After Sundown (4 page)

C
hapter Four

"What's your
proble
m,
Cole? You haven't touched your coffee." Sonny sat opposite Cole in the diner's booth.

"It's been a lousy
wee
k,
" Cole grumbled. He hadn't slept for two nights straight since
his
encounter with Kit Landon. He still couldn't fathom her reaction
,
or
his own. Hell, he'd practically raped the woman.
Or had he?

"I thought you were going to stop in and see me Saturday night
,
" Sonny asked as he sipped his coffee.

"I did. Just never made it back to your office.
I
got side
-
tracked."

"You aren't
t
he only one
,
"
t
he older man
grumbled.

"What's
wrong
, Sonny?" Maybe his friend's problems would take his mind off his own.

"Oh,
I
hired a consultant firm to help me at the bar."

"Why in the hell would you need a consulting firm? You've been running th
e
bar for twenty
year
s,
"
Cole asked.

Cole first started patronizing After Sundown when he was a green carpenter. In the early
day
s,
it was a quiet place
where
the construction crew could get together to throw back a few beers after spending hours
swinging
a hammer. Over the
year
s,
it evolved into a notorious pick up bar.

"That's the
proble
m,
Cole. I always worked behind the bar. I knew where all the booze was going and how much money was coming in. I hired another bartender so I could get some free time.
Ye
t,
suddenly, my profits are down. We seem to be getting the same amount of customers,
but
we
aren’t
going through as much booze.
Apparently,
Chuck is skimming.
"

"How can you say that? I
w
ould understand if you were going through the same amount of booze. But you just said you weren't. It'd be like me accusing someone of stealing lumber when none's missing."

"Not
if
your framers were only using half the wood needed
,
" Sonny grumbled,
and then
finished
his coffee. "The consultant I hired came in Saturday night and spotted Chuck."

"No kidding? I was there Saturday. He must be good,
because
I never noticed him and I was at the bar."

"It was a woman
, n
ot a man. She's one of the best. But After Sundown isn't the type of place she usually works with. I'm afraid it scared her off."

"She? You hired a woman?"

"I was hoping I could work with her." Sonny seemed to ignore Cole's comment. "In the short time she was there she caught Chuck failing to ring up sales and splitting a shot of booze between two drinks. Hell, he's not only cheating me, he's cheating my customers. But
damn
it
, Kit says she can't work for me. Even if I get rid of Chuck, I'll
undoubtedly
have problems with other bartenders. Hell."

"Kit?"

"The consultant. I got her name through
Rust
y;
he works with her brother. Anyhow, she lost her husband a couple years ago. Rusty said he was murdered. Some doped up junky did it. She seemed like a real nice gal when I met her
.
I got the idea she could use the money
, t
rying to raise her kid alone and all. But she was real nervous about coming into my bar. I promised her I'd be in my office if she needed me. Unfortunately
,
Kit Landon was a bit overwhelmed with
After
Sundown.
Dammit
.
"

"Kit Landon?"

"You
k
now her?"

Cole felt sick.

"Yes."

"How do you know her
?
"

"I danced with her last Saturday." Cole's voice was low and tight.

"Really? No wonder you didn't make it back to my office. I'm surprised she dance
d
with you. Did you meet
Brandon
?"

"
Brandon
?"

"Her brother. He was going to meet Kit at the bar and pretend he was picking her up. That way it would keep the wolves at bay
–
he
y,
Cole, you didn't, ah
...
make a pass at
he
r,
did you?"

"Something like that, Sonny." Agitated, Cole began
to rub his forehead with the hee
l of his right palm.

"
Shi
t,
Cole, did you do something to scare her away?"

"What did she say?"

"She said she was
sorr
y,
but
she
couldn't help me. Told me what
she
saw
the bartender do, and told me there was no charge.
Dam
m
i
t,
Cole, what'd you do?"

"If she works for bars, what makes you think yours
i
s so different from the places she usually goes? Hell, she's attractive, single. Probably goes to bars like After Sundown on her free
tim
e,
"
Cole suggested, trying to find some way to justify his behavior.

Cole thought back to the first night
he
saw
Kit. It was true
;
she seemed more interested in what was going on behind the bar. Now that he thought about it, he never asked her to dance
;
he simply commandeered her.
Why
in the hell did she react as she had?

Maybe she hadn't come into the bar to find a man,
but
she was so damned hot, she literally exploded on the dance floor.
That
unexpected explosion
was
a delightful surprise. Even after she'd deserted him, Cole grew hard just recalling her shaky tremors, her startled
expression
, a mixture of passion and bewilderment swimming in her enormous blue eyes, and the way he was forced to hold her upright. Had he let her go, she would have dissolved in a puddle on the floor.

"Hell no. I
practically
had to twist her arm to work for me. She usually works with upscale restaurants. From what Rusty tells me,
she spends
most of her time keeping her head above water. In fact, Rusty says that for all of her good looks, she's much to
o
conservative
for his tastes.
"

"
Oh
shit
,
" Cole groaned.
What
have I done?
"Sonny, I need to get
ou
tt
a
here. I need to set a few things straight."

