by Meredith, MK
No other words could shut him up faster, but he’d use his connections to look into this Judge Carter guy. He didn’t trust anyone when it came to his grandmother. Gold diggers came in all shapes and forms. The fact that he felt ridiculous even thinking it did not diminish his protective instinct in the slightest.
“Anyway, you know I’d love to stay and bullshit all day.” Mitch quickly pointed at Maxine. “You said I could swear… But we have a problem.” He shifted from one foot to the other as he turned toward Ryker. “Can I speak with you in private for a moment?”
Ryker stood from the box of puzzles that made him think of the well and a little boy and promises made. The well had never worked for him and it hadn’t worked for Larkin’s son either. “Anything you have to say can be said in front of my grandmother. What kind of problem?”
His buddy glanced at Maxine as if he might get sick, and Ryker swore the man was still as afraid of her as when they were children.
“Holy shit, man. Come on.”
“No,” Maxine interrupted. “I’m going to the kitchen for some water. No need for you guys to run off and whisper in private when I know how much Mitch loves it up here.”
Mitch dropped his chin to his chest. “We’ll be just a minute.”
Maxine grinned, having enjoyed harassing Ryker’s friend since he was born, and disappeared down the stairs.
The two men made their way out of the attic and into a wide hallway that overlooked the great room below. Ryker walked over to a large, striped settee, then turned around. “Feel better now?”
Mitch simply rubbed his nose with his middle finger.
“So what’s this about?”
“Are you dead-set on developing the Cape?” his friend asked, clearly shifting into attorney mode.
“Sure as shit.” Ryker shoved his fingers into his jean’s pockets.
“What about Maxine?”
Ryker held Mitch’s questioning gaze with a hard one of his own. “What about her? She assured me she was ready for a change, moving to town with a view of the square.” A small itch formed between his shoulder blades, and he rocked back on his heels.
Mitch grimaced. “But I can’t imagine she meant for you to sell the family estate off in pieces.”
“I think she means for me to do whatever the hell I want with it. Besides, I’ve more than earned the opportunity to put my past to rest. And I mean to do so by making a shit ton of money for my future.” He looped a hand over the back of his neck. “If I can just keep people from popping onto the property every other day.” Larkin’s beautiful face hovered in his subconscious. The thought of not seeing her caused a pinching sensation he neither understood nor liked one bit.
“Want me to put a patrol on the entrance? I’ve got some pull with the county police department.”
That caught Ryker’s attention. “Pull? Since when?”
His buddy grinned. “Let’s just say the policewoman uniform fantasy is spot on.”
“Not touching that with a 10-foot-pole, standing in another state, my friend.”
Mitch laughed with a nod. “Smart man.”
“No, I’m thinking about Larkin Sinclair. She comes to hike the property and visit the well.”
“She’s hot.” Mitch offered, easily distracted by pretty, shiny things.
Fuck. She really was. Ryker nailed him with a hard look, all his efforts to rein in his frustration beginning to wear thin.
“Dude.” An image of Larkin clouded his vision. She was gorgeous and off limits. “Single, yes. Available, not so much.” He used the tone reserved for clients who wanted to jump on the newest investment trend without doing their due diligence. Partly patronizing, partly authoritarian, leaving most people mute and stepping back from him. But Mitch had never been intimidated by his size or his success, so his friend simply ignored the comment.
“Single means available. Think she’ll ever head out to the Cape again?” The look on his face said he’d be there welcoming her with open arms if she did.
The hell he would. The last thing Larkin Sinclair needed was attention from Mitch Brennan. Ryker loved his friend but the guy’s attention span was non-existent. He jumped from relationship to relationship like the squirrels on the Cape jumped from nut to nut.
“If she does, you’re not invited.”
Mitch studied him with a frown. The look in his eye eased into something akin to amusement and he leaned back against the hallway railing. “Ahhh…I see what’s going on here.”
