Tempting Mr. Wrong (Wrong Man) (3 page)

Plus, twenty-six was a lot different than twenty. And she had those tantalizing lips.

Down, boy. She’s still Chris’s little sister.

To get his libido back in check, he took a moment for a quick glance around the playground. Lance had to admit that Carly didn’t exactly fit in with the other parents, and not only because of her hair. She wore a long, flowy skirt in bright blues and purples and a fitted white T-shirt. She looked like she’d stepped off the pages of some bohemian chic magazine.

Lance felt a little bad. He hadn’t told Carly he was coming to Pine Springs. After having every second of his childhood planned and his military career mapped out before he’d even entered college, Lance had decided it was time to be a little adventurous. He’d earned some time to travel, explore, and most importantly, not be accountable to anyone but himself. He couldn’t wait to start ticking items off his bucket list, but first he needed to make sure his goddaughter and her gorgeous aunt were okay.

His gaze drifted toward the sky. “Anything for you, buddy,” he said quietly.

Even though he knew her, Lance had done extra research. After a quick online search, Facebook provided him with numerous selfies of her and Mya. LinkedIn informed him that she’d recently finished up grad school, and she was working for a temp agency at the moment. Twitter let him know that a couple months ago she’d had two bad first dates in a row, reminding him of Chris’s letter and the fact that he was supposed to keep Carly away from losers.

“This should be interesting,” he mumbled under his breath.
Christ, she looked just like Chris.
If she was anything like her brother, Lance knew he was in for quite the ride. After all—

He couldn’t finish the thought. Carly had just popped up off the bench and was rushing toward a little pool where two kids—one of them his goddaughter, who was growing up to closely resemble both her dad and her aunt—were arguing, water slushing off one of them. He couldn’t believe it. Without missing a beat, Carly had shed her shoes and was wading through the water, her skirt floating on top of the shallow pool.

Inching toward the entrance to the playground, Lance couldn’t take his eyes off her. A panicked expression crossed her face for a split second, before she snatched a bucket out of the fountain, filled it with water, and threw the liquid over her own head, completely soaking herself. It reminded him of when all those celebrities were doing the ice bucket challenge for charity a couple years ago. Only there were no celebrities around, even though with her looks, Carly could pass for one.

“Whoa.” Before Lance could do or say anything more, water was splashing all around the three of them as more kids joined in on the impromptu water battle.

Carly was drenched. He hated to admit it but it was hard not to take in her, um, wet body. The clothes that were loose and flowy only a moment ago were now plastered to her curvaceous body. And the fact that she’d worn a white shirt today…probably not her best choice for a water fight.

Lance was moving toward her even as he chanted
don’t look, don’t look
over and over to himself. But damn, he couldn’t help it. She had an ample chest that was on full display thanks to the activity. And her lacy bra did nothing to help matters.

Kids were running around her, kicking water and using their hands as makeshift buckets. Carly stuck with Mya, twirling her niece around. Then she threw her head back and laughed, her long neck exposed and that enticing chest demanding even more attention. His mouth went dry.

He had to appreciate her…enthusiasm. It was obvious she was having a great time, laughing and dancing around the water. Just as clear was the fact that her niece adored her. The two grabbed hands, and Carly spun Mya around as the other kids continued dumping water on them.

Again, Lance thought of Chris. The guy was probably sitting somewhere in the afterlife watching all of this, laughing his head off.

Decision made, Lance nodded and made his way toward the scene. In and out, no fuss, no mess.

Then Carly turned, and he barely had time to process the bucket before he was completely drenched in water.

Chapter Two

“Well, shit.”

With copious amounts of water dripping off her, Carly froze, willing time to stop, rewind, and give her a do-over. Kids were laughing and splashing all around her, the water battle still raging. She heard moms, dads, and nannies yelling at their kids to get out of the pool, and a couple parents were egging them on.

