To Win Her Trust

by Mackenzie Crowne

  CC shook her head instead. “Everything’s fine.”

  Mary stabbed him with a steely stare. “You sweet on our CC, Mr. Tucker?”

  “Mary!”

  Her neighbor ignored her horrified outburst, holding Tuck’s amused gaze.

  “I admit I am. Can you blame me?” He winked at CC. “She sure is pretty.”

  Mary pointed a gnarled finger at his nose. “She’s a good girl. Always helps out her neighbors. You do right by her, or you’ll answer to me.”

  He nodded solemnly, but his eyes danced with humor. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Disgusted with both of them, CC found her voice. “Will you excuse us, Mary?” She speared Tuck with a don’t-you-dare-cross-me glare and jerked her head toward her open door. “I need to speak to you for a minute. Inside.”

  He nodded, then turned his dimpled smile on her nosy neighbor. “A pleasure, ma’am.” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial burr. “It so happens I’ve been in Parsons Market and Wanda told me personally if I ever needed anything, I should ask. You tell her I asked you to pick me up an order of her best cantaloupe. She’ll fix you up.”

  Mary harrumphed, but her eyes gleamed with anticipation. CC shook her head. Of course Wanda Parsons promised him special treatment. Like Mary, the grocer was a woman and a chatty one at that. How many times had she greeted CC personally as she walked through the door? No doubt he’d had Wanda eating out of his hand the moment he arrived in her store.

  Mary faced CC and a rare smile twisted her lips beneath the thick coat of dark red lipstick. “It’s about time you found yourself a handsome young man, young lady.” Her empty shopping cart clanged behind her as she toddled down the brick sidewalk.

  CC refused to look at him. Patting her thigh, she turned and went inside with Walter at her heels. Tuck followed then shut the door behind him. She spun around to find him glancing around her home. He propped his hands on his hips and faced her.

  She jabbed a finger in his direction. “Don’t say a word.”

  “Aw, don’t pout.” A dimple popped in his slow smile. “Can I help it your neighbor has good taste?”

  “I mean it. Just shut up for a minute and let me think.”

  He grinned and surprised her by complying. Relaxing into a hip-cocked stance, he raised a blond brow and waited.

  Chapter 6

  CC’s teeth gnashed at the soft skin of her bottom lip as she held firm beneath his steady gaze. If the last two days were any indication, he was already going to be a problem. Now that he’d overheard her crazy proposition….

  A little bit of research and she knew more about the Marauders’ sexy wide receiver than she wanted to. She hadn’t been the least surprised at the countless articles proclaiming his class-A, lady-killer status. If the reports were correct, he’d left a crisscrossing trail of broken hearts across the country and beyond. Not the type of man to waste his time chasing after a woman who’d made it more than clear she wasn’t interested. So, what was up with the heavy-duty pass?

  Under normal circumstances, she’d enjoy handing a player like him a resounding defeat, but with Ronald out of the running, her list of candidates had shot from one to zero. Why shouldn’t she use Tuck’s stubborn refusal to take no for an answer to her advantage? There was no denying he was attractive, and after Ronald’s rejection, her ego could use the boost.

  Physically, Tuck couldn’t be more perfect for her needs, and emotionally, she had nothing to worry about. She had an advantage there. For the first time in her life, she was thankful for a childhood spent in the shadow of Curt Jenson. If anyone knew how to deal with an overblown, egotistical ladies’ man, she did.

  A couple of weeks were all she required. Tuck’s ego would be soothed, and she’d have her answers, hopefully crossing one more item off her list of fears just in time for her deadline. A win-win situation as far as she could see. First, however, she needed to explain a few things, and he was going to agree to some ground rules.

  At Tuck’s side, Walter whined. His dark chocolate gaze met hers. Do I need to bite you?

  She snorted. Clearing her throat, she ignored Zorro to arch a brow at Tuck. “I have a proposition for you.”

  * * * *

  “A proposition, huh? Seems to be a lot of that going around this morning.” Tuck bit back a grin at the frown wrinkling her brow. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but his timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The little darling was in the market for a man, and the fool with the briefcase had left the field wide open.

  “The conversation you overheard with Ronald isn’t what you think.”

  “Ronald?”

  “My agent.”

  “Ah, the stiff.”

  She lifted her chin in offense. “Ronald is a nice man.”

  “Uh-huh. What part of that conversation didn’t I understand? Because it sounded like a case of the stiff turning down your sweet request for a date.”

  “He happens to have a girlfriend.” Challenge sparkled in her eyes. “You obviously began eavesdropping after he mentioned that.”

  “No, I heard that part. I also heard he just met the woman, and they don’t have an exclusive arrangement.”

  “Some men are gentlemen.”

  He smiled and rolled back on his heels. “Don’t fool yourself, sweetheart. When it comes to women, no man is a gentleman. Some are just slicker than others.”

  “You’d know all about that.” He grinned at her grumbled tone. She slashed a hand between them. “We’re getting off track.”

  “I didn’t know we were following one.”

  “I am and if you’d be quiet for a minute, I could get back to it.”

  “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

  She huffed a sigh. “As I said, I have a proposition for you.”

