Redemption Bay (Haven Point Book 2) (Contemporary Romance) (13 page)

“That’s enough, Jimmy.”

He turned red-rimmed eyes to her. “You stay out of this, Shaw. Mind your own business.”

She had a sudden flashback of being ten years old, new in town, being bullied on the school bus every day by Jimmy and a couple of his friends. She made an easy target—new to town, half-Hispanic, illegitimate, virtually dumped on a family that didn’t know what to do with her.

She hadn’t learned to stand up for herself for a year or two. Once she learned to fight back—and fight back dirty, if she had to—Jimmy had left her alone.

This was the same principle. Stand up to the bullies and they inevitably backed down.

“This
is
my business,” she snapped. “I am the mayor of Haven Point and Ben is here as my guest. I don’t like to see my guests mistreated.”

Unfortunately, she had forgotten that a drunk bully didn’t have the usual common sense. Jimmy turned his belligerence on her, his huge fists clenched. “You want to pucker up because he works for Aidan Caine now and is swimming in green, go ahead. I don’t give a shit about all that. To me, he’s still the asshole who ruined this town when he closed the boatworks. Why should he be welcome anywhere in Haven Point? Who’s with me?”

McKenzie was upset to see a few heads nodding but the majority of people in the vicinity frowned.

“Settle down, Welch,” somebody said. “This isn’t the time or place. There are kids here.”

“He’s my guest,” McKenzie repeated fiercely, “and as such, I expect him to be treated with courtesy and respect.”

“Just because you’re screwing him doesn’t mean the rest of us have to bend over, too.”

McKenzie wanted to roll her eyes. Jimmy was
such
an idiot.

Ben apparently didn’t find that as amusing as she did. He took a step forward, suddenly looking hard and dangerous and not at all the sort of man anyone with an ounce of sense would want to mess with.

“That’s enough,” he growled. “You’re going to want to shut up now.”

“Says who?”

“Says me,” McKenzie snapped, even though some part of her wanted to turn into a soft, gooey mess. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone besides Devin had stood up for her. How was she possibly supposed to resist Ben’s chivalry—misguided though it was?

“Go home, Jimmy, and sober up,” she said firmly. “You’re not welcome here.”

“I pay my taxes! I can be here if I want.”

“Not if I say you can’t. Don’t make me call Chief Emmett.”

“Let me get this straight. You’re kicking me out, yet you let this son of a bitch stay and eat the food my taxes pay for, after what he’s done to this town?”

“That’s about the size of it. Yeah.”

He glared. “Screw this. And screw you, too.”

She should have been braced for it but he shoved past her—and shoved
her
on the way. Caught off guard, she stumbled and fell, her head hitting the edge of a table as she went down.

Pain exploded and she heard Ben give a vicious swear. She was on the ground and didn’t see but she assumed he had thrown a punch because an instant later, Jimmy toppled to the ground.

Somebody screamed at that point and she could only hope it wasn’t her.

* * *

“H
E
CAN
TRY
to press charges, but they won’t stick,” Wynona said twenty minutes later. They were in McKenzie’s office at city hall, the closest spot where they could find a quiet place to give their statements to her.

“Are you sure?” McKenzie pressed. She could just see Ben being charged with assault. Wouldn’t that just put the seal of doom on any hopes she had of him coming around and recommending Haven Point for the new facility?

“Positive. Two hundred people saw Jimmy knock you down. I’m willing to bet a hundred-ninety-five of those people would have taken down Jimmy if Kilpatrick here hadn’t done the honors—including Eppie and Hazel, who were halfway out of their chairs.”

“So you’re saying I performed a civic duty by knocking out the bastard.”

Wynona grinned, apparently no more immune to Ben’s all-around gorgeousness than McKenzie. “That’s one way of looking at it. You should have let law enforcement handle the situation. Barring that, you did what you had to do. Who knows how many other people he might have plowed down on his way out of the barbecue. There were senior citizens and children there. You should get a freaking medal, as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’ll pass on the medal, thanks.”

