Penny Sykes felt the flutter of her skirt around her thighs as she strode into the lobby of the Casa Blanca Resort & Spa. It cooled the heat of the day from her legs. And it was just the heat that caused the warmth that coursed through her veins. Of course it was. What else could it be?
Certainly not the charming, gorgeous, well-proportioned man she’d bumped into in the street. And those eyes! Blue enough to swim in.
But, no. It was the heat.
“Hey, Penny. Enjoy your walk? The weather is so nice this time of year and it’s only about seventy degrees out.”
Penny tried to grin at Tori, the one friend she’d made since arriving two days ago, but failed.
“Is everything okay?” Tori asked running her hand up Penny’s arm. “You look…flushed.”
“It’s hot out.”
Tori Drake, owner of J&T Housekeeping and a Florida native, smiled. “I thought you came from Alabama. You should be used to southern spring temperatures.”
“Yeah. Until I met… Damn, I didn’t get his name.”
Tori laughed. “Don’t worry, honey. If he’s visiting, he’ll end up here. Same goes if he lives here. Gotta get back to work. See ya.”
They exchanged waves and went their separate ways. Penny took the elevator to her floor and slid her door key. The light glowed green and she went inside to wallow in luxury. And memories of a tall, handsome stranger.
The suite, yes, suite, was decorated in an upscale beach theme. Blues and greens predominated. The furniture was real rattan, the ceiling fan white and unobtrusive, the bathroom was a mini-spa. The balcony overlooked the Gulf.
“Time to cool off.”
Penny dropped her clothes onto a chair in her bedroom. Her bikini was red. The bandeau top crisscrossed between her breasts and left her shoulders bare for even tanning. The bottoms had ruching that ran across her abdomen. Patting her flat stomach, she slipped on her sandals, gathered a cover-up, sun glasses and a hair band and started out. At the last minute she whirled back to get her sunscreen.
No way was she going to burn up then have to hide in her room. As lovely as the weather was, she wanted to be outside.
The hall was cool making the air feel balmy outside. The humidity was low, the sun was high and she had the whole day to herself. The only one expecting her was a masseuse at four p.m. Setting her things down on a lounge chair by the pool she gave a little shiver. The air was cooling off pretty early today, or maybe blue eyes were responsible for her little heat flash earlier.
Wouldn’t that be nice? It would be nicer if he showed up here at Casa Blanca so she didn’t have to go looking for him. She chuckled. She may have decided to change her whole life but she probably couldn’t change her personality. As if she’d go chasing after a man. Any man.
She’d learned that lesson the hard way. Her father wouldn’t be chased. He’d run the family farm the way he always had: with a one-track mind and head harder than the rocks in the fields that he cursed. He hadn’t allowed her to follow in his footsteps. She was a girl. Everyone knew that girls didn’t run farms. They didn’t plow or plant, they couldn’t take care of dairy cattle and they didn’t know enough to handle the books. So he’d spent eighteen hours a day making a small fortune and trying to buy her things she didn’t want. Girlie things.
Never mind how many times I pulled calves right next to him or drove the tractor when one of the men was too hungover to handle the noise and bouncing of the big machine.
“Stop it, Penny,” she mumbled. She put her hands together over her head and dove into the deep end of the pool.
When her head popped up out of the water she heard the lifeguard whistle. “No diving,” he said pointing at her.
“Sorry.” Embarrassment had her jackknifing under the water and swimming the length of the pool. This time when she surfaced she lifted her head and started doing laps without looking left or right. She spotted a mother with a toddler in the baby pool. Penny felt quite safe with the bored lifeguard watching her. Churning through the water should have allowed her to empty her mind but, no, Mr. Blue Eyes popped up every time her brain wandered. I don’t have any idea what color the lifeguard’s eyes are, so why does Mr. Blue Eyes push everything out of my mind? Ten laps later she decided that was enough exercise for vacation. She walked up the steps and headed for her chaise where her towel was neatly folded.
Penny noticed the heat in the lifeguard’s eyes. She also saw a tanned, shaggy haired man notice. The man snapped his fingers and said, “Eyes on the prize, Jerry.”
Jerry grinned and laughed. “They were.”
Penny dropped her eyes to hide her grin. Two in one day. Cool.
Clayton cruised around the pool deck and smiled at her. “Enjoying your stay, miss?” he asked Penny.
She smiled back at him. “Yes, I am. You work here?”
“You could say that. I married the owner.”
Penny laughed. “Nice work if you can get it.”
He grinned. “Enjoy your stay,” he said and walked on.
Penny lay back and slathered sun block all over her chest, arms, face and legs. She felt like a fish about to be baked in aluminum foil. But Mr. Blue Eyes wouldn’t leave her alone. Who knew daydreams could be so vivid, so real? He was charming and witty and worked as a private eye. He needed help with a case. A dangerous case involving an international kidnapping and a…jewel thief. She sighed.
