Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  With music blaring and all the kids singing at the top of their lungs, he pulled into the pool parking lot. His stomach flipped at the thought of Rowan. He checked his teeth in the mirror and ran his hand through his hair. Only to turn and see all three kids watching him closely.

  “Are you getting ready for pool babes?” Jake asked with a grin.

  “Pool babes?” Shane stuttered back to him.

  “Yeah. Ya know, babes that hang out at the pool, prowling,” Jake stated matter factly.

  “Prowling,” Shane repeated. His eye went to Aaron. “What have you been telling your brother?”

  Aaron threw his hands up, “Don’t look at me!”

  After a moment of silence, they all starting laughing and Shane climbed out of the car. The kids followed him, grabbing towels, hats, and sunscreen.

  It was only after they settled in and the kids were happily swimming in the pool that Shane started to relax. There were moments like this where he thought he might be able to hack this parenting thing. There were others though, when he thought he should be locked up and never let out for even thinking he could handle two weeks of parenting, let alone a lifetime. No wonder his sister needed a break. It was the least he could do.

  With one eye on the food stand and one eye on the kids, his thoughts turned to Rowan. He hadn’t seen her in a few days and didn’t know what to think; he told her he wanted to kiss her, hell, he told her he wanted to ravage her body-only when she was sober. She had turned on a dime and walked away from him without a word. He meant it to be romantic and provocative. He didn’t want her to think he would take advantage of her inebriated state, but after thinking about it, maybe she took it as an insult.

  He groaned a little thinking that she might be staying away from him because she thought he didn’t want her because she was too drunk. He checked on the kids one more time and then made his way to the food stand, his heart pounding and his hands sweaty. Jesus, he was a mess! What was it about this woman?

  “Hiya, Shane.” The girl in the front smiled at him.

  Momentarily confused about why she knew his name before he recognized her as the girl he had asked about Rowan, he smiled back, hoping to get some more information from her.

  “Hi there. Rowan in there hiding?” He leaned on the counter, purposefully flirting with her. One thing he knew was how to get information out of a young, pretty thing.

  “She’s not here,” she cooed back at him.

  “Really?” He was a little shocked. Why wasn’t she at work? “Where is she?”

  The counter girl laughed. “Running late, I guess. They never really tell me anything. All I know is she’s not here yet, but will be soon. We’re to just do our thing and if something comes up, just push it off till she gets here.”

  “Something bad, huh. Like running out of hot dogs?” Shane was stalling, hoping to get more out of her. He smiled again, laying it on thick.

  “Yeah,” she tossed her hair and smiled at him. “Like running out of hotdogs.”

  Shane went in for the kill. “So, wow. Do you guys run this place on your own a lot? Seems like a lot of responsibility for someone so young.”

  “Hey. I’m not that young ya know. I know a lot about a lot of things.” She almost pouted. Oh, this one was going to be trouble when she grew up. Shane knew the type.

  “I’m sure you do, sweetheart. So you run this place, then?”

  She looked at him and her eyes narrowed a little. “No. Actually, this is the first time Rowan’s ever been late. She’s like, married to this place or something. But I know she’ll be proud of what we’ve done without her. We even have Julie cooking back there.”

  Getting what he wanted from her, he backed away. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it then.” He turned and went back to his chair. He angled it so he could watch the front gate and the kids at the same time. His PI side was on high alert, and he wanted to know what was up with his Rowan.

  *****

  Rowan paced the parking lot, checking her watch one more time. This wasn’t like Talia or Justin, they should have called already. She was late for work and needed to leave. Why this place, of all the places she could have gone, why did they pick this place for her to wait? This was a No Tell Motel that rented rooms by the hour. Yuck! How Talia found this pay phone she would never know. If only she would call already.

  There had to be a better way to communicate with each other. Everyone else had cell phones, but she was terrified Jolly knew how to track those. She knew postcards were the safest way-even if they were slow and unreliable. Maybe she read the date wrong or something? She headed back to the car to pull the letter that came in the mail yesterday. Yesterday. That was cutting it close, wasn’t it? What if she hadn’t received the letter in time?

