Luanne sighed and shook her spoon at Emily. “I told you. I’ll design you a website but that’s where I draw the line. Home renovation is not my gig.”
“Whatever you do, I’m sure you’ll do it with a glaringly loud and obvious style, Luanne,” Emily said with a grin, and reached over to pat her hand. “Why don’t you call Hank and tell him you want to talk to him?”
Luanne thought for a minute, and then shook her head. “I want him to come to me first. I’m not crawling back to the man and begging for a second chance.”
Emily sighed.
One week later
“That’s right, Officer. I’m pretty sure I heard voices in the upstairs room.” Emily Allard-Smith’s voice trembled on the other end of the line. “I’d appreciate it if you’d come by the house and check it out.”
Hank stared out the dark window of city hall and sighed. “I’m the only one at the station right now, Ms. Allard-Smith. The next shift doesn’t come in until midnight. I—”
“I baked some cookies,” she said hopefully.
Like cookies were going to be enough to draw him out to the Peppermint House? Although, they probably were enough of a lure for his father. “Ms. Allard-Smith, I—”
“Please,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m really scared. I’m positive this place is haunted.”
And he was positive that all she had were a few squirrels in the attic and an overactive imagination. “I’ll see if I can send someone out.”
“Oh good,” she said in a grateful voice. “Luanne and I are so scared. She really hasn’t been herself this week and this is just the icing on the cake.”
Luanne was scared? He sat up straighter, thinking hard. She hadn’t been herself that week? Was she missing him? Like he was missing her?
Bright, vivacious Luanne seemed to make everything in his life more exciting, more fun. He’d noticed in the week that they’d been broken up that even the normal dull routines seemed…well, they seemed just a tad bit duller than usual. It was like all the light had gone out and he was just going through the motions.
Which was silly. But then he thought of her wild little smile, and thought maybe it wasn’t so silly after all. Maybe she was just as good for him as he was for her.
Except that neither one of them were good for each other’s jobs. It just couldn’t be. Didn’t mean he couldn’t stop thinking about how it might have been, though.
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” he told Emily in a tired voice.
“Perfect,” she said, and sounded almost excited.
CHAPTER FIVE
Emily met him at the front door, dressed in a pink sweatshirt and a pair of jeans with the knees ripped out. She smiled brightly at him, seemingly unafraid. “Thank you so much for coming by, Officer Sharp.”
He stepped into the house, scanning the living room. Things were a mess, the furniture covered by white sheets. But then again, things were always a mess in this house since Emily was renovating it single-handedly. No sign of Luanne, either, but that wasn’t surprising—even if it was disappointing. She’d likely heard that he was coming over and ran out the door. He suspected she was avoiding him, which he wasn’t thrilled about. He kind of wanted to see her again. Wanted to see if she missed him like he was missing her, or if he was the only dumbass messed up over their short relationship. He cleared his throat and looked down at tiny Emily. “Have you had any more incidents since you called me?”
“Incidents? Oh, no. No, I haven’t.” She put a hand to his arm and began to push him toward the stairs. “Let me show you what room I heard it in.”
He allowed her to lead him, and they climbed up the stairs of the large Victorian house. Though there were some areas that clearly needed repairs, it wasn’t a bad house. Just a run-down one.
She paused in front of a door, and her voice dropped. “It was in this room. I think you should check it out.”
Hank nodded and put his hand on the door handle. He heard something, all right. It sounded like rustling. With a frown, he pushed the door open.
And stopped in surprise at the sight of Luanne in yoga pants and an old T-shirt, her hair pulled into a haphazard bun. A magazine was open in her lap.
Her jaw dropped and her gaze went to Emily, accusing. “What is he doing here?”
To his surprise, tiny Emily gave him a surprisingly strong shove, knocking him into the room—Luanne’s bedroom. “You,” she said, pointing at Hank. “Apologize to my sis-
ter for breaking up with her and hurting her feelings. And you.” That pointing finger swung to Luanne. “Tell this man what you really think about your job and why you do it.”
They stared at her.
Emily gave a firm nod and then one more warning look at them. “I don’t want to see either one of you come out of here until this is settled. Understand me? You can have cookies when everything is back to normal.” And with that, she slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Luanne and Hank in the room alone.
There was a long pause, and then Luanne stifled a giggle. She gave Hank a rueful look. “I think Em missed her calling as a schoolteacher.”
He relaxed a little, her smile melting away any irritation he might have had. “Does she treat everyone like they’re seven?”
“Pretty much,” Luanne said, and closed her magazine, staring at him with wary eyes.
Hell. He had hurt her feelings. And here he’d been trying to go about it the right way. Hank shifted on his feet, uncomfortable. Wasn’t it better to break up with her before he had to arrest her? But judging from the wounded look in her eyes, he was guessing he’d messed this up anyhow.
And he shouldn’t have cared, but he did.
He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the door. It remained shut. He looked back to Luanne and she gave him an expectant look.
“Well?” she said. “Are you here to apologize to me?”
