Her Irresistible Troublemaker (A Town Named Eden Book 3) (20 page)

“You’re a new face in town. Didn’t Joyce ask questions?” Lexie knew she’d be asking them tonight when they met at the pub. And if she didn’t have a ready-made story to tell, she’d be at everyone’s mercy. Not only had the Gardner sisters come to Eden together, but they’d also brought a man with them.

“She didn’t ask anything that set alarm bells off.”

“She must have been distracted.” When they came up to Brilliant Baubles she peered inside the local antique store. “The coast is clear. Let’s go in and have a quick browse.”

“Is there someone you’re trying to avoid?”

“The owner. He doesn’t like people coming into his shop.”

“Why does he open it?”

She shrugged. “Bradford inherited the business from his uncle. He must have promised to always keep it open.” She picked up a vase. “This is beautiful, but if I buy it I’ll have to commit to getting fresh flowers every other day and my schedule is about to change from busy to hectic.” She set it down and moved on to the next item that caught her eye, all the while tossing around a few different ways of asking why he’d come. Of course, she could simply enjoy his company and pretend there was nothing unusual in his visit. In reality, that was a big ask…

There had to be a solid reason…

What if he was adding yet another storey to his building and wanted to make sure she stayed out of the way?

Then another possible reason popped into her head.

She drew in a sharp breath. “Has my building burned down?”

“What?”

She grabbed hold of his arm. “You came here to personally deliver the news and because you’re not such a bad guy, soften the blow… and, oh… no. Now you’re going to tell me you’ve made an offer on the charred remains and will be erecting a replica of the Death Star to accommodate Darth Vader’s intergalactic weekend friends.”

He smiled. “Is everyone in Eden like you? Actually, you don’t need to answer. I’ve already met Joyce and if what you say about Bradford is anything to go by, then he’s an Edenite through and through.”

“Now you’re trying to distract me.”

“Relax. Your building is safe.”

Yes, but… that didn’t answer her question.

Her hand fell away from his arm. This time, she curled her fingers and tried to hold on to the sensation of his sinewy muscles under her fingertips. “Come on, we better continue with the tour before Bradford comes back and catches us here. Our next stop,” she said as they stepped outside, “The Gloriana. That’s Eden’s entertainment hub. Good for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the one and only place to stay at in town.”

He looked up and down the street. “There’s no one within earshot. Maybe now you can fill me in on this heiress you mentioned.”

She drew in a breath. “Only if you promise never to utter her name in public.”

He nodded.

“The Wildes settled in Eden a couple of hundred years ago along with the Sterlings when this place was nothing but wilderness. After they made their fortune, the Wildes moved on. They still own their half of the town but they haven’t set foot here in over fifty years and most locals will say, good riddance to them.”

“That’s it?”

“What did you expect? Blood and gore?”

“Something at least more dramatic.” He frowned. “You’re holding out on me.”

Her lips pursed.

“So they own all those buildings,” he mused.

“Jack. Please tell me you’re not really getting ideas.”

“They’re going to rack and ruin. Doesn’t it bother you? Most places would be looking at redevelopment—”

“Yes, well. We’re not most places. Come on, there’s not much else to see, but I have tons of tall tales but true to tell.” By the time they’d strolled along the length and breath of the township, she’d shared enough stories to make her feel homesick. She’d enjoyed growing up in Eden, but at the first opportunity, she’d packed her bags and had moved to Melbourne following the usual coming of age exodus to the city.

Living in an inner Melbourne suburb meant she could walk to the city along the Yarra River or hop on a tram for a quick ride into the central business district. There was always something to do, an exhibition to see, a play to watch, people to meet. Every day could be different. She had a small circle of friends but nothing that really compared to what she’d had growing up here where everyone knew her name. She could go months without setting foot in Eden and yet when she returned, it was as if she’d never left. Almost as if Eden forgave her for going away…

“You’re looking pensive in a puzzled sort of way.”

“I just had a strange thought, and you’re starting to sound like me.”

“Maybe I should’ve skipped that second cup of coffee. Please tell me the bottled water comes from some place far away and not a local spring. I’m not sure I can risk taking another dose of whatever makes the locals… interesting.”

