Luck Be A Lady (Destiny Bay Romances-The Ranchers Book 5)

by Helen Conrad

  Chin high, she walked into the retail section of the nursery. Cody looked even taller than she remembered. There was a slow, lazy grace to the man that belied the leashed danger she felt. She wasn’t sure what the danger was exactly, she only knew she’d sensed it from the moment she’d met him. Even after being beaten up, his gaze had been wry and sardonic rather than angry or hurt. He was an observer. He didn’t let life get in close where it could hurt him. And that made him one of the most dangerous men around.

  It was obvious he’d been asking Sadie about her. They both turned as she walked in. She stifled an involuntary shudder and smiled at them both.

  Chapter Three

  “Friend to see you,” Sadie called.

  Kelly scowled. Sadie didn’t think much of visiting during working hours, and since she was so tolerant of Tammy hanging around, Kelly hated to push it. Still, she could hardly tell Cody to get lost right off the bat.

  She nodded, forcing another smile. “Well, hello,” she said, going behind the counter while he sauntered over to lean on it from the other side. “What brings you to Sadie’s Nursery and Florist Shop?”

  All in all, she was quite proud of her casual tone. This wasn’t going to be so difficult, after all. They would exchange a few pleasantries and he would soon be on his way.

  He’d disturbed her the night before. It had been almost four years since Tim had died, and no man had stirred her in all that time. She’d vaguely thought that she was beyond that sort of thing—that she was too busy, too worried, too tired. She’d never felt more than a sisterly affection for Glenn, regardless of how perfect he would be to marry. Yet one glance into this gambler’s dark gaze and she’d felt a curious quiver inside, an aching, a longing. It wasn’t something she wanted to feel again. It was too tempting to sample the sensations he promised, even if covertly.

  So she kept her gaze cool, her tone light, and she busied her hands with some papers on the counter, cleaning up after the notoriously messy Sadie.

  He waited just a beat too long before answering her question. “I came to see you,” he said at last, and as she met his dark gaze, all her confidence fell away.

  Kelly fought it hard, making herself smile once more. Funny how brave she’d been facing physical harm in that alley, and what a coward she was about emotional pain. Talk, she told herself. And don’t look into his eyes again. Instead, she looked at his face. “You seem to have repaired nicely,” she said.

  The only evidence of the beating that she could see was a slight swelling of one corner of his lower lip. He had a gorgeous mouth, she thought irrelevantly, then looked away.

  “The body’s doing okay,” he agreed. “The suit was a goner, though.”

  “That’s too bad.” She picked up some stray paper clips and slipped them back into their box in the top drawer. Then she started wiping up stray bits of dirt with a damp cloth. If Sadie looked over she’d be gratified, but Cody must know she was merely doing anything she could to avoid his eyes.

  She hated that—his knowing. And darn it all! She was too strong a woman, had come too far to let this happen. Slowly, deliberately, she put down the cloth, leaned her hips against the counter and met his gaze fully.

  “But this suit looks even better on you,” Kelly said evenly. “I’m sure you’ll get over the loss.”

  He smiled slightly and his dark eyes sent a message, “So you want it that way, do you?” Aloud, he said, “I don’t know about that. It was one of a kind. And I’m partial to the unique in life.” Cody paused, examining the side of her face, and she was sure there was a dirt smudge on her cheek. It took all her strength to stop from reaching to wipe it away. “Unique items, unique people,” he murmured at last.

  There was a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d had enough. He’d come by to pay his respects one more time, and it was over. Time he got on his way. “Well, it’s been nice seeing you,” she said coolly, then waited for him to take the hint she’d presented as his exit cue.

  He let it lie right there on the counter between them, though he recognized it for what it was. He knew—as if he could read her mind-—how she felt. She’d made it pretty clear the night before, and he’d taken it to heart at the time. After a night of reflection, he’d changed his mind. He knew she wanted him gone. She didn’t like gamblers, probably didn’t much like most men who were slightly threatening to her peace of mind.

