by Lori Wilde
“I could never do something like that,” Megan finally managed to squeak out when Leigh stopped speaking. “I’d feel like a...”
“An assertive, independent woman?” Leigh winked. “It sure would take his mind off the toothpick problem, I can guarantee you that.”
For one second, the image Leigh had created slithered through Megan’s mind. She could almost see Chase’s expression when he opened the door to find her standing there in racy undies. She’d give him her sexiest smile, squirt a dollop of whipped cream on one finger, then slip it into his mouth and...
Oh, my.
Megan took a deep breath, trying to mentally quell her libido and throw a bucket of ice water on the image she’d created in her mind. Whatever else she did over the next few weeks, she most certainly wasn’t going to show up on Chase’s doorstep barely dressed.
This was about love. Not sex.
Thinking that Megan’s silence meant she’d found a convert, Leigh warmed to her subject. “If you don’t like whipped cream, there’s always strawberry jam. Or chili. Chase likes chili.”
Megan’s mouth tried to drop open again, but she stopped it. Chili? What in the world would she do with chili? Megan refused to even think about that one.
“I’m not seducing your brother. I’m not showing up at the ranch in racy undies. And I’m not bringing food of any sort with me,” Megan maintained firmly. “Chase and I will sort this out on our own without tricks.”
Leigh sighed and stood. “I figured you’d be unreasonable. Fine. Do it your way. But just so you know, I’m not going to spend the next few weeks living with a man who complains about how many toothpicks we have in the house. Something’s going to give, and it won’t be me.”
With that as her parting shot, Leigh walked out.
Megan fiddled with the index cards on her desk.
This situation with Chase was confusing enough without having Leigh interfering.
She picked up the book on her desk. Did she really want to browbeat Chase? She knew in her heart that she didn’t. She wanted Chase to love her because...well, because he did. She didn’t want to trick him into caring.
She pushed the book aside and slipped the index cards back into her desk drawer. She’d rather give up than feel as if she’d deceived Chase.
Besides, as long as he continued to work on the committee with her, she would have plenty of time to get him to notice her as more than a friend.
Plenty of time.
6
Chase pulled his truck up in front of the library and turned off the engine. He glanced at the darkened front door and couldn’t help wishing he’d missed Megan. He was as nervous as a fifteen-year-old about to ask out a girl for the first time.
“Get a grip, Barrett,” he muttered to himself. He threw open the truck door and climbed out. He wasn’t going to get weird about one little kiss. Now that he’d had a day to think about it, he was positive the kiss hadn’t been a big deal. Sure, it had been a good kiss, maybe even a great kiss, but it was nothing special.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing he couldn’t handle.
Determined, he headed toward the library’s front door, rapping loudly on the glass. After a couple of seconds, Megan appeared and waved to him. She signaled him to wait, then headed back in the direction of her office.
Chase shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. In fact, if he’d had his way, he would have avoided Megan for a couple of days. Just until things between them settled down.
But Megan had called, saying she needed him to stop by and pick up some papers having to do with the committee.
That was another thing. He sure wished he could think of a way to get off this committee, especially now that he and Megan were so jumpy around each other. But he couldn’t do that to her. He was already hurting her by making her face reality when it came to this attraction between them. He couldn’t also bail on her committee.
He watched as Megan hurried to the door, twisting the lock.
“Hi,” she said, her voice slightly breathless as he walked by her and into the library. He could only hope she was breathless because she’d been scurrying around, not because he was near her.
“Hey.” He glanced around the library. They were alone, just as he’d feared.
“Where are Carl and Debbie tonight?” he asked, hoping the other employees of the library were simply hiding somewhere and hadn’t left for the day.
“They’ve already gone home.” She gave him a nervous smile, then headed toward her office.
Silently cursing himself, Chase followed. He should have known better than to let her talk him into that kissing nonsense last night. Now Megan was uncomfortable around him. No two ways around it, they needed to forget about all this sexual stuff.
Without intending to, his gaze dropped, and he watched the gentle sway of Megan’s hips as she walked. Man, she was one nice-looking lady. Her dark-blue slacks hugged her curves, and he couldn’t help wondering what would happen if he—
What in the sweet name of sanity was he doing? He yanked his gaze away and ran his hands through his hair. Twice.
A grip. He needed to get a grip. He once again cursed himself.
Megan turned toward him. “What did you just say?”
He had no idea. He hadn’t even realized he’d spoken aloud. “Nothing,” he tried, but the look she gave him made it clear she wasn’t buying that. She crossed her arms and studied him.
“It sounded suspiciously like you called me a name.” The way she was standing drew his attention to her breasts. He remembered all too well what those breasts had looked like last night in that pink nightie she’d had on.
“Yoo-hoo. Chase. Are you all right?”
He pulled his gaze back up to her face, then groaned. What was happening to him? He was losing his mind. Or worse, turning into some sort of degenerate. All he seemed to be doing was staring at parts of Megan that he had no business staring at.
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to myself. I called myself a name,” he explained, and she had no idea how much he meant it. He was sorry. A sorry son-of-a-horse-trader. “I think maybe we should postpone this meeting.”
