Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) (2 page)

The footsteps grew closer
. Lacy held her breath, staring at the half-open door.

“Just wait
til you see the inside. You’ll be totally impressed.”

What the hell was he talking about? How would he even r
emember what the place looked like? The only room he had ever been in was her bedroom. She closed her eyes, trying to rip out the memory of him climbing the tree outside her bedroom window so they could-

“There she is!”
he proclaimed like he was discovering the sunken
Titanic
as he entered the room.  He may as well have hollered
Eureka!
She slid her gaze over his tanned muscled body with a flutter in her chest. He pulled his sunglasses off and she drooped forward.

That sucks.
Lacy’s spirit evaporated and she checked the impulse to close her eyes and sink into a trough of self-pity. He was more handsome than ever. His jet-black hair was styled into tousled spikes, while his face appeared smoothly shaven the shadow across his jaw testified to his level of testosterone, and those eyes.
Dear God, those eyes
. Sky blue and sharp. They never missed anything. In fact, this very moment she was sure he could see through the mask of nonchalance she was working to preserve.

He strolled across the wood floor and Lacy noticed he was wearing cowboy boots.
Shiny, embroidered and black. They looked hot out of the box and designer brand. That was all it took for her to remember that he was an actor now, not the cowboy she knew, and he was a heartbreaker. He was Kyle McClintock. And she hated Kyle McClintock.

He got closer and his smile grew wider, the dimple in his right cheek
making an appearance. That dirty little bugger. The dimple was the thing she loved the most; it made him look like a mischievous little boy.

“Lacy Weston.”
He sighed and looked her over as though she were a glorious landscape, a grin lifting his lips. She would never have guessed it would take him that long to survey her five-foot-four frame. “Look at you.” He placed his hands on her shoulders continuing his inspection and her stomach quivered.

“I already did this morning.” What was the matter with him? Had the sunshine bleached his brains? He had never been this dramatic before. This was not the same Kyle. More handsome, more built. If he wasn’t so obnoxious she would appreciate the broader shoulders, thicker neck and athletic form tucked into a fitted white t-shirt.

He laughed immediately and patted her shoulder. “Glad to see you still have that same Lacy sense of humor.”

Lacy sense of humor?
As opposed to a Kyle sense of humor?
It was a good thing he looked away because her face scrunched into a cynical scowl. Maybe he had been drinking on the way here.

“Scarlett Pearson.” He stepped closer
, making some whooshing noise of appreciation. He placed a hand casually on her elbow. Lacy wanted to puke. His tone was absolutely condescending. “You look more beautiful than I remember.”

He used all his teeth when he smiled this time and Lacy thought she might have to call in the fire department to put out the flame in shy Scarlett’s cheeks.

“Thank you, um….” Scarlett stammered as she nervously brushed her dark, shiny hair from her crinkled forehead.

“Kyle.” Kyle put a hand to his chest and looked genuinely si
ncere when he ducked his head to capture Scarlett’s eyes with his own. “It’s the same old Kyle from high school.”

Oh great. Not gonna win anyone’s confidence with that
. Lacy pursed her lips and stared hard at the back of his perfectly trimmed hair. She finally decided he had to be drunk, nobody put on that big of a show sober. Or perhaps he had really started to believe all that crap published about him in magazines.

He spun on his booted heel and held his arms out. “Emmylou Bennett, don’t tell me you’re the shy one now.” He embraced her then kissed her on the cheek. Lacy’s heart tightened. “You were always the trailblazer back in the day.”

“No. Of course not.” Emmylou smiled and tossed her hair, but the pink stain high on her cheeks gave her away to Lacy. She was flattered by his attention. Who could blame her? He was gorgeous and his smile could signal ships to shore. “Just waiting my turn. It’s great to see you again.”

