Feeding the Fire (3 page)

“We’re not exactly equipped with a crime scene unit around here. We’re working on it. And we’ve got some suspects.”

“Like who?” Grant challenged.

“Like I can’t tell you,” Simon snapped. “It’s an ongoing investigation.”

Grant groaned. He hated secrets, even ones the police had to keep. Things would be easier if people were just honest with each other. It would’ve saved him a lot of grief over the years. “Please.”

“Well, how about you tell me your whereabouts last night between nine and ten o’clock?” Simon asked. “Peering in Pepper’s windows at night wouldn’t be a shock to me.”

Swallowing a bite of his food, Grant frowned at his brother. “I was at the firehouse with Mack. You can ask him. We got a call about ten and rode out to the Underwood farm to put out a debris fire that got out of control. Happy?”

Simon shrugged. “I suppose. I just didn’t want you to think the Rosewood police force wasn’t doing a thorough job.”

“You’d better be doing a thorough job,” Blake warned. “Ivy’s coming home tomorrow. If I catch some pervert looking in my windows, I’ll give you and Sheriff Todd what’s left of him.”

“Very considerate of you,” Simon noted.

“How long is she staying?” Grant asked, trying not to sound too interested. He wasn’t that concerned with Ivy, but if she was back in town, she would probably spend some time with Pepper. That meant Grant might have the opportunity to be around her socially. But he didn’t want anyone to know he was interested.

His brothers gave him enough grief about Pepper as it was. Still, he had a hard time not thinking about her. It had been three months since they shared that night together. It was the hottest sex he’d ever had and he couldn’t tell anyone about it. That went against his strict policy of honesty, but Pepper insisted. It was a onetime thing and no one needed to know. He’d opted just not to talk about it, as opposed to lying. He’d been okay with that plan until he’d gotten a taste of her. Since then, thoughts of getting that spicy redhead back in his bed had nearly consumed his thoughts.

God, he’d gotten pathetic. Grant had never had to work this hard for a woman in his life. Charming a woman had been as second nature to him as football was to Blake. Sure, he needed to practice and stretch his . . . muscle . . . so to speak, but he was always successful. Always. And he technically had been successful with Pepper. He’d scored. Unfortunately, it just hadn’t been enough to satiate him.

For the first time in his life, a woman had left him wanting more. Pepper had done nothing that he expected and he loved that about her. She kept things interesting in a town that was as predictable as bad weather in the springtime.

“About two weeks, I think. She’ll be here through Valentine’s Day.”

“Speaking of which,” Simon spoke up, “have either of you gotten tapped for that bachelor auction?”

Blake laughed, low and wicked. “Nope. I’m engaged.”

“Lucky bastard,” Grant grumbled. “Yeah, Mayor Gallagher called me last week and said he just knew he could count on my participation.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m not looking forward to it.”

“What’s the difference?” Simon asked. “You’ve already dated all the women in town anyway. This time, they’re just paying for the privilege.”

“Very funny. You get talked into it, too?”

Simon nodded. “I did. There aren’t many single men in Rosewood. Mayor Gallagher said that ‘all eligible men should be on deck to support their community,’ ” he said, mocking the gruff, pompous tone of the older man who had been mayor longer than any of them had been alive.

“Well, good,” Grant noted, eager to get a dig in on Simon after all the crap with Pepper earlier. “Maybe we can finally get you laid.”

Simon’s blue eyes grew wide as his head snapped around to see who in the restaurant might have heard that. Fortunately, there weren’t many people around. “You shut up!”

Grant heard a loud thump, the glasses and silverware on the table rattled, and Simon groaned. He winced and reached beneath the table to clutch his foot. “What’s the matter?”

“I tried to kick you in the shin and hit the steel leg of the table instead.”

Both brothers snickered at Simon as he bellyached over his self-inflicted injury. “You know, Simon, that’s not going to help with the ladies. Just ask Blake, a limp isn’t sexy.”

