Hurricane (6 page)

The idea that he had cracked her carefully maintained front pleased him. In her office, when she had turned him down flat, he had known it would only be a matter of time before she would get in touch with him. He could be patient, since he knew he wanted to get to know her very well. In his gut, he knew Julianne would be in his life for a long time to come. If he had anything to do with it, she would be his forever. Keenan’s smile widened. Julianne had made the first salvo with her asking him on a date. Now, it was his turn to make her realise it wasn’t just because she couldn’t understand why he threw her off. That was the other thing he’d already figured out. To her, he was a challenge and had to be placed in a category. It was that look in her eyes that told him she was trying to place him where he would fit.

What Julianne didn’t get was that he was just Keenan. There was nothing to figure out. He was just a simple man who knew what he wanted. Her daughter, Rissa, caught his attention. She looked a lot like her mother, but a mix of what he assumed was her father, as well. The combination had created a beautiful young girl who would turn out to be a beautiful woman. Just like her mother. As part of his investigation, he had run a search on Julianne and knew a little about the accident in which Julianne had lost her husband. He hadn’t delved too deeply, instead wanting her to tell him once they became a couple.

Keenan chuckled and shook his head. He was so sure they would be more. Brigid, his oldest sister and Callie’s mother, had been urging him to contact Julianne again. Brigid had never mentioned she knew Julianne before—he’d have to ask her why. Keenan had not followed her suggestion, wanting Julianne to come to him. It had been a gamble but his instincts had never failed him. And they still hadn’t.

Turning, he picked up his helmet, donned it and skated off to join her and the girls. He stood, listening, as she explained how to twirl, then demonstrated. The movements made the hem of her shirt lift and show more of her tight shorts. Swallowing, Keenan turned his attention to the girls. They were twirling as Julianne had shown them.

“Okay. That’s enough for now. Let’s skate,” Julianne said.

The girls took off eagerly.

“Rissa, remember my rule,” she called.

“Within eye view of you. I got it, Mom,” Rissa replied.

He and Julianne skated behind the girls at a slower pace.

“Rissa is beautiful and seems to be a good, well-mannered girl.”

“She is. Most of the time.” Julianne chuckled.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know her.”

Julianne didn’t say anything. They skated, not speaking for a bit. He kept glancing at Julianne and was drawn back to watching the slits of her shirt showing her biker shorts just beneath. Keenan glanced towards his niece to see where she was. The girls were talking and still within view. He shifted closer to Julianne, sliding his hand around her waist. She put hers around his waist as they skated.

Keenan leaned closer and whispered, “Your outfit is sexy. It’s driving me crazy.”

“This old thing? I have a few rollerblading outfits that would make you even crazier. If you’re lucky, we can blade another time and I’ll show you. Not sure if you can handle it, since this one is making you crazy already.” Julianne smirked, then winked.

Keenan laughed, then replied, “I’ll take my chances. If the others are anything like this one, buy more. I love rollerblading and do it whenever I can. We’ll definitely be doing it again.”

“I love it, too. All of my family and friends do as well. We even sometimes all come together. It’s quite a sight. We’re our own tribe when we do.” She chuckled.

“I can bet. You have a large family.”

“I do. And not only Lockes by blood, either. We have a lot of friends who we see as family, even though they are no way blood related to us. I have a very extended family.”

“I haven’t met everyone yet, but at the hospital I thought there were a lot of you. Then at the poker games, I swear every week there is a different Locke that I’m introduced to. How many of y’all are there?”

“Well…um…Locke family, including my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and some who have spouses and kids, there is over a hundred of us living in Singleton. If I add the family that isn’t Locke, or even married to one, then the number would be about…a little over two hundred,” Julianne said.

Keenan whistled, then said, “Wow. I thought my family was a lot of people. We only have about forty of us. And not all of us still live here. Only my parents, Brigid, Fergus and Angus—two of my cousins—and I still live here. Does all of your family live here? How do you keep in touch with everyone? Have you always lived in this area of Singleton?”

