Nora Roberts Land (9 page)

When he pressed his hips against her sand-colored skirt, she got a pretty good idea what he meant by “help.” Whoa. “That’s kind of you, Larry.” God, nice girl genes.

He rubbed his finger along her throat. “When I see something I want, I go for it.”

His pushiness was off-putting and then some. Any comparison to a Nora cop hero went up in smoke. “That’s good to know.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her neck. She tried to move. He wouldn’t let go.

“Let’s get out of here. I have a hankering to see the Big Apple.”

Whatever he meant by that didn’t bear contemplating. “Please, let go of me.”

His beer breath fanned her face. So, he’d already been drinking.

“There’s no need to pretend. I know you want it.”

She pushed harder when she couldn’t dislodge his grip. She tried to tell herself she was safe in public. His mouth skimmed her neck again.

“When I say, ‘let me go,’ I mean it, Officer.”

He finally let her wrench back, but he kept his meaty hand on her shoulder. “The cool ones always fight the hardest. Makes it all the sweeter. Come on, Meredith. Let’s go someplace.”

Just then, Jill materialized from the crowd. “Excuse me, Larry,” she said, “but my best friend just arrived and wants to see Meredith.” Pulling Meredith away, she gave him a bright smile over her shoulder. “We’ll catch you later.”

Meredith heaved out a breath. “I could have handled it.”

Jill pushed through the crowd. “I don’t give a damn. He was all over you. You looked scared.”

“I was. Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“You’re not alone anymore, Mere. Besides, Jemma really does want to see you.”

“It’s been way too long.”

When they reached Jemma, Meredith gave her a big hug. She hadn’t seen her since her visit home right after her dad’s heart attack. “My God, look at you! I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

Her short black hair was curled close to her head, and with her big, dark eyes, she looked like a modern-day flapper.

“I cut it all off when Pete dumped me.”

Meredith nodded. Jill had told her about Pete Collins and Jemma breaking up. They’d been cozy since high school and everyone had thought were headed for marriage.

“I told her she looks hot.” Jill put her arm around her.

“She’s the best, isn’t she, Meredith?” Jemma cried. “I’m so glad you’re back. I love your hair too, by the way.”

Meredith flicked a red curl. “Back to eau natural.”

“Looks good on you.”

“Thanks. How’ve you been?”

“Besides Pete breaking my heart? There’s not much else. Got any pointers for getting over worthless men?”

It was depressing to see Jemma so muted over a man. She and Jill were usually two peas in a pod. Loud, energetic, and affable.

“Sorry, no great wisdom. Eat lots of chocolate.”

“Already tried. And ice cream. I only gain weight.” She slapped her hip.

Jill threw up her hands. “Okay, enough moping. We’re here to help Mere get back in the saddle. We need to erase the Larry episode from her mind, so let’s troll.”

“Jillie, please don’t use that word.”

Her sister only winked bawdily in response. “Follow me.”

Two hours later with Jill and Jemma guiding her through the room as the perfect wingwomen, Meredith had three more numbers. Jill was right about Hairy’s being the right place to go to on a Friday night. Her arms felt tenderized from all the flirtatious squeezes she’d received. Divorcée Woman would consider it a badge certifying her hotness.

Robbie the fireman didn’t have a card. When he wrote his number on the inside of her wrist, her skin tingled, and she was instantly transported back to college. Who
wrote
on people anymore? He was cute in a hulky way. His offer to take her for a ride in his fire truck was one of the worst attempts at flirtation she’d experienced in a long time. He clearly didn’t know their family was close friends with Ernie, the long-time fire chief, who’d given her and Jill rides growing up. She’d agreed anyway.

Bill Kiever was a forest ranger, a bit short for her taste, but as burly as a rugby player. He’d invited her on an easy hike to “get her back in the swing of things.” Meredith hoped she’d be safe wandering into the wild with him. His eyes weren’t crazy like some serial killer’s. Besides, she’d take her cell phone and a can of pepper spray. She could always claim it was for warding off rogue wildlife. Of course, Divorcée Woman would use the chopstick holding up her hair to take him down and her bra straps to tie his hands and feet. Who needs rope when you have La Perla?

