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Penny Sue sighed. “You might as well know before you meet everyone tonight. The Paine family is…well, we’re the town eccentrics. You know, slightly peculiar. Just a bit off center. We tend to do things our own way. And the women in our family are the worst. I suppose that’s why so many Paine women die old maids. It’s not that we don’t want husbands, it’s just that we seem to intimidate most men.
“We’re all considered beauties and we can attract men like bears to honey, but we can’t seem to keep a man once he realizes how independent and opinionated we are. Even Aunt Dottie, who is the sweetest thing, wasn’t able to land a husband. And one of her fiancés turned out to be a swindler who ran off with a large chunk of her money and broke her heart to boot. And then there was my one and only fiancé—he didn’t leave with any of my money, but he did run off with the Baptist preacher’s wife only a couple of weeks before our wedding. And what made it even more of a scandal was the fact the woman was my cousin.
“Valerie’s last name might have been Paine, but she takes after her mother’s side of the family, which means she’s not a true Paine. You’ll meet her tonight. If you’re like most men, you’ll take one look at her and think she’s easy, if you know what I mean. And you’d be right. She gets that from her mother’s side of the family, too. The Paine women are known for their modesty and their ladylike manners. Aunt Lottie and Aunt Dottie, Cousin Eula, Cousin Stacie and—”
He dropped his case to the sidewalk and then grabbed her by the shoulders. For half a second she thought he was going to shake her. He didn’t. The very instant she stopped talking, he released her. But not before every nerve ending in her entire body had gone to full alert. She’d been startled by his abrupt action, but not afraid. His touch had been firm yet gentle and the feel of his large, strong hands had sent a tingling sensation through her whole body.
She gazed up at him, into those stern hazel-blue eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“Ms. Paine, all I asked was why your aunt left her fortune to a dog.”
Penny Sue laughed. “Oh, my, so you did. You’ll have to forgive me, Mr. Noble—by the way, may I call you Vic? I’d like it if you called me Penny Sue. Everyone does. Well, not everyone in the whole world because I don’t know everyone in the whole world, but everyone in Alabaster Creek and—”
He grabbed her shoulders again and this time he did shake her. Once. A very gentle shake, but enough to quiet her. She gazed up at him and smiled. “I was doing it again, wasn’t I? I tend to get off track. It’s another family trait—giving too many details. Aunt Lottie always scolded me for digressing.”
She glanced at his big hands still clutching her shoulders. He released her immediately.
“Do you suppose you could manage to answer my questions in two sentences or less?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. But I could try.” She reached up and smoothed his wrinkled brow with her fingertips. He jerked back as if her touch had burned him. “You really should smile more, Vic. You’re a very good-looking man, but frowning all the time isn’t very attractive.”
“Ms. Paine—”
“Penny Sue.”
He heaved a deep, exasperated sigh. Was he annoyed with her? Probably. Just a tad. Silly of him, of course, to get so bent out of shape over nothing.
“Penny Sue,” he said. “How about we try yes and no answers?”
“All right. Does that mean you’ll ask me a question and I’ll say either yes or no?”
“That’s what it means.”
“All right. Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go on home. If we stand out here in front of the Kimbrew house for much longer, Oren Kimbrew will come out here and ask us what we’re up to. He grows prize-winning roses and for the past two years, Aunt Dottie’s roses have won first place in every contest in which they competed against each other. So when he sees any member of the Paine family near his house, he accuses us of trying to sabotage his roses.”
Vic picked up his case with one hand and using the other hand, grabbed her arm and spurred her into motion, leading her up the block in an all-fired hurry. If she hadn’t been so perturbed by his actions, she’d have noticed sooner that once again her body was tingling all over just from his touch.
“Vic?”
“Hush, will you?” After drawing in a deep breath, he added, “Please.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I know better. Tell me.”
Without looking at her, but holding on to her arm and keeping up their fast pace down the sidewalk, Vic said, “I’ve never met a woman who talked so much and said so little.”
Penny Sue balked. He yanked on her arm, but she wouldn’t budge. He let go of her.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say,” she told him.
“You’re right. It wasn’t. I tend to say exactly what I think. If you want an apology, then I’ll apologize.”
