Crystal hadn’t shown up.
An emergency? he wondered. Or maybe she was tired of playing with fire. When he’d kissed her the other day, flames had licked at him; he’d wanted to pull her closer and do wicked things to her body. If they’d been alone, he might have done just that. But he was pretty sure that Crystal wouldn’t like taking things to the next level. At least not yet. She was like one of those rabbits she claimed to love—gentle but very nervous, and she had good reason to be.
Treat her gently, Carson, he warned himself. No false moves, no false promises.
He knew that this thing between him and Ford bothered her, maybe even hurt her a bit. He wanted to make it right for her, but it was one of those things that could not be made right. Things had happened in his past that could never be changed. The very thought that anyone might think he was angling for a spot in the Carson family made his hands clammy. He could never be a Carson. Would never be. But what he could and would do was prove that he was capable of being as successful as any Carson. And he would do it single-handedly. He would make his way alone, just as his mother had.
Now, looking around him at Family Day, at the smiling faces and the people who had approached J.D. about future sales, Ace could almost feel success at hand.
So why wasn’t he feeling better?
He looked over the crowd, but he didn’t see any women with hair the shade of sunset or eyes that made a man get lost while standing still.
“Mommy, are there bunnies?” The little voice cut through the crowd, and Ace turned to see Crystal kneeling next to Timmy by the rest-room door, struggling to tuck in his shirt as the little boy moved forward, eager to be off to the next new thing.
“I’m sure there will be bunnies, sweetie,” she said. “I have it on good authority.”
Ace couldn’t help smiling at the picture they made. He stepped forward, holding out his hand. “Allow me to escort you directly to the bunnies, wildcat,” he said. “I hear they’re especially cute this morning. Just waiting for a guy like you to pet them.”
“What’s their names?” Timmy asked.
“Um, er…” Ace looked over into Crystal’s laughing eyes. “Well, I haven’t made their acquaintance yet myself.”
Timmy looked worried. “For real you got bunnies?”
“Only one way to find out.” Ace took Timmy’s hand and slipped one arm around Crystal’s waist. “Lots of people in here. Wouldn’t want you to get jostled,” he said.
“No, we wouldn’t want that,” she said, and her voice sounded slightly breathless. He loved the sound of her when she was breathless. A surge of desire hit him, a need to make her even more breathless by kissing his way down her body and then back up again. He wanted to see her, all of her, pale against the sheets in his bed. And he wanted to bring her pleasure and to share that pleasure as he braced himself above her and joined his body to hers.
The image and the ensuing sensation were too much. Way too much for such a public place. His hand tightened, and he felt her flinch. “Sorry,” he said, loosening his grip. He looked down at her and saw that she was studying him carefully. He knew the minute she realized that he’d been imagining her naked in his arms, because he saw her eyes go wide and he felt the gasp climbing through her.
“Shh,” he said near her ear. “We’re only going to see the bunnies, remember?”
Her eyes flashed hotly at him. “They better be good bunnies,” she said.
“The best,” he promised. And they were.
Hours later, when the last of the fireworks had sparkled in the sky and Timmy was sleeping on the blanket where they’d placed him, Ace took Crystal’s hand. “Best Family Day ever,” he said.
“You’ve done this before?”
“Never.”
She smiled. “You were so good with everyone. Helping Ms. Denny when she couldn’t find her cane and asking Floyd Barger to tell you about his old model T. You knew that neither of them could afford so much as a hubcab on one of these cars.” She gestured to the showroom off to their left.
“That wasn’t the point. It’s Family Day. It’s bigger than selling cars.”
She placed her hand over his. “You’re a good man, Ace Carson. I hope everyone knows that.”
But that wasn’t why he’d come, was it? To make people think he was a good man? If people thought that, they’d think that he was trying to win a spot in the Carson family.
Being a Mission Creek Carson was the last thing he wanted.
Well, maybe not the last thing, at least not today. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Crystal Bennett. But the way he was beginning to ache for her was downright dangerous. A danger aimed right at Crystal.
It had been two days since Ace had kissed her and made her forget that she was standing in an auto dealership lusting after a man she couldn’t possibly have—a man who was messing with her mind. And her work, she thought, glancing down at the doodles on the page in front of her. A lopsided bunny. A convertible. A man’s face. Not a good rendition of a man’s face, but close enough that someone coming along might recognize the family features.
“Agh!” she said, crumpling the paper into a ball and pitching it toward the garbage can. She missed. It was past time to get her mind back on track. Someone else must have had the same idea because just at that moment her phone rang.
“Crystal?”
At the sound of Ace’s voice, Crystal’s body started to tingle. She glanced nervously at the crunched-up piece of paper on the floor as if he might actually see what she’d done.
“I’m here,” she said, realizing she hadn’t yet spoken.
“Good. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right. Make sure you recovered from your late night out Saturday and that everything else was okay. Hines is an unpredictable sort.”