But Carly blocked all of that out and focused on the tall man covered in the remnants of her bucket. He stood ramrod straight, dark eyes wide, and mouth hanging open. Shocked at her action, clear as the one foot of water sloshing around her ankles. This scene would be bad enough if the man was a stranger, but Carly would recognize Lance Townsend in the middle of a full-blown Category 5 hurricane.

“Lance?”

“Hey,” he said.

Hey. Hey? That’s all he said. What in the hell was he even doing here? Besides sending him that letter of Chris’s recently, she hadn’t seen him since her brother’s wedding. And that night hadn’t ended exactly the way she’d hoped. In fact, she’d been so disappointed when he’d abruptly left that she’d always managed to avoid him when he came to town to visit Chris.

“Oh, shit,” she said again, taking a few steps toward the edge of the pool. “I am so, so, so sorry.”

Recovering from his wet stupor, Lance tried shaking out his shirt. “Guess your aim was off. Kids are that way.” He pointed over her shoulder.

Usually, Carly was an excellent reader of people, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of Lance’s words. Was he being sarcastic, ironic, mean, irritated? Hell if she knew.

She felt a tug on her drenched skirt and looked down to see Mya hug her leg.

“You said a bad word. Twice.”

She yanked on Carly’s skirt again, tugging it dangerously close to her panties. She looked down in time to see the tattoo that sat on her lower abdomen peeking out. Quickly, she pulled her skirt up, but when she glanced back up at Lance, she caught his eyes observing the same spot. He flicked his gaze up to hers, red tingeing his cheeks.

Interesting.

“That’s two whole dollars,” Mya said, oblivious to what had just transpired between the adults.

“We have this thing going,” Carly said to Lance.

“Aunt Carly says bad words a lot,” Mya added helpfully.

“Oh really?” His dark eyebrow rose in question.

While Carly soaked in his loud, rich voice, letting the deep baritone roll over her like the water continued to do, Mya took the opportunity to hide behind her legs. Carly patted Mya’s head.

“It’s a bad habit, and one I’m now paying for dearly. Trust me. A dollar a word.” She offered a small chuckle, but Lance didn’t join her.

She tried again. “Listen, I really am sorry about the water.”

“That’s okay,” he said, but didn’t seem to mean it as he continued to fan out his shirt and shake his head back and forth, beads of water dripping down his cheekbones. “I suppose I shouldn’t have gotten so close to the war zone.”

“Stranger danger,” Mya said rather loudly before hiding behind Carly’s legs once more.

Carly chuckled and was happy to see Lance crack a smile. She didn’t remember him being so uptight. “Actually, he’s not a stranger. Well, maybe to some people. But not to us.”

She was rambling. She always rambled around hot men, and Lance was definitely crazy attractive. Somehow he managed to grow even better-looking since the last time she’d seen him. Now that she’d already embarrassed herself, Carly took a moment to give the man a once-over.
Yummy
roared through her brain the same way
shit, shit, double shit
had only a few moments earlier.

Wow. This guy was just wow. Clearly the army was made up of model scouts because Lance was gorgeous. She was short, so most guys seemed tall in comparison, but this one? He towered over her. And it wasn’t just height. The wall of muscle that made up his chest, shoulders, and arms was overwhelming. She had to fight the urge to reach out and touch him just to see if he was real.

His face wasn’t hard on the eyes, either, all chiseled and handsome. Accentuated with coal-black eyes and matching jet-black hair, they contrasted his skin tone and played up the interesting angles of his face. Carly knew Lance was half-Korean, from his mother’s side.

She took in those dark, unreadable eyes again. Mysterious and somewhat seductive. She shivered, and it had nothing to do with the mid-September breeze and her current state of wetness.

Down girl
, she thought as realization kicked in. He was standing in her town and she needed to figure out why. But first, she needed to introduce him to Mya.

“I know you guys have met before, but Mya was, what, about two the last time?” Lance nodded his agreement. “So, now that Mya is a big girl, let’s reintroduce you two. This raving beauty”—she gestured toward Mya, trying to angle her body so Lance could see—“is Mya. Mya, he may not be Santa Claus, but I think you’re going to get excited. This is your godfather.”