Why couldn’t Lacy pull that off? Why wasn’t she confident and flirtatious and indifferent to a handsome man’s attention? And why was he spending more time talking to her friends? She was the one he spent nearly an entire summer with. She sighed, remembering. She didn’t get the attention of handsome, rich men; just no-good, heartbreaking, lying bad boys. That’s what she attr
acted. It must be some kind of curse she inherited with the legacy of The Dove House. Like she could help that her great-great-grandmother was a trollop who ran a bed-house in the Old West and got pregnant with Frank James’s baby. Nobody had ever proven it. It was simply rumors and speculation.

Of course, Lacy had read her great-great-grandmother’s jou
rnal and knew the facts. Doesn’t mean the whole world had to. Now, had it been
Jesse
James’s baby, that could really pay off for the B&B. Lacy could market that, but Frank wasn’t notorious enough to be of any use to her. She’d tried.

“Okay. You will just have to catch up on old times later.” The
fancy blonde was speaking in her cheerful but annoyed tone again and pulled Kyle from his conversation with Emmylou.  “Mrs. Campbell, if you could show us to our rooms, I’m sure Mr. McClintock would like to freshen up after that exhilarating backwoods drive.”

“Campbell
, is it?”

Lacy’s gaze clashed with his shining blue one. “Yes.
Mrs
. Brice Campbell.” She only had a split-second flinch when she spoke the half-truth but Kyle caught it and raised a corner of his mouth.

“Now let’s get you to your room so you can freshen up.”
Perfect Lips was more insistent this time.

Lacy couldn’t think of a better idea than to get them all away from her.

“Oh, Lauren. A little dirt never hurt anyone.” Kyle brushed the woman off.

Lacy saw the woman she now knew as
Lauren narrow her eyes with a glint in the green depths before she composed herself and smoothed a hand over her hair. A warm tingle plucked Lacy’s spine. She forced her head away trying to get back on task and collided with endless sky as Kyle captured her attention with his surveying eyes. She moved her hand, self-consciously smoothing her shirt over her stomach. Her breath hitched when his gaze dropped to her chest. She let the taut fabric go, pulling her bottom lip under her top teeth.

Kyle’s eyes darted to the door behind her and the tension was broken. It was like a switch had been flipped in him. His big smile was back, the thoughtful gaze gone. Lacy felt as though a match had been lit inside her
, spreading a flame through every vein. She prayed this wouldn’t continue for the duration of his stay or she was in trouble.

“What do you think,
Marcus? Perfect, right?” Kyle walked towards the door where several men and a few women had entered.

Lacy noticed Emmylou jerk erect with Kyle’s voice and the presence of the group then suddenly fix her blue eyes on a point
by the door. Lacy tried to follow the path of her friend’s stare but Scarlett nudged Lacy’s shoulder with her elbow.

“He looks better than I even imagined
,” Scarlett breathed as she tucked her hands into her elbows, her hair falling around her as she looked down at Lacy. “He seems… different, though.”

Both Lacy and Scarlett looked in Kyle’s direction.
“Seems pretty much the same to me.  An egotistical jackass.” Lacy shrugged her shoulders and flipped her hair. She couldn’t help but enjoy the view from behind, though.
Wow!
It sure was a shame to waste all those good body parts on such a self-centered jerk.

“
Ahem.”

Lacy and Scarlett turned in unison at the little noise to find a very alert Lauren staring at them. Lacy raised her eyebrows
, wondering if the woman was made completely out of silicone and Botox, or just her face.

“Will you please show me to my room?”

“Yes, of course.” Lacy pushed away from the counter, glancing to the group by the door.  They were deep into an animated discussion of lighting, scene locations and something called set dressing. She truly hoped these people weren’t going to tear her historical home apart. “Follow me.”

They made it to the stairs and she managed to not make eye contact with Kyle even though she wanted to. When she placed her hand on the newel post it came loose, knocking the wooden cap to the floor. Lacy bent down to retrieve it.

“You’re going to have to get that handy husband of yours to fix that.”