And then there was Avery Miller. He owned the new cheese shop in town called
Don’t Wedge Me In
. Avery was definitely a metrosexual or whatever the heck the current term was. He was a San Francisco transplant, and he seemed to be a nice guy and a good conversationalist. And he wasn’t pushy. He hid his regard for her better than the others. She didn’t think he’d try to force his tongue down her throat like Deputy Larry. After all, Divorcée Woman liked slow, come-hither kisses on the first date.

She was on her third beer when she caught sight of a new man coming through the door. After flirting all night with a few different guys, her sexual attraction meter was humming along quite nicely. She was channeling Divorcée Woman without thinking. No touching her bodice or anything.

Her gauge did more than hum as she watched this man’s well-muscled body walk across the room to the end of the bar. It gave a
Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum
.

His height made him easy to follow. His dark, thick hair wasn’t fussy, and she could tell he wasn’t one of those guys who used more hair product than she did. His face had the rugged appearance of someone who lived with constant tension, giving him a hot Alpha look she usually didn’t go for. There was an air of danger, a watchfulness about him.

And then he smiled at the female bartender. His granite jaw turned devilish, and she’d swear his eyes twinkled. He didn’t laugh with the woman pulling his beer, but he gave her his total focus, like she was the only person he was interested in listening to in the whole world. That intensity made her stop breathing for a moment. Oh, to have a guy’s full attention like that. She bet he’d smell good too—all musky, like a man should.

Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum
. Meredith winced as she realized the lyrics were about the Baby Jesus at Christmas. So not appropriate for lusting after a man in a bar.

What would Divorcée Woman do? She would saunter down the bar, give him the look, and lead him out of the bar. Take him to a hotel room, strip him down slowly, run her hands over his gorgeous body, and use him for hot, screaming sex.

He scanned the bar with focused intensity. Meredith couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but she wanted to know what it was. His jaw sported a five o’clock shadow. Her heart pounded to the beat of the Irish drums blasting over the speakers, and she licked her lips. Wow. Just wow.

“Who are you looking at?” Jill asked and then uttered, “Oh, him.”

“I feel like Shane Abbot when she saw Vance Banning for the first time,” Meredith muttered.

“Ah,
First Impressions
. I loved that book,” Jill hummed.

“You two,” Jemma complained.

Meredith continued to study the newcomer. Her eyes fluttered when he turned his back. Muscles rippled under his white shirt as he reached for his Guinness. She catalogued them in her mind—trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rhomboid, and serratus. Oh, God, why did she have a thing for strong back muscles? Oh yeah, because she’d spent her formative years with swimmers. And boy, did male swimmers have good ones.

“I don’t know him.” Jill craned her neck when a gigantic older guy stepped in their line of vision. “But yummy, yummy. Let’s get closer.”

Meredith pressed her hands to her ribcage and tried to draw a breath. Her skin was tight. And her nipples were hard. Her chemical reaction to this man was over the top.

Fear suddenly trickled down her back like an ice cube. She hadn’t been with a man since Richard. Was she really ready to get involved with someone who had this type of power over her body from across a room? Well maybe…not really…oh hell.

But it’s the power that makes you scream
, that throaty voice said in her head again, the one she’d heard when she arrived.
And when have you ever let yourself do that?

Even though it was a little weird having the voice in her head, she knew it was her alter ego talking. Funny how the words kinda comforted her.

Jill pushed her toward the bar, Jemma following behind, but before Meredith could make it to the mystery guy, a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up into Brian McConnell’s smiling face.

“Hi there,” she cried, feeling both relieved by the delay and annoyed by it.

“Hey, Mermaid. You out cruising?” He looked back at Jill, who immediately turned her head away, scanning the bar. “Hi, Jem.”

“We were getting a drink, dipwad,” Jill announced.

He reached for Jill’s beer and pried it out of her hand. When he took a sip, he said, “Tastes sweeter than I remember.” Jemma looked from one of them to the other, a worried expression on her face.

Inching out from under his arm, Meredith cringed when she saw her sister’s feral expression. “Must be the keg. Or maybe you actually brushed your teeth before you came out tonight.”

Brian lifted his arm, pretending to sniff. “I think I put on deodorant too. Wanna check?”

