“Does this thing have air-conditioning?” Candice practically had to shout above the noisy wind.
Austin wondered if he imagined the slight irritation in her voice. He shrugged inwardly. So what if he preferred the wind and she preferred artificial cooling? Hadn’t he heard that opposites attract?
Obliging her, he flipped on the AC and switched the fan to high. A blast of musty-smelling hot air rushed into his face, mingling with the cooler wind rushing in the window. After five minutes of the same, he shut it off. “I don’t think it works.”
“What?”
He repeated the statement, raising his voice to be heard above the wind. She didn’t comment. Austin didn’t know if this was a good sign or a bad one. Hell, he’d never been one for second-guessing a woman. Sneaking a glance at her, he saw her reach into her purse and pull out one of those scrunchy things. With quick, deft strokes she pulled her hair away from her face and secured it with the pretty gold hair-band.
They finally left the suburbs behind them. Traffic thinned, and Austin coaxed a little more speed from the motor home.
It was a mistake.
Candice suddenly sat forward in her captain’s seat. “What’s that noise?”
Austin heard it, too, and he felt it as well. The engine had developed an ugly hiccup. A loud backfire startled them both. Muttering a few choice curses he reserved for contrary vehicles, he flipped on his blinker and pulled the motor home onto the shoulder of the road.
So much for avoiding stress, was his gloomy thought as he engaged the parking brake and stepped down from the RV.
———
She was hot all right, but it wasn’t the weather; it was the sight of Austin’s muscled, tanned legs below his shorts that made Candice long for a blast of cold air to cool her feverish skin. That, and his open shirt that revealed a large expanse of his chest.
Only last night they had indulged in a wild bout of lovemaking, yet here she was about to burst into flames just watching him. None of the informative pamphlets at Dr. Robinsons office had mentioned anything about being oversexed during pregnancy.
Candice gave a shaky laugh, eyeing Austin through the windshield. She didn’t care if they had to spend the entire week right here on the side of the road as long as she could be with him.
Did he feel the same way? she wondered. Did he feel happy, carefree, warm, and wonderful when he was with her the way she did when she was with him? She couldn’t honestly guess, since Austin always seemed to be happy, except in the presence of nasty reporters or lawyers bearing bad tidings.
The reminder prompted a smile. Then he could be fierce, protective, and possessive. Oh, she hadn’t mentioned it, but his jealousy of Luke McVey had been very obvious. And endearing. Her own reaction confused her. When Howard had exhibited those traits, they had nearly driven her insane. Why would she feel any differently with Austin?
Because Austin was… Austin.
She sobered as the man who occupied her thoughts returned to the cab and started the engine. It hummed to life without a hitch, the odd hiccuping noise gone. She tried not to smile at Austins supremely male expression of smug satisfaction. “What was wrong?”
“A spark plug wire popped off.” His slow, sexy grin returned. “You want something cold to drink before we get started?”
When Candice nodded, he moved to the back and returned within seconds, handing her a canned soft drink. Caffeine-free. And warm.
“The refrigerator doesn’t work,” he informed her, unsmiling. “George will hear about this.”
“George?”
“Yeah, George. He’s the guy who rented me this rig.”
To prove to him that it didn’t matter, Candice popped the top and took a deep swig. It was awful, but she gamely kept a straight face. “It’s not so bad. When I was a kid, I used to prefer my sodas hot.” That part, at least, was true, but judging by the skeptical look Austin gave her, he didn’t believe a word of it.
“Thank you for being such a good sport.”
It was on the tip of Candice’s tongue to ask him why he hadn’t rented something more reliable, since she now knew he could afford it. With fifty thousand dollars in the bank…
“I know what you’re probably thinking,” Austin said, startling her with his uncanny perception. “You’re asking yourself why I didn’t rent something a little more upscale.”
Well, since he mentioned it. “Yes,” Candice admitted bluntly. “I was thinking exactly that.”
Austin checked both mirrors in preparation for pulling onto the road, but Candice suspected he was avoiding her questioning gaze. After reading that old article about Drummond Hyde, many things about Austin had become clearer. She now understood his flippant attitude about wealth and luxuries, and his fierce dislike of reporters. But she still didn’t understand why he’d suddenly decided to use the money he’d obviously ignored for many years.
She hoped he hadn’t compromised his ethics just to impress her.
“The truth is, I owed that money to someone. Otherwise I wouldn’t have touched it.”
Candice felt relieved to discover she wasn’t the cause but unexplainably chilled by something in his tone. “You—you aren’t in trouble, are you?”
He flashed her a rueful smile as he pulled into the traffic and gained speed. “First a thief, then a spy. Now I’m a criminal.” Still smiling, he shook his head. “Baby, if I was that suspicious of someone, I don’t think I’d go off camping with them. How do you know I’m not planning to broaden my resume and increase my bank account by kidnapping you?”
Candice flushed at his mocking tone but rallied defensively. “I never thought you took my jewels, and anyone would wonder why someone would take a job like yours if he had fifty thousand dollars in the bank. The work you do is—”
“For you and the baby—not for the money.” Austin looked straight ahead at the road, his lips pressed tightly together as if he regretted his words.