Actually, he was here looking for Emily’s ghosts. But now that he was here, he couldn’t stop thinking about Luanne. Couldn’t take his eyes off of her, either. She was real pretty tonight, her skin flushed with emotion, her face devoid of makeup, her hair in a loose bun atop her head. Tendrils framed her cheeks and he wanted to brush them aside with his fingers, trace the lines of her face, and oh-so-carefully kiss that wary frown off her mouth. He opened his mouth, but the words didn’t come out. Hell. Hank wasn’t one for fancy words anyhow. He didn’t know what she wanted to hear from him.
So he decided to start with the truth. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw and sighed. “I thought I was doing the right thing, Luanne. You know it’s going to be a problem between us.”
“You didn’t have to just drop me off on my porch and wave good-bye, though,” she said, and there was all that hurt again. “I mean, if you don’t want to date me, just tell a girl, will you? I can handle rejection just as well as the next person.”
“But I do want to date you. I just…I can’t. Do you understand why?”
To his surprise, she nodded and got to her feet, her long legs unfolding. “I do. I just wish you’d talked to me first instead of deciding it right away.”
“I wish you’d talked to me before you went off chasing chupacabra!”
“Actually, I was chasing crop circles.” A hint of her impish smile returned and she moved to his side, standing in front of him, inches away. “Everyone knows chupacabra’s just a myth anyhow.”
Hank sighed.
She ran a hand up his chest and rested it against his heart in that possessive, admiring way that always made his cock get hard instantly. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”
“And?” he prompted.
“And?” she asked, looking up at him innocently, her fingers playing with the first button on his shirt.
“Your sister said I should apologize and you should tell me the truth about your job.” He leaned closer to her, inhaling her fresh scent. Damn, she smelled sexy. “Way I see it, I kept my side of the bargain.”
Her playful look instantly d
isappeared and her hand dropped. Luanne’s expression became guarded, almost anxious, and she twisted her hands.
Whatever it was she had to tell him, it made her nervous. Unhappy.
He didn’t like that. He liked the fearless Luanne. Frowning at her anxious look, he moved to sit down in the chair she’d vacated and pulled her down into his lap.
She fell into his arms, hers going around his neck. “I don’t know if I should be sitting in your lap, Officer.”
“If you’re my girlfriend, I don’t see why not.”
Luanne stilled and looked at him with a serious, almost hopeful gaze. “So am I?”
Was he going to regret this later if she didn’t give up her job? Probably. Did he care? Not at the moment. “I don’t want anyone else.”
She leaned in and kissed him lightly, her lips brushing over his, the smile returning to her face.
Hank deepened the kiss, leaning in and stroking his tongue against her parted lips, letting her know that he wanted her. She made a sexy whimper in the back of her throat and then her mouth opened for him, and she pressed her breasts against his chest as she kissed him.
When they finally broke the kiss, both were breathing hard. Luanne looked dazed.
“And?” he managed to say. “You were going to tell me about your job?”
Luanne dropped her gaze. “You sure you want to know the sordid truth?”
“More than anything.” Well, almost more than anything. Right now he wanted to kiss the hell out of her again, and possibly see what she looked like without those clothes on. But he’d settle for her snuggled up on his lap, her ass pressing down against his erection.
Luanne sighed. “It’s not that I want to keep doing the Jane stuff. It’s that I don’t have any other options.”
“What do you mean?”
She paused for a long moment, and the room got so quiet that he could hear a nearby clock ticking. Then, she blurted out the truth. “I was stupid over a man.” When he said nothing, she looked over at him. “I told you I have a master’s in finance, right? I also had investment certifications. I am eminently qualified to sell and trade stock and handle investments.”
That sounded totally foreign to someone like him. “I see.”
“The problem is, when you’re working in investments, your credit rating is of the utmost importance. After all, you can’t really be trusted with other people’s money when you can’t handle your own, right?”
Realization dawned on him. “And your credit’s bad?”
“My credit’s awful,” she admitted, a tiny, forced laugh escaping her. “You see, about two years ago, I had a live-in boyfriend who stole my mail and ran up a bunch of credit cards in my name. And then he left me and ran off to the West Coast to find his inner self or some crap. I didn’t even know he’d run up all the cards until a few months later, and the banks would only let me dispute some of it. My credit was shot to hell, and I was laid off from my job for an unrelated reason, only to find out that I couldn’t get another because my credit was hosed. I went through all of my retirement savings paying off debts and trying to fix things.”
He rubbed her back, letting her know that he supported her. He didn’t interrupt, just let her talk.
Luanne twisted her hands and continued. “The Jane thing started as a joke. A friend took me skydiving to help me forget my problems, and it was the most ridiculous thing ever. We both dressed in absurd getups and cracked jokes the entire time to hide the fact that we were about to pass out with fear. And it turns out they record videos of your dive and sell them back to you, right? Well, she posted the video online and the next thing I knew, it had a hundred thousand hits and more people demanding stunts and suggesting them.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “One thing led to another, and I started doing stunts because it was an interesting way to pass the time while I was job hunting. I got an offer to host ads on my website, and it seemed harmless, so I gave it a shot and then forgot about it. The first check was for four figures. It startled the hell out of me to get that out of the blue, and then after that, I was addicted. I was putting up videos constantly, and cultivating an audience, blogging, everything. I’ve made a small fortune from Jane and have sunk it into paying debts back.” She looked over at him and smiled weakly. “But it’s not what I want to do with my life. The thought of jumping out of helicopters or eating strange stuff just to get video hits got old about a year ago, except I can’t turn the money down. I’m unemployable in my field. I do Jane stuff because Jane’s the only thing I’m good at.”