Seeing the smile blossom on the little girl’s face was enough to melt her heart. But what she didn’t see coming was just how far Mya would go to show her excitement. Without warning, she launched herself at Lance. To his credit, he easily caught her. Unfortunately, any remaining dry spots on his clothes were history.

“Uncle Lance!” she squeaked and added a big, smacking kiss to his cheek.

Lance grinned and hugged her back before putting her down on the ground, right outside of the fountain. Then he held a hand up to the top of her head. “Wow, I think you’ve grown twenty feet since the last time I saw you.”

Mya swished back and forth. “I’m a big girl now.”

“I can see that.”

“I just got the book you sent me. It’s about a bunny and a frog and a puppy. I wish I had a puppy,” she added with a glance at Carly.

Carly coughed and met Lance’s eyes. “Yes, we received the book. Thanks for sending it. And for all of the presents. You’ve been really generous.”

A strange expression crossed his face but she didn’t understand it. “It’s no problem. She’s my goddaughter after all.”

Carly was about to answer with a big old “I know she’s your goddaughter,” but Mya interrupted that.

“How come you’re here, Uncle Lance? Did you come to see me?”

“Of course I did. I just got out of the army and I thought I would stop in to check on you.”

Carly blew her wet hair out of her face. Oh please. Besides some presents for Mya, when did he ever check in on them? She rolled her eyes for emphasis. Unfortunately, Lance had noticed. He held up an envelope. Chris’s letter.

“It’s what Chris wanted.” He turned the well-traveled envelope over in his hand before sliding it back in his pocket. “And I’m happy to be here.”

The letter. Of course. She’d been tempted. Really tempted. But she hadn’t read the letter before she’d sent it off to him.

“I see,” she said lamely.

Lance held his hand out. “Why don’t we get everyone to dry land?”

Carly took his offered hand but as soon as their fingers met, it felt like a spark ignited, traveling up her arm and over her entire body. The last time she’d felt something like that had been as they danced together at her brother’s wedding.

Lance met her startled gaze. Did he feel it, too?

“How did you know we were at the playground?” Mya asked, oblivious to the sparks and gazes between the adults.

Carly finished climbing out of the fountain. “Yes, how did you know how to find us?”

“I was knocking on your door, and your neighbor told me I might find you down the street.” His gaze darted around the playground, suspicion in his eyes. “You know, you should talk to your neighbor. It’s not really safe to let a stranger know your house is empty, and you’re not at home.”

Was he kidding? This was Pine Springs, not New York or some other big city. About to protest, Mya cut her off.

“You don’t let strangers in the house.”

“Right,” Lance said with a firm nod of his head. Mya smiled again.

“Very good,” she said to Mya. “But Lance is not a stranger. He may be strange, but not a stranger.”

Now Lance rolled his eyes.

Then he looked down at his clothes.

Carly pointed toward the exit. “Why don’t we walk back to the house? We can all get into some dry clothes.”

He nodded and followed Carly as she gathered her purse and the backpack Mya had insisted on bringing today. With a quick good-bye to Maria—who wiggled her eyebrows behind Lance’s back and gave a thumbs-up—they took off toward the house.

The house sat at the end of the street. Even though the walk took a matter of minutes, it felt like a lot longer due to having Lance next to her. Carly was aware of his every move, every breath. How could she not be? The man was a walking wet dream. Literally, she thought with a smile as her own damp clothes adhered to her body.

When they got to the house, Carly paused for a moment and smiled at the two-story brick house with its large front porch and big oak tree in the yard. She’d always dreamed of living in a place like this growing up. Playground at the end of the street, lots of trees to hang swings and build tree houses in, and plenty of kids riding their bikes in the street. But her moment of contentment vanished when Lance came up behind her. “I’m serious about your neighbor. And do you guys have any security? An alarm system?”

“Um, I think there is one, but I don’t know how to use it. Actually, I don’t think it works.” She shrugged. “Anyway, come on in.”

