* * * *
By the time they’d finished talking to the fire marshal and the town sheriff, it was past ten. She and Ross had spent a good two hours hunting through her grandmother’s boxes looking for the insurance information. She had spent several days packing away papers and excess clutter and carefully shelving each labeled box in the storage room off the kitchen. Despite her best attempts, she still hadn’t found any legal papers or anything. She finally called her Aunt Tracy to ask if she knew where else to look, but as soon as she mentioned the fire, the woman insisted on coming right over. Sure enough, her aunt was parked in the driveway not fifteen minutes later. She insisted Darling turn the outside lights on so she could get a better look at the damage. Darling felt guilty, as if the fire was somehow her fault instead of just some teen vandals.
“Darling, you really need to make a decision about this house. I don’t like what’s been going on. What if someone had gotten hurt?” Aunt Tracy clicked her nails on the deck and shook her blonde head. Darling hung her head, feeling like she’d let her aunt down somehow. She tugged at her new sundress, wishing it wasn’t quite so short now that she was standing on her deck like a little girl about to be punished.
“It’s just some bored kids mad that their spot has been taken from them. I think it’s best that I stay. I mean what if those kids had gotten drunk and drowned in the lake during one of their parties? I just wish I’d been able to move in sooner.” Darling turned at the sound of Ross coming out to the deck. Crap, she didn’t need her aunt to see him, but it was no use. The woman stared at Ross as if he were Satan in the flesh.
“I should introduce you to my friend Ross Daniels. He’s staying a few days until he can get a travel visa.” Her aunt’s eyebrows shot straight up to her hairline.
“You have a man staying here?” her aunt asked, covering her collarbone with her hand.
“Umm, yes, but it’s not like that. He’s just a friend,” Darling lamely explained. It is all very innocent. In fact I was only practically dry humping him up in the hallway last night.
Ross pushed open the French door with his foot and eased his way onto the deck, oblivious to her aunt’s presence. “What should I do with this box; there isn’t a label on it?” he asked nodding to the toaster-sized package in his hands. The door swung back and knocked the box out of his arms. “Damn it!” he exclaimed bending over the upturned cardboard. Darling dropped to her knees at the same time, anxious to shove the contents that had fallen to the deck back into the box. Her face heated, and her quick motions made her hands clumsy. A pair of handcuffs, a magnum-sized box of condoms, a bright purple vibrator, and a few other miscellaneous sex items were all visible.
“Oh, my God. Does your father know you have a guest with you?” Aunt Tracy squeaked out before turning away, obviously uncomfortable.
“These are not mine,” Darling explained, her face burning up.
“Well, I sure don’t think they belong to your late grandma, so maybe you want to try again?” he drawled, winking at her before picking up what had to be a cock ring and dropping it into the box. “How about I just put these in your bedroom, and you can look for the owner later?” She wanted to rip the smile off his face. “Oh, and evening, ma’am.” he offered politely to her aunt and walked back into the house.
“I’ll be right back, Auntie.” Darling hurried after him, catching him by the kitchen counter still grinning like the Cheshire cat.
“These belong to Madison,” she said in a quiet voice that sounded puny even to her ears.
“Hmm, I wonder if Link knows what his wife’s into. Lucky bastard.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and headed into the living room.
“I don’t mean that stuff is hers; she left them for me. Ugh! I mean, I don’t want them. I’ve never used any of that,” she stammered, getting even more riled up as he laughed his way up the stairs.
Forget maiming him—Ross was a dead man. She returned to the deck and spent most of the next fifteen minutes nodding her head at her anxious aunt’s concerns for her virtue, safety, and eternal soul while coming up with more and more creative ways to do bodily harm to Ross and Madison. She’d post those old Halloween pictures of Madison throwing up at a frat party all over the Internet. She’d sign Madison’s phone number up at every single sales booth she came across. For Ross, well, she’d like to give him paper cuts on the whites of his eyes and spray lemon juice in his face.
“Darling, are you listening to me?” Aunt Tracy asked, her arms still folded severely over her chest.
“Yes.”
“You need to have that man leave. He doesn’t look at all respectable, and your father would be furious if he knew. You know how, well, conservative he can be. I love you, but I can’t keep this from my brother.”
“Auntie, nothing is going on between the two of us. We’re strictly friends. He’s probably going to be leaving any day now.”
“Oh my God, it’s worse than I feared. He’s got you wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he?”
“I’m not wrapped around Ross’ finger. He’s been really helpful and a good friend to me. What with the vandalism and now the fire.” Her relatives were a bit puritanical. Her father would have a coronary if he knew his little girl was having a man stay in the same house without a nun and a priest standing in as chaperones. He was always very unwilling to let her go on any school trips that weren’t strictly supervised. Good thing she had Madison through college to help her snow her dad on some of her adventures—not that she’d done anything worse than go out to a few bars and frat parties, but still.
“You are too young to get yourself caught up with a man. I am begging you to get your head back on straight. I’ll pray for you tonight.”
“I’m fine. Why don’t you come in for some tea?” she offered.
“No, thank you. I don’t want to be in that house of sin.” Her aunt wouldn’t even come into the house. She walked down the deck stairs to her car and sped off.
