The Playboy (9 page)

“Hmm.” Pam put the final conditioner in Kendall’s hair. “I love jewelry and I hate turning down an offer like that, but you might be more successful talking to Charlotte about putting your pieces in her store.” After rinsing her scalp with cool water, Pam wrapped a towel around Kendall’s head, blotting her hair as she helped her rise.

Blood rushed to Kendall’s head as she sat up, but the dizziness quickly subsided. Too bad the rush left by Rick’s visit hadn’t disappeared as easily. “Who’s Charlotte?”

Pam walked in front of her so she could meet Kendall’s gaze, then perched her hands on her hips. “Just how well do you know your boyfriend?”

“Well enough. Why?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Because Charlotte is Rick’s sister-in-law. She’s the first woman in this town to nab a Chandler man. And I’d think you would know that.”

Kendall swallowed a groan. Rick’s car had been parked outside her guest house through most of his days off. He’d arrived at six in the morning and stayed past ten most nights. They’d scrubbed, cleaned, and given everyone the impression they were new lovers, so head over heels for one another, they couldn’t bring themselves to give up their private time just yet. And lovers quickly learned intimate details about one another, including details about their families. Too bad she and Rick hadn’t taken that into account before letting Kendall loose on her own.

“You were holed up in that house for days on end, but you obviously didn’t spend much time talking.” Pam grinned, giving Kendall the solution she needed.

Latching on to Pam’s suggestiveness, Kendall nodded. “We spent enough time together to learn plenty.” She wiggled her eyebrows provocatively. “But I just spaced for a second. Of course I knew which Charlotte you meant.”

Pam eyed her as if she didn’t believe a word and she was right. “Okay, well, if Charlotte isn’t interested, just come ask me again and we’ll work something out.”

“I’ll do that.” Next time she saw Rick, she’d ask him about his sister-in-law, what she was like and if she’d be willing to consider taking in jewelry on consignment. “Thanks for the suggestion.”

Pam led Kendall back to the chair and began combing out her now blond hair. “Like it?”

She gave Pam a truthful smile. “Very much.”

“Good. Now let’s cut!” Pam lifted the scissors and started snipping.

Rick kicked his chair back at his desk and fired off a rubber band at the bridal picture again. But this time, it wasn’t the bride he was pissed at, it was himself. When he’d concocted his plan to make the town and his mother think he and Kendall were lovers, he’d blundered. Twice. He’d never meant to duplicate Kendall’s painful recent past and he sure as hell had never meant to isolate her in the process. He’d never given the possibility a thought.

Then again he’d never taken women’s personalities into account. He’d seen Lisa in the back of the salon and knew she had to be behind the cold reception Kendall had been given. Lisa had probably gotten everyone to treat her as the outsider who’d taken one bachelor off the list of available men in a small town.

“Messages.” Felicia slapped a small stack of pink paper in front of him.

Rick glanced up at the petite brunette. She’d had her share of relationships with men and she had many women friends. Maybe she could offer insight into the thinking of the females in this town and why they’d be out to ostracize a perfect stranger. “What is it with women?”

“You’re asking me?” Felicia settled into a metal chair beside his desk. “I thought you had written the book on the fairer sex.”

He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms behind his head. “I never claimed to understand the female psyche.”

“Lance says the same thing,” she said, speaking of her current steady. “So is your new girlfriend giving you fits already?” she asked, a knowing twinkle in her eye.

Actually, Kendall wasn’t the problem, he was. He wanted to ease her transition to town, make her happy and comfortable here—something he’d never given a thought to with other women who came and went from his life. Kendall, with her pink, now who-knew-what color hair and her sunny attitude, had gotten under his skin.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to answer,” Felicia said. “But if she’s making you work hard instead of falling at your feet, I can’t wait to meet her.”

Meet her. Maybe that was the solution. Let people meet and know Kendall, as he was coming to know her. Felicia had just given him his solution. He’d let Kendall meet his friends and family, people who’d like her and who she’d like in return. She’d be more comfortable in town once she had allies on her side. No one in town would challenge the Chandlers when they came out in force.

