Kentucky Rain (2 page)

Scott stepped back from the doorway. “Come on in while I get my tools.”

She hesitated. “You can fix it?”

“Can and will.”

Giving him a glassy stare, she jutted out her chin and walked into his living room.

“Have a seat.”

“No, I’m wet.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll be right back.”

Having his old high school sweetheart as a tenant was damn awkward. But Kate was down on her luck. He just spun on his heel and strode into the kitchen where he kept his toolbox.

Stunned
was not quite the word for Kate’s reaction to standing in Scott Gray’s living room. Disoriented, unable to find words, her breath taken away as it had been on the night Jerry announced
his
plans for divorce. God help her, she hadn’t thought about Scott in a long, long time. Not even when Jerry’s announcement had blown her away. She was done with men. Done with living her life for any man, especially one who had ultimately not cared enough about the “to death” part of his vows.

However, lack of interest and the numbness of divorce didn’t mean Kate was blind. She’d seen the appraising way Scott’s gaze had raked over her. She could imagine what he had seen through her wet tank top.

She crossed her arms in a defensive gesture.

She wasn’t totally oblivious to Scott’s appearance either. God, how he’d changed. Matured. He was no longer that scrawny kid she remembered from high school. He was muscular, broad of shoulder and filled out those sweat pants a little too well, giving her mind's eye plenty of fantasy playtime. Kate swallowed the gulp she felt coming on and tamped down a sudden flare of desire.

No!
That was not going to happen. What right did she have to be suddenly interested in the man who had answered the door tonight, especially since she’d dumped him years ago?

“I think I’ve got what I need,” Scott said coming back into the living room. He carried a flashlight and some sort of tool in his right hand.

“I owe you for this,” she said a bit breathlessly.

“Nonsense. It’s my problem.”

What did he mean by that? She paid her rent to Carson Realty. Kate glanced at him as he opened the door and stood back to allow her to leave first. She swept past him, hurrying outside as another thunder clap rocked the night sky.

They dashed the short distance between porches. Hers was black, the darkness oppressive. The beam of Scott’s LED flashlight played over the front windows and the two white wicker chairs and table before it landed on the doorknob, illuminating it.

He handed her the flashlight. “Here, hold this, will you?”

Kate gripped the barrel and directed the beam of light toward the keyhole.

“A little lower, please. Come closer.”

Kate took a step forward and stopped beside Scott who squatted down so that he was eye level to the problem.

“What’s that?” she asked, wondering about the tool he had in his hand.

“A dental pick.” He slipped the thin blade into the keyhole.

Kate watched him, a little in awe at his competence. Jerry wouldn’t know how to do this. He would have called a locksmith. Once when Reagan was a baby, Kate had locked the child in her SUV. Panicked, she’d called Jerry who’d called AAA. He hadn’t come himself. And then, when he’d gotten home from work, he hadn’t understood why she’d been so upset. Thank goodness it had been October and neither too cold nor too hot, so Rea had been okay sleeping in the car seat for that short time.

“Got it!”

Scott stood up, towering over her. She stepped back, feeling too close for comfort.

He pulled a key from his sweatpants pocket. “Let’s see if this works.”

It did, and Scott opened her door then reached inside to flick on the overhead lights. Her living room blazed with comforting light, yet Kate stood paralyzed in the doorway. Should she invite him inside? Should she be polite or simply escape this uncomfortable situation as she wanted to do?

“I’ll have a new key made for you in the morning,” he said, giving her the one in his hand.

“Okay.” She hesitated, looking up at him. Why did he have a key to her duplex? And why was he making a new one? It had been a long time since she’d confronted a man other than Jerry, and her heartbeat raced.

Clearing her throat, she dropped her gaze. “Won’t you come in?”

“I’ll take a rain check.”

“Ha, ha. Funny.” Kate flicked her gaze toward the torrent of rain continuing to fall and then back at him.

He grinned at her. “I’m sorry about the circumstances, but I’m glad you’re home, Kate.”

