Chapter Ten
Charity looked at Tanner. “You care? About me?”
This was great, terrific, incredible. It was also the land of living hell. “But you’re right. I can’t exactly see myself trading in my horses for a dogsled team, and you already left the Ridge once because it didn’t suit you. So now what?”
“Now nothing. That’s the whole point.”
She’d never considered Tanner as nothing, not after making love to him twice. “You want to forget this ever happened?” She kicked a clump of scattered hay back into the pile where they’d made love. “My memory isn’t that bad, Tanner.”
“Then we’ll live with what happened between us and we won’t let it happen again.”
“What…what if it does?”
He framed her face with his hands and his eyes turned smoky. He traced her top lip with his thumb and brushed his lips across her forehead. He gazed into her eyes and said, “I might get back here once a year and the odds of you coming to Alaska are slim to none. What kind of relationship is that? It will be hard enough to walk away from whatever’s going on between us right now without making it more complicated.”
“I’m a complication?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Among other things, like gorgeous and provocative and sexy as hell. We’ll keep our distance, let things cool off.”
Cool? Did he say cool? He had just recited the list of attributes every woman wants to hear from a man and now he wanted her to cool off? Ha! Then again, she didn’t need to keep stoking this fire between them, either. “Well, I guess that will work. But what about us breaking up this wedding? We still have five days.”
Tanner could cause a whole lot of problems in five days if she wasn’t around to foil them.
“You haven’t exactly provided a wealth of ideas on that score.”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s what you said before. We can meet up tomorrow night in town to talk over some ideas. Nate said there’s going to be a little street party to celebrate. Most of the horses are on the mend and you can hear the hum of chainsaws taking down cherry tress everywhere. With so many people in town, we won’t be tempted to get complicated there, that’s for sure.”
Maybe keeping their distance would cool this complication between them. “Okay. In town tomorrow evening, at the Finish Line. Beer and pizza sound good.”
She watched him walk off, thinking how rotten it would be when she saw him walk off for the last time to fly away in his silver bird. She loved the horses, the farm and the racing but at this moment, and only for a second, a part of her wished she’d sold the place and lived in town. Then she could go to Alaska to see just how complicated she and Tanner could get given half a chance. As it was, it looked as if they’d never get a chance.
LATE THE NEXT DAY Tanner parallel parked the truck on Main Street. It was great to see everyone out enjoying themselves, laughing, having a few hours of fun and not wringing their hands over sick horses. Not that all the horses had been instantly cured, but they were on their way and no new cases of illness had been reported. Life was good.
’Course when he’d meet up with Charity at the Finish Line, life would be great, even if they only met for a few minutes to discuss strategy for putting an end to Nate and Savannah’s engagement. Being with Charity made everything more fun, more exciting, and he really looked forward to it. He’d have to remember these good times because they’d come to an end soon enough…as soon as he figured out how to break up Nate and Savannah.
He stopped to talk to two horse owners. They thanked him for delivering Mama Kay’s yeast brew. Then two more owners joined in. Tanner was astounded and appreciative. Not because he enjoyed the praise so much, but because he was being accepted for who he was…a pilot. Charity was right, he did care what his dad thought and he bet his dad would have been proud.
Tanner smiled to himself, then realized he was smiling on the outside, too. It was the first time in a very, very long time that he’d smiled over anything associated with his dad.
He headed for the Finish Line and passed Payne’s Drugstore, where the high school kids met to have sodas and to get a date for Saturday nights. Next was Togs for Tots, where mothers wrestled with their little ones to try on new spring clothes, and then Lilly’s Lingerie. He spotted Savannah inside holding a long, flowing, sheer nightgown…though it probably had a more sophisticated name than nightgown.
She eyed him, then tapped on the window, beckoning him inside. He smiled politely and shook his head, declining her invitation. But before he’d taken two more steps down the sidewalk, she was out the door, standing beside him, linking her arm around his waist. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. “I need your help.”
