“You’d better get down the hill before the road washes out if you don’t want to ruin that fancy bike,” Kali yelled, wishing with all her might that she could just shoot him and get it over with.
“Hey, you wouldn’t want me to drive in this rain, would you?” he said, protesting with a wide-eyed innocence that didn’t suit him one bit.
“Wouldn’t bother me at all.”
He zipped up his jacket against the cold downpour.
“Kali, have a heart. The roads are probably slippery by now, and I could have an accident,” he argued.
“Tough.”
“No decent human being would send an animal out in this rain!” he shouted back.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t send an animal out.”
Travis sighed. This was turning out to be more difficult than he’d feared. What had happened to the charming woman he’d known years ago?
Kali tried not to show how cold she was standing out on the porch. Deep in her heart she knew Travis was right. The rain was coming down harder by the minute, and from past experience she knew the hilly road would soon be impossible to traverse. While she didn’t care if he broke his neck driving down the hill, she knew any publicity regarding his accident would reveal her whereabouts, and her peace would be gone forever.
“There’s a shed around back.” She gestured with the gun barrel. “You can leave your bike there.” She turned away and went back into the house.
Travis climbed off his motorcycle and pushed it toward the rear of the house. “I’ve seen more charm in a Gila monster,” he muttered, exhaling as he maneuvered the heavy bike through the mud. He assumed he’d find a back door near the shed. If he didn’t think she’d shoot him, he’d take a chance and waltz in the front door, muddy boots and all.
Kali put the rifle back in its place by the door and walked into the kitchen, resisting the urge to throw anything breakable.
I don’t want him here! she thought frantically.
But it’s raining. Her softer side persevered. He could skid on the road and have an accident. Would you want that on your conscience?
I don’t have a conscience. She poured herself another cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. She wanted to know why he was here, but something prompted her not to ask. She’d let him stay only until the rain let up enough so that he could get back down the hill and on his way. She could hear Travis moving around in the shed, then the sound of the back door opening and closing. She was staring into the dark coffee, as if she would find all the answers there, when Travis entered the kitchen.
“It’s really coming down now,” he told her, pulling off his jacket and placing it over the back of a chair. He eyed her steaming mug with undisguised envy. The cold rain had left him chilled to the bone.
“There may be a cup left.” She waved a careless hand in the direction of the coffeepot. If he could stand a cup from the bottom of a very strong pot of coffee, he was welcome to it.
Undaunted by her rudeness, Travis rummaged through the cupboards. He looked around the kitchen, noting the round butcher-block table set in one corner with four cushioned navy tweed chairs. The appliances were gleaming white, with brightly colored tiles set along the wall for accent. The dish towel and pot holders echoed the same cheerful floral pattern. It was a homey kitchen. He sipped the coffee and uttered a low sigh of appreciation as the hot liquid warmed his throat.
“How did you find out where I was?” Kali demanded, holding on to the coffee mug in hopes that it would warm her cold skin. She slowly raised her eyes to face him squarely. The once smiling and laughing Kali Hughes wasn’t evident in her unwelcoming stance and icy gaze. It didn’t take much to sense she didn’t want Travis there.
“I guess you could say I’m very resourceful,” he quipped. Kali didn’t crack a smile.
“Malcolm knows better than to reveal my whereabouts to anyone.”
“Yeah, and no one keeps secrets better than that old bastard. Don’t worry, he never said a word, but that didn’t stop me from finding another way.”
“You broke in!” she accused shrilly. “You broke into Malcolm’s office and went through his files. That’s the only other way you could have found out, and a hood like you would resort to such a despicable thing.”
Travis shrugged, crossing one foot over the other. “I don’t recall making any confession.”
Kali’s cheeks turned bright red with anger. He was playing games with her and she didn’t appreciate it one bit.
Travis could see he was pushing her a bit too hard. It was time to back down temporarily.
“Where can I wash up?” he asked amiably.
“There’s a well next to the shed.”
His lips twitched. “You saying you don’t have indoor plumbing?”
Kali resisted the urge to grind her teeth in frustration. Why couldn’t he be obnoxious so she could be as rude as she wanted to be? On second thought, she’d be obnoxious no matter how nice he was. Then maybe he’d leave, rain or no rain.
“It isn’t that I mind visiting the outhouse during a rainstorm, or even in the middle of the night, but my daddy installed an honest-to-God bathroom when I was eight years old, and I kinda got used to having indoor facilities.”
Kali raised her eyes heavenward in a silent plea. Too bad no one was listening to her.
“Down the hall, first door to your right.”
Travis nodded. He set the mug down and ambled toward the doorway. He halted and turned. “Thanks for letting me come in out of the rain.” Then he had the audacity to wink at her!
Kali clenched her hands so tightly, the nails left imprints in her palms. She wondered if a good healthy scream of outrage would help her keep her sanity. How dare he be so nice to her!
While Travis washed up, he thought about the many changes he’d noticed in Kali. If he thought before that she was the perfect model for his book, now he knew it. The lighthearted woman he’d known long ago had survived the traumas to emerge a much stronger woman.
