Handsome As Sin

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Merry Christmas to the heroes in my life: my dad, Conway, who told me I could do anything; my husband, Bob, who told me I could sell a book; my son, Kyle, who told his third-grade class that I had sold a book; and my stepson Eric, who sold his plasma at college to buy my first book.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter One

“Just play along with me,” Ellie whispered to the bartender as she leaned against the bar. Her task was hindered by the rather imposing figure of a man who had occupied the same stool ever since the snow began sticking to the street two hours ago.

Josh gave her a conspiratorial smile and a flirtatious wink. “Anything for a beautiful woman.”

“So I hear,” she mumbled under her breath. She was turning away from the bar when she caught the other man’s gaze.

The tall stranger had eyes the color of rare emeralds. A brilliant, sparkling green that reflected the white light overhead.

Normally friendly and outgoing, Ellie Tanner suddenly found herself without a voice. Actually, she amended, it wasn’t that she’d lost her voice, it was more like a total loss for words. What do you say to a man who is as handsome as sin? A man with a perfect smile and even more perfect dimples?

She didn’t have time to contemplate an answer because Mike Avery, his jacket dusted with a damp layer of fresh snow, burst through the door.

“Show time,” she said, sighing.

After taking a second to brush the flakes off his coat, he shrugged it off and deposited it on one of the hooks on the wall. In keeping with one of his many personality flaws, he didn’t seem to care that a small puddle of water was forming on the polished wood floor.

“Why are you here?” she asked without preamble, crossing her arms in front of her chest. In her peripheral vision, she saw the tall, blond stranger remove his Stetson and place it on the bar next to the penny he’d been playing with for the better part of an hour.

Great! she silently fumed. Nothing like an audience.

Mike stepped forward and attempted to place a kiss on her tightly clamped lips. Ellie turned her head at the last second. Mike had to settle for a brief brush against her cheek.

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” he said.

“It isn’t Christmas yet.”

Mike’s eyes narrowed, but her blatant rebuke didn’t seem to be penetrating his thick skull any better than it had back in New York.

Just then, Josh came out from behind the bar and draped his arm across her shoulder. Ellie derived some small amount of satisfaction as she watched her former boyfriend try not to react.

“Josh Richardson, Mike Avery.”

“Nice to meet you,” Josh greeted, extending his hand. “I didn’t know Ellie had any friends here in Charleston.”

Ellie drew her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from laughing aloud. Aside from being a great bartender and an even more legendary leech, Josh was also a very good actor. No, she corrected when she felt him brush his mouth against her hair, he was an excellent actor.

“What’s going on here?” Beth asked as she came over, an empty tray balanced against her slender hip.

Ellie felt a momentary panic. What if Beth gave them away? The last thing she needed was for this well-meaning waitress to tell Mike the truth.

“Miss?”

Ellie was saved by the handsome man at the bar. His Texas accent and deep, sexy voice could not be ignored, especially by the obviously curious Beth. Somewhat reluctantly, Beth walked over to serve the lone customer waiting out the storm.

“What gives here?” Mike asked, his eyes fixed on Ellie.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responded, slipping her arm around Josh’s waist.

If it were physically possible, steam would have poured from Mike’s ears. Instead, his face flushed an angry shade of red.

“You’ve been down here less than a week and you’ve already taken up with this guy?” He hooked his thumb in Josh’s direction as if he were insignificant.

“I’m a quick study,” Josh volunteered, baiting the larger man. “And Ellie sure is a beautiful topic to study.”

He was playing it all wrong, she thought to herself as she gently extracted herself from his arm. “Josh, honey,” she purred. “Why don’t you let me explain things to Mike. Besides...” She turned her eyes toward the bar. What she saw there made her heart skip a beat. Mr. Handsome as Sin was watching her with blatant interest. If that sexy half smile was any indication, he was enjoying the show, too. “You promised Rose you’d keep Chad out of the cherries.”

