Caught Between a Lie and True Love (Caught Between series Book 1) (11 page)

Despite the small smile twitching at the edges of his mouth, he shook his head. “Misery loves company, you know.”

The stiffness in her body eased and she pushed away from the cabinet. “Well, unless you need help with something, I should leave you alone to work.”

“Stay.” The single word escaped before he could stop it. “Please, keep me company.”

She shrugged and as he crouched down to look under the sink, she crouched down beside him.

Comfortable silence hung in the air between them. Brody tried to ignore the sweet scent of her, and as he fumbled with the pipes, she moved slightly closer.

“I noticed your daughter calls you Brody.”

He shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. “You heard that, did you?”

“It’s those teenage years. Have you forgotten what they’re like?”

He grumbled, “I was never that annoying.” As she laughed, he realized that he liked her laugh, and grudgingly he added, “Okay, so maybe my parents thought otherwise.”

She was craning her neck to see what he was doing under the sink, and Brody could smell the sweetness of her hair. Their shoulders were touching too, and as he turned to look into her eyes, he saw her gaze dip to his lips.

She licked her lips as though anticipating his kiss and his body went hard.

It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, four months to be exact, since before he got custody of Hope.

As Brody leaned toward her, the crash of metal against metal outside made them both jump.

Paige jerked to her feet and skirted around him, heading toward the back door, and Brody followed her.

He saw Olivia back her big Oldsmobile away from the tin garbage cans across the alley, then steer down the alleyway away from the house, Starr in the back seat. Hope must have returned home.

“I can’t believe she’s still driving.” Paige let out a breath. “By the looks of things, maybe I should see about getting her driver’s license revoked.”

He laughed, which brought her around to face him and the brush of her body against his was exquisite torture. His voice came out rough. “Good luck with that. Rumor has it that she bribes the driver examiner.”

Her voice softened. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for my grandmother.”

He shrugged, conscious of how close they stood, how good she smelled, like warm strawberries in the coolness of the afternoon shade. Desire brought him closer and giving in to the urge to touch her, he wiped a bit of grease off her cheek. “Everyone in town watches out for her.”

“Thank you. I wish there was some way I could repay you.” She set her hands against his abs. “You’re tense. You need to relax.”

“And how am I supposed to do that with a teenager that hates my guts and her vengeful grandmother watching my every move?”

She moved into him and wrapped one hand around the back of his neck. Her fingers glided into his hair. “Between the two of us, I’m sure we can figure out a way to release your tension.” She smiled and added, “And mine.”

Every inch of his body demanded he press against every inch of her body. He slid one hand under the silkiness of her hair and cupped the back of her neck. “Tell me this isn’t all one-sided. That you’re not coming on to me because you want to repay me for fixing Olivia’s faucet.”

“And other things.” She gazed up into his eyes, hers clear and bright and filled with naughtiness. “It’s not. I’m not.”

“This could get complicated.”

“It doesn’t have to,” she whispered back.

But he knew better. Any involvement with this woman—any woman—would be deemed inappropriate.

The Judge would have his ass.

Matilda would have his balls…and her granddaughter.

And yet, against better judgement, Brody lowered his head and brushed his mouth against the softness of hers.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Delores stood in the coffee lineup, waiting her turn, tapping the pointy toe of her shoe against the tiles.

What was taking Brody so long?

She checked her watch for what had to be the hundredth time, then pulled her cell out of her bra and started typing on the small screen.
Where are you? I’m at the coffee shop waiting. We need to get to town hall to sign those nomination papers
.

“Hey lady, are you going to order or what?”

Glaring at the man who’d interrupted her, she shifted to the side, waved him past, then stepped back into line behind him and stared at the phone.

Counted off the seconds.

What could be holding him up? Brody was never late for anything.

Was he was worth it?

Years ago, maybe, when they were together as Prom King and Queen, but now?

Now, the stress of it all was taking its toll, and she was almost tempted to walk away, find something else to raise her status in the community.

