Her Unexpected Detour (13 page)

“What? No!” She pulled back and gave him a playful jab to the stomach. “No, I think I can do this now. Guess I just needed to get that off my chest.”

“Well, if there’s anything else you need help getting off—”

“Lunchtime!”

Kayla turned toward the sound of Ruby’s voice and felt Brent’s arms draw back from around her. She rose to her feet and leveled a stern look at him. “Now what were you starting to say?”

“Me? Nothin’.” He winked, then bent to brush mulch from his jeans. “You’d better get inside, before your lunch gets cold.”

“You’re…not joining me? I mean us?”

He looked from her to the inn and back. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Only if you promise not to do any more yelling.”

He studied her for a moment, as if waiting for her to change her mind. “I promise not to yell—with one exception.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

A slow grin stretched across his lips as he draped one arm over her shoulders. “If you ever even think of rooting for the Yankees.”

Lord, that smile was swoon-worthy. And contagious. Kayla slid her arm around his waist to keep her balance as they started for the dining room.

“If that ever happens, you’d better yell
and
smack me.”

“Oh, no. There’s only room for one smack-happy pipsqueak around here,” he said, ruffling her hair as they drew to a stop outside the back door. “And I think you’ve got that role covered.”

“Darn straight,” she mumbled, a fire lit in her cheeks. “So you just remember that.”

“Oh, I will, princess.” He pulled the door open and gestured for her to enter ahead of him. “I will.”

Chapter Fifteen

B
rent sat on his front porch Wednesday morning with a cup of joe in hand, watching the day chase away the night. It was another glorious sunrise, full of pinks and blues, and not a cloud in the sky. He drew in a deep breath of the humid, pine-scented air and tried to find peace. But peace had left him the moment he stepped into the path of one Kayla Daniels.

And he’d yet to find it since.

Every day—hell, every hour—since their accidental meeting on Friday had been an emotional roller coaster for him. The sight of her tugged at his carnal side, made his heart race and his libido spike. But it was her kind heart and giving nature that repeatedly drew him in and held him captive. Add in her musical voice and those unassuming beautiful blue eyes, and he was a goner.

At first, it’d pissed him off. He didn’t want to be a goner, didn’t want to feel, to want. But it seemed the harder he fought to push her away, the more determined fate was to thrust her right back into his arms. Except for Friday night, he’d more or less succeeded. Yesterday, though, had been the coup de grace.

Kayla had lost her mother to cancer. She was hurting, just like him.

It was rare to find people his age who’d experienced a loss similar to his. Most people didn’t know what to say when the subject came up. They couldn’t relate to his pain, his misery. Over time, he’d learned to bottle it up. To keep it out of conversations entirely.

It was easier that way for everyone involved. Or, at least, that’s what he’d grown to believe.

When Kayla sat with him yesterday, in desperate need of someone to listen and comfort her while she poured her heart out about the loss of her own mother, it’d caught him completely off-guard. He wasn’t used to talking about loss, let alone offering advice on the subject. She’d asked him if he’d come to accept his parents’ deaths.

Until that moment, Brent hadn’t realized that he had.

He drew in another deep breath, then slowly released it. The weight on his shoulders felt lighter somehow today, as though the knowledge that he’d achieved even a minimal amount of healing brought with it a lessening of the burden he’d long carried. A knowledge that he might not have come to discover for who knows how long had it not been for Kayla.

Bear gave up on tracking the animal that had long since skedaddled, and moseyed his way up onto the porch. He stopped before Brent, lowered his hindquarters onto the floor, then set his massive jowls in Brent’s lap.

“You miss her, don’t you, boy?”

Bear looked up at him, his eyebrows shifting in a silent admission. Brent ran his free hand over Bear’s head and rubbed behind his ears. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a quick, sloppy kiss to the hand.

“Yeah, I kinda miss her, too. Guess I ought to get used to it, though.”

Bear scooted closer, crowding Brent’s legs with his own.

“She’s not from around here, Bear. And I can’t do long-distance relationships.”

The pup dug his nose into the side of Brent’s leg.

“Yeah, you’re right—I can’t do any relationships. Which is why I have you.”

Brent offered his dog a halfhearted grin. He loved his four-legged roommate. But this morning, for the first time in forever, he felt the need for more. For companionship of the two-legged variety. His gaze shifted back to the sunrise, its glow brightening the skies from pinks and lavenders to a fiery orange. The view lit something inside of him with an emotion he hadn’t felt in far too long.

Hope.

