“Rissa is beautiful and seems to be a good, well-mannered girl.”
“She is. Most of the time.” Julianne chuckled.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know her.”
Julianne didn’t say anything. They skated, not speaking for a bit. He kept glancing at Julianne and was drawn back to watching the slits of her shirt showing her biker shorts just beneath. Keenan glanced towards his niece to see where she was. The girls were talking and still within view. He shifted closer to Julianne, sliding his hand around her waist. She put hers around his waist as they skated.
Keenan leaned closer and whispered, “Your outfit is sexy. It’s driving me crazy.”
Chapter Three
“This old thing? I have a few rollerblading outfits that would make you even crazier. If you’re lucky, we can blade another time and I’ll show you. Not sure if you can handle it, since this one is making you crazy already.” Julianne smirked, then winked.
Keenan laughed, then replied, “I’ll take my chances. If the others are anything like this one, buy more. I love rollerblading and do it whenever I can. We’ll definitely be doing it again.”
“I love it, too. All of my family and friends do as well. We even sometimes all come together. It’s quite a sight. We’re our own tribe when we do.” She chuckled.
“I can bet. You have a large family.”
“I do. And not only Lockes by blood, either. We have a lot of friends who we see as family, even though they are no way blood related to us. I have a very extended family.”
“I haven’t met everyone yet, but at the hospital I thought there were a lot of you. Then at the poker games, I swear every week there is a different Locke that I’m introduced to. How many of y’all are there?”
“Well…um…Locke family, including my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and some who have spouses and kids, there is over a hundred of us living in Singleton. If I add the family that isn’t Locke, or even married to one, then the number would be about…a little over two hundred,” Julianne said.
Keenan whistled, then said, “Wow. I thought my family was a lot of people. We only have about forty of us. And not all of us still live here. Only my parents, Brigid, Fergus and Angus—two of my cousins—and I still live here. Does all of your family live here? How do you keep in touch with everyone? Have you always lived in this area of Singleton?”
“Yep. Well, at least this is their home base. Some of the family is in the military and have to go where they are sent or deployed. But this is where they come to when they are on leave and they also have houses here. And keeping in touch is easy. Our parents made sure of that. Yep, we’ve always lived in this area. Love it, and Singleton, in general. The whole small town, yet big city feel is what made us all settle here. That, and we’re a close family.” Julianne shrugged.
“It’s good to see you all get along together. I was born in Singleton and always lived in this area, too, but I don’t recollect any Lockes in any of my schools I went to,” he said.
Keenan guided them around some other bladers. The pedestrians who enjoyed the park were increasing. The early May day was unseasonably warm. Many were taking advantage of it. Vinmont Boulevard, where the park was located, was a fairly popular area no matter what the weather. The good-sized park had the Nicolas Amusement Park, an enclosed amphitheatre, and many shops as well as restaurants. He made a mental note to ask Julianne if she wanted to get a drink. With the warm day, they needed to keep hydrated.
“I didn’t say we all get along. But, in the end, we are family and we remember that when it counts. We moved here about twenty-four years ago when I was twelve. I don’t think I remember you in any of my classes, either. How old are you?”
“Ahhh…that explains it. I was six years ahead of you. Maybe Fergus or Angus will remember you. I’m forty-two. Where are you originally from?”
There was a slight lilt of an accent whenever she spoke. Subtle, but it gave her a sexy alto, a musical cadence he felt he should know. Each time she spoke, he wanted to kiss her, wanted to see if she moaned or called his name—would her accent get thicker?
“St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. You said you were born here, but I detect a hint of an accent. With a name like Callaghan, I’m assuming you’re Irish,” Julianne said.
“You’re the one with the accent, not me. Yep. My parents were born there and came here. Settled and made a family. They speak Gaelic and taught all of us, too. We’ve visited our family in Ireland lots of times. Now, there in Ireland, we would outnumber you ten to one.”
“You have an accent just like I do. And I wouldn’t be sure about outnumbering us. We have lots of family throughout the world and in the islands. I could count, but the math would give me a headache.” Julianne squeezed his waist playfully.
“True. I don’t have an accent. You have one…it’s sensual and lyrical,” Keenan said.
Julianne stopped and he stopped with her. She glanced up at him, and seemed to be studying him. Her golden gaze held a twinkle, which, if he didn’t miss his guess, would be her teasing him.
“You are an Irish man. A poetic one. Are you a romantic, Keenan?”
Keenan refused to blush. The heat flowed up his cheeks, and he knew he was, damn it. Julianne’s eyes widened and she cupped his cheek.
“You’re blushing.”
“I know. It’s a family curse. Thankfully, I don’t blush as easily as some of the others. No need to point it out.” He scowled.
“Oh, man, I am so going to have fun making you blush.” She chuckled.
“That’s not nice.”
“Who said I was nice?” She leaned closer to him, then whispered, “I will be very nice when I find ways to make you blush.”
“And I’ll promise to enjoy it,” Keenan said in return, his voice husky.
“Good to know. So, are you finished interrogating me?” Julianne smiled.
“Sorry. It’s habit.” Keenan chuckled.