  “Whatever it is, I’m in.”

  She blinked. “That’s it? No hesitation or questions?”

  “Oh, I’ll get to them, eventually, but when a beautiful woman starts a conversation with ‘I have a proposition for you,’ a smart man doesn’t question his luck.”

  The immediate blush coloring her cheeks pleased him to no end, as did her sexy habit of chewing on her bottom lip. He wanted to suck that plump flesh into his mouth and sink his tongue deep, just as he wanted to sink another body part even deeper. He tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and rolled his shoulders.

  The challenge faded from her eyes, replaced with uncertainty, but she forged ahead. “You may have noticed I have a problem with, uh…elevated anxiety.”

  The admission surprised him, considering her comment the other day about privacy, but with his plan for seduction about to take a major step forward, if she wanted to share details he hadn’t asked for, he was happy to oblige. Since she was the one to bring up the issue, he saw no reason to mince words.

  “Elevated anxiety? What I saw looked more like a full-blown panic attack.”

  She nodded. “Yes, well, I have a form of agoraphobia. I’ve suffered from it most of my life.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why?”

  “You nearly fainted in my arms, all because a handful of strangers stopped to look at you. I’m no expert, but anxiety that intense has to have a root cause. What brought about the attacks?”

  She stiffened and her face went blank of all emotion. “For the purpose of my proposition, the root cause of the attacks isn’t important.”

  The coolness in her voice was a roadblock he couldn’t afford. Not when he was finally getting somewhere. He curled his lips in a boyish grin. “Aww, but I’m curious.”

  “Then you’re destined to be disappointed because it’s not up for discussion.”

  “What if I insist?”

  She matched his cross-armed stance. “What if I insist you go and never come back?”

  He chuckled and backed off. For now. “Fair enough, but if the subject isn’t up for discussion, why mention it?”

  “I didn’t mention the cause, you did. I brought up
the attacks themselves or, more precisely, the attack I experienced yesterday, which directly correlates with my proposition.”

  “Which is?”

  “Since Ronald obviously isn’t available, I’m wondering if you’d be interested in…dating me? Temporarily, of course.”

  His gut muscles clenched in anticipation. A huge step toward victory. He cocked his head. “Well, now. Can you give me a second to think about it?”

  She met his teasing grin with a blank stare.

  “That’s a question you don’t need to ask.”

  “Yes, I do, and before you answer, there are a few things you should know.”

  He quirked a brow. “If you tell me you used to be a man, you’ll break my heart.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I.” He laughed when she huffed an impatient breath, and he touched a fingertip to her brow. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You get the cutest little wrinkle between your eyes when you’re aggravated.”

  She batted his hand away. “If you aren’t going to take this seriously, then we may as well forget it.”

  “Aww now, I said I was sorry. Go ahead. What is it I need to know?”

  “First stipulation.” She held up her index finger. “I said temporary and I mean it. I’m talking a few dates. Three tops.”

  “That’s precise. May I ask why the arbitrary number?”

  “I’m not interested in long term.”

  He nodded. “Okay, I can appreciate that, since I’m not either. What is it exactly you are interested in?”

  “Understanding.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I want to understand how you managed to stop a panic attack in its tracks because, believe me when I tell you, that’s never happened before.”

  He shook his head. “I’m confused. If you wanted to know how I stopped the attack, why were you propositioning Ronald? Why not come straight to me?”

  “I figured it would work with any man, and I like Ronald.”

  Definitely confused. “It?”

  “The kissing thing. I’ve never considered that approach before, but I can’t argue with the results.” The sexy wrinkle deepened when she frowned. “That brings me to stipulation number two. Our dates need to involve some kind of gathering where I can test my theory amongst a group of strangers.”

  He wanted to stop her there and get to the bottom of that “kissing thing” comment. What did she mean she hadn’t considered that approach before? But she was on a roll. He couldn’t wait to see where she led them. “What’s this theory?”

  “It’s twofold, actually.” Like a professor in front of her class, she warmed to her subject. “You shocked the breath right back into me when you kissed me, but I’ve been thinking, maybe the shock isn’t what allowed me to calm down. Maybe the difference was I was concentrating on something other than the crowd for a change. It makes sense, don’t you think?”

  Her mouth twisted and her bright eyes clouded over in blind concentration, as if she were working out the issue. She didn’t wait for him to reply. “And then there was the way you sent the crowd on their way. No one’s ever done that for me before. With very few exceptions, whenever I’ve had an attack, I’ve been on my own.”

  A memory of the wild fear in her eyes flashed in his mind, and an odd band of discomfort squeezed his chest. “What about your family? Couldn’t they see what was happening?”

  She lowered her lashes, shuttering the flash of wariness in the soul-deep depths of her eyes. Dismissing his question with a wave of her hand, she changed the subject. “As you can imagine, agoraphobics tend to keep to themselves, and that’s part of my problem.”

