by Lori Wilde
She drifted toward the refreshment tables, which offered a cash bar at one end and a huge spread of finger foods at the other. She wasn’t hungry for stuffed grape leaves or lobster puffs, but she would love a cup of punch.
The serious eating hadn’t started, but a knight in a cardboard-and-tin suit of armor was trying to set a record for the most appetizers ever piled on a single paper plate. Beside him, Guinevere tried to snatch tidbits from his plate, manage her long train, and keep her pointed hat from falling off.
Oh no!
Becky recognized Guinevere’s rear end. Worse, she knew the tin man stuffing whole grape leaves into his mouth.
What was Kevin doing at this function in Millville with Courtney?
Her first instinct was to run. So was her second. And her third. Before she could dash, Nate was there, preventing a hasty retreat.
“You want something to eat?” he asked.
“I’m not starving.” She took him by the arm and tried to steer them away from the buffet table.
“Mom will want a report on the food. She influenced the committee to pick the caterer.”
“Maybe later I’ll be hungry.” Whenever Kevin and Courtney moved away from the buffet.
She had to get out of here before Kevin saw—
Too late.
“Becky! What are you doing here?” Kevin strolled over, bringing the heaping plate with him, but leaving Courtney behind.
“Who’s that?” Nate mumbled from one corner of his mouth.
“Kevin Stalnaker.” She hated admitting it.
“Your ex?”
“That would be the one.”
“Ah.”
“What does that mean?”
“Stalnaker,” Nate said, stepping closer to Kevin. “I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
Nate stuck out his hand, forcing Kevin to do a juggling act with the plate and his cardboard shield.
“Y-you have?” Kevin looked at Becky for a clue.
Courtney wandered over to them, ogling Nate.
“Nate Dalton,” he said. “Becky’s told me so much about you. I want to say thank you for bringing us together.”
“How’s that?” Kevin was a skilled conversationalist—if fertilizer was the topic.
“Nate’s just kidding,” Becky interjected.
“She’s with me now,” Nate said. “We’re a couple.”
“Oh.” Kevin’s face went slack.
She should have been upset with Nate for saying that, but she wasn’t. “What are you doing here, Kevin?”
No point in being subtle with her ex.
“One of my customers had tickets and couldn’t go, so he gave them to me. The two of you are an item?” Kevin was looking at her, taking in her skimpy costume or, rather, all the parts it didn’t conceal. Was that a leading look of regret on his face? She had to get into some normal clothes.
“Hi, Courtney.”
“Hello, Courtney,” Nate said.
Courtney’s cleavage was on full display and covered with a fine sheen of perspiration. Only Courtney would wear fifty pounds of velvet to a summer party in Texas.
Becky expected Nate to gape at her cleavage. Instead, he pulled Becky even closer to him and kept making inane chitchat with Kevin. Something about a sports team.
“Kev, honey, I’m starving,” Courtney said. “I’m dying to try those little round puffy things.”
Kevin ignored her. Becky remembered what that felt like. Whatever had she ever seen in him? She was embarrassed she’d ever been taken in by his muscles and good looks. And she seriously regretted that Nate had to meet him.
“You’re a couple?” Finally, Kevin got the message.
“I need a drink from the cash bar,” Courtney said, looking at Kevin expectantly.
“That’s right.” Nate held Kevin’s gaze a little too long. “We live in the same house.”
Which was technically true, but within separate apartments in the same house. Kevin, however, didn’t need to know that.
Men were naturally competitive; Nate was marking his territory, never mind that she wasn’t his to claim. But darn, it felt good to have him on her side, sending Kevin on his way, disgruntled and rejected.
“I told you that suit would make a racket,” Courtney said as Kevin clunked away by her side.
“People are dancing,” Nate said. “Would you like a spin around the dance floor?”
“That would be nice.”
He didn’t say a word about Kevin, and there was so much he could’ve ridiculed. She appreciated his restraint.
“You really do look fantastic in that costume,” he said, whirling her onto the dance floor in time to the silly Steve Martin song, “King Tut.”
Nate was a foot taller than she was. They should have made a lousy dance team, but they didn’t. He had a natural rhythm. She loved to follow a man who knew how to lead.
As for his hand on her bare waist, he didn’t take liberties. And she was slightly disappointed about that, thinking that she might have liked it if he had slid his fingers just a little lower.
“It’s a pleasant party,” he said in an easy tone that made her wish she could hear that tone more often.
“Yes, quite nice.”
And then his fingers slid lower down her back until they rested at the elastic band of her low-rise trousers. Her heart skipped a beat. He was pretty bold on the dance floor.
“Naughty,” she whispered playfully.
He guided her off the dance floor, away from the milling crowd toward a dark corner of the room.
“Do you like my naughty side?”
“Nate,” she murmured. “What are you up to?”
He covered her mouth with his and oh-so-gently kissed her.
No, not just kissing her, branding her with his hot lips. She felt light-headed, giddy. She kissed him right back, not caring that people might see them. Their chins mashed. His eyelashes against her eyelids, his breath warm on the curve of her cheek.
