Something in the Water... (6 page)

And turned all the other girls against Ariel, out of spite. On the school bus, which had picked her up at the bottom of Mountain Drive, no one had ever talked to her. Thanks to him.

Too much of the past was flooding back. She hated him…just as she hated how she used to fantasize about a father who never came to protect her, and a mother who’d never been able to understand how the teasing was affecting her daughter. “Oh, you’re right, Studs,” she muttered, stepping toward him and offering a shy smile. She put her hands on his waist. “Maybe I did miss you more than I admit. Those stories about you and me got so out of control….” His eyes widened as she traced a pink fingernail down his chest. “But they got me to thinking…”

“They did?”

“But you’re married now….”

“Uh…yeah.”

“But we won’t let Joanie get in the way. Now, will we?” Broadening her smile, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt, then spun. “You sick bastard,” she whispered, then flattened her hand on his chest and pushed hard.

He was facing her when he flew off the dock, and if
she hadn’t been so furious, Ariel might have laughed. His eyes were bugging, his arms were flailing, and under the circumstances, even a saint wouldn’t be sorry that the dunking would ruin the fancy, animal-skin cowboy boots on his kicking feet. She leaped back as he hit the water, but not in time. She groaned as a freezing wave of springwater drenched her. “Twice in one day,” she muttered.

“You could stand to lose a few pounds,” she said to Studs. “That splash could have hit Bliss Run Road. In fact,” she added as he came back up, sputtering, “I think it’s started a tidal wave. Whoa! Call in the coast guard!”

Deciding she’d better reach the mobile lab before Studs got out—after all, he was packing a weapon—she whirled, intending to go down the dock, then saw Rex standing in front of her, a small briefcase-style kit in his hand and an uncertain expression on his face.

“Old boyfriend?”

She wanted to die, right then and there. It didn’t help that yet another outfit was soaked, or that it was white and she was braless. Or that Studs was having difficulty hauling himself out of the water. He was going to catapult over the side of the dock any second now, dripping like a creature from the blue lagoon.

She wanted to laugh, but fury was coursing through her. Everything was going wrong. When he’d kissed her, Rex had seemed different. Unconnected to the town, but in under two hours, he’d been roped into her past. If only for a moment, he’d felt like a part of her here-and-now, and maybe even her future.

He raised a hand. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“He’s not an old boyfriend,” she assured.

Disbelief clouded Rex’s eyes.

“You heard everything?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt. The conversation seemed kind of…”

Intimate.

“But…” He considered. “When it looked like things were getting out of hand, I figured I might step in and toss him into the lake. And then…” He looked toward where Studs was sloshing in the water. “You beat me to the punch.”

She swallowed hard, trying to fight her pique. “So, I guess you’re the kind of guy who believes everything he hears.” She paused. “Some scientist.”

“Believe everything I hear,” he echoed, as if his mind was trying to catch up.

Just like everyone else in this backwater that always knotted up her insides! One minute, she loved this town. The next, she wanted to run as if the hounds of hell were on her heels and never look back.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said again.

“Who is he then?”

“Studs Underwood,” she said. “The sheriff you were looking for.”

She hated seeing the mortification on Rex’s features. She didn’t blame him. He’d explained that local law-enforcement officers sometimes gave the CDC trouble. A visit from the organization was one of the bigger events in a small-town sheriff’s career, sometimes, so the CDC had to be diplomatic and make a show of involving them. And Rex really did have a job to do.

Studs was rising to his feet, his uniform shirt and shorts jeans plastered to his body. “Sheriff Underwood,”
she found herself saying, once more slapping down the hem of her dress, “this is Rex Houston. Dr. Rex Houston. From the CDC.”

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised when Rex moved quickly forward, his hand outstretched. “I know we’re meeting under real strange circumstances, Sheriff,” he began. “But I want you to know I stopped in town, at your office….”

The words propelled Ariel forward. She didn’t look back, but kept her eyes fixed on the top of the hill, in the direction of the mobile lab, which was her destination. This was too much. Had it been only hours ago that she’d driven into Bliss, wearing her beautiful silk suit?

Ariel was breathing hard when she reached the mobile lab. Opening the passenger side door, she got in and stared in back. The sides of the RV-style vehicle were lined with metal shelves, and two washing-machine style tumblers were visible, as well as other equipment, the functions of which Rex had explained on the drive. A roller chair was seat-belted to the side, so it wouldn’t roll toward a makeshift desk.

