The Playboy (17 page)

Rick Chandler never gave up without a fight. “I want to know how their absence affected you,” he said, speaking of her parents.

“It didn’t.”

But she shifted her gaze away from his, making her words the self-protective lie he’d already suspected. “Kendall?” He released his grasp on one of her hands and turned her chin so she had no choice but to face him. “I suspect it was a lonely childhood.”

“I had family,” she said, sounding way too defensive. “What’s the longest you lived with any one of your relatives?”

“Two years, maybe three. I had a lot of family to choose between,” she said too lightly.

He opted not to ask her why none offered stability by asking to stay with them permanently. His goal was for them to grow closer, not to cause her pain.

She let out a sigh. “I think isolationism must be the family motto. My mother has two sisters and a brother, my father has a brother. Each did their duty. None wanted a child that wasn’t theirs permanently underfoot.”

She surprised him by digging into the topic he’d opted not to touch. Realizing how difficult it must be to reach inside herself and open up, he remained silent and let her reveal more on her own.

“Except for Aunt Crystal.” Kendall’s eyes lit up at the memory of her most beloved relative. “That was the best time. I was ten and I don’t remember all that much but a lot of love. And cookies.” She smiled, a warm, tender glow on her cheeks. “Even after I left because the arthritis hit her hands first and she knew she wouldn’t be able to take care of a young child, she wrote every week . . . or I thought she wrote. I realized later she dictated the letters to a friend.”

“The point is she cared.”

Kendall nodded, then swallowed hard. A lone tear dripped down her cheek.

He hadn’t wanted to dredge up painful memories, but he’d accomplished his goal. She’d let him in. He wiped the drop of moisture off her cheek with his thumb, then sealed his lips over hers. As usual the kiss ignited the burning desire to be inside her but more than physical need, Rick wanted to show her he cared. To make her feel special and let her know she was wanted in so many different ways. He undressed her slowly, appraising her with his eyes and worshiping her with his hands. He got rid of his own clothes in quick succession and grabbed for the foil packet in his drawer.

“We’re working our way through the box,” she said, obviously pleased.

“That’s the plan.”

He’d no sooner ripped open the package than Kendall snatched it from his hand. “Let me.”

And while he watched, she did as she’d promised earlier—she took care of him—sheathing his hard erection with trembling hands. Then she lay back on the bed and opened her legs, waiting for him. Knowing she wanted him as badly as he desired her was a huge turn-on, one that humbled him in many ways. The sight stole his breath.

He moved on top of her, thrusting fast. She was moist and wet, contracting around him, taking him deeper and deeper inside. She wrapped her legs around his waist and suctioned him completely into her. Their skin was slick with sweat, their bodies rocking in unison, not fast and frenzied, but a slower coming together, a meaningful joining of two people who’d bared not just their bodies but their souls.

Rick thought he’d long since understood the distinction between having sex and making love. But as he surged one last time, taking them both over the edge, he finally comprehended that distinction, in a way he’d never experienced before.

Minutes later, the aftershocks still shaking him, his breathing still rough, he settled beneath the covers with Kendall in his arms. A sense of peace and rightness settled over him, along with one of imminent doom.

“I was supposed to take care of you tonight,” she whispered as her eyelids drifted shut.

He forced a laugh. “You did.”

“I’m glad.” Her drowsy voice wrapped around his heart.

He held her in silence and waited until her breaths came in slow, shallow succession before shutting his eyes. He could easily get used to this, but unlike the dream of becoming a cop, this one that involved Kendall was much more futile.

A high-pitched ringing woke Kendall from a deep, luxurious sleep. She didn’t want to be bothered, not when she was cocooned in such delicious warmth, but a hand on her arm was shaking her, giving her no choice but to open her eyes.

“Kendall. It’s the phone in your purse,” Rick said. She groaned and buried her head in the pillow before rolling over and out of bed. Air-conditioning hit her bare skin and she shivered. She dug through her bag, pulled out her phone, and glanced at the incoming number. She didn’t recognize anything but the Vermont area code. Hannah, she thought and realized the cold air on her naked body was the least of her problems.

She pressed the green button, hoping she hadn’t missed the call. “Hannah? Hannah, are you still there?”