They walked up the steps onto the porch, and Carly used her key to let them in.

“Mya, can you please change your clothes? You can put on your jeans and your favorite
Frozen
T-shirt.”

“Yay.” With that, Mya flew up the stairs.

Carly shook her head. “Hope you like animated movies because you’re about to be bombarded.
Frozen
is a definite favorite.”

“Great,” he ground out.

“Do you have any dry clothes with you?” Carly asked.

“Yeah, I have my stuff out in the Jeep I rented.”

“I’ll make some tea. That should warm us up.”

“Thanks,” he said.

He followed her through the foyer, past the formal living room on the right and dining room on the left. Right past the coat closet, the house opened up into the combination kitchen, dining, and family room.

Lance gasped, and Carly spun around to face him. “What? What’s wrong?”

He pointed toward the family room. “Oh my God, you’ve been robbed.”

…

Lance knew that neighbor broadcasting Carly’s business was a bad idea. His eyes swept the room again, searching for any possible intruders, even as he pushed Carly behind him. Then he remembered Mya.

“Shit. Mya.” One hand tightly grasped around Carly’s upper arm, he walked backward toward the foyer.

“Lance, what are you doing?”

“We need to grab Mya, get outside, and call the police. Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”

She was digging her heels in. What the hell was wrong with her? Although he did appreciate a female who didn’t freak out over every little thing, this was a bit over the top.

“How long were you and Mya at the playground? What time did you leave? Were all the doors and windows locked?” His gaze darted from room to room as he began peppering her with questions he knew the police would ask, but a firm hand to his chest stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait,” Carly said.

“Carly, I really think—”

“What makes you think we’ve been robbed? I didn’t see anything.”

“Because, back there, didn’t you…” Was she serious? The family room had been completely ransacked, with pillows and blankets strewn all over the room, a chair overturned, and toys everywhere. He hadn’t seen any broken windows, but there had been a door leading to the backyard. With everything he’d learned about Carly in the last half hour, it wouldn’t surprise him one bit if she’d left it unlocked. After all, she’d climbed in a kiddie pool, took part in a massive water fight, seemed completely A-okay with her neighbor sharing her personal details with strangers, and she wasn’t running for the hills now.

Not to mention that tattoo, or maybe the placement of it… Damn. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. He shook his head. This wasn’t the time to think about her ink. Or her body. Priorities.

“I didn’t see anything out of place,” she said, not budging. She was pretty tough for such a tiny little thing.

“You didn’t notice all the stuff back there?”

“No, I…” She trailed off. For a second she appeared deep in thought, and then finally awareness flooded her features. And to Lance’s utter amazement she threw her head back and laughed. No, she didn’t just chuckle or giggle. Carly was full-on howling with amusement.

Lance took a step backward. “I think I missed the joke.”

She sobered a little, although tears were starting to glisten in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s not you.”

Watching a woman lose her marbles over a possible break-in definitely proved something was up with him, because Lance had just left reality and entered some crazy alternate universe.

Carly grabbed his hand. “Come on.”

Again he was surprised at her strength as she dragged him back to the family room. With a sweeping hand, she encompassed the entire room.

“Lance, we weren’t robbed.”

A second look at the room reaffirmed his initial assessment. They had been robbed, looted, and were the victims of burglary. He moved closer to the large sectional, which appeared to be the epicenter of the incident.

Carly sighed, but there was a hint of amusement in it. “That’s a tent.”

He froze mid-inspection. “A what?”

A giggle escaped her lips. “A good, old-fashioned tent. You know the kind you make with blankets and pillows. Mya and I made it this morning while we watched cartoons. We were pretending to be Rapunzel, and I was Flynn. You’ve seen
Tangled
, right?”

He couldn’t keep his mouth from dropping.

Carly waved her hands. “Doesn’t matter. Anyway, all of this was us playing.” She gestured around at the blankets, the pillows, the toys, the DVD boxes, the stuffed animals and dolls.

“This,” Lance said with a nod at the huge mess.