Summer Sizzle (2 page)

“I…” After another quick glance in Blake’s direction, she returned her attention to the cab driver. Clenching her jaw in determination and squaring her shoulders, she gave the appearance of someone ready for a fight. “Bring my belongings into the house.”

She reached for her purse and withdrew the money for the fare. It took the driver several trips to bring in her suitcases, plus six large cardboard cartons and a pet carrier containing a very upset Siamese cat.

The cab driver glared at Blake, obviously pissed because he didn’t offer to help, then turned his frustration on Vicki. “Next time, lady, hire a moving van instead of a taxi.”

The cabbie took the money she extended, his manner anything but gracious in spite of the generous tip she gave him. He slammed the minivan’s door and sped away.

“Well…Victoria Templeton. I believe that’s the name you gave on the phone.” Blake had tried to appear calm as he watched the boxes and suitcases being stacked inside the front door, acutely aware of the emotion still jabbing at that vulnerable spot deep inside. The desire to jump her bones came as natural to him as breathing, but the emotional thread tugging at him presented a surprising and unacceptable situation. He hadn’t been sure exactly what to do, so did nothing as the cab driver brought in her belongings.

He cast a wary eye toward the huge pile. A frown tugged at his forehead as his gaze landed on the caged animal making the type of loud, yowling noise only a Siamese cat could produce. “Does that animal always make such a racket?”

Her entire manner turned defensive. “Wouldn’t you be unhappy if you were locked in a cage?” She quickly opened the pet carrier and removed the cat, gently stroking its fur as she talked to it. “Now, now. Everything’s okay. Is that better, Ty-Ling?”

When the cat calmed down, she placed it on the floor. It immediately darted out of sight behind the couch.

He scowled and glanced in the direction the cat had gone. Returning his attention to Vicki, his expression eased, and he crossed the room to where she stood. “Since you’ve taken it upon yourself to be my uninvited guest for a
short
while, I suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Blake Callahan.” He held out his hand and offered her a polite, albeit uneasy, smile.

Vicki accepted his handshake. His smooth, un-callused skin confirmed her original opinion. He obviously didn’t do any type of manual work, and his longish, shaggy hair ruled out the possibility of him being a business executive. She quickly withdrew her hand from his grasp as the rush of excitement caused her tummy to clench. His touch had been just a little too warm and intimate, and he seemed to hold her hand just a little bit longer than necessary. Or had she only imagined it?

He started toward the kitchen with his empty beer bottle, then turned back toward her. “Would you like something to drink? I have beer, wine, iced tea, water…or I could make some coffee.”

“I, uh, yes, iced tea would be nice.” She offered him a bit of a shy smile, not at all sure how to handle her inner conflict. “Thank you.”

A twinge of nervousness darted through her as she noted the way he seemed to study her again. His alert blue eyes showed a surprising amount of intelligence, something obviously wasted by his lifestyle. His tanned good looks lingered on her senses, sending another totally inappropriate sensual tremor of desire racing through her body and settling deep inside her.

“Iced tea, it is. And when I return, I’d like to see a copy of your rental agreement.” He turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

She called after him, “You want to see
my
rental agreement? Well, I insist on seeing
your
lease.”

Who the hell did he think he was, challenging her veracity that way? Then another thought struck her. Why would he have opened the subject of leases if he didn’t have one? Apprehension stirred deep inside her, leaving her unsettled. Maybe things weren’t as clear cut as she had originally assumed…or as she wanted them to be.

Vicki looked around the living room of the house she thought she’d rented for the entire summer. The monthly rent had been a little more than she had planned to pay, but she fell in love with the house the moment the rental agent had shown it to her. A little frown wrinkled her forehead as she recalled the way Mr. Edwards had looked her over while making no effort to hide his lecherous intentions, not really all that different from the way Blake looked at her. But unlike Blake’s scrutiny, the rental agent left her uncomfortable and feeling as if she needed a shower to wash away his visual groping.