“Yep. Well, at least this is their home base. Some of the family is in the military and have to go where they are sent or deployed. But this is where they come to when they are on leave and they also have houses here. And keeping in touch is easy. Our parents made sure of that. Yep, we’ve always lived in this area. Love it, and Singleton, in general. The whole small town, yet big city feel is what made us all settle here. That, and we’re a close family.” Julianne shrugged.

“It’s good to see you all get along together. I was born in Singleton and always lived in this area, too, but I don’t recollect any Lockes in any of my schools I went to,” he said.

Keenan guided them around some other bladers. The pedestrians who enjoyed the park were increasing. The early May day was unseasonably warm. Many were taking advantage of it. Vinmont Boulevard, where the park was located, was a fairly popular area no matter what the weather. The good-sized park had the Nicolas Amusement Park, an enclosed amphitheatre, and many shops as well as restaurants. He made a mental note to ask Julianne if she wanted to get a drink. With the warm day, they needed to keep hydrated.

“I didn’t say we all get along. But, in the end, we are family and we remember that when it counts. We moved here about twenty-four years ago when I was twelve. I don’t think I remember you in any of my classes, either. How old are you?”

“Ahhh…that explains it. I was six years ahead of you. Maybe Fergus or Angus will remember you. I’m forty-two. Where are you originally from?”

There was a slight lilt of an accent whenever she spoke. Subtle, but it gave her a sexy alto, a musical cadence he felt he should know. Each time she spoke, he wanted to kiss her, wanted to see if she moaned or called his name—would her accent get thicker?

“St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. You said you were born here, but I detect a hint of an accent. With a name like Callaghan, I’m assuming you’re Irish,” Julianne said.

“You’re the one with the accent, not me. Yep. My parents were born there and came here. Settled and made a family. They speak Gaelic and taught all of us, too. We’ve visited our family in Ireland lots of times. Now, there in Ireland, we would outnumber you ten to one.”

“You have an accent just like I do. And I wouldn’t be sure about outnumbering us. We have lots of family throughout the world and in the islands. I could count, but the math would give me a headache.” Julianne squeezed his waist playfully.

“True. I don’t have an accent. You have one…it’s sensual and lyrical,” Keenan said.

Julianne stopped and he stopped with her. She glanced up at him, and seemed to be studying him. Her golden gaze held a twinkle, which, if he didn’t miss his guess, would be her teasing him.

“You are an Irish man. A poetic one. Are you a romantic, Keenan?”

Keenan refused to blush. The heat flowed up his cheeks, and he knew he was, damn it. Julianne’s eyes widened and she cupped his cheek.

“You’re blushing.”

“I know. It’s a family curse. Thankfully, I don’t blush as easily as some of the others. No need to point it out.” He scowled.

“Oh, man, I am so going to have fun making you blush.” She chuckled.

“That’s not nice.”

“Who said I was nice?” She leaned closer to him, then whispered, “I will be very nice when I find ways to make you blush.”

“And I’ll promise to enjoy it,” Keenan said in return, his voice husky.

“Good to know. So, are you finished interrogating me?” Julianne smiled.

“Sorry. It’s habit.” Keenan chuckled.

He glanced towards the girls. They were sitting on a bench not too far away.

“Harmon and Carlton mentioned you used to be a homicide detective. Why did you leave to investigate fires?”

He returned his attention to her. “Too complicated to get into right now. Promise I will tell you sometime.”

“Do you keep your promises?” She cocked her head.

Keenan had noticed in their meeting at the hospital that she did that when she was discussing something important to her. He’d also observed that she fiddled with the edge of her hair when she was nervous about something. When they’d next met, in her office, she had done the same thing when they’d talked. When she’d approached him, he knew she’d been nervous and working up to saying something important from the way she’d fiddled with the end of her hair, then cocked her head. Julianne probably didn’t know she did those things, and he wasn’t about to tell her. He was picking up on her little mannerisms. They all made her so sexy. Each was done with such grace and unconscious sexuality.

“I do.”

“Good to know. I do, too. And I promise to make you blush. Also promise to wear something the next time we roller blade that will make you insane.” She grinned impishly.

“Have mercy,” he moaned.

