Candlelight Conspiracy (11 page)

She followed him into his apartment. The same candles they’d used earlier in the week were lit, and she let out a deep breath. Disappointment and insecurity dug into her soul.

Without warning, he stopped, spun around, and said, “I’m in love with you.”

Holy crap. I’m hallucinating.
She recounted the number of drinks she’d had at the bar.
Nope, just one.
She didn’t move a muscle except for her eyes, which seemed to think if they moved around enough she’d be able to figure out which universe she currently occupied. When she finally decided to focus on him again, he stood closer and had somehow disposed of the sparkler. She kept her face neutral and didn’t say a word.

His hands now being free, he reached for both of hers.

“I’m in love with you,” he repeated.

She actually watched his lips move this time. He’d said the words, all right. She swallowed as her pulse steadily increased.
Say something.

“Why?”
Brilliant.
A valid question.

“You were a spark of fresh air in the darkness that was consuming me. Thank you for allowing me to realize there is life still to be lived. And when I thought of that life, I couldn’t, not once, picture it without you.”

“We’ve only just met.”

“Which is why it was hard for me to wrap my head around everything I was feeling, and I was slow on the uptake. But when you know, you know.” He slowly shook his head side to side as a slow grin formed on his exceptionally handsome face—a face she could look at for the rest of her life.

“Then I know, too.”

He wrapped his arms around her and twirled her around the room. She slowly slid down his torso and kissed him with all of the passion she had to give, as if they were in their very own romance movie.

“I love you,” she whispered and gently kissed his lips again.

“That’s a relief. Now, what would you like for dessert? I can make anything.”

“But we don’t have power.”

“Actually, this one was on me. I found the breaker box.”

She giggled. “Why?”

“Candlelight is kind of our thing.”

Dana Volney lets her imagination roam free in Wyoming, where she writes romances and helps local businesses succeed with her marketing consulting company. Surrounding herself with good friends and family, Dana thrives on moments and memories created with loved ones. Not possessing the natural ability to want to cook every day, she still enjoys watching culinary shows while eating take-out. It helps her dream up sweet treats and sexy men. Dana is bold, adventurous, and—by her own admission—good with plants, having kept a coral cactus alive for more than one year.

(From
Christmas Clash
by Dana Volney)

Luke Carrigan crumpled the unwanted letter in his hand and swung open the glass door to the flower shop with the other. Silver chimes cheerily flickered above him, and if he could’ve turned around and karate chopped them down, he would’ve.

“I thought you were an Ellison.” He walked toward the dark-haired woman behind the counter and spotted a red poinsettia.
Freaking Christmas.
“Can’t you fix this?” The paper cracked as it hit the counter and dewy humidity filled his nose.

Candace paused, holding a white rose between her soft pink nails, and swiveled to face him. “Good morning to you, too.” She may have suppressed an eye roll, but it still resonated in her voice.

He heard rustling behind her and caught a glimpse of red hair behind a very large green plant.

“Why am I getting a notice about the city taking my bar? Again?” He rested his hands on the cold granite. “Didn’t you speak to them?” He censored his words in an attempt at civility since they weren’t alone.

In one swift motion she swiped her chin-length black hair behind her ear. “Well, Luke, a
last name
doesn’t fix anything.” Her eyes met his.

The most annoying thing about Candace Ellison was her brilliant, piercing blue eyes. Her full, always-tainted-pink lips were a close second. They were alluring features that promised excitement and fulfillment, but in reality only provided an unfounded fantasy. Luke stepped back from the counter and folded his arms across his chest.

“So, you are going to be of no help?” He raised a brow.

“That’s
not
what I said, now, is it? Calm yourself down.” She entwined another rose in the overflowing green-and-gold-striped glass vase. “What are you doing up so early? Shouldn’t you be sleeping something off?” A smile played on her generous lips as he grunted.

