Kristen Blooming (3 page)

“Deputy Brandon Hammel,” the deputy supplied, extending his hand toward her mother and then taking hers, when she offered it up, all the way to his lips to brush a kiss across her knuckles, making Kristen’s mom giggle.

“Oh, Deputy, I’m a married woman,” her mother informed the big man, as if he couldn’t figure that much out. Neither could she resist a little lecture. “It’s not appropriate for any man’s lips to touch me…but my daughter, here, is available.”

Kristen’s eyes widened at that ultimately humiliating revelation. Unfortunately, the horror had only begun, and so had her mother.

“Go on, sweetheart, introduce yourself to the nice young man,” her mother prodded Kristen as she continued to sit there bug-eyed with her cheeks burning. Then her mother actually kicked her as she nodded to the man, who was clearly biting back his laughter. “Go on.”

“Kristen Harold,” Kristen mumbled, begrudgingly giving her hand over to the man and then clenching her knees tightly together as she waited for the brush of his lips against her skin.

It was like an electric shot, sending a bolt of pure delight straight up her arms and tingling across her breasts as she felt them swell, the tips hardening in an embarrassing rush. Instinctively, her eyes darted up to meet his, and she felt her breath catch at the interest she saw there.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Kristen,” he murmured, clearly reluctant to release her hand. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure.”

“That’s because Kristen is new to town,” her mother volunteered.

The interruption broke the spell that seemed to be twining between Kristen and the deputy, and she quickly pulled her hand back as her mother continued on.

“She’s moving in with her cousin, Gwen. Gwen Harold. Do you know her, Deputy?”

Marissa blinked innocently up at the man as if she weren’t aware in the slightest that she’d broken up a sweet moment between him and her daughter. That was probably for the best, especially as the man smirked and nodded.

“Oh, yeah. I know Gwen.”

Kristen’s heart sank because she was sure he was saying that he knew her cousin in more than the passing sense. More like the biblical one, and that was not only gross, but Kristen certainly didn’t want to get involved with the men her cousin normally went after.

Her mother seemed oblivious, though, to the obvious. Instead of being indignant, she responded with a smile.

“Well, I’m glad to see my niece has cultivated a few respectable connections.” Marissa beamed, her gaze darkening though as it focused once again on the commotion erupting behind the deputy. “But I do think your services might be needed, Deputy.”

The big man didn’t look impressed by that suggestion but glanced over and eyed the brawl that had now caused half of the diner patrons to evacuate, including the two women at the center of the dispute. Kristen wished she could have joined them, but she was stuck there entertaining one of Gwen’s former paramours.

“Ah.” The deputy shrugged as he turned back, clearly unconcerned by the fight. “That’s Killian’s mess. He made it. He can clean it up.”

“Excuse me?” Marissa’s delicate features pulled tight into a look that Kristen knew well. “I’m sorry, young man, but you are a deputy. It’s your job to go over there and put an end to this nonsense.”

The deputy’s hands shot into the air in a universal sign of surrender as he began backing away. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I thought my services might be needed here. I stand corrected.”

“Yes, you certainly do.” Marissa waved him away. “Now go on. My daughter and I can handle ourselves.”

Kristen couldn’t believe her mother. She just wanted to melt right out of her seat and hide beneath it, but there was no escaping the look the deputy shot her. It said it all. He was amused. He thought she was a little girl. God, but she was tired of men looking at her as if she was a child. Worse, she was tired of feeling like one.

“See,” her mother started the moment the man was out of earshot. “That’s why you need to come home with me. This place isn’t safe, and just think of what kind of men must live here if their deputies are so rakish, and don’t think I didn’t notice you were interested. The way you went all mooneye and mute…it was just embarrassing.”

Brandon watched the little Miss Kristen scurry out of the diner with her uptight and way-too-proper mother. The woman had actually waved him away, and Brandon couldn’t deny that he found that kind of spunk a little attractive. The older woman certainly wasn’t ugly.