“I didn’t really intend to do that.” He straightened and stepped back. “You just look so irresistible.”
“I didn’t really intend for you to do it either.”
“No?”
“I thought you might try to kiss me, and I was thinking it probably wasn’t such a superb idea to let you, but I’m weak.”
His eyes lit up. “We’re in the same boat. Whenever I’m around you, Becky, I’m feeble as a kitten.”
“Oh, Nate.” She let out a sigh. “What are we doing?”
“Pretending to be a couple.”
Was that all it was? Pretend?
“Did you see how Kevin’s eyes got wide when I told him we lived in the same house?”
“He looked a wee bit jealous, didn’t he?” Becky giggled. Suddenly, everything seemed amusing.
“I wanted to boot him where his tin cans didn’t cover, but I guess Courtney is his just desserts.”
“They do seem made for each other.” She matched Nate’s grin with a big one of her own. “I totally dodged a bullet. I should send Courtney a thank-you gift.”
Nate’s hand locked around hers. It felt right, but she didn’t know when it happened.
“I guess we can leave now. We put in an appearance and established ourselves as a couple.” He dropped her hand and led the way to the front door.
For some silly reason that she couldn’t identify, Becky suddenly felt quite lonely.
13
“We forgot to eat,” Becky said when they were back in the car headed back to the Victorian on the other side of Falling Star.
“Um… Oh yeah.” Nate had completely forgotten about food, his mind too full of Becky to think about anything else.
Darn that sexy costume. Why had his mother, of all people, chosen to send her back out in public half naked? It was almost as if his mother wanted to give him extra incentive to make Becky his girlfriend for real. Sometimes, he thought she was clairvoyant.
“I guess we could stop at a restaurant for dinner,” he offered
.
“In these outfits?”
Excellent point. This was the downside of not going back to his mother’s house and letting her keep Lucy. Their clothes were there.
“So, what do you want to do?”
“I could go for a chili dog and a giant lime slushy. You could run into the Zip’N”Go, their food isn’t half bad.”
“What? You would stay hiding in the car?”
“Well, there is that,” she admitted with a grin. “At least you’re not wearing see-through pantaloons.”
“The way you look in those things? You just might start a trend.”
“Did you just pay me a compliment?”
“You are hot as a firecracker, Becky Ryan. How can you not know that?”
“You’re making me blush.”
“Tell you what,” he said. “If you go into the convenience store, I’ll grant you three wishes.”
“Wow. I could have fun with that. I could have you jog through our neighborhood in a leopard print speedo, then—”
“I was thinking like washing your car or doing your laundry.”
“My laundry? I don’t think so.” With a wide grin she added, “Pervert.”
“Guess I’ll have to go in myself.”
“Oh, look, there’s the Zip’N’Go.” Becky pointed.
Nate pulled up to the convenience store. He could be in and out in under three minutes. So what if he gave a bored clerk a laugh. No big deal. Becky was craving a chili cheese dog, and Nate aimed to deliver.
“Nate,” Becky said, alarm in her voice. “Look over there. What is that woman doing?”
He turned his head to see what she was referring to.
“She’s pounding on the window of that compact like she’s trying to break it.” Becky bounced on the edge of the seat.
“Stay put,” Nate cautioned, flinging open his door and charging out.
Becky listened about as well as his sister. The car door on her side slammed closed just an instant after his.
“I can’t get into my car!” the woman cried out hysterically. “My little boy is locked inside.”
“Did you lock your keys inside?” Nate asked, feeling relieved that the emergency was minor.
“Yes, the key was in my purse, and I tossed my purse into the back seat while I put the groceries in the trunk.” Frustrated, the woman pounded on the driver’s side window again and pressed her face close to the glass. “Open the door, Andy, sweetheart. You’re far too young to drive.”
It was nice to see that the anxious mom had a sense of humor about the entire thing.
Nate peered into the car at the self-satisfied grin on the little squirt’s face as he sat in the driver’s seat, trying to turn the locked steering wheel and making vroom, vroom noises.
“How old is Andy?” Becky asked, standing right beside Nate’s elbow.
“Three,” his mother said. “Do you know how to open the door?”
“Not without a tool,” Nate said. “Can’t you talk him into opening the door?”
“I’ve been trying! He just keeps saying he wants to drive. He unbuckled his car seat and crawled into the front. He locked me out before I got the trunk closed.” She splayed the back of her palm over her forehead and sighed. “I’m too old to be the mother of a three-year-old.”
Then the mom banged on the window again. “Andrew Harrison Matthew, you are in so much trouble. Do you want me to call the sheriff?”
“Ma’am,” Nate said. “I’m a sheriff’s deputy.”
She studied him with a raised eyebrow and eyeballed the outfit. “You’re undercover?”
“Something like that,” he mumbled.
“I’ve heard of going undercover, but you’re dressed like a cartoon character. Maybe I should call a real policeman.”
“In a situation like this, the temperature is dangerous and the motor isn’t running, so you should call a locksmith,” Nate explained.
“Do you think it’s possible your son could start the car?” Becky asked.
