Barking Up the Wrong Tree

by Jenn McKinlay

  “You sure about that?” he asked. “Because I really wouldn’t mind having you—”

  “No!” Carly yelped, cutting him off. “I get it and I’ll concede that physically we are compatible.”

  “Really? Compatible? That’s your word of choice? I would have said combustible.” He drew out each syllable, making Carly sweat, especially since she had just felt scorched by his nearness.

  As if he knew what his proximity did to her, a slow smile lifted the corners of his lips, one side slightly higher than the other. The man was too good-looking for his own good, or more accurately, for her own good. He gave her a wicked wink.

  “I’d love to finish this conversation but Jillian asked me to get these for her since she’s helping another customer,” he said.

  As he left the room, Carly stood staring after him, thinking he had a lot more bad boy in him than she had thought. Which indicated that there was no way he knew anything about her relationship with Preston; otherwise there was no way he could be interested in her.

  Huh. Maybe, just maybe, she could see James again. What?! Did she really just think that? What was it about that man that was flipping her script and making her consider the possibility of a relationship when she had never considered one before?

  Curiosity compelled her to leave the safety of the kitchen. The bakery was buzzing. She felt bad that she hadn’t poked her head out to see if Jillian needed an assist before this. As she watched, James delivered the whoopie pies to Jillian, who thanked him with a warm smile. All of her friends liked James; that had to mean something, right?

  She hurried behind the counter and made a shooing motion at Jillian. “You should have called me for help. Go finish your meeting.”

  There was no sign of Mac or Emma, but the line at the counter was four deep. Carly set to work helping out the customers while Jillian and James resumed their seats in the booth where they’d been talking.

  Carly tried not to pay any attention to them as she helped the people in front of her, boxing up orders and taking payments with a flirty smile. She felt James’s gaze on her but she ignored him even while teasing Hank Koslowski, the delivery man who always bought a whoopie pie when he brought a package.

  “Look at those muscles,” Carly said. She leaned over the counter to squeeze Hank’s bicep when he handed her a brown box the size of a loaf of bread. “You are just the manliest man I’ve ever seen, Hank.”

  Tall, skinny Hank with the thinning head of blonde hair blinked at her as if uncertain of what to say.

  “The usual, handsome?” she asked.

  “Yes, please.” He swallowed audibly. “Miss Carly, uh, you know I’m married, right?” He handed her two dollars and took the cellophane-wrapped whoopie pie.

  “Yes, I do,” she said. “And a crying shame it is for women all over Bluff Point.”

  She gave him a sad smile and he backed away from the counter toward the door as if he could not believe what he was hearing. He tripped over a table leg and nearly went sprawling but he righted himself at the last minute and bolted from the shop.

  “Stop flirting with the customers,” Jillian called from the booth. “You’re scaring them.”

  Carly turned toward her friend to make a snappy retort but Jillian’s head was down as she was writing on a legal pad on the table beside her. James, however, was looking at Carly, and the look was smoking hot, like he couldn’t wait to get her alone and do wicked things to her. Now it was Carly’s turn to swallow audibly as whatever she’d been about to say vanished into the air, never to be uttered.

  “Carly, I’m going to need you to be the liaison for James’s party,” Jillian said. She didn’t look up as she continued writing. “I already have to be at the Heinrich wedding and can’t do delivery for both.”

  “What about the shop?” Carly asked.

  “They are Saturday night events, so we’ll be closed,” she said. She glanced up at Carly with her delicate brows raised. “It’s not a problem, is it?”

  Carly narrowed her eyes into a suspicious glower. Jillian was just as bad as Emma and Mac. This was a fix-up if ever she smelled one. She refused to look at James, knowing that he was probably watching her. It was one thing for her to consider having another go-round with James, it was quite another for her friends to try and make it happen. Her contrary nature made her resistant.

  “I might have a thing,” she said.

  “You don’t do things,” Jillian reminded her.

