Tempting Mr. Wrong (Wrong Man) (7 page)

Carly let out a sweet little sound and unexpectedly the kiss took a turn for the steamy. Their hands went everywhere as they used their lips, their tongues, their teeth, everything together in one hot ride. As suddenly as the kiss began, it came to an end when more banging emanated from the kitchen. Pulling back, he held his breath, not wanting to see the regret that would surely register on her face. Instead, she surprised him. Her eyes held a lusty haze, and her ample chest was rising and falling rapidly. Her lips were swollen, and a small smile spread across her face.

Damn, she’d enjoyed that as much as he had.

“I’m, uh, glad you did that,” she whispered.

“There are so many more things I’d like to do to you,” he whispered right back then immediately admonished himself. What in the hell was he doing? This was Carly, his best friend’s little sister. He wasn’t supposed to be kissing her.

He needed to say something fast. But his mouth was dry and he couldn’t think of any words that would be appropriate and not hurt Carly’s feelings. Luckily, the sound of the back door opening broke the spell.

“It’s been hours. Are you happy again yet? Is it time for ice cream sandwiches?” Mya screamed.

Lance coughed to cover up the sigh of relief.

“We’ll be right in, sweetie,” Carly called out, her voice breathy.

Pushing away, Carly offered him the biggest look of longing he’d ever seen. “Life with a four-year-old. I’m sorry.”

He took a deep breath. “No, Carly, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

He stepped back, putting distance between them. “For kissing you. I shouldn’t have done that. It was wrong.” Damn, he shouldn’t have kissed her. He was an ass. Talk about mixed signals.

When she stepped toward him, he quickly put his hands up between them and stopped her. “Carly, you’re Chris’s sister.”

Her brows furrowed. “You’re kidding me. I knew you were into that kiss. But it’s Chris…”

“He was my best friend. I would do anything for him.”

“Except his sister apparently.” She met his eyes. “Sorry, really inappropriate joke.”

In spite of everything, he let out a half laugh. “I am sorry, Carly.”

“Sorry for kissing me or sorry for liking it?” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to say something. “It was just a kiss, Mr. Structure, Stability, and…whatever the other
S
was.”

She smoothed down her shirt and started to walk back inside, her chin lifted, her fiery red hair streaming behind her. Then she stopped suddenly, turned back to face him.

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember Chris and Gretchen’s wedding?”

He nodded and noticed she was twisting her hands together. It seemed as if she was struggling to find the right words.

“We danced all night long. But at the end of the wedding, you…well, you didn’t go to my room.”

Chris and Gretchen’s wedding. Christ, he thought about that night all the time. Walking away from her had really sucked. “I didn’t go to your room because you’re my best friend’s little sister. And you were a kid.”

“I was twenty.”

He nodded. “You are Chris’s sister.”

“That will never change,” she said with a touch of sadness in her voice. Then she finished walking into the house.

He took a second in the night air to collect himself. He wondered when the temperature would start to drop, although it would take a whole winter of cold temps to extinguish the flame that had started tonight in this backyard. Not even the lingering smell of their disgusting dinner was enough to cool off his libido.

Shaken, he ran a hand over his face. Why in the hell was he feeling this way about the one woman who was off-limits to him? The way his pulse was racing and his breath was unsteady, he was acting like a thirteen-year-old who just had his first kiss.

It’d been way too long since he’d been with a woman. That had to be it.

Because the notion that Carly Quigley could infiltrate his well-guarded control like that was not an option.

Chapter Six

A couple days later Carly sat at the counter that separated the kitchen from the family room and reread the papers spread out before her. She’d already gone through them dozens of times. Then she picked up her cell phone and double-checked that she had the right time and address.

She couldn’t believe Anna had gotten her an interview with Young Heroes. More, she couldn’t fathom that the interview was today.

Tapping her foot against the leg of the chair in a fast staccato rhythm, she went through each paper one more time. But Carly knew she was ready. She’d been following the work of Young Heroes since she’d been one of the young heroes that had benefited from the program. Still…

This job meant so much to her. It would be more than a paycheck, more than a retirement and health plan. It would be an opportunity to give something back to an organization that had gotten her through some truly tough times.

A male cough echoed through the room and she glanced up to see Lance shift on the couch. He was typing away on a laptop, and other than the sound of her foot beating against the chair and his fingers clacking over the keyboard, the house was silent. Mya being at preschool contributed to the quiet.

She gave Lance a sideways glance and noticed he was studying the screen, lips pursed. Lips that had been on hers only a few days prior.

They hadn’t talked about the kiss. Or the aftermath of the kiss. Usually Carly wasn’t one to shove things under the rug, and she’d been all set to bring it up—and maybe have a repeat performance if she could figure out a way to get Lance to see her as anyone but his best friend’s sister. But Anna had called her about the interview the next day, and that was all she’d been able to concentrate on since.

There had been two brief breaks when Lance made good on his promise to help her cook. So far, they’d made a chicken stir-fry and pasta primavera together. Apparently, knives worked better when they were sharp, and she was supposed to time how long pasta boiled. Who knew?