He eyed at the frilly storefront of white lace and pink bows and held up his hands in protest. “No way. This stuff is way, way out of my league, worse than the perfume shop. I think you can make this kind of decision on your own.”
“Help is always good, Tanner. You help me, I help you.”
“What’s that mean?”
She giggled and her arm seemed glued to his as she tugged him inside. He could either go with her or cause a scene because Savannah sure wasn’t letting go.
The shop was filled with lacy panties, sheer, silky bras, slips and a lot of other things he’d seen but didn’t know the proper names for. They were in every color imaginable and some unimaginable.
“I should leave. Remember what happened in the perfume store. I nearly passed out.”
Savannah smiled wickedly and chuckled. “I know what happened at the perfume store and it had nothing to do with perfume.”
“Sure it did.”
She chuckled again. What did it mean? A chuckle like that always meant something was going on that he didn’t know about but should. He hated that kind of chuckle.
“Savannah, can’t we just meet up later?”
“You already have a date tonight, remember?”
She grinned and nodded at the next room, to Charity, as she studied a display of pink, white and red panties…if something so skimpy, so transparent, so soft and shimmering could be called panties. What happened to those white things she wore? Tanner wondered. Wisps of material that were probably bras of some sort in deep forest green and black were draped over her arms.
He stopped dead. He looked from the lingerie in her arms—to her lovely body that would be so damn provocative in such skimpy garments—to the display. He could imagine Charity in every one of those sexy little numbers.
His heart rate accelerated and a bead of pure male, testosterone-induced sweat slithered down his back. And he’d thought the perfume store and Ravish had driven him over the edge. They were nothing compared with see-through everything guaranteed to drive any man insane in one minute.
Hell, it had taken him less than a minute, and he’d only imagined Charity dressed in those lacy things. What would his reaction be if she actually did dress in them? He’d probably evaporate into a cloud of steam.
She glanced up, her gaze landing on him. Her jaw fell as her eyes bulged. “T-Tanner?”
“Hi?”
Savannah said, “Since you two were meeting up later, I thought I’d get Tanner in here now, so you wouldn’t miss each other.”
Charity regained her composure before he did and said to Savannah, “You brought him in here? A lingerie shop isn’t exactly a hot meeting spot, you know.”
Savannah shrugged. “Maybe not.” She looked from one to the other. “Or maybe it is. Anyway, I want Tanner to take you out of here because your conservative ideas are giving me a headache.” She snatched up a pair of white satin panties with pink bows that were more air than there. She said to Tanner, “These are her idea of what I should buy for my honeymoon. They would look great on her, don’t you think? But they’re not me.”
Charity glanced around. “Tanner! This is not the Finish Line.”
Yes it was. He was finished. Charity surrounded by all this sexy stuff wou
ld be impossible to forget. She glanced at the articles in her arms and turned three shades of red. “They’re for Savannah,” she said defensively.
Savannah pursed her lips. “They are not. You picked them out for yourself, said you were tired of that white stuff. I’m more an animal-print girl myself. Zebra for Mondays, leopard on Tuesdays, alligator on Wednesday.” She nodded at a peignoir set draped over a royal-blue velvet chair. “And you picked that out, too.”
“For you.”
Savannah huffed. “I look awful in moss green. It’s you. Goes great with your hair. I’m going for the big pink boa and the black bustier I saw in the back. And there’s a cute little French maid’s outfit that should light Nate’s fire.”
Tanner shook his head, trying to make sense of all this. “French maid? For Nate? What about making an outfit out of the Wall Street Journal. Nate really likes the Wall Street Journal.”
Savannah kissed Tanner’s cheek. “Nathan is into much more than the Journal these days.”
Charity dropped the bras and panties on the counter and snagged Tanner’s arm. “We should go.”