  “I might start.”

  Jillian rolled her eyes. Carly took a deep breath to argue her case, when James interrupted.

  “This could be the return favor,” he said. “Packing up one hundred and fifty whoopie pies and driving them to Portland for the party would definitely make us even.”

  Jillian glanced between them, watching their interaction as if they were her favorite sitcom.

  Carly met James’s gray gaze and felt a twinge of disappointment. She’d really hoped he was going to pull out something a bit more exciting than delivering whoopie pies as his payback. In all truth, she thought there’d be a lot more whoopie and a lot less pie involved. Which was not to say she wanted more than that—maybe she did—either way she had been so sure that he did. Huh.

  “Fine, I’ll deliver your whoopie pies,” she said. “And then we’re square. Agreed?”

  His smile was wicked when he said, “Agreed. Of course, given the lateness of the party, I’ll have to insist that you stay over in Portland. I’m crashing at the Beaumont Inn, shall I book you a room, too?”

  There he was. That was her bad boy with the hidden agenda. She tried to give him a quelling look but it was hard not to laugh at his shenanigans.

  Before she could answer, the front door was pulled open and a young woman, who looked to be about the same age as Carly’s sister Gina, strode into the bakery, looking out of breath and a bit frantic.

  “James!” she cried. “Thank goodness I caught you.”

  “Lorelei!”

  James slid out of the booth with a smile. He looked delighted to see the woman. Carly felt her WTF line deepen in her forehead and she stretched her eyebrows up to stop it. It was an effort.

  Jillian looked at her with a questioning glance and Carly shrugged. She had no idea who the woman—now wrapping her arms around James in a big hug that lifted her off her feet—was, but she didn’t like her. Of that, she was certain.

  Her hair was dyed a deep purple and cut into a shag that bounced around her shoulders. She was taller and thinner than Carly by a few inches in all directions. Carly tried not to hold it against her, but it took some effort, especially since she didn’t know who she was or what her relationship to James was. Old girlfriend? Friend? Client? Cousin? Neighbor?

  The first option made Carly grind her teeth just the tiniest bit, which she told herself was ridiculous. Of course James had old girlfriends. It was one more thing in his life that was none of her business.

  When the woman broke free from James, she stepped back and turned to Jillian and then Carly. Her face was round and bright and brimming with friendliness, and Carly noticed a nose ring in her right nostril and two diamond studs above her left eyebrow.

  The girl reeked of free spirit, and Carly couldn’t help but respond with a returning smile. When her gaze met the young woman’s, Carly noted that her eyes were the exact same blue gray hazel as James’s. Sister then? How was it they’d never discussed whether James had siblings or not?

  How could she know exactly where to put her mouth on this man to make him grunt and swear and clutch her hair in his fist, but she didn’t know if he had siblings? Suddenly, everything felt complicated and weird.

  “What are you doing here?” James asked.

  “There’s been an emergency,” Lorelei said. “The hotel in Portland where we planned to host the party caught on fire last night. Everyone got out okay but the
place burnt to the ground.”

  “That’s terrible!” he said. “Mom and Dad have been planning this party for months, are they crushed?”

  “No, because I have an idea. Instead of having the party in Portland, we should have it at your place,” she said. She clapped her hands and jumped up and down in her black Converse sneakers. “Isn’t that brilliant?”

  “What?” James blinked. “My place? But it’s still under construction. I just got my appliances installed yesterday.”

  “So what? It’s a lighthouse,” Lorelei argued. She glanced at Carly and Jillian. “Tell him. You can’t beat a lighthouse for an eightieth birthday party, you just can’t.”

  “She has a point,” Carly said. Eightieth birthday party? “It is pretty cool.”

  James frowned at her.

  “Hi, I’m Jillian Braedon,” Jillian said as she slid out of the booth. “Chief whoopie maker.”