Through the windshield, she could see a canopy of green leaves that made her long for the city. The encounter with Studs hadn’t left her shaken. She felt dirty now. Like she wanted to get out of here and take a shower. And so, when she saw Rex had left the keys dangling in the ignition, she found herself saying, “If Dr. Rex Houston wants to make friends with local law enforcement, I think we’ll let him.” As far as she was concerned, he could catch a ride back to town on Studs Underwood’s mountain bike.

Scooting to the driver’s seat, Ariel turned the key in the ignition and then she simply drove away.

A
NGER WAS STILL FLOODING
Ariel when she reached her room. It didn’t help that she’d gotten home just in time to see Great-gran getting out of Eli Saltwell’s old jalopy, having clearly accepted a ride back from town from her archenemy, or that her mother was in the kitchen, openly admitting to swimming in her bra and panties, where she might have been viewed by guests. “Now, Ariel,” she’d said, “I’m sure no one saw me. You need to loosen up, sweetie.”

Loosen up? “This town’s coming unraveled,” she’d muttered. How to explain? Her mother usually wore black, long-sleeved dresses, even in summer. Even worse, Gran was chatting about how charming Rex Houston was, and what a good husband he might make for Ariel, which was why she’d put him next door to her, even though other rooms had really been available.

Ariel pulled the wet white dress over her head and laid it on top of a hamper near the window to dry in the sunlight, then strutted to the bed in her panties. With her luck, Romeo really was in the water. The only stranger pairing than Eli and Great-gran would have been Ariel and Studs Underwood. “That’ll be a cold day,” Ariel said, lifting her
suitcase, opening it on the bed next to her garment bag and staring at the neatly arranged contents.

The springwater had made her skin sticky, so she figured she’d shower. There was still time before dinner. Hopefully, Rex would have a long walk back to the house, and she could avoid him for the rest of his stay. “Maybe he won’t even make it before sundown.”

Her heart pulled as she thought of the coming night. She hadn’t been home in summer for three years, so she’d missed the events her relatives planned—bonfires and marshmallow roasts. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the back of the closet door, she groaned. She looked like hell. Totally mussed, but her body looked good. Given the kind of attention she’d always solicited from Studs, she didn’t know whether to be glad about that or not. As her eyes flicked over her figure, her throat constricted. “What a waste,” she couldn’t help but say.

She was tall and leggy, with full breasts and a nicely nipped-in waist. When younger, she’d always assumed she’d be married by now—working at a dream career and in a relationship to which she could give her whole self. It never occurred to her that she’d be cresting twenty-nine and still alone.

She opened the closet door. As she did so, she realized her head ached. “The pins,” she muttered, quickly removing them. As she stared at racks of clothes, she set the pins on a dresser top. She’d tried her best to look respectable today. But here she was, letting her hair down and contemplating wearing one of the outfits that had made her so infamous around Bliss.

She felt a rush of excitement. Maybe she’d put on
something racy for dinner, just to watch Rex Houston’s eyes pop. She wasn’t going to sleep with him now. Of course she wasn’t! Not after the way he’d run right up to Studs and had shaken hands as if they were best friends. Yes…

She settled on a strapless leopard-print tube. Lifting it from a hanger, she tossed it to the bed. “Oh, yeah,” she said. “That and a pair of skintight white Lycra shorts. Thong panties.”

As furious as she was, it was tempting…damn tempting. She was going over some other offerings—a sheer halter, low-rise jeans, when the door flew open. She whirled, instinctively covering her chest, expecting to see her mom or Gran.

But it was Rex, and he looked just as shocked. He was frozen in the doorway, his hand on the knob, his widening eyes taking her in. Ariel was seized by a wicked desire to punish the man. “Don’t bother to knock,” she bit out, aware that every inch of her was laid bare for his eyes.

He had a totally dumb-guy expression on his face. “Huh?”

“You just burst into my room without knocking.”

He was still in shock, especially since she wasn’t even bothering to cover the rest of herself. “Uh…you stole the mobile lab.”

“Boo hoo.”

His gaze dropped down the length of her body. Clearly, she could have robbed him blind and he wouldn’t have cared. “It’s a government vehicle.”

She could see his broad chest heaving, as if he couldn’t take a deep breath. Her hands crossed under her
breasts, both to indicate she was furious and to lift them for his gaze. Oh, yes…let him understand that she wasn’t nearly as proper as he’d assumed. Let him dream of all those things she’d supposedly done with Studs.