He glanced towards the girls. They were sitting on a bench not too far away.
“Harmon and Carlton mentioned you used to be a homicide detective. Why did you leave to investigate fires?”
He returned his attention to her. “Too complicated to get into right now. Promise I will tell you sometime.”
“Do you keep your promises?” She cocked her head.
Keenan had noticed in their meeting at the hospital that she did that when she was discussing something important to her. He’d also observed that she fiddled with the edge of her hair when she was nervous about something. When they’d next met, in her office, she had done the same thing when they’d talked. When she’d approached him, he knew she’d been nervous and working up to saying something important from the way she’d fiddled with the end of her hair, then cocked her head. Julianne probably didn’t know she did those things, and he wasn’t about to tell her. He was picking up on her little mannerisms. They all made her so sexy. Each was done with such grace and unconscious sexuality.
“I do.”
“Good to know. I do, too. And I promise to make you blush. Also promise to wear something the next time we roller blade that will make you insane.” She grinned impishly.
“Have mercy,” he moaned.
“There are many types of mercy. We’ll discuss them sometime.” Julianne’s accent got thicker as she spoke.
Keenan gulped, wondering what he had got himself into. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t wait to see where it led.
“You need to buy lots more of what you’re wearing from wherever you got it. I’m going to want to roller blade a lot. Love how you move.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Montana you said so.” Julianne chuckled.
“Montana?”
“She owns the shop where I buy most of my and Rissa’s clothing, including my athletic things. She designs them and has them made.”
“If this is a sample of what she does, she’s good. The cream suit you had on in your office. Did she design that, too?”
“Yes. You seem to be obsessed with my clothes, Keenan.”
“More like…intrigued by how sexy they make you look,” he countered.
Julianne made a soft sound and glanced towards where the girls sat, then pressed against him. “You have a way with words. It could be a dangerous thing to a woman trying to be sort of a lady.”
“Being sort of a gentleman, I’ll not take advantage…yet,” Keenan whispered against the side of her face.
Julianne shivered. She pressed against his straining erection.
Julianne pulled away and breathed out. “I don’t know how I will survive our second date.”
“Second?” He fingered the edge of her braided hair.
“Seeing as we spent this time together, it could count as a date.”
“Uh-uh…this isn’t a date. That’s for later. Be ready for it,” Keenan warned.
“What do you have planned?”
“Wait and see, Julianne.” He ran his finger down her nose.
Julianne’s lids lowered partially over her captivating eyes. Keenan breathed deeply. The scent of honeysuckle and peaches filled him. Even after working up a sweat, she smelt delicious. He wanted to lick her all over.
“Mom? Are we going to skate some more?” Rissa’s voice piped in.
Keenan glanced at Rissa and Callie. The girls were skating towards them.
“Yeah. Race you!” Julianne skated off.
The girls raced behind her, laughing. Keenan followed slowly, letting his body calm down. Once he was a little more in control, he joined them. He was looking forward to their first date.
Later, as he drove to the address she’d provided, Keenan frowned at the directions. The area wasn’t too far from where his own house on Sheffield Avenue was located, but he didn’t remember ever having to drive by this place. He read the address again.
“Burrows Place, 3586 Locke Estate 4.”
Making the right onto Burrows, he drove a little farther, then slowed. Keenan’s brow furrowed as he spotted the huge sign on his right, which was made of black brick columns on either side of a semi-circle black hued plaque with gold trim along the edge. The writing on the sign, also in gold, stated “Locke Estate 1” with a list of addresses below. On each side of the sign were benches with a small shelter over them.
Since the address he’d been given didn’t match the numbers listed, he drove on slowly past the turn off where the sign was located. Keenan lifted an eyebrow as he passed not only Locke Estate two but also three, which had a similar sign and a different set of numbers, none of which matched the number he’d been given. He was surprised that there was more than one Locke Estate—when Julianne had given him the address he hadn’t even thought there would be so many. Finally spotting Locke Estate four, he made the turn. From the first sight of the two lanes, one up and the other down as well as directional signs, it reminded him of Kindred Place. He noted his destination was the farthest away from the entrance. Cresting the slight incline, he drove up the driveway, taking in the house.
It was an architectural dream. Brick, stone and stucco mixed together to create a mosaic look to the front of the house. Huge bay windows and a slanted roof offset it. From outside, it looked like two floors. On the right side of the second floor, extending out, was a balcony with glass curving from the roof and seeming to disappear behind the ornamental railing. If he had to guess, it would be the master bedroom, as the way the balcony was set up would afford privacy. Holding up the second floor platform were columns that went into arches on three sides—across the front and down both sides of the house. The area under it was a porch that led down the side of the house and out of view. He could see flower boxes and hanging plants throughout the area, and a patio table with chairs and other furnishings.
Manoeuvring his black Dodge Dakota Laramie Crew Cab into the space that seemed designed for parking, he got out. He went up the three steps under the arched stone-faced covering and onto the landing, pressing the doorbell. The door swung open before the musical chimes could stop playing. Keenan’s breath caught. He had promised himself to act like a gentleman and not strip her bare as soon as he saw her. Her clothing was testing his restraint.
