Pretend You're Safe

by Alexandra Ivy

  Jaci shook her head. “No way. I’ve already endured an encounter with my mother. That’s my family limit for the week.”

  “It will only take a minute.” He reached up to wipe a stray drop of rain from her nose. “And I promise to protect you.”

  “No.”

  Predictably, Rylan ignored her protest, angling across the parking lot to head straight toward Payton.

  “Crap,” Jaci growled, trying to keep up with his long strides. “You’re a pain, you know that?”

  “Yep,” he acknowledged, his swift pace never slowing until he came to a smooth halt in front of Jaci’s beautiful sister. “Hello, Payton,” he said with a charming smile.

  The younger woman flinched, clearly caught off guard to be recognized. Which was ridiculous considering everyone knew everyone in the area.

  Then realizing who was standing in front of her, Payton’s embarrassment was swiftly forgotten.

  “Rylan Cooper,” the woman drawled, her expression melting from annoyance to pure female invitation as her gaze drifted down Rylan’s hard body. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”

  “I agree.” He deliberately glanced toward her loaded cart and a flush darkened Payton’s perfect ivory skin. “Very unexpected.”

  “Our housekeeper is taking a few days off,” she hastily explained. “Unfortunately that means we all have to pitch in and cover her duties.”

  “A necessary evil?” Rylan teased.

  “Yes.” Her expression unexpectedly tightened, then with an obvious effort, she was shaking off her dark thought to reach out and lay her manicured fingers on Rylan’s arm. “I heard you were in town. We should . . .” Her words trailed away as she suddenly realized Rylan wasn’t there alone. “Oh. Jaci.”

  Jaci resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Payton always managed to make her feel as if she’d just crawled out of a pigpen.

  “Hello, Payton,” she managed in civil tones.

  The blue eyes shifted from Jaci back to Rylan, then back to Jaci.

  “Are you here together?”

  It was the sheer disbelief in her voice that prompted Jaci to press herself against Rylan’s side.

  “Rylan insisted on helping me with my deliveries this morning.”

  The disbelief remained. “Really?”

  Ignoring Rylan’s bemused smile, Jaci pressed even closer. Okay, it was juvenile. But the Hamilton clan brought out the worst in her.

  “Why are you so surprised?” she demanded.

  “I thought you and Mike had a thing going,” Payton accused with a deliberate attempt to cause trouble.

  In response Rylan wrapped his arm possessively around Jaci’s shoulders.

  “That’s in the past,” he said, casually brushing his lips over her cheek. “Isn’t it, Jaci?”

  She swallowed a low moan. The warmth of his body chased away the chill that had plagued her since she’d found the locket on her door, his warm scent teasing at her senses.

  The game was getting out of hand. Time for a distraction.

  “I’ve never seen you at the grocery store before,” she said, focusing her attention squarely on Payton.

  Her sister shrugged. “As I said, our housekeeper is on vacation.”

  Jaci parted her lips to ask why the sheriff was interested in Anne when Rylan gave her shoulder a sudden squeeze. A silent reminder that they were supposed to be finding out about her half brother.

  “I saw Mother yesterday,” she instead said, her voice overly nonchalant. She sucked at playing spy. And it didn’t help that Rylan still had his arm wrapped around her. How the heck was she supposed to think straight? “She said Christopher was home from college.”

  Payton shrugged. “He returned a few days ago.”

  “I haven’t seen him around,” Jaci pressed. “What’s he doing?”

  A blond brow flicked upward. “Doing?”

  “He just graduated from college. I assume he’s busy looking for a job.”

  Another shrug. “He’s gone today, so he might be setting up some interviews.”

  Okay. This was getting them nowhere.

  Time to be blunt.

  “I never heard what his degree was in,” she said. “I’m assuming he’s going into business like his father?”

  Payton stiffened, a sudden anger darkening her eyes. “What do you care?”

  “He’s a part of my family,” Jaci forced herself to say, even managing a fake smile.

  Payton’s nose flared, as if she’d just caught a foul scent. “We might be related, Jaci Patterson, but you’ve never been a part of our family.”

  Ouch.

  Jaci flinched as the poisonous arrow found its target. It was stupid. She’d endured rejection after rejection over the years from her supposed relatives. She should be used to their verbal blows.

  Instead she instantly gave in to the childish need to hit back.

  “If you think that’s an insult, you’re wrong,” she assured the younger woman, barely resisting the urge to topple her off her absurd high heels. Seriously, who went grocery shopping in Louboutins? “My grandparents were the only family I needed.”

  Sensing the brewing fight, Rylan tugged her a step back as he spoke.

  “I haven’t seen Christopher in years.” He intruded into the conversation. “I should stop by and catch up with him. When will he be home?”

  Payton paused, no doubt struggling to regain her composure as she turned her attention to Rylan.

  “I’m not sure,” she told him.

  “Ah.” Rylan pretended to be disappointed. “Maybe I’ll just stop by later today to see if he’s made it home.”

  Payton glanced toward her groceries before giving a sharp shake of her head.

  “I’m sorry, but this really isn’t a good time. I’ll have him give you a call.”

