Nothing But Trouble (6 page)

“Got that right,” Red Bandanna said. “Got genuine bullets in it, too.” He waved it back and forth between them. “You two be real nice now and hand over al the money.”

“When hel freezes over,” Laura said, coming out from behind Brandon to confront the bozo.

Brandon instantly stepped in front of her again, which was really irritating, because nobody,
nobody
took control of her.

“The money’s gone,” he said, anchoring her in place behind him with his left hand. “It’s already been deposited at the bank.”

“Nice try,” Tattoo said. “But we been watching. You ain’t left all night.”

“The waitress took it,” Brandon improvised. “Go ahead and check the register. Nothing there.”

Bandanna narrowed his already slitted eyes at him. “You’re lying,” he said, but not too confidently.

Laura decided it was time for her to take charge of this battle. She pulled free of Brandon’s grasp and stepped up beside him. “He’s right; the money’s already deposited. Want me to show you?”

“You do that,” Bandanna said, strolling up to her and grasping her arm, yanking her to him and sticking the gun to her temple.

She evaluated the situation and decided at the moment Bandanna had the advantage. She’d bide her time. She really didn’t believe these two had murderous intentions, so she wasn’t too worried about that. However, if it came to a scuffle, the gun might go off accidental y and hit either her or Brandon.

“Wel , come on,” she demanded. “Let’s get this over with.”

Bandanna cocked his head toward Brandon. “Keep a close eye on that one,” he told his co-thug.

Hog grinned. “If he so much as twitches, I’ll conk him with a crutch.”

“You conk him with a crutch, and I’l rip your heart out,”

Laura spat at the idiot.

Bandanna tightened his grip. “You ain’t in a real good position to do that.”

Laura’d had just about enough of this crap. She didn’t take kindly to being robbed, and she real y didn’t like having a gun pointed at her head.

In a flash she yanked her arm from his bruising grip and then immediately slammed her elbow into his gut, at the same time rocketing her other arm upward and knocking his arm over her head and probably dislocating his elbow. She hoped.

He screamed very satisfyingly.

Behind her she heard a loud crash and prayed it wasn’t a crutch connecting to Brandon’s noggin. But not taking the time to look, she whirled and delivered the knockout kick to Bandanna’s groin. He screamed again, the gun fal ing from his hand as he cupped his testicles and fel to the floor in a satisfyingly fetal-like position.

Laura grabbed the gun and spun to see if Brandon was al right. Just in time to see him jump from atop Hog and grab one of the crutches from his hand and brandish it like a sword at the man’s big gut.

As the two men whimpered and groaned, she and Brandon smiled into each other’s eyes. She spared a moment to appreciate his masculine beauty.

“Lady,” Hog rasped as he looked up at her with pain and fear in his eyes, “you’re nothing but trouble.”

“So I’ve been told,” she said, nodding at Brandon. “I’ve got these two morons covered. Cal the police.”

* * *

IT TOOK ANOTHER two hours before the police cleared out, leading the two would-be robbers away in cuffs. Brandon helped Laura carry all the dirty glasses to the sink behind the bar and stood beside her while she fil ed it with soapy water once more.

He picked up a dishtowel to help dry, but she shook her head. “How about you make us a drink instead? I think we’ve earned that much.”

“Sounds good to me. What’l you have?”

“How about a screwdriver?”

“Coming up.”

He mixed the vodka and orange juice for her and poured himself a draft. The adrenaline from all the excitement was stil charging his blood, but as he watched Laura’s hands efficiently dealing with the glassware, it morphed into a different excitement altogether.

Lord, she’d amazed him. What courage she had in the face of danger. He tried to imagine Beth fighting off a gun-wielding lunatic and failed. The most he could picture her doing was bursting out in sniveling tears.

He’d been so surprised by Laura’s action that he’d come close to missing the opportunity to jump the unarmed one. And that certainly hadn’t taken al that much courage, considering the guy had already been injured. By Laura.

Brandon chuckled softly. “Lady, you are incredible.”

She dried her hands then dropped the towel and turned to him. “You don’t say,” she replied blandly, but her cheeks flushed a little.

“I do say. If I told anyone what I witnessed tonight, they probably wouldn’t believe me.”