Except nothing was more exalted than First Lady of Serendipity Island.

Delores pictured the glory days ahead.

Leading the Fourth of July parade.

Waving from the backseat of her spiffy only-for-special-occasions Mustang convertible, as regal as the Queen of England.

Once she was the Mayor’s wife, she could oust that old bat, Matilda, from the President of the Ladies Society. The only reason the realtor still claimed that spot was because the previous Mayor didn’t have a wife.

Brody—and the Mayor’s chair—were hers.

Nobody else could have them.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen to read the message.

At Olivia’s fixing the kitchen faucet. I’ll be there in ten
.

Fifteen minutes later, she forced another smile and waved yet another—and another and another, which was really starting to piss her off—patron past, even though there wasn’t anything to smile about today because she was still stinging from the rejection last night. And now to top it all off, she had a headache starting behind her eyes.

She did not like headaches.

She did not like people who got in her way.

And she did not enjoy being shoved into the background, not even for Olivia, who she adored and would do anything for.

Brody needed to get his priorities straight. The man needed to understand that
she
was his priority.

Delores smoothed a wrinkle from the skirt of her dress and waved yet another person by. The knot of tension in her stomach erupted into a burp and she covered her mouth with one hand to hide her unladylike behavior.

A few days to the wedding. She’d left the cake as long as she could, but she had to order it today. She peered around the tall man in front of her at the display in the glass cabinet. There were single tier, double tier, and triple tier cakes to choose from, but she wanted something special. A cake to rival all other cakes—

A whisper to her right caught her attention.

“
Ten dollars on the Calhoun chit
.”

“
No way. My bet is on the Peabody girl
.”

“
Hold it a sec. I need to write this down
.”

From the corner of her eye, Delores peered at the group huddled around the table in the center of the coffee shop area. There was old man Vaughan and his group from the seniors center.

She leaned forward and tapped the man in front of her on the shoulder, the charm bracelet tinkling sweetly. “Did you hear that? What are they talking about?”

He glanced their way and shook his head. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

He pulled out his wallet and Delores refocused on the seniors. But they were whispering now, and without losing her spot in the lineup, there was no way she could get closer.

Another ten minutes passed—ten long minutes of allowing one patron after another to bypass her to the front counter, ten long minutes of wondering why the seniors were pitting her against Paige Calhoun for Brody's affection, ten long minutes of waffling between stomping out with her anger and the certainty that if she didn’t get this wedding cake ordered today, it wouldn’t be ready in time—before she heard the chimes of the front door and Brody's voice as he greeted various people in the coffee shop.

As he came to stand beside her, he jostled her shoulder. “Sorry I’m late, Del. Forgive me?”

She shrugged and pretended to be busy perusing the menu, refusing to look at him. “What’s there to forgive? It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”

He didn’t reply, which was a good thing or she might have turned and hit him over the head with her purse. In fact, he appeared majorly relieved and clueless. She liked her men dumb. They were so much easier to control.

She forced a bright smile, determined to ease things between them, calm and cool on the outside while inside, her stomach formed another belch. “Since you’re here, I wonder if you’d do me a huge favor?”

He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and peered down at her, casual and heartbreakingly handsome. “Sure, anything. We should hurry up though. Hope’s waiting outside, and I want to get the papers signed and make the official announcement before she gets bored and disappears.”

Swallowing back a swell of satisfaction—and another burp which she had to force back down her esophagus and into her stomach, hoping it wouldn’t threaten to come out the other end—she opened the binder in her arms. “I want your opinion on this wedding cake.”

He glanced down and studied the drawing, his eyes hooded, his facial expression…expressionless. Finally with a shrug, he said, “I know nothing about wedding cakes, Del.”

“It’s just, you’re a man, so I thought you’d know what the groom might like.” She tried to force a smile, but it felt more like a grimace, so she pressed her lips together and swallowed yet another burp.

