Wild Child (Rock Royalty #6) (28 page)
“It’s the price of privilege,” he explained to the girl. “You get the incredible property, but you have to share it from the high-tide line to where the surf breaks. There’s a public path to the water two hundred and fifty feet down that way.”
Leggy with Braids frowned at him. “Mr. Buchanan, I said I came here to see you.”
He hadn’t missed that, not really, he thought, rubbing his hand over his bare chest. But as his mother always said, Jay was a hoper, and he’d been hoping to get back to sleep. Yet he should have known better, because nothing was ever simple when there was a woman involved. Why did they always have to complicate everything? Leggy with Braids even looked like a complication. A man just couldn’t ignore that sweet, full mouth and she had an interesting sprinkle of freckles across her nose that—
Crap. There he went again, heading off into muddy and probably mined female territory. “What, then?” he demanded, sounding surly even though he was mostly mad at himself. “What is it you want?”
To wring his neck, if her expression was anything to go by. But she gave him a tight little smile, not a slice of teeth showing. “I want to talk to you about the private chef position. Remember, you called me yesterday? I’m Nikki.”
“Oh.” He let his gaze run down Leggy with Braids. Nikki. Nikki of the cute freckles, the slim body, that pretty, earth-and-sunlight-colored hair. “Sorry, you won’t do.”
Without a whiff of remorse, he shut the door again.
Again, it bounced off a rubber toe.
Jay sighed. This was what was wrong with them. Women. They were tenacious and stubborn in the most troublesome ways. You tried to let them down easy, but they would never take the hint. Why couldn’t they appreciate fun and games? Why couldn’t they accept when the fun and games were over? But no, they’d always come back—
“Mr. Buchanan,” her low-pitched voice was forced to find its way through the narrow crack in the door, yet still he could hear it over the rumble of the traffic on the highway and the surf’s crash-and-shush at his back. The goose made another march down his spine. “You called me. Remember?”
Right. There was that. With a sigh, he pulled back on the knob to gaze on her again, girly as all get-out. “Look,” he said, “it’s nothing personal. It’s just that I’ve sworn off women.”
His last chef had worked out great. Sandy was businesslike, quiet, and a lesbian to boot. When she’d recommended her friend Nikki, Jay had assumed—which reminded him of one of his grandfather’s favorite old saws, “Assume makes an ass out of u and me”—that she’d be of the same sexual persuasion.
But after studying the woman on his doorstep…well, to put it bluntly, this leggy darling was no dyke.
“Mr. Buchanan—”
He held up his hand, once again wishing like hell he’d had a cup of coffee waiting for him when he rose, which was just another reason to regret this pretty chef person wasn’t an ardent fan of
The L Word
. “I’ve got enough trouble right now, okay? Believe me, I’ve sworn off women.”
Those eyebrows slammed over her nose again. “Then we’re even, because I don’t like men.”
Jay stared in surprise. Could it be? Could his lack of caffeine have impaired his usually impeccable, spot-on radar? “You…” He shook his head, because now he noticed something even more remarkable about her. Pretty chef person, Leggy with Braids, Nikki-who-said-she didn’t-like-men had the most amazing eyes. One was blue, and one was green. Like a mermaid, like a witch, like a…?
Could it really be? He frowned. “You don’t like men?”
She took a breath.
He leaned forward so as not to miss her answer.
Another female’s voice found him first. From the vicinity of his back door floated a light, sugary voice that he was painfully familiar with. “Jay? Jay, darling. I can’t go another minute without seeing you.”
Tension tightened a strangling hand around his neck. He closed his eyes, opened them, and was distracted for a second from the sticky problem coming up behind him by Nikki’s pretty, pretty face and those witchy, witchy eyes.
Hmm. Was she or wasn’t she?
“Jay?”
Uh-oh. The sticky problem was getting closer.
“Jay, honey, where are you?”
Nikki’s bi-colored eyes were big and full of questions.
Jay had one of his own, of course. Did she really dislike men or didn’t she? But there wasn’t time to speculate, not with the minty breath of his worst double-X chromosome mistake bearing down on him.
And then, bam, it hit him. Call it an impulse, call it a brilliant idea, call it both. He kicked aside the unsettling warning that not all his impulses or even his brilliant ideas had panned out to be oh-so-successful.
Like Mom said, Jay was a hoper.
And now he hoped to kill two birds with one stone. A single, simple move—and oh, how he liked things simple—could clear up one little question as well as one big problem.
As high heels clacked on the tile behind him, he grabbed Nikki-who-might-not-like-men, yanked her across the threshold, then pulled her close for a kiss.
Christie Ridgway’s Book List
Light My Fire
(Rock Royalty Book 1)
Love Her Madly
(Rock Royalty Book 2)
Break on Through
(Rock Royalty Book 3)
Touch Me
(Rock Royalty Book 4)
Wishful Sinful
(Rock Royalty Book 5)
Wild Child
(Rock Royalty Book 6)
Who Do You Love (Rock Royalty Book 7)
Coming soon!
Rock Royalty Boxed Set – Books 1-3
Take Me Tender
(Billionaire’s Beach Book 1)
Take Me Forever
(Billionaire’s Beach Book 2)
Take Me Home
(Billionaire’s Beach Book 3)
Billionaire’s Beach
(3 Book Series)
Must Love Mistletoe
(Holiday Duet Book 1)
Not Another New Year's
(Holiday Duet Book 2)
First Comes Love
(In Hot Water Book 1)
Then Comes Marriage
(In Hot Water Book 2)
Out on a Limb
(novella)
About the Author
Christie Ridgway is the author of over forty-five novels of contemporary romance. All her books are both sexy and emotional and tell about heroes and heroines who learn to believe in the power of love. A
USA Today
bestseller, Christie is a six-time RITA finalist and has won best contemporary romance of the year and career achievement awards from
Romantic Times Book Reviews
.
A native of California, Christie now resides in the southern part of the state with her family. Inspired by the beaches, mountains, and cities that surround her, she writes tales of sunny days and steamy nights. For a complete list of books, excerpts, and news on the latest going on with Christie:
Sign up for Christie’s Newsletter
Table of Contents
