in. Should I leave?”
“I think that would look worse, don’t you?” Nicole glanced at the clock. It was barely six. “If Red sees you leaving at this hour…” She didn’t need to go on.
“Red’s the biggest gossip in town,” he agreed. “At least, he used to be. We wouldn’t want the town speculating on something that never happened.” He relaxed his stance and shoved one hand into his left front pocket. “Hell, if a guy’s gonna be accused of something memorable, he should at least have the pleasure of doing it first.”
He was teasing her, his knowing eyes full of mischief. But just for the record, to let him know she wasn’t a push-over, she said, “I know where to kick you to make it hurt the most, so if you’ve got any ideas, I suggest you forget them.”
He laughed. “You won’t get any work out of me if I can’t walk, cherie.”
He had a point. Nicole took the necessary steps to close the distance between them, and handed over the glass of water. Then, to make sure Red was truly in the yard, she chanced a quick glance out the door. Sure enough, he was leaning on the hood of his run-down, red Ford pickup, talking to Gran’s handyman, Bickford Arden, the husband to their loyal housekeeper. Several mornings a week the two elderly men went fishing before breakfast. Hoping that was the plan and that they would head to the bayou soon, Nicole turned around to assure Johnny that he could leave shortly, only to find he’d moved closer to her bed and had become very interested in the rumpled satin sheets where she’d tossed and turned half the night.
Color swept into Nicole’s cheeks, and Johnny turned just in time to witness it. “Restless night?”
“The heat,” she responded.
He glanced around the room. Nicole was sure he had no interest in floral wallpaper in Wedgwood-green and gypsy-rose, but his eyes seemed to miss nothing. She doubted that he would be able to quote what the massive bed, bureau and matching vanity were worth on the antique collectors’ market, but, still, his interest was keen as his hand brushed over each piece in obvious appreciation. Finally, he stopped in front of her vanity, his dark eyes finding her in the generous mirror. “Heard you’re staying.”
“Yes, I am,” Nicole assured.
“And the heat?”
“I’ll learn to love it.”
He grinned. “You move too fast. Slow down some. That’ll help.” He emptied his water glass, set it on the vanity, then turned his attention to her lacquered jewelry box. With a flick of his wrist, he flipped the top open and looked inside.
Surprised by his boldness, Nicole stared speechless as he rummaged through her personal items, a piece at a time. Finally, his head came up to capture her reflection once more in the mirror. A minute dragged into two before he let his gaze drop back to her modest assortment of baubles, and he pulled out an inexpensive bracelet. “No shiny rocks, cherie.” He looked at her in the mirror again as if waiting for her to say something. When she didn’t, he returned the bracelet to the box and closed it. “So what’s important to you, Nicki Chapman? It’s obviously not a box full of gold and silver.”
No it wasn’t, Nicole admitted to herself. To some women, expensive jewelry was important, but not to her. Oh, she liked nice things, but she was more a simple pleasures kind of woman. She enjoyed painting a breathtaking sunrise. Walking in a warm summer rain. She thought a bona fide laugh, a beautiful smile, priceless. But those were her private thoughts and she didn’t intend to share them with a stranger.
“Look, Mr. Ber—Johnny, what’s important to me is my business. Yours is doing the job you were hired to do, not asking questions.”
“Does that work both ways? You don’t have any questions for me?”
“It’s not the same thing,” Nicole argued. “I’m not on parole. And I haven’t earned a reputation in this town as a troublemaker.”
Instead of being offended his dark eyes softened and he wagged a finger at her. “Shame on you for listening to the gossip, cherie. You know what they say. Half of it usually isn’t true.”
“And the other half?”
“Sometimes fighting back is the only way you can survive.”
It was clear that he was a man ripened by experience and polished by a predatory edge. Still, was he saying all that was just a false front? That he’d reacted instead of acted? Nicole had done much the same thing, only not in such a grand fashion. She’d donned her L.A.-cool facade to survive the pain she’d left behind, and even before she’d lost her baby, when Chad had walked out on them, she’d pasted a smile of indifference on her face.
She didn’t want to dismiss his offenses so easily, but if she was right, she couldn’t help wondering who or what had prompted his less-than-sterling reputation. Surely not just bad blood between him and Farrel Craig.
She asked, “Why did you ignore Gran’s message to stop by the house yesterday?”
“I didn’t ignore it. I came by.”
“You certainly did not.”
“Yes, I did. I started to fix the dock at the boathouse and lost track of time, but I showed up about nine.” He shrugged. “The place was dark, except for this room. I didn’t knock at the front door because I figured the old lady had gone to bed already.”
Was he telling the truth? Nicole didn’t know, but then, why would he lie? “She waited all afternoon and into the evening. That was inconsiderate. Let’s hope today you find the time. After all, she is the one responsible for getting you out of prison early, Mr. Bernard.”
“Johnny. My friends call me Johnny.”
“Friends?” Nicole arched a brow in a mocking fashion that she knew wouldn’t go unnoticed. “So far, the only friend you have in this town—the only one I’m aware of, anyway—is my grandmother. And I’m still confused as to why she’s so willing, when you don’t appear to appreciate her kindness with even the simplest thank-you.”
Her chastising seemed to amuse him. He said, “Actually I have two friends in this town. Maybe in time I could add you to the list and make it three. What do you say, cherie? Think you could stop disliking me long enough to cut me some slack?”
“Cut you some slack?” Nicole sniffed. “And then what?”
“Then we get on with the reason I’m here.”
“Whether I’m your friend or not, Mr. Bernard, you will do the job Gran expects of you. A full day’s work, plus room and board, for the taste of freedom.”
“Yeah, that was the deal we made. But what about our deal?”
“I don’t understand.”
He gave her another head-to-toe. “You’re not exactly ugly, cherie. If you can get past the gossip and give me a fair shake, I’ll see that I keep my hands in my pockets and my dirty thoughts to myself.” He made a show of stuffing his hands in his back pockets.
Well, that was certainly blunt enough, Nicole thought. “Dirty thoughts are dirty thoughts, Johnny. Maybe the deal should be not having them at all.”
His