“No, don’t bother. It wouldn’t be sincere. And an insincere apology is worse than no apology at all.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Penny Sue pursed her lips into a little pout. Tears moistened her eyes. Her chin trembled. There was no excuse for being rude. Well, maybe one. If Vic was a Yankee, she might be able to overlook his comment. But she could tell by his accent that he had been raised somewhere in the South, probably farther north than Alabama. Virginia or Kentucky. But even in those states, people were taught good manners, weren’t they?
He studied her for a couple of minutes. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
She sniffled. “Would you please put that into a question I can answer by either yes or no.”
He glared at her. She glanced away, refusing to look at him. Since they were going to be spending a great deal of time together during the next few weeks, he needed to learn right now that she would not tolerate bad manners, especially not from an employee.
“Did I hurt your feelings?” he asked, his manner downright surly.
“Yes.”
“Will you accept my apology?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
She gasped. It was a fake gasp, but he didn’t know that.
“Don’t tell me—you’re offended by my saying hell?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He blew out an irritated huff. “Look, lady, I’m a man. I occasionally use profanity. And my manners aren’t all they could be. But you didn’t hire me because I’m a gentleman. You hired me because I’m a professional. Can we agree on that?”
“Yes.”
“Then will you accept my apology?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Lifting her head just enough to indicate indifference, she glanced right and then left. He needed to be taught the proper way to deal with a Paine woman. And the sooner, the better.
“You’re not answering because you’re sticking with the yes or no responses I asked you to give,” he said. “Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t mean it so literally,” he told her. “I just wanted to find a way to cut your never-ending explanations to a minimum of words. Feel free to elaborate beyond yes and no.” When she opened her mouth as if to speak, he held up a restraining hand. “Brief elaboration.”
“No.”
“Ms. Paine!”
She glared at him.
Then he said, “Penny Sue?”
She softened her gaze just a little, enough to let him know she was considering the possibility of being agreeable. “Yes?”
“I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. Is that all right?”
“Yes.” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
He glanced from her face to her bosom, then swallowed hard and looked her right in the eyes. “I didn’t want this assignment. I consider it frivolous and silly. My background qualifies me for just about anything the Dundee agency can throw my way, however, I think I’m just a little overqualified to guard a millionaire dog. But I’m here until another agent can take my place, so that means you and I have to work together on a daily basis. I think it will be to both your advantage and mine if we can be civil to each other. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then will you start saying something other than yes and no?”
“Maybe.”
When he grunted and rolled his eyes heavenward, Penny Sue grinned, then walked off and left him standing on the corner of Elm Avenue and First Street.
Penny Sue Paine hadn’t said anything else to him on their walk to 413 First Street. He had taken his cue from her and remained silent. He’d never been very good at having to deal with a woman on a personal basis. Usually the female clients he worked with on Dundee assignments were normal women, often either a woman in jeopardy herself or the wife of a man in trouble. And when he was physically attracted to a client, he never made the first move and always waited to see if the attraction went both ways. On a couple of occasions, he’d had a brief affair with a client, but as a general rule, things remained strictly business. Any woman he encountered knew up-front that he wasn’t interested in anything beyond a physical relationship.
But this drop-dead-gorgeous, Southern-belle chatterbox was unlike any woman he’d ever known. One minute he wanted to gag her and the next minute he wanted to kiss her.
Would he like to make love to Penny Sue Paine? Damn right he would. Any red-blooded man would want her. But after spending less than an hour with her this afternoon, he understood why she was still single, why, as she had told him, most of the Paine women died old maids. If all the others, past and present, were or had been anything like she was…
“This is it,” Penny Sue said.
Surprised that she’d spoken, he snapped his head around and looked at her. She was gazing at the house at the end of the sidewalk. Three stories high and covered with elaborate wooden trim, the pink-and-green Victorian structure looked like something from the past. A grand old lady who was well preserved.