He was surprised. Stunned, actually. “I thought you liked it.”
She gave him a brittle smile. “Kind of hate it at times, actually. No one wants to talk to me. They only want to see Jane perform some wacky trick. I’ve gone out with guys who want me to turn into Jane the moment the lights are off. I’ve had waitstaff spill plates of food on me in the hopes that I’m filming and they’ll get into the next shot. I’ve had stalkers waiting at my car.”
His hands tightened around her. “You can find another job if you hate it. One that’s safe. One that’s quiet.”
Luanne shrugged. “Sometimes it’s just easier to be Jane and let the money roll in, though.”
“I have money,” he said quietly. “Do you want to borrow some?”
“God, no. The last thing I want is to owe someone else. I pay off my last credit card next month. Then it’s only five years or so until my credit’s fixed.” She gave him a weary smile. “See, you thought I only played a train wreck. Turns out I am one in real life, too.”
“I don’t think you’re a train wreck,” he told her, continuing to rub a soothing hand on her back. “I think you trusted the wrong guy and got burned, and you fought your way out the only way you could. That doesn’t change what I think of you. If anything, it makes me like you more.” At her skeptical look, he grinned. “Underneath that rakish, devil-may-care exterior, Luanne Allard’s a completely responsible stick-in-the-mud. Just like her boyfriend.”
She leaned in so close that her breath fanned against his cheek. “There are worse things than being like my boyfriend,” she murmured.
“Mmm. Such as?”
“Being lonely,” she told him, and slid her hand between his legs, cradling his erection. “I missed you.”
“Missed you, too, baby,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. And then he groaned. “Hell. I have to get back to the station. I’ve been gone too long already and I’m the only one there tonight.”
She wiggled on his lap in a way that made his eyes want to cross. “Can I come with you?”
“Only if you promise to distract me.”
“Deal.”
Hank got to his feet and set her down, letting her long body slide against his equally long one. She felt so good against him. “I think you should walk in front of me when we leave.”
“Why’s that?”
He rubbed his chin, grimacing. “I don’t feel like showing your sister my nightstick, and right now I can’t seem to put it away.”
“Naughty officer.” She gave him a lascivious grin and rubbed her hand along the front of his pants again. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll distract Emily and let you sneak out.”
* * *
They made it back to the station in record time, and as soon as they hit the door, Hank left her side and moved to the switchboard, checking the phones. He exhaled a sigh of relief. “No calls.”
Luanne grinned at him “So very responsible.”
The smile that curved his mouth was slow, and incredibly sexy. “It turns you on.”
“It just might,” she agreed, sauntering over to his side. She stood over the edge of his desk, but he grabbed her by the waist and dragged her into his lap again, which she loved. Hank was the only guy she’d ever dated who she didn’t tower over, and his manhandling of her? It made her feel small, petite, and utterly feminine. She was eating it up.
At least, she was until he logged in to a web portal on the comput
er. “Oh my god, what is that?”
He frowned at her. “What?”
She took the mouse from him and clicked backward. “That website you were just on.”
“That’s the Bluebonnet city website.”
A giggle escaped her throat. It looked…awful. Like if she scrolled down, she expected to see glittery unicorn gifs at the bottom of the page. An obnoxious picture of the city’s symbol was set as a repeating, blinding wallpaper, and dear god, was that Comic Sans they were using as the font? “Please tell me it doesn’t play music.”
“We couldn’t figure out how to get it to play,” he admitted.
She gave him another horrified laugh. “Did you put this together?”
He nodded, a grin slowly curving his mouth. “Told you we were shit with computers.”
“Oh, honey…it’s so cute.” And awful. “You want me to fix you a new website?”
“If you do, you have to promise to show my dad how to use that Access thing again.”
Luanne curled up in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck again and nuzzling him. “Do the big bad po-po need a little woman to come and straighten out their computers for them?”
“I think they do,” he said in a husky voice. “This can be your community service.”
“Community service?” She raised a teasing eyebrow at him. “Am I under arrest for something, Officer Hotness?”
“Concealment of a deadly weapon,” he said quite seriously, and then squeezed her ass.
“That is so lame,” she told him with a mock groan. “Seriously. If those are the best lines you have, Officer Sharp, it’s no wonder you’ve been single for so long.”
With his hands still on her ass, he stood up, hefting her into the air and carrying her across the room. “It’s true, ma’am. You’re under arrest.”
“What ever will you do with me, Officer Hot Stuff?”
“Well,” he drawled, and then gave her an appraising look. “I think I should search you and then take you into a private room for further…questioning.”
The Legend of Jane Page 6