Too Hot to Handle

by Jennifer Bernard

  Which she immediately suppressed, because she didn’t need Holly to tell her this wasn’t going anywhere. She and Kevin had decided that all on their own.

  “Oh, Holly was just warning me to keep my claws off you,” Cassie said lightly, sending a complicit smile at the girl to show she had no hard feelings.

  Kevin grabbed a leather jacket from a pile of outerwear on a chair next to the door. “Holly, didn’t we talk about this already? You don’t have to play guard dog.”

  “Someone has to.” Holly smiled impishly. “Nothing personal, Cassie. But you should see the way women act around my dad. Honestly, it’s embarrassing.”

  Was Kevin blushing? It sure looked like it. Cassie debated whether she knew him well enough to tease him, then decided, what the hell? “Is it a little something like this?” She clasped her hands under her chin and blinked her eyes adoringly at him.

  “Or maybe like this?” She performed Jim Carrey’s move from The Mask, in which her imaginary heart bounced back and forth from her chest as if attached to the end of a rubber band.

  Holly clapped her hands in delight. “You look like a cartoon character!”

  “Why, thank you,” she purred in a Betty Boop voice. “Everyone loves cartoons, right?”

  Kevin was laughing, his head tilted back, hands in his jacket pockets. “Especially when they look as cute as you do right now.”

  Holly put her hands on her hips and looked at them both with suspicion. Kevin slung his arm over his daughter’s shoulder and squeezed. “Relax, kid. Cassie and I work together. She’s also Ben’s sister. That’s off-limits times two. Honestly, you act like all I do is chase women around. What’s Cassie going to think of me? You’re making me look bad.”

  “Good,” said Holly stubbornly. “The badder the better.”

  Cassie wondered what the story was here, and if it would be appropriate to ask Kevin about it. She knew that most kids weren’t crazy about the idea of their parents getting involved with someone new, but this seemed a little overboard. “You really don’t have to worry about me, Holly. Do I seem like the wannabe stepmother type? I have no designs on your dad. Want me to pinkie promise?”

  “I’m not six, but I appreciate the gesture. As long as we understand each other.” Holly swept past her into the hallway. Her cell phone rang, and she whisked herself down the stairs, phone at her ear.

  Cassie whooshed out a breath. “Wow. You have a very over-protective daughter there.”

  “Sorry about that.” On their way out the door, Kevin delayed her with a hand on her arm. “She went through a lot of chaos while she lived with her mom. I try to give her some leeway when it comes to this stuff.”

  “Well, hopefully I’ve set her mind at ease.” She smiled at him reassuringly. “If there’s anything else I can do to convince her we’re just buddies, let me know.”

  “Buddies?” The look in Kevin’s eyes definitely didn’t say “buddy.” It said “interested,” or “attracted,” or maybe “I’d really like to complete that kiss we nearly had.”

  Or maybe that was just her.

  “Co-workers,” she corrected.

  “We aren’t actually co-workers. We’re just two people contemporaneously working in the same place.”

  She finished the sentence along with him, and they both laughed. He closed the door behind them, then jumped at the sight of Holly glaring at them.

  “What is going on here? You’re finishing sentences together and laughing at a shared joke. That is highly suspicious behavior.”

  “Okay, that’s enough, Holls,” Kevin said firmly. “You really have to trust me a little more. Should we get on with this tour or should we go into group therapy?”

  “Tour!” Cassie and Holly spoke at the same time, then laughed.

  Kevin lifted his eyebrows at them. “Did you two just finish a sentence together and laugh at the same joke? The nerve.”

  8

  Kevin and Cassie had a brief tussle over who was going to drive.

  “I have a 1969 Lamborghini,” he told her as they headed down the stairs. “How many times do you get to ride in one of those?”

  “He lives for that car,” Holly grumbled. “It’s like his favorite child, and I’m the second best.”

  “Incorrect,” Kevin said calmly. “However, it is my one indulgence in life and it’s a piece of art. You’d appreciate it, my fellow mechanic.”

