Beatrice opened her patent-leather pocketbook and pulled out a paperback book, handing it over the back of the booth to him. "Here you go, Tynan. And our book club meeting is in three nights, so I hope you"re a fast reader."
Tynan looked at the book in his hands. Love"s Savage Secret. Well, just h.e.l.l.
Chapter Five.
Tynan pulled up in front of the library Monday morning ready to work after a much-needed Lu-free weekend. Forty-eight tension-free hours. Almost. If he backed out the hours she"d busted her way into his thoughts, it was probably more like twenty-three hours of Lu-free time. But in those twenty-three hours, he"d come to a conclusion: He was going to go with the flow.
He"d heard a lot of advice in his thirty years, and one piece he hoped he"d never have to use was when you"re caught in an avalanche, your best chance at survival was to relax and go with the flow. It turned out that advice worked for a few things in life. A superior officer"s tirade, a woman"s tears, and the Climax Grapevine.
The Grapevine was almost as efficient as the Navajo code talkers, only without the accuracy. Funny how deciding to hit pause in his s.e.x life six months ago had created such a stir. Okay, it was probably the confrontation with Caryn that had brought all the attention. If he"d known she"d take it personally when he"d declined the invitation to sleep with her, he wouldn"t have agreed to dinner. He regretted upsetting Caryn.
But now that the Grapevine had gotten their teeth into his s.e.x life, so to speak, he knew he was in for an avalanche of advice from every busybody and well-meaning friend in town. And he"d rather deal with everyone thinking he couldn"t get it up than have his family worry about him. So he would neither confirm nor deny any of the rumors. He was going to go with the flow.
He strapped on his tool belt and grabbed his coffee from the truck, pausing before shutting the door when his gaze caught on the book that had been sliding around the floorboard of his truck since Beatrice forced it on him. Guess he should make an attempt at reading the first chapter before tonight"s book club. Book club. There were two words he"d never have thought he"d put in a sentence. He fished it out from under the bench seat and tossed it in with his lunch.
Unlocking the front doors, he opened them wide to let the sunshine and cool air in. It was still a bit dusty from the drywall dust settling and getting kicked up again during the day. By the end of last week they"d uncovered more water damage on the third floor than antic.i.p.ated, but so far not a budget buster. He couldn"t afford to spend the whole budget on the structure and then not have enough left to load it up with the new wiring to handle the state-of-the-art technology.
The Climax Public Library was finally going to get in the fast lane of the information highway, and that path wasn"t cheap. But investing in digital books was a smart choice because the library was so small. He"d heard a rumor someone had applied for a grant so the library could connect with some of the North Carolina universities.
The crew pulled up truck by truck by VW Bug. He shook his head looking out at Lu"s light blue Beetle. Nope, not a construction worker. After working with her for a full week, he still didn"t know what she was running from or to, but he hoped she found what she needed soon.
Tink was distracting his crew daily-and she was driving him crazy. He couldn"t get away from her. She was under his feet at work. She was in his regular booth at the diner. When he thought to escape her by heading home it didn"t do any good because she was in his head. The look of ecstasy on her face when she"d eaten the biscuits and jam? She was wearing it every night in his dreams, under him, on top of him, hard up against the wall. Yep, Lu was messing with his head.
Six months ago he"d made some changes in his life. He"d put s.e.x on the back burner while he focused on other things. He liked s.e.x. h.e.l.l, he loved s.e.x, but he didn"t let his d.i.c.k direct him like a needle on a compa.s.s. He could do without. His nine- to twelve-month-long deployments proved that. He was doing fine without s.e.x until a week ago when Lulubelle Swan barreled into his life.
Today he planned to avoid distraction by a.s.signing her up on the third floor. If she would only stay there. He got to work, enjoying the sounds of a construction site: hammers, saws, the radio from the third floor. Yeah, even Lu"s off-key, made-up singing was growing on him. Not that he"d ever tell that to her.
"Ouch!"
