Kitabı oku: «Can't Help Falling In Love», sayfa 4
Wes stood as well. He was nearly the height and breadth of Jack, but not quite. A difference that certainly didn’t please the lieutenant, who rested his right hand on the butt of the gun strapped to his waist.
“Skyler, I need to talk to Jack alone for a minute.”
“What for?” Skyler asked suspiciously, gazing up at the two men.
“A little man-to-man thing. You understand.” Smiling, Wes gestured toward the door.
“Does it concern me?”
“Yes.”
“Forget it.”
Wes shrugged. “Fine.” He directed his intense blue gaze at Jack. “Stay away from my sister, Tesson.”
Before Jack could do more than tighten his jaw, Skyler leapt to her feet. “Wesley Austin Kimball!” She leaned over the desk, her hands planted firmly in the center. “That’s the rudest—”
“He’s a firefighter, Sky,” Wes interrupted quietly.
Skyler’s gaze darted to Jack, then back to her brother, and Jack had the sinking sensation his job was a bad thing. Usually, women were impressed by his profession. But then she’d suffered a great loss at the hands of fire fighting.
“It’s a brother’s duty to look out for his sister,” Wes continued.
Skyler pressed her lips together. Then, after a penetrating glance in Jack’s direction, she addressed her brother. “You know how much I appreciate your concern, but I can handle this. I don’t need you to protect me from Jack.”
Wes frowned. “You realize if Ben finds out Jack will lose his job.”
Skyler shook her head.
Jack couldn’t help but wonder—did that mean he wouldn’t lose his job, or Ben wouldn’t find out, or there wouldn’t be anything to find out?
“Jack and I will work this out,” she said firmly to Wes. “I don’t want your interference.”
Wes continued to scowl and look puzzled as if Skyler spoke a foreign language, and Jack grinned. Confidence surged through him. If he’d ever had doubts Skyler was worth any risk, he shoved them aside.
Until she strode from the room.
“And don’t think I don’t know about that frat boy with the roses!” Wes called after her.
Skyler slammed the door.
Well, hell. The lady might be interested, but, clearly, he still had a long way to go.
Wes dropped back into his chair and propped his feet on his desk. “Well, ‘Wild Jack’ Tesson, I ran a make on you, you know.”
Wishing he didn’t so completely miss Skyler’s presence, Jack raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
Wes held up his hands. “All part of the background check when you applied for your job.” He paused. “You seem to have a tendency toward barroom brawls.”
“I don’t have any arrests on my record.”
Wes shrugged. “I asked around.”
And heard a lot of stories about his out-there parents and his own wild early years. “I was a bouncer in my grandparents’ bar. I broke up fights. I didn’t start them.”
“Just like tonight.”
Jack was through pretending to be easygoing. And he was through humoring Wes Kimball. He could understand the guy’s need to protect his sister, but not at his expense. Saying nothing, he walked to the door. As he turned the knob, Wes called his name.
He glanced over his shoulder.
Wes held up the arrest report. “Tell you what, Jack ole boy, you stay away from my sister, and I’ll rip this in half.”
Jack wasn’t too worried about being prosecuted, but he guessed Wes could hand his report over to the town council, who’d be less than thrilled to have their newest employee in trouble with the law. But after that kiss with Skyler, feeling the heat they generated, seeing the resolve in her eyes made him realize he had no intention of giving up on her. This little pissing contest between him and Wes wouldn’t discourage him.
Their relationship couldn’t last, he supposed. He’d be off to Atlanta soon, maybe even before she realized he wasn’t good enough for her.
But he had no intention of revealing any of that to Wes. He opened the door. “Keep your report. I’d rather have Skyler.”
“WHY IS MY LUCK so rotten, Monica?”
Checking the fit of her black satin bustier, panties, garter belt, stockings and four-inch, rhinestone-studded shoes in the wall of mirrors, the statuesque redhead sighed. “Skyler, honey, having to spend endless hours planning the Fourth of July celebration with Jack Tesson is good luck, not bad.”
“Humph. The last time I was with him I got punched in the eye, and he got arrested. What does everyone see in him anyway?” Skyler asked as if she hadn’t spent endless hours fantasizing about the luscious firefighter herself.
He’d caught her when she’d fainted, stood up to an entire bar of hostile people, he’d stood up to her brother. All to his detriment. No doubt Wes hadn’t listened to her request that he butt out of her relationship with Jack and had conspired with the mayor to give him the Fourth of July duty as punishment.
