As if he’d found doggy paradise, Rook bounded ahead of them in the sand and then circled back to check on them now and then. Silence reigned while they walked along at an easy pace, a comfortable truce affording her time to pace her breathing and still the erratic beat of her heart. That was another conundrum she’d been dealing with. Every time he came within striking distance, shortness of breath, thumping heartbeat and ripples of heat crawled over her skin.
“What are you thinking about?” the solid mass of male phenoms asked. “Right now, this second?”
Oh, hell no, not going there.
“Wondering about your family. You said I never asked one question about you the first time we met.”
“Ask away. I’m an open book.”
Yeah, categorized under erotic at Barnes and Noble. “All right. Tell me about your family.”
He looked away as if gathering his thoughts first. “Let’s see, Dad left when I was fourteen or should I say she drove him away.”
“Your mom?”
He nodded.
“You miss him.”
“Yeah, but we stay in touch. I also envy him.”
“Why’s that?”
“He escaped to Costa Rica, tropical beaches, wonders of nature and friendly people.”
“How about siblings?”
“Zilch. Like you, I’m an only child and not at all bitter about it.” He ran his hands through the hair at the sides of his head. “They shouldn’t have had children.”
She caught him out of the corner of her eye. “Sounds like a rough childhood.”
“No, I wouldn’t say rough. Dad is laid back, sort of the hippie type. Mom is…hmm, how to describe her. Domineering, determined and driven.” A quiet sigh escaped his sensual mouth. “We’re talking Mack truck driven. Once she makes up her mind she wants something, a rabid badger can’t deter her.”
“Oh-oh, is that a warning?”
He came up short and faced her, searching her face as if he wanted to commit it to memory. “No, not at all. I’d stop her before it came to that.”
“Would she listen?”
“At the risk of driving me away too? I’d like to think she would. She’s a good business woman and I’m proud of what she’s accomplished but sometimes I wonder about her ethics. I mean, how far would she go to win?” Cupping her cheek, his voice a whisper, he closed the small gap between them. “I don’t want you to worry. I’m doing my best to lead her in another direction, convince her to pour her dogged determination into another project.”
“I’m not selling out.”
“I know and I don’t blame you.”
Her mouth dried up. She wanted to look away from that kaleidoscope of blue below his eyebrows but someone had severed the wire in her brain that commanded her neck.
“I want to kiss you…want to kiss you so bad I think I’m at the point of no return.”
The world stopped. Like her heart. His lips parted. The soft breaths coming from his mouth fanned the bridge of her nose. Heat rolled off him in waves. She wondered if she’d have a permanent palm print on her cheek from his hand.
She realized in that inconvenient moment she wanted him to kiss her. Holy crap, she wanted him to do a whole lot more than kiss her.
When his mouth descended, her mind blared a final alarm. No, no, don’t fall down this rabbit hole. Nothing will ever be the same again.
Their lips met in a soft, effortless kiss, fusing like seam-bond and fabric, as if their mouths had been waiting for this moment for centuries.
Of their own volition, her arms drifted up and clasped his shoulders. Dragonflies circled in her stomach when his tongue sought hers. What are you doing, you stupid, stupid girl? A moan battled for release at the back of her throat or had it already escaped?
“Woof! Woof!”
Thank God for Rook. Twice now the dog had saved her from a terrible fate.
Dazed, she broke from the kiss, but he held her against him, his focused gaze drilling into her eyes.
“That shouldn’t have happened.” At least she could still find her voice.
“Why not?”
Stepping back, she turned around and began walking. “We’re at the halfway mark.”
He caught her before she took half a dozen steps, his fingers grasping her elbows. “I said why not?”
“You know why not. It will never work.”
“Same question.”
Resentment surged up from her belly. And a heap of uncertainty. He didn’t want her; he wanted her land. She couldn’t ditch that thought, allow him to sweet-talk her into a temporary dalliance until he got what he came for.
“Season, forget for a moment how we met, what I was doing on your land and what I do for a living.”
She slapped his hand away and kept walking. “I can’t.”
“Try.”
Spinning around on her heels, she faced him. “Okay, I’ll tell you. You stink urban snobbery, skyline vistas and desecrated wasteland.”
He scratched the back of his head, his brow furrowed. “Can you translate that for me?”
“Sure. Think Gotham City, Trump Tower and Blade Runner, everything I loathe in life.”
“Blade Runner…Harrison Ford’s old sci-fi?”
“Yeah, did you see a tree when you watched that movie? No, they destroyed every blade of green grass, every proud oak, and every blessed four-legged creature on earth except…except cockroaches.”
“They have six legs.”
“Oh, you’re insufferable, and a jerk to boot.” She stormed off again. “You think this is funny? Well not to me, city boy, not to me.”
He had to run to catch up to her. “No, I don’t think it’s funny, and you’re wrong about me, so wrong.”
“No I’m not. I care about the animals, the plant-life, even the burial mounds.”
His long strides struggled to keep up with her frantic gait. “Burial mounds? What burial mounds?”
