Keeping Kennedy (8 page)

Kennedy moved to his side and peered down at
the article he indicated. “The Kissing Bandit Strikes Again After
Thirty Years,” she read aloud. “What in the world?”

“I’d almost forgotten about him,” her father
said distractedly.

“Who?” Drake looked from one Malone to the
next.

“Thirty years ago, right after we moved back
here,” Brenda explained, “a man wearing a Zorro mask would pull
unsuspecting females into some dark place like a stairwell or
supply closet and kiss their socks off.”

Chuck nodded. “It went on for about a month,
then just suddenly stopped.”

“Who was it?” Kennedy asked, still perusing
the article.

“No one knows,” her father told her. “It just
happened. People talked about it for years, but no one ever
admitted to being the infamous Kissing Bandit of Friendly Corners.
It’s our one unsolved mystery.” He chuckled. “I remember the chief
of police being irate that he couldn’t catch the culprit.” Chuck
waggled his eyebrows. “Especially since his wife was one of the
first victims.”

Kennedy looked at her mom. “How about you,
Mom?”

She shook her head. “Not me.” Her eyes
suddenly twinkled with mischief. “I can remember keeping my fingers
crossed and hoping, though.”

“Hey,” Chuck growled.

Drake leaned forward to look at the bold
headline. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“Romantic?” Kennedy’s mouth gaped. She had no
idea he even knew the definition of the word. Well, she amended, he
probably knew a little bit about it considering the ladies who
lined up at his door when he was home. Or maybe he simply knew all
the right pick-up lines.

“It is,” Brenda agreed. “A mysterious man—and
from all reports, a sinfully sexy man—appearing out of nowhere and
kissing you breathless would be something like in a romantic
novel.”

Kennedy rolled her eyes. “I think it’s called
assault now, Mother.”

“Have a cup of coffee, D.D.,” Chuck suggested
in an effort to change the subject.

The discussion changed to football then.
Still, a little intrigued by the kissing bandit story, Kennedy
leaned against the counter and considered the old mystery. Reunion
week just kept getting stranger and stranger. Had someone put
something in the city water supply?

Though distracted by her thoughts, a part of
her couldn’t help noticing the ease with which Drake related to her
parents. An instant rapport had formed between the three. Too bad
it was for naught. Kennedy felt
almost
guilty about
misleading her parents like this, but what choice did she have?
They’d forced her into a corner. She sighed. And she’d come out
fighting with the only weapon she had, the art of illusion.

But illusions were fleeting…and Kennedy knew
it was only a matter of time before hers shattered.

~*~

After breakfast with her parents, Kennedy and
Drake drove across town to Bowden Park. Unfortunately for them, it
had evidently rained all night long. Water stood in every low place
around, and in some places that weren’t so low. Kennedy cursed
Cassandra Hawthorne with every step she took into the dripping
forest that surrounded Bowden Park. The creek was swollen,
threatening to flood the trail that bordered its muddy bank. Drake
made it very clear after the first ten minutes that he didn’t want
to listen to her complaints, so Kennedy kept them to herself.

Somehow she would find a way to get back at
her high school nemesis. Kennedy smiled. At last, something to look
forward to. She suddenly imagined Cassandra at an important
gala…wearing the same exact dress as three other women in
attendance. Kennedy’s smile broadened to a grin. Wouldn’t that get
her goat? And that very catastrophe could be arranged. All she
would have to do—

“Watch your step here,” Drake said, jerking
her back to the matter at hand.

“What?” Before he could expand upon his
warning, Kennedy’s next step mired into the too-soft edge of the
trail, sending her off balance. He reached for her flailing arms,
even snagged her by one elbow, but it was too late. Landing on her
bottom, the cold water enveloped her all the way up to her neck.
Drake came down on his knees between Kennedy’s widespread legs.

“Smooth move,” he grumbled.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she
groused.

He lifted his arms and allowed the water to
drip from his extended limbs. “It wouldn’t be so bad, Kennedy, if
you would just pay attention to where you’re walking. This isn’t a
city sidewalk, or some corridor in your posh office building.”

She batted a wisp of hair from her face. “I
told you that I’m inept in these kinds of surroundings.”