“There are many types of mercy. We’ll discuss them sometime.” Julianne’s accent got thicker as she spoke.

Keenan gulped, wondering what he had got himself into. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t wait to see where it led.

“You need to buy lots more of what you’re wearing from wherever you got it. I’m going to want to roller blade a lot. Love how you move.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Montana you said so.” Julianne chuckled.

“Montana?”

“She owns the shop where I buy most of my and Rissa’s clothing, including my athletic things. She designs them and has them made.”

“If this is a sample of what she does, she’s good. The cream suit you had on in your office. Did she design that, too?”

“Yes. You seem to be obsessed with my clothes, Keenan.”

“More like…intrigued by how sexy they make you look,” he countered.

Julianne made a soft sound and glanced towards where the girls sat, then pressed against him. “You have a way with words. It could be a dangerous thing to a woman trying to be sort of a lady.”

“Being sort of a gentleman, I’ll not take advantage…yet,” Keenan whispered against the side of her face.

Julianne shivered. She pressed against his straining erection.

Julianne pulled away and breathed out. “I don’t know how I will survive our second date.”

“Second?” He fingered the edge of her braided hair.

“Seeing as we spent this time together, it could count as a date.”

“Uh-uh…this isn’t a date. That’s for later. Be ready for it,” Keenan warned.

“What do you have planned?”

“Wait and see, Julianne.” He ran his finger down her nose.

Julianne’s lids lowered partially over her captivating eyes. Keenan breathed deeply. The scent of honeysuckle and peaches filled him. Even after working up a sweat, she smelt delicious. He wanted to lick her all over.

“Mom? Are we going to skate some more?” Rissa’s voice piped in.

Keenan glanced at Rissa and Callie. The girls were skating towards them.

“Yeah. Race you!” Julianne skated off.

The girls raced behind her, laughing. Keenan followed slowly, letting his body calm down. Once he was a little more in control, he joined them. He was looking forward to their first date.

Later, as he drove to the address she’d provided, Keenan frowned at the directions. The area wasn’t too far from where his own house on Sheffield Avenue was located, but he didn’t remember ever having to drive by this place. He read the address again.

“Burrows Place,
3586 Locke Estate 4.”

Making the right onto Burrows, he drove a little farther, then slowed. Keenan’s brow furrowed as he spotted the huge sign on his right, which was made of black brick columns on either side of a semi-circle black hued plaque with gold trim along the edge. The writing on the sign, also in gold, stated “Locke Estate 1” with a list of addresses below. On each side of the sign were benches with a small shelter over them.

Since the address he’d been given didn’t match the numbers listed, he drove on slowly past the turn off where the sign was located. Keenan lifted an eyebrow as he passed not only Locke Estate two but also three, which had a similar sign and a different set of numbers, none of which matched the number he’d been given. He was surprised that there was more than one Locke Estate—when Julianne had given him the address he hadn’t even thought there would be so many. Finally spotting Locke Estate four, he made the turn. From the first sight of the two lanes, one up and the other down as well as directional signs, it reminded him of Kindred Place. He noted his destination was the farthest away from the entrance. Cresting the slight incline, he drove up the driveway, taking in the house.

It was an architectural dream. Brick, stone and stucco mixed together to create a mosaic look to the front of the house. Huge bay windows and a slanted roof offset it. From outside, it looked like two floors. On the right side of the second floor, extending out, was a balcony with glass curving from the roof and seeming to disappear behind the ornamental railing. If he had to guess, it would be the master bedroom, as the way the balcony was set up would afford privacy. Holding up the second floor platform were columns that went into arches on three sides—across the front and down both sides of the house. The area under it was a porch that led down the side of the house and out of view. He could see flower boxes and hanging plants throughout the area, and a patio table with chairs and other furnishings.

Manoeuvring his black Dodge Dakota Laramie Crew Cab into the space that seemed designed for parking, he got out. He went up the three steps under the arched stone-faced covering and onto the landing, pressing the doorbell. The door swung open before the musical chimes could stop playing. Keenan’s breath caught. He had promised himself to act like a gentleman and not strip her bare as soon as he saw her. Her clothing was testing his restraint.