The whole mess had Skyler aroused, irritable and guilt-laden. The only positive thing that had happened over the past few days was the swelling around her eye had finally gone down, and she’d reaffirmed her resolve that interest in Jack was completely counterproductive. He was a firefighter. Dangerous and heroic. And leaving. Even Wes—who could be extremely hardheaded—recognized the mismatch. She, Ms. Paranoid Over Her Brothers’ Risky Professions, hot for a firefighter? Absurd. Ridiculous. Out of the question.
“He’s gorgeous, sexy and charming,” Monica said. “And that accent…whew.”
Okay, so maybe the entire female population of Baxter, plus Roland, had excellent taste, but Skyler fully intended to pretend otherwise. “Don’t let Wes hear you say that. He and Jack nearly came to blows the other night.” Wes and Monica had been dating for weeks—a record for her brother—and Skyler had hopes she’d finally have another woman in their testosterone-in-surplus family.
“They nearly came to blows over you. Isn’t that terrific?”
Skyler tugged the lace trim into place, then rose. “No.”
“I’d love to have two men fighting over me.”
“One of them was my brother,” Skyler reminded her friend, though she wouldn’t want two men fighting over her under any circumstance.
“Yeah, well, your brother certainly isn’t that passionate about defending me.”
“Of course he is. He’s crazy about you.”
“I’m not so sure.” Monica stepped onto the raised platform positioned in the center of the large dressing room. The track lighting enhanced her curvy figure and pale skin. She cocked her hip and smiled. “But this will help.”
Skyler walked around Monica, eyeing the fit of the racy lingerie with a critical eye. In the pink-and-gold decorated back room—her bold nod to whorehouse-chic—they had complete privacy to conduct the risqué business of the shop. Fiona had the day off, and Skyler had installed the new warning bell so she wouldn’t have to lock the door in the middle of the day.
“It’s not too tight around the bust?” Skyler asked.
“No, it’s perfect.”
Finally, Skyler smiled. “It certainly is. Wes is going to flip when he sees you in that.”
“I hope so,” Monica said, but she didn’t sound too certain.
“Chaud, chère,” a familiar male voice called from behind them.
Gasping, Skyler whirled.
“Hot, hot, hot,” Jack Tesson said, strolling boldly into the room.
Skyler blinked, hardly able to believe her eyes. The man had the worst timing of anyone on the planet. And why hadn’t her door alarm gone off?
Some inner protective instinct finally asserted itself. Move! it yelled. Cover this up quick, or the town council will know your dirty little secret by noon, and you’ll be out on your backside—leather, lace and all.
She grabbed Monica by the arm. “Let me handle this,” she muttered.
“Can I watch?” Monica asked, then laughed.
Skyler didn’t see anything to laugh about. She tugged her friend to a dressing stall, shoving the pink velvet curtain closed.
“Out,” she said, pointing at Jack as he hovered in the doorway.
He leaned one exceptional shoulder against the frame. “Oh, I like the view from here.”
From behind the curtain, Monica giggled.
Skyler seethed.
Jack held up his hand. “I’m leaving.” He backed from the room, pulling the door, though before the latch clicked shut, he stuck his head back inside. “I’m just dyin’ to find out about this special order, ’tite ange.” The door shut.
“Ooohhh.” Skyler stamped her foot. “That man! My life was perfectly normal until he got here.”
Monica shoved the curtain aside. “Your life wasn’t normal, babe, it was boring. There’s a difference.”
Staring at the door, Skyler bit her lip. What did he think? What would he say? Was there any possibility of bluffing her way out of this disaster?
“Well, go on,” Monica said as she pulled her clothes on over the merry widow. “I’ll go out the back while you handle him.” She grinned. “And I know just which parts of him I’d handle.”
“I need a plan, not sex.”
Monica just blinked.
“Even if I did want, think about, or ever consider sex with a man like him”—whose idea of work is battling through fire-engulfed houses, combating floods and contagious diseases and probably leaping over tall buildings in a single bound— “I’d have to sneak around my brothers to do it.”
Monica danced on one foot as she slipped off one four-inch stiletto heel. “So? You sneak around them anyway with the lingerie.” Shoving the shoes in her purse, she slid her feet into sandals—with only a three-inch heel. “Besides, I’m hoping to have one brother completely occupied—at least the moment he gets back from the law enforcement convention.”
Skyler started for the door. “That just leaves two.”
In the hall, leaning against the wall, lounged Jack Tesson, looking as if he planned to hang out all day.
