by Lee Kilraine
“Gosh, I don’t know what to say.” Lu’s relief was immediate. It wasn’t just the money, although they were right; staying in the hotel was adding up fast. No, it was also that they were willing to accept her even knowing what she’d done to Tynan. Dave was the tail end of the Grapevine; if he’d heard about it, then everyone in Climax had. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“You won’t be imposing at all, especially when we’re hoping to get a few meals out of the deal for ourselves.” Beatrice reached for Lu’s hand and squeezed gently. “So say yes.”
“Okay. Yes, I’d love to stay in one of your extra rooms. Thank you.”
Step three down. But could she keep skipping step two, the apology to Tynan? If she wanted to stay and work in this town, she would need to figure out what to do about Tynan, because being patient and nice had just backfired in her face. Lord knew ignoring him wasn’t an option either.
Chapter Sixteen
A week later, Lu decided she wasn’t ready for her next run-in with Tynan yet. Especially with an audience at the book club meeting. Yes, she was a big chicken. “Agatha, I’m heading out shopping. I totally forgot I need to get a . . . um . . . one of those thingamajigs to use with the whatchamacallit.”
“Why, Lulubelle Swan, I never would have taken you for a coward.” Agatha gave her a beady-eyed look and dusted her hands together. “But there’s no need. Tynan graciously turned down our invitation to attend tonight’s meeting. So the coast is clear for you to attend.”
Part of Lu sagged in relief and . . . part of her didn’t. She knew she needed to make things right with Tynan, but he wasn’t having any part of it. She’d crossed a line by lying to him. And buying the building out from under him. Especially because she sort of used insider information to do that—personal insider information.
And all of that was peanuts compared to her biggest deception; not telling Tynan who she was from the beginning had been a seriously bad idea. In her defense, though, she hadn’t known it would matter. She’d thought she’d be in and out of his life and never see him again. There was no way she could have predicted it would matter. That he would come to matter to her. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt.
“I’m that obvious? Well, the man is a little upset with me, and his upset is intimidating.” Lu decided in that moment she needed to be honest with herself. No more fibs to others and no more running from the truth herself. “And I’m trying to deal with it, but he isn’t cooperating.”
Beatrice laid out a platter of crackers and cheese. “It’s never good to put things off, dear. Life moves too fast; isn’t that right, Agatha?”
“It seems it was just yesterday I was in my prime and making men so flustered they couldn’t remember their names.” Agatha patted her hair. “You’ve got to grab life by the balls, Lu.”
“Agatha!” Beatrice fluttered her hand around in shock.
“I’m trying. I just need time to figure out how to set things right with him is all.” But, thankfully, she could relax tonight while she came up with a way to deal with him.
The women began arriving and the room filled up.
Beatrice looked around the room with a smile. “Goodness, inviting Tynan to the last meeting seems to have doubled our turnout.”
There were more women for this meeting and they were decked out in tight jeans and low-cut sweaters. The mix of all the perfume was a bit overpowering.
“Beatrice, can I open a few windows?” Lu really hoped she said yes.
“I’ll do it, Lu, if you wouldn’t mind bringing out a tray of the meatballs you made.”
“Absolutely.” She did an about-face, heading into the kitchen, all too happy to escape the cloyingly sweet perfume cloud. Lu cut her way back through it to place the tray on the dining room table. Looking around the table, something seemed off.
“I think I’ll assign dishes for the next meeting.” Agatha came up next to her and they both stood examining the spread of food. “I count seven chocolate cakes.”
That was the something that was off. Lu knew chocolate cake was almost universally liked, but seven seemed like a lot. “Am I missing something here?”
“Think back to the last meeting and Tynan’s reaction to your Oh, Baby cake . . .” Agatha’s devilish grin made it an easy recall.
“Oh, yeah. He did seem to like chocolate cake.” She glanced from the cakes to the women. “I’m guessing you didn’t mention he wouldn’t be here.”
