Tempting the Ringmaster (13 page)

“Like what?” Her laughter was bright and open. “This isn’t the Bronx. It’s Michigan.”

“There are still plenty of dangerous people around.”

“No one is going to hurt me,” Belle insisted.

“The fire didn’t set itself.”

There was a flicker in the back of her eyes. Uncertainty? She took a deep breath. “None of my people could have done that,” she said, but she wasn’t particularly convincing.

Graham had been a SEAL. He knew how to work through pain. His knees were shaking. She was right. If he didn’t rest soon then he’d be no good to anyone. He glanced around, searching the scenery for someone who could help, someone he could trust.

“Keith,” he finally said, nodding towards the clown. The man might wear a rubber nose for a living, but he was also Belle’s friend, a man who cared about her—and the circus—more than anything else. That had to mean something. It had to balance out some of the uncertainty Graham felt.

If he closed his eyes, he could still see the look on the smaller man’s face the night before, staring down the fire with a fire hose.

There was no way Keith could be responsible for the fire, but that still left more than sixty possible suspects that Graham didn’t know anything about. He nodded slowly. “You stick with Keith until I get back,” he ordered gruffly. “Don’t leave his side.”

“I can take care of myself—” Belle started to insist. She swallowed, hard. “Fine—if it means you’ll go to bed—I’ll hang out with Keith this afternoon. We can work on a new bit for the circus.”

*
              *              *

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Kelly asked her fingers click-clacking across the keyboard. “I’m not criticizing, but—”

“I’m criticizing,” Tiffany said.

The two women had brought their laptops over to Graham’s house to help him investigate the arson. Between the three of them, they’d managed to put together a semi-complete list of names for the Black Shadow Circus’s cast and crew. Now, they were seated around Graham’s broad kitchen table running background checks on everyone. “Did you talk to Belle about this?”

“No,” Graham was digging into a batch of cookies that Kelly had brought with him. Chocolate chip cookies. They weren’t his favorite—lemon bars—but they were damn close. “I don’t want to bother her. I’m just going to do this quietly. Take care of everything.”

Tiffany and Kelly exchanged a look. The two women couldn’t be more different. Tiffany was tall, statuesque, with teased red hair and a black leather jacket on over her black halter-top and electric blue miniskirt. She’d been on a date when Graham called, with the mayor?

Graham hadn’t thought to ask. He hadn’t wanted to ask. What Tiffany and his father did in the privacy of their own homes was none of his business, especially if it kept the old man off his back.

Kelly looked the kind of princess that came frosted on a little girl’s birthday cake. Her fluffy pink dress hung down past her knees. Her shoulder length blonde hair curled in a tidy flip around her heart shaped face and big blue eyes. She was wearing a bow.

Their expressions were identical.

Graham recognized that look. It wasn’t good for him. “Belle’s a good woman. She believes in her people.”

“Exactly,” Tiffany said.

“Exactly.” He nodded towards the stack of papers they’d printed out over the last two hours. “Four felonies, more than a dozen misdemeanors, and two debt liens.”

The women didn’t look particularly impressed.

“If you search enough people’s backgrounds, you’re always going to find a few criminal records. None of them are for violent crimes. No one has any open warrants.” Tiffany grabbed a cookie from the stack on the counter. She took a big bite. “These are damn good. Give me the recipe?”

“I’ll tell you a secret.” Kelly flushed. “It came off the back of the bag.” She leaned back in her seat, taking her fingers off the laptop’s keyboard. “I have a criminal record.”

“You?” Tiffany dropped her cookie in surprise.

Graham didn’t have a cookie to drop—he’d finished his a few seconds earlier—but that didn’t mean he was any less surprised.

His sister-in-law was sweet and charming, a soft spoken librarian who volunteered in the community and took good care of her son.

He’d know
n her his entire life, and five minutes earlier he would have bet money that she’d never even jaywalked. “What for?”

“Trespassing.” Kelly’s pale cheeks flushed. She glanced past Graham, checking to see if Trevor could hear them from where he was watching a movie in the other room. “I was with your brother. He got off with just a warning—your father saw to that—I wasn’t quite so lucky. My parents…” There was a long pause, but then she didn’t really need to explain.

Kelly’s family had been in Buck Falls almost as long as Graham’s, but where the Tyler’s were town founders the Court’s had been the usual suspects; the town drunks and the degenerates.

Kelly had always been the exception.

“You and David?” Graham cleared his throat. “You’re kidding, right? David never did anything wrong.”

The only time he could ever remember his father getting angry at David had been when he’d first gotten together with Kelly. Their relationship had caused a town wide uproar. Even that had ended well, with James Tyler presiding at their marriage.