He paused, looking exasperated, and as if he knew the gentlemanly thing was to leave her to dress, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do so. He eyed her panties. “Do you know what that vehicle’s worth?”

“Nothing to me,” she assured.

“Don’t you have any…” He searched for a word, just as his eyes searched her body, and he settled on saying, “Morals?”

“Funny, coming from a stranger who kissed me senseless an hour ago.” If people wanted to think she was a brazen hussy, without any morals to speak of, well she’d be happy to let them. A lot had happened since she’d driven into town with dreams of reinventing herself hours ago—like his kiss.

“It cost millions,” he finally managed to say, as if still completely undecided about how to respond to the fact that she was standing there, taunting him with her nakedness. “It’s not a car, Ariel. It’s a science lab.”

Unconcerned, she turned toward the closet and began to rifle through the rack. She made a show of slowly licking her lips, knowing she was asking for it…wanting him to charge over and kiss her again. “If it’s so important to the government, you shouldn’t have left the keys in it.”

“I saw that goon down on the dock pawing you,” he muttered, sounding thoroughly frustrated. “And I…”

She couldn’t ignore the squeeze of her heart. So, he’d been rushing down the hill to rescue her from Studs? “I’m flattered.” She pulled out a short dress that
buttoned down the front and held it out at arm’s length as if considering it. “It’s nice to know protecting me ranked higher than a mobile lab, but I didn’t need male protection.”

“Obviously.”

“I enjoy taking care of myself.”

“I didn’t know you knew him.”

“Ah,” she said turning to fully face him, loving how his eyes instantly glazed. She knew better than to play with fire, especially in Bliss. Wasn’t she just acting out the past, since seeing Studs again? Wasn’t this the most self-destructive part of her, which had gotten her into such trouble when she was a teenager? Why couldn’t she just accept that men always wielded power over women? Always had, always would. For every decent guy, there were a thousand Studses.

“One minute, my knight in shining armor,” she found herself saying. “The next, best friend to Studs Underwood. I figured you two wanted to get to know each other, and that he’d be happy to give you a ride. Of course, I didn’t think you’d get here so quickly.” She flashed him a smile. “But then, you had to race to your lab unit.”

“Losing it could cost me my job.”

She felt a twinge of guilt. “It won’t happen again.”

“On the way up here—” Interrupting his thought, he said, “The sheriff’s car was right on the top of the hill, and while we were following you, he offered to arrest you.”

Interesting. “You told him not to?”

“Yes. And he wanted to. He said you should have been arrested before now. In fact, it sounds like you have quite a reputation around here.”

“Does that bother you?”

He looked torn. “Dammit,” he suddenly muttered, thrusting a hand through locks of sun-streaked hair that hung almost to his shoulders. “The way you look now,” he said hoarsely. “No.”

“I thought you were a scientist,” she purred, still unable to take in that he’d eaten up what Studs had had to say like candy. “What’s a woman, after all? Just cells and microbes, right?”

Rex took a confused step forward. “What’s gotten into you? When I got here, you were wearing that little pink suit, acting holier than thou. And now…”

She felt both hot and cold all over, trembling inside, and something dark and shivery, like beams of moonlight seemed to stream through her veins. “Well, you heard what kind of girl I am, didn’t you? So, nothing should surprise you now.”

His gaze traveled from the closet to the leopard-print tube on the bed, then settled on the open suitcase. Inside, her new belts were coiled around two-tone pocketbooks and matching pumps, and neatly folded T-shirts lay next to stacks of walking shorts. Beside the suitcase, her new pastel suits were visible through the clear plastic of a garment bag.

Suddenly, he slammed shut the door behind him, and her heart beat furiously as he came toward her. He looked none too happy now, his lips pursed grimly and his expression determined. “Look,” he said, snatching the dress from her hand. “Just put this on. I don’t know what the hell happened back there—” When she didn’t comply, he lifted her hand, thrust it through a short sleeve. “But let’s just forget about it. Let’s just get a fresh start here.”

Swiftly leaning, he reached for her other hand, urging it into the other sleeve, but as he moved, their bellies brushed. There was no way she could fight the response. Her flesh quivered, and her nipples constricted so quickly.

He stepped back, and when he did, there was no mistaking that he was breathing hard. His voice was gruff. “C’mon. Do a guy a favor. Button up.”

