The Reluctant Beauty (2 page)

“Whoa! Back up. You picked this bar to meet me so you and, by default me, could monitor her, what, blind date?”

“Yep.” It came out in a small voice. “But I can’t make it. Rico had to leave her. And she’s all alone. Pretty please.”

“You want me to babysit?”

“Come on, Austin, I’d do the same for you.”

“Ev, I wouldn’t leave you alone with my rocker friends.”

“Okay, bad comparison.”

“I’m sure your friend will be fine.”

“She doesn’t date much, maybe not at all. She loves her job, works hard, day and night. Naïve, I guess you could say, when it comes to guys and what they’re after.”

He sighed, a gusty, throwing-in-the-towel heartfelt sigh. “I’ll check on her once and that’s it.”

“Oh, you are the best brother a girl could ever have.”

“Yeah, yeah, and you remember that, too. Now, tell me who she is.”

“Her name’s Peg. Tall, willow thin…”

His senses jerked awake and he swung around to look at the lady he’d noticed earlier. “Carries a clipboard?”

“You have seen her. Great. Thanks for keeping an eye on her for me. I have to go. Meet me for breakfast tomorrow. My treat.” She gave him the name and location of the place. He murmured, too preoccupied with this woman named Peg.

Even from here, she got his attention. Her face was animated and once in a while she threw the guy a disparaging look. She could handle the too-suave guy easily.
Couldn’t she?

So why couldn’t he look away?

She must have sensed his staring; she glanced up and did a double take. Maybe she recognized him.

But he’d done everything he could to distance himself from the way he looked as a rocker. Clean-cut with a little scruff on his chin and cheeks was a long way from what he looked like on tour. Gone were the leather jacket, chains, and black boots. Jeans, cowboy boots, and simple buttoned-down shirt made him an average Joe today.

For the next several months, he was living a low-key life. No touring, no appearances, no spotlight. Especially no spotlight.

Still, she’d look, attempt to converse with the guy at her table, and then stare at Austin.

He shivered at the long looks.

The bartender drew his attention. “Want that apple martini?” He nodded to Evelyn’s favorite drink near his club soda.

“Yeah,” he murmured, distracted. “Sure.”

Suddenly, the woman named Peg shot up from the table and rushed in his direction. The guy jumped up and raced after her.

She darted across the restaurant floor, heading toward him. Her gaze, wide and fearful, caught his. Austin stood up automatically. She ran straight into his arms.

Clutching him, she whispered, “Pretend you know me.”

Except for the clipboard digging into him, he actually liked holding her. He was only a few inches taller than she was, but she was warm and smelled incredible—some combination of exotic flowers and tangy, tropical fruit, he suspected.

“Hey, what’s up?” the guy who followed her asked. “I thought we had something going on. Who’s this?”

“I’m her date,” Austin said, a little smugness sliding into his voice. “Isn’t that right, babe?”

Peg dropped the clipboard. It landed on his foot, and then clattered to the floor.

He winced. “Did you have to do that?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Date, righto, yeah, that’s what he is.” She bent to pick up the clipboard at the same time he went to get it. They bumped foreheads. “Ouch!”

He rubbed the sore spot. “Wounded,” he said under his breath. “Twice in two seconds.”

The guy following her asked, “You sure about this?” He nodded to Austin. “I can afford this place. Looks like he’s some country bumpkin.”

“And you’re a great judge of character,” Austin said, biting the inside of his cheek. “I got the cows in the trailer out front. Wanna meet them?”

Peg’s face grew white and the guy scowled. Austin smiled and tucked Peg’s long body alongside his, wrapping his arm around her waist. He nuzzled her soft cheek. “Mmmm, nice,” he said.

She giggled. “That tickles.”

“That’s not the only place I’d like to tickle you.” It wasn’t a line. He really wanted to touch her more.

“I’m out of here,” the other guy said. Turning to Peg, he looked her up and down. “Not my type. Too tall and skinny.”

“And just perfect for me,” Austin pointed out.

With a snort of disgust, the guy turned and stormed out of the restaurant.

“Phew!” Peg pulled away. “Thanks, pal, you’re a lifesaver. That guy was giving me the creeps.”