Avoiding him, Skyler let Monica out the back door, then, stalling further in the desperate hope a brilliant explanation would occur to her, she locked the front door and flipped over the Closed sign. By the time she reached the counter, her hands had stopped shaking, and she was pretty sure her voice would sound normal. Bluff, bluff, then lie and bluff some more seemed the most prudent escape. She couldn’t lose her shop.
Jack had moved to sit on the counter, his long legs dangling just inches off the floor. “You got some great merchandise, chère.” He grinned. “Any more of those black things…” his gaze traveled the length of her “…in a bit smaller size?”
Heat stole through her body. The shaking started again, this time in her stomach. “Uh, no. A one-time-only order for a friend.”
“Right. What about the fancy dressin’ room?”
“It came with the building.”
“Come on, chère. I saw the boxes. Had to be at least four of ’em shoved against the wall.” He lifted one black eyebrow. “Bud’s Leather Palace? Lickable Lacies?”
Leather and edible underwear. Skyler let her head drop back. She was caught.
4
“YOU GOT A little business goin’ on the side, chère?” Jack grinned like the scoundrel Skyler had no doubt he was. “Don’t bother me. A little shadiness develops character. My grand-père sure didn’t get through Prohibition by sellin’ Coca-Cola.”
Skyler planted her hands on her hips. “There is absolutely nothing shady about my business.”
He winked. “Right.”
She crossed to the front door, eyeing the new “alarm” with disgust. She’d only been half paying attention as she installed the blasted thing the night before, since she’d been focused on listening to the emergency scanner to keep tabs on her brothers’ calls. “If you have to know the story behind my shop, the town council wouldn’t give me a business license for lingerie, so I decided to expand my inventory. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Jack slid off the counter, then he walked toward her. “But I’m thinkin’ you didn’t tell the council you were…expandin’ your inventory.”
Determined to avoid the laughing challenge in his whiskey-colored eyes, Skyler ignored his insinuation and experimentally opened the door. Ding-dong sang the chimes. She sighed in disgust.
Jack leaned down and laid his finger beneath her chin, lifting her face. “Does the council know about your little back room?”
She bit her lip. “No.”
“Who does know?”
“Other than me and my customers, you mean?”
“Other than them.”
He really did have the most lovely, expressive eyes. Being a big, macho fireman, he probably wouldn’t appreciate that comment, though, so she kept the thought to herself. If she pouted and batted her eyes, as she’d seen Monica do a million times to get a man’s attention, would he forget all this shop business and kiss her?
“Skyler…” he prompted in a low, determined tone.
“Well, uh, let me think.” She pretended to ponder the question. Just how would he use the information he now possessed? He was a hero, so he was honorable. Hadn’t he protected her at the bar? There was no reason to think he’d betray her now. Finally, she said, “You.”
“Me, what?”
“Other than me and my customers, you’re the only person who knows about the back room. In fact, you and Roland are the only men who know.”
A look of startled wonder crossed his face, quickly there, then gone. “Why Roland?”
She grinned, thinking of the black mask, cape and leather thong underwear she’d ordered recently for Roland. He liked to play Zorro. “He’s a customer,” she said simply.
“Why no one else?” he asked.
He meant her family. Monica had asked the same thing many times. But then Monica was bold and sometimes even controversial. Skyler liked peace. “They’d try to talk me out of it, or—”
“Accidentally blabber about it to the town council.”
She also really liked not having to spell out everything to him. Deadbeat Boyfriend #1 had really been slow on the uptake. “Exactly.”
“I’ll keep your secret,” he said, shrugging.
With great effort, Skyler found the presence to close her mouth. A shrug of those massive shoulders, then I’ll keep your secret. Simple as that. No dire warnings. No predictions of trouble. No questions about her profit or debt or sales projections.
He was definitely a man. But he was an exotic new species in her world.
“…expanded inventory?”
Skyler jerked herself from her musings, realizing Jack had asked her a question. “What?”
“Am I that distracting, chère?”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Of course not.”
His gaze danced, but he didn’t call her on the lie. “What would the council do if they found out about your expanded inventory?”
She tried for nonchalance, but was pretty sure she didn’t quite pull it off. “Probably revoke my business license.”
“Imagine. ’Tite ange Skyler, the leader of a town conspiracy.”
She fidgeted. “I’m not…exactly.”
“Don’ be embarrassed, chère. You having a wild side intrigues the hell out of me. It makes me more interested.” He stroked the back of his hand down her cheek. “More attracted.”
Gulp. This not dating dangerous men rule wasn’t looking like such a hot idea. But it wasn’t just her libido or her heart she was worried about. Jack’s career was possibly on the line. Baxter was the perfect opportunity. At least until Atlanta came calling.