  There was more to her sudden desire to jump into the New York dating pool than met the eye. As a student of the human experience, he enjoyed discovering the twists and turns that made a person who they were. Uncovering CC Calhoun’s path to the fascinating woman she was would be a pleasant side benefit to getting her into his bed. Her theory might be wacky on the surface, but he had to admit, she made it sound logical in backward kind of way. As for testing the concept? He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  “I’m happy to help you test your theory, but your three-date cutoff may trip us up. That doesn’t give us a lot of time. What happens if you don’t have an attack?”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “You have them that often?”

  “Not usually, since I tend to avoid situations that trigger them. To tell the truth, I avoid most public situations. I’m not a recluse. I do venture out, like my daily trip to the coffee shop, visits to the gym, the library, that kind of thing, but for the most part, I keep to myself. I’m working on changing that.”

  Short bristle scratched his palm as he dragged it over his chin. “I don’t want you to take this wrong, or think I’m not interested, because nothing could be further from the truth, but if all you’re interested in is recreating what happened in front of the coffee shop, we could take Walter down to the end of the block right now.”

  “We could do that, but what’s the point of learning how to handle the attacks if I continue to keep to myself? I’m talking about making a life change here, one that eventually leads to the kind of life normal people take for granted. I want to go where I want, when I want, without worrying about falling apart in front of strangers. To do that, I need to learn to be comfortable around men. I have to start somewhere, and since you insist on showing up on my doorstep without an invite, that somewhere might as well be with you.”

  Unease ratcheted down his spine. Uncomfortable around men? What the fuck? “Why are you uncomfortable around men?”

  She stiffened at the question but held her ground. “That’s another subject not up for discussion.”

  Anger gurgled in his gut. “Did someone hurt you?”

  She lifted her chin. “Not in the way you’re thinking. I don’t like to talk about my past. If that’s going to be a problem, you might as well go right now.”

  Relief made him dizzy. The thought of some faceless man forcing her… He heaved a cleansing breath. “Fair enough, but you said you needed to start somewhere. Does that mean what I think it means?”

  She raised a questioning brow.

  “You’ve never dated anyone?”

  She shook her head.

  “Ever?”

  Another shake.

  “That would make you a…”

  “Virgin.” Her squinted eyes dared him to comment.

  Fuck!

  His eyes slid shut. Sweat broke out on his brow. His libido howled in frustration, mourning the instant death of his lascivious plans for her seduction.

  “I don’t see why my lack of a sex life would be a problem since—”

  “Of course you don’t.” He opened his eyes to meet her gaze. “Sex complicates things, CC. Especially for a…when you’re a…” He held out a flat hand and indicated her body. “You know.”

  The heat of her sudden smile stroked over him like caressing fingers.

  He bit back a groan. “Why are you smiling? I’m about to cry.”

  Her smile became a chuckle. “You can’t even say the word.”

  “And you find that funny?”

  “Hilarious.”

  He ground his teeth hard enough to chip enamel.

  “Actually, I’m kind of relieved.”

  He coughed a pained laugh. “I’m glad one of us is.” Damn it, he should go. He needed to pick a fight or at least punch something. A few minutes abusing the heavy bag in Max’s gym might ease his need to put a fist through the wall. Damn it all to hell. A virgin. A fucking virgin. Huh! He could too say the word. He simply didn’t want to. Not when just thinking it made every fantasy he’d built around seducing the little blonde shrivel and die.

  Fuck, bad analogy. He shifted uncomfortably. “This isn’t going to work. You’re a beautiful woman, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t…despoil virgins.”

  She had
the audacity to laugh, and her sunny humor was so completely seductive he couldn’t help his smile—until her cool fingers patted his cheek.

  “There. That wasn’t so hard. Was it?”

  He retreated a step. The hand he scraped over his jaw shook, and he quickly dropped his arm to his side. “You’re not thinking clearly. You teased me about being a gigolo the other day, and you weren’t far from the truth. I’ve been with a lot of women. Enough to know a woman like you needs a different kind of man.”

  She crossed her arms, but the shadow of a smile remained in her eyes. “Is that why you tracked me down and showed up at my door?” Her brow puckered. “How did you track me down?”

  Oh, no. They weren’t going there. “My point is, you need a man who’s in it for the long haul. That’s not me.”

  “I guess you didn’t hear my first stipulation. I’m not interested in long term.”

  Tuck scoffed. “You say that now.”

  “Yes, I do say that now because it’s the truth.” The sneer curling CC’s lips surprised him. “Long term is for suckers. Consider yourself a means to an end, if that helps. I know exactly who and what you are, Kevin Tucker. My father and you could compare notes, so you’ll have to believe me when I say you’re exactly what I need. You’re charming”—she ran her gaze down his body and up again—”okay on the eyes, and you don’t know the meaning of permanent.”

  Put that way, he sounded like the gigolo she’d called him. He’d never been anyone’s means to an end before and wasn’t sure he liked it. And yet, she still wanted him for her wacky experiment? She watched him in silence, but he didn’t have a clue what to say. She sighed, dropping her arms to prop her hands on her hips.

  “You’re getting all worked up over nothing. I’m relieved to hear you don’t despoil virgins.” Her teeth flashed in a cheeky grin. “That sounds like a line from Gone With the Wind, by the way, but if you’d let me finish, you’d know I don’t plan to sleep with you.”