  With a meaningless smile she pushed her cart and hurried along the line of parked cars to the expensive silver SUV at the end of the lot.

  Keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders, Rylan steered her back to the Jeep.

  “Interesting,” he said.

  “What’s interesting?” she asked, pulling away from his distracting touch.

  “She didn’t want me visiting her brother. I wonder why.”

  Jaci snorted, yanking open the door of her Jeep. “I wonder a lot of things about Payton,” she said, climbing into her seat and switching on the engine. “Mainly why she always has to be such a bitch to me.”

  “Because she’s jealous of you,” Rylan said as he joined her in the Jeep and shut his door.

  Jaci jerked her head around to study his profile, waiting for the punch line.

  “Is that a joke?” she at last demanded.

  “Not at all.” He swiveled in his seat to meet her accusing gaze. “Payton has always envied you.”

  “That’s insane.” As if to prove her point, Payton zipped past in her vehicle that was worth more than Jaci’s house. “She has everything.”

  “No one has everything,” Rylan assured her.

  Jaci should have let it go. After all, she’d been trained her entire life to grin and bear it. She’d been told over and over that there was no need to air her family’s dirty laundry. Not even if that dirty laundry was public knowledge in the area.

  Today, however, her nerves were too raw to be so easily pacified. She had to vent before she exploded.

  “Payton was raised with a mother and father, plus a brother.” She grimaced. “Although I wouldn’t wish Christopher on anyone,” she conceded, before continuing to list Payton’s numerous blessings. “She has money, she’s beautiful. And she gets treated like a princess wherever she goes.” Her lips twisted with . . . not envy—she would never change places with her pampered sister—but a bitterness she’d never been able to fully purge. “I was the one whose father died when I was a baby, whose mother abandoned me, and who had to work for every penny I have.”

  Rylan held her gaze, seemingly indifferent to her grievances.

  “Think about i
t, Jaci,” he insisted. “She has a father who’s gone ninety percent of the time and a mother who I doubt is capable of loving anyone. And as you said, Christopher is a self-centered dick.” He reached to grab her hand, threading their fingers together. “You, on the other hand, had grandparents who openly adored you.” He gave her fingers a light squeeze. “They never missed one activity you were involved in. It didn’t matter if it was a basketball game or if you were playing flute in a music concert. It was a running joke that they always got to every event an hour early so they could have front row seats.”

  Her gaze lowered to their clasped hands, an intoxicating warmth surging through her. She tried to tell herself it was the memory of her grandparents, but that didn’t explain the fluttery excitement in the pit of her stomach.

  “That’s true,” she conceded.

  Rylan wasn’t done. “And what has her money ever gotten Payton?” he continued. “A bunch of fake friends who she could never be sure really liked her or just pretended to like her so they could go to her big house and ride in her expensive car.”

  Jaci slowly shook her head. Payton had always been swarmed with friends. It couldn’t just be because she had a flashy car. Could it?

  “She was homecoming queen,” she insisted. “More than once.”

  He shrugged. “Because she promised everyone who voted for her an invitation to her yearly pool party.”

  Someone had once told Jaci that Payton was buying votes, but Jaci assumed she was just being catty.

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Listen, Jaci.” He tugged her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m not saying Payton had a rough childhood. She was clearly spoiled and her last name is Hamilton, which gives her special privileges in this area. But she was never truly admired by her classmates.” He turned her hand over, kissing her open palm. She shuddered, desire sizzling through her. “Not like you.”

  She was once again stunned by his words. He clearly had a much different memory of high school than she did.

  What was that saying . . . truth is in the eye of the beholder?

  “I was never popular,” she protested.

  “Of course you were.” He leaned toward her, his gaze lowering to her lips. “Everyone liked you. They might not have fussed over you like they did Payton, but they genuinely wanted to spend time in your company. Not because of what you could give them, but because they enjoyed being with you. And I’d bet that most of them are still your friends, aren’t they?”

  It was increasingly difficult to concentrate on the conversation.

  “Yes,” she managed to agree, less concerned with her large circle of friends than the hope he was about to kiss her.

  “You’re a welcomed member of this community,” he continued, leaning another inch closer. “Can you say the same for Payton?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, although she did.

  Her half sister had always considered herself too good to associate with the yokels of Heron, or even the larger town of Baldwin.

  She belonged in her big house on the hill.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel sorry for Payton, but she had to live with the stigma of your mother’s selfishness.”

  His soft words abruptly jerked her out of her sensual haze.

  Did he just say that it was Payton who had to suffer because of their mother?

  “I was the one abandoned,” she reminded him in sharp tones.

  “Which meant you got all the sympathy.”

  “That’s . . .” With a frustrated sigh she yanked her hand free and grabbed the steering wheel. Later she would consider his words. But for now all she wanted was to get home so she could crawl back in bed for a short nap. Or maybe she’d take a nice cold shower. Anything to make her forget about Rylan Cooper and her snowballing need to get him naked.

  She shoved the Jeep in gear and peeled out of the parking lot. “I have better things to worry about than my sister.”

  Beside her Rylan chuckled, clearly pleased that he’d gotten under her skin.