Savannah picked up the items Charity had dropped and handed them to the saleslady along with a credit card. “I’ll bring these home for you. Didn’t you say you burned all your old stuff?” She shrugged and grinned. “Hope you didn’t burn all of it because what would you ever have on now?”
She winked at Tanner as Charity propelled him out of the shop, nearly pushing him down the stone steps. In a second they were outside on the sidewalk. She nodded across the street and pointed. “That’s the Finish Line, remember?”
“Were those things in that store really for you?”
“Well…yes. Sort of. I was in there—” she nodded at the lingerie store “—to help Savannah pick out new things for her honeymoon and then…well…guess I got carried away.” She shrugged. “Told you I was working on that practical thing.”
If he didn’t get his mind on something besides Charity in that sexy underwear, he’d make a spectacle of himself right in the middle of Main Street. Food was his only hope. He took her hand and headed for the Finish Line. “We’ll need two pizzas.”
“You must be starved. Aren’t you afraid of getting…fat?”
“Got other things on my mind right now.” Like you! He held open the door for Charity and followed her inside to a little table by the window. He buried his head behind the menu, pulled in a steadying breath and thought of pizza instead of Charity in sexy underwear.
She plucked the menu from his hand, turned it right-side up and put it back. “Are you all right?”
He put down the menu. “No. Are you?”
“Me?” She licked her lips and her eyes went dreamy. It took every ounce of Tanner’s self-control to keep from diving across the table and taking her in his arms. Then she stiffened her spine and picked up the menu. “Let’s order pizza.”
“Yeah, pizza. And talk about how to break up the wedding.” He looked around, trying to think of something besides Charity. “I like the candles in the wine bottles and red-checked tablecloths. Nice touch.”
“The place was remodeled last year, even has a party room out back.”
He slapped his hand on the table. “That’s it, a party. I’ll throw Nate a bachelor party, in the party room after the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night.”
“What are you talking about? Why would you do that?”
He sat back and gave her an easy smile, then asked a question he already knew the answer to. “Tell me, did you happen to come up with some wonderful idea to break up Nathan and Savannah apart? Helping Savannah pick out a French maid outfit and a bustier—whatever the hell that is—isn’t the way to end an engagement, is it?” He raised an accusing brow.
“Those were Savannah’s ideas.”
“I don’t think your heart is in this, so I’m going to throw Nathan the bachelor party of all bachelor parties. Get some cute girls to host it. Show Nate what he’ll be missing when he takes himself off the market to marry Savannah. Bachelor parties are always good for leading men astray.”
Her eyes widened by half. “They are?”
“Absolutely. Last one I went to in Anchorage, this amazingly beautiful woman popped out of a cake and the soon-to-be groom called off the wedding right on the spot.”
This was better, got his mind off Charity…except for that soft pink blouse she wore that fit her lovely shape perfectly, and the way her eyes sparkled in the candlelight. “I can get a dancing girl to come up from Lexington to do one of her little teaser numbers for Nate and—”
“A stripper?” She hadn’t screeched that loud since the caterpillar incident in the pasture. Half the people in the diner turned her way.
He sat up. “Not exactly a stripper, but close, and—”
“No way. Out of the question. Impossible. Bad idea. No strippers.”
“Why not?”
“Because…because…” She nibbled her lower lip. “What about going to a movie? Bet Nate hasn’t been to a movie in a long time. Bet he’d like that.”
“And how’s that supposed to keep him from marrying Savannah?”
“Go see some shoot-’em-up thing. Something with deNiro or Willis. Savannah hates them. He’ll see how mismatched he and Savannah are and—”
He rested his elbows on the table and leaned toward her, catching a whiff of…Ravish? From the perfume shop? How was he supposed to think about a bachelor party and girls popping out of cakes with Charity wearing Ravish…especially when that’s exactly what he’d like to do to her. Damnation!
He looked at Charity, focusing on the party. He swallowed and ran his hand over his face. “The bachelor party is the answer. After the rehearsal dinner. You throw Savannah a bachelorette party, have punch and cookies and watch When Harry Met Sally. She won’t suspect a thing.”
