Too Hot to Handle: A Loveswept Classic Romance (2 page)

“I’m twenty-eight,” she told him sweetly, and winked. “I hope that’s all right.”

He nodded, looking even more puzzled, and seemed to search for an appropriate answer. “That’s … nice.”

“I suppose you were told that I’d be receptive to your visit,” she added. “You’ve certainly caught my interest. Now, tell me exactly what you had in mind, Mr. Holland.”

“Ms. Carmichael,” he said sternly. “I’d like to be honest with you. Let’s dispense with all this silliness. You know why I’m here, you know what you have, so I’ll make you a direct, straightforward deal.”

She gulped. “You will?” He’d thrown her a real curve. She’d been debating whether to tell him that John Henry was an old busybody, and not to be taken seriously.

“Yes, I hope you’ll agree when you’ve heard what I propose. I’m willing to pay well, more than what you’ve been offered in the past, I’m sure.”

Shock washed across her face. “Pay?” she asked, surprised. Suddenly she realized that something was
wrong. Callie’s shock turned to anger. John Henry hadn’t judged this man’s character very well. This time he’d sent a real con man. “Well, Matt, I may or may not agree to your deal, but being paid is a new approach. Sit down and tell me what you think is a fair price.”

Callie swept past him, dropped into one of the rockers, hung her knee over the rocker arm, and, with a quizzical expression on her face, waited for him to go on. She could see a bead of perspiration roll down his tanned cheek and she wondered if he was warm, or if maybe he wasn’t as experienced as he wanted her to think.

“I’m sure you know the value,” he went on crisply. “This can’t have been your first offer, so I’m prepared to go to twenty-five hundred dollars straight up, no matter the body condition.”

What had this man said? Twenty-five hundred dollars? No matter the condition of the body? She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled coldly.

“You can save yourself the trouble of upping your price. I’ve never been one to haggle.” She leaned against the porch rail and enjoyed the amazed look he gave her. “Matt, either a thing is worth a price or it isn’t. I always make up my mind instantly, and if I’m wrong, then
c’est la vie!
The past is past, and tomorrow is always another day. Don’t you agree?”

He cleared his throat and began to look angry. “Well, I—” He choked. “I can’t say that I’ve ever had a discussion quite like this before. Are you sure you’re Callie Carmichael?”

“Of course I’m Callie Carmichael. Why would you doubt it?”

“You just aren’t what I expected. Not,” he added
quickly, “that I … I mean, I was expecting to deal with someone much older.”

“If you thought you were going to deal with some desperate old maid, you were wrong,” she said calmly.

“Please, just listen to my deal, Callie. I’ll top any other offer you have, no matter how long you’ve let the essentials go uncared for.”

This was getting a little kinky. “I care for the essentials regularly,” she said in a distracted voice. The man wasn’t only arrogant, he was crude.

“Great! But it doesn’t matter. I’ve handled this kind of problem before. Enough time, money, and loving care and it will come alive. I’m an expert at bringing beauty back to life.”

“Oh, you are, are you? Money and a little loving care? Well, for your information, there’s nothing wrong with these essentials, even if they haven’t been used for the past few years. This was a poor joke, and it isn’t funny anymore. I’m not some backwoods hoyden who’s willing to sell her favors to you, no matter what John Henry may have promised! Now, get out of here before I turn William loose again!”

Callie couldn’t remember ever being so furious, not only with John Henry for sending this man up here, but with the man for his sublime arrogance. She shook both fists at him.

“I should tell you,” he said in a voice taut with strain, “that I don’t know any John Henry. I simply came here to make you a proposition. If this is the response you’ve given the other buyers, I’m not surprised you haven’t sold.”

“You … you … arrogant creep!” she retorted. “I’m not selling!” Callie put her hands on her hips.
“I’m going to count to ten. If you’re not in your car by then, you’re going to be goat bait.”

Frowning fiercely, his hand shaking, he pointed at her.

“Lady, you’re a lunatic.”

“And you’ve got more money than you’ve got soul! You’re staining the good atmosphere up here! Get back to Atlanta!”

“Let me tell you, Ms. Carmichael—”

“One. Two. Three …”

“You are sadly mistaken if you think—”

“Four. Five. Six. William will love bashing you again.”

