“Oh, but we are. A deal is a deal, Boy Scout. You took my advice and proved my point. You wouldn’t be this cagey or irritated if it hadn’t taken you someplace you’ve never been before. And, okay. Maybe Lolly would have gone on a second date anyway, being as you’re the Hero of Henderson. But without you upping your game, there’s a ninety-nine point nine percent chance she’d eventually be kicking your safe, boring, good cop ass back to the curb. At least now you’ve got her attention.”
Fucking A.
“Face it, man.” Vance stood, arms open wide. “I can help you with this. And for the love of God and the few things left that I find holy, you have got to help me figure out a way to stop having sex with women I find repugnant.”
The two of them started to laugh.
“This really isn’t funny,” Brooks insisted.
“Don’t I know it.”
“Listen, maybe you can help me with this. I still don’t see why we have to involve Lolly directly.”
“Because clearly I don’t have all the answers.”
Brooks laughed again and agreed with that.
“What Lolly brings is the female perspective, and my instinct is that she’d actually tell us the truth,” Vance patiently explained. “Without that, we don’t know if we’re hitting the target or just shooting blanks.”
Brooks slumped into his chair, trying to think of any way out of this. Or any way to make it work to his advantage. Did he really do Vance’s bad cop move? He honestly couldn’t remember what he’d been thinking as he’d helped Lolly out of the car. It all just seemed to happen.
Premeditated or not, he had to admit it was the first time he’d ever done anything close to that. And Lolly had not called 911. No, Lolly had responded big-time and given him a memory he would never forget. There was no shooting blanks last night. That move had hit the target dead center. It definitely got Lolly’s attention.
“All right,” he finally agreed.
“Thank you. You won’t regret this,” Vance assured him.
Brooks groaned, already second-guessing himself. “Hey! Didn’t you promise me the secret of your success if I go along with this ridiculous plan? So what the hell is it?”
“Once we talk to Lolly, and she agrees to help us…then I will hand over the secret of my success.”
“Right. You’re bullshittin’ me.”
“Swear to God. And by the way, you have to keep it secret. And I mean it. I do not want this getting out. Ever.”
Brooks had never seen Vance look so serious. It was a bit of a shock. “Okay. Top secret. I’m the good cop, remember? I can do that.”
“Good. Call Lolly and let’s get this party started. I’m not getting any younger sitting around here.”
“Why the hell are you in such a hurry to get your sorry ass hitched?”
Vance shrugged. “Been thinkin’, that’s all.”
“Yeah?” Brooks almost laughed. “About what?”
Vance hesitated for a moment before saying, “None of your fucking business. Now make the damn call.” He smacked Brooks on the leg and started for the door. “Text me where and when.”
Brooks pulled out his phone and then yelled after Vance. “Lolly’s mine. You got that, right?”
Vance turned halfway out the door. “Lolly is yours until she’s not. Then she’s fair game. Which is why you aren’t gettin’ another move until she agrees to help me.”
“Jesus,” Brooks muttered to himself, “how many moves does one guy need?”
Chapter Five
Lolly read the theme for her last collegiate fashion show aloud to her mother. “And it says to ‘invoke a kaleidoscope of vivid memories and emotions in the audience.’”
“A kaleidoscope of vivid memories and emotions?” Genevra DuVal repeated before taking a sip of tea.
“Yes,” Lolly sighed, folding the paper and running her fingers over the crease again and again. “I haven’t been able to wrap my head around it just yet. I was hoping you could help me brainstorm.”
Mother and daughter lounged inside their screened-in porch full of white wicker furniture with colorful chintz cushions. Their feet shared a large ottoman, and they each had a tall glass of sweet tea in their hand.
“Are you kidding? I rarely get a chance to be creative like this,” her mother said. “So different from the number-crunching business.” Genevra had received her degree in accounting when Lolly was a toddler. She’d started doing tax returns for friends and family out of her home. Since there were no accounting firms located in Henderson proper, it soon developed into a small business. When she realized the need, Genevra took the CPA exam and hired on an employee. She took business classes in the evenings and it wasn’t long before she opened a small office on the main drag in town. To date they were up to seven full-time employees.