“See what I mean? Mister hotshot surveyor missed that when he sneaked onto our land and…and, oh, nevermind. I want to go home now.”
“Sure, no problem.” He whistled for Rook and without another word between them, they returned to the car.
Her hand found the handle before the SUV came to a complete halt in the driveway. She had to get away from him and her runaway feelings. When he clicked the unlock button, she cranked the door open and hopped out. “Safe journey home, Rann, and thank you for dinner.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll send the hawk picture when I get back to Chicago, and I’ll do my best to convince Martin and my mother to abandon the Pine Bay project.
“Martin?”
“My mother’s boyfriend, her lapdog.”
“From what you’ve told me, I won’t hold my breath. You need to convince your mother and her boyfriend that elephants will turn into pink frogs before I sell the land.”
With that, she turned and scooted toward the house.
Chapter 7
Without wood the fire would die.
Building a new home for the purple Martins he loved, Duna looked up and smiled when she entered the kitchen. “I decided on a three-story with twelve openings. They’re communal birds you know.”
“I think the experts call it colonization.” She blew a quiet sigh. “Where’s this one going?”
“Far enough away from the house for privacy but close enough so I can chase out other early nesters.”
“How about on that high post in the empty lot? Plenty of aerial space over there.”
“Your father put that post up one year, slapped a birdhouse on top and hoped to interest a wood duck. I didn’t have the heart to tell him they prefer to be by water and are partial to an old hole in a tree.”
She chortled. “He was a whiz when it came to engines but never did have a knack for bird habitats.”
Duna put the stack of roof shingles down and cocked his head in her direction. “You want to talk about it?”
“If I thought it would make me feel better,
I would, but it won’t so I don’t.”
“That bad, huh?”
“I hurt him. Gah…I didn’t set out to, but he wants something I can’t give him.”
“The land, you mean?”
“Well, there is that, yes. But that’s not what the disagreement was about.”
“Humph.”
“Is that all you have to say…humph?”
“If I don’t know what else he wants or what the disagreement was about, what more can I say?”
“Anything other than humph.”
The hammer in his hand joined the shingles on the table. “All right. How about this: The dog that digs deepest finds the bones.”
“I’ve near heard that one. What does it mean?”
He shrugged. “I take it to mean we shouldn’t be so quick to judge a man. Sometimes there’s more than what we see on the surface and we have to work to uncover it.”
She put a hand on her hip. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re coming to his defense, even though he wants our land.”
“Your land. And maybe he did want it at one time, but that was before he met you.”
“I don’t believe this!”
“What? And don’t pull that face on me. Is it so hard for you to believe he might have changed his mind? It’s easy to fight for something when your enemy is faceless.”
Season headed for the stairway. “I’m going to bed. First him and now you.”
“He kissed you, didn’t he? And now your heart’s all tangled up like a calf caught in barbed wire.”
She whirled around. “Yes, he kissed me and yes to your second question.” Closing her eyes, she reeled from the aftershocks still wracking her body from that kiss. “We have nothing in common. He’s like a character from My Best Friend’s Wedding pursuing love at a White Sox game and I’m like a character from Little House on the Prairie homesteading in DeSmet.”
Duna put a hand in the air. “Ghel, get to know him before you stuff him in a crate and slap a label on it.”
“I don’t know if I can trust him and it’s making me crazy. Back and forth, back and forth. Is he a lying snake or is he telling the truth?”
“You’ll never know if you turn away from him, will you?”
“No.” She chewed on her thumb. “What should I do, Duna?”
“Sleep on it. Maybe things will look different in a few days. But remember this, true love is worth fighting for. It comes along once in a lifetime for some, never for others.”
“Love you, Grandfather.”
“Love ya more, Season.”
“Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, ghel.”
~*~
Rann walked through the cavernous lobby of the Lodger, the most exclusive hotel in Pine Bay. He expected nothing less from Amanda, his mother’s administrative assistant. He walked past the desk clerk, nodded and headed for the elevator. Once in his room, he plopped onto the bed, his brain a jumbled mass of turbulent emotion. He shouldn’t have kissed her, knew once he did, he’d all but signed his ass away, not to mention his heart.
His cell vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he checked the number and groaned. “Hello Dick-him.”
“It’s Hickum, Martin Hickum as you damn well know.”
"What do you want?”
“Your mother asked me to call and remind you to send the names of the landowners on the Pine Bay project.”
“Tell my mother I’ll send them when I’m damn well ready. Been a little busy here cutting ruthless land takeovers.”
“Yeah, that ought to go over like a pregnant pole vaulter.”
“Never mind, I’ll tell her myself.”
Hanging up on Martin afforded him a small sense of victory.
Dragging himself from bed, he walked toward the bathroom. Perhaps a hot shower would relieve the roadmap of knots in his shoulders.
His cell phone rang again and he didn’t need to look at the number to know who was on the other end. Like a fox sensing a bloodhound on his tail, he knew it was his mother.
