A Great Kisser
A Great Kisser
DONNA KAUFFMAN
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
For Rhonda
My life is better for having you in it.
And a special thanks to Debbie & Jean, the and rest of the Magnificent Minions, Refugees, and New Regulars for making this past year such a fantastic new beginning for me. I couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Jake McKenna was good at fixing planes. Not people. It was easier to rebuild a P-51 Mustang that hadn’t been in the air since World War II than it was to endure a single phone call from his baby sister.
Ruby Jean could be an absolute doll—with other people. She didn’t confide in other people. She didn’t call every other day and cry her heart out with other people. Because somehow, she’d gotten it into her head that the only one who could solve her problems—and he’d never met a person who thought they had so many problems—was her big brother.
“Don’t—” he cautioned. But it was too late. “Cry,” he added, uselessly. “Ruby Jean, it’s not your problem.” It rarely was. Ruby Jean made a habit of taking the whole world on her tiny shoulders. Whether the world wanted to be there or not.
“But that’s just it, Jake. It is my problem!”
“How is entertaining your boss’s new stepdaughter suddenly your job? You’re his personal assistant, not a cruise director.”
“You don’t understand, Jake.”
And that was Jake’s problem. He rarely understood anything where his little sister was concerned. Or, for that matter, women in general. Which was why, at the ripe old age of thirty-three, he was a happy, well-adjusted bachelor. “I’m sure you’ll explain it to me.” He wiped the sleeve of his ragged sweatshirt across his face, heedless of the grease smear now decorating both sweatshirt and skin, and sat on the overturned oil drum. He stared at the regulator that two straight days of work hadn’t come close to fixing, and half listened to everything he never wanted to know about Ruby Jean’s crisis du jour, which he had no intention of fixing.
“So, that’s why it’s so important that you do this. I finally have some room for advancement, Jake, and you know in this town that’s not a small thing. I can’t let this one little thing screw up my chances.”
Personally, Jake didn’t see where working for Arlen Thompson, even if he was the mayor of the mountain resort town of Cedar Springs, was a job worth holding on to. He thought the man was a bit of an egocentric who took full advantage of anyone who might help him and not require his help in return, and Jake’s softhearted sister, who worked like a dog as his personal assistant, was near the top of that list.
But there wasn’t a great deal of commerce in Cedar Springs, Colorado, that wasn’t directly related to the ski resort, which was, more or less, the reason for the town’s continued existence at this point in its long history. But Ruby Jean didn’t ski anymore. Nor, thanks to Swing Thatcher, now the head of the resort ski school and the bastard who broke Ruby Jean’s tender heart when they were both in high school, did she want anything to do with anyone who did.
Jake had encouraged her to take her dreams east, at least as far as the front range, and find a job in Denver or one of the suburb cities, where she could build the kind of future she desired. But Ruby Jean was all about family sticking close, and as they were the only family each other had, he supposed he was stuck with her and the drama that accompanied her. Not that he minded. Usually. He loved his sister and would defend her to the death to anyone else. But Jake had no intention of leaving Cedar Springs. He loved the central Rockies. Being surrounded by their snowy peaks did his heart and soul good. If Ruby Jean wanted to be within wailing distance, that was up to her.
Then she was sniffling, and the sniffling was threatening to turn into a full-blown sob, and his attention was pulled back to the drama.
“Just say yes, okay, Jake? I’m only asking for you to show her around a little. That’s all.”
“Wait, what did you just say? You want me to what?”
There was a long, wavery sigh. “You never listen to anything I say.”
He couldn’t really argue with her there. “RJ, you know I have a race to prepare for and Betty Sue here needs a hell of a lot of work.”
“As she always does. I’m just asking one tiny favor.”
“The difference is, now I have willing sponsors chomping at the bit, but they’re demanding some kind of proof that we have a chance to really compete or they’re taking their money elsewhere. And I have to keep the flying school going, or what’s left of the roof over my head also goes. So, I really don’t have time to do…whatever it was you just asked me to do.”
“Her name is Lauren Matthews. She’s your age.”
“Wow, that old, huh?” The way Ruby Jean had said it made the woman sound positively prehistoric. But then, given RJ was eight years younger than him, anyone over thirty was ancient to her anyway.
Ruby Jean sniffled. “I’m just saying you might even have something in common. You could even like each other.”
“Don’t. I have enough problems at the moment. No matchmaking.”
“I’m not, really. I know I promised to stop that, and I have. This really isn’t that at all. According to Mayor Thompson, she’s a bit of a workaholic—she works on Capitol Hill for a senator, which is so exciting I think, but doesn’t leave her with much of a social life. She completely hates the idea that the mayor has married her mother, because, you know, they eloped after barely meeting and all. So, now she’s finally coming out here to check him out, and he’s all freaked out that he needs to make this great impression on her, probably because of his own political aspirations, and being as he’s the mayor, he wants her to see how great Cedar Springs is, and—”
“Okay, okay, take a breath. What political aspirations? He’s been mayor forever.”