Graham had been overseas at the time, but he’d seen the pictures.

David had worn his Navy uniform. His hair newly shaved into a crop top. Kelly had been a beautiful bride in an ivory gown, her hair piled high on top of
her head. From the pictures, it was impossible to tell that she was already eight weeks pregnant with Trevor. Still, there’d been a glow about her.

“Your brother was a lot more human than you’d like to believe.” Kelly put a hand up to run her fingers through her pale hair. She let out a long sigh. “It was back in high school. We broke into the gym after a baseball game. It was
stupid. David dared me. He was always doing things like that—” A quick shake of her head. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. He was a good man.”

“A great man,” Graham corrected. Everyone in town had mourned David’s death. They’d all given him stormy looks at the funeral, the truth pointed and piercing in their eyes.

They all thought the wrong Tyler brother had died overseas, Graham couldn’t change that. All he could do was help to raise his brother’s son, try to take care of his brother’s wife, and attempt to live his life in the way that David would have wanted. Like a solid, dependable, trustworthy human being.

His arm was throbbing. He needed to change the dressing on his wound. “I’m sorry, Kelly.”

She blinked in surprise. “What for?”

“If I wasn’t in the Navy—if I hadn’t become a SEAL—he never would have gone into the military. He never would have been hit by that IED,” Graham said. “I’m sorry, I got him killed.”

“I shouldn’t be here.” Tiffany stood up quickly, smoothing her skirt. “I’m going to go check on the kid. You two clearly need to talk.”

Kelly waited until the other woman was gone. She ate a cookie, focusing on the baked good with every ounce of her being. When she’d licked the last crumb off her fingertips, she sighed. “You’re not responsible for David’s death.”

“Of course I am—”

“You’re not,” she repeated, louder this time. “David was a good boy. He might have grown up into a good man, but he wasn’t there yet. He was nineteen years old when he died. A kid. His favorite food was cupcakes, and he only shaved once a week. He married me because I was pregnant—and because your father didn’t give him any choice—and he joined the military because he wanted to. Because he didn’t get a baseball scholarship to college, and he couldn’t imagine taking four years to get a degree.”

Kelly’s mouth quivered, and Graham was struck by just how young his sister-in-law was. He was thirty-six years old—a fact that he would have once considered impossible—and Kelly was only twenty-five. She’d grown up fast with a baby on her hip. These days he thought of her as quiet, solid, dependable, but she’d just been a kid herself when Trevor was born. Only eighteen years old.

Kelly leaned forward, covering his hand with her own. “Sometimes I think about what life would have been like if your brother lived. I loved him, I think. Sometimes, I’m not so sure. Things with David were always so intense. They were all life or death, love or hate. I don’t know if we would have ended up together… I know Trevor is lucky to have you in his life. You are a good role model and a great family man. You take care of us—both of us—it’s about time someone took care of you for a change.”

Belle had mopped his brow the first night they’d met, waited at the hospital until Kelly could get her through the door, stood by his bedside when his father walked through the door, and sent him to go home for a nap.

She could take care of him… at least until the circus left town.

“I’m going to be fine,” he promised his sister-in-law. “Now, let’s finish running these names. I need to get a couple of hours sleep, and go back to the fairgrounds.”

Chapter Eleven

Flags fluttered over the fairgrounds, whipping back and forth in the cool autumn air. Belle sat at her trailer’s table, drinking coffee out of a heavy white mug and staring out the window. Between Frank and Blue, they’d managed to get the big top up in record time—finishing just before two in the morning.

All the anchors were in place.

All the tent poles were standing high.

The old circus tent was brightly colored in red and yellow with blue sashes over all the doors.

The door creaked open and Graham walked in without a greeting… or an apology for not returning the night before. He poured himself a cup of coffee and slid onto the bench seat beside her, so close she could feel the heat from his body and smell the clean scent of shampoo from his freshly washed hair.

“Impressive.” He took a sip of coffee. “When we went out the other night, I thought you said you didn’t have the equipment or the manpower to put it up.”

“I don’t.” She’d been trying to work the details out with Frank when Blue had found a solution. What had started out as a joke by the safety chief—a one off comment—had taken on a life of its own as they talked out logistics and possibilities. “You’d be surprised what you can do with an elephant.”

“Tiny?” His laughter rippled through his body and into her.

“Elephants have been used as work animals in Asia for thousands of years.” She shrugged. “Turns out, there’s a reason.”

Convincing Tiny to help put up the tent had been easier than she’d thought. The elephant would do anything for an apple, and after their escapades in the orchard the circus had enough apples to last a lifetime.

It had been an amazing night, the entire circus pulling together to overcome their shared adversity. The only thing missing had been Graham.

She turned to look at the man in question.

