Deadly act, p.6
Deadly Act, page 6
part #1 of Kylie Hatfield Series
The guy didn’t have a chance to answer a single question. From the way she kept talking, Linc would have bet that the guy wished he hadn’t been found. Well, served him right for being so stupid. This was his punishment.
Stowing the dogs in the back seat with some crunchy treats to chew, Linc climbed inside his truck and waited. And waited.
As the paramedics attended the man, Linc watched Kylie still talking to him in the bright glare of his headlights.
Then Kylie said something, and Dalton laughed. Long and hard, slapping his knee. If this was punishment, he was enjoying it a little too much. Linc saw the hiker’s smile, bright white, in the headlights, and scowled.
Linc gunned the engine to get her attention.
Kylie shot him a dirty look, said something else to Dalton, then jogged up and got in the passenger’s seat. “What’s your rush?”
Linc threw the truck in reverse and laughed bitterly. He wasn’t going to bother to explain.
As he screamed out into the parking lot, she grabbed her oh shit handle. “Geez. And you were so mean to him. He kept thanking you, and you just grunted like a caveman. Don’t you know how to be cordial?”
He reached over and turned up the radio. “I’m not cordial with assholes with no common sense, who put me and my dogs in danger.”
She stared at him for a long time, then reached over and turned down the radio. “Well, that’s a great attitude for a SAR guy to have. Really.”
He shrugged, turned the radio back up.
She turned it down again.
“Haven’t you ever heard that people make mistakes? Maybe he just went off the wrong path. It happens. Or is Linc Coulter so perfect that he doesn’t make mistakes?”
Linc grunted. “That was some big-ass stupid mistake he’d made. Could’ve gotten himself killed.”
“Oh, wait.” Kylie snapped her fingers. “Or are you jealous?” she singsonged.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “What?”
“You heard me. Jealous that that guy kept talking to me, and that we were actually having a nice conversation.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? I have nothing to be jealous of.”
She laughed. “Right.”
He tightened his fists around the steering wheel. Just because he’d been as eager as a teenage virgin to get her into his bed, she thought he was jealous? Fuck no. He gnashed his teeth, wanting to lash out and set her straight.
But he didn’t bother. He was done with this conversation. Done with the night, and all sorts of pissed off. All he wanted to do was go home, get some dinner, take a shower, and go to bed. Thanks to that hiking asshole, he wasn’t even in the mood to try to get into Kylie Hatfield’s pants.
And from the way she was looking at him now, he doubted she’d let him.
Fine.
She crossed her arms and faced the passenger’s side window in a huff. He turned the radio back up, intending to keep it that way for the rest of the ride home.
7
Hot. Sexy. But a complete dick.
Why couldn’t there be a guy on this earth that was a total ten, meaning devastatingly handsome, capable, and socially competent? Was that too much to ask?
Apparently, it was.
Kylie sat in the passenger side of his truck as Linc played Keith Urban way too loud, quietly seething. He couldn’t pretend to be civil? Put on a smiling face, even though he secretly hated a person’s guts? Hell, she did that all the time. Well, okay, there wasn’t anyone she hated. She liked pretty much everyone. Except him. And she intended to never speak to him again.
That lasted about thirty seconds.
“I don’t get it!” she exploded, throwing up her hands. “Why do you hate absolutely everyone you encounter? What gives you the right to be so judgmental?”
He didn’t answer. Turned the music up louder. Rolled down the window and stuck his head out like one of his beloved dogs. Was he trying to drown her voice out? Fucker.
She couldn’t believe that she had wanted him. Had been fully prepared to strip naked and rub herself all over him. Then, when he’d led the SAR team so expertly and rescued that guy like a totally heroic boss? She was fully prepared to strip naked and rub herself all over him in the back of his truck, forget waiting until they got into his house.
Now? Yeah, he was still hot as hell. But he was also a total douche that she wanted to throat-punch.
The only reason he thought dogs were easier than humans was because he was so damn hard for any human being to like.
They drove another minute in silence, until she felt her volcano top ready to blow. She opened her mouth to unload on him again, just as her phone started to ring.