“Of course I’m still here. Vermont’s the other end of the world. I can’t travel far without money or a car.” Her sister’s annoyed voice sounded over the phone lines.

“That’s not what I meant.” Kendall ran a hand through her morning-messy hair. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah we do.”

Kendall narrowed her gaze. Hannah had been avoiding her phone calls for days and now she was suddenly being agreeable? “What’s going on?”

“Like you care.”

Kendall ignored that comment. “I spoke to Mr. Vancouver—”

“He hates me.”

“Apparently you’re giving him good reason.” Her sister snorted.

“He said you’re on probation.”

“Uh, not anymore.”

Kendall blinked. “You’re off probation? How’d you manage that? Did you apologize or—”

“I left.”

“What do you mean you left?” Kendall shrieked and Rick jumped out of bed, coming up behind her and leading her back so she could sit down on the mattress. “Where are you? And how are you?” She willed herself not to panic. Yet.

“What do you think I mean? I left. It’s not like they wanted me there anyway. I’m sure I saved him the job of kicking me out.”

“Kicking you out?” Though Mr. Vancouver had intimated such consequences were possible, Kendall had thought for sure he’d sit down with Hannah and her parents, or Hannah and Kendall, and talk first. And she’d never thought her sister would do anything to lead to such drastic consequences.

“Would you quit repeating everything I say? It’s no big deal. This school sucks.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not my mother.” Kendall cringed at Hannah’s nasty tone. What happened to her sweet sister and what had caused her to run from school? “Look, I happen to be the only adult relative listed on your emergency card at school. That gives me some rights. And the first right I’ve got is to get a straight answer.” To the most important question, Kendall thought. “How are you?”

“Like you care,” Hannah shot back with that snotty tone again.

“I do.”

“Whatever. I’m fine and I’m at the bus station near school. I need a ticket and I need to know where you are. Between Mom, Dad, and you, it’s like having no relatives at all.”

Hannah’s words were like a knife in Kendall’s heart. She’d lived the very life Hannah just described and it hadn’t been fun, nor filled with warm, fuzzy moments. Their parents had chosen boarding school for Hannah as a means of providing more stability than Kendall had had. But could stability replace family, a chiding voice inside Kendall asked. “Hannah—”

“Don’t get all mushy on me. Just get me out of here, okay?”

Kendall blinked. Her sister’s animosity and hurt obviously ran deep. And Kendall hadn’t even realized it existed. She’d been so caught up in caring for Aunt Crystal and dealing with her own problems, she’d merely assumed Hannah was safe and happy in boarding school. An assumption that would obviously cost her now.

But first, she needed to get Hannah home. As if either of them had a home. Kendall glanced at her watch. It was eight
A.M.
already. She rubbed at her eyes. “Give me the information about where you are and I’ll call and buy a bus ticket. You have your ID on you?” She gestured to Rick for a pencil and paper.

“Yeah.”

Rick handed her the things she’d asked for. “Thanks,” she mouthed at him. “Go ahead, Hannah.” Kendall scribbled down the Vermont bus terminal name and area code, then asked and got the pay phone number. “I’ll make the arrangements and there’ll be a ticket waiting for you. I’ll meet you on the other end.”

“Whatever.”

Kendall saw past the bravado to the scared girl alone at a bus station, or perhaps Kendall just needed to believe her sister wasn’t as hardened and uncaring as she sounded. After all, she’d been in touch with Hannah lately and she’d sounded fine.
But when was the last time you really made time to listen to her,
that same accusing voice asked. Not wanting to face the answers or the guilt, Kendall turned her attention to the here and now. “Be careful, Hannah.”

“I’m not going back to that place.” Hannah’s voice cracked and Kendall knew she hadn’t imagined it this time.

Kendall swallowed over the lump in her throat. “We’ll talk when you get here, okay?”

“Just promise me you won’t send me back there.” She’d have to reach her parents somehow, but no child should have to stay where they were that unhappy. “I promise.”

A loud exhale of relief sounded over the other end of the phone.

“I’ll call Mr. Vancouver and explain you’re on your way to me. I don’t want him calling the police or reporting you missing.”