Reluctantly, Austin let her go. “Have a drink with me.” His offer surprised them both.

Facing him again, he could see her gulp hard. She stared at him. Something kicked him in the gut when her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes gazed into his. He caught his breath.

She shook her head. “Nah, I couldn’t.”

“You owe me that much. At least sit with me and keep me company.”

Looking him over, she said, “You? You need company? For cripes’ sake, you’re a hottie.”

He laughed at that. The first real laugh he’d had in a very long time.

***

Peg swallowed again as he escorted her to a table in the bar. Did she have to say what she thought all the time?
Geez, I called him a hottie.
To his face
. Well, he was, but still, she could have kept that to herself.

Sliding onto the half-round booth seat, she stopped at the middle. He drew in beside her, his knee skimmed hers. She quivered.

He placed a drink in front of her.

“What’s this?”

“Apple martini.”

“What happened? Did your date stand you up, too?” She practically snorted at the thought.

“In a sense.”

She turned to him, meeting his pale blue eyes. The lump was back in her throat. His smile inched up the corner of his mouth.
A very sexy mouth and even sexier smile
. She breathed in, catching a whiff of his clean, fresh scent.

Turning back to the beverage and away from his intensely wicked stare, she focused on the drink. “I’ve never had this kind before.” She sipped it. The green apple flavor tickled her tongue. “Delish! Wanna try some?” She lifted her glass to him.

He waved it off. “Gave it up. Drinking, that is.” He held up his glass. “Non-alcoholic is all I’m having these days.”

“Drinking problem?”

“Not anymore.” He smiled widely and leaned back with one arm across the back of the booth and so very close to her. “No more overindulging for me. Drinks or otherwise.”

The way his shirt parted at the top, she could see a little of his chest. She took another sip and allowed her gaze to linger there and then dip her stare to his rock hard abs.
Hot. Hot. Hot
.

“What’s your name anyway?” she asked, feeling a slow warmth spread in her body. From him or the drink—she couldn’t decide which one was causing the sensation. Either way, she liked it.

“Austin,” he said easily enough, but there was something in the way he said it that made her think caution lurked around the corner. As an executive assistant, she’d dealt with people at King’s Department Store long enough to read them.

Peg stuck out her hand. “Well, Austin, I’m Peg Newbury. And hell’s bells, I gotta say you saved my behind back there. Thanks, buddy.”

When he shook her hand, she nearly yanked it back. Warm, strong, slightly callused, it engulfed hers. But the tingling from his touch whooshed right through her and to her toes in her size ten flats.

He sucked in a sharp breath. “Peg,” he said in a low voice that turned her to mush. “What’s a hottie like you doing picking up guys at a bar?”

Tugging her hand out of his, she dragged it through her hair, thinking it must be standing up on end right about now. “Funny, real funny, buster. No one’s ever mistaken me for a hot chick before and never will.”

“You’re wrong.”

Was he serious?

“You’ve got such great lines. You don’t need them, you know. Believe you me, you can cut the baloney with me.”

He chuckled. “No—what did you say?—baloney, Peg. Not my style. Just the truth.”

She snorted, and then went back to her drink. She smacked her lips when she was done. “Yummy. I’ve got to tell Rico about this.”

“Who’s Rico?”

“My former best friend.” She huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back. “He pushed me to do this thing. Online catching, fishing, whatever you want to call it. Dating, ha!”

“Blind dates?”

Holding up her index finger, she poked him in his rock solid chest. “One date. That’s all. One measly date to show off in front of my family next week.” She threw up her hands. “He brings me here and tosses me to the wolves.”

“Show off?” he asked. She swore he cringed.

“Not like that. Not some spectacle or anything. Just to quiet down the restless natives, or relatives, is more like it. You know—take the scent off of my track so they stop harping about me not being married yet, ever, whatever.”

“Don’t you want to get married? Someday? Someway?”

“Me? Are you kidding? I’m the beanstalk all the kids made fun of. Why, I haven’t had a serious date in,” she counted on her fingers, “three years. Nah, I got my work. Love it. Not giving it up, either. And babies, no way—my friends have more than enough for me to spoil. Sister-in-law’s gonna have a little bambino in a couple of months. Nah, I’m good. Plus I wouldn’t want to inflict this on any offspring.” She waved a hand over her body.

