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shut up years ago.” He winced, then eyed his brother. “Is she God’s gift to man?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œI don’t recall you and James having the same taste in women.”
    â€œShe’s beautiful,” Slade said brusquely. He didn’t bother telling his brother that she was more than beautiful. She was sexy. Very sexy. It wasn’t even that knockout body of hers, which he had inspected too closely and too carefully. It was her face. There was something about that face that would make a man crazy and make him think of sex. He shut off his thoughts with a vengeance. She was obviously a lady, but his body didn’t seem capable of respecting that.
    â€œSo maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all. Maybe you and Rick can work things out and…”
    â€œNo!” Slade slammed his fist down hard and the glasses jumped and fell to the floor, breaking. Edward caught the bottle before it tipped over. Slade couldn’t believe himself. Lusting after Elizabeth, his brother’s fiancée.
    â€œThat sure was smart,” Edward said.
    â€œThis town hasn’t changed,” Slade said. “Nothing changes around here, does it? She needs to be examined and I found Doc upstairs with a two-bit whore, passed out cold.”
    â€œYou see Rick? We got to town hours ago. Rick’s been going crazy waiting for you to get back. He’ll really bustloose when he hears she lost her mind. That sure puts a kink or two in his plans.”
    â€œShe lost her memory,” Slade corrected. “And I saw him just after I brought her to the hotel. I told him she didn’t know who she was. He was very surprised. Last I know, he was going over there.”
    Edward looked at him. “Something’s bothering you. What?”
    Slade shifted. “Nothing.” He wasn’t a liar and he never had been. “It’s been a bitch of a day.”
    But Edward was a clever man. He couldn’t possibly be so in tune with Slade’s thoughts, but when he spoke, it was as if he was reading his brother’s mind. “You know, you’ve never met Elizabeth. Neither have I, for that matter. Rick’s the only one who has, and I guess he’s with her now. What if the lady is someone else?”
    â€œElizabeth was scheduled to arrive on that train,” Slade pointed out. “She was on her way to Miramar to marry James. The wedding was supposed to be in two weeks. These plans were made a long time ago. If for some reason she didn’t board, if there had been an emergency, she would have wired us. Only one passenger—one woman—was missing.” Slade shrugged indifferently. “Besides, she looks exactly the way James described her.” Small and stunning, he added silently. And yes, perfect.
    Yet his indifference was all show and he knew it. No matter how hard he tried to tell himself that he didn’t care, he did. He was a traitor to himself and to his brother and the fact shocked him. Because he was hoping that she wasn’t James’s fiancée. It was ridiculous, it defied logic, and, more importantly, he had no right to hope like that at all.
    Even if she didn’t belong to James—and those odds were a million to one—she was obviously a lady, and ladies did not look twice at a man like him. He would rein in his traitorous mind if it killed him.
    â€œWhat is it?” Edward asked again.
    â€œNothing,” Slade ground out. He might be able to turn off his thoughts whenever they dared to intrude,but it was much harder not to be angry. The anger coiled thick and hot inside him. Rick had better not say one damn word about his latest scheme. Slade would erupt if he did.
    â€œMaybe we should go over to the hotel and find Rick.”
    Slade didn’t move. Sweat beaded his brow. “No.” He knew she was Elizabeth. Which was why he did not move. Right now, Rick was undoubtedly there, with her. Removing the last