This time he drew her to a stop, his hand brushing along hers. Her fingers tingled with need. The urge to touch him spread through her like a rush of electricity.

“So what were you thinking about just then?”

“I was trying to remember why I moved to Melbourne.”

He looked at her for the longest moment without speaking. Then he smiled.

“Whatever your reasons, I’m glad you did.”

Before she had a chance to respond, his hand moved to her waist, he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. A blaze of intuitive thoughts kicked in prompting her to send her hands up to his shoulders, and rising to her tiptoes, she pressed against him and kissed him right back.

Chapter Twenty

Kissing Jack had changed everything. When Lexie had drawn back to catch her breath, her gaze had locked with his and they’d held a long conversation. Or at least, she thought they had.

They must have.

Why else had they looked at each other for so long without saying a word? So far, their entire relationship had been based on a steady exchange of dialogue and suddenly, there had been no need for talking.

Lexie nibbled on a pretzel and played around with assumptions. They’d passed the chemistry test with flying colors. So, she supposed the next step would be…

To sit the test again.

The silent declaration hovered inside her head like dust modes wavering before settling down only to be stirred up again.

Sure, she’d been a perfect fit in his arms and her nerve endings had been snapped out of their slumber. Everything had pointed to sizzling chemistry, but what if they’d fluked the perfect test score?

She should play it safe and make sure she hadn’t been overwhelmed by the whole experience.

Overwhelmed. Puzzled. Confused.

After all, she’d still been trying to get her head around Jack’s unexpected arrival. Also, her heart thumping response could have been the result of her long spell of abstinence. And she couldn’t forget the fact they’d already settled into their platonic relationship.

In a moment of clarity, Lexie decided the explosive nature of that kiss trumped every complication she could imagine. It needed to be addressed. She should kiss him again. Just to be sure and, preferably not in the middle of the street but rather somewhere more private... And then… What?

Damn it, she shouldn’t have to wonder or second-guess what would happen next. Once they acted on their attraction, everything would change for the better…or…

She wished she’d asked a few relevant questions, but she hadn’t had the chance to engage her brain. Her focus had been stretched to the limit, fixed mostly on kissing him and holding herself upright.

Then Maggie had stepped out of one of the buildings and had made a beeline for them. Lexie had jumped back and had pretended to have something in her eye, while Jack had looked nonchalant. Had he been grateful for the interruption? Or confident that it wouldn’t make a difference because he knew exactly what would come next?

“I’m sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”

“Nothing. We’ve only just arrived ourselves,” Joyce said and pulled out a chair for Elizabeth Charles.

Snapping out of her reverie, Lexie nudged her sister who sat next to her. “This is Elizabeth Charles. She’s new to Eden,” and then lowering her voice added, “She’s the one responsible for taking Mitch Faydon off circulation.” Then she turned to Eddie Faydon. “Are we waiting for anyone else?” Sophie and Helena Wright had arrived a few minutes before, along with Hannah Melville, The Gloriana’s chef. They’d sat at a table in the public bar instead of the dining room because it offered the most entertainment value with views of the pool table, the bar and the front entrance. Meaning they could feast on the parade of male eye candy at leisure.

Their chatter died down as Mitch Faydon, a co-owner of the pub and Eddie’s brother, approached their table, his hand coming to rest on his girlfriend’s shoulder. They all watched as Mitch and Elizabeth lost themselves in their own special moment.

“This looks like a champagne type of gathering,” he finally said, “My advice to you girls is to refrain from doing anything that’ll have you moaning and groaning with regret tomorrow morning.”

“No dancing on the tables,” Joyce said and they all nodded in agreement.

“I organized some dips and vegetarian tartlets,” Hannah said.

“We heard you were tarting up the menu,” Joyce laughed.

“Hannah’s personally responsible for introducing egg white omelets to The Gloriana, much to Mitch’s dismay,” Lexie explained to her sister. Joyce’s impish grin suggested she was more than pleased with her role in bringing Hannah to Eden.

