by Celia Roman
“Just Teus.” He rubbed his hands along my upper arms. “You promised me a dance.”
I backed hastily away. “Whoa, now, I never done it. You was the one talking about dancing, not me.”
“Don’t you want to know what’s happening in the cove?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, not trusting them innocent aqua colored eyes of his one bit. “What makes you think I’m interested?”
“You were there, inspecting the area.” He shrugged and reeled me back in, bumping my body into his. “Belinda mentioned your name.”
I laid my hands flat against his chest and pushed, what good it did me. He held me firm and entirely too close. I was getting a little tired of men doing that to me. Riley was one thing. He was my date, after all. And David, well, he was a big, ol’ flirt, but mostly harmless, far as I could tell. Teus was a different kettle of fish. Missy done warned me away from him, and I was inclined to take her advice, what with her being older and more worldly and hopefully a dang sight wiser.
I shoved his chest again. “Let me go right this instant, you gollywhoppin’ cretin.”
“After we dance.”
One of his hands slid down my arm and captured my hand. I give in and tagged along after him toward the dance floor. Tired doggies or not, Teus might know something. I was duty bound to find out what, at least ‘til I decided whether I was gonna help Belinda or not.
At the edge of the dance floor, he said, “Do you know the Foxtrot?”
Mischief reared its wicked head inside me. “Is that kinda like a dog trot?”
He slid a side-eyed glance at me. “Sunshine.”
“Oh, all right.” I sighed and eyed the couples dancing across the floor. “I ain’t much on dancing. Tonight was my first night, mostly.”
“We’ll stick to the box step. Follow my lead?”
I rolled my eyes. “Like I got a choice.”
“Graciousness is a virtue, Sunshine.” He led me onto the dance floor and positioned us in what I was beginning to think of as the standard dance form, one hand on my waist, the other holding mine in the air, and my free hand on his shoulder. “Watch my feet and mirror my steps.”
I did, stepping back when he stepped forward, then to the side, and so on, and pretty soon, I got where I didn’t have to look at his feet no more. “That weren’t so bad.”
“Dance is an art form everyone should master, even young investigators living in the middle of rural America.”
“You sound kinda snotty when you say stuff like that.”
“I’m merely lamenting the lack of social grace among the modern generations. Today’s young people have no appreciation for the subtlety needed to properly navigate the world.”
I narrowed my eyes on his tanned face. “You’re insulting me.”
“Not you in particular, Sunshine. Your generation in general.” He smiled, slow and sensual, and eased me a fraction closer. “I’d be happy to serve as your tutor.”
“I got enough men in my life right now, thank ye.” Boy, did I ever. Way I figured it, I needed to get a handle on Riley before I stepped out with another man, and I weren’t even dating him. “What can you tell me about what’s going on in Greenwood Cove?”
“Very little, I’m afraid. My business dealings with the Greenwood Five don’t include what happens to their personal property.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “The Greenwood Five?”
“The property owners, or rather, their managers.” Teus nudged me back into the dance. “Belinda on behalf of her husband, Gregory on behalf of his.”
“Gregory and David ain’t married,” I pointed out.
Teus smiled. “Faith handles her own dealings, of course. She’s a shrewd negotiator.”
That was probably the kindest thing anybody done said about her recently. I was sure she’d take it as a compliment, too, and almost sure Teus’d meant it as one. “What about the other two?”
“Hal Woodrow takes care of his own business, now that he’s retired. Phillip Oliver has handled his father’s estate since Thaddeus died last year.” Teus tutted and shook that regal head of his. “A shame, really. The elder Oliver slipped and fell into the lake, hitting his head against the side of his boat on the way in. He drowned before anyone could reach him. Didn’t you hear?”
I had the feeling Teus was mocking the late Mr. Oliver somehow, though I couldn’t pin down exactly how. “I don’t take the paper.”
“A situation we’ll have to remedy.” He whirled me around in a circle. “How attached are you to Mr. Treadwell?”
“Er, he’s my date.”
“I’m rather aware of that, Sunshine.”