It was her mom.
Suddenly, it came to her. When Kylie couldn’t make their regular lunch this week, she’d promised her dinner instead.
Tonight.
She groaned as she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hi—”
“You’re not lying dead in a ditch on the side of the road, are you?” Rhonda Hatfield asked her.
Guilt. Guilt. Guilt.
“No. I forgot. Mom, I’m so sorry.”
Rhonda breathed out a relieved sigh. “It’s not too late. Everything’s still cooking. Just get in your car and come over.”
Kylie looked over at Linc and frowned. “Well, I can’t, actually. I’m here with Vader’s trainer. He—”
“Who’s Vader?”
Kylie sighed. “My dog. Remember? The one I saved from the side of the road?”
“Oh, right. Well, bring him along. Not the dog, the trainer. You know that whenever I cook, I cook for armies. I made lasagna, your favorite.”
That was tempting. Her mother made the best lasagna, so good that Kylie’s mouth watered at the mere thought of it. But the way she was feeling right now, she wasn’t sure it was the best idea to bring Linc to her mother’s. She either wanted to karate-chop him or screw him, and she knew her mother would have something to say about both of those.
So she hedged. “I don’t think—”
“Come on. You must be starving.”
True. She was. And the only thing she had in her kitchen at home that resembled food was a box of stale Frosted Mini-Wheats.
“Fine.” Kylie tapped the mute button and ground out, “My mother’s having dinner. You’re invited.”
Linc gave her a sidelong glance. “What a friendly invitation.”
“Look who’s talking. Mr. Friendly.” She drummed her fingers on the center console. Every time he looked at her now, she couldn’t help thinking he was judging her every move. He probably thought she was an asshole too. But fuck what he thought. He was a douche she wanted to throat-punch, she reminded herself. “It’s lasagna. No dogs allowed, though, so you might feel out of place, not being among your ilk. Are you in or not?”
As anti-social as he was, she expected a firm no. But he looked over at her, a challenge in his eyes. “Yeah. I’m in. Where does she live?”
“Downtown.” Oh, this would be really interesting. Was he serious? Clearing her throat, she unmuted her phone. “We’ll be there, Mom. Probably twenty minutes.”
“Wonderful,” Rhonda gushed. “Is he handsome? Are you—”
“Okay,” Kylie said, butting in, “see you then.”
She disconnected the call and took a deep breath, her mind running rampant over a mental checklist of potential pitfalls. There were a lot.
Her mother still had her little Kylie shrine upstairs—her entire pink, ruffled bedroom, like a unicorn threw up, hermetically sealed to preserve the essence of sixteen-year-old Kylie Hatfield for future generations. There was a pretty awful picture of her as prom queen, the size of her ass, propped up on the mantle over the living room fireplace. Rhonda had also framed the artwork Kylie had done in first grade, when she’d proudly proclaimed that she wanted to be a turtle when she grew up. What other wonders of sheer mortification did her childhood home contain?
And there was also the other big problem: Her mother hated dogs. And if it wasn’t canine, Linc didn’t seem interested. He also wasn’t exactly the most charming conversationalist on earth. He had a way of staring people down, like he’d done to that hiker, like they were as insignificant as an insect. Her mother could talk to a wall, but if someone disrespected her or said something negative, she’d sure as hell call him out on it.
Oh, god. She could just imagine a screaming match at the table.
But Linc was an asshole. Who cared what he did or thought about her mother or her prissy bedroom?
Me. Unfortunately, me.
Why, she still had no idea. Probably because of the whole kissing-the-life-out-of-her thing, which he’d done so very well her toes were still half-curled in pleasure.
Forcing that thought away, she instructed Linc where to parallel park on the narrow side street, and they took the dogs and walked them over to the house. Outside, she tied Vader’s leash to a post, hoping he wouldn’t pull it up and run rampant through the neighborhood.
“My mother doesn’t like animals,” she explained. “She says she’s allergic, but I really think she just hates them.”