"I"m sorry, Juan!"
The rest of the conversation was lost under the music, but Tynan figured he"d see Lu in about five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
"Oh boy. I did not know the staple gun shot out with that much force." Lu came down the stairs, her forehead creased and her eyes darting up to the third floor. "We"re going to need a new box of Band-Aids for the first aid kit. Want me to pick them up after work?"
"Sure. But what I really want is for you to stop hurting my crew." Tynan couldn"t blame it all on Lu. If the guys would pay less attention to the s.e.xy pixie and focus a bit more on work and basic safety . . . Served them right if they were going to let her big brown eyes get to them.
Lu smiled a wobbly smile. "I guess I"m working with you now."
"I guess so." He went back to tearing out the wooden floor in the lobby. It was too worn to salvage, so the town council had decided a tile foyer would hold up to the foot traffic better. "Go ahead and start prying up the floor. You can start over in the corner and we"ll meet in the middle."
For the next hour Lu worked and talked. Talked and worked. She must have mentioned at least seven times how bad she felt about hurting Juan. h.e.l.l, Juan would be fine. His own ears and peace of mind was another thing.
It was hard, messy work. As they lifted and pried up the old flooring, wood splinters were flying right and left. He threw a quick glance over at Lu and stopped his work.
"Hey!"
She stopped talking in midsentence and leaned against the long-poled sc.r.a.ping tool she was using, her breath coming in short, fast pants. "Hey what? "Hey, that"s a great job you"re doing, Lu"? Or, "hey, Lu, you deserve a raise"?"
"Hey, get those princess goggles of yours on. The wood splinters are flying all over the place."
"Oh, right." She grabbed her protective gla.s.ses from one of her tool-belt pockets and slipped them on.
That rhinestone heart made him cringe every time. He shook his head at her cheesy grin over at him and they got back to work. Man, the woman was a puzzle. She had a little-bit-country, little-bit-rock-"n"-roll thing going on. She didn"t have a clue about construction or how to use any of the tools, but she was a fast learner. Not a delicate feminine flower once you showed her how to do something-and yet there were those pink tools and that flower-child Beetle.
After another hour of work even he needed a break. The crew broke for lunch about the same time every day, and today it was a G.o.dsend.
Craig and Junior decided on a run to the diner. "Anyone else up for the diner?"
"Oh, heck. I forgot to pack a lunch today." Lu wiped at the sweat trickling down her temple. "I guess one of Dave"s burgers is better than nothing."
"Don"t count on it." Cash pointed at her and lifted his own mini-cooler, shaking it temptingly. "I"ll share."
Lu"s face looked like a shipwreck victim"s being thrown a life preserver. "What have you got?"
"Liverwurst sandwiches."
Her face fell. "Oh, um, thanks, but I"ll just go grab a burger."
With that, the library cleared out. Tom, Cash, and Juan sat out in the sunshine, eating and talking about the latest sports scores. Tynan needed the quiet after having to hold a sparring conversation with Lu for the past hour.
He leaned up against a wall in a warm sliver of sunlight and pulled the romance book out of where he"d tucked it and ate his ham sandwich while he read.
Normally he read thrillers or military fiction, with a bit of science fiction thrown in too. Books with characters who spent half the chapters blowing s.h.i.t up. So he began reading Love"s Savage Secret with about as much excitement as an FNG tasked to clean latrines-with a toothbrush.
The book was a surprise. A big surprise. Huh. Chapter one was hot, twisted, and so, so dirty. And that was before he got to the s.e.x scene in chapter two. Oh, d.a.m.n, the heroine confronted her ex and- "Earth to Tynan. Come in Tynan."
Tynan looked toward Lu"s voice and found her sitting about ten feet away holding up her own piece of wall. "Sorry. Didn"t hear you come back."
Lu grinned over at him. "So . . . romance novels. Is that what all the tough, ex-military construction guys are reading?"
"I"m an open-minded kind of guy."
"Really? You just picked up a romance book out of the blue and decided to read it?"