“Who attends Fashion Week? What ages?” Genevra asked.
“All ages. Though I suppose the majority of the attendees will range from eighteen to fifty.”
“So let’s concentrate on your age group. What was popular when you were a kid? Universally. Something everyone relates to,” her mother prompted.
“Hmm.” Lolly squinted her eyes and gave it some thought. “Power Rangers. Harry Potter.”
Genevra smiled. “Two good ones right there.”
“My focus is sportswear,” Lolly countered. “How am I supposed to bring the Power Rangers to Wimbledon or Harry Potter to the Masters?”
“Hogwarts was a prep school, Sweetsie. Underneath the robes were nothing but striped ties and V-neck sweaters. And although your focus is sportswear, throwing in a fabulous collegiate robe-styled peignoir set or Ranger-inspired boxer briefs would certainly create some buzz. And isn’t that what participating in NC State’s Fashion Week is all about?”
Lolly looked over into her mother’s sparkling teal eyes and smiled. They shared the same dark brunette hair, but her mother wore it up in a sophisticated twist rather than the ponytail Lolly preferred. The two of them were mistaken for sisters more often than not now that Lolly was twenty-three. Her mother had given birth to her when she was barely twenty and was now in the prime of her life. “I love your ideas. Keep them coming.”
Her mother nodded, her eyes focused straight ahead into the backyard. “We’ll come up with some good ones before the week is out.”
“Which is part of the reason I’m staying home this summer. I need a break from my roommates and no one can brainstorm like you.”
“Not to mention they’re your competition.”
“That too,” she smirked. “I love them, but they are my competition.”
“Well, I’m glad you needed a break, because I certainly enjoy having you home.”
“You do?” Lolly asked. “I mean, I know you do, of course. But I don’t want to be cramping your style or anything.”
Her mother turned her head and gave Lolly a dazzling I-don’t-know-what-in-the-world-you’re-talking-about smile. Lolly snickered, shaking her head. “Besides the fact that you were not home when I arrived around three this morning, Uncle Jeb was at the party last night and is pretty convinced there is a man in your life. He says you are not talking and that I need to quickly figure out who it is and let him know.”
“He said that?” Her mother looked back toward the yard and smiled.
“He just wants to make sure you’re okay.”
Genevra reached out and touched her arm. “I know, Sweetsie. All your daddy’s brothers continue to take good care of me, and I adore them for it.”
When her mother didn’t say more, Lolly became incredulous. “You aren’t going to tell me?”
Her mother just stared straight ahead, smiled that happy I’ve-got-a-secret smile, and shook her head ‘no.’
Lolly jumped up and sat on the ottoman squarely in front of her mother. “Momma,” she implored with a grin, “you have got to tell me…something.”
Her mother’s eyes shifted to take her in. And then she laughed. “Oh, it’s silly, really. I’m just….” She closed h
er eyes and Lolly knew her mother was truly besotted. “I just want to savor it.”
Mother and daughter smiled at one another, savoring it together. “Wow,” Lolly said.
“Yes. Wow,” her mother agreed.
Lolly itched to ask all sorts of questions. When did this start? Is he older than you? Is this the first time you’ve felt like this since Daddy died? Or even, did you ever feel like this with Daddy?
No wonder her mother wasn’t talking. If these were the kinds of questions she wanted to ask, she could only imagine what three overbearing brothers-in-law would want to know. And they had actually known her father, unlike Lolly, who’d never had the chance to meet him.
Her cell chimed. She sat up straight when she saw it was a text from Brooks. ‘Pick you up at 7. Dinner. My apologies up front. Vance is joining us.’
She texted back with one hand. ‘No problem. See you at 7.’ She looked up into her mother’s inquisitive smile.
“Brooks is taking me out to dinner tonight.”
“A second date already?” she asked, clearly delighted.