“Fuck you. There’s nothing going on. She visits the old well that her little boy loves.” He stilled. “Well, loved. He died.”
“And you’re going to tear it all down.” His friend raised his hand to his forehead, making an explosion gesture with his fingers.
Ryker stared at Mitch, swallowing the impulse to punch him in the face. He already had enough on his shoulders, dealing with his grandmother and Larkin. He didn’t need it from this jackass too.
Mitch pulled some papers from his bag. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your friend might get her wish. I sent you digital copies, too. Though, I figured you’d want to take a look right away.”
Ryker grabbed the paperwork and flipped through the pages. “What the hell is this?”
“There’s an emergency stay from the DEP on development due to an application for conservation submitted by Land for Maine’s Future and Conservation. Apparently, this property houses some rare plants and animals that the tree-huggers want to protect.”
“Yeah, my land falls just under the acreage requirements for a full analysis but I had my team include a study anyway. The information is all included in my application.”
“Well, they’re sending someone out to research the property to…double check, if you will.”
Mitch’s air quotes accompanying the words ‘double check’ left Ryker gritting his teeth.
“They’ll prepare a full land analysis based on newly submitted evidence of the Cape as a sensitive ecosystem, and then the judge and the board of the DEP will rule on it,” Mitch said.
“Goddamnit.” Ryker growled. The money he’d already invested dinged bill by bill through his brain. Hell, his engineering team alone cost a small fortune. Waiting would only mean the loss of more money and delay his chances of putting his past behind him. He wasn’t sure which was worse. “Who’s the analyst?”
Mitch shook his head. “I just found out about this. I’ve requested everything be sent to my office. The claim slid across Judge Carter’s desk last minute. He used to be a judge working in environmental law but now he’s the chairman of the board for the DEP.”
Judge Carter? Of course it would be him. Theodore Carter worked for the Maine’s Department of Environmental Proction. Ryker had seen his name a few times since beginning the process of pushing his permit applications through last winter.
The old Victorian’s bell gonged again and Ryker hoped the damn thing would break from the sudden overuse. “No one even knows I’ve moved in. Who the hell could that be now?”
They wound their way down the stairs, then into the three-story entryway with its black-and-white floor tiles and deep eggplant walls. But Maxine had already beat them there. He called over his shoulder to Mitch as his grandmother opened the door open. “I need to know who the hell the analyst is and now. I sure as hell don’t want a damn stranger traipsing around my property.”
Larkin stood, toes flush to the door frame, with a wide, overly victorious grin on her face. Gone was the hurting, nervous woman he’d first met. The transformation froze Ryker in his spot as he took in long jeans that covered all but the tip of what looked to be steel-toed boots, a fitted white t-shirt that hugged her breasts in a way that made his hands itch to take its place, and a light-weight, navy L.L. Bean vest that shouldn’t be nearly as alluring as he was finding it.
She waved a rolled document in her hand. “Well, it’s a good thing then that we’re no longer strangers.”
Chapter 4
; Larkin’s heart slammed against her ribs as Ryker approached the door like an angry bear, his dark eyes skewering her with a look that had turned from confused to hostile in the time they took to dilate. She couldn’t make sense of the excitement strumming through her veins as he stalked closer. But, dayum, the man was hot.
All she had to do was stand her ground. She wanted to give him the courtesy of granting her access to the property.
“You did this.” He shook the papers. “Goddammit.” He swung back toward Maxine.
It wasn’t a question and it was more than an accusation. If she knew him better, she’d have sworn he looked hurt. But that was ridiculous. This was nothing but a business venture for him. It wasn’t personal beyond building his bank account and getting out of town. A payout as a payback. She understood if he was angry—hell, she’d have been shocked if he wasn’t—but hurt? That she didn’t get at all.
“It’s important. I tried talking to you about it.” She glanced around him with a weak wave to her friend. “Hi, Maxine.”
“Hey there, sweetheart.”
Holding the papers out before him, he poked at the front page. “Did you know about this, Grandmother?”
