Showdown at Lizard Rock (12 page)

“One and the same. Don’t you think it fits? Play your cards right, darlin’, and after the dance I’ll show you my sword.” He crooked his arm and gave a little bow. “What say you, fair Kaylyn? Shall we go to the fair?”

“Now let’s get this straight.” Kaylyn licked her lower lip and wiped the spicy red barbecue sauce from her chin. She and King were sitting together at a picnic table, polishing off huge helpings of food. “You have a brother named Jack, who’s the architect for your building projects. You have a brother named Joker, who doubles as landscape designer and sales engineer for your jobs. And you have a sister named Diamond, who’s the interior decorator. King, Jack, Joker, and Diamond? Your mother must have been a gambler.”

“Can’t say. She didn’t stick around long enough for me to get to know her. My pop named us and dared us to be bums like him. So we worked our tails off to become successful. Now we have Vandergriff, Inc. Classy, huh?”

Classy, yes, she thought. His eyes had turned a smoky blue, and they were filled with a longing that he didn’t try to conceal. He combed his fingers through his hair and mussed it, giving it the kind of careless dishevelment that made her want to touch it. His rosy pink shirt hugged his broad shoulders
and muscled arms with a softness that gave a gentle touch to his appearance.

Today, in the bright warm sunlight, he seemed more vulnerable, more alone. She reached for his hand without realizing that she’d done so. She could feel the physical differences between them as she surrounded his rough, sunburned fingers with her own softer, tanned ones.

He gazed at her, and the expression in his eyes told her that underneath that hard exterior he wasn’t so tough.

“I understand,” she said, squeezing his hand. The emotions that he’d exposed were new and confusing. The man inside the sensual body was reaching out to her on another level, opening doors that she hadn’t known were closed. “It’s rough when you’re alone, I know. You just have to believe in yourself. Trust and have faith.”

He blinked and looked at her with sudden awareness, as though he’d been in some faraway place and she’d reached him and brought him back. Enormous relief washed across his face. He returned the pressure of her touch. For a moment his gaze rested on her lips, then met hers once more. The wistful longing was replaced with a gentle smile. “The believe-in-yourself part isn’t hard, but trust and have faith? That might be a little more difficult.”

“Trust and have faith,” she insisted.

He lifted her hand to his lips and lightly kissed her fingertips. “I don’t think I know about those things, Kaylyn. The only thing I understand is what I can do myself.”

His lips were warm and moist, and she felt the
unexpected touch of his tongue as he turned her hand and intimately kissed her palm.

Something changed between them. When he stood and pulled her up beside him, she went without question. Through the crowds they meandered, an acute awareness between them of what was to come. They weren’t strangers anymore. Occasionally they separated to move around the people in their paths. Yet with every touch their togetherness grew.

Suddenly Kaylyn laughed, put her arm around his waist, and hugged him, then danced off toward one of the booths with a long line. “Here you are, your highness. I believe you asked about a kissing booth.”

King looked at the young men standing sheepishly in line, joking and hitting each other in ill-concealed unease as they waited for their turn to kiss the peaches-and-cream, golden-haired girl inside.

“Well, now,” he said. “It looks as if this young lady is going to be pucker-poor before she gets to me. Why don’t we give her a break and make some real money for”—he glanced at her sign, which announced that the proceeds were being donated to the Pretty Springs Ballet and Dance Company—“the artistic community.”

He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and stuffed them into the hand of the startled young lady. “Here you are, ma’am.” He captured Kaylyn in his arms and kissed her to the applause and amusement of the young boys.

“Hey, how about sharing the wealth?” one of the onlookers called.

“Not a chance, son,” King said as he gazed at Kaylyn’s flushed face. “This is my own private treasure,
and there isn’t enough money in the world for you to buy any part of it.”

“Don’t blame you a bit,” Minnie Rakestraw’s voice came out of the crowd. “Hello, you two. What about giving Luther and me a push down to the viewing stand? We don’t want to miss the tug-of-war, and it’s almost time for it to start.”

Minnie and Luther were sitting side by side in their wheelchairs under a shady pine tree between the kissing booth and one of the refreshment stands.

“How’d you two get down here?” King asked as he automatically walked behind Luther’s chair.