Lexie had heard about it during her recent visit. When Eddie had moved out of The Gloriana and set up house with her fiancée, the pub had lost their Jill of all trades as she’d often stepped in to prepare breakfast when their regular chef couldn’t make it in. The Faydon brothers had dealt with the dilemma by doing away with the morning breakfast service, something Joyce hadn’t been pleased about since it had sent the overflow of customers from The Gloriana to her café, giving her far more work than she wanted. Her solution had been to find them a new chef.

When their drinks arrived, Joyce stood up and called for a toast.

“I’ll spare you the preview and cut to the feature. It’s not every day we have two Gardner sisters in town, sitting at the same table. May this be the first of many.” When Joyce sat down again, she patted Maggie’s hand. “We’ve humored you long enough. It’s time to explain why you’re parading around as Lulu McGee.”

“I don’t need to explain myself.”

“Well, you’ve got the attitude down pat.”

Lexie frowned. “Did you just call her Lulu McGee? How did you…”

“I make it my business to know as much as I possibly can.” Joyce laughed and turned her attention back to Maggie. “I didn’t think you had it in you. You’ve always been so grounded in a fastidious sort of way. At school, you were the only one who always had perfectly contacted notebooks without a single bubble in sight. I hated you for it. You’ve no idea how many notebooks I went through trying to get it right only to realize how ridiculous it was to even cover notebooks with plastic. Then there were the pencils. Always sharpened, color-coded and lined up ready for use. We all thought you suffered from some sort obsessive compulsive disorder.”

“You’re one to talk,” Eddie said and then turned to Lexie. “She has this little ritual which borders on OCD. When her copy of Girl About Town arrives on Fridays, it can’t be unwrapped by anyone else but her. Whoever’s working on Fridays knows this and they also know the corner table has to be reserved. The café could be filled to capacity, she’ll still sit down at exactly ten o’clock sharp to sip her cup of tea and read her magazine. And she doesn’t get up until she’s read it from cover to cover. Then we all get a turn at catching up with Lulu McGee’s antics.”

They all knew she was responsible for the comic strip? “Not to drum on, but all this time, you’ve known about me and you didn’t mention anything?” Maggie had kept quiet about it too. Yet she’d been supportive.

“We wanted to respect your privacy. Of course, if you want us to publicly acknowledge your celebrity status and treat you with due respect, then…” Joyce laughed, “You can forget about it. No matter how high you climb, you’re still one of us.”

Lexie threw her nose up in the air. “Some sort of accolade would go a long way.”

“We could cut a give and take deal.”

“What have you got in mind?”

Joyce tapped her finger against her chin. “We could sprinkle some praise your way if Lulu goes undercover and finds out where a certain crate full of tea cups is being hidden.”

Eddie groaned under her breath. “This is not going to end well. You should let it go, Joyce. And you, Lexie, shouldn’t get involved.” Eddie went on to explain how Bradford Mills, the owner of Brilliant Baubles, was hiding a crate of crockery his uncle had purchased during his last buying trip overseas and how Joyce had taken every opportunity to tear the place apart looking for it.

“Lulu loves snooping around,” Lexie mused. “Let’s get together and talk some more. Now that I’ve been outed, I should do some sort of homage to Eden.” Lexie took a sip of her champagne and smiled to herself. She’d been doing well, paying attention, following and joining in the flow of conversation, but now…

Her eyes skated around the pub.

Where was Jack?

After their encounter with Maggie, the three had made their way to the pub for a late lunch. Then Jack had excused himself and Maggie had wanted to spend the afternoon working on their marketing plan. She knew he was still in town because she’d seen his truck parked outside The Gloriana.

“I wish to make an announcement.” Joyce raised her champagne glass. “I am a love anorexic.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?” Lexie asked and took a sip of her drink to chase away the sudden clogging in her throat. Had Jack needed thinking time before meeting her again? Was he hanging around long enough to tell her it had been a mistake to kiss her?

“I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I was last involved in a romantic relationship.”

“It’s that time of the month,” Eddie explained. “Joyce has been binging on her junkie magazines. She’s upgraded her internet connection so now she’s downloading them.”