  So he threatened her. He liked that. Better to arouse unease than no emotion at all. The more he’d thought about it, the more he’d realized she might be worth the effort. She was certainly a class above any woman he’d ever dated in his life. It might be worth the effort to see how far he could take this.

  Looking her up and down now, Cody swore softly to himself. Well, this was what you wanted, he told himself grimly. You wanted to see her one more time, and here she is. Now what?

  She was kicking him out, that was what. Only he didn’t want to go. Funny how she’d stuck in the back of his mind all week. He’d told himself to forget about her and for the most part, he had. He’d hardly given her a full thought for over a week, until last night, and then he’d seen Monty and been reminded of the things he was supposed to forget. Suddenly Kelly’s face was in his thoughts constantly, always with a frown of disapproval at his easy ability to turn a blind eye to crime that was going on right under his nose.

  “What you don’t understand,” he’d kept saying to Kelly’s frowning specter, “is that there’s nothing I can really do about it. I’m a gambler. Not a creditable witness. They could accuse me of spite and vindictiveness and I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Besides, nobody cares. It’s business as usual around here.”

  The specter didn’t listen to his arguments, so he’d come to see the original-the real thing. Like a visit to his conscience.

  “You didn’t ever report what happened to the cops, did you?” he asked, just to make further conversation.

  Not realizing how casual the question was, Kelly stopped in her tracks. Was that it? Had he come by to check up on her, to see if she’d snitched? Was he really worried about that?

  “Of course not,” she said indignantly. “And I don’t suppose you have either, have you?”

  His lazy grin infuriated her. “I’m not suicidal,” Cody told her.

  She stared at him for a moment, then turned away. “It’s getting late,” she muttered.

  “You must have places to go, people to see.”

  “I thought I’d stick around for a while,” he drawled, leaning on one elbow. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

  “But I don’t.” She moved from behind the counter, starting back toward the greenhouse. “I’ve got work to do.”

  “That’s all right.” He was following her. “We can talk while you work.”

  Kelly spun and frowned at him. “If you’ve got something to say, say it,” she retorted. “I have no idea why you’re here.”

  “I told you why.” He stood easily before her, the picture of cool confidence. “I wanted to see how you were doing. Make sure you hadn’t been visited by our friends from the alley—‘’

  “Your friends from the alley,” she corrected him. “They haven’t been by. But I’ll be sure to say hello for you if they show up.”

  His grin spread slowly over his dark, handsome face. “You do that,” Cody said. “In the meantime, how about lunch?”

  She forced herself not to look away. “What about it?”

  He made a formal bow, bending at the waist with effortless grace. “Would you, fair lady, care to accompany me to the dining room at the Marquis for a noontime repast?”

  Kelly stared at him. He was actually asking her out. Didn’t he realize what he was doing here? Talk about the twain that never met.

  She had a quick, tempting picture of how he would look across a linen-covered table. What was it about this man that pulled at her this way? Best not to think about it. That was an invitation to madness.

  “No thank you,” she sai
d at last, politely, turning toward the greenhouse again.

  But he wasn’t about to give up so easily. With one quick step he erased the escape route, blocking her path. “Why not?”

  She blinked, her bright gaze warning him to leave well enough alone. But he wouldn’t. She could see that. Politeness wasn’t going to make any progress with him. She might as well be blunt. “Because I don’t want to.”

  He didn’t seem surprised, but he didn’t seem vanquished either. “What? Why?” He glanced down at himself as though thoroughly baffled, but he was mocking her, playing with her all the time. “Is it my clothes? My haircut? My grammar?”

  She looked at him. There was certainly very little to complain about on the surface. Her attention was caught by the turquoise ring on his dark hand, and she quickly shoved her own hands into her dress pockets. She’d bought Tim a turquoise ring once, but he’d laughed and never worn it. “Rings are dangerous,” he’d said. “Might get caught on the machinery.” That had been his excuse for never wearing a wedding band, either. But it hadn’t been rings that had killed him.