Penny Sue reached for the handle on the fancy black iron gate attached to the decorative iron fence that surrounded the large triple lot on which the Paine house sat. Vic slipped his arm alongside hers and flipped the latch, then moved to her side and opened the gate for her. She smiled, tilted her head in an I’m-pleased-with-you gesture and sauntered up the brick walkway in front of him. Following several feet behind her, he watched the seductive sway of her hips and wondered if she realized that with every move, her body was flirting, sending out come-here-big-boy signals. If she was as modest and well-mannered as she’d said the Paine women were, then she probably didn’t know. The fact that she was a sexy woman who wasn’t fully aware of just how sexy she was made her all the more desirable.
Desirable, yes. But off limits to you, he reminded himself.
He followed behind her like an obedient servant—or a devoted lap dog. Inwardly he cringed. Was this how his next few weeks would be spent? He and Lucky traipsing along behind Miss Penny Sue?
He had every intention of calling Daisy first thing in the morning to tell her he wanted out of this job ASAP. He’d forego any overtime pay if she could get him out of Alabaster Creek and away from Penny Sue. If the woman didn’t drive him crazy first, he’d wind up dragging her off to a dark corner somewhere and having his way with her. And if their relationship reached that stage, there would be hell to pay. This was no one-night-stand kind of gal. No, this one would want orange blossoms and wedding bells. As far as he was concerned that was too high a price to pay for a piece of ass, no matter how shapely that ass might be.
When they approached the front door, it flew open and a gray Siamese cat zipped out onto the porch and past them, pausing long enough to hiss at them before running into the yard.
“Get back here, you naughty boy,” the woman standing in the doorway cried. “That cat will be the death of me. His antics play havoc on my poor nerves.” She looked Vic over, studied him admiringly and smiled. “Well, hello. Who are you?”
“Aunt Dottie, this is Mr. Noble,” Penny Sue said. “He’s the bodyguard I hired for Lucky. He’ll be staying with us for a while.”
The woman’s keen black eyes opened wide. “You’ve hired a bodyguard for—”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Penny Sue told her aunt. “Val stopped by the shop earlier and told me all about the meeting here tonight.”
“Oh, dear, you aren’t angry with me, are you? Val can be so persuasive. And I didn’t see what harm it would do for the family to get together and discuss things.”
Vic wondered just how old Aunt Dottie was. Past sixty, maybe even past seventy. She was tiny, no more than five-one and possibly a hundred pounds soaking wet. Her hair was short, stylish and jet-black. Her face was as smooth as a baby’s butt, the skin drawn tightly over her cheeks and forehead. He’d bet his last dollar that the lady had undergone more than one facelift. Even with the changes age and cosmetic surgery had done to her face, it was obvious that Dottie Paine had once been a young beauty and there was a strong family resemblance between her and her niece.
“There really isn’t anything to discuss.” Penny Sue confronted her aunt, who backed down immediately and eased into the foyer. “I’ve hired a bodyguard for Lucky, to protect him from a potential killer. And I’m using the money Aunt Lottie left Lucky to pay for Mr. Noble’s bodyguard duties as well as his investigative skills.”
“He’s an investigator, too?” Dottie asked.
“Come in, please, Vic.” Penny Sue motioned for him to enter the house, so he complied with her wishes.
Just as Penny Sue started to close the door, Dottie cried out, “I can’t leave Puff outside. He’s liable to run off and Lord knows what would happen to him. He’s not accustomed to life on the street.”
Penny Sue shut the door. Dottie gasped.
“Oh, pooh. That spoiled cat isn’t going anywhere,” Penny Sue said. “He’ll be scratching on the door in a couple of minutes.”
Dottie eyed Vic. He tried to ignore the old woman’s scrutiny.
“Do you think it proper for him to stay here in the house with us?” Dottie asked. “After all, he’s a man and we’re two single ladies. You know how people talk.”
“Ruby and Tully live here, too,” Penny Sue said. “Besides, what do we care about wagging tongues?”
“Who are Ruby and Tully?” Vic asked.
“They’re the housekeeper and her husband,” Dottie replied. “He’s the gardener and does all the upkeep around the place. They have two rooms in the back. They used to live in their own house, but once their children grew up and moved away, we agreed it would be nice all the way around to have them living in.”
“Oh.” A high percentage of Dundee clients were wealthy and therefore had servants. Some servants were treated like members of the family, while others were treated little better than serfs. His mother, who’d cleaned houses for several well-to-do families back in Lafayette, Kentucky, had been treated like trash.