  “I’m sure I would, but this is a tour, not a race. You’re supposed to sit back and enjoy the scenery. I’ll drive, and you’ll just have to live with the boringness of my Jetta.”

  “A Jetta?” A pained look crossed his face. “You aren’t serious, are you?”

  “Oh my God. You’re a car snob, aren’t you?”

  “You have no idea,” said Holly.

  “Do not underestimate the Jetta. I mean, it has a turbocharged 1.4-liter direct-injection engine, with 150 horsepower and 184lb.-ft. of torque, and it’s still under twenty thousand. Bet your Lamborghini can’t say that.”

  Holly groaned and clutched at her hair. “Now there’s two of them,” she moaned. “Where are my earbuds?”

  They emerged onto the street, where her sporty black Jetta awaited. Cassie laughed and opened the door with a flourish, welcoming them into her domain. “Tour guide gets to pick the ride. Hop in.”

  Kevin only grumbled a little about being demoted to passenger. “Just so you know, I’m always the driver. This better be a damn good tour.”

  She grinned at him. “Challenge accepted. Do you know the history of Jupiter Point?”

  “I have a feeling I’m about to.” Kevin shoved his seat all the way back to make room for his legs. In the backseat, Holly sprawled out with her music and a sketchbook.

  As she told the story of Jupiter Point, Cassie took the scenic route along the waterfront. “The town used to be primarily a fishing community, until that industry starting having trouble. Then, after the observatory was built, the mayor had a stroke of genius. He proposed that we start playing on the stargazing thing and turn Jupiter Point into a tourist destination for honeymoons and other romantic occasions, like anniversaries. All the businesses started using star and planet themes in their names, and the Chamber of Commerce advertised in wedding magazines and places like that. It worked. We get named in just about every list of top honeymoon locations in the U.S.”

  “I notice you say ‘we’,” Kevin pointed out. “Sounds like you love this place.”

  “It’s a love-hate thing.” She checked on Holly in the rearview mirror. She was bobbing her head to the music. “I thought it was paradise until I hit high school. And you know, it’s pretty nice being back. This place has a lot going for it. Have you been to the Milky Way yet?”

  “About twenty times in the past two weeks.”

  She laughed. “Glad you’re supporting the local economy. What about the used bookstore? Oh, nope, we’d better not go there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Remember how I mentioned Mrs. Murphy? If she sees us together, in about twenty-four hours the entire town will think we’re an item. Holly will kill me.”

  “Pass on the bookstore, then.”

  “It’s okay, I have a few other tricks up my sleeve.”

  She took the turn onto Constellation Way, which was the heart of the historic downtown. She pointed out the Mercury News-Gazette building, where Will’s fiancée Merry worked. They cruised past Stars in Your Eyes Events and Tours, the Sky View Gallery and Espresso, and the Venus and Mars Cafe.

  “I assume you’ve explored all the usual tourist spots, right?”

  “If they have food, we’ve been there.”

  “Then I want to show you something really cool.” She steered the Jetta onto a little-known back road that wound between the surrounding hills.

  Kevin took photos of the scenery as they drove. “Being a parent means taking lots of photos. I had no idea about this before I had Holly,” he explained as he snapped away.

  “Just wait until you see
where we’re going. It’s incredible.”

  The road ended at a plateau that overlooked the entire town. She pulled onto the gravel stretch that passed as a parking lot. Logs separated the cars from the scrub grass and wildflowers that covered the point.

  They all piled out of the car and breathed in the scent of ocean and sagebrush. The Pacific sparkled in the sunshine, a deep, restless blue blanket stretching as far as the eye could see.

  “Wow,” breathed Kevin. Even Holly’s jaw fell open in awe.

  “This is the real, actual topographical feature named Jupiter Point,” Cassie told them. “You can see the entire town from here, the ocean, the hills, everything. It always takes my breath away, every single time.”

  “It’s incredible,” Kevin agreed. “I bet it’s a great place to watch the sunset.”