His jaw tightened, and he nodded. That was probably a deal breaker. He was going to hate Rhonda Hatfield, probably just as much as he hated on that poor hiker.
This was going to end badly. Very badly.
The front door was still locked, so she rang the doorbell, and waited for her mother to answer. She was wearing head-to-toe black, and her face was made-up in her evening makeup, with bright-red lipstick, like she was going out on a date. She sure as hell didn’t dress like this for their lunches. Who was she trying to impress?
The second her mother’s eyes fixed on Linc, Kylie knew. “Oh, hi,” Rhonda cooed, extending her hand to Linc, like a Southern belle. Was that really a Southern accent? Where’d that come from? “You must be Kylie’s trainer.”
Kylie gave her mother a look. What was she insinuating there?
“Actually, Vader’s trainer,” Kylie piped up, moving aside to show her the two pups, who were looking up at them, clearly hoping for an invitation inside. “Linc.”
Her mother wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Then her eyes went back to Linc and softened like warm butter. “Well, Linc, come inside,” she said, clamping her hand onto the man’s arm and drawing him through the door. “I’m sorry that your dogs will have to stay outside, but I’m allergic.”
He allowed himself to be dragged along. “No problem. It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Hatfield.”
“Rhonda! Please call me Rhonda.” She dragged him into the foyer, looking at Kylie with waggling eyebrows that spoke volumes: You never told me how devastatingly attractive he is!
Kylie scrunched her face at her mother, silently communicating, Wait until you’ve known him a little while. In his case, he’s just devastating.
“Can I help you with anything, Rhonda?” he asked as the elder Hatfield basically molested his arm. How embarrassing.
“Oh, no. It’s just about ready. Have a seat in the dining room!” Rhonda went to the kitchen and patted Kylie’s cheek. “He’s so polite.”
Polite, her ass. Just wait, Kylie told herself. He’ll show his true colors.
Kylie led Linc through the hallway, toward the dining room, trying to sway his attention from the turtle artwork. It didn’t happen. He caught on it, squinting. “You…wanted to be a turtle when you grew up?” he asked, the corners of his mouth turning up in amusement.
“Well,” Kylie said, straightening. “I had very high aspirations. I mean, that’s even a bigger stretch than a princess.”
He nodded. She got the feeling he was still laughing at her. “You can say that.”
“Why? What did you want to be?”
“A Transformer,” he said. “I was partial to Bumblebee.”
She had to smile at that, and she felt a little better. “Wow. That’s a pretty high aspiration too.”
“Hey. Go big or go home.”
Over the next hour, Linc didn’t vomit those true colors like Kylie had expected. He was the model human being all through dinner, chatting nicely with Kylie and her mother. Yes, he was a man of few words, but he was still funny, engaging…and charming.
Where the hell had this Linc come from?
Her mother had set out the fine Lenox china and Waterford wine glasses, which she never used. She asked him a lot of questions, giving him the standard Hatfield Family Spanish Inquisition treatment that had sent many a potential boyfriend running for the hills.
Linc didn’t flinch.
He talked a little about his business in SAR and how he’d inherited the house from family. He shared that he used to live in downtown Asheville, but after getting back from fighting overseas, he decided to move full-time to live in the mountains.
Kylie could tell her mother liked him from the way she leaned forward, almost sitting in his lap. Kylie was completely forgotten. In fact, she didn’t think her mother looked at her once. So she just…drank. And drank. And contemplated how handsome Linc looked in the candlelight.
And drank some more.
She finished off her third glass of Chianti and decided not to have another, because dammit. He was starting to look like someone she wanted to rub herself on again.
“So, honey,” her mother said suddenly, finally remembering she was there. “I haven’t heard from you much since you got your secretarial job at that PI office. Everything going well?”
Kylie bristled. “It’s not a secretarial job,” she said, looking over at Linc, who was watching her as he took a drink of his wine, with a dark, penetrating gaze. “I’m actually working my first case as an Assistant PI. It’s a missing person’s case. It’s super-fascinating. My boss has me taking the lead on it.”