  “Sorry.” James looked chagrinned but gestured between the women and said, “Jillian, my sister Lorelei.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Lorelei said. She shook Jillian’s hand adding, “But everyone calls me Lola, except for Jamie, who insists on using my full name just to bug me.”

  She turned expectantly and James gestured to Carly. “And this is Carly DeCusati.”

  “Pleasure,” Lola said as she shook her hand. She stepped back and glanced at the two women and gave them a mischievous look that was so like James, Carly almost laughed right up until Lola asked, “So, which one of you is Jamie’s girlfriend?”

  “Not me,” Carly said at the same time Jillian said, “She is.”

  A faint tinge of pink crept into James’s cheeks and Carly knew she looked exactly the same. Ugh, his sister was going to know they’d fooled around. So, this was mortifying.

  But Lola just laughed and waved her hand dismissively. “I’m just teasing. James hasn’t hooked up in forev—”

  “Stop talking, please,” he growled at his sister.

  Lola gave him a considering glance. “Okay, but only if you agree to have the party at your house.”

  “Lorelei, no, it’s totally impractical. It’s still under construction. It’d be dangerous, irresponsible even, to have one hundred and fifty people tromping all over the grounds.”

  “But Pops is going to be eighty,” she argued. “Wouldn’t it be great to celebrate it at a lighthouse? You could even light the top in honor of him.”

  “The top is my bedroom,” James argued. “I can’t light it up.”

  She waved her hand at him. “We’ll think of something.”

  “No, we won’t,” he argued. “You’ve seen the place, Carly, tell her. It’s a wreck.”

  Lola’s gaze turned to Carly. There was speculation in her eyes and Carly knew she was wondering how her brother and a woman working at a whoopie pie shop had ended up at his house.

  “He was helping me with an audio recording for my bird,” she explained as if that made any sense whatsoever. “His place is a bit of a shambles right now.”

  “See?” James said.

  “But if you moved most of the construction equipment aside, it would make a lovely venue for a party,” Carly added just to be difficult.

  James gave her an incredulous look as if he couldn’t believe she’d rolled over on him. Carly shrugged. Having the party here would make her return favor a heck of a lot easier.

  “It still won’t work. Bluff Point isn’t equipped to deal with this many Sinclairs hitting town all at once,” he said.

  “Sure it is,” Jillian said. “All of the summer tourists are gone and the autumn leaf peepers don’t fill up the motels. There will be plenty of room and at a much cheaper rate than the hotels in Portland.”

  “See?” Lola said. “It’s all coming together. So, what flavors are we tasting for the whoopie pies? Pops is a native Mainer so whoopie pies, Moxie soda, and red-skinned hot dogs are all of his favorite things, not to forget the lobster.”

  She said lobster with an “uh” on the end like a real Maine girl. Carly decided that she liked this firecracker, mostly because she was really spinning her brother’s head around. Given that he’d been making Carly crazy for days, she was enjoying his discomfiture, probably more than she should but . . . oh, well.

  Jillian led Lola over to the table where the samples were still laid out. While the two of them talked, Carly glanced up to find James studying her with a look of single-minded determination on his face.

  “You okay, big guy?” she asked.

  His gaze moved over her with a heat that felt almost as hot as the lick of flames. Carly shivered, not in a bad way. She shook it off and met his stare.

  “I release you from owing me a favor.” He looked mildly panicked. “You don’t have to bring the pies to the party. I’ll pick up the whoopie pies and set them up myself. What do you say?” James asked. “We’ll just call it even?”

  “You mean you’re not even going to cash in your ‘favor to be determined’ at a later date?” she asked. This was very suspicious.

  “That’s what I mean,” he said. “I release you from your debt. We’re all good.”

  Carly shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I always pay my debts in full. I’ll be helping with your party, James Sinclair.”

  His face tightened but before he could argue, his sister leapt up from the booth and crossed the room to join them.