He took a step toward Jill, who immediately took a step away from him. The two of them marched backwards three steps like graceful tango dancers before Jill knocked into a couple at the bar. She elbowed Brian hard and stalked over to Meredith and Jemma.

“We need to go, Brian,” Meredith said. Time to be the big sister before things got ugly.

“Didn’t know I could scare you off, Red,” he yelled over the music.

Jill leaned in toward him before Meredith could pull her away. “You don’t scare me. You never have, and you never will.”

“Okay, you two, that’s enough,” Jemma cried out. “I’m tired of seeing my friends fight.”

Ignoring Jemma, Brian snagged the beer from Jill’s hand again. As he raised it to his lips, his eyes were fixed on Jill’s face. “That’s bullshit, and we both know it. You damn well know why I scare you.”

“Brian,” Jemma warned.

Jill crossed her arms. “Oh yeah?”

Resting the hand holding the beer on Jill’s shoulder, he said, “You’re afraid I’ll ruin you for other men.”

“Brian—” Meredith and Jemma said at the same time.

“Stay out of it,” Jill snapped. “Your arrogance is beyond words, McConnell.”

Brian took her hand and put the beer back in it. He didn’t let go though. Was he looking to get hit?

“Maybe.” He lowered his head. “The truth is I was worried you might ruin me for other women.”

Meredith’s mouth dropped open. Well, that was hot.

Brian kept Jill in place with a hand. “But I was too young and stupid to let that happen.”

Jill bit her lip, but didn’t step back. “And you’re telling me this now because…”

The forced indifference in her voice made Meredith clutch her purse tighter. Oh, Jill.

Brian ran a finger over her cheek with his free hand. “I’m saying it because I’m not so young anymore.”

Jill’s throat moved. She pulled away from Brian, edging back. “Thank you for clearing that up for me, McConnell, but since we’re the same age, I damn well know how old you are. Now stay away from me.”

Grabbing Meredith and Jemma’s arms, she angled them through the crowd like a snake through grass.

Jemma hugged her when they got to the door. “I’m going to go talk to him, Jill. I’ll call you later,” she said, and then headed back toward Brian.

Meredith gave the tall guy a final wistful look before they burst out into the cool night air. Well, too bad, but her sister needed her more than she needed a hook-up.

Jill made a beeline for the car. “That man is a total and utter…” She trailed off, put her hands in her hair, and shrieked so loud the couple making out by the door disengaged from each other. “And I’m tired of Jemma trying to make us get along. I’m not forcing her to be Pete’s friend.”

“Let’s go home, Jill.”

Jill leaned against her. “Mere, maybe you shouldn’t do this article. What if there are no good men out there? What if you only get hurt again?”

Meredith thought about Nora Roberts Land. She had to believe it existed.

“I won’t let that happen.”

She thought back to the guy who made her body give a Christmas carol
Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum.
It was almost sacrilegious. She didn’t know who he was, but she wanted to find out.

Didn’t mean she had to do something about it. She could call it research.

So far he was the one man who had made her insides zing like only a Nora Roberts hero could.

Chapter 10

M
eredith thrust away from the wall of the Community Center’s pool after doing an underwater turn and resumed her stroke. It was glorious to have the pool to herself, but there was a price to pay—it was six in the morning. She was fifteen minutes into her swim and hitting her stride. Man, she loved freestyle. Her legs kicked powerfully. Her hand broke the surface at the perfect angle, and she stretched it out before making a powerful S through the water, pulling until her arm reached her waist. Her other arm followed suit. She counted—one, two, three—and then took a breath.

She always swam off her frustration, and boy was she frustrated. After having two dates in the last three days, she’d just sent her first email update to Karen. First up had been Matt Kelly, the Mr. Know-It-All Doctor. Man, that guy had a god complex. He had neither asked her any questions nor bothered to listen when she managed to squeeze a word in edgewise. He’d asked to see her again after trying to kiss her. She’d told him she was busy. Permanently.

The hike with Forest Ranger Bill hadn’t been awful, just dull as dirt. He’d droned on and on like she was a biology student titillated by nature stories. He’d even pointed out some cat scat. Well, she wasn’t a Girl Scout—she only liked the cookies. When he told her he’d love to show her some falls on their second date, she’d declined.