Fool for Love (12 page)

Devlin blamed Chloe. Even though Gram was the one facing charges, Chloe was the one with the criminal history. Fuming, he dropped everything and raced over to the police station, an innocuous building flanked by the vintage firehouse and library. As he pushed though the station’s front doors he wasn’t sure what fueled his anger more: that Gram was in jail or that she’d assaulted a law officer. After five minutes with Stone, a man Devlin knew on friendly terms but didn’t consider a friend, he was still undecided.

“I realize Daisy’s getting up there in years, Dev, and I’m willing to overlook her eccentric behavior and a minor infraction here and there, but I can’t tolerate her striking an officer of the law.”

“Nor should you.” Devlin sat in the sheriff’s office, trying to make sense of his grandma’s latest debacle. He couldn’t. She wasn’t a violent person. Not even on her most irrational days. “She must have had a reason—”

“
Thought
she had a reason,” Stone interrupted. “That’s why I contacted you instead of granting Daisy’s demand to phone her attorney. I don’t want this to mushroom. I want it to go away.”

Devlin felt as though he was missing something. “Want
what
to go away?”

“Daisy’s misassumption that Deputy Burke got
fresh
with Miss Madison when in fact he was just doing his job.” He held up a hand, warding off questions. “Since I’m not acquainted with Miss Madison or her character, I’m not sure if she’s a prig who overreacted to a routine frisk or a player who decided to manipulate the situation to weasel herself out of trouble. One thing I do know: Billy Burke is a decent married man, an upstanding citizen, and a respected law official.”

He was also the number two son of the town mayor. Of all the police officers for Gram to bean with her purse. The son of the freaking mayor. The son of her son’s rival. Devlin knew Billy, and he knew Stone. Billy had a roving eye. Stone had his nose up the mayor’s ass. As for Chloe, she’d studied acting. She’d dodged a criminal record. Devlin still didn’t know the details, but a few scenarios played out in his mind. None of them good.

“Why was it necessary for Deputy Burke to frisk Miss Madison?”

“He had reason to believe she was intoxicated. When she got belligerent he took precautions. If anyone was out of line it was your grandma and Miss Madison. Speeding, seat belt violation, reckless endangerment, assault—”

“Were charges filed?” Devlin asked. “Do I need to post bail?”

“So far everything’s off-the-record. Can we keep it that way?”

Meaning could he count on Devlin to silence Gram’s so-called false accusation? “I’ll make things right.”

“Then the ladies are free to go.”

“I appreciate your flexibility and consideration.” Devlin stood, initiating the end of the discussion. The longer he sat here, the more he wanted Daisy and Chloe out of here. He wanted the women’s take on what had happened, but in private. His objective was to avoid pressing Stone’s buttons and risking a legal hassle for Gram. Accusing someone of sexual misconduct was a serious matter. Accusing a Burke complicated matters to the extreme. One thing Devlin knew for certain: If Billy
had
stepped over the line, Stone would cover his tracks. In which case Devlin would be forced to handle the offense privately. Off-the-record—mano a mano. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d knocked heads with Billy over a woman.

When Gram and Chloe were released into Devlin’s care, he greeted them with a disappointed glare. “Later.” Just as he’d hoped, he shamed them speechless, although on the way out Gram did shoot Stone a furious look.

Deputy Burke was conspicuously absent.

Seeing the women decked out in dresses and heels, Devlin had a hard time imagining them speeding along the highway on a reckless joyride. Although Chloe’s windblown hair proved they’d been driving with the top down.

His balls tightened as his mind took a prurient turn. Tousled and flushed, she looked like she’d just had sex. As if conscious of his thoughts, she twisted the long tangles into a loose bun. It didn’t help. She still looked sexy as hell. Maybe it was the dress. Just tight enough to hint at her compact curves. Just short enough to accentuate her toned legs. Or maybe it was stiletto heels. Just an inch shy of Fuck-Me Pumps. He could easily imagine Billy having sinful thoughts. Hell,
he
was rolling in them. But if the deputy had touched her inappropriately, he’d kick the man’s ass. Abusing his position to take advantage of
any
woman was reprehensible.

“What about my car?” Gram groused as Devlin ushered the women into his Escalade.

