by Candis Terry
He studied the defiant kid sitting on the couch, surrounded by two little dogs who thought he walked on water—as long as he petted them. James wondered if his little brother would have to go through the same hell he had before he’d finally wised up. God, he hoped not. It had taken him until nearly his last breath to figure out that life was a gift you did not take for granted. He shook his head, strode into the living room, and sat down on the couch. Poppy and Princess lifted their pointy ears and reluctantly moved aside to allow him room.
“Don’t you ever think about what your behavior does to Mom?”
Alex looked at him. “Did you?”
“Exactly. I didn’t.” James folded his hands together and dropped them between his knees. “And I paid heavily for that. So did mom. But in those days mom was healthy. These days, she’s not. And believe me, little brother, there is going to come a day when you’ll regret your actions.”
“Sure.” Alex did double-time with his thumbs on the game controller.
James sighed and pulled his reluctant charge into his arms for a hug and a noogie. “If I didn’t love you so much I’d totally kick your ass.”
Alex squirmed away. “As if.”
“What? You don’t think I could?”
That got the smile James had been looking for.
“I’m willing to go one-on-one,” Alex said with a lift of his chin.
James returned the smile. Mostly because Alex’s were few and far between. Life had never been an easy road for any member of the Harley family. Sadly he couldn’t imagine it smoothing out anytime soon.
He glanced down at his watch with a mix of enthusiasm and regret. He really should stay home and play night watchman. Something in Alex’s eyes tonight spelled trouble. But he’d made a date with Kelly, and true to his code of honor, he would not break it at the last minute. Even if it meant he would pay heavily later.
“Lucky for you I have a date. Or I’d take you up on that.”
Alex gave a rare laugh as James walked into the bathroom to take a shower.
“Don’t forget a condom,” Alex shouted.
James shut the bathroom door, looked in the mirror, and ran his hand across his five o’clock stubble. He’d shower, shave, and be prepared. But as much as he’d love to follow his brother’s word of caution, tonight would not be that kind of night.
Tonight he planned to show Kelly a different side of Deer Lick.
Of course, if she happened to get really turned on by what he’d planned, who was he to tell a pretty lady no?
CHAPTER SEVEN
She had a date.
Kelly flipped through the pants hanging in the closet and decided denim did not make for good first-date material. Okay, maybe it wasn’t an official first date, but the promise of one was there, and she planned to make good use of the practice if nothing else. Maybe after she went back to Chicago she’d change the way she ran her personal life. More leisure time. Less stress. Less guilt.
Wow. When had she ever been that big of a dreamer?
As if on cue, her text message alert chimed. She picked up the phone and read the brief text message from Daniel.
Jury selection begins in 3 weeks for Oganthaler case. You’ll be back by then. Right?
Without responding, she deleted the message, tossed the phone on the bed, and continued to look through the small selection of clothing she’d brought for her brief visit. With every slide of a hanger, the sinking in the pit of her stomach verified she’d have to return to Chicago at some point. At the moment she felt like a coward—afraid to go back and face the reality that a killer walked free because she had failed to do her job.
Stop it.
She grabbed a summer dress from the wire hanger.
She wouldn’t think about work or failure tonight. Tomorrow morning would come soon enough to let remorse re-claim control.
Tonight she planned to be open to whatever Deputy Harley had in mind when he’d told her to be ready for anything. He was a gorgeous man, and he made her laugh. Even if common sense advised her to steer clear, she chose to ignore the warning bells. At least for one more night.
What was a little fifty-dollar bet anyway?
She reached into the drawer and pulled out a brand new pair of pink Victoria’s Secret panties and tossed them on the bed. Then she went into the living room where her father sat in his well-worn recliner speeding through channels with the remote control.
“Hey, Dad? Do we have any wine?”
“Wine?” Robert Silverthorne froze the channel on a rerun of Chopped and looked up. “I think there might be a box in the refrigerator.”
A box?
“Can’t say how old it is, though. You might want to check for an expiration date.”
An expiration date?
Wow.
“Okay. Thanks.” Kelly went into the dated 1970’s-style kitchen and opened the fridge. Yep. On the bottom shelf there was a box of wine. White. No fancy description. Just white. Fortunately the box had never been opened, so Kelly didn’t bother to look for an expiration date. Dear God.
Unable to locate an actual wine glass, she reached into the cupboard for a mason jar then stopped and retracted her hand. On dates in the past she’d relied on liquid courage to stuff Sister Serious in the closet and let her hair down. Although tonight her nerves were doing a Mexican hat dance inside her stomach, she intended to let things happen as they were meant to.
She had a date.
With a man who promised heaven.
And delivered.
The summer night proved to be perfect. Just the right temperature. A slight breeze that carried the scent of pine and wildflowers. A few fluffy clouds that would create a colorful sunset. James smiled. A guy just couldn’t ask for more.
Well, he could. And he probably would. But first things first.
He rang the bell at the Silverthorne home and stood back. Anticipation rocked him on his heels while he waited for the door to open. When it finally swung wide, he had to step back and catch his breath.
