“We’re picky who we let settle.”
“Well, good thing for both of us I don’t plan to remain long.”
“Did I say I didn’t want you here?” His lips twitched with an obviously reluctant smile.
Even when he was at his sarcastic, even accusatory best, he had a bedroom voice that dripped charisma. Sex. She trembled.
Then she licked her dry lips. She had to get out of here. “Much as I hate to ask you for anything, can you please drive me to 105 Edgemont Street?” She had no choice but to trust in his badge, his integrity, and her own gut instinct about the man, despite his disposition.
“105 Edgemont.” His body stiffened in obvious surprise.
“That’s what I said. Drop me off there so you can see the last of me.”
“That’s what you think,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?”
He shook his head and muttered beneath his breath, then he met her gaze. “You’re Crystal Sutton’s niece.”
“Yes. I’m Kendall Sutton, but how . . .”
“I’m Rick Chandler.” He started to extend his hand, then obviously thought better of them touching again and shoved his fist into his pants pocket.
It took a minute for his words to penetrate, but when they did, Kendall’s gaze flew to his.
“Rick Chandler?” Her Aunt Crystal had kept just one friend after Kendall had moved her from her home in Yorkshire Falls to the facility near New York City. Kendall stared at his handsome face. “Raina Chandler’s son?”
“That’s me.” And he still didn’t look too pleased.
“It’s been a long time. Forever, really.” Since she was ten and she’d lived her one happy summer with Aunt Crystal before the older woman’s arthritis had been diagnosed and Kendall forced to leave. She vaguely remembered meeting Rick Chandler or had it been one of his brothers? She shrugged. Having been there one summer and only ten years old, she hadn’t gotten close to the people in town nor had she kept in touch with any once she was gone.
Moving on was the story of Kendall’s life. Her parents were archaeologists and traveled on expeditions to remote parts of the world. She’d rarely kept track of them as a child and took about as much interest in their specific whereabouts now as they took in hers.
Kendall had lived with them abroad until she turned five, when they’d sent her back to the States to be shuffled between family members. She’d often wondered why her parents had a child they never planned to raise, but she’d rarely been with them long enough to ask—until Hannah had been born and her parents had returned stateside for five years. At twelve, almost thirteen, Kendall had moved back in with them but she hadn’t opened her heart to the people who’d essentially abandoned her, but came home for their newborn baby. The rift between Kendall and her parents had widened even though they no longer had oceans and continents between them, and remained until their departure. Kendall had then been eighteen and on her own.
“You’ve grown up.” Rick’s voice brought her back to the present. A wide smile pitched his lips into a charming grin.
No doubt about it, the man had a way about him. “So have you. Grown,” she sputtered stupidly. Into a spectacular man. One with roots to this town deeper than any tree. Roots were something she knew nothing about and a sexy man who had those spelled trouble for a woman destined to wander.
“Did my mother know you were coming to town today?” Rick asked.
She shook her head. “It was another impulsive decision.” Similar to her hair, she thought and lifted a hand to the pink-colored strands.
He exhaled and seemed to relax a bit. “Spurred on by the nixed wedding?”
She nodded. “By the mutual jilting.” She bit down on her lower lip. “Nothing has gone as planned today.”
“Including your rescue?”
She grinned. “It’s been an experience, Officer Chandler.”
“That it has been.” He laughed.
The deep, husky sound curled her insides into warm, coiled knots of need.
“Look, I know this is going to sound bizarre but do you think we could keep the details of this first meeting between us?” An actual flush stained his cheeks, something she doubted Rick Chandler experienced too often.
“Just get me out of this heat and into an air-conditioned house and I promise I won’t say a word.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t been back to Crystal’s house in a while.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement of fact they both knew to be true.
Only Kendall knew the reasons. She shook her head. “Not for years. Why?”
He shrugged. “You’ll see for yourself. Do you have luggage in the trunk?” he asked.
“A small carry-on and a suitcase.” Filled with bathing suits and other vacation clothing.
She sighed. Nothing she could do about it now, so she’d have to go shopping for more practical clothing later.
He retrieved her bags and stowed them in his car before returning to cup her elbow in a gentlemanly gesture—unlike the cynical behavior he’d exhibited so far today.
A few minutes later they were on their way. Sweat trickled down Kendall’s back as the darn dress plastered to her wet skin. Despite the air-conditioning in the car, the cool blasts of air had done little to relieve the intense heat. Being in such close quarters with Rick Chandler made her body temperature soar, while he apparently remained oblivious to her charms.
He’d become her tour guide, pointing out the sights, such as they were, in his small hometown. All the while, he maintained a respectable distance while he talked. Too respectable, she thought irritably.
“We’re here.” Rick called her attention to Edgemont Street.
She glanced up. From a distance, the old house was just as she remembered it, a huge Victorian with wrap-around porch and large front lawn. A place where she’d shared tea parties and had her first taste of beading and jewelry design before her aunt’s arthritis changed things. It was also the place where Kendall had nurtured childish dreams of staying forever with the aunt she adored.
But Crystal’s home had been temporary, just like every place prior or since. And once her aunt had been forced to send Kendall packing because of her health, Kendall had learned not to invest too much in the way of hopes and dreams in any one place or person. But if she’d learned that lesson well, then why the painful lump in her throat now, as she looked at the dilapidated house up close, through adult eyes? She let out a frustrated sigh.