When her pseudoadmirer spotted the two-year-old reaching into the tray of fruits, Josh abandoned her and raced to the end of the bar. Hesitantly, she turned to face the music.

* * *

THE PENNY WAS SMOOTH as he rubbed it between his fingers. Smooth and satisfying. Jake only wished he had had the time to send it to Greenfield before arriving in Charleston. He’d only been in town a couple hours and already his opinion of the city fell well short of positive. Or at least it had until he’d caught his first glimpse of the tall, willowy woman now seated at one of the round tables arranged near the glow of the fireplace.

This was the South, the place where people came to escape the snow-ladened winters up north. Raising his eyes to the large picture window, he felt himself frown as he watched the steady stream of fluttering white flakes floating down from an ominous gray sky.

“I hate the cold,” he grumbled to the bartender as he turned to rest his elbows on the bar, giving him a front-row view of the couple.

“Where’re ya from?”

“Texas,” Jake answered absently, his attention drawn to the woman’s stunning profile. She was certainly something when she was mad. And she was nothing, if not mad. Whatever that muscle-bound jerk was saying to her had the lady seeing red. He could tell by the way her dainty hands were balled into furious little fists. He could also see it in the way her foot nervously tapped against the floor. But mostly he saw it in the flushed expression on her face.

Then he could hear it. Whoever she was, she wasn’t shy about her feelings. Leaning back, he listened.

“...told you that months ago,” she was saying, or rather shouting.

“Ellie, honey, we both know that you overreacted. You know how emotional you can be.”

“Emotional?” she scoffed. “I’m not being emotional. I’m simply telling you I don’t feel any emotions for you.”

“Muscles” made a grab for her hand. She countered the move as easily as she’d deflected his earlier attempt to kiss her. Jake’s admiration for the woman increased with every passing moment.

She wasn’t a classic beauty, he decided. Her features didn’t have the severe angles or the even distribution of perfection. No, this lady’s mouth was slightly off center, her eyes too far apart. But there was an alluring quality to those blue-gray eyes, rimmed in inky lashes. A certain subtle sensuality that he doubted she was even aware of. No, this woman’s charm was understated and natural. It was apparent in the almost regal way she held her head, totally unconcerned with the few strands of raven black hair that had fallen free from the gold barrette. It was apparent in her choice of cosmetics, or lack thereof, he noted when his eyes fixed on her slightly overfull lips. The rosy hue was a gift from nature, just like the long, shapely legs she crossed and uncrossed as she continued her heated conversation.

“...told you not to come.”

Muscles frowned and loosened the knot of his tie where it met his thick neck. “I know you didn’t mean it, Ellie.”

“I always mean what I say, Mike. Your problem is that you don’t listen.”

He liked her accent. It told him she was from someplace up north. Instead of sounding harsh, it held a certain self-assuredness that he saw mirrored in the determined set of her delicate jaw.

“Ellie, I’ve come all this way,” Muscles argued.

“For nothing,” she told him. “I’m here to spend a nice quiet holiday with my family. And you aren’t family.”

“You didn’t feel that way three months ago.”

She blew an exasperated breath toward the bangs that feathered softly above those incredible eyes. Jake found himself enjoying the part of the voyeur. In fact, this was definitely an interesting way to wait out the unexpected snowstorm that had paralyzed the city.

“It’s over, Mike,” she was telling him. “It’s been over and it will continue to be over.”

“Because of him?” Muscles asked, tilting his large head in the direction of the bar.

Something flashed in the woman’s eyes, but it was gone before Jake could put a proper name to it. He was further distracted from the couple when the waitress stomped up to the bar and scooted between two of the stools. She didn’t give Jake a second look, her eyes were biting into the guy behind the bar.

“Need something?” he heard Josh inquire.

“Rose said to cut everyone off. She doesn’t want us serving alcohol when the roads are this bad.”

“Roads...cars,” said the little boy who had been in and out of the restaurant. He struggled to pull himself up onto the seat next to Jake. “I Chad,” he said, offering a toothy grin.

