Showdown at Lizard Rock (11 page)

Even now a bottle of champagne was chilling in his trailer. For days he’d been planning. He’d take her to the dance that night, and afterward they’d go back to his trailer and make love. Instead, here she was, eyes flashing fire, her breathing fast and furious, staring at him as if he’d suddenly grown a tail. And he was making hurtful accusations about bartering sex for the springs.

“Let me go, King. I don’t know how to play games. You confuse me.” Kaylyn knew that her anger wasn’t because he was redesigning the town square. What he’d planned was much better than her past efforts. She was bothered by his self-confidence and the easy way he’d taken over and ingratiated himself with the people.

Calling him the outsider who didn’t fit in had suited her purposes. But now he belonged, and she was torn between pride in what he was accomplishing for the celebration and despair at the crumbling of her plans to save the springs. It all came down to motives. She wasn’t at all sure about her own. The man kept getting mixed up with her emotions, and she was very confused.

As they stood there like dolls with magnets inside them, their bodies straining to join, she could feel a current arcing between them like an electrical charge. His expression suddenly changed. He smiled again, and the smile wasn’t forced.

“Don’t be afraid, Kaylyn. We’ve got to learn how to be together. This is all new to me too. We just have to let it happen.” His head was lowering, and she knew he was going to kiss her. In the middle of the town square, with everybody watching, he was going to kiss her.

“Don’t, King. Don’t. This won’t solve anything. You mustn’t kiss me now.”

“Why not, darlin’? I want to kiss you now. My whole body is crying out to kiss you now.” His lips were moving closer.

“Because! Because,” she said wildly, “Minnie Rakestraw will lose her money if you do.”

He blinked and drew back in surprise. “What?”

“Minnie has a kiss at the dance for two dollars.”

“Who’s Minnie, and who’s betting?”

“Minnie is one of my favorite patients,” Kaylyn said rapidly. “She and Luther and the others at the nursing home have a betting pool on our romance. She drew the dance. If you and I go to the dance together and you kiss me, she wins two dollars.”

King shook his head. “And I thought Joker was a gambler. We’ll have to introduce him to Minnie.”

“Who’s Joker?”

“Joker’s my brother. Being a practical joker is what got him his name, but there’s one thing he likes better than playing jokes. Gambling. I’ll introduce him to you when he gets here.”

“I’d like that.” She spoke without even being certain what she was saying. Anything to distract King from kissing her in front of the whole town.

“All right, darlin’,” he said, letting his arms fall to his sides. “I’ll take a rain check on the kiss. We wouldn’t want to disappoint Miss Minnie. What time do I pick you up for the picnic?”

“You really don’t have to pick me up. I just wanted you to get to know the townspeople. I thought you’d probably never been to anything like this before.”

“Well, normally I’d be running in the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on the Fourth of July, but I passed that up for the three-legged race—and you, darlin’. I intend to spend the entire day with you and take you to the dance tonight as well. We’ll have a date, lady. We’ve got to win two dollars for Miss Minnie.”

Kaylyn straightened her shoulders. She couldn’t handle the man. He was like quicksilver, sliding from one outrageous thing to the next. “But why? If
all this help is to win support for your side, you’ve already accomplished that.”

“My side? Is that what you think I’m doing? All right, I’ll admit that I might have started out that way. But you know what? I’ve found out that I like being able to do something worthwhile. It makes me feel good. That isn’t wrong, is it?”

“No, I guess not,” she admitted. “It’s me who’s being selfish. I do appreciate your help. What you’ve done is grand. I’m sorry, King. Now I’ve got to get back to the nursing home and set everything up to bring the ambulatory residents to the picnic.”

“No you don’t. Not this time. Sandi and Mac will take care of that. It’s already arranged.”

“I see. You’ve thought of everything. In that case, pick me up at the trailer parked behind the nursing home at twelve o’clock.”

“Nursing home? You’re not leaving the tent, are you? What about the springs and Matilda?”

“I’m not clearing out yet, King. It’s just that my clothes are at my trailer. And Matilda has enough food and water to last until tomorrow. But you could check on her when you get back, if you don’t mind. And, by the way, Tom told me that the church is going to move the soup line to their kitchen. You won’t be bothered anymore.”

