Candy Crush (36 page)

“But you’re wearing lip-gloss.” The
amusement was back. I didn’t like the fact that I amused him in
this way.

“My dress is ripped.”

“It isn’t frayed. It looks like it’s
supposed to be that way.”

I glanced down again and stuck out my leg.
The material slid away until my leg was exposed to within
centimeters of my red bikini panties. Mr. Security Detail sucked in
a breath and I thought this was a lot more skin than I exposed
ever, unless I was wearing a bikini and lounging on the beach, or
was in the shower – alone.

I glanced up. His eyes were still black and
now his jaw was rigid. If I didn’t follow him onto the grounds of
The Resort right now, I’d probably never get inside again. And I
wanted to pretend to be on the other side, just for one night. I
wanted to try some of those hors d’oeuvres I would have been
serving tonight, if I still had a job.

I took a deep breath, pulled my leg back so
that the fabric covered it again and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

When he opened the door and beckoned me
inside, I asked his name.

“Carter.”

“Is that your last name?”

“No.”

“Do you have a last name?”

“Yes.”

I guess he wasn’t Mr. Talkative.

“What is your name?”

“Allison Bell.”

“Pretty.”

“Thanks,” I said, surprised by the
compliment. “How long have you worked here?”

“Since it opened.”

“Do you live in town?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you from?”

“Dallas.”

He was definitely master of the one-word
replies, but at least now I understood where the sexy accent came
from. As I rummaged around in my head for something else to ask, he
turned and said, “Would you mind being quiet now?”

I snapped my mouth closed and glared at him,
but he’d already turned and was watching the path ahead of us.

In silence – me fuming and him concentrating
– we followed a flagstone pathway that ran parallel to the wall
surrounding The Resort. I could only see glimpses of the front of
The Resort, between the trees and bushes and mounds and mounds of
flowers everywhere.

I’ve never entered The Resort through the
main entrance before. There was a service entrance around back that
led straight into the kitchens and all the hired help and delivery
vehicles has strict orders to use that entrance only. Using the
main entrance was grounds for immediate dismissal. I sort of hoped
I ran into my ex-boss tonight. I’d be sure to let him know that I
used the main entrance.

After we walked in silence for at least five
minutes, I became restless. We continued to follow the line of the
wall, and it seemed to me that we were moving further from the main
building of The Resort, not closer. “Where are we going?” I finally
asked.

“Shh,” Carter said and we continued to walk
in silence.

I became annoyed. I hated being shushed. I
was ready to ditch Carter the Security Guy and slip into the party,
too high slit in my dress be damned. I tried to pull my hand out of
his grip but he only tightened his hold.

I was about to say something waspish when he
stopped short and I barreled right into his back. He didn’t even
bother to turn around. He simply reached behind him and caught me
by the waist and held me like that. I heard rustling noises from
some point ahead of us.

In the next instant, I found myself standing
in front of Carter, with his arms wrapped around my waist. He
pulled me so close it felt as if he were trying to mesh our bodies
together. I looked up at him and caught the tiniest smile before
his lips descended onto mine.

At first, I simply stood there, too stunned
to do anything. And then I realized I ought to be infuriated and I
should push him away. The problem was, Carter could kiss like no
other man I’d ever experienced. Not that I’ve had a myriad of
experience, but still, this particular experience was quite an
exceptional one.

Completely outside of my control, my body
reacted as if it couldn’t get enough of his kiss. I wrapped my arms
around his waist and tried to pull him closer still. I felt
something hard and cold scrape my right arm and I dimly thought it
might be a gun in a shoulder holster but I didn’t let it distract
me.

He cupped one hand on my neck, below my
messy blond up-do, while one hand splayed on the small of my back.
I felt his body react to the intimacy of the kiss and I heard a
small groan, and realized it came from me. I moved my hands to his
face, palms on his cheeks, trying to hold him so he wouldn’t break
the kiss. Preferably ever.