Silence stretched. She grew uncomfortable.
Why had she said so much? And to a stranger? Could she crawl under the table and right out the door now?

“You’re serious?” Skepticism clouded his words.

“Honest-to-goodness, cross my heart, serious as a heart attack,” she said.

“You’re wrong.” There was a stubborn edge to his tone that had her jerking to stare into his eyes.

Gulping hard, she shook her head.

He nodded. “Oh, yes you are. Believe you me, you are.” He’d used her saying back at her.

She brushed it off. “Thanks, pal, but I know the—”

“The hell you do,” he muttered, and then downed his drink. “Another round.” He plucked up her empty glass and his, and then made his way to the bar.

Peg stared at his wide shoulders and stiff back.
Now, what had she said to get him ticked off like that?

Fiddling with her pencil, she tapped it on her clipboard. But she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. His hair, what was left of it, was a sandy brown, she guessed. She didn’t usually like the look, but on him, it was hot. And the scruff on his jaw made him look even hotter, if that were possible.

Standing at the bar waiting on the drinks, he turned, catching her.

“Caught, red-handed,” she said between her teeth as she pasted on a smile. She shrugged and wiggled her fingers in a wave to him.

He laughed and then winked at her.

Her insides tumbled.

What in the world was going on? She never acted like this. Not this schoolgirl crush stuff. No, not her, Peg, ever efficient, loved her job and never wanted to do anything else, Newbury. Beezus and sassafras, she needed to get out of here and away from him. Pronto!

***

As Austin held the drinks and walked back to the table, he couldn’t help but smile at her. What a breath of fresh air. He liked her funny sayings. He liked her unvarnished truth. He liked the way her wide, brown eyes revealed all her emotions.

What he didn’t like was his attraction to her.

That he could have done without.

He’d spent two long years touring the world with his band. Females of every color, shape, and size flashed him, threw themselves at him, tossed their thongs on stage at his feet, and was willing to sleep with him for a few hours. He hadn’t accepted. They didn’t understand the word no.

Even before he broke up with his last girlfriend months ago, very publicly in the press on her part, the women came in droves. Why couldn’t they accept he was a one-woman man? Why him?

He’d stayed clear, before and even after the break-up. Most of the guys in the band were on hand to soothe the groupies. Everyone knew what they bought into. No one got hurt.

And he’d shake his head and watch from the sidelines.

It was getting old.
Fast
.

Now, after all this time, he felt the tug of heat with his sister’s friend, of all people.

Peg hustled out of the booth and, clutching her clipboard, met him halfway. She held out her hand, and then realized his were holding the glasses, so she dropped hers. “Well, Austin, it’s been swell, pal. But I’ve got to skedaddle.” She tapped the board. “You know, a date to find.”

“Hold up, Peg. Is it just Peg or Margaret?” He wondered why he even bothered to ask. His interest in her disturbed him. Austin tried to convince himself it was because he promised Ev he’d do her a favor by looking out for Peg.
Yeah, right!

“Peg. That’s it. Folks realized I was a square peg right from the get-go. I’m a giraffe compared to the rest of them. If I hadn’t have popped out of my mother, I swear I was adopted or bred by aliens.”

With laughter bubbling up, he realized he didn’t want the night to end just yet. “You can’t leave me holding these…”

Shrugging, she snatched the apple martini out of his hand and knocked it back in one swig. She smacked her lips. “Yummy! I’m off. Gotta meet up with Rico in,” she squinted, “four hours. Strategize.”

She shoved the glass back at him, and then breezed by him.

Austin stood dumbfounded, watching her walk away.

What the hell just happened?

***

“Peg, wait up,” he called, chasing after her. Her long strides nearly outmatched his. But he caught up to her. “You owe me, remember?”

She pulled up short. Gently punching him in the belly, she said, “I’m not your next roll in the hay, bub, got it?”

He sucked in a breath. “Nice right hook. But, that’s not what I meant. I saved you. Now, you save me.”
Where did that come from?

Her frown said it all. “How?”