“Hello, Charlotte.”
“So we’re in the Charlotte mood again.” She expelled an exasperated breath. “Martin just phoned me. Is there a problem with your Internet connection?”
“At this three-hundred- dollar-a-night fortress?”
“Really, Rann, why can’t you ever just enjoy your wealth?”
“Your wealth.”
“You would appreciate it if you were married and had children to provide for.”
“Here we go.”
“What? I’ve been waiting a long time for grandchildren.”
“A long time? I’m twenty-eight, not forty-eight. Besides, what would you do with grandchildren…schedule them in for visitation on your calendar?”
“What is your problem these days, hmm? Tell me, did you want for anything growing up? You went to the finest private schools, the best college, and visited Europe three times before you were eighteen. Name one thing you were deprived of in your childhood.”
Your time and unconditional love.
“Rann?”
“Nothing, Charlotte, I didn’t want for one Single. Solitary. Thing.”
“Oh, you’re insufferable.”
“Huh.”
“Huh what?”
“You’re the second person who said that tonight. I better sit up and take notice.”
A long pause ensued. “Who…who said that to you? A woman? Have you met someone? What aren’t you telling me, Rann? Does it have anything to do with the Pine Bay project?”
Season’s trembling chin flashed before him. “No, no one. There is no woman.”
“Well Bernadette will be relieved to hear that.”
“Mother, I don’t care what Bernadette would be relieved to hear or not hear.”
“I don’t understand why you fight me on this. She loves you and comes from one of the finest families in Chicago.”
“And one of the richest.”
“There is nothing wrong with wealth.” He pictured her with her nose turned up, her blue eyes spitting sparks. “I give up, and I have better things to do than argue with you like wild dogs fighting over a bone. Will you send those names tonight or should I put Martin on it?”
Oh, God. Martin would descend like a steamroller and crush everyone in his path. “No. I’ll send the names tonight.”
“See that you do.”
“I don’t think things are going to work out at Pine Bay.”
“So you are withholding something?”
“I was hoping to resolve the issue but….”
“There are no buts.”
“Goddamn it, you can’t expect everyone to submit to your demands.”
She drew an impatient breath. “And I can’t resolve the problem if I don’t know what it is.”
“One of the landowners is flat out refusing to discuss terms, contracts, offers.” He massaged his forehead with his thumb and middle finger. “What about the Silver Cove project in Virginia? Why don’t we concentrate on that for now and see if Pine Bay is more malleable a year from now?”
“Are you completely mad or just borderline crazy? We already discussed this. There is a fortune to be made here and I don’t intend to let it slip away. I told you before, extensive effort, time and money has been dumped into the Pine Bay project and nothing short of the planet blowing up will stop me from building condominiums there.”
“Not even me walking out of your life?”
For the first time in his life, she fell mute for a moment. “I don’t know what’s going on in that backwater town but we’ll continue this discussion on Friday.” Her voice went up and octave or two. “Get your head straight before you return. I don’t want to hear any more inane talk about you pulling a disappearing act like your father or any more talk about people who worship their land, do you hear me!”
“You’re yelling, how can I not hear you?”
“Jesus, I need a drink, possibly ten.”
“Before I hang up, I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Is Martin involved with the Outfit?”
“Not that I know of. Good heavens, what makes you think he has connections to the mob?”
“Word gets around fast in Chicago. Since he’s your lover, I thought you’d know.”
Her voice cracked. From anger or guilt, he didn’t know. “I don’t have time—”
“That’s the problem, Charlotte, you never did.”
The line went dead. Evidently, he’d really pissed her off.
Rann undressed, turned the shower on and allowed the hot water to flood his body. If only it could wash away the sickening feeling in his gut.
Before he climbed under the covers, he emailed the list of landowners to his mother. He knew the moment he hit send, he’d made a terrible mistake.
Chapter 8
Children will tell you what they do, men what they think, and older people what they have seen and heard.
Season plunged back into her summer curriculum with marked disinterest. The classes that once sounded so compelling—Digital Imaging, Studio Lighting and Photo Editing II—failed to lift the mental lethargy shrouding her.
She had difficulty focusing on the lectures, like the one her instructor droned on about this morning. “If anyone in my class thinks to narrow down photography to two words, think again. No, my little shutter-bugs, it isn’t merely about taking pictures. To become a professional photographer, with any hope of making a good living, a wide range of life skills are required.”
The sissy-boy dweeb with thick, black glasses and faux hawk haircut, who happened to sit behind her, whispered, “Yeah, like how to find the best pornographic images on the Internet.”
“Mr. Tomkins, did you have a question?”
A chuckle. “Yes, Mr. Carlson, exactly what kind of life skills are you referring to?”
“Critical thinking and problem-solving to name two. Effective written and oral communication and an ability to demonstrate curiosity and imagination. Now, can anyone think of any other skills?” Mr. Carlson glanced to the wall clock. “Guess we’ll have to save that question for another day. See you Wednesday.”
Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015 Page 180