“Don’t take anything he says too seriously. The cue ball—”

“That would be Mr. Vancouver?” Kendall hazarded a guess.

Hannah snorted in reply. “He has no sense of humor.” “I wouldn’t either if you were calling me a cue ball,” Kendall said wryly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear Hannah’s latest prank either.

“I only did it to his face once.”

She shook her head, realizing she had her work cut out for her when Hannah arrived. “Let me go buy the ticket. I want you here safe and sound. Stand by the pay phone. I’ll call you back with the details.”

Kendall spent the next five minutes on the phone, purchasing the ticket, making certain the clerk would watch out for Hannah until she got on the bus, and then she called her sister back.

Finally, she hung up the phone and turned to Rick. “She’s on a 10:45. I have to pick her up in Harrington at 2:55 this afternoon.”

“What happened?” Rick eased the cell phone out of her hand and placed it on the nightstand.

Kendall ran a shaking hand through her hair, then began to pace. “I can’t believe this.”

“Come sit down.” He patted the mattress where they’d made love and then slept in a blissful state of oblivion— while her sister was so unhappy.

And Kendall hadn’t a clue. Hadn’t seen it coming. She shook her head, her thoughts reeling. “Hannah must be distraught. I mean how could she just leave school? How could she do something as stupid as arrive at a bus station, no real destination in mind. Who does something that impulsive?”

Rick winced. “Excuse me for stating the obvious, but you do.”

Kendall opened her mouth to argue, then realized she couldn’t. “Okay, so it runs in the family. But do you know what can happen to a fourteen-year-old girl alone at a bus terminal?” She shuddered to think about it. “That clerk better watch out for her.”

Rick picked up the paper she’d written her notes on earlier, then grabbed for the phone and dialed. “Hello?”

“What are you—”

He held a hand up to silence her. “This is Officer Rick Chandler from the Yorkshire Falls Police Department. Yorkshire Falls, New York. You have a minor child there named Hannah Sutton?” He waited for an answer, then nodded at Kendall. “Good. I’d appreciate it if you made certain she got on the proper bus and wasn’t bothered by strangers while she waits. I can give you my badge number for an ID if you need—” He remained silent again, listening. “Won’t be necessary? Thank you. I appreciate that. Bye.” He set the phone back down and grinned at her.

“Can you do that?”

He shrugged. “I just did. Feel better?”

“Much.” She came back to bed then and treated him to a grateful hug. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.”

Rick couldn’t tell her how much she’d come to mean to him. Not without scaring her off. “I’ll go with you to get her.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“I can get someone to switch shifts.”

Warmth filled her gaze. “I really appreciate that. You know for all my talk about loving my sister, we haven’t lived together since I was eighteen. I don’t know what to do with a teenager. And an angry one at that.” She shivered at the obviously overwhelming sense of responsibility. “How can I get through to her?”

“She called you, didn’t she? You two will come to terms.”

Kendall shook her head. “I’m sure I wasn’t her first choice but she didn’t have anyone else to call. I got the distinct impression she doesn’t think I care much. I do, but I’m beginning to understand—I’ve given her reason to believe what she does.” She hung her head, obviously not proud of herself.

He tipped her chin upward. “Kendall, you’re her sister, not her parent. You were living through your own problems. You’re here for her now. That’s all that counts.”

He ran a soothing hand over her bare back, savoring the feel of her skin. The closeness they’d shared had been a moment out of time. Reality had intruded in the form of a fourteen-year-old girl. Rick felt sorry for both Kendall and Hannah. He hated losing the alone time he’d planned to share with Kendall, but he’d be here for her and help her through this rough patch.

She gave him a shaky smile. “Thanks. I guess I’ll have to try to locate my parents,
if
they can be found, which is unlikely. They’re on an excursion in Africa somewhere.”

“No cell phones there, huh?”

“No. Which means any decisions regarding Hannah are my responsibility.” She sighed. “And I promised her no more Vermont Acres, so I’ll have to feel her out and see what kind of school she’d be happy in come fall.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I mean you wouldn’t want to tie yourself down to anyone or anything.”

She stiffened her spine and glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”