Drake got to his feet, then extended his
hands to help her up. “After yesterday’s drive from the airport,
I’m beginning to think you’re more dangerous than inept outside a
controlled environment.”

Bestowing a fake smile on him, she accepted
his offered hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. The wet
cotton of her clothing felt shrink-wrapped to her skin, with mud
splotches for decoration. “I’m not the outdoorsy type.”

“I can see that.” Looking supremely annoyed,
he splashed out of the murky water with Kennedy in tow. He
carefully maneuvered up the slippery bank and staggered onto the
trail.

Kennedy followed, shivering as the cool
breeze hit her wet clothes.

Drake frowned. “Do you want to go back home
and change? The sun’s out, but it’ll take a while to warm up after
that cold soaking.”

Kennedy folded her arms over her chest and
hugged herself. “Let’s just get this over with.” She was a big
girl; she didn’t need him fussing over her. He already thought she
was inept—no, make that dangerous.

She trudged along behind him for what felt
like forever. The sun tried valiantly to peek between the branches
of trees. The brown autumn leaves that still remained after last
night’s rain were too far efficient at blocking the sun’s warming
rays. Frowning up at the mostly bare branches, she slammed into
Drake’s muscular back before she’d realized he’d stopped. Awareness
curled through her, heating her from the inside out.

“This is it,” he said, paying no attention to
her misstep.

Kennedy moved around to his side to study the
crude map he held. She suppressed the need to shiver again, though
she couldn’t be sure if it was from her still-wet clothes or from
looking at his handsome profile. The man truly was a major hunk. In
the three years they had known each other, why had she never
noticed once how incredibly handsome Drake really was? Maybe
because she hadn’t really looked. He was a friend.
You don’t
look at friends like that
.

Drake pointed to the creek and the fallen
tree that crossed it. “That’s the landmark.” He scanned the woods.
“Twenty paces to the right of the fallen tree,” he murmured as he
read over the instructions once more. “Then look up.”

Cassandra was an idiot. Who in their right
mind would send two adults into the woods looking for a certain
tree among hundreds of others? Realization zapped her with sudden
humiliation. What two adults in their right minds would do as
Cassandra told them? Obviously, she and her neighbor…friend…fiancé,
whatever. Jeez, what a mess she had gotten herself into.

“Ten, eleven…” Drake counted aloud as he
stepped off the twenty paces.

It wasn’t until then that Kennedy noticed the
unexpected way in which his jeans clung to his muscular behind. She
stalled and cocked her head to analyze the intriguing effect. Long
legs, muscular butt, lean waist, broad shoulders. She sighed as
warmth instantly rushed through her once more. There was something
sensually satisfying about just looking at his masculine form.

“That’s the one,” he announced.

Kennedy dragged her gaze from his physique to
the tree he pointed out. It looked like all the rest to her, but
she supposed he had some caveman gene that allowed him to select
this particular tree over all the rest.

“How do you know that’s the one?” she
demanded crossly. She didn’t like being out of her element. Kennedy
Malone liked being in charge. And, somehow, she’d lost complete
control since the beginning of this farce.

Drake turned around slowly to face her. He
leveled his gaze on hers and spoke as if she were five years old.
“Unless our feathered friends have started constructing their nests
of Ziploc baggies and duct tape, then that’s what we’re looking for
right here.”

Kennedy squinted, straining to make out the
item he pointed toward in the highest branches of the tree. Sure
enough, there it was. “How on earth are we supposed to get it
down?”

“Easy,” Drake said with a broad smile that
somehow spelled trouble with a capital T. “You’re going to climb up
there and bring it down.”

Kennedy harrumphed. “I beg your pardon?”

“The limbs are too small. They’ll never hold
my weight,” he explained. “You’ll have to do it.”

Kennedy backed up a step and shook her head
adamantly. “No way. I didn’t climb trees as a child and I’m not
about to start now.”

Drake shrugged. “Then you forfeit to
Cassandra.”

That thought didn’t sit too well. She didn’t
want Cassandra to win. The woman had gotten the better of her too
many times in the past. Kennedy’s gaze traveled slowly up the tree
once more. Could she really do this? She could see Cassandra’s
triumphant expression if she didn’t.