Her sharp intake of air forced her shoulders back. She turned her head to Kyle and the words were out before she could sensor them. “Well, when you find him you can tell him to fix it along with everything else that he broke.”

She cut off any response he could make to her challenge by ushering Lauren up the stairs. She had shown too much to a man she couldn’t bear to know the truth. Her husband abandoned her, she was worthless and humiliated. Why couldn’t she have just thrown the solid wooden ball right at his head? That would have been better.

Chapter 2

God, she looked great. Eight years had been good to her. He watched her climb the wide, red-carpeted stairs while trying to concentrate on what
Marcus was saying, but her swaying hips and bright tights drowned him out. Everything about her was still petite. Everything but her hair and her attitude. Both of those things could occupy Nebraska by themselves. He remembered that spunk and courage. Those were the things that had kept him intrigued in high school. And the amazing summer they spent together, mostly in secret, was still the best of his whole life.

He had been such an idiot when he arrived today, but anxiety was not something he was familiar with. He hadn’t expected her to be more beautiful, more enticing. No matter how much he had wanted to he couldn’t stand there and stare at her for an hour. It was obvious she had forgotten about him, but he
had always wondered about her.

The comment about her husband had been exactly what he was digging for but couldn’t directly ask. Brice was gone and o
bviously it hadn’t been on good terms. That was nothing less than he had expected. Brice was an asshole back in high school, a rebel and not in the cool way, in the actual law-breaking, up-to-no-good way. He wondered how the two of them had stayed married as long as they did. Her worn boots disappeared at the top of the stairs, forcing him back into the who, what and where of filming.

Marcus
was very serious about making this film as true to history as possible and when he needed a place tied to the James gang, Kyle knew just the spot. The Dove House and its notorious roots were perfect for the film and it brought Kyle home, where he hadn’t been since leaving for college. He had wanted to return so many times but could never bring himself to actually do it. Making money was more important for his parents than visiting and he wasn’t sure he could stand to be in their company for any period of time after having distance on his side for so long. And the opportunity to be under the same roof as Lacy Weston was something he had wanted more than anything else when he was eighteen, even more than rodeo. This was a chance he wasn’t willing to spoil.

Memories flooded his mind and hot blood rushed through his body as he remembered the time they spent in her room. Trut
hfully it was the only room he had been inside, he always climbed the tree under her window and snuck in. A ragged sigh escaped. He was going to have to take a cold shower if he continued thinking about her like this.

“I’m sorry
, am I boring you?” Marcus looked over his aviators, drawing Kyle’s attention.

“No.”  Kyle shook off the final remnants of his memory. “I might be a little tired from the flight. I’m gonna go find my room.” Kyle wasn’t normally the dramatic type but the egoman
iac wouldn’t expect anything less from an A-list actor. Marcus waved him on and continued issuing rapid-fire orders to his assistant.

Kyle climbed the stairs in record time considering his fake e
xhaustion and listened at the top to determine Lacy’s location. The upstairs was a big open room wrapped around the stairs with white banisters and doors, windows and tables covered in plants and decorations exactly as the pictures he had pulled off the website showed. He wondered if she kept the same room from childhood and if he could find it. He finally identified Lauren’s annoying authoritative voice and turned to the right. She was a great assistant but had the personality of a serial killer, which worked when he needed something taken care of and why he paid her so well. He walked over the fading Oriental-style rug, looking into rooms as he went. Good Lord, this place was huge. It had to have at least a dozen bedrooms. Kyle smiled when he saw a flash of magenta tights.

“Lunch is served at noon in the dining room
, Miss Michaels, and feel free to roam about the grounds. We have a pond to the east, just follow the path.”  The door clicked shut. “Holy shit!”