Just great.
Ross couldn’t stop laughing as she hauled her butt back into the house. “Thanks a lot. I just got the lecture, the look, and can fully expect a frantic phone call from my dad. Did you really need to come outside tonight?” She raked her hands through her hair, messing up her loose ponytail.
“Sorry, it was just too damn funny. I heard her mention she’d pray for you. I must seem like a total heathen.” He laughed again before pulling himself together.
She grunted at him.
“Yeah, well, how about we call it a night since you’re all pissed off? Unless of course you want to play with some of the toys in that box?” He winked at her.
She threw a pillow from the couch at his head, but unfortunately the demon ducked, and it landed innocently on the floor.
“Oh, come on, I’m just busting your ass a bit. I’m leaving in a few days, and we both pretty much realized that nothing good would come of us hooking up. As far as I’m concerned, you’re like my little sister and nothing else.” He got up, and Beauty Belle was right on his heels going up the stairs.
A little sister? Great, now she really felt like nothing. So much for the makeover. She looked down at her new sundress and felt ridiculous. Had she really done the beauty thing and bought new clothes to impress Ross? She was still pathetic. But wait, he doesn’t have a little sister, so how would he know how he’d feel? Damn it, stop. He is off-limits. But, what if…Stop.
Chapter 21
Darling couldn’t believe the crowd at the Melody Bar and Grill. Who would’ve thought a small town would attract larger crowds than some of the New York City nightclubs Madison had dragged her to over the years. It was a good thing Carrie’s boyfriend Matt and his buddies from the fire department had gotten there early, otherwise there was no way they would ever have gotten a table. A local band was playing cover tunes in one corner, and a large wall-to-wall bar took up the entire other end of the facility. After her initial blush at having to face Matt again after the embarrassing menstrual issu
e, she got over it and realized he was a really nice guy. And he had some cute friends. Time to move on with her new attitude.
If Ross showed up tonight, she would be his friend, but if he wanted anything beyond that, he could just kick rocks. She should be out meeting men instead of lusting after a guy who was leaving in another few days. He’d said as much himself.
“Darling, meet Connor. He’s another fireman at the department with me.” Matt introduced her to a tall young man with a crew cut and chiseled cheekbones. He shook her hand firmly before offering, “Can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure, that’d be great. I’ll have a rum and Diet Coke.” Darling accepted the offer with a smile. Zack had never bought her a drink; he usually didn’t even want to acknowledge her existence when she went out to see his band play. Probably didn’t want her to be getting in the way of him hooking up with groupies. Or was there a more embarrassing, depressing, and humiliating explanation? She had to face up to it; he’d been embarrassed to be seen with her. But that was all behind her, and she was going to have a good time tonight. She wasn’t that frumpy young girl. She was an attractive, determined woman who was going to settle into this town and write cookbooks. Maybe she’d even look into what it would take to get her kitchen licensed so that she could sell her pastries to regional restaurants. Teaching just wasn’t it for her, and she didn’t want to go back.
Carrie and Matt were cuddled up next to each other at the table. Darling took a seat next to her friend and tried to learn all the names of the various locals crowded in at the table. There was another guy from the fire department, a female dispatcher, two cops, a local middle school teacher, and three other young guys who she couldn’t make out either their names or how they knew Carrie and Matt with the loud noise in the background. But it didn’t matter. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Connor slipped in beside her and handed her a drink. “To making new friends,” he toasted, and the group clinked glasses and beer bottles together.
“So, Matt, did you grow up in town?” Darling asked, taking another sip of her drink, now slightly more used to its heavy alcohol taste.
“Yeah. Yes, actually. We were kind of neighbors to your house except I usually spent summers with my mom in Rhode Island. My dad and brother still live in the cottage next to your property. Dad still owns the town’s only landscaping business.” Matt took a healthy sip of his beer and made a smirk. The whole table seemed to grow silent watching her intently for a response.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Mr. Whitaker was related to you. I remember now that your dad got questioned a lot back then.” She shook her head and looked down at the coasters stacked on the table, embarrassed she hadn’t made the connection before.
“It’s okay; it was a long time ago. Hell, if my old man had just come clean about what he’d been doing over in the woods that day, he would of been cleared in an hour. He brought it on himself.” Matt took another long draw from his beer bottle. “Come on, we’re celebrating old friends and new. Let’s dance or do shots and switch the signs on the restrooms.”
“I vote for the dancing. You guys almost got me arrested last time you pulled one of your pranks in a public place. Putting firecrackers in the grill nearly gave Jimbo out back a heart attack when he lit it up for the pig roast,” Carrie elaborated her story with a wide smile taking the sting out of her words.
“You exaggerate! No way would you have gotten arrested since we had two of Uniontown’s finest helping us on that one.” Matt explained, falling into guffaws.
“Would you like to dance with me?” Connor asked standing up and extending his hand toward her.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” Darling explained, feeling a bit shy.
“It’s a slow song, so you just have to hold onto my shoulders and let me lead you around. It will be fine.” Connor gave her a gentle tug that pulled her out of her seat.
