One-Click Buy: March 2009 Harlequin Blaze

by Alison Kent

  Right. Because a race held the same gravitas as his own granddaughter’s future. Cardin was going to love this. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  Jeb snorted as he took the timing light Trey handed him. “Why the hell wouldn’t it be?”

  “I was under the impression that the friction in the family wasn’t only between her parents.”

  Scowling, Jeb shook his head. “That son of mine wouldn’t leave well enough alone. And I told him if he couldn’t shut up, then I would. And I did.”

  Trey took another very careful step. “I was made to understand that the rift between you and Eddie was because of your fight with my father.”

  “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.” Jeb shut and locked the tool chest’s drawers, then rolled the case up against the wall. “The story of that day has never been anyone’s but mine or Aubrey’s to tell. I’m not much of a bard, and Aubrey took it with him when he went to meet his maker.”

  Trey wanted to press, but Jeb’s words rang with an unarguable finality, and so he let the subject go. He didn’t bury it, or sweep it under any rug. He just left it sitting where he could easily reach it when it was time to try again.

  16

  AS SHE PULLED JEB’S TRUCK into Headlights ten minutes after four, Cardin found herself dreading the juggling act to come. The tables she could handle. Avoiding her parents was going to be the challenge, since both would be there for at least half of her shift.

  She wanted her mother and father to talk to each other, not to hound and badger her—though, she supposed, their hounding and badgering was a small price to pay to see them working toward a common goal, which it seemed they just might be.

  They’d spent the night under the same roof for the first time in months, and their cars were cozied up side by side in the lot. Cardin took those two signs as progress, and had just dropped Jeb’s truck keys into her purse when the ice house’s back door opened.

  Sandy Larabie came out, folding a stick of gum into her mouth. “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up to relieve me.”

  Cardin looked across the parking lot. The crowd wasn’t any larger than usual for this time of day. Whoever was working with Sandy wouldn’t have a bit of trouble covering the tables until Cardin clocked in. “Well, I’m here now, so you can leave with a clear conscience.”

  Despite her earlier reprimand, Sandy didn’t seem in any hurry to move. “Tater told me your news last night. I guess congratulations are in order.”

  “Only if you want to offer them,” Cardin said, slinging her purse strap over her shoulder.

  Apparently Sandy didn’t, because what she said next was, “Word’s traveling pretty fast. So are the rumors and questions.”

  Questions Cardin was ready for. But rumors? Pregnancy was the only gossipy thing that came to mind, and her relationship with Trey being long distance—or so they’d claimed—until recently, easily squashed that. “What kind of rumors?”

  “That your family is closing ranks with Whip.”

  “What for?”

  “To keep the truth about the fight between his father and Jeb from getting out.”

  How ridiculous! “You’re kidding me, right? That’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Sandy shrugged. “No one believes it was about money. So a lot of people are saying there’s a secret to hide.”

  “Well, if you’re digging to find out, you can stop. I don’t know what happened. Neither does Trey. And the idea that we would close ranks over anything is just silly.”

  “I don’t know. Jeb could’ve asked anyone to drive for him in the Moonshine Run. Why did he wait until the last minute and ask Whip?”

  Well, that was a big fat duh. “Because he’s the best? Because no one can do what he does with a car?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Maybe people should look at the obvious instead of looking stupid,” Cardin said, wondering what a nice guy like Tater Rawls could possibly see in this woman.

  “Hey, don’t blame the messenger,” Sandy said, taking a step toward her Civic. “I just thought it would be the neighborly thing to do, giving you fair warning.”

  “I appreciate it,” Cardin responded, telling one of the biggest lies of this whole ordeal. She didn’t appreciate it at all. Not the joy she sensed Sandy taking in being the bearer of bad tidings, nor the fact that people were talking about her and Trey.

  She’d expected the talk, sure; that’s what happened when engagements were announced. But she hadn’t expected speculation that they were together for any reason other than being in love.

  If the gossip ended up making things worse between Eddie and Delta, or between Eddie and Jeb, she swore she was going to kick her own ass so hard, she would never again be able to sit without hurting.

  She wanted to talk to Trey. Now. She needed to talk to Trey. Now. But he was with her grandfather, and she had a shift to get through. Talking would have to wait.

  She stashed her purse in her locker in the employees’ tiny break room, tied on her pocketed apron and smoothed down her skirt. She clocked in and headed for the kitchen. Her mother waylaid her in front of her office.

  Once Cardin was inside, Delta shut the door. “I know you’re busy. This will only take a minute. But your father and I were talking last night.”

  Ugh, after her run-in with Sandy, this was the last thing Cardin needed. “More objections, I guess?”

  “Of a sort, yes. But we gave you our blessing, so please give me some credit,” Delta said, arching a brow.

  Cardin nodded. “What’s up?”

  “I know Whip needs to be out at his place to do the cleanup, but there’s no reason for the two of you to spend your nights there, too, since you’re obviously unable to spend them apart.” Delta circled around her desk. “This isn’t about me being a prude. I’m thinking of the lack of creature comforts.”

