Besides, he was so damn glad to have her here, in the house built by her great-great-great-great-grandfather, that he only wanted her to feel welcome.
Kat came downstairs again, this time wearing the yellow nylon shorts he’d left out for her. She hesitated by the armchair near the stairs and finally walked over to stand next to him. He took her hand, squeezed it, and when she met his eyes, he felt relieved when she smiled.
“Why don’t you go up and get dressed? We’ll be fine.” Though she continued to smile, he sensed a new tension about her.
“I’ll be right back.” He headed for the stairs, but not before he turned to look at Sunny and the baby again.
It appeared his “easy” life had just gotten a bit more complicated.
Chapter 12
SUNNY’S JITTERS gradually dissolved when she realized Ty Chandler was as nervous and shook up as she. He and his gal pal had obviously been into something hot and heavy before she got here. No need to wonder about their relationship now. From the looks of it, she’d caught them in the act.
On the way up from L.A., she’d worried that Chandler might balk when he found out about French Fry and hoped he really wanted both of them here. From the look on his face, though, he’d seemed shocked but excited about the baby. He wasn’t going to send her on her way, at least not tonight.
He’d practically tripped all over himself welcoming her, but the woman, Kat, had barely cracked a smile. After she gave French Fry a cool once-over, it was obvious that she was trying not to even look at her.
Kat Vargas just might be a problem she hadn’t counted on.
She thought that Chandler was going to stand there all night clutching his bath towel until Kat suggested maybe he ought to get dressed. Like something out of an old Father Knows Best episode, he actually excused himself before he went upstairs.
She hated to admit it and hoped she wasn’t getting weird or something for noticing, but her dad was a real hottie. At least she wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with him, if they ever went anywhere together.
At least he wasn’t a complete nerd.
The way Kat was still eyeing Alice gave her the creeps. She started to wonder if Kat Vargas hated all little kids in general, or just French Fry.
Sunny sat Alice in the middle of the living room floor near an old recliner that should have been hauled away a long time ago. She sat down on it, leaned forward, draped her arms over her knees, and started to wind one of French Fry’s curls around her index finger.
“Ty was just going to fix dinner.” Kat lingered, standing a few feet away as an awkward silence blossomed and thrived in the room.
Sunny thought maybe the woman was uncomfortable and embarrassed about almost getting caught screwing Chandler.
Before she could comment, Kat asked, “Are you hungry?”
Sunny had been starving since the last bus stop in San Luis Obispo. They had to transfer and wait for a shuttle that only ran every two hours, and it was just lucky they’d gotten there when they had, or she would’ve had to spend the night in the Greyhound station with a fussy toddler.
From what she’d seen of Twilight Cove, it wasn’t much of a town. When the bus let them off at the park, she caught a cab and had to pop for the fare to get all the way out here, which used up almost all the cash she’d brought with her. She had five dollars left to her name.
She looked around again, thankful that they had a roof over their heads tonight and someone to worry about them for a change instead of her having to worry about everyone else.
Her relief was tempered by the fact that every time she thought of French Fry, her heart ached.
Kat Vargas was waiting for an answer.
“I could eat.”
“Ty was just about to cook some fish. We could start a salad for him.” Kat turned around and headed out of the room.
Sunny decided that something was up with Kat Vargas, but she wasn’t going to make waves yet. She picked up French Fry, who gurgled in approval, and followed Kat. The house wasn’t particularly large, but the rooms were bright and airy.
The jury was still out on whether or not she liked the place. It was so crammed full of old stuff. Most of it looked like junk other people had thrown out, but all of it had something to do with either the beach or Twilight Cove. There were vintage photos of streets, wood and metal business signs. It was crowded, but definitely not boring.
The television in the living room looked new and it wasn’t a postage stamp, either. Chandler obviously had some money. And no matter how old or run-down they were, homes by the beach didn’t come cheap.
When they reached the kitchen and Kat still hadn’t said anything, Sunny scooted French Fry up on her hip again, then straightened the strap of the baby’s overalls. “I’m really sorry about interrupting whatever it was you two had going on.”
Sunny expected Kat to flush with embarrassment, or make some lame excuse. Instead Kat met her gaze head-on.
“We were finished, actually.” Kat fumbled with a wooden salad bowl as she set it down near a cutting board on the counter, then she opened the refrigerator and pulled out celery, tomatoes, green onions, and a bag of mini carrots.
Sunny couldn’t help but admire her honesty. “I’ll do that if you want me to,” she offered, figuring the task couldn’t be easy one-handed. “Would you hold Alice?”
For a second Kat didn’t say a word. She slowly went pale, and as she did, her expression hardened. Sunny thought that for a minute she was going to walk out of the room.
“I . . .” Kat Vargas seemed to be at a loss for words.
Maybe she’d never been around kids before. She looked more terrified than anything else.
Before things got any more strained, Ty came breezing through the kitchen door, and some of the color rushed back into Kat’s cheeks.
“I can make the salad,” Sunny told him, then indicated the baby with a nod. “But somebody’s got to watch her.”