  “It’s good for stargazing, if you don’t feel like driving to the observatory.” She turned to Holly. “Want to bring your telescope out here some time?”

  “That would be awesome!” For the first time, Holly skipped the sarcasm and sounded genuinely excited.

  “We used to come up here with my father, with thermoses of hot chocolate and hand warmers on cold nights.” The memory made her heart clench. She hadn’t thought about that in years. “He taught us the constellations, but I’ve probably forgotten most of them. Maybe you can refresh my memory.”

  But that was apparently a step too far for Holly. “You can get a stargazing app, you know. Some of them are free.”

  Okay then. Kevin gave Cassie a discreet shake of his head, as if to say, “don’t sweat it.”

  She had no intention of sweating it. It wasn’t as if she was trying to worm her way into Kevin’s little family. Family life was not for her, she knew that perfectly well.

  Holly wandered down to a lookout where the town had installed a little concrete bench. As soon as she was out of earshot, Kevin touched her hand. “Thanks for bringing us up here. And thanks for being so patient. Holly can be a handful.”

  “I just wish I could convince her I’m no threat.”

  “We should come up with an anti-kiss. Or an anti-engagement ring. Something that sends a message to the whole world that says we’re definitely not together.”

  She laughed. “I could wear my Single Forever t-shirt.”

  “Single Forever?” He lifted an eyebrow at her. “That’s quite a statement.”

  “It’s accurate, at the rate I’m going. I’m more of a short-term-relationship person. As soon as we hit that first bump in the road, I move on. Why drag it out?”

  “I can think of a reason. Because you’re in love.”

  She shuddered. “God forbid. That’s when the real trouble starts.”

  “Have you ever been in love, Cassie?”

  The seriousness of his question caught her off guard. “Well, I don’t know, actually. In high school I thought I was in love with Travis, the guy who came into the shop the other day. That was a disaster, so I never really wanted to try again. Does high school count?”

  “I met my ex-wife in high school. So yes, it counts. But you don’t always choose the right person at that age. Some people do. My parents were high-school sweethearts and they have a great marriage. They made it look easy. Surprised the hell out of me when it wasn’t.”

  She bumped her shoulder against his. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. The world is full of people who couldn’t make it work. I always used to wonder, out of all the honeymooners who come here, how many will still be married in five years.”

  He laughed and clutched his chest as if she’d just delivered a blow. “That is just so sad and cynical, my heart can barely stand it. It’s breaking in two, right in front of you.”

  She laughed up at him, then jumped as someone called out to her. “Cassie? Jeez, this is crazy, we’re running into each other all over the place.”

  Whirling around, she saw Deirdre Sullivan walking toward her from a white Mustang. She wore a camera around her neck and carried a red patent-leather tote bag on her shoulder. She was in the midst of lowering the camera, having apparently snapped a photo of them.

  “You two want to be in a brochure? I’m taking photos for the Chamber of Commerce.”

  “You’re a photographer?”

  “No, I just do this for fun. I’m an electrician.”

  Cassie gaped at her.

  She laughed. “I do love saying that and getting a reaction. I work with my dad, and don’t mock, the pay is excellent. Want to see the photo? The two of you, silhouetted against that incredible view, you look amazing.”

  Deirdre came closer and showed them the photo displayed on the digital screen of her camera. Kevin’s hand was on his chest, as if he was declaring his love, while Cassie’s laughing face was tilted toward him, her hair blowing in the wind behind her. It was hard to make out their faces, the way they were backlit, but everything about their pose screamed intimacy and attraction.

  It actually made Cassie blush. She took a step away from Kevin. She hadn’t realized how close they’d been standing to each other.

  “But we’re not—” She broke off, remembering the scene at Barstow’s. Deirdre believed they were a couple, thanks to her. “On a honeymoon,” she finished lamely.

  “Artistic license.” Deirdre waved off that objection. “I can even get you guys a small modeling fee. Or maybe a trade arrangement? Cassie, I heard you started a shop. They can place an ad in the brochure if you want.”