  Yeah. Not a lot of those out there, Cardin mused, though the camping wasn’t without appeal. She leaned one shoulder against the file cabinet. “It’s not so bad. Besides, Trey’s a bit of an insomniac. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he heads out to the barn. If he stayed with me in the house, his coming and going might wake Daddy and Jeb.”

  “His comings and goings won’t wake anyone if you’re staying in your apartment.”

  Uh…“Are you moving home?”

  “Yes and no. I thought I’d stay upstairs and let you and Whip have your place.”

  Not exactly what Cardin wanted to hear, but close enough that a huge grin spread over her face.

  Her mother did her best to wipe it away. “Don’t go reading anything into that. I’m not back with your father.”

  “Are you sure? I saw your car over there last night.”

  Delta’s face reddened. “We were talking about you and Whip. That’s all. Even if he does end up taking you on the road, there’s no reason you can’t be comfortable while you’re here.”

  “Are you sure your moving back home isn’t about sending a message that Daddy’s not on the market?”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve been listening to those rumors.”

  “Listening to? I can hardly avoid them. Paying attention to? Not so much.”

  “Good. Because Eddie and I will work things out in our own way. And if there comes a time when he’s back on the market—” she waved a hand “—well, that time’s not now. That’s all that matters.”

  Cardin started to go, but since she had her mother’s ear…“There are other rumors out there, you know. Already. About me and Trey.”

  “I’m not surprised. Dahlia lives for rumors.” Delta sat, picking up her pencil. “Are they bothering you?”

  She’d only just heard about them from Sandy, so no. “Apparently people are saying that Trey and I getting married is about closing ranks to keep the secret of the fight from getting out.”

  Delta screwed up her face. “Well, that’s ludicrous. The secret of the fight is safe with Jeb. And no doubt he’ll ta
ke it to his grave just as Aubrey did.”

  That’s what she’d thought, but just to be sure…“Then Daddy doesn’t know what happened?”

  “Not why it happened, no. And his coming to terms with that is what we’re working on now.”

  “By working on, do you mean sleeping with him?” The question slipped out, and caused her mother to gasp.

  “Cardin Serenity Worth. That is none of your business.”

  Cardin laughed, but was prevented from saying anything else by the office door opening and Eddie walking in. “D, have you seen Car—There you are. You don’t feel like working today, or what?”

  “You’re awfully bossy for a boss,” she told her father, kissing his cheek and giving him a wink before scuttling out and closing her parents inside the small room.

  She wanted to lock them in, hold on to the door knob and keep it closed until she knew for certain they would come out happily married again. The fact that they were talking was such a good sign. Even if she wasn’t thrilled that they were talking about her.

  Oh, well, she’d made that bed, and had to lie in it. And really, it wasn’t bad at all since she was sharing it with Trey.

  “GUESS WHAT?” CARDIN asked, bounding into the barn where Trey had actually made progress following his afternoon with Jeb.

  It was almost nine, and Cardin was still wearing her Headlights uniform. He liked her Headlights uniform. The T-shirt that showed off her breasts. The short skirt that reminded him of the things she could do with her long legs.

  Then he realized what her still wearing her uniform meant. “You know there’s no water to the tub in the bathroom.”

  “That’s okay,” she told him, her smile wide and excited. “We’re going to spend the night at my apartment.”

  “I thought your mother was staying at your apartment.” As great as sleeping in a bed sounded, he was not going to share one with Cardin if her mother was a closed door away on the couch.

  “She was, but she’s gone back home.”

  “So the engagement plan worked?”

  “Not quite yet. She says she’s only home as a courtesy so we don’t have to sleep on the floor since our minds are made up about staying together.”

  Best news he’d had all day. “That’s a courtesy I can get behind.”

  “I thought you might say that. Do you want to go now? Or do you have more work in here to do?”

  “I have a month’s worth of work in here to do. It’ll keep.”

  Trey sent Cardin on ahead and locked up, grabbing clean clothes and the personal items he would need before tomorrow. The thought of sleeping on a bed that wasn’t in a hotel room, or in the hauler, or made up of sleeping bags stacked on the floor was made even better by the fact that he wouldn’t be there alone.

  After the reception he’d received from Cardin’s parents last night, and their less than heartfelt blessing, the gesture from her mother surprised him. A skeptical part of him wondered if Delta Worth’s motivation had less to do with vacating her daughter’s apartment for Cardin and her fiancé, and more to do with wanting to return home and be under the same roof as Eddie.

  Not that he was looking a gift horse in the mouth, but such an abrupt about face was certainly suspect, even though it seemed to indicate Cardin’s plan was panning out. His ruminations were cut short by the buzzing of his BlackBerry. “Trey Davis.”

  “I didn’t tell you where I lived. And I left too soon for you to follow me.”

  He laughed, a low throaty sound that echoed in the cab around him. “What makes you think I don’t know where you live?”

  “That sounds like I’m being stalked,” she said, her tone curious rather than accusatory.

  “Could be I just did a Google query.”

  “I’m not listed, so I don’t think a query would’ve returned you the information.”

  “Give me a minute. I’ll think of something else.”

  “Why? Are you embarrassed to admit that you’ve looked me up?”