Jake smiled at the little boy, who looked so much like the woman he’d been admiring. “Jake,” he said, extending his hand to the kid.

“Hat,” Chad returned, pointing to the Stetson Jake had placed on the bar.

Seeing the child’s curiosity, he put the penny down and retrieved his hat, balancing it on the little boy’s dark head.

“Hat,” he said again.

“Expensive hat,” Jake told him.

But before he’d gotten the last word out, the child had bounded from the stool and scurried off behind the metal doors that led to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry,” the bartender said. “He’ll bring it back as soon as he shows it to Rose.”

Reluctantly Jake turned away from the couple and looked at the bartender. “Rose?”

“One of the owners. Chad’s folks own the other half.”

“Her?” he asked, indicating Ellie.

The bartender’s grin bordered on wolfish. “Nope, luckily for me, she’s a free agent.”

Jake had to agree. Especially when he turned back and saw that she had gotten to her feet. He placed her body in the delectable category. Curves, but not overdone. The floral-print dress clung to her in all the right places, yet left enough to the imagination to inspire a few fantasies.

“You’re a lucky man,” he said as he turned back to the bar. “She’s a pretty lady.”

After draping the towel over his shoulder, Josh leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the couple. “I can’t believe that loser followed her all the way here from New York.”

“I can,” Jake said under his breath. If she was his lady, he’d definitely keep her within arm’s reach. In fact, he thought, continuing to fantasize as he turned back around, he could think of a whole list of things he’d do if he had a woman like that.

He would not, however, have his hand in a viselike grip on her upper arm. Jake waited, thinking Josh should intercede. Even though the lady was tall, Muscles outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. He could tell by the wince on her face that he was hurting her.

Sensing the bartender wasn’t going to spring into action, he stepped from the stool, his boots scraping the floor as he calmly sauntered over.

“Afternoon,” he drawled, fixing his eyes on Muscles.

“Yes?” the man returned, clearly irritated by the intrusion. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”

Jake hoisted one foot onto the seat of the chair and sighed pensively. “That’s not how I see it. The way you’ve been yelling and carrying on, most everybody here knows the lady doesn’t want you around.”

“I can handle this,” she interrupted, placing her hand against Jake’s forearm.

He made a point of looking at her then. Her eyes were even more blue up close.

“I’m sure you can, ma’am,” he answered easily. “But my mama wouldn’t hold too kindly if I was to let this guy get away with roughing you up that way.”

As if just aware of it, she looked to where Muscles’ thick fingers circled her upper arm. “Let go,” she said in a soft command.

“We need to talk,” Muscles argued. “Alone,” he added with a dismissive glare at Jake.

“Seems to me,” he began slowly, “the lady pretty much said all she needed to say. I believe she gave you your walking papers.”

“Back off,” Muscles warned as an angry red stain seeped up over his collar. “This is between me and my fiancée.”

“Ex-fiancée,” she corrected. “I’m involved with Josh now. Right Josh?” she called across the room.

“Anything you say, sugar,” he answered with a wink.

The other waitress, the one they called Beth, groaned. Jake had to admit he shared the sentiment. The bartender didn’t seem like much of an improvement over this clown.

“You haven’t been here long enough to get involved with anyone,” Muscles argued.

“What can I say?” She sighed heavily as her lashes fluttered over her eyes. “Love at first sight.”

“Which brings me back to my original point, friend,” Jake interjected. “I think the lady has made it pretty clear that you aren’t welcome here.” Jake lowered his leg and took a step so that he was right up in the other man’s face. “I believe she asked you to leave. Now.”

“Josh!” Ellie called, her voice slightly panicked. “I think you’d better get over here.”

The bartender came over and got between the two men. “Rose doesn’t allow fighting. You two have a problem, take it outside.”

“I don’t have a problem,” Jake said. “I was only doing your job.”

Ellie rubbed her hands over her face and said, “Mike, you have to leave. You should never have come here in the first place.”

She watched the indecision on his face and silently prayed he would comply. The last thing she wanted or needed was for this collection of men to start brawling in the middle of her sister-in-law’s restaurant. Dylan would kill her.

