Читать книгу Night Hawk онлайн | страница 54

Cursing softly, Gil said, “Let’s get these parts to the barn. I’ll fill you in there.”

Kai almost had to run to keep up with his long, swift stride. In no time, Gil had placed the cardboard box on the table where she had her toolbox. He turned, pushing up his Stetson.

“Harper is a bastard,” he growled at her. “Did Talon know who you were dealing with?”

Struck by the ferocity of his words and the way his body had tensed, Kai muttered, “Yes, I told him. Why the hell are you acting like this, Gil? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Dammit, I’m not angry at you, Kai.” He took a swipe at his jaw, looking out the barn door as if he was trying to put the right words together. “Where did you meet Harper?”

Scowling, she told him. The look in Gil’s eyes was glittering and she could feel his sudden, almost overwhelming protectiveness cascading around her. She remembered that sense of safety and protection in his arms. He was an operator, and he protected his own. Just as Sam had once protected her. In as few words as possible, she told Gil where she’d met Harper and their subsequent conversation.

“He’s not to be trusted. I don’t care how damned nice he was to you, Kai.”

She stared at him, mouth dropping open. “What is this, Gil? I just saved this ranch a lot of money by arranging to use his facilities to fix that tractor.” She saw him scowl, his game face in place. Kai hated that unreadable expression. She had hated it on Sam, too. Black ops men were screwed up so damned badly in her opinion precisely because they sat on their emotions to do their jobs. And Gil was looking like that right now.

“Harper is a bastard in the finest sense of the word,” he gritted out.

She snorted. “I know a bastard when I see one, Gil.”

The muscles in his jaw ticked. “You’re new to this area, Kai. You don’t know the lay of the land yet. If you don’t trust my assessment of Harper, just go to Gwen Garner at the quilt shop in town. She’ll give you a fair readout on him.”

A little unnerved because she saw something in Gil’s eyes that set her on warning. Was he jealous of Harper? That couldn’t be! Searching his eyes, there was worry in them. For her? Why? Gil didn’t even like her! She was a burr under his saddle by being here. So what was his angle at getting all huffy, protective and upset that Harper had done something decent for the ranch? “When I get time,” she said, turning and walking out of the barn. Let him stew in his own juices. Kai was confused by the raw care burning in his eyes for a second in the barn. There was no way Gil cared for her. No way in hell!