Turning to her aunt, Penny Sue asked, “Did you let Ruby know we’re having guests over this evening?”
“Of course,” Dottie replied. “I told her just coffee and tea, along with some little sandwiches and perhaps some homemade cookies or tarts.”
Penny Sue glanced at Vic. “We would normally serve wine, too, but Cousin Clayton is a minister and he frowns on liquor of any kind.”
“Believe me, Mr. Noble, Clayton would preach us all a sermon if we served liquor.” Dottie tsk-tsked. “The man’s a fanatic, if you ask me. Can you imagine anyone being rude enough to tell me that I shouldn’t dye my hair and wear so much makeup because it’s pure vanity and vanity is a sin?”
“Clayton was a real hell-raiser when he was a boy, but when he went off to college he met Phyllis, whose father and brother were both ministers, and before we knew what was happening, Clayton got religion and up and joined that Unity Church,” Penny Sue explained. “Generations of Paines turned over in their graves when that happened. We’ve been Methodists since the first Paine set foot on American soil.”
“Valerie married a Baptist preacher, the first time,” Dottie said. “That was another disappointment for the family. But she got a divorce and remarried. Dylan is a good Methodist boy. He used to come to church every Sunday with Penny Sue, back when—” As if suddenly realizing she had said something inappropriate, Dottie hushed immediately. Her rouged cheeks darkened. She cleared her throat and changed the subject as she looked at her niece. “Perhaps you should show Mr. Noble up to his room. Douglas’s old room should do nicely.”
God, yes, Vic thought, show me to my room. He needed some time alone after listening to these two chirping Paine women rattle on and on about nothing.
“I asked Ruby to air out both Uncle Douglas’s old room and Daddy’s as well,” Penny Sue said, “so Mr. Noble can choose which he would prefer.”
Both women looked at him and smiled. He forced the corners of his mouth to lift in a hint of a smile.
“What a good idea.” Dottie patted Vic on the arm. “They’re both lovely rooms. And very masculine.” Suddenly the old woman gasped. “Did you hear that? I believe it’s Puff.”
They all listened to the mewing and scratching sounds coming from outside the front door. Dottie rushed out of the room and into the foyer.
“We might as well go on up,” Penny Sue said. “As soon as she brings Puff inside, she’ll take him out to the kitchen and give him a treat of some kind. And while she’s in the kitchen, she’ll have Ruby fix her a cup of tea and they’ll talk about dinner tonight.”
Vic nodded.
Penny Sue stared at him as if expecting him to respond in some way. He didn’t know what to say, had no idea what she wanted from him.
“I asked Ruby to prepare stuffed pork chops tonight,” Penny Sue said. “Do you like—”
“Yes,” he replied.
“If you have any special dietary needs—”
“I don’t.”
“Do you prefer your coffee black or—”
“Black.”
“Can’t you let me finish a sentence!” She glared at him, her chocolate-brown eyes focused on his face and her full, soft mouth closed in a frown.
Without giving any thought to what he was doing, he reached out and brushed his fingertips over her forehead. “You’re a beautiful woman, Ms. Paine, but frowning isn’t very attractive.”
His fingertips lingered a little too long, edging across and down to her cheek. She sucked in her breath. Her eyes widened as their gazes locked. Suddenly she smiled and it was as if everything wrong in the world suddenly became right.
Vic snatched his hand away. What the hell was the matter with him?
“Nothing like having your own words come back to condemn you,” she said.
Doing his best not to look right at her, he nodded. “How about showing me to my room?”
“Certainly. Follow me.”
She led him up the wide wooden stairs covered with a plush burgundy carpet runner. The banisters were intricately carved and had been stained a dark walnut to match the steps and the flooring in the foyer and upstairs hallway. Although the house was old and the furniture antiques, the interior had a warm, homey feel to it.
“Did you grow up in this house?” he asked when they reached the landing.
“As a matter of fact, I did. My mother died when I was four and Daddy and I came here to live at the old homestead with my aunts.”
“So your aunts were your surrogate mothers?”