“I had my heart set on a snow cone,” Minnie explained, “and Luther hired two of those kids to give me a push. Only trouble was, they heard about the sack race and took off.”

“ ’Course,” Luther said with a grin, “it was a good thing we were here. That little kiss just made Minnie here another dollar.”

“All right, you two,” King said good-naturedly, “what’s this about a romance pool?”

“We just sat down and planned what we’d like to have happen,” Minnie said, “and we put a dollar in the pot for each happening. You know”—she blushed—“like moonlight swims, holding hands, kisses. Luther thought you’d kiss her at the VFW hall. Claims it’s darker. Old fool. Wishful thinking is what I call it. Got it in his head that he’s going to get enough better to go back to that VFW hall one more time.”

“Well, knowing Luther,” Kaylyn said positively, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”

Minnie suddenly dropped her snow cone and looked at it in disgust as it melted in the warm sun. “These damned old dried-up bony sticks. Think I’ll just have
them all cut off and get me some of them artificial ones. Then I could go to a dance too.”

“Now, Minnie.” Kaylyn dropped to her knees beside the frail old woman. “You know you’re making great progress. A month ago you couldn’t even lift that snow cone with either hand.”

“That’s right,” Sandi said as she joined them.

“Hi, Sandi,” Kaylyn said. “Where’s Mac?”

“He’s getting ready for the tug-of-war. He sent me to find out if King wanted to be on the team.”

“Only if they let Luther be the anchor,” King said with a wink.

“Luther?” Minnie chortled. “What good would he be? He’d get pulled straight into that mud hole, the old fool.”

“Shame on you, Minnie,” Sandi said. “Look at Luther there. His arthritis was so bad, he couldn’t even sit up straight when he got here. Now he’s regained the use of both hands, and soon he’s going to be bopping around this place on a walker.”

“Heaven forbid,” Minnie said. “Can’t keep him in his room now. He’ll get himself thrown out of the home if he gets any friskier.”

Kaylyn laughed as she pushed Minnie toward the stands. “Why Luther, what have you been up to that we don’t know about?”

“A better question, Katie my love,” he said, “is what have
you
been up to over at the springs?” He dropped his voice and added in a conspiratorial whisper that everybody heard, “You know, by yourself, with him. I mean … just how well are you getting to know the King here?”

“Bite your tongue, Luther Peavey. I’m just over
there protesting a golf course. What kind of hanky-panky are you suggesting?”

“You might call it hanky-panky, but I call it”—he clutched at his heart and took a dramatic deep breath—“fooling around.”

“Maybe we’d better station a chaperon at the nursing home instead of a night nurse, Sandi. I don’t know whether or not we can trust these two to behave.”

“You’d better not,” Luther said. “A few more trips to take the waters and all of you might learn a thing or two.”

“Shut up, you old fool,” Minnie said. “Don’t listen to him, Katie. He’s just teasing you. Now, about you and that young man. Well, that’s a different thing entirely. Has he held your hand yet?” Minnie asked shyly.

Kaylyn knew she was blushing. Had he held her hand yet? Yes, he had. In fact, there was hardly a part of her that he hadn’t held. “I don’t think I’m going to tell you, Minnie. You and Luther are too nosy.”

“Darn!” Minnie said.

“We’re not nosy, personally,” Luther said. “We’re taking notes for the time when Miss Minnie and I can go dancing and stay out late.”

Luther’s voice was teasing, but Kaylyn could hear the wistfulness there too. They’d bathed in the springs for an hour that morning. On such days Kaylyn could see a difference in Minnie’s grasp. If only they could use the springs on a regular basis, she thought. With a good therapy program and the springs, it was possible that Minnie could regain
the use of her left leg and arm. She’d already made remarkable progress.

“You’re both going to the dance, Luther,” she said. “Everybody who’s ambulatory can go. I’ve arranged special late-night passes for the dance and the fireworks.”

They walked down toward the activities area, where Mac joined them. In his short silk running shorts, heavy lumberjack boots, and green socks with a green bandana tied around his forehead, he looked like a refugee from a California beach.

“Are you going to compete, King? I’ve got a red bandana for you.”

“Nope, I’m saving myself for the three-legged race. Kaylyn and I have some serious hopping to do.”