Kyle had to suppress his
pleasure groan when she backed into him and he inhaled her scent.  He stood still, savoring every second she grazed against his abdomen in her hurry to spin around, even though he wanted to grab hold of her and pull her closer. What was it about her? They hadn’t seen each other in eight years and it felt like yesterday. His body still responded to her very presence
,
even more so.

“You scared the hell out of me!”

He couldn’t help but grin at her although he didn’t like the way she shrank from him, like he was the town drunk who had just groped her. She made the mistake of turning the wrong direction and effectively trapped herself in the corner. He stepped forward, leaning his hand against the wall. “I remember that pond. We had some great times there.” He arched his brow, staring into her doe eyes, keeping her locked there. He could see she remembered too. He turned his head to the side, lowering his gaze to her mouth.

“Oh, yes
, they were just
wonderful,
weren’t they?” Lacy mocked. She pushed at his chest to free herself and stepped past him, he let her go. She turned at the top of the stairs, not able to make eye contact. “Your room is through those double doors. I thought you might need the space.” She took two stairs before speaking again, “And lunch is at noon in the dining room. I’m sure you can find it.”

Kyle shook off the feeling he was missing something here. He turned towards the doors Lacy had indicated and twisted the ha
ndle. When he entered he was blown away by the authenticity of the room. Every antique chair, wall hanging and table were true to the age and history of the house. From his understanding it had been built in the 1870s; in fact, it had been one of the first actual homes ever built in the territory. Lacy’s ancestors had built it during the days of the exploding cattle trade.

It was local history that Lacy’s great-
great-grandfather had been building a brewery when he was shot and killed by an outlaw over a card game and her great-great-grandmother was left to take care of the place after that. She had turned it into a rooming house for travelers and respectable people who wouldn’t have been caught dead staying in the wild and rowdy town saloons and hotels.

He wasn’t sure of all the details other than it was rumored to be a hideout for the James gang and Lacy was said to be a d
escendant of Frank James. For that reason and the fact that the family had preserved the antique western style of the rooms, Kyle had convinced the director to film most of his current movie here. If he was honest, Kyle was hoping this could be his last for a while. He really wanted to take a rest from the business. He thought rodeo was tough, but he found out making movies was worse. He still didn’t know how he ended up doing this for a living, except someone had thought he looked good in a saddle and wanted him as an extra for the background of their film. It had paid three hundred dollars, taken him two hours and provided the rent for that month.

He never expected to be called to audition for a supporting role in a
big-name film a month later. But it turned out that a casting director thought he stole the scene by simply sitting there and the rest was history. Now here he was, getting ready to do his ninth film in eight years. He was tired. He missed his simple life in Nebraska and the thrill of rodeo. And he had missed Lacy. It didn’t start out that way, but now that he was here in her home and he could feel her presence everywhere it was clear to him that he had never gotten over her.

It
was obvious she wasn’t interested in picking up where they left off; in fact, if he had to guess he would say she very well might hate him. That was a mystery. They had an unforgettable summer together after graduation. She was the one who had called it quits. She was the one who had ripped his heart out and stomped it into the dirt. Maybe it wasn’t so memorable for Lacy. He had heard later that she got married a few months after he left.

Kyle lay down on the soft mattress covered in a colorful quilt and crossed his boots. He was just getting comfortable when a knock sounded at his door. He rolled his eyes.
So it begins.

“Come in.” He hoped he sounded as irritated as he was. He closed his eyes waiting for his assistant to start drumming off the
agenda.

“Get your boots off my bed.”

He sat up with a jolt at the curt voice and scraping noise of something being dragged across the wood floor. Lacy was hunched over, pulling his big black suitcase into the room, a slight shimmer of perspiration dotted her forehead and panting from the exertion. His eyes were instantly drawn to her chest. Damn, she filled that shirt out nicely. Those were different than before. He wanted to tell her the suitcase had wheels, she didn’t need to work so hard, but watching her struggle with it, and the exposed skin she presented, was too enjoyable.

“No,
no. Don’t get up. I’ve got it.”