What was she supposed to say? This wasn’t home, just a temporary refuge while she got her life straightened out. He might be glad about it, but her life was in tatters.

“Well, thanks.” She realized she sounded curt, so she stuck out her hand and offered him the flashlight. “Thanks for your help.”

He reached for it. “My pleasure.”

She let go and stepped back.

His eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Have a good night,” he said then disappeared down the steps, swallowed up by the rain.

* * * *

The next morning, Kate awoke to an empty apartment. With Reagan gone, the place felt strange. Too quiet. Too depressing. Kate needed activity, and housework wasn’t going to cut it. Not today. She left her house, locked the front door and pocketed the borrowed key.

Sunshine glittered off blades of grass washed clean from last night’s storm. There was a fresh smell to the air, a crispness to start the day. Swinging her arms and drinking in the morning air, Kate headed toward Elm Street School where she had gone to elementary school. She walked briskly down the street, past the chain link fence and cracked blacktop of the old schoolyard.

Wasn’t it ironic that Rea would start school here in the fall? Life certainly played peculiar tricks on those living it.

Shrugging off the notion and determined not to dwell in her melancholy thoughts from last night, Kate kept on walking.

Main Street in downtown Eagleton was empty at seven o’clock on Saturday morning. She strode past the Smoothie Scoop, a popular hangout located in the corner of one of the turn-of-the-twentieth-century buildings. Down the street was the Rosemont Bed and Breakfast where Jerry’s parents had stayed for the wedding.

No! I’ll not think about him today!

But the anger that ever bubbled near the surface was hard to deal with. She walked faster, turned the corner, and started back up the hill on Maple Street. She passed Dr. Sullivan’s house on the corner where the vet lived with her famous cowboy husband. Then Kate turned down First toward Elm and home.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Scott stood at the corner of First and Elm. He was dressed in running shoes, mesh shorts over longer, tight Spandex shorts and a charcoal and blue sleeveless running shirt. She noticed other things about him besides his clothes, like how defined his arm muscles were and how thick his thighs. She guessed he worked out. Probably jogged a lot, too.

He pulled up one foot, holding it behind him, bending his other knee and balancing stork-like for thirty seconds. Then he switched legs, stretching the opposite thigh in the same manner. Finally, he grasped the small of his back and tilted backward, giving her a particular tasty silhouette view of the bulge hidden by those running shorts.

O…M…G!

Swallowing hard, she walked forward, trying to smother the self-conscious fire that warmed her face, embarrassed to be ogling her onetime sweetheart. All that was dead and buried. As dead as her marriage…and her heart.

He turned and saw her coming toward him. Rolls of sweat dripped down his face, and his chest heaved. When she approached, he lifted his hand in a silent hello. He smelled of the outdoors, all athletic and very male. Jerry would never have smelled like that. She doubted he’d ever sweated a day in his life.

“Did you have a good run?” she asked to break the silence.

“Yes,” he huffed. “It’s great exercise.”

He fell into step beside her as she walked toward the duplex.

“You said something last night about my broken key being your problem,” Kate said. “I was wondering what you meant.”

His bare arm brushed hers. “I own the duplex.”

Now, she was floored. “You do?”

“Yes. Didn’t Mrs. Carson tell you that?”

“No, she dealt mainly with my father.” Kate paused, and Scott stopped, too. She gazed up at him. “I wasn’t in any condition to make decisions two months ago.”

“What about now?” He searched her face.

“It’s getting better.” She shrugged and walked on.

“I hear it takes time. Divorce.”

“That’s what the family therapist said,” Kate revealed. “She said it was a process.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Now, Kate was curious. “You’ve never married?”

“Never found the time,” he admitted. “Or the girl.” A strange yearning flared in his eyes.

“Oh.” Had she broken his heart? Was that why he’d never found anyone? Kate didn’t want to think about the implications of what had happened so long ago. She knew now how a broken heart felt, and it wasn’t fun.

They’d reached the parking spots in front of the duplex. She and Scott stopped and surveyed the tan vinyl siding clad house with its two, identical pitched roofs, wide front windows and covered porches with white railings. “How did you end up owning this duplex?”