  Aggravating ass.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rylan made no effort to break the brittle silence as Jaci drove them back to her house.

  He knew he’d hit a raw nerve. It was no secret that the Hamiltons had always treated Jaci like crap. But holding on to her bitterness wasn’t going to change the fact that her mother was a bitch. Or that her half siblings had been raised to be shallow, self-centered brats.

  He wanted her to be proud of her accomplishments, not dwell on the family who were incapable of recognizing the true worth of a person.

  At the moment, however, he didn’t think she was in the mood to appreciate his efforts.

  She pulled into her muddy driveway and shut off the engine. Before she could speak, Rylan was out of the Jeep and heading to the back to pull out her bags of fresh produce. Joining him, she grabbed her empty trays, and hustled behind him as he headed around the house to the back door.

  “There’s no need to come in,” she said.

  “I want to check the house.”

  She made a sound of impatience as she brushed past him to climb the steps so she could unlock the door. Instantly the sound of barking echoed inside the house.

  “There’s a security system that you installed, plus Riff and Raff,” she said, punching in the number on the electronic pad he’d placed next to the doorjamb.

  He shrugged. “I still intend to check.”

  She released her breath on a hiss as he urged her to the side so he could enter first. Then, kicking off his shoes, he walked into the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter.

  Riff and Raff greeted him with sharp barks, but he’d spent enough time with them yesterday to ensure they didn’t see him as a threat or a tasty treat. After a few intrusive sniffs they galloped into the mudroom to dance around Jaci as if she’d been gone days instead of a few hours.

  Leaving the kitchen, he made a circuit through the living room into Jaci’s bedroom and the connecting bathroom that she’d converted into a master suite. After checking in the bathroom, he halted in the center of the bedroom.

  Against his will, his gaze lingered on the large, four-poster bed with the hand-stitched quilt. A sharp, vivid image of Jaci stretched across the mattress, her lush curves shivering beneath the stroke of his hands, seared through his brain.

  Christ. He wanted her.

  He wanted to kiss every inch of her satin skin.

  And feel her legs wrapped around his waist as he surged deep inside her.

  And to wrap her in his arms as they slept together in a tangle of sweaty limbs.

  With a low curse, he moved to take a quick peek at the upstairs loft that was used for storage, before heading back downstairs.

  A part of him knew that only a heel would take advantage of a woman who was alone and vulnerable and scared. But another part was fiercely determined not to make the same mistake he had years ago.

  Back then Jaci had looked at him with stars in her eyes and he’d pushed her away. This time he intended to be holding her so close that she couldn’t escape when those stars returned.

  And they would return.

  He would accept no less.

  Not entirely sure what was happening to him, Rylan retraced his steps to the kitchen. Jaci was bustling from cabinet to cabinet, putting away her groceries. It was something she no doubt did every day, but he felt an odd pang in the region of his heart.

  Home . . .

  The word whispered through the back of his mind.

  Easily sensing his intense interest, Jaci slowly turned, her expression unreadable.

  “Satisfied?”

  His lips twitched as he bent down to pat the heads of the dogs, who were butting their noses against him to gain his attention. He doubted she would be happy if he explained just how unsatisfied he was.

  “Where did you get these beauties?” he asked.

  “Andrew,” she said, running her fingers through the short,
damp strands of her hair. “He found a litter dumped in a ditch and brought them home. He asked if I wanted one, but when I went up I found I couldn’t choose between these two.”

  His jaw tightened. He would bet money every unattached male in the area was finding excuses to call Jaci. And probably a few men who were supposed to be attached.

  “So you took both?” he asked, keeping his tone light.

  Her lips twitched. “It seemed reasonable when they were just puppies. Now I realize I should have gotten smaller dogs or moved into a bigger house.”

  He gave each of them a pat before he straightened. “What are your plans for the day?”

  She shrugged. “A short nap, a hot shower, and then I need to do some work in my shop before I start baking.”

  The memory of her bed returned with a vengeance. He stepped forward, his lips curling with satisfaction as her cheeks heated with awareness.

  “I could help with the nap and the shower,” he said, not halting until she was pressed against the edge of the counter.

  “You’re crowding me.”

  “I know.” He bent his head, stroking his lips over her forehead and the soft skin of her temple before he traced the delicate shell of her ear. Her sweet scent instantly filled his senses. He drew in a slow, deep breath. “You smell like home.”

  Her hands lifted to lie against his chest. Not pushing him away, but not drawing him in closer.

  “Home?”

  “Warm, soft.” He pressed a path of kisses down the stubborn line of her jaw. “Welcoming.”

  She made a sound of annoyance even as her body shivered with need.

  “You make me sound like an old pair of slippers,” she complained.

  He nuzzled at the corner of her mouth, his arms wrapping around her waist. He wanted to yank her hard against him. To feel her pressed tight against his thickening arousal.

  Hell, he wanted to devour her.

  Instead he forced his hands to lightly skim up and down her back. She might tremble at his touch, but she hadn’t forgiven him for his lack of trust in the past.

  The last thing he wanted was to drive her away.

  “Flash and dazzle can be a fun distraction, but they quickly become tarnished,” he assured her in husky tones.