“Most definitely. I suppose that’s why I’m a real Paine, through and through. Although my auburn hair and my full figure came from my mother. She was a Bailey from over in Tishomingo, Mississippi. Her daddy, my granddaddy Bailey, was a pharmacist and her mother a teacher. I used to visit them often when I was growing up, but they both died before I turned twelve. They’d been older when they married and had my mama. She was an only child.
“I was very fortunate that my daddy had two old maid sisters who both doted on me. It was like having two mothers. Although I have to admit, sometimes I felt a bit like a bone being tugged on at both ends by a couple of determined dogs. Aunt Lottie was the disciplinarian whereas Aunt Dottie let me get away with murder. I suppose it all evened out in the end, but—”
“TMI,” Vic blurted out, his head spinning from listening to this chattering woman.
“I beg your pardon?” She cocked her pretty little head and stared at him questioningly.
“Too much information, Ms. Penny Sue.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. Wide. Full. Moist. His body hardened instantly when he thought about what her soft, moist mouth could do to him.
Then she licked her lips, running her tongue in a circular motion. “Is my lipstick smeared?” she asked. “Or do I have something in my—”
“Just show me to my room, okay?” He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but damn it, she unnerved him. “I need to check in with headquarters, unpack, and read over the file folder on Lucky.”
“Yes, of course. The rooms are this way.” She indicated left, then took several tentative steps down the hallway.
“Where does Lucky sleep?” Vic asked.
“What? Oh, Lucky used to sleep with Aunt Lottie. Now, he sleeps with me. If he’s not with me, he whines and cries all night.”
Lucky was a damn lucky dog to sleep in Penny Sue’s bed every night.
“And where is your room?”
She looked in the opposite direction, to the rooms on the right. “First door, down that way. It used to be Grandmother Paine’s room. It’s the largest room in the house and has a small attached room in the turret. That used to be the nursery.”
“Is there a bed in the turret room?”
“Yes, a day bed.”
“I’ll sleep there.”
“You can’t.”
“Why can’t I?” he asked.
“Well, it wouldn’t be proper, that’s why. There is a connecting door between the old nursery and my bedroom. Besides, you wouldn’t have your own bathroom and—”
“Okay, okay.” He held up a restraining hand. “No need to elaborate. Tonight, I’ll sleep in one of the other bedrooms. Down there.” He motioned toward the rooms on the left. “But if I’m still on this assignment tomorrow night, after we bring Lucky home—”
“What do you mean, if you’re still on this assignment?”
Vic groaned. “Dundee sent me because there was no other agent available. I’ve been promised a replacement as soon as possible, which I’m hoping will be tomorrow.”
Penny Sue tilted her chin and stuck her cute little nose up in the air. “I take it that you don’t like Alabaster Creek.”
“It’s okay. I just don’t want this job.”
“Am I the reason you’re in such a hurry for your employer to send in a new agent? You don’t like me, do you?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Then you do like me?”
He huffed. “Yes, I like you.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“My liking you is the problem.”
“Oh.”
“Now that we have that settled…”
“The second and third rooms down the hall. Take your pick,” Penny Sue said, a self-satisfied look on her face. “I have things to do myself, to get ready for tonight. But if you need anything, just let me know. I want your stay, however brief, to be a pleasant one.”
“Thanks.”
She turned and walked away, but then she stopped midway down the stairs and called back to him. “I like you, too. And I hope Dundee never sends another agent.”
Chapter 3
“Get me out of here. I don’t care how you do it, just get me the hell out of Alabama. And the sooner, the better.”
“Things can’t be that bad, can they?” Daisy asked, amusement in her voice. “After all, you just arrived there a few hours ago.”
“Are you laughing?”
“Laughing? Me?” She smothered a giggle. “I’m simply amazed that you’re this uptight about an assignment. I’ve never seen you flustered.”
“I’m not flustered,” Vic growled.
“Oh, no, of course not. You’re upset because—”
“I’m not upset. I just want off this stupid assignment.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened.” I’ve got the hots for Penny Sue Paine, that’s what happened, he thought, but he wasn’t about to confide that embarrassing bit of information to Daisy. After all, he had a reputation to uphold, didn’t he? Everyone at Dundee thought of him as Mr. Cool.