  “No. But I don’t want to be thought of as a stalker.”

  She waited a moment before responding. “So when did you look me up?”

  He thought for a moment, noticing the lighted steeple of Dahlia First Baptist Church in the distance. “About the time you moved out of your folks’ place, I guess.”

  “That long ago? You’ve been keeping tabs on me since then?”

  “Not keeping tabs, no. Tater and I were talking about you during one of my visits home. He pointed it out to me when we drove by.”

  “He pointed it out when you drove by, or you were driving by so he could point it out?”

  Trey laughed again, tickled by the endearing skepticism in her voice. “I honestly don’t remember. But I can promise you that it wasn’t stalking.”

  “I guess I’ll have to take your word for that.”

  “If I say it, it’s true. That’s one thing as my fiancée you should know about me.”

  “You only lie when I ask you to then, is that right?”

  He slowed for the stoplight ahead. “I’m not going to lie to you, okay? Does that work?”

  “Thank you. It’s nice to know you’ll be honest with me, even though this isn’t real.”

  It was late, it was dark. She was a voice on the other end of a call as he drove toward her. There was no one else around, nothing to distract him. No reason for him not to open up except the possibility of falling flat on his face.

  He took the risk. “That line I mentioned? I’m not so sure that some of this isn’t real.”

  She was silent for a long time. He knew she was there. He could hear her breathing. Hear the radio turned low in the truck, and the roar of Jeb’s big diesel. He didn’t want to nudge, or prod for a reply before she was ready. But he also didn’t want the delay to give her too much time to think.

  The tension in the cab of his truck had nearly strangled him by the time she spoke, her voice small and almost timid in his ear. “I’d been wondering if I was the only one thinking that. I didn’t want to say anything.”

  His pulse began to race, his heart pounding, pistons thudding in his chest. “Why not?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said, and he imagined her shrugging. “I guess I thought if you didn’t feel the same, and I put it out there, I would’ve opened a big can of worms for no reason. Pulling off a fake engagement was going to be hard enough without adding that pressure. And I didn’t want to screw up this chance to get my parents back together.”

  He could understand that. He even admired her for being so selfless. But that left this thing between them in a crimp. “Then we’re agreed that the engagement is fake.”

  “Yeah,” she said, and he heard her cut off the truck’s engine.

  He wasn’t too far from the entrance to her complex himself. “But the other stuff, the you and me stuff…”

  “There’s something there, isn’t there?” she asked, and her voice broke.

  “I think there might be.” He was too close to panic to say more. Too close to telling her…that he loved her. God, he loved her. All this time. So many years. Thinking of her constantly, wanting her. Coming back here because he couldn’t stand the distance anymore. He loved her. He loved her.

  He had to get to her. He had to have her now. “What’s the code to your gate?”

  “Six three six seven.”

  He punched it in, keeping the phone call connected, and drove through when the gate rolled back.

  He could hear more sounds, the keys on her chain jangling, the squeak of the door as it opened, what sounded like her purse hitting the floor. He didn’t hear the door close, heard only her breathing, her waiting.

  He parked his truck, got out, locked it behind him, and was halfway to Cardin’s front door when he realized he’d left his duffel bag in the cab. He didn’t go back for it. He didn’t care.

  Her building was down the sidewalk from the parking lot and to the left. Her door was the third one from the end. He saw her standing in the rectangle o
f light, a silhouette with long legs and a short skirt and hair feathering around her shoulders.

  His body tightened. His steps grew quick, his strides fierce, and then he was there, sweeping her up, kicking the door closed behind them, and grinding his mouth to hers.

  17

  “WHERE’S THE BEDROOM?” TREY ASKED as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck.

  “I only have nine hundred square feet here. You can probably figure it out.” She inclined her head to his left to get him started, loving that he was finally here and was desperate, was out of breath, was barely able to speak.

  The lamp she’d switched on in the living room was the only light he had to guide him, but he found his way without any trouble at all. She felt the thud as his knees and shins made contact with her bed. And then she was on her back on the mattress, Trey on top of her, pinning her down.

  “What took you so long to get here?” she asked, her chest tight as she moved one hand from his nape to brush the hair from his forehead.

  “Buell and his deputies,” he told her, his gaze eating her up like candy. “I didn’t want to chance being locked up over night for reckless driving.”

  He was so sweet, so silly, so practical. “I wasn’t talking about tonight.”

  “I didn’t know that you wanted me here,” he said, his soft voice at odds with the fire in his eyes.

  “I’ve always wanted you here,” she said, admitting the long-denied truth.

  His throat worked hard as he swallowed. “You should’ve let me know.”

  “I was afraid.”

  “Of what?” he asked, his brows coming together in a thoughtful V.

  “That being here wasn’t what you wanted,” she told him and he smiled.

  “I can see we’ve got our work cut out for us with this communication thing.”

  Her stomach fluttered. “Were you thinking of talking, or using body language?”

  “Right now, I’m in the mood to talk with my hands.”

  He rolled to one hip and slid his palm up her thigh, finding the elastic leg hole of her panties beneath her skirt. One touch, and her control dissolved like paper in water. She was never going to make it through the night.