In the Eye of the Storm (6 page)

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “And I don’t necessarily think you’re a ball buster. I do think you’re tougher than you have to be. Some guy probably burned you good one time and now you feel like you have to wear the pants in the relationship.” He gave her knowing look. “How’d
I
do?”

She wanted to argue with him but she couldn’t. She had been burned before. For some reason, she took rejection worse than most people. “I’m sure you’ve been burned before too.”

“Maybe once or twice,” he admitted. “I don’t take a whole lot of time to think about things though. I’ve never been in love enough to let someone hurt me. That’s the key to keeping your heart intact.”

She thought that over and supposed he was right. “And what is your theory on how you keep yourself from falling too hard for someone?”

“Keep it physical,” he said simply.

She should have expected him to say something like that. He was a man, after all. “Typical. Men only think with one head.” She heard him laugh. Of course, he thought she was funny. Most men had sick senses of humor too.

“Look, what do you say we try to start over here? I’m not sure how long I’ll be around but I know Kylie loves you so it will be better for all of us if you and I can get along.”

He looked sincere enough. “I don’t have anything against you,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. She knew it was a lame response but it was the best she could come up with. She was used to being flip with people and this guy wasn’t as easy to mess with as most people were. He had an aloof quality, as well as a quality that told her he was very good at reading people, most likely when they didn’t even know he was reading them. Well he wasn’t going to pull that crap with her. “I’ve got to tell you, you’re nothing like your brother.”

He looked surprised at that. “What makes you think so?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been around here a lot over the past year. Trey is very deep. He’s loosened up since being here with Kylie, but he’s matter-of-factly. “thBA still pretty serious most of the time. He broods a lot.”

“And you don’t think I do?”

“I can tell you brood. I don’t think you give things quite as much thought as he does.”

“Is that so?” He folded his arms over his chest. She wasn’t sure whether he was annoyed or amused. “You sure do seem to
assume
a lot about me, considering we only just met last night,” he continued. “Why are you so confident you’re right about me?”

“I can just tell.”

“Women’s intuition?” he asked, clearly mocking her.

“Maybe. Mock me if you like.”

“I’m not trying to mock you.” He paused. “Okay, maybe I was. If you have brothers and sisters you know that you all have unique personalities. My family is no different.”

“I don’t,” she heard herself say before she could stop herself. She hated talking about her family. They were not a topic of conversation that she was comfortable with.

“Don’t what?”

“Have brothers and sisters. It’s just me.”

“Oh,” he said, studying her a moment. “Well I have three brothers and one sister,” he eventually went on. “Dusty’s bossier than all get-out. He’s been the leader of the family since my dad died. Trey is the brooder, you’re right. He thinks everything to death. Joey is as careless as you can get and still be alive, and Elle is just an innocent sweetheart.”

“You forgot about
you,”
she said, interested. “What emotions are left?”

“I’m a loner,” he said simply.

“So you decided to become a baseball star, where you can live in absolute anonymity.” She grinned and was surprised when he grinned back. Her sarcasm evidently wasn’t lost on him.

“I’m clearly not the thinker that my brother is.”

She chuckled at that. Beau Callahan was somewhat of an enigma to her. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he surprised her.

“I never wanted all the adoration,” he said, a moment later. “I just swing a hard bat. I enjoy the game. Hell, I love it. It came naturally to me and I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. The rest of it is just part of the package.”

“Well it can’t all be bad,” she figured. “All that money you have must be real handy.”

“It’s better to have money than not,” was all he said.

That was the truth. She had enough to keep her bills up to date but she certainly wasn’t wealthy. She wondered what it would be like to not feel the need to check the price tags on things, or mentally add up the total of your groceries before you got to the counter to pay.

“I’m a lucky guy,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “But I don’t hoard my millions, Kate. I already have trust funds set up for Elle’s daughter and Dusty’s son. Their college is paid for. I’ll be doing the same thing for Trey’s kid. I take care of my own.”