Kat turned around and started trying to rinse a head of lettuce with one hand. If Ty noticed the woman’s discomfort, he didn’t let on. Instead, he suggested cheerfully “Why don’t you go in the living room and sit down, and we’ll call you when it’s ready?”
“Great.” More than great. The pale, strained look on Ms. Vargas’s face was freaking her out.
AS SOON AS SUNNY left the room, Kat tried to pull herself together. She had no idea that the girl’s request for her to hold Alice was going to send her into such an emotional tailspin. Her hands had instantly gone clammy and she hadn’t been able to think of a single thing to say in response.
It had been forever since she’d been around children. Her sisters had a houseful between them all, but she hadn’t been home to visit for so long that the memories of taking care of them, of laughing and playing with them, were fading.
Seeing Sunny standing there in Ty’s living room, holding her daughter tight in her arms, had slammed home a reminder of everything Kat once dreamed of, everything she’d ever wanted. Not to mention the memories she’d fought so hard to bury inside.
Hopefully Ty had been so preoccupied with Sunny’s appearance that he hadn’t noticed. She helped herself to a glass of wine but didn’t feel settled even after she took a couple of sips and carefully set the glass down.
Ty was in the middle of chopping a tomato when he suddenly stopped, wiped his hands, and surprised her by taking her into his arms.
The thrill she’d experienced when he’d called and she’d learned that he was home from Alaska came rushing back, reminding her that she had been far more excited by the sight of him on the bluff, by the sound of his voice, than she wanted to admit.
Their lovemaking had not only been satisfying but exciting, so thrilling that it had left her wanting more. The stark realization that he could move her in so many ways really scared the d
aylights out of her.
Now, as if he knew just what she needed, he kissed her again, moved his lips and tongue against hers in a heated kiss. When he lifted his head, he kept his arms locked around her.
“I didn’t want you to feel neglected,” he said softly, his dark-blue eyes full of desire.
She glanced toward the door to the living room and kept her voice low. “Sunny already guessed what we were up to before.”
“We’re consenting adults. Besides, with the life she’s led there probably isn’t much she hasn’t seen or heard.” His expression darkened and Kat knew that he wished things had been different for his daughter.
“I know you’re thrilled, Ty.” She knew how much it meant to him to have Sunny show up, and was happy for him.
“I still can’t believe it.”
She wondered if he had any idea what he was in for. There was no way of knowing what Sunny must have endured in her young life. No telling what her life in Los Angeles had been like, but it couldn’t have been easy growing up virtually alone.
Kat wanted to believe that things were going to go smoothly for Ty and Sunny, that this was just the beginning for them both. She hoped it wasn’t too late for Ty and his daughter to bond with each other, to become family on some level, but she’d been a P.I. too long to shake off all doubt once it took hold.
The fact that Ty knew nothing about Sunny except what they’d learned from Amy’s parents didn’t help.
“What’s got you so quiet?” He bumped his hips against her, nudged her suggestively.
She shrugged. He deserved a straight answer.
“I wish I could shake the feeling that there might be more to Sunny showing up here out of the blue than meets the eye.”
“You’ve been a P.I. too long.”
“That’s what I keep telling myself.”
He turned back to the cutting board and started to dice another tomato. “Right now I’m just glad she’s here.”
She watched the easy way he handled himself, admired his well-defined shoulders and arms, the way his back moved beneath his shirt.
It was hard to believe that he was not only a father, but a grandfather, too. In a heartbeat he’d gone from attractive single man to attractive single man with a family.
Though her body reacted to his nearness, her mind was racing. She couldn’t shake the memory of the apartment where they’d found Sunny. The girl’s companions had looked like hard-as-nails street kids, and the place was filled with things that none of them appeared to be able to afford, but there could be a logical explanation that didn’t involve anything illegal.
Still, Sunny’s life as a young single mother couldn’t have been easy and Ty had offered her a way out. Maybe all she was after was a new beginning, a chance to start life over with her own father in the picture.
There was nothing in the world wrong with that.
Kat walked over to Ty, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him on the cheek.
“I’ll try to put my suspicions on hold. After all, she’s come this far.”
“Right.” He kissed her again, a kiss filled with such promise that it made her knees weak. She leaned into him, pressed him up against the kitchen counter.
When the kiss ended he whispered against her mouth, “You’d better step back, or I’ll be after more than a kiss. Or maybe you’re willing to go for it again already, Ms. Vargas?”
“A very empty threat with your daughter and granddaughter in the next room.”
“Want to try me?”
“You’re a real tough guy, you know, Chandler?”
He pulled her up against him, wrapped his arms around her, and slid his hand over her breast, kneading it through the fabric of the borrowed shirt. Her nipple became a tight bud. He grasped it between his thumb and forefinger and she moaned, even as she tried to push away.
Finally, he let her go, but not before he kissed her thoroughly and left her warm and wet.
He smiled, and then acting as if he wasn’t in the least aroused, he asked, “Would you go ask Sunny to come help carry things outside while I finish this up?”