  Pulling the car door open, the heat pushed out, reminding her that she should be at the pool sweating in front of the grill, laughing at her teenagers’ jokes about boys and music. She reached in and pulled out the letter.

  “Hey, little lady. You waiting for someone?” The smoker’s raspy voice startled her and she whipped her head up to see an overweight, aged biker. He had a long beard and wore a leather vest with patches sewn haphazardly on the sides.

  Rowan rolled her eyes; this was the last thing she needed. She had to get back to the pay phone in case it rang. “Yeah,” she told him soberly while trying to push past him, but he wouldn’t move.

  Trapped by the car door and the biker, Rowan ran through her options and waited.

  “Where do you think you’re going? I’m trying to have a conversation here.” He leaned into her, his nasty breath overwhelming her nostrils.

  Holding back a gag, she leaned in closer to him. “You are? And here I thought you were trying to pick me up. I am so sorry,” she said in a high pitched voice, and even feigned a laugh. “So, what you wanna talk about?” She tossed her head just for good measure.

  The biker relaxed and smiled. He moved back a bit, letting her escape her trapped position between him and the car. She closed the door and quickly locked it, then leaned on the hood, feeling the heat through her jean shorts.

  “What’s your name, sweet cheeks?” He puffed out his chest, giving her what he must think was a sexy stare.

  “My name’s Cassie. And I have to go back to that phone over there cause my boyfriend’s about to call me there. Do you mind walking me? There’re so many scary people around here.” Rowan made sure to make each statement end with a question. She started walking back to the phone with the biker at her heels.

  As they walked across the parking lot, she scanned the area. There were seven cars, three people in the office, and two men on the balcony watching them. She made eye contact with one of them. They looked familiar, but she couldn’t place either one. Both of them looked too well dressed to need to keep company at a place like this. Shows you what I know about the real world.

  Rowan got close to the phone and turned to thank her new ‘friend’.

  “Well, thanks so much. I’ll just wait for the phone to ring. Should be any minute now.”

  “So, your boyfriend’s calling you here, huh? Seems like a funny place to make your girlfriend wait for you. I’m thinking he doesn’t like you very much.” He sneered, leaning into her again.

  She checked her watch then noted the time on the letter. She hadn’t read it wrong; something must have come up. Neither Talia nor Justin were calling today. It was time to leave.

  The biker reached out to touch her face and Rowan reacted without thinking. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it; bracing it on her shoulder, she brought him to his knees as he cried out, loudly.

  “So listen, buddy. I’m going to let you go and you’re going to walk away from me. And next time you better think twice about unwanted advances. Got that?” She tightened her hold and he fell a few more inches. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you?”

  “Yeah. Yeah. Son of a bitch,” he bit out. She released him and looked up to find the two men from the balcony running
toward her.

  Oh great. Just what she needed, more attention.

  “You okay?” the first one said as he approached her, “Cody, grab that son of a bitch.”

  She watched as the other man, Cody she assumed, threw himself on the biker as he tried to get up. They landed on the pavement with a loud thud.

  “I’m fine. Thanks boys. Y’all can go rescue someone else.” She turned to leave.

  “Hey, don’t I know you? I’m Rob, remember, from the-” He started to follow her.

  Rowan didn’t know where they knew each other from, but she knew they did and she needed to get the hell out of there-fast.

  “No. No. I’m not from around here.” She yelled over her shoulder and scrambled to get into her car. Revving the engine, she bolted even before rolling down the window.

  As her tires peeled, throwing up rocks, she steered the car as fast as she could toward the pool. After a few blocks she slowed enough to roll the window down. Drawing the cooler air into her lungs refreshed her and started to calm her nerves. She knew she had to get her head on straight before going to work. One thing about those girls, they may be young but they were so darn perceptive. Rowan couldn’t stub her toe without the gang sensing it and going all out to help her through it.