This was a side of Beau she hadn’t seen. And damn it, she liked it.
A lot.
to make him feel better. ir just It made her see him in a whole different light. “You’re blowing my first impression of you to pieces.”

“That’s the idea,” he said, grinning.

She sat up, sighing as she stretched. “I should get going. It’s late.”

“I’ll drive you home.”

He stood up and she shook her head in protest. “I can drive.”

“You’ve had quite a bit of wine and let’s face it—I’ve seen your driving sober.”

He had a point, even if he was being smug about it. She really couldn’t afford to do any more damage to her car. “Okay, you win.”

The ride to her house, only a few blocks away, was quiet. He had the radio on a rock station, playing at a low volume. That was the only noise in the truck.

She took a moment to examine the inside of his newer model Dodge Ram. She’d always thought a vehicle told you a lot about a man. For instance, this man liked things neat. The beige interior was spic and span. There wasn’t a coffee cup or a water bottle to be found anywhere. There wasn’t even a gum wrapper on the floor. Boy, he’d freak out if he saw her messy front seat. The latte cups alone were threatening to take over her vehicle. And she hadn’t done more than drive across town in the last few years. He’d driven across the country.

She liked the smell of the interior, she decided, after breathing the scent in for a bit. He definitely wasn’t a smoker like Wick had been. His truck smelled like expensive leather and a little hint of aftershave. It was pleasant, to say the least.

“Hello?”

Hearing his voice, she snapped out of it and looked at him. He gestured to the street around them and she felt stupid when she realized they were nearly to her house. “It’s the last one on the left,” she said, irritated with herself. Why was she paying so much attention to this guy? He was a baseball player, who had a million girls all over the country. He had all but admitted as much.

“I take it you’re a thinker,” he said. She realized he was grinning and smiled halfway.

“Sometimes. I don’t usually take the time to over-think. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You seem like an over-thinker to me—except when you’re driving, that is.”

She ignored the jab. “Kylie is a thinker. I’m a
doer.”

He appeared to contemplate that. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose I’ve only known you for a day. Time will tell.”

She didn’t argue with him. She found herself wondering how long he was staying in Riverdale.

“Is this it?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts a second time, as he pulled the truck into her driveway.

“It is.” She unhooked her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

“Hold on, let me walk you up. It’s pretty dark around here.” He climbed out of the truck before she could protest. She looked up and noticed the street lamp in front of her house was dark. It figured. A little more good luck for her.

They sauntered up the cobblestone walkway to her front porch. Naturally, she hadn’t left the porch light on, a breakfast fit for a king.ledinot intending to be out this late. Now she would have to fumble for her damned keys in the dark. She pawed through her knock-off Hermes bag she’d purchased at the last purse party she’d attended. She immediately cursed herself for picking out the biggest bag at the party. It was a bottomless pit. Eventually she heard a jingle and located the keys. She unlocked the door and turned around, nearly bumping right into Beau. She hadn’t realized he’d been standing so close.

“Thanks for the ride,” she stammered, for lack of anything better.

He nodded. “Not a problem. I can give you a ride to get your car tomorrow if you want. Just give the house number a call when you need it.”

“Okay,” she said, not really wanting to go inside, yet not sure how much longer she could really stand on the porch without looking completely mundane.

“Okay.” He backed up several steps. “See you.”

“Okay,” she said again, but the word died on her lips when he stepped back toward her, reached up and cupped her face with his hands. His mouth was crushing hers a moment later and her purse dropped to the ground as she reached for him just as urgently. God, what was she doing? She didn’t even know this man.

She didn’t care, she decided when his tongue moved through her teeth. This was too good. Way too good.

A dog began barking somewhere in the distance and he started to pull away.