“Well, Jimmy’s in jail on a drunk and disorderly. He’ll be there overnight to sleep it off, which gives you until tomorrow morning to decide if you want to press charges, Kenz.”

She didn’t. She wanted the whole thing to go away. “I’ll sleep on it and call Chief Emmett in the morning.”

“Sounds good. You sure you don’t want to let the paramedics take a look at you? Say the word and Julio Robles will come knocking down your door to check you out. You know he’s got a thing for you.”

Her face heated. Julio was barely twenty-one. She used to babysit him, for heaven’s sake.

“I’ve got a stupid goose egg. That’s it. It’s not like it’s a traumatic brain injury or something. I don’t need paramedics.”

If she had moved a little faster, she wouldn’t even have had the stupid goose egg.

“Anyway, Devin took a look at it at the scene and assured me I’m fine.”

Wynona’s radio crackled suddenly and McKenzie recognized the dispatcher telling her of a report about underage marijuana use at Starlight Beach.

Wyn sighed. “I’m in for a fun night, if the kids are lighting up their own fireworks already. It’s not even dark yet. What the hell, right? You sure you’re good here?”

“Absolutely,” McKenzie answered. “Thanks, Wyn.”

She hugged her friend, who gave Ben a cheerful smile and headed out.

“Well. That was fun,” Ben answered.

She made a face. “I’m so sorry. Jimmy is an idiot drunk but he’s usually relatively harmless. His wife left him a few weeks ago. Smartest thing she ever did, but he’s obviously taking it hard, especially since she took their two kids with her.”

“So you’re saying I should have let him get away with bad-mouthing you, shoving you? I disagree. I should have taken him out when he first started up.”

It
had
been rather impressive. For a Silicon Valley tech executive, Ben was in amazing shape to knock out a big dude like Jimmy with one punch. She imagined Welch’s head would be spinning for a week.

“Well, no. I was just trying to explain that he can be a bit of a hot-tempered jerk but he’s not all bad.”

He gave a short laugh. “Do you see the good in everybody?”

“Not quite,” she answered. If someone had asked her a week ago whether she could see any good in Ben Kilpatrick she would have been quick to argue. These past few days had shown her that perhaps she’d been unreasonably obstinate.

“Just drunks whose wives have finally had enough.” He shook his head. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to forgive everyone.”

“I’ll keep that wise advice in mind,” she said.

He rolled his eyes and made a little twirling gesture with his forefinger.

“Turn around. I want to get a better look at this goose egg I should have prevented.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I should have moved faster. Anyway, Devin already looked at it.”

“Turn around,” he said again, in an uncompromising voice.

“You are so bossy.”

“That’s one word for it.”

She sighed and finally complied. She could feel the heat of him as he moved behind her. His breath whispered against the back of her neck and she had to fight to control an involuntary shiver. He made her feel small and delicate, which was totally ridiculous, since she was neither.

His fingers gently probed the bump on the back of her head but she still flinched a little as he touched the most tender spot.

“Sorry,” he murmured. The low timbre of his voice seemed to slide down her spine.

“Not your fault,” she murmured back.

Too soon, he dropped his hand and stepped away. “Nice little bump you’ve got there.”

She made a wry face. “Great. As if I didn’t have enough trouble getting my hair to look right.”

He gave a low laugh. “Your hair is fine every time I see it. Lovely, actually.”

He thought she was lovely? Really? Okay, her hair, anyway.

Her breath seemed to catch in her throat and for a long moment, she couldn’t do anything but stand there, so aware of him it was like a fire sizzling through her. Suddenly, she was certain she could feel each sluggish beat of her heart, each pulse of blood through her veins.

His gaze danced to her mouth again, as it had that night in his kitchen, and she felt that seductive heat shiver between them again.

No. She wasn’t going to make a fool of herself over Ben. That
wouldn’t
help her cause.

She eased away and forced a smile. “Thanks again for your help.”

He looked disconcerted for a moment but finally nodded. “You’re welcome. You should be fine. Maybe grab a little ice from one of the vendors while you watch the fireworks show—though, really, who needs fireworks when Haven Point has you?”