Tynan shrugged. "Yeah, let"s go with that. What have you got against romance books?"
"I used to read romances. Years ago." Lu snorted. "But then I grew up and realized happily ever after really is a fairy tale."
His gaze narrowed on her. "You"re awfully young to be so cynical, aren"t you?"
"Are you telling me you believe in love and riding off into the sunset?"
"Sure I believe in it. I mean, not for me, but I"ve seen my brothers find exactly that." He shrugged. "Some of them, at least. And my parents."
"Well, aren"t they the lucky ones? Good for them. Someone should be lucky in love, right?" She stood up abruptly and readjusted her tool belt. "Back to work. Too bad we"re done with most of the demo. I"m in the mood to swing my hammer into something and smash it into smithereens."
Whoa, something about love ticked the lady off. Tynan took a step back from her dark energy. A relationship that went sour? An abusive husband? An unfaithful boyfriend? Or girlfriend . . . although he was pretty sure after the way she"d ogled his b.u.t.t from day one, she liked dudes.
That evening Lu sat at the counter in the diner finishing her third bland burger of the week. She was almost ready to admit that Tynan didn"t have some hidden secret to moving on with his life. Although she"d spent most of her weekend pa.s.sed out on the wonderfully comfortable bed in her hotel room, she did manage to venture around town a bit for some reconnaissance. She"d popped into the local bakery, the craft store, and the bait-and-tackle shop. People were friendly and more than happy to talk about Tynan"s high school shenanigans and his flirtatious ways, but mention his time in the Army? Mouths closed up tighter than a kid trying to avoid a spoon of cough syrup.
She"d been invited to attend a book club tonight and figured she might as well. Didn"t most women talk about men when the men weren"t around? It was worth a try. As she sat and watched a little boy push his way in through the diner door, she decided she might as well stick around for the full two-week trial period Tynan had offered. If nothing else, she"d gotten out of her rut, which was more than she could say for her last three years.
She refocused on the kid as he moved through the diner like he was on a serious mission. Her gaze drifted back to the door, expecting to see a mom right behind him, but the door stayed closed. Small towns were pretty safe, but it just didn"t seem kids that age should be running around town alone. She was no expert on children, but he only looked about seven or eight. Maybe even younger.
He walked toward the elongated U-shaped counter in front of the kitchen and waitress station and had to jump to get up on one of the stools. Lu was sitting farther down the counter on one of the sides of the U. Renee stood behind the counter, wiping it down with a dish towel.
"What"ll it be, HL?" Renee stopped wiping and slid a paper place mat in front of the kid and grabbed out a box of crayons for him too. "Your usual?"
"Yes, please, Ms. Renee." He had already pulled out two crayons and was working away on the place mat. He peeked two serious brown eyes toward the side entrance he"d come through, then back over to Renee. "With whipped cream on top."
Renee grinned but slid it off her face real quick. "Chocolate shake with whipped cream on top, coming up. Where"s your daddy?"
"Outside. Ms. Jewel stopped him to ask him a question." He put down the red crayon and picked up the orange one. He worked studiously for a few minutes, his face squished up in concentration. "Ms. Renee, can I borrow your tape, please?"
"You sure about this, HL?" Renee waited for him to nod his head. "Okay, but leave me out of it, you hear?"
"Yes, ma"am."
She handed a roll of Scotch tape over the counter, and the kid grabbed up his paper place mat and taped it to the gla.s.s door on the other end of the diner. The entrance his daddy wasn"t going to enter. Smart kid. Lu didn"t know what his sign said, but it was obviously something that wasn"t going to make his daddy happy.
The kid skipped back over to the counter and hopped back up on his stool. His head turned and his brown gaze settled on her, studying her carefully.
"h.e.l.lo." She smiled at him, not sure if she should because her friends with kids had stranger-danger rules and pa.s.swords set up.
Renee paused in the middle of scooping chocolate ice cream into the silver malt cup and gestured over to her. "Lulubelle Swan, meet Henry Lee."