She stared at his rigid profile, wishing he’d talk to her, trust her. Well, she had five days to show him that she could be a trusted friend as well as an employer and lover.
Five days.
Alone with Austin.
———
They stopped for lunch at a busy truck stop shortly before noon, not only because they were hungry but because the gas gauge had made a rapid descent into the red in the last half hour. Austin grumbled to himself as he climbed down and hurried around to help Candice. At this rate, he would be out of cash before they reached their destination.
George would be sorry he’d ever thought to swindle Austin Hyde—if they made it back. At least Candice seemed to be taking it all in stride, smiling at him in a way that made his throat go dry. Hell, he wished she’d turn the heat down until after the camping trip!
Inside the noisy restaurant, they both agreed on greasy hamburgers, greasy fries, and tall, fattening milk shakes. But as they made their way to a booth by the window, Austin caught sight of Candice’s guilty expression and laughed.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell if you won’t tell,” he teased.
Candice feigned innocence. “Tell whom? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” To prove it, the moment her bottom hit the plastic chair, she grabbed her burger and took a huge bite, following it with a french fry.
Austin poured ketchup on his fries, then added an unhealthy amount of salt to his burger. He arched an eyebrow in her direction as he lifted the burger to his mouth, enjoying the food, the atmosphere—and Candice. “Are you saying you would have ordered this junk food if the dragon were with us?”
“Let’s change the subject.”
She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, drawing his attention to her pink, moist lips. Austin nearly choked on his burger, trying to swallow before he chewed the food properly. Damn, the woman was dangerous. And she didn’t even know it!
Deciding to give her a break from his teasing, he asked, “So, have you figured out where we’re going?”
“Let
me see.” Candice dipped a fry in his ketchup and popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes, a blissful smile curving her mouth as she chewed. “Mmm. These are delicious.”
Austin forgot about his food. He stared at her, his groin tightening at the rapturous look on her face. He’d seen that look before, each time they reached the peak in their lovemaking. Fighting a ridiculous urge to snatch the fries and pitch them into the trash, Austin grabbed his shake and took a drink.
“Well, the air is getting cooler, we’re heading east—my guess would be Lake Tahoe.” She shot him a provocative look from beneath her eyelashes, a totally unCandicelike look that shocked him to his toes.
Austin bit the inside of his cheek. Hell, if he didn’t know better, he’d think she knew about his no-sex plan! He’d been relying on her shy nature to help him resist, and here she was, turning into a sex kitten right before his very eyes.
“Of course, the signs advertising Lake Tahoe helped,” Candice added, laughing at his disgruntled expression.
Her laughter rippled over him like a blanket of warm honey. He deliberately kept the conversation bland. And long, he hoped. Hell, she left him no choice. As it was, he’d have to wait a while before he could rise without embarrassing himself. “Have you been to Lake Tahoe before?” He could have kicked himself when her smile faded and that old haunted look returned to shadow her gorgeous cat’s eyes.
“Once, but it was a long time ago.” She braced her elbows on the table—something else Austin didn’t think she would have done two months ago. “It was before my mother died.” She smiled faintly, her gaze drifting to the window. Outside at the pumps, truck drivers filled their tanks and stretched their legs.
“How old were you?” Austin prompted softly. He hated to see her sad, but he wanted to know everything about her, the bad and the good. In return, he would tell her about his life until their were no secrets left between them.
Well, except one very big one.
“When I came to Lake Tahoe? Or when my mother died?”
“When your mother died.” Austin navigated the french fries and the hamburgers and caught her hand. He squeezed gently. “Both, if you’ll share them with me.”
She looked at him, her expression pensive, wary, yet hopeful. “And you? Will you share with me?”
Austin nodded. “We’ll take turns. Deal?”
“Deal.” She returned her gaze to the window, and it was a moment before she spoke again. “We came here right after my mother married Pete Clancy. It was their honeymoon, but there wasn’t anyone else for me to stay with, so they had to take me with them. I was eight years old.” She let the sigh out slowly, but Austin saw it, and his heart ached. “We didn’t like each other from the start.”
“You and Clancy?”
“Yes. But we didn’t let on, because we both loved Mom. We were supposed to stay a week at Lake Tahoe, but Pete decided to cut the honeymoon short after two days and go back to Sacramento.”
“Because of you?” Austin winced at the husky sound of his voice; he knew she wouldn’t appreciate his pity.
Candice shrugged, but the hurt was still there, deep and painful. “He didn’t say, at least not until later. But I knew. He claimed he remembered some business he’d forgotten to take care of, but every time he looked at me, I knew it was because of me. Mom died two months later.”
Mr Hyde’s Assets
Austin didn’t realize his fingers had tightened around hers until she flinched. He forced himself to ease his hold. A visual image of Candice as a little girl, left alone with a man she not only didn’t know but didn’t like, just about broke his heart.
“Mom made me promise to take care of him,” Candice said matter-of-factly. “So I did.” She pulled free of his grip and reached for her shake. “It’s all water under the bridge now. My obligations to him were over a long time ago.”