“Please, Mike?” she asked in a softer tone.

“For now,” he grunted before turning on his heel and heading for the door. Angrily, he yanked his coat from the hook on the wall, nearly pulling the hook out along with the jacket.

“Be careful,” she called out. “The roads are really slippery.”

Mike’s only response was to slam the door. The action shook the ornaments on the Christmas tree perched in the far corner of the room.

“Thanks,” she said to Josh, then turned her attention to the tall, handsome man.

Having him in such close proximity made her breath catch in her throat. His hair was blond and stylishly long, falling well below the collar of his chambray shirt. She could just make out the impression of the hat she’d seen her nephew Chad race off with a few minutes earlier. But it was his eyes that had stolen the starch from her knees. They were so clear and green that she had the uncomfortable feeling that he could see right into her thoughts.

In order to talk to him, Ellie had to lift her chin. It was an unusual occurrence; at nearly six feet tall, she rarely had to look up to a man. “There wasn’t any need for you to intercede,” she told him firmly but politely.

“I didn’t see it that way,” he drawled in a sexy Southern accent that told her he wasn’t a native of the area. “My mama was real clear on protecting the fairer sex.”

Ellie felt her blood begin to boil and it had nothing to do with his display of even white teeth or those boyishly charming dimples on either side of his mouth. “Josh and I had things under control. Didn’t we, Josh?”

The bartender shrugged. “I could have taken him. No problem.”

The tall man said nothing. He didn’t have to. He had a full vocabulary of eloquent looks that easily communicated his doubts.

Chad came bouncing back into the room then, followed by Rose. The hat was still clutched in the little boy’s chubby fingers. He raced over to the tall man and thrust the hat forward. “Jake’s hat,” he announced.

Rose wasn’t as quick as the small child, possibly because of her stiletto heels, or then again, it might have had something to do with her skintight Lycra pants. Though her choice of clothing was showy, her smile was genuine.

“Are you the one dumb enough to let him get his hands on an expensive thing like this?” Rose asked as she wrestled the hat away from Chad.

“Guilty as charged,” he answered easily. “He’s a cute kid. Really bright.”

Ellie was gaping at the tall man, wondering where on earth the uneducated, good-ol’-boy drawl had gone. He was speaking to Rose in the polished voice of a professional.

“Rose Porter,” she introduced.

“Jake Devereaux,” he said as he shook the woman’s hand.

Then, turning slightly amused eyes on Ellie, he asked, “And you are?”

“Ellie Tanner.”

“And the guy with the neck the same size as his thigh?”

She tried not to smile. “Mike Avery. We work together back in Albany.”

“More than work,” Jake speculated. “I got the impression he wanted you home for the holidays.”

Jake was about six feet four inches of trouble. Ellie sensed it in the same way a small animal senses a predator. He was a lankier, smarter version of Mike, so she decided immediately to nip her own curiosity in the bud. It was fairly easy to accomplish, especially when she looked up and saw the smug look in his emerald eyes.

“Sorry to do this to you, Jake, but I’m closing the Tattoo, so you’ll have to be on your way,” Rose announced. “The roads are only supposed to get worse and I doubt we’ll be inundated with business.”

“We’re closing?” Beth asked. When Rose nodded, the waitress’s lower lip protruded in a definite pout. “But I need the tips. I’ve got a new coat on layaway that I—”

“You shouldn’t buy things you can’t afford,” Rose interrupted. “Besides, take a look outside. I don’t think the good people of Charleston will want to risk life and limb for a plate of grilled sea bass.”

“Hey, Ellie,” Josh began as he placed a hand at her waist. “How about giving me a lift home? I’m no good at driving in the snow.”

“I can take you,” Beth suggested. “You live on my way.”

Josh laughed. “You’re no better at driving in this stuff than I am. I think I’d rather put my life in the hands of a pro.”

“Organize yourselves quickly,” Rose insisted. “I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“What about Chad?” Ellie asked. “You want me to take him with me?”