The first floor of the two-story beach bungalow contained a comfortable living room with a wood burning fireplace and a separate dining room she had intended to use as her office. The living room opened onto a wraparound deck with a half dozen steps that led down to the wide, sandy beach. The bright, airy kitchen contained an island with a breakfast bar, plus a breakfast nook in a sunny corner. Beyond the kitchen, a separate laundry room and a full bathroom with an outside door from the deck.

The upstairs consisted of two large bedrooms, each with a door opening out to a common balcony that ran along the entire ocean side of the house. The balcony also served as a partial roof over the lower deck. The second floor had one full bathroom with a jetted tub and separate shower. The house came fully furnished, including dishes and cookware. It suited her needs exactly.

Blake emerged from the kitchen carrying a glass of iced tea and a bottle of beer. A quick flash of movement grabbed her attention, but not in time to prevent the inevitable disaster.

“Damn! What the hell—” The sound of breaking glass immediately followed his cry of pain. “Get the fuck off of me!”

He shook his leg in an attempt to dislodge the furry bundle with its claws firmly dug into his bare ankle. The cat finally broke off its attack and scampered away.

“Ty-Ling! You naughty cat.” Vicki’s first impulse had been to laugh at the animal’s antics. The same thing had happened to her numerous times. Then she saw the pained expression on Blake’s face and quickly banished any hint of amusement. “I’m so sorry. I’m afraid Ty-Ling gets a little cranky when she’s been locked up in the carrier. I…I’ll put her in another room.” Vicki rushed toward the cat, who deftly squeezed behind the couch out of her reach.

“Look, Victoria—”

“Please…” She glanced awkwardly at the floor, then back at him. “Call me Vicki.” Her embarrassment over the incident sent a heated flush across her cheeks. Her gaze darted nervously around the room in an attempt to avoid the disapproval she knew would be in his eyes.

“Look,
Vicki
…” His annoyance covered his face and filled his voice. “I’m standing here in my bare feet surrounded by broken glass. Do you think you can leave that holy terror of a cat alone long enough to give me a hand?”

His words elicited an immediate reaction inside her. What had been a heated flush of embarrassment turned into an incendiary moment of true mortification as her forehead heated up to match her cheeks. Her gaze leaped between the broken glass, his bare feet, and the place where the cat had disappeared behind the couch.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She hurried toward the kitchen. “I’ll get something to clean up this mess.”

“No!” He snapped out the angry retort, his words stopping her sudden flurry of activity. “Go out to the deck and get my beach sandals so I can put something on my feet and move without fear of slicing them open.”

“Of course.” She headed for the large sliding glass door that led outside. As soon as she opened it, the room filled with the sounds of waves breaking on the sand and seagulls calling out to one another. She spotted a box kite flying in the wind with its line tied to the deck railing. A large, colorful wind sock fluttered from a pole on the corner of the roof.

She closed her eyes and allowed the late afternoon sun to warm her face. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. The gentle breeze jangled the wind chimes. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh sea air. She loved the feeling of serenity the ocean provided, the inner calm chasing away all the anxieties and uncertainties that usually lived inside her.

“Fuck!” Blake’s painful cry jerked her attention from her contemplation and back to him. She quickly grabbed the sandals from the deck and carried them inside.

“Damn cat.” He reached down and took hold of the Siamese, pulling it away from the same ankle where it again dug its claws into his flesh, this time leaving deep scratches and several smears of blood. He held the squirming animal in both hands at arm’s length in front of him. “You’re definitely going to have to keep this wild beast locked up for the
short
duration of your stay.” He flinched as the angry cat scraped its back claws against his arm in an effort to get away, leaving ugly red welts and blood.

“Oh, no. Oh, I’m so sorry. Not everyone likes cats.” Vicki rushed to take the angry animal from him, quickly exchanging it for the sandals. Her embarrassment kept her from looking at him

He wiggled his feet into the sandals while she put the yowling animal back into the pet carrier. “Stop complaining, Ty-Ling. It’s your own fault. If you hadn’t been such a naughty girl, you wouldn’t have to go back into your cage.” She immediately returned her attention to Blake who was checking the damage to his ankle and arm. “Here, let me see.”