Maybe it was time he stop fighting fate and let the cards fall where they may. He might not have forever with Kayla but, as far as he knew, he still had today. Sure, he’d already planned to stick close to her, to see if he couldn’t talk her into helping come up with some advertising tricks that might help him save the inn. But now, as he sat on his porch, a lonely man with his dog, Brent couldn’t help but wonder if the inn wasn’t the only thing needing saving.

And if Kayla might be the one who could save them both.

K
ayla hit the flower beds first thing Wednesday morning. It was either that or stare at her computer, willing emails to appear. After staying up into the wee hours of the night crafting the perfect angle with which to approach the Follinger project, she thought it would be a struggle to wake up. But instead of having to drag herself out of bed she’d sprung out, dying to know if anyone from her team had gone in early and seen the proposal.

Of course, no one had. She’d held the position of “team member with no life” for years; why would this week be any different? But instead of being discouraged by the radio silence, she chose to keep her chin up. They would get to work, be wowed by her research and suggestions, and dive in to crafting the perfect bid proposal.

And it was perfect. Not even that smug little twerp Joe Freimann would be able to refute it. To hear him admit that, to watch him squirm beneath the weight of his stepfather’s scowl when his assured subpar proposal was placed next to hers, would almost be worth a week off with no pay.

Almost.

For now, though, she needed to get some work done outside to earn her keep at the inn. The air around her was cool, and a sheer blanket of dew lay across the Checkerberry’s broad green lawn. In the distance, birds chirped their happy springtime songs, and chipmunks chattered. Kayla stood beside the inn, wishing there were a way to bottle up the moment and save it somehow. Then, when she was back in Fort Wayne and stuck behind her desk on some gloomy, stressful day, she could uncork the bottle and let Michigan’s natural beauty soothe her frayed nerves.

“Lollygagging already?” Brent asked, appearing out of nowhere.

Kayla jumped, then felt her pulse quicken. He had that effect on her, every time.

“No, I was savoring the moment.” She swatted at him with her empty garden gloves, but he was quick on his feet and easily dodged her strike. “‘Was’ being the key word.”

“There’s plenty more where this comes from when you live around here.” Brent sucked in a deep breath, his sandstone T-shirt stretching tight against his chest as he did so. Not that Kayla noticed. Much. He exhaled then threw her a smirk. “Nope, none of that city smog stinking up our air.”

Kayla laughed. “I live in Fort Wayne, Brent, not Detroit. We don’t have smog. At least, not on my side of town. Though it’s not nearly so peaceful in the city this time of day.”

“Pretty noisy there, is it?”

She looked up to study him. Why so much interest in where she lived all of a sudden? “It can be. Especially when you live in an apartment. You never know what your neighbors will be up to at any given moment.”

“Something tells me I wouldn’t do so well as an apartment dweller.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I like my sleep. If someone started blaring their stereo at odd hours of the night, it’d probably come to blows between us.”

The image of him lying on his back beside her, naked and spent from their moonlight activities Friday invaded her thoughts without invitation. She’d managed to stay awake a few minutes longer than he had and had just stared at him, fascinated. Asleep, his face softened and took on a youthful, almost angelic look. But awake…

Well, she’d seen his ticked off, not-so-angelic looks, too.

With a shake of her head, she pushed the memories aside. “Yeah, I guess not everyone’s cut out for city life.”

Brent stood beside her, his gaze sweeping the yard. Heat rolled off his body, chasing away the chill in the air around them. Kayla found herself wanting to lean in closer and soak up some of that warmth. But that wouldn’t help her get the landscaping done any faster, and she was already itching to get back inside and check her email inbox.

“You sick of playing in the petunias yet?”

She looked up, surprised by how close he’d come to reading her thoughts. “Um, no. Since there aren’t any petunias out here.”

“I could order some, to keep you busy—”

“No!”

Brent grinned. “That’s what I thought. How about you work for a bit and then come find me? Once I finish this first coat of paint, I’ve got another task I could use your help on.”

“My help? Wait, did big, bad Brent Masterson really just ask the pipsqueak for help?”

He leaned in closer, the delicious scent of his clean yet spicy aftershave washing over her. “Maybe he did. But if you tell anyone, he’d have to kill you.”

“I’d like to see him try.”

A wicked grin stretched across his lips. “Feisty this morning. I like it. Hang on to those emotions, princess. They might come in handy later.”

With that he smacked her on the ass. On the ass! Kayla whirled around to take another swing at him with her gloves, but he’d already jogged out of reach.

“It’s a good thing you’re quicker than you are smart,” she called, her butt still stinging.

“It’s a good thing you’re…well, we’ll see.”