“Hey, now!” Blake argued. “Don’t bring my football injury into this discussion. I’ve never had any problem with the ladies, unlike young Simon here.”

“Don’t ‘young Simon’ me.” Their youngest brother pulled money out of his wallet and threw it down on the table. “It’s Officer Chamberlain if you’re going to be dicks.”

“We’re your older brothers,” Blake noted. “Of course we’re going to be dicks. But it’s only because we’re concerned about the care and well-being of your . . . well . . . dick.”

“Looks like I’ve got a monopoly on the Chamberlain boys today,” Ruth said as she approached the table with a grin curling her withered lips. “Can y’all please stop saying the word ‘dick’ in the diner?”

Ruth was rail thin and her hair had turned all gray years before, but it would be a mistake for anyone to consider her frail. She was hard as nails. She could single-handedly run Ellen’s during the lunch rush because she was one step down from a drill sergeant. Fred, the cook, just did what she said and all went well.

“Sorry, Miss Ruth,” Blake said with the proper amount of shame on his face.

Ruth patted his shoulder and gave him a sly wink that Grant couldn’t miss. The Chamberlain boys got away with murder in this town. “Just keep it down. Reverend Yates is sitting in the back corner. I don’t need him to start preaching on a Thursday afternoon. You know once he gets rolling, he’ll carry on until the dinner rush.”

“Sorry, Miss Ruth,” Grant echoed.

Ruth smiled and reached in her apron to pull out the tabs for Simon’s and Grant’s lunches. She slid them across the table and looked at Blake expectantly. “Can I get you something, Blake?”

“Can I get a cheeseburger and fries to go, please? I’ve got to get back soon.”

“No problem, sugar.”

Grant watched her disappear. “Hmph,” he said after she disappeared into the kitchen. “I thought she only called me sugar.”

“Sorry, Grant,” Blake quipped. “But maybe if you’re lucky, she’s saved up her tips to buy you at the auction.”

“Hey there, hot stuff.”

Pepper was walking out of the hardware store when she heard the familiar man’s voice. She turned and found Grant on the sidewalk heading in her direction. He was wearing one of his obnoxiously tight Rosewood Fire & Rescue T-shirts with a pair of well-pressed khakis that highlighted his muscular thighs and his arrogant strut. She allowed her gaze to flick over him for only a moment, but when her gaze met his, she knew it was still too long. There was a twinkle of amusement in his baby-blue eyes that matched the smug grin on his face.

“Afternoon, Grant,” she said before turning on her heel and heading toward her SUV that was still parked outside of Curls. She made it to the other side of First Avenue before Grant fell into step alongside her.

“I heard you had a run-in with the peeper last night.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “That’s why I’m carrying mini-blinds out of the hardware store.”

Sometimes Pepper hated living in a small town; nothing was private. Simon had probably told him, which made Pepper wonder how much his brother knew about their short-lived relationship. Grant had been sworn to silence, but she knew he wasn’t big on lying. If someone asked him a question flat out, even about their one-night stand, he’d likely spill. She found it both noble and annoying.

“Smart choice. May I carry that for you?”

Pepper considered his offer for a moment before dumping the large paper sack into his arms. “Yep, thanks.”

“Do you need help putting those blinds up? I could come over and do it for you.”

Pepper had no idea how hard it would be to hang mini-blinds, but she was certain she would figure it out without his assistance. “I would say that was sweet of you to offer, but I know better, so no thanks. Even if hanging them up was akin to building a nuclear warhead, I still wouldn’t call you for help.”

Grant shifted the bag into his left arm and placed a hand dramatically over his chest. “You wound me, Pepper, you really do. I’m only trying to be nice. Just because there’s a chance we might get naked when we’re finished hanging the blinds doesn’t mean it isn’t an altruistic offer.”

“Yes, I’m sure you and Mother Teresa are besties.”

“We text all the time,” Grant said with a wide smile.

Pepper looked at him with a blank expression on her face. “She’s dead, Grant.”