She took his forearm and lightly touched the numerous scratches. “I’m so sorry about this, uh, Blake.” Once again, the physical contact sent tremors of desire coursing through her. Desires that refused to be shoved aside. Embarrassment momentarily overruled the edgy situation building between them, supplanting any thought of physical attraction. “It doesn’t look too bad. The bleeding has stopped. Do you have some antiseptic? I think cleaning is all it needs.”

She looked up into his face. The muscles in his arm tensed when she made eye contact. Her heartbeat increased, followed by a momentary loss of breath. She didn’t even want to acknowledge the sudden tingling between her legs.

Warmth swirled through Blake’s body and shoved at his cock, her touch far more than merely soft and inviting. Something very different from when he merely lusted after a hot piece of ass. This represented a reality as disturbing as Vicki’s physical presence in his house. He had noticed it when they shook hands and again when she took hold of his arm.

He withdrew from her touch as tactfully as he could. Just watching her made his cock twitch. And with physical contact added into the mix, regardless of how fleeting and casual, his arousal hardened. The unusual circumstances of the moment left him unsure about what to do. If they were in one of the many bars in the village, if he had met her at a party or even picked her up on the beach, he would know how to proceed. But this… She had not shown up at his door looking for fun and games, a night of no-strings-attached hot sex with a stranger.

Uncertainty filled the depths of her hazel eyes. He usually had no trouble putting people into categories and placing them within the structure of surrounding influences. He did it every day at work. Well, he
used to
do it every day, back when he worked for a living. In the days before…

He shoved away the unwelcome painful memory before it could get a foothold in his consciousness.

Blake thought he had already neatly categorized her, but Victoria Templeton turned out to be a bit of a puzzle. One moment an uptight, indignant woman determined to be in charge and the next minute she seemed shy and uncertain. “Look…you take care of
that
mess your cat made.” He indicated the broken glass and spilled tea and beer, softening his voice in response to her obvious distress. “And I’ll take care of
this
mess your cat made.” He balanced on one foot and extended his other leg to display his wounded ankle while holding up his scratched arm.

“I’m so sorry about this. I apologize for Ty-Ling. I don’t know what got into her. She’s usually very well behaved.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper, clearly conveying the sincerity of her words. “I feel so terrible about this.”

“It’s no big deal, really.” An impulse or maybe an emotional desire that came from that vulnerable place he tried so hard to ignore pushed him to place his fingertips beneath her chin and lift her face until he could see her eyes again. “Don’t worry about it.” Uncertainty covered her face and the wariness clouded her eyes. “Do you always take everything so seriously?”

“I…I don’t know what you mean.” Vicki felt it again, the increased heartbeat and the shortness of breath. This stranger, this totally inappropriate and unacceptable man, had a disconcerting impact on her senses—one that left her wanting to know much more about him and, at the same time, left her confused and wary.

Her carefully planned future did not include a beach bum regardless of how sexy or the way he made her pussy tingle and her juices flow. The man with an important place in her life would be a hard worker. A responsible person with goals similar to hers, not some kite-flying, over-aged surfer type with no ambition, whose only redeeming qualities were a hard body, a handsome face, a killer smile, magnetic sex-appeal, and a mesmerizing voice.

He held her gaze a moment longer before dropping his hand and stepping back. “You’ll find paper towels in the kitchen. I have some antiseptic upstairs in the bathroom.” He shot a wary glance at the caged cat before heading toward the stairs.

She breathed a sigh of relief once he withdrew his fingers from beneath her chin, even though the sensual warmth of his touch lingered. Another tremor darted through her body. She shook it away and bent to collect the larger pieces of glass before going to the kitchen in search of paper towels.

After cleaning up, Vicki glanced toward the stairway. Blake had disappeared upstairs without another word. Hoping to be finished before he returned, she opened one of her cardboard cartons and took out the litter box and a bag of kitty litter, the cat’s food and water bowls, and a container of cat food. She could not leave Ty-Ling confined inside the cage. Surely, it would be okay to temporarily house her cat in the laundry room with the door closed.