We’ll see?
Kayla planted a fist on each hip, ready for the verbal jabs to continue, but Brent just chuckled as he rounded the porch without another look back.

Oh, he was up to something. What it was, she had no idea. But between his kind words and playful demeanor yesterday and today’s all out flirting, the grouch had transformed into Mr. Charming.

And darn it if that smile didn’t make her melt every single time he flashed it her way. Earlier in the week, she would have kept her distance, maybe even hidden from him. Today, his outgoing nature was gearing up to be the perfect distraction to her work anxiety.

Why not have a little fun and run with it?

B
rent had never rolled a coat of paint so fast in his life. Mainly because he’d never had a reason to before now. Painting was a hurry-up-and-wait kind of task. And watching paint dry was about as exciting as, well, watching paint dry.

But not today. Today he had other activities lined up. Activities that would take him and Kayla away from the inn and give them some time alone—away from work, away from meddling family members, and away from their pain.

He could hardly stand the wait.

“Hey, Green Thumb!” He called as he walked around back to the tool shed. “You about done over there?”

Kayla looked up from a flower bed that sat between the pool and parking areas and smiled. God, she was beautiful when she did that.

“Five more minutes?”

“Perfect. Gives me time to wash up. You need anything before we head out? A sandwich or something?”

“Head out?” She stood and brushed mulch from her knees. “Where exactly is this project of yours?”

“
Projects
. The first, though, is down by the pond.”

Her smile faded. “Oh. Um, no, I’m not hungry yet. But I should probably head inside and hit the restroom before we go.”

“Sure. Why don’t you do that, and meet me back out here when you’re ready. That is, if you’re not—”

“If you call me chicken one more time, Brent, so help me—”

Relief washed over him as her wary look turned back to the stubborn one he’d grown to adore. A little more taunting was sure to solidify her decision. “I was going to say too tired to go. But if you’re afraid to enter the woods with me…”

“Of course not.”

Her chin jutted up, and Brent was glad he had his hands full of paint supplies. Otherwise he’d have been tempted to close the distance between them and cup that chin in his hands to hold her still for one long, satisfying kiss.

“Okay, but don’t take too long. I haven’t got all day.”
And I want as much time with you as I can get before fate steals you away.

He continued on to the shed and caught the faint sound of her mumbling under her breath—something about him being bossy. Oh, yeah, he’d love to get bossy with her. But not here, not out in the open. No, he’d love to take control in the bedroom, when it was just the two of them. Bring her to her knees with want, need. Though one pout from those perfect pink lips and he’d relinquish control. Gladly.

Brent headed inside a few minutes later, distracted by a fantasy that included Kayla on her knees looking up at him with a naughty grin, when he nearly collided with his grandmother.

“Oh!” Ruby’s hand flew to her chest. “Goodness, Brent, you gave me such a fright.”

“Sorry.” Guilt and embarrassment warmed his cheeks. “You okay?”

“I will be in a moment.”

“Here, why don’t you sit, let your heart rate slow down?”

He put a hand on her shoulder and tried to guide her toward the nearest chair in the dining room, but she waved him off.

“I’m old, but I’m not that old.”

Brent chuckled. “Well, at least I know your sense of humor is still intact.”

“Apparently, so is yours.” A knowing grin stretched slowly across her soft, wrinkled face. “Things are going well today, I see?”

“Yep, got the first coat rolled on the porch.”

“I wasn’t talking about the porch,” she said.

“And I’m not talking about anything but.”

The two stood toe-to-toe, arms crossed and gazes locked. Masterson stubbornness at its finest. Her wise old eyes narrowed.

“You’ve cleaned up.”

“Maybe I’m done painting for a while.”

“Shall I pack a lunch for you two?”

“I—” Damn it, how did she
know
these things? “That would be great, thank you.”

A smug grin tugged at her lips once more. “I’ll be sure to pack strawberries. Though I don’t have any champagne on hand.”

“Jesus, Ruby. It’s lunch, not a proposal.”

“Language,” she warned. “And maybe not. Yet.”

She walked off, a swagger to her step, leaving a suddenly terrified Brent in her wake.

Not yet
? Oh, God. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, hadn’t pictured what the future might hold if he did put his heart on the line. Last time, it’d ended badly. Very badly. This time…

He shook his head.
It’s just lunch, remember, dummy?
No reason to get caught up in Ruby’s mind games. Kayla was funny and smart, adorably stubborn, and yeah, he was dying to get her naked body beneath him again. But they were a light year away from anything permanent, and it would be best for him to remember that. Especially if he wanted to keep his heart intact when the time came for her to leave.