  She glanced back at where Cody stood, still waiting for an answer. “Let’s just say all of the above and leave it at that,” she exclaimed, a little more roughly than he deserved. She saw the reaction in his eyes and she regretted her tone right away.

  “I...I’m sorry,” she temporized quickly. “What I mean is, we’re from different worlds, you and I. We don’t have anything in common. Why try to force a...a friendship? Why not leave well enough alone?” She hesitated, searching his dark eyes. She could see she’d made her point, and that he’d known it himself all along. “Goodbye,” she said softly. Slipping past him, she made her way back into the greenhouse, hoping he wouldn’t follow.

  And for a moment he didn’t. He watched her go, the skirt of her checkered dress swirling as she flounced around the corner, and his hand slipped into his pocket, taking hold of the car keys he’d recently put there. He tapped the plastic case with his forefinger as he took a look around the shop. The acrid smell of dirt and fertilizer made him twitch his nose. A telephone rang, and somewhere unseen he heard Sadie answer it.

  “Hello, Sadie’s Nursery.... Oh, Glenn? She’s busy with... someone right now. Can I have her call you back? Okay. Will do.”

  Cody’s shoulders sagged and he chuckled softly. He wasn’t sure just what it was—the sense of competition, the challenge of the bluff, or something deeper— but he couldn’t give up yet. He shoved the keys back into his pocket and made his way into the greenhouse.

  Kelly looked up accusingly from where she was moving pots of African violets. What was the matter with the man? Was he a glutton for punishment? She hated treating someone this way. It hurt her, too. Why did he keep making her do it?

  He met her eyes and nodded a resigned agreement with the exasperation he could read in her face. “Bad penny syndrome,” he concurred, standing before her, legs spread and hands on his hips. “But I’m not finished humiliating myself.”

  His eyes were full of a mocking warmth and a quick, perceptive intelligence. He knew too much, could read her mind, could tell what her plans were before she knew them herself. She felt surrounded, hemmed in. He grinned and she felt even worse. He made her want to laugh. That was dangerous. If he could get her to laugh, he could get her to do most anything.

  His grin faded and his glance skimmed down her cheek until it came to rest on the simple diamond that hung on a gold chain and rested at the pulse point at the base of her throat. Involuntarily she reached up and covered it, then wished she hadn’t as he raised his smile to meet her eyes.

  “If not lunch,” he said softly, “how about dinner?”

  She wanted to glare at him, but somehow she couldn’t manage it. Speechless, she shook her head.

  “Okay, I’m not demanding,” Cody went on, his voice deepening into another sensual assault on her senses. “Let me stand you one lousy little drink at the Marquis.”

  He terrified her. She had to get away before he broke down her carefully guarded defenses once and for all. Kelly started to turn away, groping blindly for a way out, but he caught hold of her arm, forcing her to face him.

  “Listen,” he said softly, holding her closer than she wanted to be held, his face very near hers, his tone very intimate. “You did me a great big favor the other day, and I don’t feel that I’ve properly thanked you for it. Let me buy you a drink, at least.” His tempting smile beguiled her again. “Indulge me,” he murmured.

  His hand seemed to burn into the flesh of her arm—but in a good way. Looking up into his face, she was aware of his male aggressiveness, the body heat that sent her pulse racing and made her knees feel wobbly. Lord, but he was gorgeous! She wanted to touch him, to rub her cheek against his, to slide her hand beneath the pristine starched shirt and search out the excitement of his heartbeat. It had been so long.

  Swallowing hard, Kelly hid the longing in the depths of her flashing eyes and reminded herself of what else she was aware of—his sleek, easy charm and the assurance that he would get his own way eventually.

  “Only not this time,” she promised herself silently. With cool deliberation, she pried away his fingers and stepped back.