Rules were made to be broken, chère. She could practically hear the words glide off Jack’s tongue. The question was—how badly did she want Jack’s tongue gliding over other places? She leaned toward him, drawn to his energy, even drawn to the danger he represented. What her brothers didn’t know…
His gaze swept down her body, heating her intimately. “All this sure explains those skimpy purple undies.”
Skyler’s face flamed. “What undies?”
“Yours.”
“When did you—” She stopped, suddenly remembering Fluffy’s rescue from the tree while Jack gazed up at her. She gasped. “You, you…I can’t believe you looked! You’re a city employee, a civil servant, a—”
“I’m a man.”
Skyler didn’t know whether to be ticked, flattered or embarrassed. She settled for all three. “Jack Tesson, you and I are gonna go a few rounds if you continue—”
He tapped the end of her nose, distracting her. “Call me by my full name.”
“Why would I—”
“Just do it. Please.”
She heaved a sigh. “What is it?”
“Jackson Phillipe.”
Having no idea why she was humoring the man, but needing to make her point about his bad boy behavior, Skyler went on. “Jackson Phillipe Tesson, you and I are gonna go a few rounds if you continue in this inappropriate habit of doing and saying forward things to proper, Southern-bred ladies.”
He slid his hand around the back of her neck, pulled her forward, then kissed her hard on the lips.
Mouth tingling, she stared at him. “What did you do that for?”
He grinned. “You reminded me so much of my grand-mère, I had to kiss you.”
She knew she’d sounded a bit maternal, but… “Your grandmother?”
“She always tried to make speeches about proper behavior, too.”
“Tried?”
“Without much success—obviously.” His eyes danced. “Now for the reason I came by.”
Distracted, she’d completely forgotten to question what he was doing in her shop in the middle of the day. She absolutely could not think straight in the man’s presence.
“The other night at the bar was completely my fault.” He stroked the delicate skin beneath her eye, regret obvious in his tone. “I can’t believe you were hurt because of something I did.”
She shook her head. Her impulsiveness and desperation to keep her secret had led to the trouble.
“Oui. I should have protected you.”
Again, it occurred to her that this whole hero thing might not be so bad.
“So, I want to make it up to you. How ’bout dinner Friday night?”
A refusal was on the tip of her tongue, but something held her back. She’d always been happy to let her brothers protect her from dangerous men like Jack, but now she suddenly didn’t want to play it safe. No doubt this urge was the result of her daring and impulsive Kimball genes.
She also recalled her recent conversation with Casey—aka Frat Boy—who’d told her he broke the record in ducking her brothers because Jack had let him hide out at his apartment. Her heart fluttered at the thought.
One date. What could it hurt?
She looked up, meeting his gaze. “Sure.”
A broad smile broke across his face, but then he eyed her oddly. “What’s the catch?”
The man was definitely quick. She wanted to go out with him, but she wasn’t willing to sacrifice his job in the process. “We can’t tell anyone.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, managing to go from charming to intimidating in that one move. “Come again?”
“I won’t have you losing your job over a simple dinner.”
“Ben is a reasonable man. He wouldn’t fire me.”
Ben could be reasonable. Wes, she wasn’t taking any bets on, and he could certainly make life hard for Jack. Besides, by keeping this date under wraps she could be daring without being reckless.
“I’m not hiding from your family,” Jack said.
“Then I won’t go.”
Looking exasperated, he sighed. “You’re a helluva negotiator, chère.”
“You should see me negotiate prices with Bud.”
“Bud?”
“Proprietor of Bud’s Leather Palace.”
Laughing, he pulled her into his arms. A pretty great place to spend a Tuesday afternoon, in Skyler’s book. “You’re somethin’,” he said quietly. “And you’ve got a deal.”
Her heart thumped hard in her chest.
He looked down at her, brushing her hair back from her face. “But I won’t lie. I’ll agree not to advertise our date in the newspaper, but if one of your brothers asks me directly, I won’t deny it.”
Skyler bit her lip. She didn’t like this contention, but since she only intended for them to have one date—she was attracted to Jack, but she couldn’t really get involved with him. The loss of her father had ruled so many of her actions for so long, she doubted she’d ever change. Adding Jack to her collection of people to obsessively worry over was a really bad idea.
Jack and his dangerous job wouldn’t be hanging around Baxter long anyway. Losing him was inevitable.
But since they were only talking about one date, she figured she could keep her heart safe.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Okay. Covert, but no lying. Anything else?”