She took a step toward him. “Aren’t you feeling well?”
He debated what to say. He didn’t want her to worry that he was sick, but he could hardly tell her what was really bothering him. This was all the fault of that blasted kiss. His gaze landed on her lips. She wasn’t wearing lipstick. Her mouth looked soft, and sweet, and oh-so-kissable. He remembered all too well what her lips had felt like pressed against his, her breath mixing with his own.
He blew out a disgusted breath and hung his head. He was dumber than a box of rocks.
“Are you feeling dizzy?” she asked.
He raised his head. “No, I’m not dizzy. And I’m not sick. I’m...” He didn’t want to talk about what he was feeling on any level. What was wrong with him could be cured with a long, cold shower.
She had on her glasses, which she now nudged up her small nose. “Are you confused because of what happened last night?”
Grabbing that excuse like a drowning man lunging for a life preserver, he said, “Yeah. That’s it. The kiss last night is bothering me, Megan.”
She smiled. “It got me all bothered, too.”
“No. I don’t mean bothered as in hot and bothered. I mean bothered in the sense that I’m worried you may have gotten the wrong idea last night.” He tried to keep his voice calm, reassuring. “I’m sorry if you did.”
“The wrong idea?” She gave him a look that made it clear she knew he was a liar. Although her voice was steady and she didn’t move a muscle, Chase knew she’d tensed.
He took a couple of steps forward until he stood directly in front of her. He started to put one hand on her shoulder for comfort but quickly decided he’d be much better off if he didn’t touch Megan right now.
“I’m worried you got the wrong idea a
bout that kiss,” he said gently.
She shrugged. “I thought we agreed last night it wasn’t much of a kiss anyway.”
He wasn’t going to get into that whole fish-sucking thing right now because both of them knew it wasn’t true. The kiss had been hot.
“Megan, I’m sorry about last night. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Rather than appearing upset, she nodded thoughtfully. “No problem. Now if you want to come to my office, I’ll get those papers for the carnival. Thanks for stopping by. Saves me coming out to your ranch. Anyway, these are lists of local companies, churches and organizations that may be interested in having booths at the carnival. I thought you and I could split the list and call around to see who wants to help.”
She seemed so calm, so relaxed, but Chase knew she had to feel the sexual pull between them. Attraction crackled around them, and every time he looked into her wide green eyes, he had the almost overwhelming desire to do something unbelievably stupid. But hey, if she wanted to ignore what was happening, fine by him. He’d already done enough stupid things to last him a month. His gaze dropped to her lips. No, make that a year.
“Sure. Give me the lists. I’ll call around,” he said, anxious to get out of here.
She rewarded him with a smile. “Thank you.” She headed to her office, but Chase waited where he was. No way was he going into that small room. He’d be all alone with Megan in a room that had a door and a wide, firm desk that would be perfect for making love on.
This cowboy was staying right where he was. After a minute or so, she came back carrying a handful of papers.
“Here you go,” Megan said.
Chase took the lists and moved away from her, away from temptation. “Thanks. I’ll let you know how I do.”
She took two deliberate steps forward until she once again stood directly next to him. Then she patted his arm and said in a soothing voice, “It’s going to be okay, Chase. Really it is.”
He looked at her hand resting on his arm. He could imagine that same small hand wandering across his chest, her fingers caressing his skin. With effort, he swallowed past the knot in his throat.
“Don’t worry so much,” she said softly.
Then before he could do a single thing to stop her, she leaned up and placed a warm kiss on the side of his face. Every hormone in his body screamed for him to pull her into his arms and kiss her back, but he flat out wouldn’t do it. He wasn’t having sex with her no matter what she—and his own traitorous body—wanted.
Dagnabbit, he still had some scruples left. Granted, his supply was running low. But he still had a couple kicking around. And those scruples were going to see him through this debacle.
He gazed down into her wide green eyes, all set to tell her that he wasn’t going to play, when she smiled at him. One of those purely feminine smiles that made a man’s blood run hot and his IQ drop to that of fungus.
He only prayed that those couple of scruples he had left were going to be enough.
“Man alive, this place makes the city dump look like a tropical vacation spot,” Chase muttered.
Megan glanced around the Honey City Park and sighed. Chase was right.
The two acres devoted to the children were barren and forlorn and contained more than a fair share of junk scattered around. As far as she could tell, the founding fathers of Honey had picked the ugliest piece of land to devote to the park.
In fact, even though most of Honey had lovely shade trees, this park was noticeably devoid of any trees. Well, there was one tired-looking pine that leaned at a precarious angle near the far corner of the park, but other than that, nothing. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for the tree and even sorrier for what passed as playground equipment.
“The kids would be safer if they threw rocks at each other,” Chase observed.
“It is rather bleak,” she admitted. The few pieces of playground equipment that weren’t broken were covered in a thick layer of dirt and rust.
“Bleak?” Chase walked farther into the park. “This place is pitiful. Downright pitiful. I didn’t realize it was this bad.”
