The Playboy (3 page)
The cop eyed her warily, squinting against the sun. Lines bracketed his hazel eyes, made more golden by the sun’s glimmering rays.
“So.” He stepped closer. His masculine scent surrounded her, more potent than the heat of the sun. “Come on. Admit the real reason you’re out here and we can get on with things.”
Get on with what things? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But her adrenaline started to flow hard and fast.
“Come on, sweetheart. I’ve rescued you. What did you think would happen next?”
“Well, gee. I don’t know. Sex in the back seat of your patrol car?”
When his eyes darkened to a stormy hue, she recognized the sexual attraction and could have bitten her tongue in two for letting that sarcastic remark escape. Still honesty forced her to admit she felt the same way. Kendall was actually tempted to drag him into the woods and have her way with him herself. She still couldn’t believe it but the policeman turned her on. More than any man ever had, including Brian.
“At least we’re getting somewhere. So you admit to entrapment?”
“I admit to no such thing. As a matter of fact I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.” She perched her hands on her hips. “So tell me, Officer. Is this how Yorkshire Falls’s finest greets all newcomers? With rudeness, sarcasm, and veiled accusations?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “If so I can see why your population remains so small.”
“We’re picky who we let settle.”
“Well, good thing for both of us I don’t plan to remain long.”
“Did I say I didn’t want you here?” His lips twitched with an obviously reluctant smile.
Even when he was at his sarcastic, even accusatory best, he had a bedroom voice that dripped charisma. Sex. She trembled.
Then she licked her dry lips. She had to get out of here. “Much as I hate to ask you for anything, can you please drive me to 105 Edgemont Street?” She had no choice but to trust in his badge, his integrity, and her own gut instinct about the man, despite his disposition.
“105 Edgemont.” His body stiffened in obvious surprise.
“That’s what I said. Drop me off there so you can see the last of me.”
“That’s what you think,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?”
He shook his head and muttered beneath his breath, then he met her gaze. “You’re Crystal Sutton’s niece.”
“Yes. I’m Kendall Sutton, but how . . . ”
“I’m Rick Chandler.” He started to extend his hand, then obviously thought better of them touching again and shoved his fist into his pants pocket.
It took a minute for his words to penetrate, but when they did, Kendall’s gaze flew to his. “Rick Chandler?” Her Aunt Crystal had kept just one friend after Kendall had moved her from her home in Yorkshire Falls to the facility near New York City. Kendall stared at his handsome face. “Raina Chandler’s son?”
“That’s me.” And he still didn’t look too pleased.
“It’s been a long time. Forever, really.” Since she was ten and she’d lived her one happy summer with Aunt Crystal before the older woman’s arthritis had been diagnosed and Kendall forced to leave. She vaguely remembered meeting Rick Chandler or had it been one of his brothers? She shrugged. Having been there one summer and only ten years old, she hadn’t gotten close to the people in town nor had she kept in touch with any once she was gone.
Moving on was the story of Kendall’s life. Her parents were archaeologists and traveled on expeditions to remote parts of the world. She’d rarely kept track of them as a child and took about as much interest in their specific whereabouts now as they took in hers.
Kendall had lived with them abroad until she turned five, when they’d sent her back to the States to be shuffled between family members. She’d often wondered why her parents had a child they never planned to raise, but she’d rarely been with them long enough to ask— until Hannah had been born and her parents had returned stateside for five years. At twelve, almost thirteen, Kendall had moved back in with them but she hadn’t opened her heart to the people who’d essentially abandoned her, but came home for their newborn baby. The rift between Kendall and her parents had widened even though they no longer had oceans and continents between them, and remained until their departure. Kendall had then been eighteen and on her own.
“You’ve grown up.” Rick’s voice brought her back to the present. A wide smile pitched his lips into a charming grin.
No doubt about it, the man had a way about him. “So have you. Grown,” she sputtered stupidly. Into a spectacular man. One with roots to this town deeper than any tree. Roots were something she knew nothing about and a sexy man who had those spelled trouble for a woman destined to wander.