The food had been delicious. And the teacher? Yeah, he’d been pretty yummy, too. Lance, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, a towel around his waist, stirring a pot of boiling water as the mist surrounded his hot, chiseled face. Carly shifted in her seat.

She checked the clock on the microwave. There was enough time to read through her materials on previous fund-raising campaigns Young Heroes had done and then change into an interview outfit, which she had narrowed down to six options. She began tapping her pen against the counter as she debated the pros and cons of wearing pants versus a skirt.

“Everything okay over there?” Lance asked.

“Sure. How’s the, um…” What was he looking up? She was sure he’d told her.

“Security system research,” he said.

She gestured at him with her pen before returning to her pen drumming. “Right. How’s that panning out?”

“Okay. I think I found the best option for this house. Man, Carly, I can’t believe you guys have been living in this big house without an alarm system. I may be going a bit overboard with the one I’m considering but I’d rather you two be safe.”

“Uh-huh,” she murmured. While most people would choose the skirt, she felt more powerful in her pantsuit.

“I need to get started on fixing that back fence soon. I considered just reinforcing parts of it but I think I’m going to replace the entire thing. Then I can install some locks as well.”

Plus, the pantsuit is professional
, she thought. But at the same time, it allowed her to have fun with accessories so she could still be herself. “That’s nice.”

“I’m going to land a spaceship from Mars on the roof later, too. I’m hoping the aliens will do some probing work on both of us.”

“Great.” Her pen froze mid-tap. “What?” She looked over at Lance. He wore an amused expression.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing’s up.” She didn’t know why she didn’t just tell him about the interview. Maybe she was feeling superstitious. If she said it out loud, it wouldn’t be real. Also, there was no way she could talk about the interview without getting emotional. Young Heroes was more than a nonprofit. It was an organization that helped people, and Carly was passionate about their mission.

Not everyone could grow up with the three
S’s
. How could structured, stable, sinfully sexy—or whatever those
S’s
were—Lance understand what her childhood had really been like?

Lance placed the laptop on the table and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed the last of the coffee from the pot and faced her. “You’re on another planet. What are you working on?”

“Oh.” Had he been noticing her? “Going through some research.”

“Carly, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you seem really tense.”

He placed his coffee mug on the counter and leaned toward her, his crisp, clean scent wrapping itself around her, not to mention that he was close. Very close. If she only inched forward, she could give him a playful little nip on the lips. And maybe that would lead to a longer, sultry kiss. Then that would send them up to her bedroom… Her bedroom that currently had interview outfit options scattered everywhere. That wouldn’t work.

“Want to take a walk before Mya gets back from school?”

Thank goodness it wasn’t Carly’s week for car pool. Mya’s preschool was only half day, but dropping the other girls off would cut into her interview time.

“You can still watch Mya this afternoon, right?” she said, ignoring his question.

“No problem. Where are you going anyway? Hot date?”

While he’d been smiling when he asked her, Carly couldn’t help but notice that Lance’s forehead crinkled and he looked away.

“Do you have a date?” he asked.

“Lance,” she began.

“Sorry, it’s none of my business.”

But she wanted it to be some of his business. Carly wasn’t sure what she wanted to say in reply, but it didn’t matter because Lance was already moving toward the other room.

“I’m going to do some measuring. I gotta order the new windows.”

She let out a long sigh at his retreating form. She was botching this up. At the same time, she knew she needed to concentrate on her interview, not on flirting with a guy who had made it clear that their kiss was a mistake.

Although, she still had high hopes she could change his mind. She turned her attention back to the Young Heroes website. First she would get a new job. Once that was out of the way, she would return to Operation Lance.

…

Lance downed his coffee in record time. Placing the empty mug on the console table near the door, he weighed his options. The old house had about a million windows. Great for natural light but a killer to replace. Why Chris and Gretchen had decided to go for such an old fixer-upper was beyond him.

He thought he understood what Chris had done with the house. It seemed like he’d put his attention into the areas the family used. The kitchen was immaculate, the bathrooms and bedrooms looked great.

But in terms of security and safety, the place was a mess. When Chris was around, he’d probably figured he could take care of his family. But Carly had been living here on her own with a child for almost a year. He eyed the flimsy lock on the front door, the ancient windows, and the lack of any kind of sensor lights outside, and blew a long, frustrated breath out.

No more. Chris asked him to make sure Mya and Carly were okay and that’s what Lance intended to do. He would do everything possible to leave them with the safest house possible.

Carly’s lack of attention wasn’t really a shock. With her flighty attitude and propensity toward focusing on only the positive, there was no way she would have noticed something as mundane as an alarm system.

He looked toward the kitchen. Carly was flighty, for sure. She was also a bit whimsical. Not to mention, she was fun, bubbly, vivacious, and spirited. Lance frowned. That’s why the last couple days had felt so off. Something was going on with her.

There had been no tents or forts built. He hadn’t seen her dancing around the kitchen or singing along with Mya to one of the many, many cartoons she watched.

Had it been their kiss?

Lance counted the number of windows in the living room and jotted it down in his notebook. It had only been one small kiss. Nothing to get her panties in a twist over. Except he was lying. It had been one hell of a make-out session. He didn’t even have to close his eyes to feel Carly in his arms, taste her sweet lips against his, or smell her intoxicating scent as it worked its way into his subconscious.