Rose shook her head. Thanks to an abundance of hair spray, not a single teased curl came free. “The house is less than a mile away and I promised him we’d stop at the toy store to see if they have any sleds. This may be his one and only chance to go sledding.”

“Tell Shelby I’ll be home soon, then. Let’s get our coats,” she suggested. Ellie was careful not to make eye contact with Jake as she led the others toward the kitchen.

The coats were all piled in a small closet near the rear exit. Everyone bundled up, wrapping layer upon layer of mismatched winter gear on their bodies. Ellie smiled but said nothing. She guessed these Southerners would freeze to death inside a week back in Albany. This was a simple snow shower. They were dressing as if Charleston was about to experience a blizzard instead of the predicted inch and a half.

“The front door,” Rose said with a groan as soon as she’d hoisted Chad and his ten pounds of coat, hat, mittens and scarf into her arms. “I forgot to lock it after that Jake fellow.”

“I’ll lock it,” Ellie offered.

“Don’t be long,” Josh purred.

Rose gave him an admonishing look and Beth simply grunted at the lecherous suggestion behind the words.

Thanks to years as a criminologist for the New York State Police, Ellie was quite comfortable walking through a strange place in dim lighting.

There was, however, just enough light spilling through the windows for her to see him well. Too well. Jake Devereaux was behind the bar, with both hands inside the cash register.

Chapter Two

Ellie let out a yell that brought Josh and Beth racing from the kitchen. The next few minutes went by in a flurry of arms, legs, punches and grunts.

Upon seeing the melee, Rose shielded Chad’s face from the violence as the two men tumbled out from behind the bar. The struggle continued as chairs were toppled and tables were upended.

“Watch the tree!” Rose called as the men skittered across the floor, dangerously close.

“Watch his right!” Beth called too late.

They grimaced in unison when Jake’s fist landed solidly against the other man’s cheek.

“Stop it,” Ellie heard Jake exclaim as he dodged blows as effortlessly as a professional. “I can explain.”

“Thief,” Josh growled as he butted Jake with his head.

The two men went sailing backward. Ellie heard Rose exclaim, “Oh my God,” a fraction of a second before the Christmas tree came crashing down.

Glass shattered and several of the lights exploded in a series of multicolored pops.

“Do something,” Beth whined.

Ellie, thinking this was not an appropriate thing for her nephew to see, went into the fray and grabbed Josh by the back of his coat. “Stop this right now,” she insisted as she gave a hard jerk. It wasn’t her strength but probably the fact that her action caused his shirt to act like a noose. Whatever the reason, it earned her Josh’s cooperation. Instinctively she knew Jake wouldn’t continue the fight. With the exception of a few punches meant to deter the aggressor, Jake had gone out of his way to keep from hurting the bartender. Still, seeing his readied stance and balled fists, Ellie had no doubt that this man could pound Josh into a bloody pulp with little or no effort.

“What is going on here?” she demanded as she watched Josh struggle for breath.

Jake tested his jaw by opening and closing his mouth in an exaggerated action. “I was looking for something.”

“Money?” Rose accused, one brow arched toward the mass of lacquered hair.

“My money,” Jake corrected. “I had a special coin with me that he must have—”

“Yeah, right,” Josh grumbled. “And to think I didn’t even charge you for the cup of coffee.”

“Thanks,” Jake answered wryly. “But the point remains that I had this item with me when I came in—”

“And you think that gives you the right to break into my register?” Rose said with a sneer.

“I was out the door before I realized I didn’t have it,” Jake explained. “I thought you all had left so I simply went looking for it on my own.”

“Call the police,” Beth insisted. “He’s probably wanted.”

Jake didn’t even flinch at the suggestion. Instead, he took a moment to pull several strands of tinsel from the front of his jeans. “I can assure you, I am not a thief and I was only looking for something that belonged to me. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you check the amount of cash in the drawer. You’ll probably find that your cash drawer is exactly one cent over.”