She couldn’t help smiling. No one other than her mother had ever worried about her. Certainly her father had barely even noticed that she existed before he walked out, and John hadn’t even called to see if she’d had the baby.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I think maybe Branson was just drunk the other day and maybe a bit maudlin about the past. But thank you for calling anyway.”
She knew she sounded prim. She didn’t want Ace to think that she wanted to see him again, even though there was a part of her that ached to see him. Giving in to that ache would only end in pain. She had to think about what to do about Ace, and she would. Later.
But later she walked into her house and pressed the button on her answering machine. Loud music poured into her living room. A man’s voice, distorted and thick, like a record being played at the wrong speed, came on. And what he said had her fumbling to cover her ears and to turn the machine off. But her fingers shook. She yanked the cord from the socket and slid down to the ground.
What the caller had suggested was obscene, and he’d clearly gotten more excited as the message went on.
She stilled her shaking hands against her sides. What should she do? She could call the police, but her caller ID listed the source as unknown. It could have been Branson, but it could also have been a kid making random calls and trying to make himself sound older.
She could call Ace. Ace wanted to protect her.
Right now she wanted Ace’s arms around her, but that was a desire she couldn’t allow herself. She had never had a man to protect her, and Ace wasn’t staying. When he was gone she would be the only one to take care of herself and Timmy.
She had a son. She had to be strong, as she’d always had to be strong.
In the end she realized there was nothing she could do except hope the person didn’t call back. He probably wouldn’t. She’d had friends who had received obscene calls, and the caller never called back. This was only frightening because it was the first time it had ever happened to her.
Thank goodness she had taken Timmy upstairs. He had been playing in his room when she’d played back the message.
But when the phone rang again, she nearly jumped out of her
shoes. She stared at the telephone as though it was an Uzi aimed at her midsection. Her hand trembled as she reached for the phone, then hesitated.
Three rings, four, five, six. The answering machine was unplugged. Eventually the person would give up. But Fiona had told her she’d call her tonight. Fiona knew she always left her answering machine on and would worry if she didn’t pick up.
Carefully Crystal lifted the receiver.
“Hi, angel.” Ace had never called her that before. His voice and the way he drawled the endearment filled her with warmth. One slow tear of relief coursed down her cheek.
“Two calls in one day?” she asked, forcing her voice into lightness.
“Three,” he said, and she nearly dropped the receiver. “I must have just missed you leaving work the second time. Your assistant gave me your number.”
She realized that he hadn’t had her home number before.
“Are you calling to check up on me again?” she asked. “Not much time between the last call and this one.” But something had happened. Something she didn’t want him to know. If he knew, he’d come to her. And if he came here, she would give him more than she should in her present distressed state. She knew that with every ounce of her being.
He laughed. “I’m calling because I have a…well, a situation that’s come up.”
“A situation? Involving what?”
“Bert.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know the two bunnies that Timmy wanted to call Bert and Ernie? Well, it seems that Bert is actually a Beatrice and now he’s gone and had baby Berts.”
She smiled. “And this would affect you how?”
He sighed. “The petting zoo called me. They knew that there had been lots of kids here on Saturday, and the bunnies were still fresh in their minds. It seems they have more than enough bunnies and they can’t supply any more homes. If they can’t locate homes, they’ll go to a shelter and if they don’t find homes there, well…”
He didn’t have to go on. She knew what happened to unwanted pets.
“So you’re looking for homes for bunnies?” she asked softly.
“Well, maybe a few. I’ve still got some calls to make, some leads I can follow, but I thought…you know, Timmy just seemed to like them so much…”
He sounded like a little boy himself.
She chuckled. “We’ll take one as long as it’s not a girl.”
“Hmm, you like boy bunnies better than girl bunnies?” His voice was low and sensual and suggestive. If he’d been standing next to her, she would have slapped his wrist—and then she would have kissed him.
“It’s only that boys have certain deficiencies that girls don’t have,” she said sweetly.
“Deficiencies? Oh, yes, you’re right. Deficiencies,” he agreed. “No future baby bunnies to worry about.”
“I think one would be more than enough for a three-year-old boy to handle,” she said.
“Then you’ll take one?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
“You’re an angel. I’ll bring Bert the Second over tomorrow.”
“That’ll be nice,” she whispered.
“Crystal?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to hang up now, darlin’, and let you have your dinner because I know you haven’t had time to eat yet. But I just have to tell you one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You have the nicest, sexiest voice of any woman I’ve ever known. It’ll make for some seriously exciting dreams tonight.”
And as the click sounded in her ear, she couldn’t help thinking that he had the nicest voice of any man she’d known. He had completely chased away the awful feeling that earlier message had given her.
She loved the sound of Ace murmuring in her ear. And tomorrow he would be coming to see her.
It would be wrong to get excited. But impossible not to.
The man was just too much for a woman like her to handle.
Eight
“Don’t worry, little buddy, I’ve got you safe.” Ace stood in the hospital corridor the next day whispering to the shivering little black-and-white rabbit who was backed into one corner of the carrying cage. “Soon we’ll get you into bigger quarters and give you a big meal and a cushy life with the Bennetts. It’s gonna be easy street for you from here on out.”