Chapter Five

"She's not home
!
"
Aggie
’s
voice called out to Cole as he lifted his hand to the doorbell. He turned and faced the woman who
m
he met just two days earlier.

"You're the man who was over here the other day. Did you change your mind about Kit watching your little girl?" Aggie asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Kit told me you decided to have someone else watch your little girl. You know, your daughter couldn't do any better tha
n
Kit. She's a wonderful mother. Real protective of her little girl. And," Aggie added quietly
,
"I think she could use the extra money."

"Do you know when Mrs. Landon will be home?" Cole turned from the door and walked down the stairs to Kit's neighbor.

"She left about ten minutes ago. She usually jogs along the hiker's path in the park during the morning when Sarah's at school."

Ten minutes
late
r,
Cole caught sight of Kit. She wasn't jogging. Instead, she was sitting alone on a park bench
. D
eep in thought
, it
wasn't until Cole sat
next to her on the bench,
that she noticed his presence. Kit fairly leapt to her feet when she saw him. His hand reached out and captured her wrist, pulling her back onto the bench.

"
Pleas
e,
Kit, we need to talk
,
"
h
e pleaded softly.

"Let me
g
o,
Mr. Taylor. I swear, I'm going to scream
,
"
h
er voice trembled. He couldn't help
smiling
at her threat.

"Who would hear you? We're quite alone. There isn't another soul in the park."

Her eyes quickly filled with unshed tears.

"
Go
d,
Kit, whatever you do, don't cry! I promise I won't hurt you.
I just
want to talk to you, please." He released his hold on her and watched as she absently rubbed her wrist and eyed him warily.

"What do you want?"

"I need to apologize." Her eyes studied him, yet she said nothing. "I'm a friend of Sonny's. I didn't know you came into the bar to help him. I thought, well you know what I thought."

"Did you tell Sonny what happened?"

"Hell no! Although he knows something happened between us."

"
Oka
y,
Mr. Taylor, you apologized. Now please, leave me alone."

Dark eyes swept over Kit Landon.
Initiall
y,
h
e came
to apologize,
and to ask her to watch his daughter after school. He
knew Megan still wanted Kit to watch her
. He also wanted to separate fact from fantasy.
Something extraordinary
happened on th
e
dance floor. Maybe her actions had been out of character. Yet, they had been her actions. There was no way she could deny what had happened
, n
or could Cole deny the fact that he still wanted her. In that moment
,
Cole
vowed to himself,
he would finish what
they started
on the edge of
the
After Sundown's dance floor.

"I
can'
t,
Kit. Something happened between us. I can't ignore it. I don't want to."

"I want to forget
i
t,
Mr. Taylor. I'm very embarrassed over the entire episode. Please leave me alone." Never once did Kit look directly at Cole. Her eyes fast
ened on the
delicate
hands
folded
in her lap, their fingers
fidgeting
nervously.

"My name's Cole. Can't you call me Cole? Considering what has happened between us, last names are a little ridiculous
,
"
h
is voice held a gentle teasing tone.

"Since I don't plan to ever see you again, it doesn't matter what I call you. Now please leave me alone."

"I can't. Do you really plan to forget what happened between us?"

"Nothing is between
u
s,
Mr. Taylor. Nothing." Kit could feel Cole's breath on her neck as he spoke. She could smell his spicy aftershave.

"Tell
m
e,
Kit, do you frequently climax with your dance partner in a public place
?
"

“
Oh my God
,
" Kit moaned, burying her face in her palms. She wanted to
disappear.

"Something sparked between us Kit Landon. Something hot and explosive. I'm sorry I scared you in your kitchen. You might say I was a bit r
aw from our previous encounter.
"

"Mr. Taylor, as I said before, I am very embarrassed
.
" Kit's face was still buried in her palms. "The only thing that happened was that I was thrown completely off guard when you dragged me onto the dance floor. To be perfectly honest, it's been quite a long time since I've been with a man," she swallowed nervously and lifted her eyes to his
,
"and I guess my body reacted ... unexpectedly."

"I don't mean to scare you," his voice was low and seductive, his dark gaze locked with hers. "But I want to finish what we started. I think you want it too." His hand reached up and traced the outline of her face with his fingertips. "You're wound tighter than a top, Kit. We'd be good together. Damn good."
Abruptl
y,
he stood up and looked down into her face. "But we'll take it slow."

"You aren't listening to me. I want nothing to do with you."

"It'll be hard avoiding me. After all, you'll be watching my daughter."

"Excuse me?" Kit blinked in confusion and looked up into Cole's ebony eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous, I can't watch your daughter now."

"I'll be picking her up at
six thirty
." He continued to ignore her refusal. "I need to get back to work. I'll see you tonight." Before he walked away
,
his
f
in
ger
tips brushed her lips in a feather
-
like caress
, before reaching
into his pocket and pul
ling
out an envelope.
He tossed it in her lap and gave her a little nod, before walking away
.

Startled by
his action,
Kit looked up and watched Cole walk toward the parking lot.
Reluctantl
y,
she opened the envelope.
Inside was a slip of paper listing all the vital information for his daughter, a letter for Kit to use in case of an emergency and a check for one week’s daycare, which was more than what she expected to receive for one month.