“Wel , don’t be tel ing anyone what happened tonight,” she said. “This place doesn’t need that kind of publicity.”

“Are you kidding? You were a hero tonight.”

She scrunched her nose at him in the cutest possible way.

“Wasn’t anything heroic about it, Brandon. I just don’t appreciate a gun in my face.”

“Where’d you learn all that karate stuff?” he asked, totally intrigued by her.

“A woman who doesn’t know a little self-defense has no business living in New York,” she replied, then held out her hand for her drink.

It didn’t escape his attention that she hadn’t answered him.

But he decided not to press. Instead of handing her the drink, he lifted it to his face and peered down into it. “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said.

“Oh, for cryin’ out loud. Give me that!” she demanded.

“This pulp is tel ing me you owe me a game of pool.”

“You’re a lunatic.”

“But a
nice
lunatic.”

She pressed her lips together for a moment. “My, don’t we have a high and mighty opinion of ourselves.”

He grinned. “Chicken?”

“Hel , no!” She snatched her drink from his hand. “Come on. It’s probably time you had your comeuppance.”

She stomped out from behind the bar. Brandon took a moment to appreciate just how cute she stomped before following her.

IF THERE WAS something Laura was confident about, it was her pool game. From the time she was eleven it was how she’d made money. Other kids baby-sat or got an al owance from their folks. Laura Tanner hustled pool.

Which made the fact that she couldn’t seem to hit a straight shot real y annoying. She was stil up two bal s, but she should have put her arrogant opponent away by now.

She bent over the table, preparing to hit the six when he said, “Care to place a bet?”

She straightened, scowling at him. “You know, it’s real impolite to try to break my concentration,” she said. She could have added that if he’d stayed totally mute, he’d stil be distracting her, but she didn’t think the man needed any more ego boosts.

“Sorry,” he said, looking anything but.

“What kind of bet?” she asked, unable to resist the thought of lightening his wallet some.

“If I win, I get to kiss you. If you win, you get to kiss me. 

She snorted. “What a prize.”

He shrugged and grinned, those dimples slashing into his cheeks. “It was just a thought.”

She bit her lip. “Listen, about the kissing thing . . .”

“What about it?”

“I—I don’t think we ought to do that anymore.”

“Why not? You didn’t enjoy it?”

Laura wished she could lie, but as far as she was concerned, her honor was about the only thing she could be proud of.

“No . . . It was okay.” Al right, so she wasn’t so honorable that she couldn’t announce the biggest understatement of the year.

“But I just think it’d be best if we stay away from that kind of activity.”

He set down his mug and moved closer, which caused her nerves to jangle like Ali’s bangle bracelets. “I’m very, very attracted to you, Ms. Tanner.”

She resisted the overwhelming urge to back up a few steps.

Laura Tanner retreated from no one. “Wel , that’d be real flattering if I didn’t know you’l be gone in just a few days. But as it is, we know what this would be, and I’m just not al that interested in a fling right now.”

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Who’s talking about a fling? I just want to kiss you. So much. I promise I won’t make any other move on you if you don’t want me to.”

Oh, how she’d love that. The kiss earlier had been heartbreakingly sensual. But her body, which she’d mentally commanded not to react, had betrayed her. No, kissing was definitely not a good idea. “I’ll tell you what,” she said, then cleared her throat. “If you win, I’l let you have one kiss. Just one.” “That’s a deal. And believe me, I’ll stick to it. I’ve witnessed what you do to men who don’t listen to you.” He reached out again, but this time to rub his thumb across her lower lip. “And if you win?”

It took Laura a moment to find her voice. And her sanity.

“You owe me twenty bucks.”

He laughed, and Laura got lost in those forest green eyes.

“Greedy, aren’t you?”

“I just like money better than kissing.” A day ago, that would have been absolutely true, so technically it wasn’t a lie.

“Then somebody hasn’t been kissing you right.”

She was in real danger of throwing herself at him, so this time she did step back. “Is it a deal, or not?”

“Oh, definitely, it’s a deal.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and withdrew a fifty, slapping it on the lip of the pool table. “I believe you’re up, pretty lady.”