“Did my mother know you were coming to town today?” Rick asked.
She shook her head. “It was another impulsive decision.” Similar to her hair, she thought and lifted a hand to the pink-colored strands.
He exhaled and seemed to relax a bit. “Spurred on by the nixed wedding?”
She nodded. “By the mutual jilting.” She bit down on her lower lip. “Nothing has gone as planned today.”
“Including your rescue?”
She grinned. “It’s been an experience, Officer Chandler.”
“That it has been.” He laughed.
The deep, husky sound curled her insides into warm, coiled knots of need.
“Look, I know this is going to sound bizarre but do you think we could keep the details of this first meeting between us?” An actual flush stained his cheeks, something she doubted Rick Chandler experienced too often.
“Just get me out of this heat and into an air-conditioned house and I promise I won’t say a word.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t been back to Crystal’s house in a while.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement of fact they both knew to be true.
Only Kendall knew the reasons. She shook her head. “Not for years. Why?”
He shrugged. “You’ll see for yourself. Do you have luggage in the trunk?” he asked.
“A small carry-on and a suitcase.” Filled with bathing suits and other vacation clothing. She sighed. Nothing she could do about it now, so she’d have to go shopping for more practical clothing later.
He retrieved her bags and stowed them in his car before returning to cup her elbow in a gentlemanly gesture—unlike the cynical behavior he’d exhibited so far today.
A few minutes later they were on their way. Sweat trickled down Kendall’s back as the darn dress plastered to her wet skin. Despite the air-conditioning in the car, the cool blasts of air had done little to relieve the intense heat. Being in such close quarters with Rick Chandler made her body temperature soar, while he apparently remained oblivious to her charms.
He’d become her tour guide, pointing out the sights, such as they were, in his small hometown. All the while, he maintained a respectable distance while he talked. Too respectable, she thought irritably.
“We’re here.” Rick called her attention to Edgemont Street.
She glanced up. From a distance, the old house was just as she remembered it, a huge Victorian with wraparound porch and large front lawn. A place where she’d shared tea parties and had her first taste of beading and jewelry design before her aunt’s arthritis changed things. It was also the place where Kendall had nurtured childish dreams of staying forever with the aunt she adored.
But Crystal’s home had been temporary, just like every place prior or since. And once her aunt had been forced to send Kendall packing because of her health, Kendall had learned not to invest too much in the way of hopes and dreams in any one place or person. But if she’d learned that lesson well, then why the painful lump in her throat now, as she looked at the dilapidated house up close, through adult eyes? She let out a frustrated sigh.
Rick shifted the car into park and turned, one strong arm wrapped over the seat. “It’s gotten a little run-down over the years.”
“That’s an understatement.” She pasted on a smile. No need to dump her troubles on the man. He’d done enough for her already. “Aunt Crystal said she’d rented out the house. And since she never asked me to take care of anything while she was in the nursing home, even when I questioned her, I assumed things were going well. Guess I was wrong.”
“Appearances can be deceiving. All
is
well. It just depends on your perspective.”
There was that wry humor again. She laughed aloud, liking him way too much.
“Are Pearl and Eldin expecting you?” he asked.
“The renters?” She nodded. “I called from the road and said I’d be in town but I’d take a hotel. They insisted I stay in the guest house in the back.” She wondered if it was in better shape than the main house in front of her. “I’d hoped to work out an agreement for
them
to buy.” With her aunt’s outstanding bills, Kendall needed to sell for a price at or above market value, not below.
She bit down on her lower lip. “If we reach an easy agreement, I could be out of here by the end of the week,” she said with more optimism than she felt.
Rick remained silent.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing at all. You ready to go inside?”
She nodded, realizing she’d been stalling. Before she could gather her thoughts further, Rick met her by her car door, ready to help her out. She grit her teeth before touching him, then placed her hand inside his. The electricity sizzled, even more charged than before. She couldn’t shake it off, nor did she want to, but apparently he did because he released his grip fast, leaving her to gather her dress and head for the house.