Kat collected herself before she went into the other room and found Sunny juggling Alice on her knees.
“Would you like to join us?”
“Sure.” As Sunny walked by, Alice reached both arms toward Kat. “I think she likes you. Want to hold her?” Sunny offered.
Kat froze, and as she fought down a wave of unexpected emotion, she quickly shook her head and tried to smile. She succeeded, but weakly.
“She . . . she doesn’t really know me yet.”
Sunny stared at her for a minute before moving into the kitchen. Kat took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down by doing what she did best—thinking like a P.I.
She asked herself, who walked out of their lives without so much as a change of underwear—except people on the run?
They helped carry things to the table on the patio, and Ty sat beside Kat when he brought out the last of the meal. She looked across the table—at Sunny with her multitude of ear pierces and the stark barbed-wire tattoo that stood out on her arm, at Alice contentedly picking hunks of butter off of her dinner roll and smearing it around her mouth like a makeup artist on speed. Ty was carrying on a nearly one-sided conversation, pointing out landmarks along the coastline as Sunny ate ravenously, nodding now and then.
All of a sudden, a thunderous sound ripped through the air. Sunny, already halfway through her albacore, dropped her fork. It clattered against her plate and bounced onto the checkered tablecloth.
“What the fuck was that?” she cried.
Kat bit her lips to keep from laughing when Ty winced.
“What was it?” Sunny looked over her shoulder as if expecting a tidal wave to wash up over the bluff.
“Sonic boom.” Kat indicated due north with her fork. “Vandenberg Air Force Base isn’t far away.” She turned to Ty and couldn’t risk teasing, “Would you please pass the rolls, Gramps?”
HAND IN HAND, Kat and Ty walked down the narrow stone path through the garden to where she’d parked her Honda. She opened her car door and tossed in her jogging clothes, then placed the albacore fillet that he’d given her on the seat before she turned to him again.
“I’ll get your things back to you soon,” she promised.
“No hurry. It’s probably going to be a little hectic around here from now on.”
“To say the least.” She reminded herself that no matter how hard Sunny looked or how suddenly she’d appeared, she was little more than a child. From what she’d seen tonight, though, Sunny was doing a good job with Alice.
“Thanks for dinner, Ty,” she added. “It was delicious.”
He snagged her wrist, drew her close, and skimmed his hand up beneath the hem of her shirt and cupped her breast. She tipped her head back, welcomed his kiss.
He held her until she relaxed in his embrace and gave him more. It was a long, slow, sweet exchange. When they parted, he continued to hold her within the circle of his embrace.
“Don’t use Sunny’s appearance as an excuse to start building those walls again. Her being here doesn’t change a thing between us.”
He knew her so well already. Oddly, she felt safe in his arms, but she warned herself against feeling too secure. He gently placed his hand beneath her chin and then he was kissing her again. In half a heartbeat, she was kissing him back. When the kiss ended, she was amazed at the depth of her feelings, not to mention frightened by them. She hoped the darkness masked the turmoil that surely showed on her face.
She wanted to trust him so badly, wanted to believe in this fragile beginning more than she’d wanted to believe in anything in a long time.
Across the overgrown front garden, golden light spilled out of nearly every window of the old Chandler house. Ty
followed her gaze, turned to look at his house.
She knew he was surely thinking about Sunny, and his little granddaughter, too. How could he not?
Standing in the dark, caressed by the sound of the crashing waves and the mist off the sea, her old insecurities surfaced. Now that Ty had his daughter to focus on and some major issues to settle, this was the perfect time to break things off if she wanted.
So get in the car and go, Vargas.
Before she could decide what to do, she felt Ty’s warm hand cupped around her breast. Her knees nearly went weak as he rubbed his thumb across her nipple. His touch was hot, captivating. It made her yearn for something she hadn’t dared to dream of in a long time. But those same feelings made her fear for her heart.
Before Kat’s self-control melted as fast as an ice-cream sundae in the sun, Alice let out a howl that carried across the yard.
Ty immediately turned toward the house.
“Go on in, Ty. They need you.”
I don’t need anybody.
It was a hollow thought. One she had forced herself to believe in. Now it was in danger of becoming a lie because of Ty Chandler.
He kissed her good-bye then whispered against her mouth, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She watched him sprint up the crooked stone path, back to his daughter and her child, easily negotiating every tilt and angle of the familiar walkway, even in the dark.
Silhouetted in the open doorway, he paused on the threshold long enough to raise his hand and wave good-bye before he went inside.
“See you, Ty.” Her whisper was quickly swallowed by the sound of the sea.
Chapter 13
THE NEXT MORNING, French Fry woke Sunny demanding juice.
Sunny hauled her downstairs, trying not to wake Ty, only to find him in the kitchen squeezing fresh orange juice. The minute she stumbled through the door, he told her to sit down at the table.
“How’d you sleep?”
He was certainly perky for a man who’d crawled around in the attic until he found the pieces of an old crib and then made up a bed for her in the front bedroom upstairs. She and Alice fell sound asleep on the guest bed while he sat in the middle of the room assembling the crib.
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