Just inside the entry stood Kelly with a smile, looking like she’d just stepped from his fantasies. Her curve-hugging floral dress was simple—little more than a tee that hit her mid-thigh—but that simple little dress screamed money. And sexy. His appreciative gaze traveled from her pink-painted toenails and strappy high-heeled sandals, up her shapely legs, to the top of her shoulders and the thin dress straps.
He wished he could afford a woman like her, but he’d never been one to kid himself. A guy like him, who’d chosen a job in community service, lived a paycheck-to-paycheck existence. Sure, he managed to take care of his sick mother, and he’d saved up enough to buy his small two-bedroom house and some nice transportation. Someday he’d even be able to afford a nice retirement, but he’d never have the funds for extravagance.
Kelly Silverthorne deserved indulgence.
That didn’t stop him from mentally removing that silky fabric and covering her breasts and body with his hands and mouth. An inescapable moan of admiration lifted from his throat, and the action inside his cargo shorts got a whole lot of happy.
As soon as he rolled his tongue back up into his mouth, he smiled. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you.” Her green eyes scanned his casual attire, and tiny little lines crinkled between her brows.
“But you might want to go back and change,” he said.
“Seriously?”
“As much as I hate to have you take off that incredible dress—on your own—I don’t think it will work well with our mode of transportation.”
Her head tilted slightly and her hair fell across her shoulder in an ivory cascade of soft curls. “Which is?”
He stepped back and extended his arm toward their ride parked at the curb.
Her green eyes widened. “An ATV?”
“Your chariot awaits.”
“Oh. Ummm . . . okay.” She stepped back.
“Are you disappointed?” he asked, concerned that everything he was abou
t to throw at her would be too much.
“No.”
Yes. She was. “I did tell you to be prepared for anything.”
“That you did.” She gave him a brief smile that was unusually timid for a woman who commanded a courtroom and put away bad guys.
“Tell you what. Since I’ve obviously thrown you for a loop, I’ll give you the chance to back out.” Please don’t back out.
She looked him up and down, then smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
He wanted to act cool, but that huge sigh of relief he’d just expelled pretty much blew any chance.
“Do you want to come in while I change?”
Can I help you change? “You bet.” He stepped into the living room where Mr. Silverthorne rose from his recliner and shook his hand while Kelly disappeared into the back of the house.
“So you’re taking my daughter on a date.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kelly’s father scrubbed a hand up the front of his shirt. “What do you have planned?”
“Probably nothing your daughter had on her radar. Dinner. Cooked on a campfire. Next to Fawn Creek.”
“Excellent choice.” The man gave him a sharp nod then returned to his recliner and kicked up the foot rest. “Got the other two taken care of. This is her time.”
Something moved within James’s chest. “Mr. Silverthorne, I’m not sure what your expectations are but—”
“Just show her a good time, young man. Treat her kind. And we’ll have no problems.” He lifted a pair of glasses from the table beside the chair and slipped them on. “I know you were a bit wild when you were younger.”
An understatement if ever there was one.
“But,” the man continued, “you’ve more than proven yourself around here. My wife—God rest her soul—liked you. She was a good judge of character, and I always trusted her one hundred percent.”
The compliment surrounded James like a warm hug. “Thank you, sir. I promise I’ll treat your daughter well. But—”
“Call me Robert. And no buts. No expectations. She’s had a tough time lately. Make her smile. That’s all I ask.”
James knew he could and had made Kelly smile. Though he didn’t think her father would appreciate the details on how he’d gotten the job done. “You have my word . . . Robert.”
“Is this better?”
James turned to find Kelly behind him, dressed in a pair of snug jeans and a shrunken down version of the dress for a top. She looked sweet and sexy. But to him she’d look just as sexy if she was dressed in an old robe.
“Perfect.”
With a goodnight to her father, he opened the door, took Kelly’s hand, and led her to his yellow ATV.
She chuckled as she climbed on the back. “Well, at least its not camo.”
“Too many of those around. I like to be different.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
He settled in front of her and put his hands on the handlebars, when he’d rather put them on the gorgeous woman pressed against his back. He’d do anything to touch her, he realized. When he’d been younger he’d had many weaknesses he’d had to overcome. She was his weakness now. “Hang on.”
Her slender arms slid around his waist.
“Tighter.”
He smiled as her small hands hooked around his shirt and her breasts pressed against his back. “Perfect.”
Their individual expectations of the evening’s events might be on complete opposite sides of the coin, but as he angled the ATV away from the curb he planned to make this a night to remember.
For both of them.
As the warm, pine-scented wind whipped through her hair, Kelly held on tight to James’s hard body. Once they’d left the paved road behind, the ATV began to climb into the mountains on rough and uneven trails. Several times her butt bounced off the seat and she had to hold on tighter. Their method of transportation might be unusual, but Kelly wasn’t about to complain. From where she sat the scenery was breathtaking, the air was fresh, and with the setting sun in her face and the wind on her cheeks she felt alive. That she also had her arms wrapped around an extremely gorgeous man, and an up-close-and-personal vantage point that offered some really good opportunities to catch his warm, clean, manly scent? Well, she wouldn’t complain about that either.