“Oh crap, I wasn’t supposed to—just forget I said anything.”
Jake was perfectly willing to do that. “I don’t want to know.”
“So, you’ll help me then?”
Jake swore under his breath. “What am I supposed to do? I’m not the mayor’s idea of a town ambassador. I can’t believe this is his idea.”
“Well…”
“RJ?” he said, a note of warning in his tone.
“See, there’s this other thing that he sort of mentioned, that made me think of you and…” She trailed off. And sniffled a little more.
“Ruby Jean McKenna, what have you done now?”
“Don’t get mad, okay?”
“Oh, I’m sure I will, just as I’m sure you’ll cry huge crocodile tears, and then I’ll feel like a schmuck, and then we’ll make up because I hate you being mad and sad and upset, and I’ll do whatever you ask me to, then you’ll do it all over again.”
“Good,” she said, sounding amazingly better. “Then why don’t
we just skip over that part and you can just agree to do this one teensy little thing without giving me a hard time.”
“Which brings me back to why me? Arlen is not my biggest fan—”
“Because you wouldn’t fly that banner for him when he was running for re-election.”
“I run a business. I’m bipartisan.”
“He was going to pay you.”
“So do my students, and I’m not pissing half of them and their families off by flying a banner for one side or the other. Besides, that was two years ago and he managed to get re-elected anyway. As he always does. No one really runs against him, Ruby.”
“Well, here’s your chance to make it up to him.”
Jake clamped his jaw and fought the urge to yell. Or beat the wrench in his hand repeatedly against his forehead. One would have done about as much good as the other. “I don’t have anything to make up for. Other than the fact that he’s your boss, Arlen Thompson can kiss my ass.”
Ruby Jean sighed. “Can we get back to my problem then?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, and, remember you promised about not getting mad. So,” she hurried on when he just growled, “…according to the mayor, he thinks Lauren is just so career driven that she’s a little uptight, which is why he thinks she doesn’t understand about the whirlwind courtship and elopement between him and her mom. He thinks if she gets out here and, you know, relaxes a little, and finds out how good it can be when you’re not working every single minute of the day, that—”
“I get it, I get it. Thompson thinks she’s a repressed man-hater who needs to get laid so she’ll ease up on judging him for having sex with her mother. At least he married her. And did it ever occur to anyone that his stepdaughter might like what she does for a living and is perfectly happy dedicating her life to the pursuit of the happiness it brings her? And did anyone stop to consider that maybe her opinion of Arlen Thompson is right up there with my opinion of the man? And I’m not the least repressed, nor do I need to get laid, which brings me to my other point—”
“Jake, just listen a moment—”
“No, you listen, RJ. I love you, and I love that you like your job and want to stick with it. I’m proud of you, I am, and really happy that you seem to have found your niche. I think Thompson totally takes advantage of you, but you are good at what you do and I support that. But not only am I not the town ambassador, I am definitely not the town gigolo.”
“But, you’re single, and her age, and I’ve seen a picture of her and she’s not even that bad looking. If you ignore the black-framed glasses. You don’t have to, you know, sleep with her, I didn’t promise that, I just—”
“You promised? What, exactly, did you promise?”
“Well, maybe promise is too strong a word.” She rushed on. “I just sort of said that you might be willing to, you know, show her a good time. I didn’t elaborate. And the mayor didn’t ask me to. But it might be that he kind of has the impression that I meant you’d, you know, take her out. She just needs to understand a little more about romance and—”
“I am not romancing the mayor’s stepdaughter. I like his wife. Charlene seems like a very nice woman. I haven’t a clue what she sees in Arlen, but she appears to be an upbeat, positive woman, and if that can have any impact on him, then all’s the better. But I have no intention—”
“If you like Charlene, then you’ll probably like her daughter, right? Just…do this for me, will you, Jake? My job is important and this is so important to the mayor that if I can pull this off, I know he’ll keep me on staff when he runs for—” She broke off abruptly. Very abruptly.
“When he…runs for what, RJ? Is that what this is really about? These ‘aspirations’? Does Arlen have plans to try and move to the big pond of state politics? And maybe he could care less what his stepdaughter thinks of him, except that she has contacts in D.C. that might help? Because that sounds a hell of a lot more like the man I know than a guy who just wants his stepdaughter to like him.”