“Maybe,” Lolly said. “I’m not sure. Might be more of a business meeting. Coach Evans is joining us.”
“Coach Evans? The one with the magic hands?”
“Yes.” Lolly burst into laughter remembering him rubbing her feet. “Oh My God, Mom, he really does have magic hands. My feet were cured! Maybe he’s gotten a bad rap. Maybe he just has healing hands and…” she trailed off smiling.
“And what?”
“I was about to say that the rumors were exaggerated, but then I remembered he had a magic voice too. It’s no wonder Molly and her crowd find it hard to stay away from him.”
“Oh Lord. Molly. If you think your uncles worry about me, they’d have heart failure if they knew that boy was massaging your feet.”
Lolly chuckled. “Well, what about you, Mom? Are you having heart failure because he massaged my feet?”
“Sweetsie, honestly,” her mother said, sitting back and offering her a dreamy sort of look, “I love that Vance Evans massaged your feet.”
“What?” Lolly laughed, outraged.
“I mean it,” her mother smiled. “You’ve got better sense than I ever had. You’re ambitious and smart, you work hard, and I know you have big plans for yourself. So if a man like Vance Evans wants to massage your feet, I want you to lie back and enjoy it. Trust me. This time in your life won’t last forever.”
“Mom!” Lolly sputtered. “Where is the woman who warned me about boys, sex, pregnancy, disease, and heartache back when I was sixteen?”
“At sixteen you needed those warnings. Now that you’re twenty-three, well, all those boys have grown into men. Hopefully they know what they’re doing. And if you’re involved in designing athletic cups for your graduate project, I’m assuming you know what a condom is. As for the heartache….” Her mother took a deep breath and let it out. “If I’ve learned one thing, Sweetsie, it’s that you can’t do much to protect yourself from that. And trust me, being lonely is far worse than trying to avoid it.”
Lolly reached out and hugged her mother tightly. “I’m sorry that you’ve been lonely, Momma. Whatever is going on, you truly do have the right to savor it.”
***
Just before seven o’clock, movement outside the house drew Lolly’s attention.
Her nerves had started unraveling an hour earlier as she prepared to see Brooks again. Where this morning her body had woken in a state of unadulterated bliss as she languidly remembered all the highlights of her date with Brooks, as the day wore on and her memory belabored the very potent, very shattering end to their evening together, embarrassment started to rear its ugly head.
How was she supposed to act when she saw him? The man had given her a magnificent orgasm kissing her goodnight. Was she supposed to ignore that? Pretend it didn’t happen? Leap into his arms and beg him to do it again?
To compound things, the conversation with her mother reminded her of Vance and his hands and the two of them alone in the training room. Of all he’d said in that ridiculously seductive voice. Of how she’d been so turned on that she was daydreaming about an affair with the Dark Lord at the end of the massage table.
And now she was having dinner with them both. The one who’d turned her on and the one who’d finished her off. She sucked in a breath at the thought. Holy crap!
So when the movement out front caught her eye, Lolly hid herself to the side of the bay window and snuck a peek. She was eager to lay eyes on Brooks, hoping to calm her nerves before meeting him at the door.
Only it wasn’t Brooks. Her surprise and curiosity had her moving front and center in the window to get a better look. Down at the end of the drive she saw Vance leaning against the back of his daddy’s vintage orange Corvette, which was parked along the curb on the side of the road. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had one ankle crossed over the other. He wasn’t looking toward the house. He was staring at something straight ahead. Concentrating. Lolly followed his gaze, right to her mother’s bright yellow two-seater, Spyder Convertible.
She looked back at Vance and continued to watch. Eventually, he pushed himself away from the Vette and strolled up to the back of her mother’s car. He stopped, staring at it. Then he circled all the way around, inspecting the car as if he were interested in buying it.
Maybe he was. His dad was into cars; everyone knew that. He had built a special garage in recent years just to house his collection. Lolly heard it had lifts that would allow one car to be stored above another. Maybe Vance was a car guy, too.