“I didn’t come here to solicit—”

“Seven. Eight. Nine.”

“Ms. Carmichael, I only came here to buy your grandfather’s car!”

“Ten.” Callie paused. Then she swayed as if the mountain breeze had just turned into a hurricane, and pressed both hands to her throat. She felt the blood drain out of her face.

“Car? Oh, my,” she whispered. “Oh, my.”

Callie sat down weakly on the edge of the porch.

“The car?”

“Yes. You did inherit a 1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta convertible, didn’t you?”

Callie simply stared at him, his words thundering through her mind. She couldn’t breathe. The air seemed to solidify in her lungs. She couldn’t focus on anything except the angry expression on his face. “The car?” she repeated incredulously.

“Yes. I collect 1953 convertibles.”

For a second she wondered if John Henry had cooked up yet another innovative excuse to send a man to her cabin. “That’s a novel approach, Matt.”

“I have all the others from 1953, except the Fiesta.”

“Oh, of course. Everyone I know owns dozens of antique cars.” John Henry had given this man a reason to seek her out that was sure to zero in on
her weakness about the old convertible in the barn, but it wasn’t going to work. “You can drop that line, Mr. Holland. I don’t believe a word of it. Nobody could want that battered old car. I’m not being vain. I’m simply aware of John Henry’s schemes. You came to check
me
out, not the car.”

Matt inhaled wearily. This couldn’t be happening to him. Things like this never happened to him. He organized his life so that nothing ever happened that he wasn’t prepared for. He always considered all the possibilities and was ready accordingly. But this earthy little woman and her attack goat were two things he hadn’t counted on.

“Well?” she demanded.

“Well?” he echoed, trying desperately to gather his thoughts.

“Well, explain yourself. Am I or am I not the object of your search?”

She was tapping her foot impatiently. What had she asked? What was he expected to do? He had no idea. He could only stare at her in bemusement.

“Well, yes. I was looking for you.”

“And you’ve found me. What now?” Even though she was effectively covered, the man was still staring at her as though he’d never seen a woman’s body before. It would serve John Henry right if she actually fell into Matt’s arms. Yes, that was right, her only motive for romancing this blond stranger would be to prove a point to John Henry. Nothing more.

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” Matt said formally.

Heavens, he had such a confused, innocent look about him. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have almost believed him. But she’d gone too far now to
turn back. She put both hands on her hips and did her best Ellie May Clampett impression.

“Well, now, looks like the man John Henry picked is a little shy. I at least expected him to choose a red-blooded mountain man to court me, not some city fellow with ice water in his veins.”

“Ice water?” That did it. He took one step, then reached out and hooked both hands under her arms. Callie found herself being pulled up with such force that she didn’t have time to protest. “Listen, you goofy mountain witch, if I weren’t a gentleman I’d be chasing you around the barn by now. And you’d have no one to blame but yourself, teasing me the way you are.”

Callie huffed breathlessly. “I’m proving a point. You’d never do anything I didn’t intend for you to do.”

“Oh, yes?”

His arms slid around her, and his mouth settled tightly on hers. Every nerve in her body exploded, and a curious, sweet pain invaded her senses. His fingers danced over her bare arms, and he deepened the kiss. When he finally pulled away, Callie heard herself moan.

“Is this what you wanted?” he asked thickly.

“I—”

“I’m not sure who you think I am, Callie Carmichael,” he said thickly, “but I’m no wimp and this is no game. In another minute I’m going to forget what I came here for and attempt to seduce you right on this front porch, and I’d bet money that you’d like it.”

“When donkeys fly. Let go of me.”

“You kissed me back just now.”

“This is a crazy situation. I didn’t mean to provoke—maybe I did mean to provoke you, but …”

“I really don’t know anybody named John Henry, but if I did, I’d owe him my eternal gratitude.” He kissed the corner of her mouth and touched the rim of her lower lip with his tongue. “And I don’t know what you thought, but all I did come for was to buy your car. I’m not sure what I’m doing now.”

“You’re being very forward.” Her chest heaving, she pushed him away. They stared at each other as a strained silence stretched between them. “Car?” she repeated blankly. “Do you swear this is all about the car?”

“Mac McKinnon’s blue Fiesta convertible. I heard about it at a car show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. I want to buy it. A guy at the garage in Sweet Valley told me how to find your cabin.”