He wanted to grin as she grunted with her last efforts, puffed her hair from her face with her breath and plunked her hands on her hips in front of
his luggage, staring him down.

“Just because you’re rich and famous now doesn’t mean you can treat my house like a common hotel. I’m the one who cleans up around here and I don’t appreciate
your filthy designer boots on my great-grandmother’s quilt. Have you forgotten all those manners your parents taught you?”

She was just so damn spunky. You rarely wondered what got her feathers in a twitch. She would spell it out for you without
so much as a how-do-you-do. He did, however, feel chastised for his bad etiquette. It had become a bad habit to be waited on and all his needs and requests met with compliance and speed.

This was a fun change. He rose from the bed on unsteady legs.

“No ma’am. My apologies.” He meant for it to be funny, obviously he failed. She narrowed her eyes to a near squint.

“I expect you can put your own luggage away. Closet’s over there.” She waved her dainty hand at a pair of old, refinished barn doors and tossed her
unruly hair over her shoulder. “So I was wondering how long y’all thought you might be staying here.”

Kyle could just wrap her up in his arms and kiss her. He wo
ndered what she’d do if he did it.  He wondered if all those old feelings would come racing back. Lord knew he felt them. He hadn’t thought they would be this strong when it was decided the film would be shot here. He had been intrigued and curious at first, but the moment he entered her B&B the fireworks went off inside him. He knew that was such a cliché but he couldn’t explain it any other way. She was a firework and he wanted nothing more than to clamp onto her and experience it again.

“Was that a difficult question? If you don’t know
, it’s okay. You’re director friend had said three weeks but booked the place for two months just in case.”

Kyle must’ve been staring at her for too long. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight to get more comfortable. “Um, no
, I’m not sure. Sometimes these things go fast and everything flows and sometimes they have hiccups and get dragged out.” He shrugged. “Just depends on how everybody cooperates.”

“Humph.” She scrunched her mouth looking around the room,
clearly avoiding eye contact. But it didn’t seem she was ready to leave his company yet.

That boosted his hopes of a happy reunion. She had been cold when he arrived, but that was probably because of the movie star thing. He hated the movie star thing. She didn’t know that deep down he was still plain old Kyle McClintock, son of a cowboy rancher, former saddle bronc rider, nothing special.

“Well, gauging by that co-star of yours, you’ll be here the entire two months.” She indicated Lauren’s door with a jerk of her head while still surveying the room and standing with her arms akimbo. She was stalling and making small talk.
Interesting
.

“What? Lauren?” He lifted a corner of his mouth. “She’s my assistant. She’s not an actress.  Actually, we’ll film most of this part of the film without Janice. She’ll only be here for a few days at the end.”

“That diva is your assistant?”

He laughed at her astonishment.
“Yeah. She’s really good. Highly organized and balls of steel.” He took a couple of steps closer. He could tell the moment he had crossed into her personal bubble. She folded her arms and retreated. Damn, he thought maybe she had warmed up to him. He wanted her to. His body shook with the desire to touch her, even if it was only her cheek.

“Good to know.” She nodded then tossed her hair from her face. “Well, lunch will be soon.”  She backed up and nearly to
ppled over his suitcase. She recovered nicely with only a mumbled curse. “Okay, see ya down there.” He would have bet his life savings she just checked out his crotch. “I mean at lunch.” She walked right into the table by the door making the decorations tip.  She steadied them, clanking them together. Kyle didn’t dare laugh.

“Noon, right?”
He clasped his hands behind his back to keep from reaching for her and scaring her more.

Lacy rubbed her forehead, blinking for a moment. “What? Yeah.
Noon.” She twisted the handle and opened the door, nearly smacking herself in the face. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Kyle felt the urge to do the
Risky Business
floor slide and air guitar move, he was so ecstatic. She was thinking about him like he was her. This trip may prove more enjoyable than he had hoped.