She turned in search of her little clutch purse and glanced at herself in the mirror over the buffet. Her mother would never sell that Spyder. She loved it way too much, Lolly thought as she checked her teeth, makeup, and hair. She’d left her hair down, but pulled it back from her face with a wide red headband. She’d layered a red silk tank top over a tight white one, tucked them both into a short but full red skirt and cinched her waist with a black patent leather belt that matched her low-heeled sandals. She grabbed up her white sweater and popped open the screen door just as Vance was about to hit the porch steps.
He looked up and stopped in mid-stride.
Whatever emotion had been etched on his face dissolved into a playful grin as he took a step back and stared up at Lolly, his hands spread to his sides. “On time and looking fine, Miss DuVal. Where have you been all my life?”
Lolly blushed, her hand still on the screen door. “I thought Brooks was picking me up.”
“Change of plans. Unfortunately for Brooks, a call came in right as he was getting off duty. A pit bull roaming around the elementary school. Brooks knows the dog and the owners so he thought he should handle it. I told him to take his time. That I’d pick you up and we’d meet him at the restaurant.”
“Oh. Okay. So he’s all right with this?”
“Oh, hell no!” Vance laughed. “This is his worst nightmare. But being that he is the town superhero and all, what choice did he have? However, he has forbidden me to talk to you about anything regarding our research before he arrives.” He held out his hand as she descended the steps. She took it, nodding her thanks. “So of course, I’m going to tell you everything.”
Chapter Six
Vance watched as Lolly’s mouth hung open in shock right before she let out a genuine laugh. “Vance Evans, you are a bad, bad man.”
“So they keep telling me,” he grumbled, leading her down the drive. He didn’t drop her hand but kept a casual hold on it. With Brooks claiming her as his own, he wasn’t going to get many chances to touch her, so he was taking advantage of this one. He was having trouble shaking the day-late-and-dollar-short feeling that kept nagging at him ever since he’d realized Brooks had asked Lolly to Lewis and Darcy’s engagement party.
“This is one of my daddy’s pride and joys,” he explained as they approached the car. “None of them gets driven a whole lot with him out of town so much, so he insists I take one o
ut for a spin whenever I can.” He opened the passenger door. “Frankly, I prefer to drive my truck, but according to Duncan James it screams redneck. I figured a pretty girl earning a graduate degree might appreciate riding in a Corvette.”
Lolly turned to face him before sliding into the bucket seat. Her sapphire-blue eyes flirted outrageously while her pouty little lips formed a set of words that shot straight to his groin. “As long as I eventually get to ride in your pickup,” she said.
Now what the hell was he supposed to do with that? Because what he wanted to do was snatch her up in his arms and kiss that dirty mouth of hers.
“Get in,” he ordered. Because a ride in his truck meant full-on, hot, sweaty sex and as young and innocent and blah, blah, blah as Brooks insisted she was, there was no way she didn’t know that. Not if Molly DuVal was her cousin.
Lolly moved fast, wiggling her shapely little ass into the leather seat and then swinging those long, long legs of hers, which he was now imagining wrapped around his waist, into the car. He slammed the door shut.
As he walked around the back of the car, he noticed the yellow Spyder again. He moved into the driver’s seat asking, “Is that your momma’s car?” He started the ignition.
“It is. She loves it. She won’t sell it, if that’s why you’re asking.”
He shook his head, pulling into the street. “I’ve just seen it around,” he said quietly. “Didn’t know who it belonged to, that’s all.”
Lolly nodded. “I guess being a cop, you like to know everybody’s car.”
Vance shook his head again, then snickered. “I’m not much of a cop. Not like Brooks. He’s into it. He’s good at it.”
“You’re not into being a cop?”
He shook his head one more time.
“So you’re more into coaching? And being a cop pays the bills?”
He shot Lolly a short grin. “I like coaching. And being a cop is interesting. People are nuts. Get themselves in all kinds of stupid situations. Fortunately, around here most of it is harmless. We’re lucky, you know, to live in a place where most people don’t even lock their doors.”
Summer on Main Street Page 14