Agatha gave a delicate snort. “Goodness, no. Why would I do that? Not with Maisey Applethorn taking notes over in the corner. The next meeting is at her house, and I know she’ll try to outdo us.”
Lu grinned and helped herself to some meatballs and fruit.
“Don’t forget to try my Oh, Sweetie cake.” Barbara nudged her with an elbow, almost knocking the meatballs off her plate. “Just so long as there’s a piece left for Tynan.”
There was also an Oh, Honey cake, an Oh, Sexy cake, an Oh, My cake, an Ooo La La cake, an Oh My Gawd cake, and an Oh, Oh, Orgasmically Good cake.
Oh brother. Lu did a mental eye roll at them all and took her plate into the living room to sit down. Maybe there wouldn’t be much relaxing at this meeting. Not if it was just going to be an hour of women waiting with bated breath for Tynan to show up.
When Maisey tapped her watch and mentioned her meeting would surely start on time, Beatrice looked worried and shuffled off to gather everyone.
Agatha commenced the meeting and, without Tynan to distract everyone, there were actually some nice discussions of how the heroine changed through the book, how she learned to be vulnerable. There was an interesting observation that by the end of the book, the character realized she didn’t need a man in her life, which was what finally allowed her to find a healthy relationship with one by the end.
And everyone agreed that the sex scenes, while smoking hot, had also added to the growth of the heroine. Well, everyone except Maisey, but Maisey disagreed with almost everything, so that wasn’t surprising.
Maisey leaned over to the woman next to her. “Is it just me or is this meeting a snooze fest?”
Uh-oh. Lu knew the woman had just waved a red cape in front of the bull. She reached out and put a staying hand on Agatha’s shoulder, but it didn’t do any good. Agatha stood up abruptly and marched into the kitchen. Probably a smart idea on Agatha’s part to be the bigger person and go cool off.
There was a loud grinding noise from the kitchen that drew out for about a minute, and then silence. The silence was short-lived, though, because Agatha yelled, “Oh heavens!”
Beatrice and Lu jumped up and moved into the kitchen, where they found Agatha shoving dish towels around the sink to mop up the water oozing slowly around it onto the counter.
“The disposal broke and it’s backing up the sink.” Agatha brushed them out of the room. “I’ll just call Tynan to take care of this. He only lives two doors down. Please keep the discussion going out there.”
Right. The meeting meandered for five more minutes. Right up until the doorbell rang. It was Tynan with his toolbox and a resigned expression on his face. He nodded a polite hello on his way through but disappeared like a bear in winter into the kitchen. Smart man.
And that was when the meeting ran off the rails. Agatha returned to the group and tried to get the discussion going again, but her heart didn’t seem in it. No, she smiled around the circle of suddenly primping women and raised a penciled-on eyebrow at Maisey.
Poor Beatrice looked so disappointed that Lu tried to start a discussion of one of the story threads she’d enjoyed. “Did anyone else think it was interesting that the heroine felt a connection to the painting at the antiques fair? I felt like it was hinting at the idea of past lives and also how we learn from our mistakes.”
“No. I didn’t see that at all.” Maisey scrunched up her nose and sniffed at her cup of lemonade, as if she was checking to see if it had been spiked.
Not that Lu would put spiking the punch past A
gatha to increase the rave reviews of her meeting, but she knew Beatrice would draw the line before that. Lu had to admit she was distracted too. She could easily imagine what Tynan looked like stretched out along the kitchen floor with his head stuck under the sink. All those long, muscular limbs of his. Heck, she’d rubbed up against him and could attest to how distracting he was.
So it wasn’t a surprise when all of a sudden every woman under forty needed something from the kitchen. More ice for a drink, another napkin, a cup of coffee. They went in one at a time, almost as if they’d taken numbers and were waiting for their turn. Like lemmings to the sea. Once all the good excuses were used up, there was a definite lull in the energy level of the room as the women sat around trying to think up another excuse to go into the kitchen.
Lu cleared her throat and pressed on. “You know what else I found interesting . . . was the . . . the way the hero matured by the end of the book. Did anyone else find that interesting?”