He’d also noticed that the designer label on her jeans read Levi Strauss, and her watermelon crew-neck wool sweater was inexpensive. Her tan Western boots were scuffed, the heels slightly worn down. His dark eyes had studied her over the rim of his mug. Her hair was longer, and he’d bet a good many of those lighter strands were gray instead of tawny blond. With all she had endured, she’d certainly earned them. There were tiny lines fanning out from her eyes, and an expression in the nutmeg depths that could only be described as haunted. He’d also seen the faint lines around her mouth and eyes, scored there by emotional pain and stress. Yet they didn’t detract from her beauty but rather enhanced it.
He’d also noticed she had quite a temper. He knew it was pure luck that he wasn’t presently nursing a bullet wound or suffering from a dose of rock salt in his ass at the very least. He wouldn’t put it past her to use it to keep away any intruders. Since she lived so far off the beaten path, she had to be strong enough to fight her own battles. He knew his time was limited and he would have to use every second he had to plead his cause.
Kali knew it was close to dinnertime—her stomach had already informed her. And now it appeared she had a guest, whether she wanted one or not. Trouble was, if she had to have a guest, why couldn’t it have been someone she would appreciate seeing?
When Travis returned to the kitchen ten minutes later, she was stirring eggs in a bowl.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” she said crisply, not bothering to look up from her task.
His eyes brightened. “Sounds great. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I have to admit I’m starved.”
Kali smiled briefly as she poured part of the egg mixture into an omelet pan.
Travis looked on in dismay as Kali deftly prepared two cheese-and-mushroom omelets. To a man of his size and metabolism, it was nothing more than an appetizer.
“Looks good,” he said weakly, eyeing the medium-size omelets. “Ah, are we going to have any hash browns or toast with this?”
“I’m on a diet.” She set the coffeepot in the middle of the table after topping off her mug.
Travis consumed his omelet in tiny bites, hoping his stomach would think he’d eaten a large meal. Too bad his stomach wasn’t gullible.
“You have a very nice place here,” he commented, wanting to break the thick tension surrounding them. “It appears well built; real cozy. Did you have to do any remodeling?”
Silence.
“It looks pretty old.”
More silence.
Travis exhaled. “Would it kill you to say one lousy word to me?”
She raised her eyes. “I came here for the solitude. If I had wanted to talk to someone, I would’ve bought a dog, since they don’t talk back.” She returned to her meal.
He rolled his eyes. The lady was a great deal more stubborn than he’d expected. Oh, he didn’t think she would greet him with open arms, but he didn’t expect the silent treatment, either. He couldn’t blame her entirely; he had intruded on her when all she wanted was peace and quiet. He knew that if it hadn’t been for the rain washing out the road, he would have been out there cursing the hard-hearted woman who refused to give him shelter.
He wanted to talk to her immediately about his new book, how her story had given him the idea, but he knew if he discussed it with her now, he would be effectively ignored and quite probably turned out, rain or no rain.
“You know, strange as it sounds, Jenny didn’t talk about you a lot,” he commented, pouring himself another cup of coffee. Kali didn’t appear at all interested. “I guess you could say she respected your privacy.”
“Too bad you didn’t feel the same way.”
By now she was trying very hard not to look curious, but it was difficult with this man sitting across from her. Kali blamed her unease on the fact that she’d seen so few people in the past couple of years and that Travis represented a time she’d prefer to forget. She knew she’d have to keep her wits about her as long as he was in her house.
She would need her wits to find out the real reason for Travis’s visit. Her little hideaway wasn’t exactly easy to get to or to find. Located in an out-of-the-way part of Virginia, Newton’s Gap boasted a general store, combined with a post office, a gas station complete with mechanic, a tavern, and a small building that passed as a police station and town hall. If a resident needed medical attention, Newton’s Gap had a county nurse, but anything major required a twenty-mile drive to a medical center in Bixby. Bixby was another small town but much more cosmopolitan than Newton’s Gap. If someone wanted to see a movie or find other entertainment, they drove to Bixby, where they could find a pool hall, a movie theater, and a tavern complete with live music and pinball machines.
“Nice country around here,” Travis remarked. “Any good hunting?”
“Enough so that no one goes out alone or wanders in the forest too much during hunting season,” Kali said curtly. “Outsiders don’t have a chance if they hunt out of season. Red Gorman, our sheriff, thinks he’s a regular Kojak.”
Travis chuckled. “Sounds like where I came from. Our sheriff used to visit the high school and remind us that if we didn’t watch our p’s and q’s, we’d end up in his jail.”
“And did you ever end up in his jail?”
“Most of us did, one time or another.”
“Where was that?”
“Texarkana,” he replied, glad that she was finally talking to him. “You wouldn’t find it on any map.”
“And the country boy ended up in wild and woolly L.A.,” she mused dryly.
“Just like the country girl.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I never said I was from around here.”