“No. Don’t.” She tugged him back toward her, now on her tiptoes so she could kiss him the way he’d been kissing her. He didn’t resist. Instead, he tangled a hand in her hair and tugged her into the cradle of his thighs. She hadn’t been this close to a man, so intimately, in a really long time. “Maybe we should go inside,” she said against his mouth.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?” She had her hands under his shirt now. She’d never felt abs as hard as his. They were literally the six-pack every man wanted and every woman dreamed about. She heard him let out a hiss of breath. His mouth was on her neck and he had lowered both of his hands to her hips. He eased her back toward the door and she stepped over the threshold.

“Where’s the light?” he asked.

Momentarily stunned, she couldn’t think straight. “Huh?”

“The
light,
Kate. Where’s the light?”

“Oh, right here.” She pushed against the switch and light illuminated the room. “My purse….” she remembered at the last minute.

He let go of her long enough to reach outside and grab her bag. He kicked the door shut behind him and caught her as she jumped at him. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he was kissing her again before she could say anything.”

“I don’t have any protection,” he said finally, against her mouth.

She heard him but things didn’t register for a moment.

“Did you hear me?” He lifted his mouth from hers and forced her to look at him. “Are you on anything?”

She mutely shook her head and wished she had decided to start the pack of pills her doctor had given her months ago. Who needed birth control when you hadn’t had sex in over a year? At least that had been her matter-of-factly. “thBA theory until right now. “Don’t you have anything in your truck?” He was a man. Of course he did.

He sighed, leaning over and resting his forehead against hers in defeat. “Sorry, baby.”

“Well hell,” she heard herself say. “What kind of guy doesn’t have condoms in his truck?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t typically screw women in my backseat, Kate. I’m a little old for that.”

Sighing, she let her nose bump against his. “What are we going to do then?”

He breathed deeply against her mouth and then slowly lowered her to the ground. “Nothing tons house. If yo

5

Beau was a realist. So when he woke up the next morning and thought about his actions with Kate the night before, he cringed. What had he been thinking? He was here temporarily. Not only that, he was here with problems. The last thing he needed was a female entanglement. That was exactly what Kate Nyland would be. She was not the type to have a one-night-stand. He’d figured that out when she’d talked about the two dates Trey had set her up on with his co-workers. No, she was one of those women who probably took sex very seriously.

So why had she been so willing to let him take her to bed? She hardly knew him. Somehow, he knew that was out of character for her. That only made him feel worse.

On top of that, he was having a hard time figuring out how his initial annoyance of her had turned into fire hot attraction. He’d wanted to throttle her when they’d first met. She was crass and angry and judgmental. Yet he’d still nearly attacked her the night before on her front porch.
What the hell was wrong with him?

Lust, he figured out quickly. It was just lust. He hadn’t been with a woman in a while, contrary to what Kate and the rest of the world thought. This was his body’s way of telling him it had been too long.">IN THE EYE OF THE STORMd into her driveway

Irritated that he had gotten himself into this situation, he sighed. Now things would be awkward.
Way to go,
he told himself.

Hearing his cell phone ring, he sat up and reached for the nightstand where it was charging.

“Mr.Callahan? Detective Mumford.”

Great.
Just who he wanted to talk to first thing in the morning. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

“I’m afraid we have some bad news. Your house was broken into again last night.”

Beau shut his eyes and sighed. “How bad was it this time?”

“Well, the alarm system did sound. We responded right away. Someone still managed to do quite a number on your windows and doors. Several were broken out. It appears some of your memorabilia may have been taken as well. Without you here to confirm what’s missing, we really have no way of knowing.”

Beau swore.

“We’ll be keeping an eye out for any pawn sales that include your name. That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack though. That’s about all we can do.”

“So in other words, he got away again.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

Beau felt his anger beginning to boil. “Thanks for the call. I’ll take care of the windows and doors.” Beau disconnected a moment later. He managed to call his insurance company and file a claim to have them fix the windows and doors. Then he called one of his teammates and set up to have him let the repair company in. After that, he showered and dressed, figuring lying around all day wasn’t going to help anything. By the time he got out into the kitchen it was after ten. Kylie was sitting at the table reading the paper. Trey was leaning against the counter, a mug of coffee in his hand.