“I know. But you aren’t giving up your protest, are you?” He lowered his voice. “I like knowing that I have an audience for my midnight swim. It won’t be the same without you over there in that tent. And I’ll never get started in the morning without my sunrise shot of adrenaline.”

She opened the van door and climbed inside. “What sunrise shot of adrenaline?”

“Oh, I always have a cup of coffee as I watch you take your morning swim. Gets the old body up and going, no pun intended, darlin’.”

“Oh, you!” she slammed the van door shut. “Don’t you ever think about anything but your body?”

“Yes, indeedy.” He reached his hand through the open window and ran it down her chest, stopping to take her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “I think a great deal about your body, Ms. Smith.” He stared at her breast. “Would you look at that?”

Kaylyn started the engine and gunned it loudly. She didn’t have to look. She could feel her traitorous body coming to life beneath his touch. Her nipple had peaked and hardened, and the ripples of delight radiating from his touch were making her body feel like a marshmallow on a stick at a wiener roast.

“Get away from this van, King, or your brother, Joker, will be attending a funeral—yours.”

“Certainly, Kaylyn,” he said cheerfully, and stepped away from the van. “By the way, do you know any of the rest of the wagers? I’d like to know what’s in the nursing-home pool so that we can plot the course of our romance. After all, we might as well give them something to look forward to.”

“There is no romance, King. There is only an issue to be settled. The springs and Lizard Rock, remember?”

“Oh, I remember, all right, but you’re dead wrong about the romance. However, we’ll leave that until later. I’ll pick you up in a few hours. And, I promise you, darlin’, I’ll never forget the Lizard.”

He was late. It was almost twelve-thirty when
Kaylyn opened the door to her trailer and King stepped inside, filling every inch of the door frame. He was dressed in faded jeans, a pale pink polo shirt, and well-worn sneakers.

“Where’re your boots?” she asked.

“I thought it might be easier to win the race in these.”

“Not the three-legged race. You’re really entered in that race?”

“I sure am. But it’s not me, it’s we. I’ve even got a bet or two going myself. Harold says the odds are changing every hour.”

“I don’t know what you did to Harold. I figured by now he’d have fallen off the wagon and reclaimed his cell at the jail permanently.”

“Harold? Not on your life. He’s totally reformed. Since he’s representing my interests, he’s become downright stuffy. This morning he even had breakfast with the mayor and the town council to discuss the day’s activities.”

“Imagine that.”

“Yes, indeed. Everybody is involved in your Founders’ Day celebration this year.”

“Including my patients,” she said dryly. Behind him, in her driveway, she could see a shiny black Ferrari. And behind the Ferrari she could see a head in every window of the nursing home.

“You’d better not come in,” she said, nodding toward the home. “Our voyeurs won’t know what we’re doing, and they’ll probably send over a messenger to find out whether we’re kissing.”

“Well, let’s not keep them in suspense, darlin’.” He swept her into his arms, and before she could protest, he was kissing her. She hadn’t realized how
much she’d wanted to be kissed until his lips touched hers and she melted into his body.

“What about Minnie’s money?” she whispered.

“I’ll pay her myself.”

“You have a fetish for kissing, don’t you, King?”

“Not just kissing in general. Kissing
you
, Kaylyn, darlin’.”

He kissed her again, she kissed him back, and all her plans to keep her distance and pretend she was having a date with a vampire went straight up in smoke.

Finally, amid a smattering of clapping and a whistle or two, Kaylyn pulled away. “King, please. I wish you wouldn’t keep doing that. If we’re going to spend the entire day together, couldn’t we pretend we’re strangers, or that we’re on a first date or something?”

“We are. This is our first date, and I’m definitely looking forward to the something, as long as you let me plan it. May I tell you how lovely you are today?”

He took her hand as he stepped back, so he could give her a thorough once-over. “I really prefer the string bikini or the cutoffs, but this is nice.”

She was wearing a cherry-colored cotton sundress with a ruffle at the hem and along the straps. On her feet she wore simple flat matching leather shoes. Her hair was a mass of golden curls. Peeking out from beneath the curls were huge golden hoops threaded through her ears. Matching gold bands jangled on her wrist. All in all, he thought she looked like a wild Gypsy. He felt his pulse quicken as he squeezed her hand.

