Last Night's Kiss (6 page)

The rest of them came toward her. Adam moved, too. Without looking in Adam’s direction, she stopped him with an outstretched hand. The three attackers advanced on her. She grabbed one of their hands and wrenched it around. His body somersaulted in the air, then went down. He hit the ground with a moan of pain. The second propelled himself into the air. She stopped him with a well-placed kick with her booted foot. The impact had him hopping backward and wheezing in pain. Tears sprang to his eyes and his knees buckled. The last one looked at her and the carnage on the ground. Raising his hands in defeat, he ran off.

Rosa turned and looked at the three remaining young men. “
Men
,” she said, shaking her head. “You never listen.” For a moment she watched the writhing group. Then she turned and walked into the coffee shop, not even looking at Adam, missing the huge smile on his face.

“Make that two,” Adam told the clerk serving Rosa coffee.

“Hi, Adam.” A wide smile appeared on the clerk’s face.

“Pandora,” he acknowledged. “Meet the newest resident of Waymon Valley, Rosa Clayton.” To Rosa he said, “Pandora Ellis. She’s my cousin.”

“I know who she is,” Pandora said. She looked at Rosa and smiled shyly.

“Pandora is a very intriguing name,” Rosa said.

“My father claims it was because I was born to keep secrets.”

“More intrigue,” Rosa said.

“I have no secrets, so I have no need to expose them.”

Pandora set their coffees on the counter and Adam pulled out a bill to pay for them.

“You’re coming to the party, right?” Adam asked.

“Sure,” she said. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“See you later,” he said to his cousin. “Tell Aunt Marge I say hello.”

Pandora nodded and moved to help the next customer.

Adam took both cups.

“Whose party?” Rosa asked.

“Dad’s.” He moved toward a table near the windows. “It’ll be his seventieth and apparently the whole town is getting into the celebration.”

“That’s wonderful,” Rosa said. “I’m sure Bailey is loving all the attention.”

“Is he ever?” Adam agreed. “It’s in August. I’m sure he’d like you to come.”

Rosa smiled. “I’d like that.”

Adam set the cups on the table. Rosa picked hers up. “I’m not staying,” she said.

“I thought you wanted to watch the news.” Adam glanced at the overhead television that was set to WNN. He recognized the newscaster, a former colleague and friend. “From what Vida tells me, you need regular fixes of world news. I suppose that’s why you know so much about me.”

“I thought you had things to do today,” Rosa said, ignoring his comment. “Don’t you need to hurry back to Waymon Valley and get them done?”

“They can wait.” Adam had a ton of things to do. The ranch didn’t run itself. He knew his father would take care of whatever needed doing. Why was he lying to Rosa Clayton?

Following her through the door, he waved good-bye to Pandora. “I’ll walk you to your car and follow you back.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said.

“I know. I’ve seen you in action. Maybe I need you to take care of me.”

“I doubt that,” she said, taking a sip of her latte.

“Where’d you learn that?” he asked.

She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. “I told you. I grew up with brothers. You said I was the baby of the family. I am, and that meant I had to learn to hold my own.”

“You can certainly do that. I was impressed at how well you handled yourself. Did you take self-defense classes?”

“In many parts of the world,” she answered. “I was a woman alone. Fairly good looking.”

“Absolutely beautiful,” he contradicted.

“I’ll take that,” she said. Adam saw her color darken. “All women like compliments. After one of the models was mugged in New York, we all enrolled in self-defense courses.”

“Have you had to put the learning to practice?”

“More times than you would think,” she said. “Many men think that because I look this way, I owe them something and if I’m not agreeable to their demands, then they are free to take what they want. It appears the world is not a safe place. But those were only kids today.” She glanced at the shop windows as if they were still there.

“Yeah, kids, six feet tall and outweighing you by at least fifty pounds. Not to mention there were four of them.”

“Well, I had surprise on my side. And a little bit of training.”

“Are you going to be all right from here on?” he asked. He didn’t just mean on the road back to the Valley. He meant from here
on
. He knew seeing her further was trying the promise he’d made himself, but Rosa was proving she wasn’t the stereotype he’d assumed she would be.

“I think so. I don’t expect to run into four teenagers again and if I do, I’m sure the story of what happened today will have permeated the entire town, or at least the high school, within half an hour. Now I have fear on my side.”

She smiled the smile he’d seen countless times from billboards. At the time he didn’t know who she was, but with eyes three feet wide and that tantalizing smile, she’d gotten his attention. Back then she was just paper, cardboard at most, unknown and safe. Now she stood less than a foot from him, and the animated flesh-and-blood woman was inconceivable as a comparison to a paper figure.

Rosa got into the car and placed her cup in the car’s cup holder.

“You don’t look very fearsome.” He brought his attention back to the present. “Especially sitting in that decadent car.”

“It is decadent, isn’t it?”

He looked at it again, his eyes running along the side from front to back, before coming back to rest on her.

“But you wouldn’t want to meet me in a dark alley,” she told him. “Or a lighted street for that matter.” She laughed at her own joke. The tinkling of her voice aroused him.

“All right, drive on,” he said. Standing up, he stepped back from the car.

Rosa turned the key and the engine roared to life, then purred. His hands itched to drive the mighty beast. He wanted to tame it, show it who had the real power.

“Be careful,” he told her. “It’s a powerful car. You don’t want it to get away from you.”

“Remember those brothers of mine? They taught me to drive, too.”

“I’ll have to meet these brothers one day.”

“Maybe,” she said. She pulled out. Adam stared after her. The car wove through the early afternoon traffic. She didn’t look back. Adam knew she wouldn’t. He stared after the car, looking at the path she’d taken long after she’d turned the corner and was completely out of sight.