“Well, it’s the truth.” I shrugged and twisted my mouth into a thoughtful frown. “I reckon most people’d call us friends. We’ve knowed each other since we was kids.”
His eyes went dreamy for a minute, then sharpened. “The two of you used to swim together in the lake.”
“How did you know?”
“I have my ways,” he murmured. “He’s headed this way. If you’d rather, I can escort you home.”
Missy’s warning drifted through my head and I stiffened. “Thank ye kindly, Mr. Teus, but Riley brung me. I reckon he orta be the man to carry me home.”
“I’ll leave you in his capable hands, then.” Teus led me off the dance floor, raised my hand to his mouth, and kissed me lightly on the knuckles. “We’ll meet again, Sunshine Walkingstick, sooner than you’d like.”
He bowed and backed away, and a minute later, he was lost in the crowd. I stared at the spot where he disappeared, pondering the many things I learned during that one dance, and the many more tidbits I was sure to find once I give it a good thinking over.
Chapter Eight
Rhapsody eventually wound down, thank goodness. I never made it to the silent auction. A shame, too. Jazz and BobbiJean both donated artwork, the folksy stuff muckity mucks raved about. I brung money for it, too, just in case, and then got sidetracked with all the dancing and eating and investigating.
I snuggled under Riley’s jacket in the front seat of his Range Rover. My own jacket was in the backseat going to waste, like the tie he yanked off soon as we got in the car. I didn’t mind so much. His aftershave had rubbed off on his jacket collar. Having it under my nose the whole drive home seemed like a small price to pay for allowing him to cover me with it.
Nigh on forty-five minutes after we left the Civic Center, Riley parked beside my shabby little trailer and walked me to the door. He skimmed the backs of his fingers along my cheek. “Thanks for going with me.”
“Thanks for taking me. I had fun.”
“I’m glad.” His fingers slid down the side of my neck and toyed with my necklace. “Go out with me again, a real date this time, just me and you. We could go to the movies, maybe have dinner.”
Some of the night’s pleasantness drained away. “Riley, I…”
He ducked his head and pressed his mouth to mine, stunning me into silence. He drew back almost as quick as he kissed me, though his mouth hovered close to mine. “I know what you’re gonna say, and you can forget it. You really think I care about that feud between Fame and my dad?”
“I think you orta.”
“Fuck that, Sunny. They can sort out their own problems.” He wrapped his hand around my nape. One thumb strummed over my pulse, steady and gentle, stirring heat in my blood. “One date, that’s all I’m asking for. You can try it on for size and if you don’t like it, I’ll quit hounding you about it.”
I snorted out a laugh. No, he wouldn’t. I knowed better’n that. Still, temptation burned in me, likely helped along by the need whirling along my skin, deep down in my bones, and ever where in between. “Do I gotta wear makeup?”
“Not on my account.”
He dipped his head again and nipped the side of my neck, and my skin tingled and burned under his touch. I gasped and closed my eyes and rested my hands on his chest. “Riley, what’re you doing?”
“Keeping
my promise.”
“I don’t…” I squeezed my eyes tighter shut. “What promise?”
“To see how you taste,” he murmured. “And you taste so good, Sunshine, so beautiful.”
His hand tightened on my nape and his mouth came down on mine, hard and needy, and Lord help me, I opened for him, letting him take whatever he wanted. He devoured me, learning ever bit of my mouth inside and out, and all I could do was cling to him like he was the only thing holding me upright.
Maybe he was.
One kiss become two, merging into an endless series of soft murmurs and desperate gasps. When Riley finally broke away from me, my back was against the side of the trailer, his hand was on my hind end, and my hands was up under his shirt, stroking the bare skin of his stomach. I jerked ‘em out and hid my face in his chest right over his thudding heartbeat. “Sorry.”
“For what? God, Sunny.” His mouth found my pulse and sucked lightly, and my knees went weak again. “Invite me in.”