“Just for today, Kaylyn, couldn’t we pretend we really are on a date? I’m a boy and you’re a girl, and
it’s the Fourth of July. And you’re right. I’ve never been to a Founders’ Day Picnic before. Are they fun?”

There was something so little-boy-like about his enthusiasm, something she couldn’t resist. Why not? she asked herself. She’d never had a date for the Founders’ Day Picnic before. Suddenly she felt a lighthearted bubble of laughter threatening to escape. She wasn’t used to mood changes. She wasn’t used to having a man hold her hand. She didn’t know the rules.

“I don’t know if they’re fun,” she said honestly. “I’ve always been so busy that I’ve never actually been to the picnic as a spectator.”

“Will you go with me to the barbecue, Miss Kaylyn, be my lady for the day?” He backed off the porch and down the steps to the ground and waited, still holding her hand.

“Why, Mr. Vandergriff, sir, I’d be delighted.” She pulled the trailer door closed behind her and allowed him to seat her in his sports car.

He started the engine, glancing up at the nursing home windows and back at Kaylyn with a smile as warm as the midday sunshine. As he turned the car around and came back even with the nursing home, he bowed his head like an actor taking a curtain call, making a dramatic sweeping gesture toward the windows. Then he touched the car horn and hit the gas, roaring off in a trail of loose gravel and dust.

“You’re a ham,” she said. “At least you’ve given them something to talk about. They probably all have heart palpitations. Poor things. They aren’t even going to get to go to the picnic.”

“Not to worry, Kaylyn Smith. Right about now
they’re drinking iced tea made from your famous mineral water. It will cushion their stomachs for Harold’s barbecue sauce. I have it on good authority that spring water will lower the blood pressure and calm the soul.”

“Ah, so I’m making a believer out of you.”

“Not on your life. My blood pressure is threatening to explode, and my other parts aren’t doing any better. And that’s after drinking two tall glasses of that foul-tasting water before I came to pick you up.”

“What can I say, your highness? It works for me.”

“Uh-huh. Me drinking water from your springs and expecting it to keep me calm when you’re around me is like trying to treat poison ivy when you’re standing in it. By the way, how’s your rash?”

“Gone, thanks. How’d the nursing home get barbecue and iced tea?”

“Mac and I brought it. No sense in their missing out on the fun just because they can’t get to the picnic.”

“Wonderful. So that’s why you were late. Now we’ll have to order in a supply of antacid
and
mineral water.”

“Yeah, but they’ll have fun till then. Besides, what they don’t know is that this sauce has a little extra added. If they’re going to celebrate, I say let them live it up.”

“King Vandergriff, what did Harold put in the barbecue sauce?”

“I’ll never tell.” He grinned and slipped his arm across the seat to give her a quick hug. “The only thing I hate about this car is its bucket seats. Can’t get close enough to my girl.”

“I’m not your girl, Vandergriff.”

“Yes, you are, for today. For today we’re going to call a truce. I’m a regular guy and you’re my girl, and we’re going to a picnic. How about it, is it a deal?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I can trust you to be a regular guy.”

“If you’ll agree to be my girl for the day, I’ll be as regular as Old Faithful. Do they have a kissing booth?”

“No, it isn’t that kind of celebration.”

“Well, who cares?” He stopped at a corner and waited for the traffic to pass. “I don’t need a booth, anyway.” He leaned across the console and gave her a quick, unexpected kiss. Then he drew back and turned down the street by the police station.

“You’re crazy.”

“And I’m adorable, successful, logical, and an all-around good fellow. I’m even kind to dogs and old ladies. Look at Minnie Rakestraw. She’s two dollars richer because of me.”

He slowed the car, pulled into the area marked
PARKING
, and kissed her again.

“And I suppose you’re going to say that you’re shy, modest, and unmanipulative,” Kaylyn said as she waved to Sergeant Williams, who was grinning broadly from the open doorway of the police station. “No doubt it must be the modest name your family gave you.”

“Oh, you don’t like being with a king? Okay, then I’ll let you in on a deep, dark secret.” He got out of the car, walked around to her side, and opened her door. “King isn’t my real name. My real name …” He leaned closer to her. “My real name is Arthur.”

“Arthur?” She began to laugh. “Oh, my gosh. Your name really is Arthur? As in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? It can’t be.” She thought back on her offhanded comment to Tom earlier in the day.