Rosa Clayton had hidden talents. A couple of them came out today. Adam found himself wanting to know what the others were. And how pleasurable it could be to discover them one at a time.

Rosa felt every one of the four hundred horses kicking their front legs up and raring to burst through the starting gate. Pressing the accelerator, she opened the gates and let the horses have their way. Getting off the highway, which would take her straight back to the Valley, Rosa noticed a side road on the map. It was straight and deserted. She pressed her foot on the accelerator. The car responded with erotic pleasure, needing only a soft touch to have it purring. Inching the speedometer up past the legal limit, she let the wind whip her curls about her face.

She couldn’t help the rodeo yell that came from her mouth. It went with the car. Behind her, a tail of dust defined her route. She felt as if she were about to be airborne, launched into the sky, although the car hugged the road solidly. It cornered with the lightness of a slow walk and took a curve as if car and road were engineered as one tandem unit.

By the time she pulled up in front of Vida’s house, the need for speed had abated by only a minuscule amount. However, she was careful to reduce the volume of her radio to normal hearing decibels and drive under the residential limit.

Vida met her at the door. “I thought you said you were renting a Jeep.” Her eyes looked past Rosa to the car in her driveway.

“I was, but this one is so much more fun.”

“It’s just like you,” Vida said. “Take me for a ride. And I wanna drive, too.”

Vida disappeared for a moment, grabbing her purse and a hat from the table, before returning to the door. Vida loved hats and rarely went out without one. Within minutes they were riding along.

Vida scanned the dash in front of her. “I always wanted to own one of these.” Her hands ran over the soft leather like a caress.

“Why didn’t you get one?” Rosa knew they’d both made a fortune modeling.

“Practicality,” she said. “On the road there was no need and out here it’s not a practical car.”

“Screw practicality,” Rosa said. “If you want it, get it.”

Vida smiled. “How would it look for a poor, struggling designer to be driving around in a red Corvette?”

“You’re not poor. And why would it look strange? You’d look prosperous. And why shouldn’t you?” The two women glanced at each other, sharing a knowing smile.

Rosa pulled the car to the edge of the road. She threw the gearshift into neutral, pulled the parking brake up, and got out. “Your turn,” she told Vida. Vida didn’t hesitate. She got out and rushed around the front of the car. Her limp was nearly gone, yet she put her hand on the car for support several times.

“Fasten your seat belt,” Vida said, and pulled onto the road. Within minutes they were out of town and Vida was speeding along the road leading past the Osborne Ranch.

“Doesn’t she drive like a dream?” Rosa asked.

“Oh yes,” Vida agreed. “I have
got
to get me one of these.”

“Practicality aside.”

“Practicality can go take a leap,” she said, without any malice in her voice.

As they passed the Osborne Ranch, Adam was turning into the driveway. Vida blew the horn and waved but didn’t slow down. Yet Rosa had a clear view of the anger on his face.

“Are the two of you getting along any better?” Vida asked as if they’d been discussing Adam.

“I try to steer clear of him.” Rosa didn’t tell her that the effort wasn’t working well.

“Was that before or after you two had lunch? And breakfast from what I hear?”

Rosa stared at her. “Am I being followed or something?”

Vida shook her head. “I ran into Bailey. He told me the two of you met on horseback this morning and that Adam had taken you to get the car. I suppose Adam told him about lunch.”

“Pull over,” Rosa said. “You’re only supposed to drive short distances.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know. But let’s not push the leg.” She knew what Adam’s expression had meant. And while she wanted to tell him to jump off the nearest mountain, it was Vida who would be hurt if she pushed herself too hard.

Although Vida no longer limped, he’d been adamant in reminding her that Vida couldn’t drive as far as Butte. Speeding along the road wasn’t good for her, either.

“This car is so easy to drive, the touch so light, I could go all the way to North Dakota.”

“Pull over,” Rosa said.

Vida slowed the car and stopped. There was no shoulder to speak of, so most of the car sat on the one-lane road. Again the two switched seats. Rosa took the wheel and headed back to town. Her own house was along the way.

“Can we stop a moment?” Vida asked as they neared her driveway. “I haven’t seen your place.”

“Sure,” Vida said. “I thought, since it was Adam’s, that you’d been here before.”

“I have, but I want to see what you’ve done with it.” It had to be the designer in Vida. She was forever discussing how she would have decorated any room the two of them were in.

Inside the house, Rosa poured the leftover lemonade into two glasses and took them to the living room. Vida looked around. She took in the floor and walls and paintings. “The house looks great. It hasn’t changed much. I’m sure you’ll add a few touches of your own. And it’s time someone lived here.”

“How long did Adam live here?”

“Not long. He moved in and almost immediately got an assignment. Like us, he was always on the road. He maintained an address in D.C. We were all surprised when he showed up here, suitcases in hand, planning to stay.”

Rosa knew about the condo in D.C. She’d seen a spread on him in
GQ
a few years ago. The place was upscale, using a thirties theme of black-and-white art deco. She wondered if he still owned it.

“Maybe his dad was the reason he returned.”

“Bailey can use some looking after, but Adam could have hired someone to do that.”

“A nurse is no replacement for family.”

“He has a lot of family here. Any number of his cousins would have moved in with Bailey. Adam was about to get the job of his life. Then suddenly he’s back in Waymon Valley.”

“You think there’s another reason for him being here?” Rosa thought about that. Usually that meant a woman.

Vida was nodding. “He hasn’t said what, but I know Adam. And he’s not telling us everything.”