“I don’t know that. Really, I don’t. I only know he wants to make a good impression and it’s very important to him. And Charlene is a nervous wreck and I think it’s affecting their marriage. Apparently Lauren hasn’t spoken to her since shortly after she found out they eloped. That was six months ago now. Just…help us all out. Okay? One date, Jake. That’s all I’m asking. Just…make it a really good one. Okay?”
Jake sighed. Then he swore. “I don’t want to get tangled up in this.”
“One date is not tangling. It’s just a date.”
“With your boss’s politically connected stepdaughter.”
“You can be charming. I know you. Just…do something fun.”
He sighed again. And swore again. “Daytime date. I’ll take her up for a ride. Show her the sights from twelve thousand feet, and make the town and surrounding area look good, which won’t be hard because it’s the most beautiful place on earth. But I’m not going to preach any propaganda about our esteemed mayor. And I’m not romancing her. Cedar Springs can romance her, but I’m out of this after the plane ride.”
Ruby Jean sniffled a little, but when he didn’t say anything else, she finally dried up and said, “Okay. That sounds like fun. Make it really fun, though, okay? And don’t bash the mayor.”
“I’m fine with letting her draw her own conclusions. Deal?”
“Deal,” Ruby Jean said, not sounding entirely confident but being smart enough, for once, not to push him further.
“I really need to get back to work. What day is she arriving? How long will she be here?”
“Um…twelve thirty.”
“Twelve—you mean December thirtieth? It’s August, Ruby—”
“I mean twelve thirty, as in her plane lands out in Holden then, and I was kind of hoping you could go pick her up. In one of your planes. Because that’s way more impressive then just having her rent a car.”
“What might be impressive is her mom and stepdad driving out to Holden to greet her personally.”
“They can’t. They have that Chamber of Commerce luncheon thing that Charlene is sponsoring for that charity she started, and the mayor is the keynote speaker. So, having you there, to pick her up in a private plane, that’s perfect. But that can’t be your date! It’s not far enough. A thirty-minute hop doesn’t count. She needs a bit more…time. Okay?”
Jake looked at the clock on the wall. It was ten thirty.
“I love you, Jake. You’re the bestest brother in all the world. Thank you a million times over for helping me with this. I owe you so much. And I will make it up to you. Promise. Kisses!” And then she hung up.
Which was a good thing. That way his eardrums were the only ones assaulted by the loud clanging of metal on metal when he threw the wrench and let it bounce off the curved wall of the hangar. “It’s a good thing I love you, too,” he muttered, then rolled his tool chest closer and turned his attention back to the automatic manifold pressure regulator, which was, up until five seconds ago, the biggest pain in his ass. Now there was competition for that honor. But he didn’t have to think about Lauren whatsername for another two hours. And he didn’t plan to.
Chapter 2
Lauren Matthews was going to die. Her life was going to end in this tiny little gum-wrapper-size plane, which, given the way it was bouncing around in the air like a Ping Pong ball, was surely going to drop from the sky any second now and burst into flames as it crashed into the side of the nearest mountain peak. Of which there were thousands, so the chance of missing one and miraculously surviving was slim to none.
“Sorry for the turbulence,” the senior pilot called back. “Storm coming, but we’ll beat it in. Not to worry.”
She knew how he’d gotten every one of his gray hairs, too. And did he announce his reassuring tidbits over the intercom? No. He just called out the information over his shoulder. Because she was less than ten feet away. And she was at the back of the plane. In fact, she was the only passenger filling one of the
ten available seats. “Not much call for trips past the front range during this time of year,” he’d told her when she’d boarded the tiny piece of tin back in Denver. After she’d disembarked off of the very nice, very large, very steady jumbo jet that, once she’d finally made it out to Dulles and found a place to park and made it all the way in to the terminal, then out to the other terminal, had delivered her quite smoothly all the way, nonstop from Washington to Colorado. A pleasant flight. She’d actually gotten some reading in. Now, with less than thirty minutes left in her daylong journey, she was going to die. Figured.
Sure, the pilot had gone on to say that he made the trip west several times a day during peak season. Which translated to ski season, since, other than mining or ranching, that was all they did in the middle of Colorado as far as she could tell. And she assumed the miners and ranchers didn’t need to fly anywhere all that often. But with the plane bouncing around like some massive cosmic cat was using it as its personal play toy, batting it this way and that, she wasn’t all that reassured by his past success rate.
“How mu-much longer?” she asked, her teeth clacking together as the plane dropped into another air pocket. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the engines. Had she mentioned the engines? The incredibly loud engines?
“We’re descending now.”
“Just what I was afraid of,” she muttered, but looked out the window anyway. Might as well see where she was going to spend her eternal rest. But there was cloud cover now. Thick, dark, gray-black clouds. Swirling all around them. That couldn’t be good.
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