Damn, he was good looking; a vengeful Northern god with his blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and shoulders that could hold up the world.

If a woman didn’t watch herself, she could end up depending on a man like that. Even a woman who already had a strong man, a fire breather, and a clown all competing to keep her safe. When she’d told Keith that Graham suspected the tent fire had been arson, the clown had set up a night watch to ensure nothing else happened, filling it with the people he deemed most trustworthy.

Trouble. Extra work they didn’t need at a time when everybody was already working their asses off.

“What do you think?” she asked, holding her breath.

The tent really was beautiful, its colors bright against the gray morning light. It was everything a body pictured when they thought of the circus. After all the pain and heartbreak of the past few days, the sight thrilled her to her core.

This was it. Her future.

A future that didn’t include Graham.

Belle’s heart twanged at the thought. It was only ever supposed to be a fling, she reminded herself. They were completely incompatible. He was a town boy. She was a circus girl. Their lives could only ever intersect for a few short days. It was better to know that in advance than to go in hoping for something more.

She’d had her heart crushed enough times in the past to know that.

Still, she’d waited for him the night before, staying up well past the point of endurance.

“It’s fantastic,” Graham said, and the awe in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. “You did something amazing here.”

“It won’t matter if there’s nobody to fill the seats.”

“Don’t worry,” he promised. “I made a few calls. You’ll have your audience.”

“Is that what you were doing all night?” she asked, determined to keep the hurt from her voice. It wasn’t like she had any real claim over him. “Calling people? Trying to put together an audience?”

“Nope, I did some police work, ate some cookies, and jumped in the sack,” his voice was rueful. “I meant to be back here around eight for dinner, but once my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. You were right, I needed to recharge my batteries.”

By her count, that meant he’d slept more than twelve hours. Maybe she could forgive him for not showing up the night before. Maybe. “You should be in the hospital.”

“That fire wasn’t an accident. I’m the law in this part of the world—”

“The fairgrounds are in Whispering Springs. I’m not your responsibility.”

“I don’t give a damn about the town line. If something happened to you—“ His jaw set stubbornly. His nostrils flared. His hand drifted onto her thigh, his fingertips digging into the bare skin just below the t-shirt she’d worn to sleep in. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easy. I’m staying right here to watch your ass, and if you’ve got a problem with that then I’ll carry your ass back to Buck Falls and lock you up.”

No nonsense. No questions asked. No questions answered.

All alpha male.

Belle didn’t know whether to be hot and bothered or pissed that he didn’t trust her to take care of herself.

She raised an eyebrow, curious. “Does Buck Falls even have a jail cell?”

“I wasn’t thinking of locking you up in jail,” he growled. “My bed’s a hell of a lot closer, and I’ve got plenty of handcuffs.”

Boy-howdy. Belle went from zero to sixty in about half a second. He sure knew how to rev her engines. It felt like the world was on fire, ignited by the lust burning bright in her belly. She took a deep breath, swallowing hard, then another. She gulped for air, struggling to maintain her cool.

Graham’s hand on her thigh was electrifying. Forget maintaining her cool, she just wanted enough self-control to keep from jumping his bones in the next seven-point-three seconds. One, she counted to herself, two, three, four—

His thumb swept slowly up the inside of her thigh, and her brain short-circuited. “Ever done it in a circus tent?”

“Sweetheart, if you want I’ll do it on a flying trapeze, but why don’t we try the bed first? That is if you’re still interested.”

“Huh?” She blinked in surprise. Why wouldn’t she be interested? The man was seriously hot, he was available, and the sex was absolutely mind blowing. Who cared if it was only temporary? She was a girl who liked to seize the moment, and at the moment that meant seizing him and holding on for the ride of her life. “What are you talking about?”

“Yesterday morning.” His gaze flicked across her face, searching for something. “I asked you to stay in Buck Falls. I offered you a real relationship—something permanent—and you turned me down. You threw everything you had into getting away. I’m staying here no matter what—I will protect you—but a lesser man might have felt rejected.”

“It’s not you,” she promised, her heart thundering inside her chest. She swallowed hard.

Damn, how to explain?

Graham was a great guy. If it were just the two of them then she’d say yes in a heartbeat, but any decision that she made couldn’t help but affect other people. The circus—Petra, Frank, Keith and all the others—and his family—his father’s disapproval wouldn’t vanish overnight.

“We both have responsibilities.”

There was a moment’s pause. Would he tell her to sell the circus? Try to convince her to give up on the life she’d built and the people she loved?

Could she ask him to walk away from Buck Falls? To quit his job as police chief—and leave his nephew behind—in order to come with her? Graham was strong and capable; with his skill set he’d make a great addition to the circus, either performing as a sharp shooter or working in a security position.