Every nerve inside her was jangling like bells. When her eyes dipped over his jeans, she could see the visible evidence of his excitement. This crazy day had just gotten a whole lot crazier. Was she really standing here, in front of a near stranger, a dress open over her body, which was naked save for a pair of panties? “What if I don’t take orders?” she said petulantly, her own ears registering the impossible throatiness of her own voice.

“C’mon,” he said. “Quit playing games, Ariel.”

“But you heard it all from the good sheriff, didn’t you?” she taunted. “And now you know all about how the local bad girl likes to play games.”

She watched his tongue inadvertently circle his lips, and as she sucked in an audible breath, her breasts swelled, the tips aching for the lips he’d just wet. She felt her knees weaken, as if a gale wind had just sapped their strength.

“An hour ago you were all too happy to kiss me,” she whispered.

“Is that what you want?”

She knew she’d lost her mind, but it was the truth. “More.”

He took another deep breath as if to steady his nerves. “Right now, I think you’re mad at your boyfriend. Or old boyfriend. Or whatever he is—”

She barely knew what came over her. But she reached over and splayed her palm on his chest. “He is not my boyfriend,” she said succinctly.

“Okay,” said Rex, not about to argue.

“He has never been my boyfriend.”

Again, Rex looked torn, probably because of what he’d overheard. Beneath her skin, his T-shirt felt as soft as silk. His bare skin was even softer, and the threads of chest hair softer still.

When Rex spoke, his voice sounded thicker with a slow Southern drawl. “For not being your boyfriend,” he said, “the guy sure got you riled.”

“Why don’t you try to get him out of my system?”

Everything in his expression said he’d already been pushed beyond the limits of male endurance. “Could be difficult.”

“Maybe you can innoculate me.”

His voice caught as he angled closer, soliciting a shiver when the buckle of his belt pressed her bare belly. “Cure you of…”

“The heat,” she murmured.

“I’d only make you hotter.”

“Prove it,” she whispered as he placed a hand on her back, near the small of her spine. Warmth from his palm seeped through the thin fabric of the dress. Already, her panties were wet; when he exerted pressure, she arched, uttering a moan when she felt the strain of his erection against her.

The house was too old to accommodate central air and the room was so hot. Besides, she’d always preferred fresh air to the window air conditioners that had been placed in all the rooms, but now her skin felt like
a heavy coat, and she quickly shrugged out of the dress he’d just insisted she put on. She glanced over her shoulder, toward the bed, trying not to think about how long it had been since she’d had sex. And yet how could she forget? Nearly a year. And with a date she hadn’t wanted nearly as much as she wanted Rex Houston. Ever since, during her and Ryan’s flirtation at work, she’d been hoping something wild would happen….

Seeing the hopeless mess on the duvet, she urged him backward toward one of the overstuffed chairs, until his knees hit, curled over the edge and he sat down. Shrugging out of the his T-shirt, he tossed it aside, and as her gaze drifted over his chest, she blew out a long, quivering breath. He really was gorgeous. Broadchested and tan, covered in blond hair.

The way he was looking at her was thoroughly unsettling, too. His midnight-blue eyes were steady, the gaze both hungry and self-assured. Like most people, he really thought she was a town bad girl, everything Studs had said. And right now, she didn’t mind in the least. In fact, she wanted to play the part. Leaning, she grabbed his belt buckle and flicked it open.

He leaned back his head, his lips parting in ecstasy as her nails teased the skin near the waistband of his jeans. She toyed, tracing the space as if they had all day to play, until he made a strangled sound—something between a moan and a curse. His own hand quickly covered hers then, and deftly, he snapped open his jeans and dragged down the zipper. A tuft of his briefs was visible, and he released another sigh, this time of relief.

“I haven’t even kissed you yet,” she whispered, tuck
ing her hands behind him, under the waistband, so she could slip off his pants.

“Then you’d better start.”

Another wave of heat claimed her as her palms glided slowly downward over the smooth skin of his behind. “Would you like that, Rex?”

“Yeah,” he muttered.

Sweat and desire mixed, and when she leaned closer, she caught mingled scents, the pungent aroma of need shooting into her like a dart. It must have affected him the same way, because he lifted his hips, so she could divest him of his pants. Then he slipped a hand under the waistband of the briefs, gasping as the clothes came free.

“You said you want to be kissed,” she teased huskily, her heart hammering as she took him in. He was thoroughly aroused; she’d sent him over the edge with her taunts. “But you didn’t say where.”