  Pulling into the pool parking lot less than 20 minutes later, she checked herself in the mirror one more time. Running her hand through her hair and wiping the sweat from her forehead, she stepped out and shook her head to clear it.

  As soon as she walked into the gate she ran into Julie.

  “Where have you been? You okay? You look a little, I don’t know. What happened?” Julie rushed toward her. Rowan knew it was just a matter of time now, Julie’s loud teenage voice carried across the pool.

  Katie stuck her head out the side door, “Oh, thank God you made it. I’m dying in here.”

  Rowan couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry guys. Just some family stuff. I’m here now. Thanks for helping out! Katie, I’ll take over.

  The next few hours flew by as Rowan tried to keep up with the orders and make up the other work she missed. Before she knew it, the pool was closing. Katie and Tami were cleaning up the tables while she started shutting down the back. Even with all the work she had piled up, her mind kept coming back to the missed phone call. What was up with Justin and Talia?

  “All clean out here, Rowan.” Tami called to her over the counter.

  “Thanks guys. You girls go on home. I’ll take care of the rest of this. I need to restock and do some paperwork.” Rowan paused long enough to look up at her. Tami had a funny look in her eye. “What’s going on out there?”

  “Oh nothing.” Tami’s voice was anything but innocent. Must be some cute boys. Rowan had been so preoccupied she hadn’t left the hut all day.

  “Okay then. Thanks for your help today. Tell Katie thanks for me. See you tomorrow. Bright and early, I promise.” Shaking her head, Rowan went back to cleaning the grill.

  After the grill was clean, she needed to restock. Rowan was glad no one was here now; being able to prop open the two doors and not be distracted should make for quick work. She propped the back door open and headed to the office. She could still hear voices in the restrooms. Some families took forever to change and leave. It sounded like they were talking to each other through the bathroom doors.

  “Hurry up, Jake. We need to leave, the place is empty now.” Rowan heard a girl’s voice pleading. Chuckling, she rounded the corner and came face to face with none other than Shane.

  “Oh. Hello.” Still in hospitality mode, she smiled without thinking about who she was smiling at.

  He grinned at her and gave her a once over with his eyes. Damn, he really was sexy, standing there in his board shorts and flip-flops. Even his feet were sexy. The smattering of hair across his chest, his hard muscles just underneath his skin, his lean body, all of it called to her like nothing else ever had.

  She stopped short, the smile fading from her face as the reality of his effect on her hit her full force. She knew she was staring; she just couldn’t pull her eyes away from him. Her skin started humming while hot liquid pooled in her insides. When her eyes found his, she saw the same desire reflected back.

  “Uncle Shane, get Jake outta there. I want to go home,” the girl standing next to him whined.

  Shane dragged his eyes from Rowan to the girl. “Yeah okay, sweetie.” He turned back to Rowan, “Sorry. We’re almost done,” and slipped into the restroom.

  “Hi,” Jennifer spoke to her.

  “Um, hi,” Rowan said, shaking her head, trying to pull her thoughts back together. “Did you have a good day?”

  “Yeah, but we come to the pool all the time now. No offense, but I never want to swim again.”

  Rowan laughed out loud. “I know what you mean. Cake is great once in a while, but all the time is too much.”

  If she could just remember what she was doing over here, she could get back to it.

  “Do you run the pool?”

  “No. I run the Snack Shack.” With that, she remembered. She was restocking. Back on track. “In fact, I need to get back to it, otherwise I’ll never get out of here. Have a good night. I hope you get to go to a movie or something soon.”

  Rowan turned and went back to the office. She could still hear Shane and his family getting ready. The boys were not quiet by any stretch, and Jennifer seemed to be able to overwhelm them all with her high pitch, loud voice.

  Walking straight to the back of the office, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She was not opposed to having a lover. In fact, she quite liked the idea. It had been a long while since she found anyone who could knock her socks off like that. After Colt, no one came close.