She gave a delicate shrug. “I might have had an idea.”
“Un-fucking-believable. This is my home.” He swung back to Larkin, rattling the papers.
“Ryker.” Mitch put a hand on his shoulder but was shrugged off.
With a swallow, she lifted her chin and dug her toes in hard against the cushioned insole of her boots. Of course, he wasn’t happy, but this was the right thing to do.
She simply needed to get him to see it the way she did. His plans would destroy so much of what made this property special. Not to mention the damage to the town of Cape Van Buren itself.
“A home you have no ties to.” She rushed on with an outstretched hand. “And I understand, I do. But this town does have strong ties. And there is so much good that can come from this place. You saw the animals yesterday.” She swung her arm out toward the path she’d taken through the woods.
He frowned, the scruff on his face shifting with the action. It had filled out a bit more since she’d felt the bristly hairs against her lips, and she pressed her own together to remove the sensation. Unsuccessfully. Damn it.
“If you could just—”
“What? If I could just what? Give it away? Ignore my own needs? Once again, you speak so passionately about everyone’s feelings but my own. It’s so easy when you sit on the opposing side.”
She reached for him, but as her palm settled on his forearm, he tensed. Dropping her hand, she tucked it behind her back, rubbing his heat from her fingers. “We don’t have to be on opposing sides with this. We both want what’s best for the Cape. Surely you can see that?”
“No, what I see is you wanting what’s best for you.”
She winced. It wasn’t a good feeling to be seen as selfish in someone else’s eyes, but selfish be damned if it saved the well. With a dip to her chin, she agreed. “You’re going to see me how you see me. Nothing I can do about that. In the meantime, I’m here, and I have a job to do, so as a courtesy, do you have a preference for when I conduct my analysis? I have a lot to do and less than four weeks to do it.”
His bark of laughter made her jump and her eyes skipped to Mitch and Maxine in question. Ryker turned and disappeared toward the kitchen.
She shifted from one foot to the other, trying to figure out what to do next.
“Come on in, sweetie. Ryker has no manners, and this lout,” She shoved a bony finger into Mitch’s chest, “…doesn’t either. It’s a wonder he didn’t turn out better. His sister Mae is an angel.”
He threw his hands up. “Oh, sure. Everybody loves Mae.”
“Including you,” Maxine said.
“This is not my house. Besides, Ryker’s an ass when he’s mad. I’m too smart to get on his bad side.”
Maxine snorted. “You’re not too smart if you’re okay getting on mine.” She tucked Larkin’s hand into the crook of her crushed velvet-covered elbow and led her to the kitchen. “Let’s get something to eat. These things are always better with a full stomach.”
Thank God for Maxine.
“Get her out of my house.” Ryker slammed a cupboard door, holding a mug in his hand.
“Oh, please. You’ll get her a cup of coffee.” Maxine smacked her lips in appreciation as she pulled a box of cupcakes, with a North Cove Confectionery logo across the top, from the refrigerator. “Only cupcakes worth eating. Lemon poppy or raspberry beret?”
Ryker’s dark eyes narrowed as he slowly inhaled through his nose, and Larkin resisted the urge to smile at how powerless the large man was in the presence of his grandmother. He put water on the stove then yanked plates from a shelf next to the sink. Maxine’s influence to be sure. He moved with a tight but easy grace from place to place, filling the space with his spice and a heat Larkin could feel from across the room.
She’d never seen anyone’s cheeks flex with such rigor in her life. The action drew way too much attention to the hard line of his jaw and the area she’d kissed in her misplaced appreciation when he’d saved her locket. An area she wouldn’t mind kissing again. She shifted on her stool, trying to block the images her mind had conjured up of his broad chest and chiseled abs.
Her fingers found the warmed metal of her necklace and rubbed to ease the inconvenient urge to touch him.
Clearing her throat, she smiled at Maxine. When she’d called with her plan, she’d been prepared for resistance, but her friend had surprised her by getting the stay on the property pushed through in record time. There were apparently a few fringe benefits to dating the town judge.