  “Look,” she said aloud, her voice rising with her emotions. “I think I can be honest. After all, you’ve asked for it.” Her chin rose defiantly. “Nothing personal, but you’re from a side of this town I try to stay away from. You make your living doing something I don’t approve of. I wish your type would clean up their act, and in the meantime I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

  Cody winced, thrusting his head back as though he’d been hit. “Whoever said honesty was the best policy?” he muttered.

  “Not a gambler, that’s for sure.” She straightened her shoulders, glad she’d been brutal. Surely he would go now!

  But he didn’t budge. He leaned back against the doorway instead, his eyes narrowed assessingly. “If that’s the way you feel, maybe you should have left me in that alley,” he drawled.

  She clasped her hands together, feeling desperate. “Maybe I should have,” she said.

  “But you didn’t.” He grinned. “And now you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

  Panic was rising in her chest. What was she going to have to do to get rid of him? “The only way I’ll have anything to do with you is business wise,” she insisted, her voice high and shaky. “You want to buy a plant? If so, we’ll talk. About that, and only that. If not, please leave.”

  She made a grand gesture toward the exit, and at that same moment Sadie appeared in the doorway, attracted by the raised voices. “Something wrong here?” she asked, her bright gaze flitting from Kelly to Cody and back again.

  Kelly stared at Cody, not saying a word. He stared right back. “No,” he said at last. “I was just about to buy a plant, that’s all.” An idea came to him and his face cleared. “Or better yet, some flowers.” He turned and smiled at Sadie, using the charm that made most women melt on contact. “Kelly can take care of that, can’t she? I’ve got a big order to make.”

  Sadie didn’t melt, but she did smile back. “Sure she can. The bigger the order, the better we like it.”

  “Good.”

  “Go ahead, honey,” Sadie said to Kelly. “Write it up. Anything the gentleman wants.” With another smile at Cody, she turned on her heel and disappeared.

  Cody turned slowly to look down at Kelly. “Did you hear that?” he purred. “Anything I want.”

  Sadie’s choice of terms was unfortunate. Kelly groaned. Was everything, even luck, against her today? Walking quickly over to the cutting table, she slapped down the order pad and pulled out a pencil.

  “As long as it’s flowers,” she reminded him evenly. “Now—what do you want and where’s it going?”

  He came toward the table slowly, pulling a small black book out of his vest pocket as he approached her. Pressing it open, he set it down before her.

  “Let’s start with t
he A’s,” he said simply, swinging up to sit on the corner of the heavy stone table. “And go from there.”

  She stared down at the crisp, clear writing in the book. It was filled with the names and addresses of women. He was going to order flowers for all the women he knew—and something told her he knew a lot of them.

  “Why not start with the A’s?” she agreed wryly. “Just like the telephone book.”

  “Tanya Allen,” he said, ignoring her dig and sliding his index finger down the list, stopping at the name. “Now this is a lady who looks best under neon. You should see her head of red hair. It glows in the dark.” He frowned, considering carefully. “Let’s send her a dozen long-stemmed, dyed carnations.”

  Kelly wrote down his order, gritting her teeth at the “Let’s.” This was not a community effort as far as she was concerned. In fact, she was chagrined at how much she resented the vivid descriptions he gave for each of his choices.

  All in all, it took almost an hour to take his order. No one disturbed them. Tammy had been picked up by her friend and her friend’s mother to go to a sleep-over. The attendants who took care of the watering had all gone home for the afternoon and Sadie was busy in the retail shop. Kelly called to her a couple of times, making sure she wasn’t being swamped, but Sadie told her to take care of Cody, which made him smile happily.

  In the end, he narrowed his recipient list down to ten names. As he went through each one, remembering little things that made each one special, she began to wonder how much was true and how much was made up for her benefit. At times, he actually coaxed a smile from her, despite it all.

  He was funny. He was sexy. He was entertaining. But he was also a gambler with the standards of a dilettante and the instincts of a shark. While she was the mother of a ten-year-old girl. A softball coach. And a person who cared about right and wrong—cared, in fact, about too many things. She couldn’t let him get to her.