“I’ll have you know, I almost never got in fights with bullies before you came to town.”

He laughed, a sound so rich and sweet, she wanted to stand there in her office and just let it soak through her. “I guess I’m a bad influence on you.”

Oh, if he only knew. McKenzie pushed away the attraction. She had responsibilities, she reminded herself, and they didn’t include standing here and mooning over Ben Kilpatrick.

“Speaking of fireworks, I need to go. I can’t believe it took Wyn so long to take our statements. It’s going to be dark soon and I need to go back to Lakeside Park before they light the first fuse.”

It was an excuse to help her put a little distance between them and she was very much afraid he knew it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

H
E
WASN
’
T
SURE
what happened, but one moment McKenzie had been soft and warm, her lips slightly parted, her eyes dilated—all signs she wanted him to kiss her.

The next, she turned prickly and cool, easing away and returning to Mayor Shaw, brisk and businesslike.

He couldn’t remember the last time a woman left him both confounded and intrigued. He didn’t know what to do with her, which was an odd state of affairs.

On the one hand, he was fiercely attracted to her and wanted nothing more than to take her home and spend the night making fireworks of their own.

On the other, he knew he must tread carefully. This was a potentially explosive situation. He couldn’t risk hurting her or raising false expectations. No matter how much he might like McKenzie, he still didn’t think Haven Point was the right fit for Caine Tech and he didn’t see changing his mind anytime soon.

Why did the situation have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t she simply be a beautiful woman who was obviously attracted to him as well?

They walked down the street to Lakeside Park through gathering shadows. The sun had set some time ago, as it tended to do early in narrow valleys like this one. The charming streetlights along the downtown area had come on and he could see lights sparkling from more than a few masts and bowlines out on the water.

“I should have taken the Delphine onto the water tonight with everybody else.”

“It’s crazy out there,” she said. “One time Wyn, Devin and I took my dad’s fishing boat out. We just about capsized after some idiot tourist broadsided us.”

“Scary.”

“At the time, we thought it was hilarious, but then we were stupid teenage girls. When I look back, I shudder to imagine how things could have gone south quickly. The water, at night, a bunch of inexperienced boat operators, including us. Dad was furious we took the boat without asking him and Adele didn’t speak to me for a month. She blamed me for the whole thing, of course, especially as my sister was in the middle of chemotherapy. It was still worth it to see Devin laugh and have a good time, for a change.”

He hadn’t known her sister had cancer. That must have been hard on the family, but she seemed healthy and vibrant now.

“Was it tough for you, after you came here?”

McKenzie cast a sidelong look. “You’re the one who is supposed to be sharing your innermost feelings with me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you were going to tell me why you’re pissed at your mom.”

“You first,” he said. He was fascinated by how a woman from her situation could grow and thrive here, even becoming mayor.

Okay, he was fascinated with her, period.

She shrugged. “It was okay. My dad was great.”

“But not Adele?”

“She tried,” McKenzie said. “She really did. But what woman would be happy about having her husband’s bastard daughter thrust into her family life?”

He could think of a few who wouldn’t necessarily have made the daughter feel ostracized.

“Before I came to Haven Point, my name was Xochitl Vargas.”

She pronounced the first name “Soshi” but he had a business associate from Mexico who spelled her name with an
X
and pronounced it the same way McKenzie just had.

“Wow. How does someone go from Xochitl Vargas to McKenzie Shaw?”

“My dad wanted me to take his last name, since I would be living with his family. I guess he didn’t want me to stand out more than I already did. I was cool with that but Adele thought Xochitl Shaw was too much of a mouthful. She said nobody would be able to pronounce it, so she insisted I needed a new first name while we were going through the court proceedings to change my last name. At least she let Devin and me pick it. I have no idea why we chose McKenzie, to tell the truth. I think it was the name of a character in a book Dev was reading at the time.”

He couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been to give up everything familiar, even her name. “Wow. That’s messed up.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I do sometimes wish I’d chosen something elegant and simple like Jane or Elizabeth or Anne with an
E
.”

“I like McKenzie. Or Xochitl, for that matter.”