  “I don’t think the tourists are going to care about my auto-repair gig.”

  “Okay, then, I can put one in for Knight and Day Flight Tours.”

  Cassie bit her lip, since it was hard for her to turn down something that would benefit her brothers. “You really know my soft spot, Deirdre.”

  A shadow crossed over her face. “I guess I do, at that. So what about it, guys? We can try another few poses, if you like.”

  “You promise my brothers will get an ad out of it?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Cassie glanced at Kevin. “What do you think?”

  “As a loyal employee, I’m fine with it. Maybe I’ll get a Christmas bonus.”

  She could barely believe she was considering this. Returning to Jupiter Point, the last thing she’d imagined was posing for the Chamber of Commerce. She was the outcast, the one who’d left, covered in humiliation. “Fine,” she muttered. “But let’s make it quick.”

  Deirdre beamed and lifted her camera. “Quick as a flash. Literally. Now just scoot back a little closer to each other.”

  Cassie took a step sideways, while Kevin did the same. They bumped shoulders. Tingles shot down her arm. He reacted too; she felt the current of electricity vibrating through him.

  “That’s good, now look at each other, the way you were doing before. Angle your bodies toward each other. Perfect, that’s great.” The camera clicked away. “Nothing too intimate, please. We’re going for family-friendly here, so if you could just tone down the sparks that are flying all over the place…”

  Kevin’s eyes laughed into hers. “Should we give her a little show?” he whispered.

  “Huh?” Before she really understood what he meant, he wrapped his arms around her and bent her backwards, as if they were on a dance floor. She clutched at his shoulders, a little dizzy from the speed of that move…or maybe from the hot look in his eyes. Looking into those green depths was like gazing toward the end of a rainbow, where bright, happy things awaited.

  “Woohoo!” Deirdre whooped as she snapped more photos. “I know we can use that one. Classic!”

  Cassie barely heard her, she was so caught up with Kevin. Even though they weren’t saying a word to each other, they didn’t have to. The chemistry between them did all the talking for them. I want you. I’m attracted to you. Maybe we should go to bed together.

  “Dad?”

  Holly.

  Suddenly Cassie was being turned upright and planted back on her feet. Kevin raked a hand through his hair as he scrambled for an e
xplanation that would satisfy both Holly and Deirdre. Cassie wished she could be more help, but her heart was still racing and if she spoke, she’d probably sound all breathy and turned on.

  But Deirdre, amazingly, saved the day. “Hey there, hon, sorry to steal your dad away. They’re helping me out with a photo. Hey, do you want to be in it too? Kind of a happy-family thing?”

  Holly scowled. “No, thanks. We’re not a happy family.”

  “Oh, well, believe me, I know exactly what you mean. My family was the furthest thing from happy.”

  Cassie gave a double-take. This was the first she’d ever heard about Deirdre’s life being less than perfect.

  Deirdre caught her glance. “Long story. Anyway, I’ve got what I need now. You all take care, I’m sorry for interrupting your family time. Happy or not.” She stowed her camera in her bag and headed back for her car.

  Holly called after her, “It’s not family time.”

  But Deirdre just sent them a sympathetic wave as she got into her Mustang. “I still would like to have lunch sometime, Cassie. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

  Cassie frowned as her former nemesis drove away. Why did Deirdre keep insisting on lunch? The past was past, she saw no point in digging it up. She’d barely seen her brothers since she’d gotten back; why would she spend time with someone who had tormented her?

  Holly folded her arms across her chest. “Who was that? She’s kind of heinous.”

  Cassie laughed, taking a few more steps away from Kevin. He seemed to draw her like a magnet just by standing there. “You really want to know?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She used to be the girl who made my life hell. But now, honestly, I guess I don’t actually know who she is. Meaning, she seems very different nowadays. Maybe people do change.”

  Holly screwed up her face. “I know people change. Usually for the worst.”