“Just a fling then,” Graham’s words ended any further discussion before it had started.

Just a fling. It would be over as soon as she found a home for Tiny. The elephant rescue in California had gotten back to Belle the night before. They had space for Tiny and were looking for a way to transport the animal. In a week or so the elephant would be gone, and Buck Falls would just be a memory in her rearview mirror.

“We should make the most of it while we can.” She kissed him softly on the mouth, eyes wide open so she could watch his reaction; the way his eyes crinkled happily at the sides and his cheeks flushed. His lips were chapped,
rough against her skin, and he tasted like cookies and coffee.

He stood up slowly, drawing her with him. Their cups of coffee were abandoned on the table as they moved wordlessly into the small bedroom. In her baggy t-shirt—and nothing else—Belle had a jump on the nudity. She reached for the waistband of his jeans, unzipping his fly as he pulled his sweatshirt up over the top of his head.

The back of her legs hit the bed and she fumbled down.

Graham shoved his jeans off quickly before following her onto the mattress. His biceps strained to support his broad shoulders and powerful body. A big white bandage covered one shoulder, but other than that he was absolutely gorgeous. If she ever decided to reopen the sideshow, she could put him out as an exhibit: Specimen A ‘The Perfect Male Form.’

His hand reached between them, sliding underneath her t-shirt to grasp her breast and tease her nipple into a hard nub.

His lips pulled up into a wicked smile, like he knew something she didn’t.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re beautiful.” His mouth dipped, kissing her. His teeth tugged at her lip. His tongue tasted her insides. He moved against her, his underwear covered erection nestled hard against her core. The friction of the motion built heat inside her core as he continued to kiss her.

Two days earlier the sex had been fast and furious. He’d taken her hard against the counter top and thrown her down on the bed.

The results had been incredible, intense, and fiery.

This time everything seemed different, slower. They weren’t just having sex. They were strengthening the bond of their relationship and celebrating life. They were making love.

Graham’s fingers dipped into her and a wave of pleasure crashed through her, bringing her to intense new heights of pleasure.

Just because they were taking their time didn’t make the orgasms any less intense. Muscles flexed inside her, drawing his fingers in deeper, earning a smile and laugh from Graham.

“Is this what you want?” He demanded.

His mouth moved away from her lips, dropping slowly down her body to tease at her nipples. His teeth were hard against her delicate flesh. His tongue made her gasp and groan, all the while his fingers never stopped moving inside of her, bringing her to completion over and over again.

Her hands scrambled to find his erection through his boxers. Her fingers rolled over him once, twice, until they were slic
k. Her hand fell away. She couldn’t think anymore. She couldn’t speak. All she could do was writhe happily on the mattress.

Graham pulled back slightly, grinning. He levered himself up into a sitting position, removing his hand from between her thighs and giving her a moment to recover.

Giving her the opportunity she needed to shuck off the rest of her clothes until she was naked before him.

“Damn,” he said appreciatively. He slipped off his boxers in one quick move, bent
over and grabbed a condom from his pants pocket. He rolled onto his back in order to slide the latex into place. He looked so tempting lying there, his erection poking out like a flag pole, that Belle climbed right on top. Lowering herself into position, she gasped as he entered her, filling her.

His hips began to move slowly back and forth, shifting inside of her. The motion made her moan happily. The world was coming apart. The only sound in the room came from her lips.

He smelled like sex and shampoo. When she bent to kiss him, he tasted masculine and sweet. His hands grasped her breasts, callused fingers toying with her rock hard nipples, making her bounce even more enthusiastically on top of him.

One hand wrapped around her back, helping to shift her body back and forth, to increase the speed and the friction of their bodies moving against each other.

“Belle,” he growled against her neck. “Belle!”

When she finally came, crying his name at the peak of her pleasure, he was only a moment behind her. Hurrying to catch up.

*
              *              *

When it came time to perform, Belle-Anne Black was a professional. She put on her red tuxedo, her top hat, and her heavy stage makeup and walked out into the antique big-top’s center ring.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she cried, beginning the familiar rigmarole, but
her mind was still spinning from the kiss that Graham had given her a minute earlier, smudging her makeup, mussing her jacket, and leaving her insides like a puddle of Jell-O.

Then she saw the audience’s row after row of shining faces.

Marta was in the back. Kelly and Trevor Tyler were seated in the front row, holding a seat for Graham. A dozen other faces that she recognized from town were there, but they were hard to distinguish in the press of the crowd.

It was a turn away, she realized, straw house with hay from the elephant enclosure spread out around the edge of the ring to provide standing room only space, a sold out performance full of the men, women, and children who made up the communities of Buck Falls and Whispering Springs.