Pretty? Laura was a realist. She knew her limitations. And she knew darn wel that she was not pretty. Which managed to bring things into better perspective for her. She was dealing with a smooth-talking liar. She’d met plenty of them in her life. She’d even married one, dammit. She’d never fall into that trap again.

As she dragged her gaze from his mesmerizing eyes, she tried not to feel so disappointed in him. After al , he was a stranger. She should not care less that he was an insincere snake.

“Laura?” he said. “What’s the matter?”

“Just get out of my way, pretty boy.”

“No. Not until you tel me what I said or did.”

She couldn’t look him in the eyes, lest she get too drawn into their deep green depths. “Nothin’. Just move it. You’re in my way.”

“I’m not budging.”

She final y met his gaze and saw stubborn bel igerence stamped on his face, his jaw set, his eyes blazing. Laura sighed.

“Fine. I just don’t cotton to baloney, is al .”

She knew her North Carolina accent had gathered strength, which ticked her off. That always seemed to happen when she was upset, and she didn’t like proof that the man had the power to get to her.

“What baloney are we talking about here?”

He was going to make her spel it out? That was just plain rude. Another strike against him. But she could tel by the rigid set of his jaw that he wasn’t moving until he got an answer.

“That baloney about me being pretty and all.”

His rigid jaw went slack, and his eyes went wide. It took him a good ten seconds to respond. “You don’t think you’re pretty?”

“I know I’m not.”

“Lady, you need to get some new mirrors.”

“I know exactly what I look like.”

“Or new glasses.”

“My eyesight’s just fine.”

Brandon took her pool stick and laid it across the table, then grabbed her shoulders. “Laura, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur when it comes to the fairer sex. Trust me on that one. And believe me when I say you are one striking female.

Do you honestly think I’d want to kiss you so badly if I didn’t find you attractive? Sorry, I’m not a philanthropist that way.”

His flattery pleased her, but she decided not to let it show.

“About that kissing thing. I really think it’s a bad idea.”

He stared at her lips for an eternity. “I have to disagree with that, much as I hate to contradict a lady.”

She nearly snorted at that. From years of living with her father, and then her snake of a husband, Laura knew darn wel she was no lady. But she real y couldn’t accuse him of more meaningless sweet-talk, because he had no way of knowing about al that. “You ready to finish this bet, or what?” she asked, enjoying his hands on her flesh a little too much.

His eyes stil fastened on her mouth, he said, “Oh, yeah.”

With more regret than she should have felt, she turned and picked up her pool cue. This time Brandon gave her space, but not a lot of it. And no matter how much she tried to concentrate, it wasn’t easy with him so close and her so aware of the spicy tang of his aftershave.

She set up. It was a fairly straightforward shot, only needing to be tapped a little left of center to drop it into a corner pocket.

She could make a shot like that with her eyes closed. Usually.

But she missed the pocket by more than three inches.

She scowled at the ball as if it had personally disobeyed her.

To Brandon’s credit, he didn’t react at all. No gloating, no victory noises or gestures. He just moved around the table and set up to hit the ten ball. 

It wasn’t an impossible shot, but it was tricky, requiring finesse. Laura’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed the entire table and easily discerned that fourteen was a much easier, cleaner shot. “You wouldn’t be patronizing me now, would you?” she growled.

He straightened, frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you’ve got better shots than that one.”

“Make a bet?”

“Double or nothing,” she shot right back at him.

He nodded, then returned to setting up his shot. “Forty bucks or two kisses.”

Laura almost choked, but since she was pretty sure of herself, she kept quiet. But at the last moment she saw the angle of his shot and recognized his intent. Then she nearly groaned.

She considered pinching his muscular butt to break his concentration, but her sense of honor kicked in again, so she kept stil and held her breath, hoping he blew it.

As she watched the ten ball sail straight toward the twelve, knock it in the side pocket, then travel straight to the corner pocket and sink, she didn’t even try to stifle a groan. And it occurred to her that from the moment this man had entered her life, it was just one big disaster after another.

They were even now, both with two bal s left on the table and the eight bal . And unfortunately not only had Brandon sunk two bal s in one shot, he’d also set himself up for two more relatively simple shots.