He jumped up and hugged his dispatcher. “You’re a genius, Felicia.”

“Genius, huh? I don’t know what I said, but I ought to tease you more often. Did I mention I want a raise?” She let out a good-natured laugh.

“I’ll put in a good word to the chief.” He winked and grabbed for the phone.

The clean smell of disinfectant greeted Kendall as she entered her house. The fresh odor offered a huge improvement over dust and mildew, but she wasn’t nearly through. Still on her list to make the place more appealing was cleaning out the closets filled with old junk, painting inside and out, lawn maintenance and more.

She ran a hand through her freshly cut hair. The tasks were infinite. Her bank account wasn’t. She opened her bag and searched for the card Rick had left her with his phone number, called and left a message that she needed to speak with him. She didn’t want an “in” with Charlotte, just a little background and a push in the right direction. Kendall felt confident her designs would sell themselves.

With a little luck, Charlotte would be more friendly than some others she’d met today. While paying for her hair, she’d been snubbed by two women in a matter of seconds. Terrie Whitehall, a bank teller, and Lisa Burton, a teacher, both stuffed prigs according to Pam, had rebuffed Kendall’s attempt at a friendly hello. Pam had retaliated with a verbal barb, giving Kendall a laugh, and she’d left the salon on a high, knowing she had at least one female friend in this small town.

Her cell phone rang and she answered it on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Ms. Kendall Sutton please,” a nasal but otherwise toneless male voice requested.

“This is Kendall.”

“This is Mr. Vancouver from the Vermont Acres Boarding School.”

Kendall gripped the phone. “Is Hannah okay?” “Physically she’s fine. However she’s been acting up lately.” His monotone voice never wavered, making Kendall dislike him intensely. He could have been talking about a stranger for all he seemed to care.

“Hannah mentioned a few detentions, but promised she’d pull things together.”

“Well she hasn’t. I tried to reach your parents, but they’re out of touch and you were the next emergency number. The only one actually and you’re the only relative in the States. Ms. Sutton, your sister is on probation.”

“Academic probation?”

Mr. Vancouver let out a haughty laugh, but he didn’t sound the least bit amused. “Academics seems to be the least of her concerns, and right now it’s less important than her behavior. To be frank, Ms. Sutton, your sister is a menace. She stuffed the toilets in the teacher’s lounge and pulled off the conductor’s toupee in front of an audience while he was taking a bow.”

Kendall pressed hard against one temple to alleviate the headache she felt coming on. She stifled the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all. It wasn’t funny. Hannah’s behavior was about as amusing as Mr. Vancouver’s arrogant tone. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vancouver. I promise to talk to her today.”

“You’d better or you’ll be coming to get her before sundown. I can’t allow such upheaval in my school.”

“Where’s Hannah now?”

“In detention. She should be back in her room within the hour. I have another call waiting.” He dismissed her without a second thought. “Good day, Ms. Sutton.”

The stuffy-head principal hung up the phone, leaving Kendall with cramps in her stomach and a growing urge to strangle her sister. Kendall needed answers as to why Hannah would suddenly act out in a way destined to get her expelled from school.

A frustrating ten minutes later, Kendall had left a phone message for Hannah, instructing her to call ASAP, and tried every available means to get in touch with her parents through the organization that granted her father money for his studies, to no avail. She sighed and glanced around the kitchen. The chipped paint and stains on the walls were the same in every room of the house, a symbol of the problems surrounding her. Troubles that seemed to grow over time.

“I wish I wasn’t alone,” she shouted to the walls. Her voice echoed in the empty house, startling her.

The sudden need to share her burden took Kendall off guard, as did the growing desire to call Rick again just to see if he’d answer so she could hear his voice. Even her hand, still on the telephone receiver, tingled, urging her to dial.

No. “No,” she said aloud, to reinforce the notion. Though he knew she wanted to sell the house and knew she was short on cash, he didn’t realize how tight things actually were. Nor would he, for the same reasons she wouldn’t share her concerns about Hannah with him now.

She’d kept him distant from her personal problems out of necessity—she couldn’t afford to rely on him. His presence had the ability to make her feel better and her entire life and history taught her she had to rely only on herself. Now wasn’t the time to change what worked.