The boy"s face lit up. "Hi! My daddy"s named after a bird too."
"He is? Well, who is he? Mr. Peac.o.c.k?" Lu grinned when the kid laughed at her joke.
"No. His name is Hawk." Henry Lee scooted off the stool, grabbed his crayons, and moved down to climb up on the stool next to her. "He"s a very nice man, my daddy."
Lu glanced over at Renee, who winked. Okay, whatever. "You know, I bet he is."
He shook his head. "That"s all I got, though."
"What do you mean, that"s all you got? Oh, you mean you don"t have a mother? I"m very sorry."
He blinked up at her. "It"s very sad, but what"s a kid s"posed to do?"
Awww, what a sweetie. "I . . . I"m sorry, I don"t know."
Renee slid a new place mat and the chocolate shake in front of the kid. "Here you go, HL."
All three of them turned when the door at the far entrance jangled open. A man-a very large man, possibly even bigger than Tynan-stood holding the door open. The second door at the opposite end of the diner; the door HL hadn"t figured his dad would use. When the door drifted shut, his dad reached over and pulled the sign off the door.
Henry Lee"s little body deflated in the seat next to her.
"Good try, kid." Renee reached down and grabbed up the canister of whipped cream and squirted another dollop onto the top of his milk shake.
Darn if that didn"t perk him right up.
The man lumbered over and sat next to his kid. His forehead creased over his serious face. "HL, what have I told you about this?"
"That I can"t put up any more posters for a mommy." HL shrugged and looked ever so innocently up at his daddy. "But that wasn"t a poster, Daddy. It was a place mat and I just writed on it."
Lu couldn"t stop the snicker that bubbled up. She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked away, but Renee had snorted also, so it wasn"t just her. Once she had herself under control, she turned back to find the man"s gaze on her.
She shrugged and mumbled, "Sorry. I didn"t mean to do that. It"s just . . ."
The man cracked a beautiful smile and reached over to rub his knuckles on his kid"s head gently. "Yeah, I know. HL, you"re a knucklehead."
The boy laughed and hugged his dad. Then he waved to a newcomer in the diner and popped off his stool again. "It"s Jordy! Can I go sit with him?"
"Just for a few minutes, sport. We need to grab our burgers and then pick up your sister from ballet cla.s.s."
HL zoomed over to his friend"s table before his dad had finished his sentence.
"Why don"t you just find someone and put that boy out of his misery?" Renee shook her head and leaned her elbows on the counter, batting her eyelashes at him. "Lord knows there are enough women willing to try out for the job."
"I keep telling you, if you"d be willing to take on a younger man, I"d seriously think about it, Renee."
"Oh, stop." She rolled her eyes and snapped a dish towel at his arm. "It"s not keeping up with a younger man that worries me-it"s keeping up with young kids. HL exhausts me and poor Heather confuses me. But hey, here"s a young, single woman sitting right next to you."
Lu choked on the water she was sipping. When she finally regained her breath, she reached her hand out to him. "I"m Lu, and no offense, but I"m not in the market for a family either."
He returned her handshake. "Hawk Savage, and no offense taken. I happen to think my little family is fine the way it is. It"s just HL who doesn"t think so."
Renee turned when Dave hit the bell in the serving window. "There are your burgers now."
She grabbed a small white sack from under the counter and bagged up Hawk"s order, handing it across the counter to him along with advice. "Well, don"t wait forever, Hawk. Eventually all that muscle will turn to flab, and what woman will want you then?"
Hawk looked over at Lu with raised eyebrows.
Holy cow, the man was solid muscle. His muscles had muscles. "You know, Renee, I don"t think Hawk is going to have a problem with that anytime soon."
"Thank you." He pointed at her before turning back to Renee. "Besides, between work and the kids, I"ve got my hands full."
Renee patted Hawk"s hand wrapped around the takeout bag. "You"re doing a great job, but a wife would-"