“It’s your call,” Drake added, egging her on.
Kennedy swallowed. She rolled her shoulders and considered all the
equipment she used at the spa. She was in good physical condition.
Gave an elliptical a run for its money. Why couldn’t she climb a
tree?

“All right,” she agreed.

“That’s my girl.”

The devilish grin on his face heated her
insides yet again. What was wrong with her? This whole spin was
making her crazy. Without further consideration, she squared her
shoulders and strode forward. She would not say die…at least not
yet. She paused directly in front of the tree and calculated her
first move. The lowest limbs were about at shoulder level. She
would need a boost, definitely.

“I’ll give you a boost,” Drake said, as if
reading her mind.

Instead of making a stirrup as he had done
last night, he clasped her by the waist and hoisted her up.
Startled, Kennedy scrambled onto the lowest branches as quickly as
possible. She couldn’t bear the hot feel of his hands around her
waist any longer than necessary. His touch made her feel restless.
She did her best to ignore the unfamiliar sensations and started
the climb upward. Gingerly, she pulled herself up, toward her
destination, silently repeating every swearword she knew and
Cassandra’s connection to each.

Finally she perched on a limb that put her
within arm’s reach of the bag. Kennedy pulled the bag and tape off
the tree limb and shoved it and the note it contained dictating
hers and Drake’s costume for the ball into her pants pocket. This
had to be the most idiotic idea Cassandra had ever hatched up.
Kennedy shivered again as her cool, damp clothes flattened against
her skin in the autumn breeze.

Then she made her mistake…She looked
down.

Muscle-freezing fear surged through her
veins. She had climbed a great deal higher than she realized. She
must be…too many feet above the ground.

Kennedy swallowed. Her heart pounded like a
drum. She told herself to move, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even
let go of the limb she held in a death grip.

“What’s the holdup?” Drake called. “You
okay?”

No!
She wasn’t okay. Kennedy
shuddered. She had to get down. She almost laughed
hysterically.

“Kennedy, what’s wrong?” he demanded again,
that analyzing gaze watching her too closely.

She licked her lips and opened her mouth to
speak. Nothing came. Kennedy took a deep, shaky breath. “I…I can’t
get down.”

He frowned, an expression somewhere between
disbelief and amusement. “Of course you can get down. You got up
there. Just take your time and retrace your steps.”

She gave her head a little shake. “I wasn’t
looking down when I climbed up. I…I can’t do it.”

She didn’t quite make out the oath he hissed,
but she felt certain it didn’t bear repeating. “Just come up here
and get me,” she suggested, the pitch of her voice rising to match
the fear pulsing through her veins.

He glared at her. “You climbed up there
because the limbs wouldn’t hold my weight, remember?”

“You’ll have to risk it,” she told him, her
tone final. “I’m not coming down otherwise.”

“I suppose I could go for the fire
department.”

Kennedy’s eyes rounded in horror. “Don’t you
dare. You come up here and help me down this instant. Or…or,” she
stammered, “I’ll never speak to you again.”

“I should be so lucky.”

This was going nowhere. Kennedy finally did
what she knew she had to do: beg. “Please?” she cried. “I need you,
Drake.”

That rattled him. Kennedy could see the
subtle but instant change. He swore again, then sighed loudly. “All
right,” he grumbled.

Relief flooded her when he started up the
tree to rescue her. Thank God. She flexed the fingers of first one
hand and then the other. Her fingers were numb from holding on so
tightly. He pulled himself up beside her.

“Climb onto my back,” he ordered.

“I can’t do that.” He had to be joking.

“Dammit, Kennedy, get on my back and I’ll
climb down.”

She started to protest but his look stopped
her. “Fine.” She edged closer to him. “What do I do first?”

“Put your arms around my neck and then wrap
your legs around my waist.”

Kennedy’s mouth gaped in disbelief.

“Do it,” he snapped.

After the third attempt, she finally slung
one leg around him, then grabbed him around the neck before looping
her other leg around his waist. Her cheeks burned red-hot with
embarrassment.