“I’ll send Luke for it.” He handed Gram up into the front passenger seat, then moved to help Chloe. The minute he grasped her arm, he relived their brief but torrid kiss in vivid detail. The feel of her lips, her tongue, her hands. Her taste. Her scent.

Christ.

He’d purposely avoided Chloe all weekend, furious with himself for losing control. Some warped part of him had thought if he kissed her, if he unleashed the lust he’d stored up since crashing into her at Oslow’s, he’d get her out of his system.
Right.
Instead of slapping him, she’d responded with equal passion. Instead of falling flat or satisfying his hunger, the red-hot union had only stoked his desire.

Given their abrupt parting that night, he expected Chloe to shrug off his touch as he helped her into the backseat. She didn’t. But she didn’t make eye contact either. He could hear her wheels turning but couldn’t guess her thoughts. It made him insane.

Evasive or embarrassed? Instigator or victim?

Once behind the wheel, he took back control of his renegade lust. “I have some questions.”

“You’re actually interested in our version?” Chloe asked from behind.

He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or if she was genuinely shocked. Either way, her reaction chafed. “I’m interested in the truth.”

“Sheriff Stone’s a brownnosing skunk,” Gram said. “As for Billy Burke—”

“What do you want to know?” Chloe asked.

Devlin pulled out of the parking lot and headed for Daisy’s house. He told himself to keep an open mind. To focus on the road and not the appealing reflection of Chloe in his rearview mirror. “Did you let Gram drive?”

“I did.”

“I tricked her into it,” Gram said.

“I’m not that gullible,” she said. “Next question?”

“Were you speeding, Gram?”

“Heck if I know.”

“Probably,” Chloe said.

He glanced over his shoulder. “‘Did you unfasten your seat belt and—”

“I did. I know it was dangerous, but it just happened. A spontaneous act of…”

“Derring-do,” Gram said. “That’s what Errol Flynn would call it.”

“What’s Errol Flynn got to do with this?” Devlin asked.

“He had a sense of adventure. Like Chloe and me.” She adjusted her pink hat and sniffed. “You only live once.”

“I wish I could say I’m sorry,” Chloe said, “but I’m not.”

He let that one go and cut to the chase. “Was Deputy Burke out of line?”

Gram slapped a gloved hand to her thigh. “He accused Chloe of being under the influence! Why else would she pull such a crazy stunt, he said. He made her walk a straight line. Which she did. Twice! He just wanted to stare at her butt.”

“Daisy.”

“You know I’m right, kitten.
Then
when she had the gumption to refuse to jump through more hoops, Billy accused her of being contrary and ordered her to place both hands on the hood of the car. Said he didn’t know her, didn’t trust her, and that he’d have to frisk her. It was just an excuse to feel her up!”

“For the love of—” Chloe sighed. “It wasn’t
that
obscene.”

Devlin clenched his jaw. “
Was
his touch inappropriate?”

“I’ve never been frisked, but I don’t think his hands were supposed to brush up my thighs,
under
my skirt. I cursed and jerked away.”

“That’s when I belted him with my handbag,” Gram said, looking enormously proud.

Devlin glanced in the rearview mirror and locked gazes with the woman who’d either suffered injustice or feigned it. Asking her out-and-out if she’d manipulated the situation would only earn him a slap from Gram. God knew how Chloe would respond. Instead, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. “Could you have misjudged Burke’s intention?”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“I’m asking if it’s possible that you were rattled because you’d been pulled over and accused of being intoxicated. I’m asking if, under pressure, it’s possible you overreacted to the frisk?”

“Stop badgering her,” Gram said.

“Wanna go head-to-head with the Burkes?” he asked. “With the law? Better be damn clear on the facts.”

“It’s a fair question,” Chloe said, red faced. She looked out the window, then after a tense minute sighed. “I don’t think I misjudged, but … I can’t be sure. Between the thrill of the ride and the shock of being busted, I was unnerved.”

More acting? Another ploy? It griped the hell out of him that he couldn’t read this woman.

“Well,
I
wasn’t unnerved,” Gram snapped. “I know what these old eyes saw.”

“I need you to let me handle this, Gram.”

“Of course you do.”

“Do you want the Burkes to make your life miserable?”

Chloe reached forward and squeezed his grandma’s shoulder. “Let it go, Daisy. I overreacted.”

She snorted. “I still think Billy’s a jerk.”