  “That’s perfect!” she cried. “We need a party planner since none of us know anyone around here to provide the food, booze, music, etc. Oh, Carly, you’re a lifesaver!”

  “Wait,” Carly said. “I just meant dropping off whoopie pies, I didn’t mean—”

  “Oh, don’t say no, there’s so much to do and the family will start arriving from all over the country in the next few days,” Lola said. She made puppy eyes at Carly. “Please say you’ll help. Please.”

  “I’m a buyer,” Carly said. “I don’t know how—”

  “Same difference,” Jillian piped up from the booth. “You can totally do this.”

  “We’ll pay you handsomely for your time, of course,” Lola said. “Won’t we James?”

  He had his head tipped to the side and the panic that had been in his blue gray gaze was gone, replaced by speculation, as if the idea of Carly helping wasn’t so terrible. She got the feeling he was revising whatever nefarious plan he’d had. That could not be a good thing.

  “Of course we’ll pay you,” he said. He looked at Lola and asked, “When is the A Factor arriving?”

  “A Factor?” Carly asked.

  “Yeah, you know, like an X factor, a variable in a given situation which has the most impact on an outcome,” Lola explained. “That’s our cousin Preston, he’s an ass and his impact is usually of the ass clown variety, thus we call him the A Factor, which is short for ass factor.”

  Cousin Preston had to be Preston Bradley. Carly felt her heart thump hard in her chest. For the first time in years, she was going to be in the same breathing space as him. She swallowed hard, feeling mildly sick.

  Lola turned back to James. “He’s arriving the day of the party because of course he is entirely too busy and important to help beforehand. Why?”

  James nodded and looked at Carly. His look was steady, a challenge even. “If you can handle this party, I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse.”

  “Sorry, I’m not that hard-up for money,” she said. Just hearing Preston’s name made her rethink her offer. She’d have to do a covert op to drop off the pies without running into him. There was no way in hell she was helping plan this party now. In fact, she might flee the state before Preston arrived just to be sure she didn’t run into him.

  “I’m not talking about additional money,” he said.

  “Okay, hit me.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. This she had to hear. She expected him to offer her
a hot date with endless orgasms. She was wrong. Damn it.

  “Coordinate the party and attend it as my date, and if you don’t find new homes for Ike and Saul by then, I’ll take them,” he said.

  Chapter 21

  James waited. Carly said nothing. He noticed Jillian frowning at her friend and he suspected that Carly was seldom rendered speechless. She blinked at him as if trying to decipher the language he’d just spoken.

  “Well?” he asked. He could feel Lorelei and Jillian watching them but the only reaction he was aware of was Carly’s.

  “You’d give them a forever home?” she asked.

  “Yes, I promise,” he said. He was dangling the freedom-from-attachment carrot that he knew she desperately craved. Would she take it? He had no idea.

  It hit him then that he’d never before known a woman so intimately physically and yet not at all emotionally. Usually, it was completely the opposite, with emotions first and the physical a far, far second. Leave it to Carly to turn everything he’d ever known about women upside down, inside out, and all spun around backwards.

  On the one hand, he knew exactly what she was feeling when he pressed her sweet spot with his thumb, and just the thought of her with her lips parted and her eyes half-closed, her back arching to get closer to him, made his crotch tight and he had to shift his stance to make it less obvious. Lord, she scrambled his brain like no woman ever had. On the other hand, he had no idea what she was thinking or how she felt about his offer and when she was quiet and not sharing, it drove him bonkers.

  “All right,” she said softly. She held out her hand and he gave her a look. She smiled at him and when he opened his arms wide she stepped in for a hug.

  James pressed his cheek to the top of her head, savoring the feel of her body pressed against his and the sultry scent of her hair as it wrapped around him. He had less than a week, four days to be exact, to make her reconsider him, Ike, and Saul. He had never felt so much pressure in his life and he was using every ploy in his arsenal to get her to stay, including calling in every favor he could think of to make it too enticing for her not to stay.