With a frown creasing his brow, he peered down at her. “Is something wrong?”

Delores felt her heart stop in her chest, then begin to pound with frantic escape. “No, of course not.”

“You’re squirming like a—”

She laid one hand on his bicep, which shut him up, and felt the muscle in his upper arm flex against her palm, strong and powerful and dominant. “What were you doing this morning that made you so late?”

Now his eyes hooded more. “Fixing the leaky faucet at Olivia’s.”

And suddenly she was overwhelmed with the sneaking suspicion that something else had happened. “Was Olivia home?”

His broad shoulders shifted and it was his turn to study the menu. “She was out in her garden with the girls.”

As casual as possible, she asked, “And her granddaughter?”

“Paige? Out in the garage.”

Bingo. It was in the tone of his voice, the subtle flex of the muscle against her palm. As offhand as possible, she said, “Well, call me if you need help. You know how handy I am with a wrench.”

He turned his head and smiled down at her, that warm and intimate smile that made her heart trip in her chest. “You bet, Del.”

And she knew without a doubt that Brody would never cheat on her.

At least, not on purpose.

But he was a man, and men were driven by their baser instincts.

Which meant she should be suspicious of his every move.

The memory of Paige’s bosom rose up like something x-rated, and as her stomach rebelled, she was forced to shift before a fart could escape.

His gaze returned to the drawing. “Is that a Prom King and Queen on the top?”

Delores hugged his bicep tighter against her bosom, and leaned forward to draw his attention to the V in her starched white shirt. From his angle, he should have a lovely view of her more modest cleavage and the Victoria Secret bra she’d put on this morning.
Take that, you bitch
. “Yes, it has special significance for the bride and groom.”

“I’m no expert, but if this is what your friend likes, then for her wedding day, she should have it.”

She smiled up at him, but instead of her smile drawing him forward, he took a step back. A frown settled between her brows. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He took another step back, gently extracted his arm from her grip, and hooked a thumb toward the exit. “Tell you what. I’ll go find the Judge and meet you at Town Hall in thirty minutes.”

Before she could agree or disagree, he turned and headed for the door.

As she admired his broad shoulders and lean hips, she imagined how he’d look naked in bed on their wedding night. And how excited he would be when she greeted him in a floaty, frothy, almost sheer, virginal white lingerie. She closed her eyes, the fantasy so lifelike she could feel her insides start to quiver.

The guy behind her bumped her in the back. “Hey lady, it’s your turn.”

Delores stepped to the counter, handed the paper across to the teenage boy ready to take her order, and smiled. “I’d like to order this cake, but it must be ready by Friday.”

“No problem.”

The boy whipped out a binder, filled in her name, then took down her street address.

“
I hear Brody has been doing double shift at the Calhoun residence ever since that pretty Paige girl arrived yesterday. Olivia is going to get a lot of extra work done
.”

Delores hissed and leaned forward. “Did you hear that?”

He shrugged and kept writing. “I never pay them any attention. They’re just old men entertaining themselves.”

“With a bet that involves me and…and…?”

As the voices of the seniors rose over the din of the other coffee shop patrons, she straightened to see them in the mirror above the counter.

“If the boy can keep his mind on repairs and off other temptations. That Paige Calhoun was trouble back in the day
.”

Everything she’d ever wanted was within reach. There was no way she’d allow Brody to slip through her fingers this time.

Right now she was the favorite to win. And she’d do anything to make sure it stayed that way.

Besides, it was just old men entertaining themselves. There was probably no meat to their suspicions.

Still, she wasn’t so foolish to—

“Anything else, Ma’am?”

As she glanced back at the teenager, her gaze swept across the array of ice cream beside the till, then landed on her reflection in the mirror behind the counter.

Neat, trim, tidy.

Physically, she could afford to drown her worries in some food. “Give me a gallon of the Rocky Road Fudge and a large cup of your house blend coffee with triple cream and triple sugar.”