She was about to refuse again when she caught sight of Ross pulled up at a barstool in the corner. He had a beer in front of him and seemed to be looking right at her. If he thought he was going to trample on her evening out, he was mistaken. They were friends, but that was it—she didn’t need another experience like she’d had with Zack. She knew he was joining them but thought he would just fade into the background. But nothing about Ross was background material. She smiled brightly at Connor. “You lead the way, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He escorted her toward the middle of the dance floor and gently spun her in his arms, one hand on hers and his other wrapped a bit tightly around her waist. The dance floor was closer to the stage, so it was almost impossible to hear what he was shouting into her ear over the music. Darling kept having to guess what his questions might be based on the couple of words she caught, and she would shout back a short answer into his ear.
The strong drink had made her feel a bit more competent about twirling around on the dance floor, but she wasn’t quite thrilled with how close Connor was holding her. He had her breasts mashed up into his chest, and his hand kept dropping lower on her back. She was regretting the scooped-back cocktail dress she was wearing despite how great Carrie assured her she looked in it. She tried to pull away from him a bit when he started skimming his fingers just under the wispy fabric toward her butt. Connor was having none of it; he just tightened his hold and spun her a bit faster. This time he wasn’t shouting something into her ear; he seemed to be trying to nibble on it. It was all a bit much. She couldn’t break out of his tight grasp as she fruitlessly searched the other couples on the dance floor, hoping Carrie and Matt were nearby. Perhaps she could flash her friend the “rescue me” signal, but her friend was too far away. She stepped on Connor’s toes, but that just encouraged him to squeeze her closer to his body and grind his pelvis into her stomach. The way he was dancing with her was far too intimate, his moves making her feel under attack. Enough was enough.
She pulled her head back to shout about the bathroom when his whole body jerked back away from hers. The sought-after separation was a blessing and a curse. Connor stumbled back a couple of feet, and there was Ross, his hand still on Connor’s shoulder while his eyes glared at her.
“Sorry to interrupt. Darling, I need to have a word with you,” Ross loudly stated, not sounding sorry in the least. He looked murderous, a deep scowl and narrowed eyes marring his beautiful face.
“Who the hell are you?” Connor asked, a surprised expression on his face.
“I’m the guy living with her. Who the hell are you?” Ross demanded, shifting his gaze to Connor and folding his arms across his broad chest.
“Damn. Sorry. I didn’t know she was anyone’s girl.” Connor walked off, shaking his head and heading toward the bar.
“What is so important?” she shouted.
“I’m trying to prevent a murder.”
“W-whose?” she stammered.
“The next guy who touches you, looks at you, or even thinks about you,” he huffed.
Chapter 22
Ross wasted no time. He grabbed Darling by the elbow and practically hauled her out the front door of the bar and into the parking lot. He directed her away from where a small group was standing outside smoking cigarettes and brought her over to his rental SUV.
Once away from all the noise and people, she couldn’t hold back any longer. “What the hell are you doing? I was in there dancing, and now you go and tell people you’re living with me. What gives you the right?” She shifted her weight onto her other heel.
“Oh, come off it, Darling, you needed a rescue. That guy was practically dry humping you on the dance floor. If he stuck his hand any lower down your dress, I was gonna have to kick his ass.”
Darling crossed her arms over her chest, feeling far too exposed before Ross’ gaze. “You have absolutely no right to tell me who I can and can’t dance with or how I can dance. Not after the other night. You made it perfectly clear that you weren’t interested in anything to do with me, so don’t come around acting like a big brother or a
jealous boyfriend.”
“Maybe I don’t have the right, but somebody needs to watch out for you. That guy was all over you. It just wasn’t right. Christ, you’re practically a virgin.”
“Well, that’s really none of your business, now is it? If I want to dance or grind up against every young guy in that bar tonight, I can. My sex life is none of your concern. I’m tired of always being a nice girl, or worse, the girl people want to be friends with but nobody wants to go out with. I’m twenty-two years old—I’m not a little girl. Just once I’d like a man who made me feel like a woman and not an annoying little sister or some dumpy pity date. I think it’s about time I got to have some hot, sweaty, messy, orgasmic sex, and you can’t stop me.” She turned on her heel and stalked toward the bar entrance. She made it almost to the front door before Ross caught up with her, spun her around, and threw her over his shoulder. She let out a squeal and started to try and squirm free, only to have him throw his arm over her butt and start walking faster.
“Put me down. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Darling demanded, pounding his back with her fists.
“I’m taking you home before you do or say anything else stupid tonight. You don’t just need looking after—you need a keeper.” He handed one of the bouncers a hundred-dollar bill. “Take care of any tab she ran and keep the rest.”
“That was a hundred bucks!” she shrieked at his back.
“If you drank more than that, I’ll have to reevaluate my plans for you,” he drawled.
“Of course not, I had one drink, but—” She was cut off by his laughter and tossed into the passenger seat of a giant beast of an SUV.
Chapter 23
Ross pulled her into the lake house, Beauty Belle rolling on her back in welcome. He dropped his keys on the side table and led her to the living room.
“Do you need some water or a minute?” he asked.
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