurant she leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “I told you when we first met I’m a forensic anthropologist.”

Cade had done some checking into her background before making the drive down to Phosphor. He’d discovered she was the best at what she did. She’d written several books, and universities around the world courted her and through the Stonegate Agency she consulted for law enforcement officials all over the world. She was the superstar of the forensic anthropology field.

“Normally, in a case like your father’s, I identify the remains and then one of the detectives from our agency would take over the case to track down the murderer.”

Cade had a feeling he knew where this was going. “You’re worried you don’t have the right skill set to solve this.”

“Yes and no.” She twirled a fry. “I’ve been with the Stonegate Agency for some time now, and I’ve picked up a great deal from my friends. But I’ve never followed through on a case completely on my own.”

“So why not assign the case to someone else?”

Patience shook her head. “There is no one else right now. We’re short staffed in Austin as it is while some of our associates are away working around the world. It would be weeks, possibly months before one of the detectives could take on anything new. I felt like your father was long overdue for some peace, and I wanted to give that to him. And to your family.”

Every time he thought of the word murder he had to pause to consider what it really meant. He had a lot of apologizing to do to the heavens for the many horrendous things he’d said through the years about his dad.

“As far as I’m concerned we couldn’t have anyone better than you helping our family.”

Patience sucked in a breath of surprise, her cheeks becoming a light shade of pink. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re passionate about this or you wouldn’t have taken time away from your lab and other cases.” He wanted to ask her why this was so important to her, but something told him this wasn’t the right time. It was more a hunch than anything, but he also saw sadness in her eyes. “You mentioned at your office that the sheriff would be overseeing the investigation, so I’m not totally understanding the problem.”

She grinned.

Cade shifted in his seat like a nervous schoolboy with a crush.

“I promise you I will do everything I can to find who did this. They have to pay for what they did to your family.”

Cade was grateful someone cared enough to even try. It couldn’t be easy solving a twenty-year-old murder. “Well, I’ll be here to help you, so we can cover twice the ground at the same time. I do have to run out to the ranch every once in a while to see how things are going.”

“The ranch?”

“Yeah, a couple of months ago I hired a foreman to run my family’s old place. We bought some cattle and he’s got the barn on the east side up and running. I promised to help him with the fences while I was here, and fixing up the old barn near the house. But my dad comes first. That is if you want me.”

WANT HIM? PATIENCE WANTED to tie him up in a bow like a present and feast on him for weeks. She couldn’t remember the last time her libido had been this fully engaged. He wasn’t her normal brand of “man candy,” as her friends liked to say, but then what was normal? She hadn’t been on an official date in years.

Technically he was a client and she had to behave.

Katie broke the rule and she survived quite nicely.

Katie, one of Stonegate’s best detectives, lived in London with her hot professor boyfriend. They’d met when Katie was protecting him. So maybe the rule wasn’t so hard and fast after all.

The last thing Patience needed was romantic complications. It would take all her concentration and resources to find the murderer. Her gut told her it would be best to stay away from the handsome cowboy.

“I don’t want you to take time away from the ranch, it sounds like it’s important to you.” She popped another French fry in her mouth. She’d have to run two or three miles to keep half of her lunch from landing on her hips.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’d planned on spending as much time as I can with you.”

Patience’s head snapped up. Did he say he wanted to spend time with her? From the moment they’d met in her office she’d experienced an inexplicable pull toward him. Had he felt the same?

“Helping with the case that is,” he finished.

Her hopes sank. “Of course.” She waved a hand to the waitress for the check.

“Ah, honey it’s on the house,” the waitress told her. “You got our Cade back to town, so I feel like we owe ya one.” She leaned down and kissed Cade’s cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Something strange came over Patience and it took a second for her to realize her clenched fist might be a sign of jealousy. It wasn’t an emotion she knew. There had never been anyone in her life to feel jealous about.

Interesting.

The scientist part of her brain wanted to explore the implications, but the woman in her was freaked out by her response.

Cade stood and gave the waitress a big bear hug.

Patience’s stomach twisted into one huge knot.

“Charli, you are the best cousin ever, but I told you that’s no way to run a business.” He plopped a twenty down on the table. “You can’t be giving the goods away for free.”

“That ain’t what you told all those girls in high school.” She let out a loud laugh, but she didn’t give him the money back.

Cousin? They were family.

“You keep this one,” she said, pointing to Cade, “on the straight and narrow. Don’t get his temper up or he’s ornery as a hornet’s nest on the first day of spring.”

He made a ring motion above the top of his head indicating a halo. “Don’t listen to her. I’m a complete angel.” He fluttered his eyelashes angelically. “She’s the one with the temper. Just ask her brother Jason. He woke up bald one morning because he said her boyfriend looked like a bean pole.”

Charli slapped him on the hip with the rag. “Now don’t you be tellin’ tales.” The other woman smiled at Patience. “But trust me that boy deserved it.”

They all laughed. This man was the exact opposite of the one she had met at her office. She couldn’t believe she thought him so cold and calculated. He was down-to-earth and relaxed. And she could see he had a great respect for his family.

Over at the courthouse, everyone seemed to have kind words for Cade. There were many cheerful hellos and pats on the back welcoming him to town. When she’d entered the first time she’d been completely ignored, except for the occasional curious glance.

“They’re so much more friendly toward you,” she said as they walked down the long staircase to the basement.

“What do you mean?” He helped her push open the large wooden door protecting the old records.

“When I first arrived, some of them looked at me like I was an exhibit at the zoo.”

“Ah, well, they’ll warm up to you soon enough. Everyone around here is cautious of strangers,” he said as he held the door open for her.

“Like those men at the diner?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s going on with them. I’ll have a talk with them later.”

There was no sense making more trouble. “Don’t bother. That was probably their way of protecting their town from an outside threat. Though why they see me that way makes no sense.”

“With those three there’s absolutely no tellin’.” Cade waved a hand in front of his face as they reached the dusty records room. “I’m guessing the spotless housekeeping upstairs doesn’t make its way down here very often.”

“From the looks of it, they pretty much use this as a storage room. Evidently no one in Phosphor ever has to do any research, because I found at least three inches of dust on most of the boxes. I wonder if they understand how much of their history is down here.”

“What do you mean?” Cade took a deep breath and blew the dust from the top of a box they’d moved to the table.

“From an anthropological point of view, when people migrate to an area and when they leave can be based on a variety of factors. You can find information about certain eras where the town may have been booming because of river travel, or the railroads. From some of the mortgages and contracts I saw earlier, there seems to be an influx of ranchers buying up land around here over the last five years.

“Possibly they’ve had some good years without drought and the pastures are greener than normal. I don’t know that for a fact, but it’s something that can be found out with a little study. I find it fascinating.” She coughed from the dust. “I only wish other people found it as interesting as I do.”

“Huh. I never thought about it that way. My cousins and I have all bought up land, or have come back to town to rebuild our family ranches that have gone to pasture.”