Even without calling a realtor, Kendall knew the key to selling high was to invigorate the interior with a fresh coat of paint. Rick had already scraped and sanded many areas in the guest house, so she felt comfortable beginning the painting of the main house on her own. She’d moved around enough to have sublet and rented many apartments and repainted many a wall.

She ran to the back bedroom, changed into old work-out clothes, then surveyed the damage in the entry. She’d already bought gallons of fresh white paint and decided to begin there, where a potential buyer would get their first impression. Then she could work her way through to the rest of the house, so she’d see improvement each time she entered. In the meantime, she also hoped to pass time so she wouldn’t keep looking at her watch, waiting for her sister or her wayward parents to call.

After turning on the radio and ruthlessly squelching another urge to contact Rick for his shoulder or any other body parts that tempted her, she got to work.

Rick thought his shift would never end. By the time he made his way to Kendall’s house on Edgemont Street, dusk had fallen. She wasn’t expecting him but he had an invitation to issue. One he hoped she wouldn’t refuse, partly because he wanted to help ease her transition to Yorkshire Falls but mostly because he’d missed her and wanted to spend time with her again. Considering she wouldn’t be staying in town long, Rick knew his first rationale was lame and pathetic but he didn’t give a damn. He’d caused her hurt and he’d damn well fix things before she moved on.

He knocked on the door and when she didn’t answer, he let himself inside. Apparently she wasn’t that much of a newcomer if she’d left her door open. No one in Yorkshire Falls worried much about locks, much to Rick’s and the rest of the force’s chagrin.

Once inside, music reached his ears. He glanced around to see Kendall, singing while she painted a wall with broad strokes of a roller. Her effort reached only as far as her arm length, leaving a ragged horizontal difference between the new bottom finish and the old paint on top. Though what she’d done looked great, the initial impression was unprofessional at best.

Rick shook his head and laughed. “You could give poor Eldin a run for his money.”

“Rick!” Her voice held a combination of warmth and pleasure as she scrambled to put down the equipment so she could greet him. “I probably should have gone out and bought a ladder, huh?” A sheepish grin spread across her face. “I was just so anxious to get started and keep busy, I didn’t want to wait.”

“Why didn’t you call and ask me to pick up a ladder?” “Didn’t think of it.”

He stepped forward, moving toward her, propelled by a force stronger than his mind or his will. “I suppose you expect me to fix what’s left?”

She bit down on her lower lip and treated him to an adorable grin. “We do have a deal.”

“Yeah we do.” That damn deal. The one that named them lovers in public but gave Rick no rights over her body in private. Damned if he didn’t want to change that.

The thought had been rushing through his mind the entire day. This woman he barely knew, one he for some reason wanted to protect emotionally and possess physically, had gotten to him. More than any woman had in a long while. He stepped forward and trapped her close to him. She couldn’t step back or she’d hit the wet wall, so she inched closer to him instead.

He inhaled and was enveloped by her luscious scent. He took in her lithe body, covered only by a spandex exercise outfit. No doubt the oppressive heat explained her choice in clothing. The air-conditioning unit she’d bought only cooled off the bedroom in which she slept. The rest of the old house was on its own, Kendall refusing to spend another penny on a place she’d be leaving soon anyway.

Her departure was something he refused to contemplate. He wasn’t ready to say good-bye. Not when he hadn’t yet begun to say hello.

He intended to start now.

Her wide-eyed gaze met his and she waited for his next move. He braced his hands above her head and with the cold, wet sensation on his palms, he realized his mistake immediately.

“Wall’s wet.” She laughed.

“Gee, thanks for reminding me.” He had paint on both hands.

“Just being neighborly.”

“Surely you can think of a better term than neighborly—for your lover.”

“In name only.” She spoke the facts, but her eyes questioned.

Asked the same thing he’d been wondering. Could they allow themselves more?

She sucked in a shaky breath.

The deep inhale had the effect of squaring her shoulders and pushing out her chest, her round breasts tempting him through the tight spandex.

“We could change that,” he offered.