“It isn’t blue,” she murmured. “The car.” Caught by his hypnotic brown eyes, she could barely remember what a car was, much less what the old Fiesta looked like. Callie closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s red and white.”

“That’s okay.” He paused, fighting for words. “I really am a collector,” he assured her. “Callie, believe me, I don’t know who John Henry is, or what you think I’m doing here, but before this gets entirely out of hand, let’s talk.”

She looked at him shrewdly. “Nothing is going to get out of hand, mister.” She added to herself,
Unless you kiss me again. I make no promises.

Callie went to one of the rockers and sat down. Matt Holland walked to one of the log posts that supported the porch roof. He turned his back to her,
looped his arm around the post, and took several deep breaths.

Somewhere in the distance he could hear a cow bellowing mournfully, and a wasp buzzed around the roof above where he was standing. He was equally as conscious of the woman breathing deeply behind him. Finally he trusted himself to sit down beside her in one of the rockers.

“You really don’t know John Henry, do you?” she asked. Callie was beginning to sense that she’d made a colossal error.

“No.”

“Oh, good grief.”

“Ditto, Callie.”

Callie’s face turned three shades of scarlet. She smiled sheepishly, then slumped back in the chair and covered her eyes with her arm.

Matt stared at her helplessly, not knowing what to say. All the while he could see her magnificent breasts swelling against the cotton tube top, and his thoughts scattered wildly. He was having trouble believing his own part in this fiasco. How could he ever convince the woman to take his offer seriously if they stayed immersed in this strange, sensual atmosphere?

Then he heard it, the choked, hiccupping noise. She was crying.

“Oh, please don’t,” he said urgently, gently. “I can understand your thinking what you did, under the circumstances. It’s really very funny.…” Matt’s voice trailed off as he realized what was happening.

“I … know,” she managed to say. Callie was laughing hysterically. “This is priceless,” she finally gasped out. Then, when she’d regained control, she said, “Let me try to explain.”

“I wish you would.”

“In addition to owning the local garage, John Henry Webster was my grandfather’s friend. Since my grandfather died last year, he’s appointed himself my protector. He decided that I need a man. For six months he’s been parading every single man from seventeen to seventy by here. When I refused everybody in the valley, he threatened to send up the next eligible bachelor who stopped by the station for gas.”

“And you thought …”

“I thought he’d sent you, as a joke, because he knows I wouldn’t go for a slick business type like you. You were perfect for his purposes. I thought he’d come up with the idea about you wanting to buy the car. And you played the part so beautifully. I was sure he’d sent you here and I was going to teach both of you a lesson.”

“A joke, huh? Well, I don’t know whether I’m sorry or glad that I’m not who you thought I was,” Matt admitted, smiling to cover his dismay. So she didn’t care for his type. “Getting even with John Henry is becoming very interesting.”

“How could I have made such a fool of myself, practically offering my body to a man I don’t even know? Good heavens.” Callie squirmed uncomfortably, suddenly unable to face Matt as she vividly recalled how she had responded to his kiss. She sprang to her feet and walked across the porch to the rail at the other end and looked out at the mountains in the distance.

“Callie, does John Henry work at the garage?” She nodded. “He did direct me here, then.” Matt described the squinty-eyed old man who’d told him where to find Mac McKinnon’s granddaughter. Matt
shook his head. “I thought he was a bit too pleased when I asked for directions to your grandfather’s house, but I swear that I had no idea what he was grinning about. I thought you were some snaggle-toothed mountain woman.”

“Snaggle-toothed mountain woman?” she repeated incredulously. “Who told you a thing like that?”

“Nobody. I mean, all I knew was that your grandfather had a car that he wouldn’t let anybody see. I stopped to ask how to get to his house, and the man at the garage said that it now belonged to his homely, old-maid granddaughter. I think your protector has a delicious sense of humor,” Matt finished with a broad smile.

“Homely, old-maid granddaughter, eh? Well! John Henry’s gone too far this time.”

“He must be having himself a big laugh back at the garage,” Matt agreed.

“He and everybody else who’s come by. The way he jabbers, this will be all over the valley by tomorrow. Say, I don’t suppose you’d care to help me get even, would you?” Her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands enthusiastically.