The woman was a spitfire, all fire and passion wrapped into a tiny, enticing body. For the hundredth time since they met, he imagined what it would be like to unleash all that fire and passion in the bedroom.

Lance ran a hand over his face and thought about Carly Quigley. Gorgeous—that was a given. All that red hair begged for him to run his hands through it, wrap it around his fingers, and tug her head to his. Then her enticing lips would be right where he wanted them. Again.

If Lance was being honest, he was still a bit hot and bothered by the thought of the other night’s swing set make-out session. Carly might be a shit cook, but damn could she kiss, and Lance was ready for another round.

He chastised himself even as he took one more measurement. It didn’t matter if she was older now, or how physically attracted to her he was, at the end of the day, she was his best friend’s sister. He had no business thinking about the way she kissed. Not to mention that even if circumstances were different and it would be okay to take things further with her, he still wasn’t staying in North Carolina. He glanced down at his notepad. While he’d been researching alarm systems, he’d taken a little detour and looked up more of the places he wanted to visit. Vegas, New Orleans, Napa Valley, Joshua Tree, Park City. He had a bucket list that was growing bigger with each passing day and he’d made a promise to himself to check off each and every item. Starting something with Carly and then hightailing it out of North Carolina would be a real dick move.

No matter how good that kiss had felt, no matter how much he wanted to do it again, he knew he’d been right to put an end to it before it got too far. He glanced toward the kitchen again. Shit. Maybe that was why Carly had been acting weird. She wasn’t upset about the kiss itself; she was embarrassed he’d ended it.

As he started making his way to Carly to explain, the front door flew open, banging against the wall. Mya rushed in, all red curls and pink ruffles. She launched herself at him.

“Hi, Uncle Lance. I’m home from school.”

“I can see that,” he said with a chuckle. He walked to the door and waved to Mya’s car pool mom so she would know it was safe to go. “Did you have a good day?”

Mya nodded enthusiastically. “It was so fun. Penny drew a picture of her puppy, and we had apples and peanut butter, and then we went outside and we learned a new song.”

Stepping back, Mya cleared her throat and began singing loudly. When she finished, she smiled up at Lance and waited patiently. Lance clapped appropriately.

“That was amazing.”

“Thank you. Where’s Aunt Carly? I want to sing for her, too.”

Maybe hearing Mya’s song about a turtle and a bunny would help to de-stress or unwind Carly. Or at least get her back to her old unpredictable self. Lance couldn’t believe he was actually missing Carly’s impulsive nature.

“She’s in the kitchen. Come on, kid.” Mya clasped her little hand into his and the gesture had a warm feeling seeping into his heart.

“Aunt Carly, Aunt Carly. Here I am.”

Carly smiled as she shut the lid of her laptop. “That’s so funny you’re here. I thought I heard a princess singing in the other room.”

Mya let go of Lance’s hand and started jumping up and down. “That was me. I was singing.”

“Really?” Carly scooped Mya up in a hug. “You sound just like a princess. Maybe you and Lance can watch one of your princess movies this afternoon while I go out.” She kissed the tip of Mya’s nose and placed her on the ground.

Mya cocked her head. “We can’t watch a movie because I have to go to my ballet class.”

Carly gasped. “Your ballet class. Oh shit.”

Mya giggled. “You said a bad word. That’s money in the swear jar.”

“I can’t believe I forgot about your class. Shoot, shoot, shoot.”

Lance cocked his head, watching Carly’s unusual reaction to this small problem. Once again, she was acting completely out of character.

Eyeing her across the room, she’d returned to flipping through those papers again. It was like the fifth time she’d gone through them.

“What’s the big deal?” he asked. “I can take Mya to ballet. Will I have to wear a tutu?” he asked Mya, who lost herself in a fit of giggles. “Hey, what’s so funny about that?”

“You can’t wear a tutu. You’re a boy, silly.”

“Maybe I’ll wear a camo-colored tutu.”

This statement prompted more laughter, but when Lance eyed Carly, he saw that her face was set in a serious expression. Normally she’d be all over him in a tutu. Time to find out what was really going on.

“Hey, kid, why don’t you go draw a picture of me in a tutu while I fix you some lunch?”

“Okay.”

While Mya ran off to find her crayons, he pulled Carly into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“This ends now. You are going to tell me what has you so tense and edgy.” He folded his arms over his chest and offered one of his most intimidating stares. He used that look when he had to interrogate the bad guys. Lance was pretty badass when it came to interrogations. Everyone in his unit knew not to mess with him. Carly would fall in line.

To his surprise, she took a step back and laughed in his face.

...

At Lance’s furrowed brow Carly only laughed harder. She knew it was probably mean, but she couldn’t help it. Lance was the epitome of uptight, stoic soldier, and she truly loved messing with him.

He had tried an intimidation move on her. That was comical. She’d grown up with two army parents and then an army brother. Please. She’d seen it all. What was he planning on doing? Pulling out an AK-47 in the middle of the kitchen?