Things were looking up. Ryker had yet to ease the anger from his gaze, but she was still sitting in his kitchen and about to enjoy the best cupcakes in Cape Van Buren. She’d take each little win as one step closer to the big one. Her dad had always told her, “You can’t eat an elephant in one swallow, you have to do it one bite at a time.” It was an awful visual but the lesson stuck.
“What were you doing?” She directed the question to Maxine. Seeing the woman in a running suit was a first.
Ryker poured four mugs of coffee. She watched the hard ball of his bicep flex as he set the pot down. He slid one in front of her plate. “What we’re doing here is no concern of yours.”
Well, so much for her little win—and her pride.
“I’m giving Judge Carter a visit this afternoon and we’ll see about your little game.” He glared at her.
Frustrated by his rudeness and her damn libido, Larkin slid from her stool and rounded the island. She stood toe to toe to prove he didn’t intimidate her, though her heart slammed in her chest, and all the air left her lungs. “This Cape is no game and it does concern me if your activities over the next few weeks get in my way.”
He leaned closer until they were practically nose to nose. “I really don’t give a fuck about getting in your way. This is my home.”
Heat rolled off him, surrounding her with surprising intensity, and she swallowed hard. “Well, we’ll just see about that, won’t we.”
His eyes darted to her lips more than once and she licked them without thinking.
He froze. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“If you two are finished with your foreplay, I have a life to get back to.” Maxine interrupted.
They snapped away from each other and her chest heated to an embarrassing degree. She pulled in a breath, chastising herself in fifty different ways for losing her composure. This visit wasn’t easing her way at all, only making matters worse.
“Teddy’s already made up his mind and signed the papers.” Maxine stood from her stool.
Ryker turned toward his grandmother slowly. “Teddy?” He asked with an eyebrow raised. “Since when is Judge Carter…Teddy?”
“Since I let him sample my moonshine.” His grandmother winked.
Something resembling horror washed over Ryker’
s face; apparently, he wasn’t in the know when it came to his grandmother’s love life.
Pinning Larkin with a look, he pointed at the front door. “Get out.”
“Ryker.”
Larkin put out a hand. “No. It’s okay. I’ll be overstaying my welcome in the next few weeks as it is. The least I can do is give him some room to come to terms with it.” She stared at him. “Because I am coming back.”
She didn’t like causing the look of betrayal on his face, but there was no way around it at this point. Grabbing what was left on her plate, she headed toward the door. She might have to leave but she was taking her raspberry beret cupcake with her.
She walked to her car, focusing on placing one foot in front of the other. This wasn’t a game. She had to do something to save Archer’s memory since she hadn’t been able to save him. Making a mental list of what she needed to do, she ticked each item off her fingers with a deep breath.
Record specialized species.
Photograph and record habitats.
Investigate soil composition.
She continued until her breathing settled. The analysis was in the bag and the law on her side.
But a ball of tension remained coiled in her stomach. There was a very real chance her tension had a lot more to do with how thick the man’s chest was and that damn irresistible hard line of his lips than his anger over her presence on the Cape.
Not one man had come close to piquing her interest in the past two years, and it drove her mad that all of a sudden her body decided to wake up hungry for the one guy she couldn’t be with.
On a sigh, she shoved the cupcake in her mouth.
She’d simply resist the craving.
* * *
Larkin took his damn cupcake. She had balls the size of a damn lobsterman.
Ryker gripped his hands tight. Apparently, the Cape wasn’t enough for the woman, she had to take his favorite dessert, too.
He’d kept his eyes on Larkin’s perky ass until the front door closed but the vision didn’t desert him just because she was no longer in the house. When she’d licked her lips, his dick had taken it as a personal invitation and rose to the occasion in a very uncomfortable display of eagerness. Especially with a kitchen full of people and a grandmother who used words like “foreplay.” He shuddered.