Kendall made her way up the long drive. Her spiked heels kept catching in the broken sections of the driveway but she managed to stay on her feet—until the last step before the walkway, when her heel dug into the hot tar and wedged in good. While one leg stayed behind, her entire body pitched forward in what was destined to be a facedown sprawl onto the hard ground.
She yelped, then shut her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next.
W
hat was it about women and high heels? Rick didn’t know but this one looked damn cute, even in a wedding dress. He watched her wobble up the driveway and would have helped, but he had a suitcase in one hand and a hunch they were both safer at a discreet distance— until she lost her balance.
He couldn’t prevent the fall, but he could cushion the blow and he dove forward, letting her crash on top of him instead of the solid ground. He took the hit with a hard grunt as his back made painful contact with the walkway step. He sucked in a ragged breath and was caught off guard by her fragrant, arousing scent.
Damn but she was something else. Even with the wind knocked out of him, he was aware of her, and not just because her soft flowing hair tickled his face. She was feminine and soft, everything a woman should be and yet this pink-haired enigma was uniquely herself.
“Are you okay?”
He wasn’t sure who asked the question first.
“Nothing bruised but my pride,” she admitted. “You?” “I’ve taken harder spills sliding into second.” “Baseball?”
“Softball against neighboring police departments.” The inane conversation did little to take his mind off the fact that he had her in his arms again. The desire licking at him grew stronger, something she couldn’t possibly feel with all that plush lace between them. But despite the dress,
he
could feel plenty and it was time to untangle their bodies before he made an ass of himself by kissing her senseless. “Think you can get off before you crush me?”
“Is that a veiled reference to my weight?” she asked. Only a confident female could joke like that, cementing the impression that she wasn’t at all like other women. She rolled off to one side and he missed the light pressure against him.
He glanced over and stifled a laugh. Instead of an easy release, she’d tangled herself further in the dress. “You know what they say. If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.” He let out an exaggerated groan and rose to his feet. Then he bent down and lifted the fluffy white bundle into his arms.
“What are you doing?” She grabbed for his neck and held on tight.
His back had taken the brunt of the fall and he wasn’t about to risk a repeat episode. “Protecting my vital body parts from further injury.”
“Funny, you felt pretty intact to me.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. So much for the illusion of safety beneath the layered dress. He wanted her and she knew it.
A woman fresh from a broken engagement, one who affected him this strongly, was dangerous. She also was fun, something he just now realized he hadn’t had in a long while. Life had become routine. It was a sad commentary if he could consider his mother and her small female army of recruits routine. But Kendall wasn’t one of his mother’s women and he liked her more for it.
He strode up the walk, leaving the luggage behind and even managed the steps leading to the house with her in his arms. Without warning, the door opened wide. Pearl Robinson, the female renter of her aunt’s house and one half of an elderly couple living in sin, as Pearl was so fond of telling everyone in town, stood before them.
“Eldin, we have company,” Pearl called over her shoulder. She’d been with Eldin Wingate forever. She smoothed her gray hair back in a bun. “I was expecting Crystal’s niece, but not two of you.” Her gaze traveled over both Rick and the woman in his arms. “You’ve been holding out on us, Rick. And you’ve been holding out on your mother too. Why just this morning, she was lamenting her grandchildless fate.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not surprised.”
Pearl glanced over her shoulder. “Eldin, get your lazy behind out here,” she yelled, since Eldin hadn’t arrived quick enough to suit her. “And hurry up before he drops her.”
“There’s no chance of that,” Rick whispered in Kendall’s ear, not so much to reassure her as to allow himself another heavenly whiff of her fragrant hair.
“But you won’t mind if I don’t take any chances. Just in case.” She gripped her small, soft hands tighter around his neck.
He liked the feeling.
“I’m coming, woman.” Pearl’s other half came up beside her, a tall man with white hair and all his own teeth. Or so he claimed. “What’s so important you couldn’t bring our guests inside—” He took one look at Rick and his words came to an abrupt halt.