“He would have to get it out of my purse, but honestly, I wouldn’t put it past him. Last week, he dismantled my vacuum cleaner and hid all the parts.”
“Nate, can’t you do something?” Becky turned her beautiful brown eyes on him and gave him that be a hero look.
He tapped on the window to get the little guy’s attention, but the towheaded boy was too busy trying to drive. Hell on wheels.
When this kid was sixteen, Lucy might go for him. That was scary. Take a mental note, Dalton. If you ever have a daughter, keep her isolated in a cabin in the woods until she is thirty.
“You better call a locksmith,” Becky said.
“My husband will have a fit. My phone is in my purse. Locked up in there with speed racer. Could you call a locksmith for me?”
“I’ve got a better idea.” Becky snapped her fingers. “Hang on, be right back.”
Nate and the kid’s mother turned to watch Becky hurry inside the convenience store. Nate couldn’t help noticing the sassy wiggle of her bottom through those sheer harem pants. She hadn’t hesitated about going inside dressed like that when a child’s safety was involved. He liked that about her.
Becky came back, laden with goodies— a slushy, a giant chocolate chip cookie, and a Hot Wheels racecar.
“Oh my gosh,” the mom said, “how did you know he loves Hot Wheels?”
“Just a hunch.” Becky chuckled.
Trying the cookie first, Becky held it up to the window, but all she got for her effort was a devious grin.
The slushy didn’t work either.
And sadly, neither did Hot Wheels.
So much for her creative idea. Nate shook his head. The kid was hard-core.
Becky tapped the Hot Wheels against the glass. The kid went back to driving and making running car noises. The only thing the boy seemed interested in was driving.
“Quick, dangle your key fob at the window,” Becky told Nate.
He took the key fob from his pocket and waggled it in front of the glass.
Little Andy perked right up, like a dog who heard someone say walk. Both his eyes and his grin widened.
“Open the door, Andy. If you want the key.”
Just like that, Andy reached over and opened the door. Nate looped the future NASCAR driver off the seat and into his mother’s waiting arms.
“Andy, you are so naughty! Never lock me out again!” His mother hugged and reprimanded him at the same time. “I’m so grateful to both of you.”
“You’re so welcome,” Becky said.
“Just happy to be of service.” Nate canted his head.
They both waved goodbye as Andy’s mom drove from the parking lot.
Nate turned to Becky. “What say we both go in and get those chili cheese dogs and slushes?”
“Deal.” Becky held out her hand.
Nate sank his hand in hers, and they walked across the parking lot together.
Laughing when they were back in the car, they wolfed down the chili cheese dogs, along with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and lemon-lime slushes.
It was a fun night. In fact, Nate couldn’t remember the last time it had this much fun. Too bad he and Becky didn’t have much in common. She was a terrific woman.
When they got home, Nate was still keyed up, not really ready to call it a night, and thought about going for a run, but he felt too full of chili cheese dogs.
“You don’t have to walk me up,” she said when he followed her.
“You were an enormous help tonight. Maybe I can even the score—change a lightbulb or take out your trash or something.”
She was climbing the stairs ahead of him, the see-through trousers torturing him to no end. It was time to say good night, his saner side warned him, but her hot little body in that outfit had been making him feverish all over.
Would she welcome a goodnight kiss?
Suddenly, he felt as nervous as a teenager on his first date.
“Well,” Becky said. “Thanks for the lovel
y night.”
“That was your idea of lovely?”
“Yes, it was. I got to see you in action. And somewhere other than your apartment.”
“You got to see me in action on the day we met.”
“And that was the first time I saw your kindness.”
The way she was looking at him was undoing Nate in a dozen different ways. He got the feeling she was idealizing him, and he wasn’t so sure he was comfortable with that.
“Becky...” His voice came out rough and gravelly.
She lifted her chin. Met his gaze head on. “Yes?”
He lowered his head.
She leaned in as she went up on the balls of her feet.
And then they were kissing as if their lips were magnetized, and it felt so damn good. Beyond good. It was as if they were made to kiss each other.
Blood hammered through his ears, his heart rate picking up the longer they kissed. He had wanted her, needed her, all evening.
She stepped lightly onto the tops of his feet, letting him know she was all in, and melted against him, molding her soft curves to his hard body and pressing against him until Nate was ready to explode.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her with their lips locked over the threshold and into her apartment. He kicked the door closed behind them. This wasn’t rational. A cynical part of his mind told him this was a terrible idea. But his heart, and his gut, pushed him forward with relentless urgency. He wanted her.
And from the hungry noises she was making, she wanted him just as much.
Her arms were entwined around his neck, her tongue playfully teasing his. He poised to lay her gently on the bed and straddle her luscious body when a flying ball of fur dashed between his legs and knocked him off balance. He tripped forward onto the mattress, bouncing Becky onto her back and landing with his chin poking into her stomach.
“That darn cat!” He tried to scramble into a dignified position. “I about broke my leg.”
“Ozzie, bad kitty,” Becky scolded, but she was giggling. “Are you okay, Nate?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said, sounding ragged. The cat had taken him by surprise. A sneak attack.
“I’m fine.” Becky’s voice was light, amused.