“You didn’t have to, and I’m not as stupid as I sometimes look. When I first saw you, you had all the trappings of a high-fashion model, but now you look like the small-town girl you really are,” he told her. “Sorry, lady, you can’t hide your beginnings.”
Her eyes turned cold as ice. “Don’t try to tell me who you think I am, because you have no idea who the real me is.” Because I don’t even know who I really am anymore.
Travis looked at her curiously. Something about her past bothered Kali a great deal. He wasn’t the type to pry, because there were a few gray areas in his own past he preferred to keep quiet. Still, he couldn’t help wondering why she’d returned to her hometown when there didn’t appear to be good memories for her. She could have gone anywhere in the world to live; why move back to a small town that had little going for it and live like a virtual hermit?
“So, what do you do around here for fun?” Travis quipped, hoping she would warm up to him if he could prove to her he wasn’t a threat. He should have known better.
“Keep to ourselves.”
Travis dropped his gaze to the coffee mug he held between his palms, wishing it was Kali’s slender neck he had his hands wrapped around.
The moment Kali finished her meal, she picked up her plate and coffee cup and carried them to the sink. In a matter of moments they were washed, rinsed, and set on the drain board. Without a word she left the kitchen.
Travis watched in stunned disbelief as she walked out. He doubted he had ever met such a hardheaded woman and would give anything to teach her some manners. He gathered up his own dishes and washed them up. Needing a few minutes to himself, he walked out the back door to check on the rain.
Meanwhile Kali paced the living room in short, agitated steps. How dare he come here! He has no right to barge into my home. I came here to get away from people like him.
She felt her head pounding, her breathing growing heavy.
It isn’t fair! she swore. If anyone had to show up here, why did it have to be him?
Kali wished she could forget all about the New Year’s Eve three years ago, but she never could, not as long as Travis was in her house. All the details were still too clear in her mind.
It had begun at a New Year’s Eve party when she’d found Blayne in bed with a blond starlet. Her pain was coupled with intense anger, and she was suddenly determined to seek revenge. A few drinks had served to give her the courage to choose a victim. Why she had picked Travis, she couldn’t explain— except that he was a stranger and she preferred her victim not to be someone she knew. “The electricity that sizzled from their first kiss to that last caress was a shock to her senses. She left the party disgusted with herself, ashamed that she would have been willing to go to bed with a man she didn’t even know. Thank goodness she’d come to her senses in time. Ironically Travis hadn’t condemned her for pulling back but seemed to understand her self-recrimination. He showed her a great deal of understanding that night, but she couldn’t help but hate him, anyway. She wanted no sympathy or pity from anyone, especially from him. She thanked her lucky stars she wouldn’t have to see him again and firmly pushed the episode out of her mind. Now he was here for some unknown reason, and she resented his bringing back painful memories.
“How about an after-dinner drink?” Travis said, his voice breaking into her thoughts.
She spun around, unaware of how vulnerable she appeared to him with her wide eyes and pained features.
Travis gestured with the bottle of brandy he held in one hand.
“I brought this along with me for nights after a long day on the road.” He set two glasses on a nearby table and poured the amber liquor in them.
Kali accepted one of the glasses and sipped cautiously.
“All that anger bottled up inside isn’t good for you,” he said casually, settling in an aqua tweed easy chair.
“I didn’t realize you had a medical degree.”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him, but he preferred to ignore it.
“Stress isn’t selective.” He sipped his brandy with an appreciative air. The air outside had been freezing cold, and the drink was doing its part to warm him up although he wouldn’t mind if the lady across from him assisted in the warming-up process. “And you’ve certainly had enough problems piled on your plate
to warrant feeling so angry at the world. All I ask is that you don’t take it out on me.”
“I have no feelings toward you one way or the other.” She perched herself stiffly on the edge of the couch, looking ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.
Just as Kali’s thoughts had careened back to New Year’s Eve, so had Travis’s. He would have brought up some light quip about that night but wisely decided against it. She sat too close to that shotgun of hers, and he wouldn’t put it past her to use it. But that didn’t stop him from noticing how her worn jeans clung to her trim hips and thighs, the way her sweater curved delicately over her high bosom. His palms itched with the memory of caressing those luscious breasts. How satiny smooth her skin was, and how tantalizing was the memory of her passionate moans when he’d kissed her. He shifted in his seat, feeling his body reacting to his heated memories.
As if sensing the direction of Travis’s thoughts, Kali swallowed the fiery liquid and jumped up.
“You can sleep in the loft,” she said icily. “Don’t worry, you’ll find a perfectly adequate bed up there.” With that, she strode down the hall to the last room and slammed the door behind her.
Travis remained sitting in the chair, wishing he had brought up “Human Frailties,” even if it had meant being kicked out. On second thought, since he would be tossed out in the morning, anyway, he might as well talk to her then. He figured he’d be able to get out at least two sentences before she grabbed the rifle.
He took the two glasses into the kitchen and checked the doors before climbing up to the loft bedroom. The room turned out to be decidedly chilly —just like his hostess.
Chapter 3
Only Love Page 3