Ah, the crap he had to put up with to save the family pub was getting harder to swallow. Two years ago, the moment his dad’s pen had lifted from the ownership transfer papers, Luke had felt the pressure. The weight worsened when his dad had looked at him, tension darkening his eyes, and said, “She’s all yours now, my boy. Take care of her like the generations before you have.” In other words, don’t screw up what years and years of hard labor had produced, and if Luke did he’d never live down the disappointment.

“Hilarious.” He turned to leave and mumbled under his breath, “Why do I bother?”

Snow crunched beneath his boots a few minutes later as he walked next door to his pub. Candace was an Ellison, which meant she would only do what was in
her
best interest—no matter the cause. She’d been that way since he could remember, and his memory on the subject was long. He’d never cared about her family name or their money, but Candace had seemed to and that rubbed him the wrong way. They’d known each other since kindergarten. Okay,
known
might be a strong word—more like despised. They were oil and water, fire and ice, Ralphie and his Red Ryder B.B. gun—any of those comparisons would do.

Not that he thought about their relationship a lot.

The sun was new in the blue sky, but did little to heat the air of the morning. He opened the heavy, dark oak door to his family’s business, The Pub. Candace had been right about his hours, but he wasn’t a drunken bartender anymore. The Pub wasn’t some gig he waltzed in and out of because it was the family business. As third-generation Carrigan, the pub had been passed down to him. And losing it to the city under his watch wasn’t going to happen.

If he would’ve gotten involved in the business district of Casper more and followed politics, like his dad had suggested, then maybe he could’ve prevented his business being put on the chopping block. As it was, besides his neighbors and the locals that drank at the bar, he had no special connections. Not of the powerful variety, anyway.

David Deehan looked up from cleaning bar glasses and Luke shook his head curtly once, kept walking straight into his office, and claimed his dilapidated green office chair.
Not sure why I thought she’d come through.
That was a lie—he’d assumed one call to the mayor or president of the city council from an upset Ellison would have fixed the problem that’d been building. There was no way Candace would’ve made that call if the proposed demolition had only affected him, but it didn’t. Her flower shop was just as much in the damage zone as his pub, not to mention the five other businesses around them. He’d hoped her self-preservation instincts would’ve kicked in by now. He spun around in the chair and tapped his pen on his leg.
Think, man, think.
A soft knock beckoned from his open door. He stopped turning his chair to see Candace standing in his doorway.

Perhaps she’d grown a conscience in the last thirteen minutes and he was in line for a Christmas miracle.

“Yes?” He moved his left hand to the arm of the chair and shifted his body to the right.

“There’s a town hall meeting tonight. Are you going?” She leaned against the door frame, emphasizing her black, long-sleeved shirt with its swirl of flowers and her shop’s logo that was as vibrant as her arrangements. In jeans and no jacket, despite the chilly Wyoming winter, she looked good.

If only I could get women I actually liked to chase me down like this.

“Wouldn’t miss it.
I’m
going to try to do something.”

“And, what? You think I haven’t?” She pursed her lips and narrowed her blazing blue eyes. “At least I had options to try.”

“Options?”

One, maybe. She’d probably called Daddy
or her brother, Blake. Though he shouldn’t be so hard on Blake—that was the Ellison he probably should’ve called in the first place. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.

“I can’t wave a magic wand and change five minds. There are people to go through, schmooze. And the one who is heading up this little convention project is … not exactly a family friend.”

“You mean to tell me the Ellisons don’t own Casper?” He should’ve let up, but frustration fueled him.

“
No
. The Ellisons don’t own Casper, or Wyoming for that matter. You’re such a prick.” She rolled her eyes, this time literally. “Without Jeffrey Dean pulling the plug on this motion, it’ll go to a preliminary vote, then an actual vote. Maybe even tonight.”

Luke smiled slowly, more out of contempt than humor. “Glad we’ve cleared that up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m thinking here.”

Her subtle orange-vanilla scent made its way to him and he briefly forgot how to exhale.
How does a woman so irritating smell so delicious?
His eyes shifted to the Chamber of Commerce plaque on the hunter green wall beside her before he resumed breathing.