“I know that. It was a joke. Come on, you know I’ll get in your house eventually, Pepper.” He stopped on the sidewalk to consider his words, and then held up his hand. “Okay, that sounded creepy. I meant that one day, you’ll invite me over.”

“Not unless my house is on fire.” It would take a hell of a lot of work before anyone was setting foot in her house, much less a Chamberlain.

“I can wait for a formal invitation that doesn’t require your house burning down.” He smiled, not letting her awkward rebuff get him down. “So, did you hear Ivy’s coming into town tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Pepper pulled out her car keys and unlocked the hatch of her little red SUV. She waited while Grant loaded her things into the back and slammed it closed. When she turned, Grant was far closer than he needed to be. “Take a step back, Grant.”

He did as she asked, albeit reluctantly. “What’s the matter, Pep? Afraid that if you get too close to me, you might fall prey to my charms
again
?”

“You hush about that,” she warned with a manicured finger jabbing him in the hard wall of his chest. “You haven’t told anyone, have you?”

His full lips twisted into an amused smile. “Not a soul. That experience was far too sweet to share. I want you all to myself.”

“You’re not going to
get
me all to yourself. You’ve got to stop pursuing me like this, Grant. People are going to talk.”

He crossed his forearms over his chest, the hard muscles dancing beneath his tanned skin. “People already know I’ve been chasing after you for years.”

“Like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner,” Pepper snapped.

“Yeah,” he leaned in to whisper the last part in her ear. “But what they don’t know is that the coyote caught that roadrunner once. And it was good enough for him to want to keep chasing her.”

His hoarse whisper and warm breath on her neck sent a shiver down her spine. She drew in a nervous breath that was heavy with his cologne and felt her body slowly betraying her. There were many reasons why she would never return to Grant’s bed, and this was one of them. She couldn’t control herself around him. When his hands were on her body, she turned into a wanton woman. She wouldn’t,
couldn’t
allow that to happen again.

If her mother taught her nothing else growing up, it was that the Chamberlain men were not to be trusted. Every single one of them—from Norman Chamberlain in his fifties to Simon, who was just recently old enough to drink—was just out to use her for sex. And when they were done with her, she’d be tossed aside.

That was the thought that stuck with her from her teen years on. When Grant first asked her out in high school, she’d immediately shut that down. Fast-forward ten years and she wasn’t quite as resistant. Her mother would never know that she did give in, just once. And when she did, she made sure it was on her own terms. They went to his place and she was out the door before dawn, making sure that Grant was the one who woke up feeling used for once.

She’d used up every last drop of him. If that was the only taste of him she’d ever get, she had to make it last. Unfortunately, it couldn’t fade into a sweet memory because Grant kept pursuing her.

“Just because you chase me, doesn’t mean you’re going to get me. Ever again. Seriously, Grant. Go chase after another one of your disposable girlfriends and leave me alone.”

Grant planted one hand on the back window of her car and leaned in to her again. He captured a lock of her bright red hair and ran it between his thumb and forefinger to the tips, letting it fall back against her collarbone. “If I believed a word you said,” Grant said, pinning her in place with the intensity of his gaze, “I’d walk away and never bother you again. But your body gives you away, Pepper. That night we spent together was no joke. You can act like it was nothing, but you and I both know the truth.”

Pepper took a ragged breath and stumbled to the side to get out of his gravitational pull. She hated that Grant had the ability to see so much. Her protests were more hollow than she’d like. It had been amazing sex. Earth-shattering, mind-blowing sex. Every night when she lay alone in her bed, she thought about that night. But she wasn’t going to let him know that. He could suspect all he wanted, but she wasn’t about to confirm it. His head was already too big to fit through some smaller doors.

And besides that, when she diminished the intensity of their encounter, he got agitated. She had to take her kicks where she could get them. “It was just sex, Grant. Decent sex, but just sex. You’ve conquered Mount Pepper. Congratulations. Now it’s time to move on to the next challenge. Maybe some young, stupid girl will bid on you at the bachelor auction.”