Austin thought about Pete Clancy and the fat check he held in his greedy little hands. He also recalled Clancy’s remark about how Candice had helped him out, and he suspected Candice was too ashamed to admit that she’d carried out her promise far longer than she’d had to. Obligations, it seemed, had caused Candice a lot of unnecessary heartache. And thanks to Jack, the heartache wasn’t over. Austin closed his eyes, dreading the moment she found out.
“What’s wrong?”
His eyes popped open. “Nothing,” he croaked. “Let’s get out of here.” But its your—
“Turn,” Austin finished. “I know, and I’m not trying to get out of it, but we need to be on the road if we’re going to get there by dark. We’ll talk later, I promise.” He threw a tip on the table and slid from the booth, his heart pounding with dread.
Soon, she would know. Soon, she would hate him.
Knowing this, he couldn’t find it in his heart to regret one single moment he’d spent in her company the last two months.
Slowly, he held out a hand to help her from the booth.
With the innocent trust of a child, she took it.
———
Something was wrong.
Candice felt the tension in Austin’s hand, saw it in his face. The tight look remained long after he’d finished filling the tank on the motor home, purchasing several coolers and filling them with ice, and transferring the perishables from the malfunctioning fridge. Soon they were on their way again.
Was the possibility of talking to her that horrible, she wondered. Had she said something to cause his frown? She racked her brain, trying to recall the conversation word by word.
Nothing. She had done most of the talking, but about herself, so she didn’t think she could have offended him with something she said. She leaned her head against the seat rest and closed her eyes. The heavy food had made her drowsy, and she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, thanks to her midnight tryst with Austin in the kitchen. Not that she’d minded.
“We’re almost there.”
Candice jerked awake at the sound of Austin’s voice, realizing she must have dozed off. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around her, then did a double take. She glanced at her watch and saw that she’d been asleep for two hours.
The scenery had changed dramatically in those two hours. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, miles of concrete, and high-rise buildings had given way to forests and mountains interspersed with large country homes and open fields. The temperature had dropped as well, at least fifteen degrees from the balmy eighty-five they had left behind in Sacramento.
Her memories of her last trip to Lake Tahoe were vague at best, but she didn’t recall everything being so lush and green. A child of eight, she supposed, wouldn’t notice or appreciate such things.
The motor home chugged up a steep hill, seeming to grunt with the effort. As they topped the rise, Candice caught a glimpse of silver in the far distance. Lake Tahoe, located on the border of California and Nevada, was well known for the clarity of its water and the beauty of its location. Rising above the forest surrounding them on both sides, majestic, snowcapped mountains provided excellent skiing.
Awed by the scenery she’d long forgotten, Candice whispered, “It’s beautiful.”
“Yes, it is.”
Candice jerked her gaze around at the husky note in his voice. He wasn’t looking at the scenery but directly at her. She blushed. Apparently he’d gotten over whatever it was that had been bothering him. This was the Austin she knew and loved, and she was glad to have him back. “Shouldn’t you keep your eyes on the road?” she asked tartly.
“I’d rather look at you.”
A car horn blared, and Austin hastily fixed his gaze on the road. Up ahead, a sign announced rv camping. Austin pulled into the parking lot across from the office and cut the engine.
“I’ll go sign us in,” he told her, his gaze lingering on her face.
Candice was left alone to anticipate the coming night.
And she did.
Chapter Eighteen
By nightfall Austin had proven himself to be an expert camper. He built a bl
azing campfire inside the safety ring and fed Candice roasted hot dogs and marshmallows until she laughingly cried uncle. The temperature had dropped with the sun, but she didn’t feel the chill; the warmth of the fire and Austin’s denim jacket kept her toasty.
Trying to remember when she’d last felt so happy and peaceful, Candice watched him from her comfortable position in a chaise lounge as he fed the fire from a pile of dead branches they had gathered before dark. “Mrs. Merryweather knew where we were going, didn’t she?”
He glanced up from his task, the fire highlighting the masculine lines of his face. His teeth flashed in a smile. “She insisted. How did you guess?”
Candice shrugged, hugging her arms across her chest. “Extra blankets, warm clothing that I didn’t pack, and she didn’t sound the least bit surprised when I talked to her on the phone.”
“You should have been a detective,” Austin drawled, dusting his hands on his jeans. He snapped open a lawn chair and sat across from her, propping one ankle on his knee.
The twinkling of lights from their camping neighbors were distant enough for Candice to ignore. What she could not ignore was the man facing her. He’d changed into a hunter-green sweater in a ribbed material that emphasized the breadth of his shoulders and made his jeans appear tighter by comparison.
Or maybe it was her wicked imagination.
Dragging her gaze away with some effort, she stared into the fire and marveled at her raging libido. She didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or exhilarated.
“Would you like a cup of hot cocoa?” Austin asked.
She nodded, her gaze following him as he disappeared into the motor home. A few moments later she heard a muffled curse, followed by a clanging noise she feared would prompt a ranger into investigating.
Austin emerged from the camper wearing a fierce scowl. Candice bit her lip to keep from grinning. “Let me guess—the stove doesn’t work?”
Mr. Hyde’s Assets Page 21