I heard an, “Oh shit,” from behind me and
then Carter broke the kiss. I was so bemused I just stood there,
glassy eyed, my hands still on his cheeks. The smile quirked again
and he pulled my hands away and stepped around me, putting his body
between whomever interrupted our kiss and me.

“May I help you, gentlemen?” Carter asked. I
shook my head to clear the kiss-induced cobwebs and turned around.
Two banquet servers stood in front of us on the path, and they were
each carrying a laundry sack. The sacks were obviously full. I
recognized both of them. I graduated from high school with
them.

“Joey? Dave? What are you guys doing?” I
stepped out from behind Carter. He glanced at me as his brow
creased into a frown.

Joey squinted at me. He was about six foot
tall, redheaded and gangly. “Allison? Damn, you look hot.”

I smiled.
Well
. It was nice to be
appreciated. “Thanks,” I said cheerfully. It was the little things
in life, after all.

I took a chance and glanced up at Carter.
His face was so rigid, it looked as if it were carved from stone,
and his eyes were as black as night. He glared pointedly at Joey. I
swallowed convulsively and turned back to face Joey and Dave.

“How did you get to be a guest at this
party?” Dave asked me.

Dave and Joey reminded me a little of Laurel
and Hardy. Whereas Joey was tall and too thin, Dave was shorter and
stocky, with dark hair and a thick neck. He had been on the high
school football team, and was largely responsible for the one state
championship our local high school has ever won. Despite a
full-ride football scholarship, Dave only lasted one semester of
college. He’s definitely not the brightest bulb.

“I’m, uh, his date,” I said, waving at
Carter.

“Cool,” Dave said, clearly awed. “It’s not
often the elite mingle with the locals.”

“What are you guys doing?” I asked again,
conversationally this time.

They exchanged glances and looked guilty as
hell. Joey glanced at the bag in his hand. “Uh,” he said. Dave
began scanning his surroundings, probably looking for a hole to
jump into. It was pretty damn obvious what they were doing.

“Seriously?” I asked, crossing my arms under
my breasts. “Are you really stealing?”

They exchanged guilty glances again.

“Come on, you guys. You’re going to give the
locals a bad name. It’s bad enough The Resort has cut off our
tourism industry at the knees. Now everyone here will think we’re
all a bunch of degenerates and they’ll fire everyone and then none
of your friends will have jobs. Does that strike you as a good
thing?” I tapped my foot for emphasis.

I steadily ignored Carter, because I could
actually
feel
his anger. It radiated off of him in waves.
Plus, I was still shaken by that kiss. And I suspected it had all
been a rouse to catch Joey and Dave, not because he’d suddenly had
an overwhelming urge to kiss me because he found me astonishingly
attractive.

Joey dropped his bag and shuffled his feet.
“Sorry, Allison. It was just so easy, and we don’t get paid much to
do this job.”

“It’s better than nothing,” I pointed out. I
looked at Dave. “Dave? Do you want me to call your mother?”

“Damn, Allison, that’s not fair.” He dropped
his bag.

“Now get back to work and don’t do this
again. Do you understand me?”

They both said, “Jeez, Allison,” and turned
to go. Carter finally spoke up.

“Excuse me, but this is my responsibility,
and I don’t think going back to work is such a good idea.”

I finally looked up at Carter. His face was
a blank mask. Great. Blank mask was not something I could pull off.
My mother told me all the time that the whole world knew exactly
what I was thinking at any given time. You just had to look at my
face.

I glared at him. “And what do you
propose?”

“I report them to the banquet manager and
ask if he wants to press charges and/or fire them.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said and Carter’s
eyebrows shot into his hairline.

“We just caught them stealing. You think
it’s ridiculous to report it?”

“They’ve had a change of heart. They’re
giving us the stuff they stole and they’re going back to work.”

“And what makes you think they won’t do it
again?”

“We won’t, we promise,” Dave and Joey said
in unison.

“Because I’ll vouch for them,” I said. “I’ve
known them practically my whole life. They’re good people. They
won’t do it again.” I turned to Joey and Dave and they both nodded
vigorously.