Her mother nodded slowly. Kylie knew what she was thinking. I wonder if this’ll last as long as crochet. Calligraphy. Majoring in psychology. All of which she’d given up after three weeks.
“And how are you liking your boss? Greg something or other.”
Kylie nodded. “Greg Starr.”
“Is he cute?”
Kylie reached for her glass and remembered it was empty. “Mom. He’s like sixty. Sixty will never be cute to me.”
Rhonda shrugged. “Well, you’ve needed a good man in your life for some time. When was your last relationship? That boy, Ralph, four years ago or was it—?”
Kylie jumped to her feet so fast and high she almost hit the crystal chandelier above them.
“How about we go start on dessert?” she blurted, reaching over for Linc’s plate. She caught him looking at her, his lips twisted in amusement. “You made dessert, right?”
Rhonda Hatfield never served a meal that wasn’t punctuated with something fabulously sweet and gooey. “Of course. Cheesecake.”
“Fantastic.” Kylie motioned her mother forcefully into the kitchen with eye daggers.
Linc reached for the napkin on his lap and began to rise. “I can help—”
Before Linc could say more, Kylie cut him off with a curt, “Oh, hell no, you’re our guest. Sit your butt down.”
Last thing Kylie needed was her mom to fall even more in love with the sexy SAR trainer than she already was. She might propose on Kylie’s behalf.
Fuming, Kylie stormed into the kitchen and stacked the plates by the sink, then started the water so Linc wouldn’t hear them. “Really, Mom? You had to bring up my love life?”
Rhonda whispered, her eyes twinkling, “Well, someone had to, you know, get the ball rolling. I knew you wouldn’t tell him that you were available. If I have to wait for you, I’ll be drooling and eating through a straw before I get a chance to meet my grandkids.”
“Mom. I’m twenty-four. You’re almost fifty. Drooling and straws are not in your immediate future.”
Rhonda stacked the dishes in the sink. “True. Now about this Greg Starr…is he dating anyone?”
“Mom. I don’t know. I know he’s not married. He’s kind of cynical about that. He does have family, but he hasn’t said whether he’s dating anyone.”
Rhonda gave her daughter a horrified look. “You. Knowing a person for more than a week and you haven’t found out his whole life story yet? I’m ashamed. I thought I raised you better than that.”
“Well, he’s kind of a tough nut. Not like Dad…” Kylie trailed off, wishing her brain filter worked better. Sometimes, things just came out of her mouth before she thought them through.
Her mother stilled and turned to her, pain crossing her pretty features. “What do you mean?”
Kylie shrugged, trying to be casual now that she’d started this discussion. She seldom mentioned her father, knowing it was like pouring salt in an open wound. But…she wanted to know more about him. Was that so very wrong?
“Well, you always said that Dad had diarrhea of the mouth. I don’t know why I thought of him as an opposite to Mr. Starr, who is kind of all-business.”
Kylie wished that she could remember her dad. He disappeared when she was still in diapers, and her mom hadn’t heard from him since.
Desperate to change the subject, Kylie nodded toward the dining room. “Speaking of tough nuts…”
Rhonda went from sad to indignant in an instant. “Linc isn’t anything of the sort. He’s charming. A complete gentleman.”
Kylie wanted to roll her eyes, but her mother was right. At least during dinner, Linc Coulter had been Prince Charming in the flesh. “Yeah. I have no clue what’s going on, but that’s not Linc. We might want to call in the authorities. Or the Men in Black. Aliens may have already invaded his body.”
“Oh, he’s a gem, Kylie.” Rhonda winked at her daughter, her voice lowering an octave. “There’s nothing tough about that man. He’s all grade-A sirloin. You should jump on him.”
Kylie cringed and covered her ears with her hands. “Mom, you did not just say that to me.”
Grinning, Rhonda went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beautiful white cheesecake on a pretty cake stand. It looked like a magazine cover. “Open your eyes, Kylie Hatfield. That boy is fly. In fact, he looks like a movie star. A young Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones. Oh, I had such a thing for those adventurous types when I was your age. I wanted to have a man wrap that whip around me and—”