Bad idea. Really bad idea. Me and Riley inside my trailer, both of us het up from that kiss, and a bed a short hallway away? We’d wind up there, sure as tootin’, and much as I wanted him, much as I’d always wanted him, I couldn’t do it. Fame’d kill one of us, if Riley’s daddy didn’t do the job first.
“Maybe we should try that date first,” I said.
He laughed, husky and short. “Only if it can be soon.”
“No sex.”
“I’m not promising that.”
I rubbed my cheek over his chest. His muscles was firm under his shirt, and so very, very tempting. I sighed and amended my proclamation. “Maybe a kiss or two, then.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Sunny, but if that’s the only way I can get you to go out with me, I’ll take it. How about Sunday?”
I didn’t even pretend to think it over. “Sunday’s good.”
“Then Sunday it is.” He eased away from me, pulling me along with him, and wrapped his arms around me. “Can I call you tomorrow when I get off work?”
I bit back a smile. “Lordy, Riley, you’re bad as a kid.”
“I’m as randy as a kid,” he said drily. “Let me get your coat and see you inside.”
He bounded down the steps and retrieved my jacket, then waited while I opened up and stepped into the trailer. I shrugged his jacket off and exchanged it for mine. “I really did have fun tonight.”
“Me, too.” He bent down and pressed his mouth to mine a final time, lingering there for a long, gentle moment before letting me go. “Sleep tight, Sunshine.”
“You, too.”
I leaned against the doorframe and watched him leave, waved goodbye as he pulled outta my yard, then shut the door, grinning like a loon the whole time. Maybe dating Riley was a bad idea. Lord knowed he irritated me something fierce from time to time, but maybe we could work our way around to friendship again, the way we had when we was young’uns and didn’t know nothing outside our own little worlds.
A yawn caught me by surprise, reminding me of the late hour. I slipped off my shoes, hung up my dress, and got ready for bed, replaying that kiss over and over in my head ‘til sleep swooped down and claimed me.
A hard, rapid knock on my front door woke me early the next morning. I groaned and stumbled outta bed and yanked the door open on a smiling Missy. She held up a cup of coffee in one hand and what looked like a biscuit wrapped in a paper towel in the other. “I’m sorry, Sunny, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to hear about your date.”
I yawned and shuffled back, inviting her in with a wave of one hand. “It’s ok, Missy. I need to get up anyhow.”
“Not after a late night, surely.” She set the biscuit and coffee down on my desk and sank gracefully into the chair in front of it. “So, tell me everything and don’t leave out a single detail.”
I slumped into my own chair and blinked at the coffee. “Belinda Heaton’s still fake as a three dollar bill. Poor Tom was slushed before the night was half over, bless him.”
“Honey, that’s business as usual. What about you and Riley?”
My cheeks heated and that sloppy grin slapped itself on my face. “You remember when we was talking about him? You know, the day he come by and asked me about working for Belinda?”
“I remember you telling me he liked it slow and easy.”
“Boy, was I ever right.”
Her violet eyes rounded. “You slept with him.”
“Not hardly, but that goodnight kiss.” I sighed and snuggled into the chair. “Lordy, Missy. He had me so hot, I was about crawling all over him. Had my hands up his shirt and ever thing.”
“No.”
“Oh, yeah. It was plum embarrassing, truth be told. Course, he had his hand on my butt.”
“And you didn’t punch him?” She sat back and clucked her tongue. “Either you’re getting soft in your old age or you really like him.”
I closed my eyes, hiding the truth as best I could.
“Oh, Sunny, you sweet girl, you.”
My eyes popped open. “Now, don’t you go feeling sorry for me, Missy.”
“I’m not, truly. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I lifted my hands, then let ‘em flop into my lap. “There’s too much bad blood between our families, and too much history between me and him. ‘Sides, I ain’t his normal type, not by a long shot.”
Missy’s lips pursed into a little moue. “You’re a good person.”
“We gonna go over that dry ground again?”
“Until you get it through your stubborn head.” She huffed out a sigh and speared me with a no-nonsense glare. “You’re going out with him again.”