“I’d hate to interrupt
that
process.” She rested her hand on the broad area of her hip. Luke let his gaze drift down to her fingertips, but only momentarily. He found her eyes again, and hers didn’t seem to notice his stolen glance.

“What have you come up with?”

Her genuine tone caught his attention.

“Nothing yet.” He willed himself to keep his face free of emotion. She’d most certainly use the gesture against him somehow. “I’m not about to lose my bar to the city for a new convention center.”

And definitely not right before the holidays.
Luke could picture that conversation:
Hey, Mom and Dad, I lost the pub. Merry Christmas.
And then
his dad would start ranting about how his only son had always been a screw-up and didn’t take his birthright seriously. Then his mom would tell his dad to stop saying things he didn’t mean, all while glancing at Luke with disappointment. His sisters would weigh in by defending their older brother, which would provoke Dad more. He wouldn’t defend himself because what could he say? The fact that he failed would be all that mattered. There would be a lot of whiskey drinking after the discontent and frustration had simmered and they were eating dinner. His family was like most, passively overlooking the discord to get through a meal. All future meals with his family would probably be the same.

Not happening.

“I just settled into my flower shop and I love it.” Her arms swooped up in a flash to fold under her generous chest, and she stepped closer. “I don’t want to give it up. I like downtown, my building, and
most
of my neighbors.”

“You’ve been there less than a year. This pub has been in my family for generations.
Generations.
” The familiar grumbling of his stomach started and he glanced at his desk for antacids.
“I will not go down without a fight.”

“At least we
finally
agree on something.”

She twirled on her boots—boots that were too dazzled to be called real cowgirl boots. At least her jeans looked western—sort of. It was hard to tell. Candace was a Wyomingite who probably didn’t know a hard day’s work.

From his vantage point, Luke had a straight line to watch her walk to the front door. And he appreciated every step the embellished back pockets on her dark jeans afforded.

• • •

Candace stomped back to her cozy flower shop, Kiss from a Rose.
That guy. Thinks he knows everything.
Of all the places she had to choose to locate her flower shop, she had to buy the one right smack dab next to Luke friggin’ Carrigan.

She’d never daydreamed about kissing Luke in high school or before, she’d never written their names together in her homework notebooks, and she’d never studied his body. Until present day. Setting up Kiss from a Rose right next door to the Carrigans’ family pub was pure coincidence, and one that had made her grimace internally and externally when she’d come face to face with him while painting her newly purchased walls.

“Well, well, well.”

She’d heard his unmistakable tone behind her and whipped her head around so fast her neck muscles stung.

“You’re stalking me, aren’t you?” he’d asked.

His tall, defined build took up her doorway and stopped the sunlight from streaming through.

“Luke Carrigan,” she deadpanned as her mind raced to catch up. Why would he think she was stalking him?
The bar next door.
Dammit. How had it taken her until now to piece that gem together? “Just trying to make the neighborhood a better place.” She focused on his eyes, careful not to let her gaze roam. She couldn’t give him any upper hand. Especially not now.
Great, just what I needed. It’s bad enough I’m new to having a business of my own, but now I have to contend with Luke Carrigan? Just my luck.

“So you’re just doing the work for the real owner, then?”

“You wish,” she said. “I’m here to stay. I bet it’s going to suck to have someone around who won’t take your crap.”

If his dark brown polo hadn’t fit him snug around his biceps, she might’ve said something nice. But it did. He’d grown up well. Time had only created a handsome man. And one who knew he was handsome. Which, sadly, wasn’t totally unattractive.
What are you doing? Don’t think of him like that. He’s bad news. He’s
still
bad news.

“I don’t mind at all. Because she surely doesn’t give it as good as she gets it.” With a proud chuckle at his own ridiculous try at a joke, he rolled from the wood door frame and ambled toward his pub. Those were the only few seconds she’d ever thought about selling her new building and setting up shop somewhere else, but the notion was just plain dumb. She would have to find a way to deal with him, just like high school.