Julianne’s hair was swept up, away from her face, with two curls on either side framing her captivating features and there was a welcoming smile on her lips. He lowered his head. The deep red V-neck shirt with black designs of some sort of flower on one side showcased the top of her full bosom. It fell around her body to mid-thigh and had a jagged hem. Black jeans enveloped her legs, and matching red high-heeled sandals showcased her beige-coloured toenails. Keenan gulped for air, clearing his throat before he spoke.
“Julianne, you take my breath away.”
“Ditto.” She smiled, lowering her lids over her golden eyes.
“We’d better get going. May I say hello to Rissa?”
“She’s not here. Noelle and her husband Pierce are watching her for me.”
“The interior designer, right?”
“Yes. Come in while I get my purse.”
“I better not. I don’t know if I can resist kissing you.” Keenan lowered his tone.
“Why would you have to resist? I want to taste you, Keenan.” Julianne smiled, a wicked curve of her lips.
“And I want a taste too but if I do we won’t be getting out of this house.” Keenan stated.
The look on her face clearly showed she had no problem with that idea. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Julianne’s pink tongue darted out from between her closed mouth and she licked from left to right. Keenan followed the movement, fists clenching at his side. His half-hard erection filled, pushing against his zipper. He shifted in place, trying to not take that step and back her against the nearest wall. Julianne opened her lips and let out a wanton chuckle. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. Julianne’s gaze dropped and the tip of her tongue came out again as she wet the edges once more. Keenan’s mind flashed to the fantasy he had that first night of meeting her. It would be so easy to open his pants, free his cock and she could go to her knees, taking him in.
Keenan stifled a groan, then spoke, “I’m being a gentleman.”
“I think I’d rather you be a sort of gentleman.” Julianne pursed her lips.
Keenan wanted to kiss her full, soft looking, plump flesh of her mouth. She didn’t seem to have on any makeup, or, if she did, it was so minimal he couldn’t tell. Her bottom lip was deep pink, which didn’t seem to be from lipstick. Julianne turned, leaving him and going back into the house. She returned in moments and stepped outside to join him on the stoop. Keenan waited while she locked her door, then guided her down the steps. The softness of her shirt and her heated skin filled his palm. At his truck, he helped her in and looped around the hood to the driver’s side. After getting in the vehicle, he started up and got them on their way.
“Another interesting set-up here, I see.”
Julianne laughed. “Yes. It’s like Kindred Place. This was actually what gave us the idea of how we wanted it set up. Before you set off on another interrogation about me—yes, all my siblings live here in Locke Estate Four. Locke Estate One is our parents and two aunts and uncles. Locke Estate Two is one set of my cousins. Nine to be exact. Locke Estate Three is our other set of cousins, and there are eight of them.”
Keenan did the math. “So between your parents, aunts, and uncles, they had twenty-four children. Talk about procreating.”
“Yes.”
“When you said earlier about living on the family estate, I had no clue this is what you meant. Doesn’t being so close to each other wear on you? Especially when you aren’t getting along.” Keenan reached the exit and made a left back onto Burrows Place.
“There’s more than enough space between our homes that we don’t have to see each other if we are on the outs. It’s like Kindred Place in that way—close but not on top of each other. Although, it’s even more like that here since there’s much more acreage between the homes.
”
Keenan nodded. He had noticed the roads leading to the other houses were farther apart than at Kindred Place. From what he saw, the property seemed to be vast. As they drove past the other Locke Estates, he wondered how large the land actually was.
“Do all the estates connect to each other?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t press her for how. Keenan was still working out that Julianne’s family seemed to not only be close-knit, but also had money.
“Before you get it in your head I’m some sort of rich princess or some shit, I’m not. I worked hard to be where I am. All of my family has. Our parents taught us to work for what we want. They didn’t, and still don’t, believe in just giving us things.” She sounded defensive.
Keenan glanced at her briefly. She was frowning, with her arms crossed over her chest. He couldn’t deny that his thoughts had gone that way, but, even if she was, he wasn’t about to walk away. The woman she was, and not what she had, fascinated him. Taking his hand off the wheel, he put it on her upper thigh, squeezing gently.
“I don’t give a crap. I want to know you, Julianne Locke. And that’s what I plan to do.”
He could tell she was looking at him, but he didn’t look away from the road. Julianne’s hand covered his on her leg and squeezed back.
“You keep surprising me, Keenan. I can’t figure you out. Are you the easy-going guy you portray, or something else?”
“I’m easy-going, but I have a few sides to me. Stop trying to fit me in a category and just get to know me. Just go with it.”
“Okay. I will.”
She kept her hand over his as they continued on their way. He put his hand back on the wheel while he made the turn onto Buchanan Avenue. As he drove down the street, Julianne remained silent. He made the left to the booth to enter. Keenan paid for them both, then drove in and found a parking space not too close to anyone else.
“A drive-in movie. I haven’t been to one in a long time. Used to come to this place when Rissa was younger. What’s showing?” Julianne asked eagerly.
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