“May I help you, sir?”
Ace looked up from the cage and stared into the concerned eyes of a nurse. She had her arms crossed. She didn’t look like the type to talk to rabbits. If he’d been a blushing man, he would probably have done just that.
“Special delivery,” he said.
She frowned. “We don’t allow animals in here.”
“That’s too bad. Animals are like medicine to some people,” he said in a low voice. He gave her a smile. “And this one’s special.”
“So you said.”
“He’s going to a home with Ms. Bennett. She and Timmy need some company. You look like a kind woman, Nurse Thompson,” he said, reading her tag and hoping that he was right about her. “Make me a happy man and take me to Ms. Bennett?” He used his best bedroom voice.
The woman gave a big hearty laugh. “Crystal is in big trouble, I think, Mr. Carson. Oh, yes, I realize who you are now. You’ve got that Carson look about you. The eyes, I think, and maybe the jaw. Definitely the charm. All right, follow me, but don’t even think about bringing anything bigger than that rabbit in here. Kind of cute, though, isn’t he?”
“He’s a ladykiller,” Ace agreed.
Nurse Thompson practically tittered. She took him straight to Crystal’s door.
“You lucky woman, you,” she said as she left.
Crystal’s brows rose. “What did you do to her? Deirdre Thompson has ice water running in her veins most of the time.”
Ace shrugged. “I told her that she was every man’s midnight fantasy and that she’d look great in a bustier and black lace stockings.”
“You didn’t!”
He grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t. But come to think of it, I do know one woman who could make a man’s mouth water in a bustier and black lace stockings. Of course, you make a gray business suit look pretty sexy, too. Your tie’s undone.”
“Excuse me?” The blush that bloomed on her creamy skin was enough to make any man burst into flames. Ace couldn’t help being so susceptible. Taking advantage of her confusion, he set down Bert’s cage on her desk and stepped close. He gently nudged her chin up with one finger and proceeded to tie the royal-blue string tie she was wearing, the only splash of color against her white blouse and stark gray suit. His fingers lightly brushed the warm silk of her blouse where the heat of her skin came through. His fingers shook. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d lost control like that when he touched a woman. Maybe never.
“There. That’s better,” he whispered. Although that wasn’t strictly the truth. Better would have been if he had removed her tie completely, if he’d removed every other article of clothing she was wearing, as well.
“I…thank you,” she whispered and took a tiny step back. He noticed that her hands were shaking, too. “I didn’t realize that you were going to bring the rabbit here. I thought I’d stop by the dealership after work. Wasn’t that the plan?”
He smiled. “Very definitely. That was the plan.” But this one had gone awry the same way his plan to come here and thumb his nose at the Carsons seemed to be going awry. Fiona had called him again this morning. She told him that she’d been trying to reach him, but that he seemed to spend all his time at work. She said that she liked him and that she forgave him for upsetting her father. She figured there were lots of things that happened in lots of people’s pasts that they regretted, and maybe her father regretted not having treated Rebecca better, but he’d had a good life and loved his wife and kids and he couldn’t very well regret that, could he? Her voice had been going a mile a minute as if she was begging him to understand. He did understand, but that didn’t change ho
w much damage had been done by one man’s inability to live up to his responsibilities. It didn’t mend the wounds Ford’s complete thoughtlessness and cruelty had caused.
“Ace?”
He looked down at Crystal, who was looking worried. Without thought, he traced one thumb down the soft skin of her jaw. He felt the pulse jump beneath his touch. “I’m sorry I changed the plans,” he said, “but Bert was delivered to the dealership this afternoon and he was so nervous and jumpy and scared that J.D. was having a fit. He was afraid that Bert was, um, going to lose his breakfast in the dealership and chase all the customers away. As if something this tiny could scare anyone away. Anyway, I just thought it might be best to bring him to Timmy right away. I’m betting your son will make him feel better soon.”
She smiled at that. “You act so tough, Carson. But I notice that Bert seems to be looking at you like you just gave him the biggest, juiciest carrot in the world. He likes you, and something that small and scared wouldn’t like you if you hadn’t treated him right. Who would have thought, that first day when you called me darlin’ and commented on my legs and looked generally about as cocky as a man could look, that you’d turn out to be such a sensitive guy?”
He frowned. “Don’t start talking crazy talk. I’m just here to deliver the rabbit, darlin’.”
He emphasized the endearment, determined to remind her that he wasn’t the kind of man a woman like her deserved. And he couldn’t change. He’d been this way too long. He had to be this way, because he remembered all too well the consequences of trying too hard to fit in, of believing in dreams. He couldn’t go back to that.
She studied him for long seconds, then nodded. “Let’s go find my son.” She emphasized the word son, and he knew it was a reminder to both of them that she had responsibilities and that those responsibilities ruled her life. No matter how tempted by lust either of them were, the fact remained that a child could be hurt if they made any mistakes.
“Lead on,” he said, and he followed her down the hall.
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