The only sound in the room was the antique marble clock resting solidly on the fireplace mantel, ticking away. The longer the quiet lasted, the happier Maisey looked, while poor Beatrice wilted in her seat and Agatha’s fingers clenched around her wineglass.
Things were sliding downhill very fast when Tynan’s voice rang out and perked everyone right up.
“Oh, hot damn!”
When all the women jumped up and volunteered to see what was wrong, Agatha quickly had them sitting back down with her eagle-eyed gaze over the circle.
“Lulubelle, please go see what’s going on in the kitchen.” Agatha cleared her throat to gain everyone’s attention. “And I think we should discuss Lu’s observation. Barbara, do you have any thoughts about the ending of the book?”
Lu stood up and moved toward the kitchen. She hadn’t talked with Tynan since her first day back in Climax, when she’d served him the penis-enhancing appetizers. Wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans, she pushed through the hinged door into the kitchen. She expected to find Tynan under the sink, so she was a bit surprised to see him leaning against the opposite counter eating a plate of her meatballs.
Her stomach rolled when his gaze locked on her. She stared at his chin to avoid what she was afraid she’d see in his eyes. He had a right to be mad at her; she got that. And she was trying to fix the mess she’d made; he just wasn’t ready to hear it yet. It was entirely possible he never would be.
“Agatha sent me in here to make sure everything was okay.” When he didn’t respond she flicked her gaze up to his and sucked in her breath at the intensity that greeted her. “Um . . . is everything okay?”
“Yup.” He popped another meatball into his mouth with a toothpick, chewing slowly. “Good gravy, Beatrice has outdone herself with these.”
Lu didn’t bother to tell him she’d made the meatballs. He’d probably think she was lying anyway. “Well, that’s good. So, the disposal’s fixed?”
“It was never broken. Someone accidentally turned it on with a spoon in it and it shut itself off. Plus, somehow a dish towel fell down in there, too, so when the water was turned on, it started overflowing the sink. I wonder who did that . . .”
What the heck was he looking at her for? “You think I did it?”
“Could be. I mean, you’ve been messing with me from day one. It almost feels like you’ve got a crush on me, Lu. And you’re doing whatever you can to gain my attention.”
Pfft. “Whaaat? No. You’ve got that so wrong. I mean, I had a reason, but it had nothing to do with a crush.”
“Prove it.” Tynan placed his plate on the counter beside him without taking his eyes off her. He stayed against the counter but crossed his arms over his chest to wait.
He could just grow roots right there where he stood for all she cared. The last thing she needed to do was get mixed up with this man again. Although maybe a fling with Tynan was exactly what she needed. Just a fling—no emotion involved. To prove to herself that she was still a living, breathing woman with more than just a pulse but needs. And wants.
Maybe she should put Tynan back on her to-do list. She could dip her toes back in the water, so to speak, and then walk away and get back to living again. “Okay, fine.”
“What?” That stood him up straight. “What do you mean, ‘okay, fine’?”
“Fine. I’m going to prove I don’t have a crush on you. Pucker up, Tynan.”
“Go for it, Tink.” He shook his head and grinned a bad-boy grin at her. “We keep circling around each other, doing the same dance with nothing to show for it. I think you’re a chicken.”
Probably. But she was also conflicted about what she needed and wanted. When she was around Tynan, he had her so discombobulated she couldn’t think straight.
Of course her anger had messed her up too. She’d struck out in anger, doing things she normally wouldn’t have. Why else would she have bought a cabin she hadn’t seen and didn’t want? She still hadn’t figured out how to fix that, but that was because she hadn’t figured out whether Tynan would be angrier with her if she offered to sell the cabin to him or just hand it over to him as a gift. “I’m not a chicken. It’s just I heard the rumors and was being sensitive to your problem.”
“Right.” His gaze burned hot up and down her body. “I believe I gave you hard evidence to the contrary.”