Charity’s eyes brightened. Too bright. She gave him a saucy grin. Oh, hell, now what? She wasn’t smiling like that for kicks.
“Well now, Mr. Davenport, that’s a great idea you have there.”
“It is?” Why did he suddenly know it was a really bad idea?
“I can get some of those Chip-n-dales to come entertain us and—”
“Chip-n-dales?”
She grinned hugely. “One of the girls I graduated from high school with has a brother who does a routine like that for parties. Bet I can get him on short notice. We’ll have a great time. Those guys are so cute, and so well built, yummy, and have the nicest buns and—”
“Yummy? What’s with this yummy stuff? Where’d that come from? No, no, no. Punch and cookies is all you’ll need.”
“That’s not all you need.”
He spread his arms wide. “I’m breaking up the engagement. This is just…business.”
“Wonder how many guys have used that line.”
“It’s to distract Nate and what difference does it make to you if I have party girls or not?”
She stood and smiled sweetly. “It doesn’t. I think the parties are a fine idea. You…and your guests watch scantily clad women shaking their wares and I get to do the same with the men.”
“‘I?’”
“And my guests,” she added quickly, but not quickly enough. She snapped around, her hair flying in the air like red silk ribbons as he watched her sashay her way across the floor, her hips swaying just enough to drive any man out of his mind. When had she started doing that? And he wasn’t the only one noticing. Two guys at the corner table arched their brows in her direction.
Hellfire! She was going to enjoy this Chip-n-Dale idea. The last thing he wanted was Charity MacKay ogling another man. He gave the guys in the corner a beady-eyed stare. He sure as hell didn’t want another man to be ogling her!
CHARITY SAT at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers against the wood top as Mama and Savannah addressed seating cards.
“The rehearsal dinner went well,” Mama said.
“Peachy.” Except all Charity could think about was the bachelor party af
terward. The last thing Charity wanted was for Tanner Davenport to be eyeing another woman…or another woman to be eyeing him. The fact that he was heading back to Alaska didn’t matter. This was now.
She drummed harder till Savannah reached over, flattening Charity’s hand with her own. “Enough, already. If you don’t stop, you’re going to drive me and Mama and Patience here plumb crazy. So, Tanner and Nate are at a bachelor party tonight, so what.”
“And Puck,” Mama added in a tight voice as she folded another place card, not sounding all that thrilled about the party, either.
Savannah picked up another card and folded it. “How bad can it be?”
Patience shrugged as she studied from some big thick book with little print. “Men have been going to bachelor parties forever. It’s a right of passage passed down through the ages from generation to—”
“Can it, Patience,” Charity growled.
Patience huffed, “I can’t imagine what the big deal is?”
That’s because Patience wasn’t the one who was wild about Tanner and half crazy with jealousy. Charity froze. Was she jealous? Heck, yes. That was one of the reasons she hated this party idea. The second reason she hated it was that Savannah’s wedding could possibly end up being no wedding. Shouldn’t that be the first reason?
She looked at Savannah’s sparkling-white, silk-and-satin wedding dress hanging from the hall light fixture so as not to touch the floor or get mussed in some closet. She looked at the peach dresses hanging in the doorway that she and Patience would wear, if this wedding came off and Tanner Davenport didn’t louse up the whole thing. “This isn’t just any old bachelor party.”
Savannah arched her perfect brow. “What do you mean?”
Oh, boy, she shouldn’t have said that. She didn’t want Savannah to know Tanner was trying to stop her marrying Nathan, because if the wedding did come off there’d be hard feelings. Charity didn’t want there to be hard feelings. “Nothing. Not really. Just a few hostesses at the Finish Line.”
Patience flipped a page in her book. “Doesn’t sound normal to me. Thought there’d be strippers or something.”
The Wedding Rescue Page 15