They all stayed to watch the tug-of-war. Mac took the forward position on the rope for his team and became the first to tumble into the gooey mud as his side went down to defeat. By the time the children had competed in the tug-of-war and the three-legged race, Mac had found clean clothes and sat in the stands to watch King and Kaylyn compete.

Kaylyn tried to hang back. “Are you sure you want to do this, King? We haven’t even practiced, and I happen to know that last year’s winners have been working out for the past few days.”

King slid his arm around her waist and pulled them tightly together. “We don’t need practice, darlin’, we’re a natural. You just put your side curves in my side hollows and squeeze up tight. We start off with the outside leg and fly like a butterfly.”

The only butterfly Kaylyn could account for was the one hovering just beneath her skin, where she was fitting snugly in King’s hollows. How had she
ever thought that this kind of race was a laughing matter?

They were making good time halfway into the race when King lurched awkwardly and they hopped madly off-course toward a surrounding patch of pines. Trying desperately to regain his balance, King caught his foot in a tree root, and they both began to roll downhill through the underbrush. In a tangle of arms and legs, they came to a stop in a shallow ravine. The bindings on their legs had come untied. King was flat on his back beneath the thick limbs of a cedar tree, and Kaylyn was lying on top of him.

“King! King, open your eyes. Are you hurt?”

His arms closed around her and he groaned, flexing his body in what felt suspiciously like a caress. “I hurt bad, Kay, darlin’. I need intensive care, beginning with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

Now that the anxiety over his being hurt left her mind, she felt a tingle of response sweep over her. “Oh, King,” she said hoarsely, giving in to the need to touch him. She nuzzled her cheek against his and hid her face in his neck, feeling the pounding of his pulse in his veins. “You did that on purpose.”

“Maybe.” His hands slid down her lower back and cupped her bottom. He pressed her tightly against him in a rhythmic motion that moved her up and down his body. “Ah, Kay. You’re so beautiful. You belong here, in the woods, with wildflowers in your hair. The animals will all come to bring you gifts and you’ll be their queen.”

“The queen and her king.” She drew back, resting her weight fully on him, feeling the sweet pain of her own body’s need. Her eyes were half closed, her lips parted, her breath coming in short, hot pants.
“We lost the race,” she whispered. “What will Minnie and Luther think about our disappearance?”

“I don’t know about Minnie,” King mumbled, “but I’ll bet Luther will understand. Oh, lady.” He rubbed against her. “I don’t suppose we could spend the rest of the day right here, could we?”

He pulled the top of her sundress down, freeing one breast, then moved her body up along his so his lips could find her nipple.

“What if somebody comes by?” Her voice was thick and groggy. She could hear the obvious desire in every word. “Oh, King.”

He planted little kisses around her golden brown breast, and up her neck, and reclaimed her lips with an unmistakable urgency. One hand cupped her breast while the other hand gathered up her skirt, his fingers inching beneath it to her bare skin.

Kaylyn was caught up in a torrent of sensation she couldn’t hold back. She was pressing herself intimately against him, returning his kisses with rough, urgent ones of her own as her body cried out for the touch of his naked skin against hers.

“Hey, King! Kaylyn, where are you?”

The sound of their names being called finally sank in, and she pulled away from King, forcing back the flood of desire in which she had been swept up.

“Someone is coming, King.”

“Damn!” He touched her bare breast once more, then reluctantly recovered it. He rolled her away and sat up. “Whee.” He took a deep breath. “I hope that’s Mac. I don’t think either one of us is in any shape to face someone we don’t know.” He stood up and openly adjusted his jeans, then held out his hand and pulled
her to her feet. “You’d better walk in front of me—and walk very slow.”

Her already flushed face turned even redder. “King, I … I …”

“King, where are you? It’s me, Mac, your friendly foreman.” Mac spotted King and Kaylyn and came to an abrupt stop, a smile hovering at the corners of his lips.

“You mean, my former foreman,” King said. “You’re fired!”

“Then call me the advance scout. If we don’t get you back in sight pronto, half these people are going to make up a search party to find you.”

They had lost the race, but the applause they received from the onlookers was greater than that received by the winners. King had the presence of mind to rub his head, explaining that their fall had temporarily rendered him unconscious. The only dissenting remark came from Luther Peavey, who rolled his eyes and gave a dramatic “Hmph!”