She smiled a little. “Devin still calls me Xochitl sometimes. She was great to me, from the very beginning. She’s the sweetest big sister ever.”

He was glad for that, at least, that she had a loving sister. It was obvious they were still close.

“How did it happen that you came to live with your father, anyway?”

“My mom died when I was ten from complications of Type 1 diabetes. When she realized she was dying, that she wasn’t going to be able to bounce back this time, she contacted my father out of desperation, I think. She didn’t have any other family and she didn’t want me to go into foster care, since she had come out of the system and knew how rough it could be on a kid.”

“You hadn’t met him before?”

“She never told him I even existed. It’s not like they had a long-term thing going, just a brief relationship while he was in California on an extended business trip for a client. My mom was a paralegal for the firm he was working with. I got the impression from my mom that it was just one of those spontaneous things neither of them planned. He broke things off when the case was settled and he came back to Haven Point and his family. She didn’t find out she was pregnant until a few months later and for various reasons, she decided not to tell him about his bouncing baby girl—though his name
is
on my birth certificate.”

Her father had been his mother’s divorce attorney after Lily died. Small world, he guessed.

“You must have been a shock to them.”

McKenzie laughed without humor. “You could say that. What would you do if a kid you didn’t know about was suddenly dropped into your world? Some grieving, lost, confused girl?”

“I hope I would have tried to love her.”

She sent him a sideways look but her expression was indistinguishable in the dim light. After a moment, her teeth gleamed with her smile. “My dad did love me, from the very beginning. He was great. He drove to California to pick me up and made it just in time for my mom’s memorial service. I already told you Devin was great, too. She had always wanted a sister, apparently, just not a half-grown one only a few years younger than she was. We all muddled through. I’m very lucky. I spent a decade with a loving mother before coming to the home of a loving father. Was it perfect? No. But what childhood is?”

He had been around that same age when his father suddenly stopped loving him. One moment, he had an attentive father who enjoyed being with him, the next...not so much.

He must have made a sour expression, which she misinterpreted.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Ben. When I came here, I instantly gained a great father and a wonderful sister, two things I had no experience with before I came to Haven Point. And truly, I loved it here. I was a part of a family for the first time ever and I was given opportunities I never would have had otherwise. My mother, Sarita, was terrific, a truly remarkable woman, generous and kind. I never spent a single second wondering whether she loved me and I still miss her. At the same time, I’m so glad I had the chance to know my dad, too.”

McKenzie
was remarkable. She had faced tough things and emerged stronger for them, reinventing herself along the way.

He was coming to admire her entirely too much.

They were still about a half block away from the park. From here, he could see hundreds of people on blankets or lawn chairs, ready for the excitement to begin while a bluegrass band entertained them from a stage overlooking the lake.

“Sorry I yakked your leg off, but you did ask.”

“I did,” he murmured.

She pointed toward the park. “You’re staying, aren’t you?”

“You know,” he said, coming to a snap decision, “I think I’ve had enough excitement for the evening. I could use a little quiet. I’ll have a clear view of the fireworks from the dock on Redemption Bay, won’t I?”

“It’s close to perfect.”

“And I can have a beer there. Even better.” He glanced down at her. “How’s the head?”

She gingerly touched the spot. “Still tender but I should be fine.”

“That was a crazy thing you did, pushing your way between me and Welch. I was handling the situation.”

“I know. I was just so furious with Jimmy and didn’t think things through. I’ve spent the last week killing myself, trying to leave you with a good impression of Haven Point, and in five minutes, that belligerent jerk ruins all my hard work.”

A soft, seductive warmth seeped through him. Tenderness and amusement and that ever-present attraction.

“Not all of it,” he murmured.

Though they were by no means private here, he pushed her into a doorway, where they would be relatively hidden from view, and finally, at long last, he couldn’t fight it anymore.

He kissed her.

* * *

S
HE
WASTED
ABOUT
three seconds in complete shock to find herself here, in his arms. Ben Kilpatrick was kissing her as if he couldn’t get enough. It couldn’t be real. Perhaps she bumped her head a little harder than she thought. What else could explain something so totally unexpected?

