Only Kendall knew the reasons. She shook her head. “Not for years. Why?”
He shrugged. “You’ll see for yourself. Do you have luggage in the trunk?” he asked.
“A small carry-on and a suitcase.” Filled with bathing suits and other vacation clothing. She sighed.
Nothing she could do about it now, so she’d have to go shopping for more practical clothing later.
He retrieved her bags and stowed them in his car before returning to cup her elbow in a gentlemanly gesture—unlike the cynical behavior he’d exhibited so far today.
A few minutes later they were on their way. Sweat trickled down Kendall’s back as the darn dress plastered to her wet skin. Despite the air-conditioning in the car, the cool blasts of air had done little to relieve the intense heat. Being in such close quarters with Rick Chandler made her body temperature soar, while he apparently remained oblivious to her charms.
He’d become her tour guide, pointing out the sights, such as they were, in his small hometown. All the while, he maintained a respectable distance while he talked. Too respectable, she thought irritably.
“We’re here.” Rick called her attention to Edgemont Street.
She glanced up. From a distance, the old house was just as she remembered it, a huge Victorian with wraparound porch and large front lawn. A place where she’d shared tea parties and had her first taste of beading and jewelry design before her aunt’s arthritis changed things. It was also the place where Kendall had nurtured childish dreams of staying forever with the aunt she adored.
But Crystal’s home had been temporary, just like every place prior or since. And once her aunt had been forced to send Kendall packing because of her health, Kendall had learned not to invest too much in the way of hopes and dreams in any one place or person. But if she’d learned that lesson well, then why the painful lump in her throat now, as she looked at the dilapidated house up close, through adult eyes? She let out a frustrated sigh.
Rick shifted the car into park and turned, one strong arm wrapped over the seat. “It’s gotten a little run-down over the years.”
“That’s an understatement.” She pasted on a smile. No need to dump her troubles on the man. He’d done enough for her already. “Aunt Crystal said she’d rented out the house. And since she never asked me to take care of anything while she was in the nursing home, even when I questioned her, I assumed things were going well. Guess I was wrong.”
“Appearances can be deceiving. All is well. It just depends on your perspective.”
There was that wry humor again. She laughed aloud, liking him way too much.
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“Are Pearl and Eldin expecting you?” he asked.
“The renters?” She nodded. “I called from the road and said I’d be in town but I’d take a hotel. They insisted I stay in the guest house in the back.” She wondered if it was in better shape than the main house in front of her. “I’d hoped to work out an agreement for them to buy.” With her aunt’s outstanding bills, Kendall needed to sell for a price at or above market value, not below.
She bit down on her lower lip. “If we reach an easy agreement, I could be out of here by the end of the week,” she said with more optimism than she felt.
Rick remained silent.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing at all. You ready to go inside?”
She nodded, realizing she’d been stalling. Before she could gather her thoughts further, Rick met her by her car door, ready to help her out. She grit her teeth before touching him, then placed her hand inside his. The electricity sizzled, even more charged than before. She couldn’t shake it off, nor did she want to, but apparently he did because he released his grip fast, leaving her to gather her dress and head for the house.
Kendall made her way up the long drive. Her spiked heels kept catching in the broken sections of the driveway but she managed to stay on her feet—until the last step before the walkway, when her heel dug into the hot tar and wedged in good. While one leg stayed behind, her entire body pitched forward in what was destined to be a facedown sprawl onto the hard ground.
She yelped, then shut her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next.
CHAPTER TWO
What was it about women and high heels? Rick didn’t know but this one looked damn cute, even in a wedding dress. He watched her wobble up the driveway and would have helped, but he had a suitcase in one hand and a hunch they were both safer at a discreet distance—until she lost her balance.
He couldn’t prevent the fall, but he could cushion the blow and he dove forward, letting her crash on top of him instead of the solid ground. He took the hit with a hard grunt as his back made painful contact with the walkway step. He sucked in a ragged breath and was caught off guard by her fragrant, arousing scent.
Damn but she was something else. Even with the wind knocked out of him, he was aware of her, and not just because her soft flowing hair tickled his face. She was feminine and soft, everything a woman should be and yet this pink-haired enigma was uniquely herself.
“Are you okay?”
He wasn’t sure who asked the question first.
“Nothing bruised but my pride,” she admitted. “You?”
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“I’ve taken harder spills sliding into second.”
“Baseball?”
“Softball against neighboring police departments.” The inane conversation did little to take his mind off the fact that he had her in his arms again. The desire licking at him grew stronger, something she couldn’t possibly feel with all that plush lace between them. But despite the dress, he could feel plenty and it was time to untangle their bodies before he made an ass of himself by kissing her senseless. “Think you can get off before you crush me?”
“Is that a veiled reference to my weight?” she asked.
Only a confident female could joke like that, cementing the impression that she wasn’t at all like other women. She rolled off to one side and he missed the light pressure against him.
He glanced over and stifled a laugh. Instead of an easy release, she’d tangled herself further in the dress.
“You know what they say. If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.” He let out an exaggerated groan and rose to his feet. Then he bent down and lifted the fluffy white bundle into his arms.
“What are you doing?” She grabbed for his neck and held on tight.
His back had taken the brunt of the fall and he wasn’t about to risk a repeat episode. “Protecting my vital body parts from further injury.”
“Funny, you felt pretty intact to me.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. So much for the illusion of safety beneath the layered dress. He wanted her and she knew it.
A woman fresh from a broken engagement, one who affected him this strongly, was dangerous. She also was fun, something he just now realized he hadn’t had in a long while. Life had become routine. It was a sad commentary if he could consider his mother and her small female army of recruits routine. But Kendall wasn’t one of his mother’s women and he liked her more for it.
He strode up the walk, leaving the luggage behind and even managed the steps leading to the house with her in his arms. Without warning, the door opened wide. Pearl Robinson, the female renter of her aunt’s house and one half of an elderly couple living in sin, as Pearl was so fond of telling everyone in town, stood before them.
“Eldin, we have company,” Pearl called over her shoulder. She’d been with Eldin Wingate forever. She smoothed her gray hair back in a bun. “I was expecting Crystal’s niece, but not two of you.” Her gaze traveled over both Rick and the woman in his arms. “You’ve been holding out on us, Rick. And you’ve been holding out on your mother too. Why just this morning, she was lamenting her grandchildless fate.”