“Okay, here goes.” She stepped up close to him. So close she could feel his heat. He uncrossed his arms and placed both hands on her ass and pulled her in tight. His abdomen was like a brick wall against her. She couldn’t reach his lips, so she widened the collar of his shirt and kissed along his collarbone and then up his neck. The heat of his skin and the roped muscles under her lips made her forget she didn’t know what she wanted.
Oh yes. In that instant she wanted to crawl inside Tynan’s strong arms and wrap him around herself like a too-tight sweater.
* * *
At the first touch of her soft lips against his skin, Tynan knew he’d made a mistake. Her lips seared him like a brand and shut down the rational part of his brain. He wanted her lips to keep right on going over every inch of his body. He wanted to grab her up in his arms, swing her up on the counter, and let her have her ever-loving way with him.
And it took all of two more seconds before he did just that. He scooped her up and swung her perfect ass up on the Simon sisters’ counter. Wrapping her legs around his waist, he took her face between his hands and took control of the kiss. He moved his own lips up her neck to nibble at the sweet spot just under her ear, then soothed the spot with his tongue at her sharp inhale.
He tugged her hair with one hand until her lips lay under his. Running his tongue along the seam of her lips, persuading her to open her sweet mouth. When she did he swept his tongue in to tangle with hers. Oh Lord, she tasted good. He had this insane desire to gobble her right up. He dipped his hand under her sweater and ran his hand along the smooth skin of her waist and up to her breast.
She gasped and pulled away to stare up at him. He waited a heartbeat, ready to move away, but darn if she didn’t wrap her ankles tighter behind him and pull him in even closer. Her lips sipped at his neck and her own hands pulled the shirt out of his waistband to glide up his back. God yes, her hands were magic against his skin.
He’d never felt so hot over a woman before. It had to be the anger because he’d also never been so angry at a woman before either. And the fact that Lu affected him like no one before only made him angrier. Dammit. This couldn’t happen. No, sir. He stiffened his body and forced himself to pull away from her.
He took long strides away from her to the other side of the room so he could think again and get his breathing under control. She sat staring at him, confused at his reversal. He refused to feel sorry for her or guilty at that wounded look on her face. He wasn’t the guilty one here.
She slid slowly down off the counter and smoothed her clothes back into place. Her hair looked like she’d been in a windstorm or making sweet, hot love to an octopus. Damn, she really did make him
lose all control.
“Look, I can see you’re still angry, and you have every right to be. I’d like to apologize and explain—”
Tynan cut her off. “I have no interest in your explanation or your apology. Just because you’re ready to clear your conscience doesn’t mean I’m ready to hear it.”
Lu nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll save it for when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, well, I’d have to care first, wouldn’t I?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but Barbara pushed through the kitchen door and Lu stayed quiet. Saved by the Barracuda. Good. He didn’t want to hear anything Lu had to say. They glared across the room at each other. If she’d just leave town again, they could both get on with their lives.
“Well, what do you say, Tynan?”
What? He refocused on Barbara. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you’d like to go out tomorrow night. You know, on a date, you silly man.”
Date Barbara? No. He’d spent the last two years turning her down, and that was exactly what he intended to do tonight. In fact, he’d had enough of women in general.
If they weren’t lying to you about who they were and stealing cabins while your back was turned, they were man-eaters looking for their next binding, soul-stealing wedding contract, or sweet-looking old ladies blackmailing you into handing over your man card.
No. He was going to gather up what little testosterone he had left and go drink a beer or six. With a guy. He’d turn on a football game or a war movie. Maybe even burp or flagrantly scratch his balls. No women allowed.
“I appreciate the offer, Barbara, but no thanks.” He nodded at Barbara and avoided looking in Lu’s direction altogether. “Good night, now.”
Tynan left as quickly as he could and made a mental note to tell Agatha she was on the top of his list. The naughty list. Broken sink my ass.
Chapter Seventeen
Tynan left the Simon sisters’ house and was about to jump out of his skin. It took calls to three of his brothers before one picked up. “Kaz, I need a beer and I don’t like drinking alone. Come over.”