No. It was definitely real. She had a vivid imagination, sure, but she couldn’t possibly be making up the heat of his mouth on hers or the taste of him, delicious and intoxicating.

This was real. Ben was kissing her and she was squandering this once-in-a-lifetime chance by wondering what on earth was happening. Stupid girl. Better to just grab hold of the chance and savor every second, especially when this heat had been growing between them all day. No, longer. Since that night in his kitchen when she had been a coward.

She kissed him back, a little tentatively at first and then with growing enthusiasm.

The man definitely knew how to kiss a woman. It was better than Carmela’s gelato, rich and heady, seductively sinful.

It might not be the most romantic of spots, pressed into the entrance of Linda Fremont’s boutique, with mannequins wearing disapproving frowns and dowdy church lady dresses all around them in the window display, but McKenzie ignored all of it, lost in the moment.

She wasn’t sure how long the kiss went on, there in the shadows. When she finally emerged to take a breath, she was dizzy and off balance.

She hadn’t kissed a man in entirely too long. Kissing Ben Kilpatrick was a little like coming off a long fast to a thirty-course meal—too much, too fast and entirely not healthy for her.

She eased away slightly, desperate suddenly for a little space to regroup.

“We have to stop, Ben. I’ve got to go.”

“Why?”

How was she supposed to concentrate when his tongue was doing such marvelous things? She sighed and gave in for just a moment. She only managed to find the strength to draw away again by forcing herself to focus on her responsibilities.

“I... The, um, the fireworks will be starting any minute.”

He rested his forehead on hers and she was more than a little gratified to see his blue eyes looked dazed, his pupils dilated and aroused. Nice to know she wasn’t the only one feeling the aftereffects here.

When he spoke, his voice was low, throaty, and she felt as if she’d swallowed one of the sparklers the kids were waving around at the park.

“I suppose I could say something totally lame—like, I don’t know, maybe, I thought they already started.”

She laughed a little and was rather astonished that she could, especially when that sparkler was still merrily trailing flickers of heat. “Thank you for sparing us both that.”

Her dry tone amused him, at least judging by the sudden smile that left her giddy. “Anytime.”

From the park, she heard a deep, distorted voice on the loudspeakers: Chief Gallegos, announcing the fun would be starting in a few moments and asking everyone to take their seats.

She really did have to go, as much as she might want to stay hidden here in this alcove with him, lost in his kiss.

“Thank you for coming to my defense and for...everything today.”

“I enjoyed myself,” he answered, and seemed a little surprised by the admission.

“Even punching out Jimmy Welch?”

“Maybe
especially
that part. I only wish I’d decked him ten seconds earlier so he wouldn’t have had a chance to shove you.”

She would have to tread very carefully here. She’d had a terrible crush on him when she was a girl and she suspected it wouldn’t take much more than another kiss or two for her to be right where she was all those years ago, only this time with a woman’s wants and needs.

Distance would help, at least to give her some semblance of composure. “I really do have to go. I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

“Definitely,” he answered.

The note of promise in his voice made her shiver, though she couldn’t tell whether it was from nervousness or anticipation.

* * *

M
C
K
ENZIE
HAD
A
tough time making it through the crowd as she headed toward the shore where Devin texted her they were saving a spot to watch the fireworks.

Everybody seemed to have something to say to her—people wanted to talk about the altercation near the dessert table or about the parade or how much they enjoyed the wooden boat festival that year.

She was stopped by at least a half-dozen people and had to remind herself each time this was what she loved about living in Haven Point, that people knew her, liked her, wanted to talk to her.

At least the conversations provided a good distraction to keep her from obsessing about Ben and that amazing kiss.

Finally, she made her way to her sister and some of their friends, who had spread out blankets in a primo viewing spot.

“How’s the head?” Devin asked.

“Still fine.”

“Is it true you got knocked out by Jimmy Welch and Ben Kilpatrick punched him?” Samantha Fremont asked.

“Knocked
down
,” she stressed. “Big difference. But yes, the rest of it is true.”