“This was where my grandmother lived. Remember?”

Kate nodded. Yes, she remembered now. Oddly, she hadn’t realized it when she'd returned, because she’d been so absorbed in her own problems.

“When Gran died, I inherited the property. The house itself was falling apart, so I demolished it and built this duplex. The neighbors were pleased that I kept the character of the neighborhood intact with the design.”

The house did fit in nicely with the others in the area. “You did a good job,” Kate told him.

“Thanks.”

He was looking at her again with those blue eyes she remembered. What did he see? Kate didn’t want to speculate. She just wanted to break the spell he cast over her, because she was afraid he might see into her soul.

And she wasn’t sure what he’d find there.

“Well, I’d better go inside. I’ve got a ton of laundry and housework to do.”

“I should shower.”

Kate shifted from one foot to the other as the image of Scott in the shower flashed through her head. She offered him a half-hearted smile. “Thanks for coming to my rescue last night.”

“No problem.”

She took a step toward her section of the duplex, but a mysterious thread bound her feet so she could hardly move away from him.

“How about repaying my handyman job?” he asked.

“Excuse me?” Kate turned back quickly and caught the gleam in his eyes. His sweaty face and growth of beard gave him a sexy quality that made the tips of her fingers tingle.

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

“What?” Was he kidding?

“There’s a new place outside of town that I’ve wanted to try. I don’t want to go alone.”

“I can’t have dinner with you.” The words slipped out of Kate’s mouth before she could catch them.

He didn’t seem offended but stood his ground. “Why not?”

She started to say she was married. But she wasn’t. A sharp pain ripped through her heart. Lowering her gaze, she stared at her sport shoes. “They say you shouldn’t get involved with anyone for two years after a divorce.”

His eyebrows lifted. He seemed amused. “Who are ‘they’?”

Her gaze flew back to his face. “Therapists.”

“Dinner is not involvement. It’s just dinner.”

She continued to stare at him, panic seizing her brain so she couldn’t think.

“Unless you’re scared,” he challenged.

Of course, she was scared. She hadn’t dated in ten years. She hadn’t even thought about dating. And going to dinner with a man like Scott was a date.

“Unless you’re scared,” he said a little softer, “…of me.”

Kate wanted to tell him she
was
scared shitless—of him, of her, of the whole miserable situation.

“I’m not scared of you,” she said, unsure the meek voice was her own. “Why should I be?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You weren’t scared when you broke up with me. If I remember correctly, you told me quite bluntly exactly where to go.”

She shifted her feet. God, she’d treated him like shit back then, hadn’t she? “Can we not get into that? It’s water over the dam.”

“It is,” he acknowledged.

He waited. Damn Jerry anyway for putting her in this place. She had tried to be a good wife. She didn’t deserve to be treated like a piece of shit any more than Scott had deserved it years ago. She forced herself to fight her raw emotions—fear, anger and her own broken heart.

“I’ll go,” she announced with a nod of determination.

“That’s my girl. I’ll pick you up at six.”

She winced. “Okay,” Kate stammered.

“And you can wear something casual. Nothing fancy here.”

He left her then and strode toward the porch on his side of the house. Was he whistling? Did he consider this a date?

Good grief, what had she done?

Chapter Three

Kate wrapped a white towel around her wet hair, grabbed another towel from the rack and stepped out of the shower. She dried her arms first then her upper body, passing the towel under her breasts with the precision of a perfectionist.

The fog in her brain was as thick as the steam in the master bath. On the other side of the wall separating her duplex from Scott’s, she thought she heard water running. Was he cleaning up after his run? From her quick look at the layout of his living room last night, Kate surmised their apartments mirrored each other. That meant his shower stall and hers were only drywall and a few tile squares apart.

The image of Scott Gray naked with a steady stream of hot water sluicing over his body forced a heated blush to her cheeks.
My gosh.
What was up with this new fascination with the physique of a man she’d dumped so easily in college?

Was she that horny? That hard up?

It was embarrassing.