In fact, it was clear from how much she looked like her daughter that the woman had once been a looker. Brandon eyed the sway of Miss Kristen’s almost non-existent backside. She was a tiny little thing, and cute as button.

With her hair all done up and her grandma hanging a little too lose on her, Kristen might have easily been looked over by most men, but not Brandon. He noticed the clarity of her skin, all pale and silky smooth looking. Her features were pert and smooth with a perfectly bowed mouth and a set of wide eyes that reminded him of a porcelain doll.

Just like a doll, he was betting she was a virgin.

That thought intrigued Brandon as he wondered just what kind of man Miss Kristen was waiting to give herself to. He was betting he could qualify. Her gray gaze had certainly held the kind of interest Brandon knew well.

The other thing Brandon knew well was Gwen. He had a feeling that wasn’t going to win him any points, not unless the good-girl blushes were all just a disguise to mask the woman’s true wild and wanton ways. Brandon didn’t hold out that kind of hope.

He didn’t actually hold out any hope.

He didn’t need to. If he wanted a woman, he had a club full of eager applicants willing to do almost anything he commanded. None of them would be as fun, though, as giving Miss Kristen her first climax. He was betting she’d never scored one of those before. Maybe if he made her come, she’d let him a try a few other moves while she returned the favor.

“Are you going to just stand there grinning like a dumbass or help?” Killian snapped at him, drawing Brandon’s gaze to where he had Cole pinned to the floor with a knee in his back.

Killian’s partner on the force, and in crime, Adam, had Cole’s best buddy, Kyle, pinned down against a table. Both deputies already had their cuffs in their hands. So it didn’t seem as if there was much to do.

“Eh.” Brandon shrugged. “Why get involved? It’ll just cause me paperwork. Say, any of you know that Gwen had a cousin?”

Four shocked and outraged stares turned on him as all four men froze for a second, and Brandon knew what they were all thinking, as if he were the improper one. Hell, he hadn’t started a fight in the middle of the bakery. Neither had he been the one to horribly embarrass two women in the process. So maybe they weren’t the best people to ask for advice.

“Never mind.” Brandon shook his head and turned toward the woman barreling at them. “I’ll take care of Heather because she looks like she’s about to throw a fit.”

As if on cue, Heather came to a stop and gaped at them all. “What in the hell is going on here?”

She didn’t give anybody a chance to answer before she lit into a lecture that would have done Miss Kristen’s mother proud. Heather had spunk, too. Brandon would have made a pass if it wouldn’t have landed him on the sheriff’s shit list.

Right then Killian and Adam were Alex’s current whipping boys, and Brandon wasn’t looking to replace them. Actually it was kind of ironic, Brandon thought, given everything that what had landed Killian and Adam in the hot seat with the sheriff was Gwen Harold.

The sheriff and Gwen had a thing for a while. That was until Gwen did Killian’s and Adam’s things. Not that it should matter. Everybody knew the sheriff wasn’t in love with Gwen, but the man was so stubborn he wouldn’t go after the woman he was in love with. That was Alex’s problem.

Brandon kept a straight face when he got back to the station house and reported to the other deputies on shift what had happened down at the Bread Box. Killian and Adam might have screwed Gwen, but they’d moved on to Rachel. Rachel wasn’t half as easy as Gwen, and she was proving to be better at torturing Killian and Adam than Alex ever would be.

“She’s got those two idiots tied up in knots.” Duncan snickered as they all hung out in the deputy locker room.

Crammed into one of the aisles made by the rows of old lockers, which reminded Brandon of high school, they all clustered around where Brandon stood holding court. That was just like high school, too. High school had been good to Brandon.

He’d been popular, athletic, and had kept up his grades enough to assure that many young women’s fathers had considered him an ideal catch. What they hadn’t known was that Brandon was wise to the bait. He brought his own condoms and used them religiously because he wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.

