Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,42
again, “What were you doing out here?”
“I went for a walk to think about how I was going to talk to you about Kitty, and I guess I walked farther than I intended.” Not a total lie, but mostly.
He nodded, but his eyes told her he didn’t buy it. And the moonlight did magical things to the turquoise in those blue eyes. It was almost tempting. Too tempting.
She swallowed. Hard. Then, because the air around them seemed to thicken, she blurted, “What were you doing out here? Something go wrong with the perky brunette?”
Okay. That last part shouldn’t have made it from her mind to her lips, but there it was, out there, and she braced for his response.
Both brows lifted this time, and she could tell that she’d surprised him. Well, nothing wrong with that. He’d sure surprised her tonight. “I’m assuming you’re referring to Kylie, but exactly when did you see her?”
“She was on your balcony,” Babette said, taking an interest in the sand at her feet, rather than looking at those eyes. She pushed her toes through the wet mush, made a little path and watched the water trickle through, then she patted it back down with her other foot. Anything to keep her busy, and to keep from looking up. Maybe he’d forget what they were talking about.
And maybe she’d grow wings and simply fly away from this uncomfortable situation.
“You just happened to be looking toward my balcony and saw her?”
That sounded good. “Yep.”
“The same way you and Rose were looking toward my balcony last night?”
Her head jerked up, and he was standing so close she was lucky her forehead didn’t connect with his chin. She took a step back, slipped a bit on the mushy sand, and caught her bearings. Then she looked directly at him, and her throat closed in. He was giving her that you-and-I-both-know-that’s-bullshit look. So she simply stated the facts.
“You saw us!”
“Yes and no. I saw Rose spying on me, like she always does, and I noticed she had someone beside her in the shadows. However, I didn’t put it together until your balcony comment just now. Do you really think I could have an eighty-five-year-old woman spying on me practically every day of my life and not notice? I let her have her fun, but I don’t let her see any more than I want her to see.”
“You knew!” Babette accused, her skin growing hot as the implications of what he was saying settled into place. “You knew we were there when that brunette cut-off queen came out there and climbed all over you?”
Way too much came out that time, too.
“Cut-off queen?”
“She cut me off when I was turning into the resort.”
That sexy mouth quirked to the side and he said, “So you’re actually staying at White Sands.”
Didn’t take him long to put that one together. “Where did you think I was staying?”
“I didn’t know. Ethan didn’t say.”
“Kitty rented a condo on the second floor for me.”
“Man, that new job of yours comes with all sorts of perks, doesn’t it? Is that included in your fee, or did she just throw that in?”
“It was an add-on,” Babette said, sticking her chin out for emphasis, “since I needed to travel to do the job.”
He gave her one condescending nod that made her a little nervous. “And if you don’t ‘do the job’ do you have to give the money back? Or pay her back for the condo rental?”
“Maybe.” She wasn’t all that certain how the condo rental played into things. It wasn’t in the agreement, and she mentally kicked herself for not adding it. But she definitely had to return the triple Love Doctor fee if she didn’t get Kitty back with Jeff. “But I won’t have to give it back. In case your brother didn’t tell you, I have a hundred percent success rate.”
“Not this time.”
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” she snapped, her temper getting the best of her and his smugness pushing it over the edge. He was so sure of himself, and that really ticked her off, because she was sure of her Love Doctor abilities too. In her mind, he’d issued a direct challenge, and damn it, she was ready to take it. “I’m going to start walking back. It’s late, and I’m tired. But before I leave, I need to find out if the two of us can talk sometime tomorrow, sometime when you don’t scare me out of my wits at the beginning of the