“No argument there.” He’d never liked the guy, and not just because he was a Burke. “But unfortunately you’re not guilt free in this matter. Speeding. Assault. Goddammit, Gram.”

“Don’t you cuss at me, Devlin Monroe. And
don’t
tell me how to live.”

“I’m not … Forget it.” He’d said enough. At least to his grandma. He glanced back at Chloe—arms crossed, eyes narrowed, lips compressed. For once, her mind-set was clear. She was pissed.

Tough shit.
So was he.

He pulled into Gram’s driveway, rounded the car, and handed her out. “I need a private moment with Chloe,” he whispered into her ear.

“It wasn’t her fault,” she whispered back, poking him in the chest for emphasis.

“Noted.”

She peeked around him and smiled at Chloe. “See you inside, kitten.” After another indignant poke at Devlin, Gram tottered toward the house in her pink heels.

“Didn’t want to read me the riot act in front of her, huh?” Smirking, Chloe stepped onto the SUV’s running board in those sexy heels.

This time when he tried to help her down, she dodged his touch. He waited until she stepped semi-gracefully to the ground—trying not to stare at her shapely legs—before unleashing his frustration. “What were you thinking? You’re supposed to chauffeur Gram, not the other way around.”

“I—”

“And that
derring-do
stunt you pulled. What if Gram had swerved or slammed on the brakes? If you have no regard for your own safety, think how she would’ve felt if you’d been hurt.”

“Message received. Are we done here? I have a dinner to prepare.”

No apology. No excuses. Just damned evasion. “Because of you,” he barreled on, needing to cement his point, “my grandmother, a seventy-five-year-old upstanding citizen with suddenly questionable judgment, was
arrested.
”

“Not formally. Charges were dropped.”

“They always are where you’re concerned. How do you swing that, Miss Monroe? Oh, wait. By crying foul. In this case, sexual misconduct.”

If looks could kill, he’d be six feet under. He waited for her to ask how he knew there’d been other arrests. Waited for her to plead innocence and spew some hard-luck story. Waited for her to lose her tightly controlled temper, to make a scene. Something overdramatic. Something worthy of an ex-actress, ex-publicist, ex–party girl (among a dozen other things)—a woman who manipulated men and situations via tears or seduction or some other calculated measure. Jayce’s report burned in his brain, and the sheriff’s suggestion that Chloe had lied in order to weasel out of trouble had burrowed under his skin.

Instead of ranting or bursting into tears, she crossed her arms and regarded him with quiet scorn. “Monica was wrong about you,” she said in a low, steady voice. “You don’t have a stick up your ass. You have a whole tree jammed up there.”

He blinked.

“For your information, I didn’t
cry foul.
I know when I’m being groped.”

“But you said—”

“I wanted Daisy to let it go, you obtuse … jackass. When we were sitting in the jail cell, she told me how Deputy Burke’s related to the mayor. Mentioned there’s bad blood between the Burkes and Monroes. Then you said the Burkes would make her life miserable. I don’t want to risk that, especially when I can’t prove anything. A cop’s word against mine. I certainly know who Sheriff Stone believed.”

Devlin’s already-burning temper flared. Billy
groped
her?

“As for my former arrests,” she plowed on, “I assume you learned about them from Sheriff Stone, although I don’t know how
he
learned about them, since my record was … I thought … whatever. It doesn’t matter. Obviously he chose to think the worst in spite of the facts.”

“Those facts being—”

“None of your business.”

He moved in, backing her against the Escalade, torn between shaking her and kissing her. Both urges sparked by her fiery defiance. “You’re living with and supposedly taking care of my grandmother. Everything you do, everything you’ve done, that may adversely affect her is
my
business.”

She jutted out her chin, taking him on. “I don’t answer to you. I don’t answer to any man.”

“No,” he said, caging her between his arms and leaning in, “I suspect they usually answer to you.” He thought about the rich daddy who’d supported her irresponsible lifestyle, then the sugar daddy who’d put her through culinary school. He imagined her working her charms, wrapping them around her dainty fingers. Did she always use the same ploy or switch it up? How did she plan to win him over?

He was so close he could smell her shampoo and the light scent of jasmine perfume wafting from her dewy skin. He could see the green flecks in her wide brown eyes, and the rapid pulse at the base of her throat. When her delectable mouth turned up into a coquettish grin, he thought he knew her weapon of choice. Manipulation by flirtation.