Dusk swallowed up the light as they rode through the forest and everything took on a different appearance. The higher the elevation, the more dead trees and limbs littered the forest floor and jutted out over the trail. One particular section looked menacing and scary. As though any moment the wicked witch would appear from behind a tree, wave her magic broom, and flying monkeys would appear. Kelly snuggled closer to James and several times she even closed her eyes. If she was a kid she would totally count on having nightmares.
Moments later James announced, “Here we are.”
The ATV engine settled into a low hum as the vehicle slowed, and James parked it beneath the canopy of an enormous Ponderosa. The forest around them had grown thick and blocked out the sky. With night falling quickly, it was difficult to see. A shudder ran up her back.
“And here would be where?”
“Fawn Creek.” James swung his long leg over the seat and held out his hand. “I still can’t believe you lived here for eighteen years and you don’t know about any of these places. They’re legend.”
She took his hand and slid from the seat. “Not everyone is outdoorsy. Some of us were meant to stay indoors and study.”
“Bullshit. God didn’t create all this so you could miss it in exchange for four walls and a set of text books.”
“Didn’t you ever study?”
He laughed. “Only if I had to.” He unhooked the bungee cords holding down an enormous duffel bag that had been tied to the front of the ATV. “Come on.” He heaved the bag over his shoulder. “Follow me if you dare.”
“Is that a challenge?”
He turned quickly and she bumped into his chest. “Would you take me up on one?”
“Depends what it is. We already have a bet going. One which you will lose, by the way. I am not going to sleep with you again.”
His lips curled into a smile she remembered well. The one that verified he knew what made her shiver with pleasure. He gently took her hand and his calloused thumb lightly caressed the backs of her fingers. “Told you, Angelface. I never lose.”
“We’ll see.” She was so not going to sleep with him. But that didn’t stop her from really, really wanting to.
“Actually, now that I think about it, a challenge sounds like a great idea.” He gave her hand a little tug and she followed him up the barely defined dirt path. “Of course, you don’t get to choose what it is. You’d just have to agree or not agree.”
“Then that would be a dare.” She wrinkled her nose as a layer of dust kicked up beneath their feet. “Not a challenge.”
The rumble of cascading water grew louder, and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. What was he up to now?
A few more steps into the forest brought them up beside a small waterfall and a slow-moving creek where the crystal-clear water bounced and trickled over smooth rocks of different shapes, colors, and sizes. James dropped the bag at their feet but he held onto her hand and used it to draw her in closer. Her unsteady heartbeat shifted into a full run.
“Call it what you want. A dare. A challenge. A test.” His large hands smoothed down her bare arms as his deep-brown gaze locked onto hers. Taunted her to refuse. “Are you willing to accept?”
“What is this, Mission Impossible?”
“Nothing’s impossible.” He leaned closer. Or maybe that was her doing the leaning. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”
“Not that I can remember.”
“So what’s it going to be? You in?” He smiled so wide his even, white teeth flashed. “Or are you too chicken?”
She swallowed her anxiety. She’d never been one to back away. Not from the murderous felons who threatened her at every turn.
Not from associate lawyers who threatened to ruin her if she didn’t play their game. Not from a guy who seemed to be having a good time at her expense.
She straightened to her full height, which happened to be a measly five-foot-three. “Bring it, Deputy.”
He smiled. His eyes dipped down to her mouth and held like he had every intention of going there.
Kelly’s stomach turned a flip.
She wanted him to go there.
She wanted him to kiss her.
Against her better judgment and the good sense God had given her, she found she wanted James Harley to wrap her in his big strong arms and kiss her really, really bad. She closed her eyes in anticipation and received her reward.
On her forehead.
“That’s my girl.”
Her eyes popped open.
Had she read him wrong?
Puzzled and a little embarrassed, she stepped back. His hands fell away from her arms. “So what’s the challenge?”
He studied her for a breath then kneeled and unzipped the huge duffel bag. He reached inside, came up with a small foldable shovel, and handed it to her. “You can start with this.”
She looked at the pointy piece of steel in her hands. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
He looked up at her. “Dig a hole.”
“A . . . hole?”
“Yep.” He stood, turned a half circle, and pointed. “Right there by the water should be good. The ground should be softer.”
“What are you going to do? Kill me and dump my body? Make me dig my own grave?”
A smile slid across his sensuous mouth. “Are you kidding? I can think of way more entertaining things to do with that sweet body of yours.”
Ah. So now they were getting somewhere. “Then why dig a hole?”
He reached into the duffel again, pulled out a small cooler. From the cooler he pulled out a zip-locked bag of meat and held it up for her to see. “Need a fire to cook dinner.”
Relief rippled over her. “Steak?”
“Porterhouse.”
“Good. I’m starving.” She unfolded the shovel, stuck it into the ground then looked up. “Hey. How come I’m the one who’s digging the hole?”