Carter looked like he was trying really hard
to keep from doing something. Probably wring my neck. Finally, he
turned his scary black eyes onto Dave and Joey, who both cowered
under the look.

“I will allow you to go back to work. My
entire team has their eye on you, and if you so much as step a toe
out of line…” He sounded as if he were growling.

Joey put his hands in the air, palms out and
they both began backing away. “No problem, sir. No problem. We’ll
be good, we promise.”

Right before they both bolted, he said,
“Thanks, Allison! See you around.”

I turned to Carter with a smug smile,
thinking I’d done a pretty good job. He was still stone-faced.
“What?” I said.

“I suppose I should have explained
beforehand. My name is Carter James. I run J&J Security. We
provide security for The Resort, as well as personal security
service for a handful of guests who happen to be in residence at
this time. Those men were stealing and I was planning to apprehend
them. Since I was also dealing with the situation of you trying to
sneak in, I decided, in an effort to ensure you did not get away,
that you would come with me while I apprehended those two men. And
you just let them go. Not only that, but you sent them back to
work. You set them up to try again. Worse, I just let you do it.”
He seemed mystified by this revelation.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s Joey and Dave.
They’re harmless. Seriously, I’ve known them since kindergarten.
They’re not too bright, but they’re harmless. And they usually only
require one warning when they do something wrong. And what was with
the kiss?”

Carter’s eyes flared briefly at the mention
of the kiss. “I thought it would be an appropriate distraction,
when they rounded the corner. If I would have been standing there
with a gun in my hand, they probably would have bolted and possibly
caused a scene.”

“Oh,” I said, because I was disappointed to
hear him say that was the reason for the kiss.

“Not that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it,” he
added.

I glanced up and saw that his lips were
quirked into a semi-smile. His eyes crinkled at the edges when he
smiled like that, and I could see the beginnings of a dimple. I
imagined his full wattage smile was something to behold. I
swallowed convulsively. He took a step closer.

“I’d be happy to do it again,” he suggested,
his voice barely above a whisper and sounding not unlike a cat’s
purr.

I took a step back, because I refused to be
made a fool again. “If you do, I might react the same way I did to
that guest who fondled me in the hallway.”

Carter actually chuckled. “First rule of
combat, Allison Bell, never let your enemies know your weapons. Now
that I know your first reaction, I will forever be on the
defensive. You’d never be able to get in a good shot.”

I had every confidence he was right, but I
was sure tempted to try.

Carter picked up both bags in one hand and
slipped the other into my hand. I focused on ignoring the heat that
just engulfed my hand and was steadily climbing up my arm and then,
I was sure, down to points that I didn’t exactly want to be heated
at the moment.

“Let’s go return this merchandise. We’ll
take a stroll by the appetizers so you can have your glimpse of the
other side, and then I will escort you off the property.”

That sounded lovely to me, so I didn’t
resist as he began walking forward. After a short distance, the
walkway opened up to a wide-open area that was paved in flagstones.
Two oversized garages that looked nothing like garages, stood to
the left and the main building of The Resort stood to the
right.

The Resort was designed in a horseshoe
shape, with the rounded end of the horseshoe facing the river. The
walls were also made of flagstones, and the roof was covered with
shaker shingles. It was three stories tall. I knew, from listening
to the housekeepers in the break room during my short tenure
working there, that every suite had an excellent view of the
river.

The ends of the horseshoe housed the
kitchens, since the hired help didn’t need to see the river. The
inside of the horseshoe was a giant courtyard, complete with a
fountain that sprayed water in time to classical music. The
driveway wound around the fountain and deposited guests at the very
center of the horseshoe, where they stepped into the large, plush
lobby.

We stood behind the end of the horseshoe
that was furthest from the entrance. I knew, from the brief time I
worked here, that if you continued straight across the flagstone
path, you would walk right into a spectacular ballroom that could
hold three hundred guests for dinner and had its own flagstone
patio overlooking the river. Everything was about the view of the
river. Even in the wintertime, the view of the river was
spectacular.