“Sunday, to the movies and maybe dinner.” Her eyes narrowed, and I held up my hands again. “I couldn’t hardly turn him down after that kiss, could I?”
“There was more to it than a kiss, I bet.”
“Well, we had a high ol’ time at Rhapsody and he was kinda easy to be around, you know? I figured we’d snipe and bicker, but it was…good. Comfortable, even, almost like when we was kids.” My memories of that time might’ve been different than Riley’s, but they was still good’uns, mostly so anyhow, right up ‘til he hit high school and fell in with the snotty crowd. After that, ever thing changed, just ever thing. “He gets along well with BobbiJean and Jazz, too. Fact is, him and Jazz snuck outside and had some hooch together, and Riley come back in smiling so big, I thought he was snookered.”
I started at the beginning and told her the whole tale of my big night out, from the time we got there to the time we come home, and I described ever thing, the food and the band, meeting the folks with houses out on Greenwood Cove. She was mighty curious about ‘em, too, so I included ever detail I could remember. Faith’s snootiness, Christian’s empty head, bless him, Gregory’s shy wit, and flirty David with his easy smile and abundance of charm.
“David’s having a fancy get together at their house in a coupla weeks, said I was to come out.” I threaded my fingers together over my belly. “I’m s’posed to call him next week and meet up with him. He offered to take me on a motorcycle ride. Can you believe that?”
“Are you going to go with him?”
I snorted. “I’m crazy, Missy, not stupid.”
“Well, I’m sure he meant well. He sounds like such a nice young man.”
“That’s the way he struck me.” I eyed her glum expression and tapped a thumb against my stomach. “You ok?”
“What? Oh, of course.” Her mouth twisted into a slight frown. “I just realized Fame and I haven’t been on a date in a long time.”
“You tell him you wanna go out, he’ll take you wherever you wanna go.”
“Perhaps.” She shook her head a mite, wobbling the curls piled on top of her head, and smiled. “With all the investigating you’re doing, I have to assume you’ve decided to take on Belinda’s case.”
“Not yet. There’s something there I can’t quite pin down.”
I sighed and fixed my gaze on the ceiling above h
er head. One of them things I was uneasy about was Teus. Since Missy’d warned me to stay away from him, I didn’t feel right telling her about that dance. I sure didn’t wanna share my suspicions about him having more to do with what was going on in the cove than he let on.
“I’ll think on it some more, maybe poke around a little. I don’t know. Don’t seem like there’s much of a rush. Leastwise, nobody seemed right anxious about it.” Ticked off, yeah. Eager to figure out the problem, not so much. “Say, did I tell you about the getup Belinda was wearing?”
Missy relaxed under my description of the God awful way Belinda’d gommed herself up, and I only exaggerated a little in the telling. By the time she left, I’d worked my way through the bacon biscuit and coffee she brung me, and her smile was firmly in place once more.
A day without Missy’s smile was a sorry day indeed. That thought kept a smile on my own mug right up ‘til suppertime.
Chapter Nine
Riley called about five minutes after I sat down to supper with a reheated plate of leftovers. I pushed ‘em away with nary a regret and answered my phone.
“Hey, Sunny.” His yawn drifted through the phone. “Sorry. Didn’t sleep much last night.”
I smiled and dug the toe of my boot into the carpet, and spun my chair around. “Too much of Millard Willoughby’s ‘shine?”
“Not enough of Sunshine Walkingstick,” he retorted. “You haven’t changed your mind about tomorrow, have you?”
“I promised I’d go, didn’t I?”
“Don’t mean you haven’t changed your mind.” He sighed and that leather creaking sound come over the line. “How was your day?”
“Oh, about the same as usual. Missy come by and listened to me gossip about Rhapsody. How was yourn?”
“Pretty routine. A couple of people fishing in the Tallulah River without a license. They weren’t too happy with the tickets I wrote.”
“They never is,” I murmured. Hadn’t I heard enough complaints of the like from my own kin?
“Had an e-mail from the guy that tests our water,” Riley said. “He said it might be a while.”