“I was running out of bookshelf space. And now my computer needs to be upgraded because I’m using up all the storage space. But that’s neither here nor there. Please don’t criticize my choice of reading material. Where else will I read an article about a woman who has so many sets of crockery, she had a storage warehouse built on her estate to house them? I need to feed my hunger for encyclopedic knowledge.”

“You could get an external hard drive,” Maggie suggested while everyone else demanded explanations about her self-diagnosed condition.

“My external hard drive’s full so that’s something else I’ll have to upgrade. As for the other matter, acknowledging my problem is the first step toward resolving it. I’m at risk of missing out on my best years. If I don’t do something soon, I’ll have to settle for bouncing everyone else’s kids on my lap, assuming you’re all going to have children.”

“We have overseas guests coming for the wedding,” Eddie shrugged, “You never know, you might meet the love of your life.”

Joyce rolled her eyes. “What are the chances of another man… The Man, coming to Eden—” She threw her hands up in the air.

“Why not? I’m living proof it can happen. Theo spent his life jet-setting around the world and yet here he is, settling down with me.”

“He’s the exception.”

Lexie couldn’t help thinking it only took one to be the exception. A stream of colorful curses played around her tongue. One kiss and she was expecting… demanding a—

Don’t even think it, Lexie. Just don’t.

She gulped down the rest of her drink and, turning toward the bar, she waved her empty glass at Mitch Faydon. He made a point of checking his watch as if to suggest it was too soon to serve her another drink.

Lexie shot to her feet, wobbling slightly.

“Are you right there, Lexie?” Eddie asked.

“The first drink always goes straight to my legs. I’ll sip the next one.” She strode over to the bar and leaned against it, her fingers tapping an impatient tattoo on the counter. Mitch finished serving a customer and came to stand in front of her.

“You have a deep ridge between your eyebrows. Is something wrong?”

“You made me get up and walk over to the bar.” A trick he reserved for anyone he thought had had one too many, but she’d only had one glass.

“You have a friend staying at the pub.”

It took a moment to catch his drift. When she did, she spoke as if by rote, the words spilling out while she focused on self-control. She would not ask for details. “We’d like another round of champagne, please.”

“He’s been asking questions.”

“Actually, send a couple of bottles over.”

“Questions about Wilde Eden.”

Lexie knew this could go on all night. “Don’t mind him. He’s just curious.”

“What does he do?”

“Why didn’t you ask him yourself?”

“That would have been too obvious. Besides, how would I know if he’s telling the truth?”

“So you want me to vouch for him?”

“That would be a good start.”

Her eyes danced around his face. “I have met his entire family. Is that good enough for you?”

Mitch grinned. “So you two have something going. Is he here to meet your parents? Is that why you’re hitting the bottle?”

“I’m not—” She huffed out a breath. “Just send those bottles over.” She swung away from the bar and walked straight into Jack. “What are you doing here?” she asked, the sight of him turning her brain to drool. A spark of intelligence shouted at her from far away. He’s staying here, you idiot. Snap out of it!

* * *

“I just had a bite to eat in the dining room and now I’ve been challenged to a game of pool.” Since parting ways earlier that afternoon, Jack hadn’t had a moment to himself. Everyone he’d met had wanted to stop for a chat and he’d happily gone with the flow.

“Oh. Okay. Um… I’m over there.” She pointed at a table at the far end. “It’s called the Captain’s table as in a ship’s Captain. And… I’m sitting there, but I already said that.”

She dug her fingers through her hair. Jack couldn’t help smiling and because she looked so flustered, he brushed his hand along her waist, “I’ll catch you later,” he said as he moved away.

He looked over his shoulder in time to see her taking a step and then stopping, changing direction, and then spinning around, she propelled herself back toward the Captain’s table.

He knew the feeling only too well, but in his case, he hadn’t been able to take a single step after kissing her. Technically, Lexie had kissed him. He’d given her a teasing brush of his lips and that had fired her up, her eyes blazing with heat and determination. Just as well they’d been out in public. If they’d been somewhere more private, he wouldn’t have hesitated—