  Colt. The last thing she wanted to think about in this moment was him. Sorrow started to replace the excitement in her lower gut. Shaking off the memories, she focused on the sexy man outside. For the first time in a long while she felt nervous, but a happy, excited nervous. Letting the feeling take over, she closed her eyes and remembered his body.

  “Rowan, you back here?” Her eyes snapped open at Shane’s voice. She stumbled toward the front before even thinking.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” She pulled in a deep breath to calm her nerves. Shane was standing in the doorway, a towel draped across his neck, but otherwise the same.

  “Are you okay to be left here alone? The kids are ready and cranky. Otherwise-” His voice trailed off.

  “No. I’m fine. The lifeguards are around here somewhere. Thanks. I’ll see you at home though.”

  Shane’s eyes widened in surprise. He tilted his head and looked at her. She could tell his brain was trying to sort something out, she just didn’t know what, exactly.

  “Yeah, okay,” he said, turning to leave.

  She watched him walk out and gather his charges. She felt a stirring deep inside and enjoyed the fantasy playing in her head of the two of them in bed. He seemed like the perfect guy to step out of reality with. She loved the idea of spinning a cocoon and stepping inside. She knew it would only be for a brief period, maybe until the end of summer, maybe a few weeks longer, if she was lucky. Heck, she’d take one night with him.

  Depending on the word from Talia and Justin, she might even get a full month of bliss before packing up again and starting over.

  Chapter Four

  Two more days. Melanie and Graham get back in two days. Shane’s clients were getting annoyed at his slow results thus far on a few cases, and he needed to get back to it. He had managed to pick up a few more missing persons cases, but while he played house he passed those on to Cody and Rob. He was done playing house. Never in his life did he ever think that taking care of three kids would be so consuming. He felt like his whole life was put on hold while he played at the pool, or went to the movies or the park. Kids. Never again.

  Jake and Aaron were supposed to be playing a video game while Jennifer took a shower. They had plans for the water park today. Jennifer put her foot down and
refused to go back to the pool. Somehow the water park was better? Kids. Never again.

  Shane could tell from the noise level in the living room that the game had lost its appeal and the boys were starting to wrestle. That only meant one thing. A huge fight was about to erupt. He had maybe five minutes to track down his latest lead and get out there.

  Just then, a loud wailing sound came from one of the boys. He couldn’t tell which one. But he knew his time was up. Kids. Never again.

  “Uncle Shane. The boys are screaming again,” Jennifer yelled from the other room.

  He still didn’t know why his neighbors hadn’t complained enough to evict him. Maybe they took pity on him. He did make sure everyone knew that this was just for two weeks, then the rug rats would go home.

  Shane walked down the short hallway to the living room to find the couch pillows strewn across the table and floor, a trail of blood heading off to the kitchen. Excellent.

  Walking into the kitchen, he almost fell over. Rowan was standing over Aaron and Jake was getting a glass of water.

  “What the hell?” Shane asked without thinking.

  Jake turned toward him. “Aaron fell and hit his eye and blood came out. It was gross. Rowan came in and stopped it. Where were you?” The boy sounded wound up with all the excitement.

  Rowan hadn’t moved; her ass was barely covered in cut offs and her tank top climbed up her back. Shane had a full view of her tan, toned thighs and felt his dick twitch. His mouth suddenly going dry, he grabbed the water glass Jake just filled and drained it.

  Handing it back to Jake, he walked a few steps closer to Rowan and Aaron. There were several bloody rags on the table and Aaron looked pale. Oh shit.

  “Jesus, kid. What happened? And just for the record, the boys were supposed to be playing a video game and I was ten steps away,” Shane added, defensively.

  “Well, your day just changed course. You, my friend, are now going to go to the ER for stitches. His eye is cut pretty deep and that skin is really thin. Just two or three should do it,” Rowan said, still holding an ice pack wrapped in paper towels to his eye.