Megan was glad he felt that way. She wanted Chase to get as emotionally involved in this project as she was. Mostly for selfish reasons. Despite its appearance, this place meant a great deal to her. After her parents had died and she’d come to live with Aunt Florene in Honey, she’d spent many afternoons at the park. Florene hadn’t wanted her around the house, and since she was new in town, she didn’t have any friends. So, she’d hung around the park, and one fateful day, she’d met Chase Barrett there.
Tommy Whitman had started picking on her, shoving her and teasing her about not having parents. Then suddenly, Chase had appeared. Now as an adult, she knew he hadn’t been the superhero she’d thought him to be that day, but to her, he’d always be a hero. Chase hadn’t given an inch. He’d stood up to Tommy, something no one else in town wanted to do. Tommy had ended up backing down simply based on the look Chase had given him.
It had proven to be one heck of a look, since to this day Tommy still showed her respect whenever he saw her.
From the moment he’d stood up for her, Megan had been in love with Chase Barrett. And she still loved this park, but the children of this town deserved better. No matter what it took, she was going to make certain they got a great place to play.
She watched Chase head over to the playground equipment. Boy, it was good to see him. After their meeting at the library last week, Chase had avoided her, which wasn’t an easy task considering how small Honey was. But Chase had pulled it off, which was one more indication of how rattled he was.
But now he’d had a few days to calm down. Hopefully he’d found a way to accept what had happened and had given up fussing about toothpicks.
“Megan, look at this.” Chase shook one of the support poles for the swing set. The metal wobbled and let out an ominous creak. “This place is an ER nightmare. I think we need to call the city council tonight and tell them we’re tearing this monster down right away.”
Muttering and fussing, he moved over to the teeter-totter. When he pushed it, part of the seat came off in his hand. He turned to Megan, his expression dumbfounded. “I cannot believe this place.”
“Now you see why I want to buy new equipment.” She moved closer to him, drawn despite her promise to herself not to push him about their relationship. But how could she resist? He looked scrumptious today in jeans and a deep-burgundy T-shirt.
Trying to keep hold of her racing heart, she said, “I’ll call Earl, although I know what he’s going to say—the city doesn’t have the manpower to take down this equipment.”
Chase turned toward her, and for the first time since he’d arrived, he looked directly at her. His deep-blue gaze made tingles skitter across her skin.
“I have the manpower,” he said. “I’ll get my brothers over here tomorrow to tear this junk apart and gather up all the trash. I can use my truck to haul it to the dump.”
“I can help, too.”
He shook his head, causing a lock of his black hair to droop across his forehead. With an impatient gesture, he pushed it back in place. “Best not. If you’re here, we can’t cuss, and judging from what I see, this job will involve a lot of cussing.”
She laughed. “I think I can stand a few choice words.”
For long moments, he looked at her. She felt the same heat she always felt dance between them. Then Chase muttered something about scruples and not only looked away from her, but he also walked away from her.
Well, she wasn’t going to let him get away so easily. She quickly caught up with him. “You’re so nice,” she told him. “This means a lot to the kids.”
Her comment caused him to stop. He spun on his boot heel and faced her. Drat it all, he was frowning again.
“I’m not nice, Megan. Not at all.”
“Sure, you are. You’re concerned about children getting hurt on the playground.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m worr
ied about the city getting sued.”
“Like I believe that. Admit it. You’re worried about the children.” He might want to paint himself as someone who didn’t care, but she knew better. A man who didn’t care wouldn’t arrange to remove all the trash and dangerous equipment.
For a second, she thought he was going to argue with her, but then he sighed, the sound loud and heartfelt. “Let’s walk this off and see how much space you have for new equipment.”
Megan fell into step with him, knowing without a doubt what he was doing. Chase didn’t want her complimenting him. He was obviously still upset by the kiss they’d shared.
That was a good sign, right?
Grabbing a pencil and notepad from her purse, she jotted down the rough measurements she and Chase came up with. There should be enough room to build a decent-size play area. The kids were going to go nuts when they saw it.
“At least you’ve got a flat piece of land. Should make it easier.” Chase turned and headed over to the lone pine tree. “You going to cut this down?”
Horrified, Megan came to stand next to him. “Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of hurting that poor tree.” She patted the trunk. “It’s earned the right to be part of the new park.”
Chase chuckled. “Megan, it’s a tree, not a war veteran. All it did was avoid tornadoes and snotty-nosed kids.” He pointed toward a carving near the lower branches. “Looks like it didn’t avoid all of those kids.”
Megan moved to the side and studied the faded carving. A pair of initials surrounded by a heart. “That’s so sweet.”
“Bet the tree doesn’t think so,” Chase said dryly.
Turning, she studied him. “Probably not, but I think it’s romantic that a couple was so in love that they carved their initials in the tree for everyone to see.”
Chase made a snorting noise. “You can’t be serious. This isn’t about true love, Megan. Some lovestruck teenaged boy did that carving ‘cause he was hoping to get lucky.”
For one second, Megan wondered if Chase had been the wayward youth. She quickly rechecked the tree, happy to see the initials weren’t his. Good. She didn’t know what she would have done if the tree had been a testimony of Chase’s love—or even lust—for another woman.