“I don’t know, man.” Dylan shook his head. “I wouldn’t want Cole hanging out too close to my woman.”

“Cole, sure,” Duncan agreed easily. “Everybody knows that man’s got like twelve different women going at once.”

“I heard he almost got Patton,” Brandon chipped in, sharing a look with Duncan.

“No!” Duncan broke into a big smile. “You don’t mean the Davis boys’ woman. That Patton?”

“Uh-huh.” Brandon nodded. “Apparently, he almost made it all the way to home a while back before them boys caught up with the two of them.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Travis butted in. Hunkered down on the bench that divided two rows of lockers, he was grinning even as he argued with Brandon’s suggestion. “If he’d laid a hand on that girl, those boys would have killed him.”

“Yeah?” Dylan lifted a brow at that. “Well, I think Cole’s lucky Killian didn’t do him in. Were you here for the scene that happened earlier?”

“No,” Brandon answered, his curiosity piqued. “What scene?”

“Oh,” Dylan drew that word out, clearly savoring the moment. “Then you don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?” Brandon snapped, hating to wait for any good gossip. “Tell me.”

“Rachel, that girl came storming into the office a while back. Let me tell you, she was lit up like the sun. Pissed as shit.” Dylan laughed as if he’d made a joke.

He sort of had. The rest of the men certainly found that revelation humorous, including Brandon. Killian was kind of a dick. He liked to strut around, acting like the big man all because he was a couple years older and a few inches thicker than the rest of them. Not that he’d ever done anything in specific to cause or pick a fight. It was just his attitude.

That attitude came storming into the locker room not but a few seconds later. Killian barely spared them a glance, but his scowl was dark enough to assure that none of them dared to speak up. Instead, they all watched him head over to the sink and start cleaning up. A second later Adam came slamming into the locker room, no doubt looking for Killian.

He paused to shoot them all a dirty look, along with a pointedly challenging question. “Is there something you wanted?”

“Nope.” Brandon shook his head but couldn’t shake the smile from it. “We’re cool.”

“Then why don’t you be
cool
elsewhere?”

“Come on, boys.” Duncan shoved off the locker he’d been leaning against and ambled for the door. “I think we were just dismissed.”

* * * *

“Is your mom gone?” Gwen asked that question from behind Kristen as she stood there waving goodbye to her mother.

It hadn’t been an easy thing to get rid of her, and really, only the darkening evening sky had finally managed to accomplish what Kristen hadn’t. Turning as she shut the door, Kristen shot Gwen a quick smile.

“I think so. She drove off down the street, so as long as she doesn’t return for something she might have conveniently forgotten…” Kristen let that comment trail off as Gwen snorted and rolled her eyes.

“It’s a good thing you’re cutting those cords,” Gwen assured her, though Kristen didn’t exactly know what that meant. She still got the gist.

“Mom means well, but I do need to claim my own independence.” That seemed a much more polite way of saying whatever it was that Gwen was trying to say.

Politeness, though, was pointless when dealing with her cousin, who snorted and rolled her eyes. “Good God, you sound so much like her it’s frightening. Tell me, you going to nag me when I light up this cigarette?”

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Kristen frowned as she stared at the slender object trapped between two of Gwen’s fingers.

“Yep. I do a lot things you probably have no clue about, and it’s going to stay that way,” Gwen tacked on pointedly with a look that said Kristen was supposed to be getting a message, only she didn’t understand it.

“What?”

“It’s a hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, repeat-no-evil kind of house,” Gwen explained, seeming incapable of being direct, but Kristen was finally getting it.

“I’m not here to rat you out to Aunt Harriet,” Kristen vowed, referencing Gwen’s mother.

Aunt Harriet was married to a minister, who was not Gwen’s father and did not approve of Gwen’s lifestyle and had driven a clear wedge in that side of the family. Kristen kind of thought that was sad and wouldn’t have done anything to aggravate the situation.