He pulled her tighter against him, so she could feel his hardness growing against her stomach. “How about wearing a selection from Bud’s Leather Palace?”
Skyler thought of the black leather jeans with silver rivets down the seams she’d ordered for Fiona. She couldn’t imagine ever having the guts to wear something like that beyond her dressing room, much less in front of Jack.
“I’m kidding,” he said, as if he sensed her unease. “But wear a dress.” He kissed the side of her neck, just below her ear. “And the purple undies.”
She shivered. God, the man knew how to proposition. He was assuming a great deal about the outcome of their dinner, she supposed, but his tendency to push the limits was part of his charm.
“How about a skirt?” she suggested, not about to give him total control over this date, though he seemed to have commandeered—temporarily, of course—her hormones.
“And the undies?”
Smiling, she waggled her finger at him. “My undies, young man, are none of—”
The alarm above the door jangled.
Skyler jumped away from Jack as if she’d just grabbed a hot frying pan.
Mrs. Markenson—a regular customer and cousin to the mayor—sailed through the doorway, her sixteen-year-old daughter trailing in her wake.
Jack, damn him, discretely stroked her side and whispered, “Relax, chère. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Nothing, absolutely nothing about Jackson Phillipe Tesson was safe.
“Good afternoon, Skyler,” Mrs. Markenson said, nodding her perfectly styled and highlighted head of light brown hair. “I need to find something appropriate for the church picnic for Christine.” She pushed her giggling, blushing daughter, whose wide blue gaze was riveted to Jack, forward.
“Absolutely.” Skyler approached her customers. “I have some trendy new styles for teens.”
Mrs. Markenson wrinkled her nose. “Nothing too stylish, I hope.”
Skyler resisted the urge to groan. More girls in living room drapery fabric—just what the world needed. “Of course not.” As they moved toward the back of the store, she took the opportunity to introduce her customers to Jack. The momentary distraction gave her time to wonder what semitrendy top or skirt she had in her back room that would flatter Christine without offending her mother.
“We’re so happy to have you in Baxter,” Mrs. Markenson was saying. “I’m on the council, you know.”
Yes, we know, Skyler echoed. We also know if you found out about the latest shipment of edible underwear, I’d be out on my purple-undie-clad ass.
Jack, of course, was smooth as glass. “I’m honored you show such confidence in me, madame.”
Mrs. Markenson actually blushed at the French form of address.
“We’re planning an exciting Fourth of July celebration,” Jack continued.
Skyler frowned. She’d forgotten about his appointment to the same committee as her. How was that going to work after she told him they could have one and only one date? As Christine giggled beside her, she waved aside this concern for the moment. Happy customers first. Concern for love life second.
After securing Christine and her mother in a large dressing room with several modest, solid-color dresses and a few skirts and tops, she jerked her head toward the door. “You’re distracting my customers,” she said to Jack. “Out you go.”
“Me?” he had the nerve to ask, eyes all innocent.
She shoved his shoulder. “Yes, you. And don’t give me that wicked-but-innocent grin of yours. I have a business to run.” She held open the door. “Out.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the opening. “What grin?” he asked before producing the distracting expression.
Good grief but he was sexy. She half considered hopping on that sleek, black motorcycle parked at the curb, driving away with him, where no inhibitions existed, and she could ease the hunger clawing at her body.
Wait a freaking minute. Sleek, black motorcycle?
She groaned. “Don’t tell me—the motorcycle is yours, isn’t it?”
He threw one long leg over the seat. “Course, chère. Wanna ride?”
“No, no—” it does look kind of cool, her libido prodded “—absolutely not,” she said firmly, striding toward him. He looked so perfect, so right, so dangerous sitting astride the bike, she had to suppress a moan of longing. And of course he wanted her to wear a dress. Wouldn’t that be just like a man to satisfy his prurient fantasies by having her straddle him—she had to fight back another moan—with her dress hiked up to her thighs?
“We can’t go out to dinner on that,” she said, her voice high and tight. She hoped she hadn’t offended him, but the clash between sensible and risky was overwhelming her senses to the point of irrationality.
“I’ve got a car, ange. We’ll save the motor for our second date.” He kicked the engine over, and the street beneath Skyler’s feet vibrated. “See you Friday,” he mouthed just before he dropped a black helmet over his head and roared away.
Skyler stomped her foot in frustration. There wasn’t going to be a second date, much less one on that rolling organ donor. As she turned to enter her shop, it occurred to her that she was trying to get a dangerous man to play it safe.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, Sky. That’ll work.”