“Well, well, look what we have here.”
Penny’s eyes popped open. Confused by her short nap, she blurted, “Did you find him?”
“Find who?”
Suddenly remembering her town meeting with Mr. Blue Eyes, and pushing her daydream ruthlessly to the back of her mind, she rubbed her eyes. “No one. Forget I said anything.”
“You were dreaming. Must have been a good one.”
Squinting into the sun, she said, “Why do you say that?”
* * *
The man stepped around the chaise she lay on. He’d probably seen a few bikinis in his time but hers seemed to fascinate him. She watched as he slowly circled her with his eyes focused on her fire engine red bikini. The cross-cross design highlighted her breasts and the ruching across her stomach emphasized her flat stomach. She knew. She’d studied it before buying it. The man sat down on the empty chaise lounge next to her.
“That’s better, isn’t it?” he asked.
She had tracked his progress around her and was finally able to see him with sun shining on his face. It’s him. “It’s you, the man from town.”
“Sounds like a spy novel. ‘The Man from Town,’” he intoned in a deep voice.
“Maybe a private investigator novel.”
“Okay. Have it your way.”
“I think I’m still half asleep. Why did you think I was dreaming?”
“You sighed. A long, drawn out sigh…of pleasure.”
She felt her cheeks go pink. “Quite an imagination you have there.”
“It was quite a sigh.”
She frowned. “Let’s change the subject.” He grinned. “Who are you?”
“I’m Cash Wallace from north Florida.” He stuck his right hand out.
She took it. “Penny Sykes. From south Alabama.”
“I thought I heard a serious hint of Southern.”
“I’ve spent some time up north.” She didn’t know why she was defending her lack of a thick Alabama drawl.
“Good heavens, why?”
Now what? Do I tell him my father shipped me off on shopping trips to my aunt’s place in New York? Tell him I was sent to boarding school in Connecticut for four years? “I worked to get rid of my accent. It sounds, I don’t know, not very smart.”
His eyebrows rose at that.
“I…spent a couple of summers on a farm. I didn’t like it. I wanted to leave that behind me.”
Now he frowned. “Don’t like dirt under your fingernails, huh?” He spread his fingers and appeared to check their cleanliness. He held them up so she could see them. “No dirt here.” And he winked.
She laughed. Slipping into her new Daddy-did-me-a-favor attitude she said, “No, no dirt under your fingernails. Points to you.”
He shifted around and lay back on the chaise. She watched in appreciation of the long legs, flat stomach and arms that could lift her in the air without effort.
“So, what brings you to Barefoot Bay?” he asked.
The conversation rolled from there. Cash told her he had grown up on a farm to which she replied, “I hated every minute of my visits. Dirt, cows and columbines creating nothing but dust.” She sounded convincing to herself. Cash mumbled something about selling commodities. Whatever they are. He lived in north Florida in a house built in 1888 and was fixing it up as he had time.
She was tickled pink with her vacation find. Any luck at all and he’d be just as tickled by her pretty, pink—and clean—fingernails before he left the resort and she had to decide what she was going to do with all the money her father had left her. She thought she had it figured out. Try on the girlie persona and see if she could make it work. Fulfill her father’s dream for her. To live a useless life spending money.
Yeah, that’s not going so well.
Besides, now she had a real by God farmer who was sexy, warm, funny, built and willing and eager to take her to bed and color her world.
Now what was she going to do?
* * *
Cash returned to Dixie’s place before lunchtime. On the drive, he contemplated what he had learned. Penny didn’t like farms or ranches. But that story didn’t ring true for him. She was too centered and down to earth to be high maintenance. His assumption that she was lying was the only explanation he had for lying about what he did for a living. He didn’t believe her. So, a lie for a lie. He’d come to the beach to look at the female scenery and ended up at the pool looking for her. Why? She wasn’t a gorgeous blonde with a killer body. Well, she had the body. And her brunette was right on her. She looked good. Great. Damn. She is gorgeous.
Now what was he going to do?
When he opened the door, Dixie stood in the kitchen staring into the freezer. Brand was nowhere to be found, thank God.
“What’s up, girl?”
She shoved the freezer door closed. “Nothing good for dinner, that’s for sure. Brand and I have been holed up for days and haven’t been to the store.”
He winced. “Please. Don’t say holed up and Brand in the same sentence.”
Dixie laughed. “You’re such a big brother sometimes.”
“I’m always a big brother.”
She sobered up. “I know. You need to take some time off from that. All of us can take care of ourselves.”
Not likely.
“That’ll be the day.”
“No, I mean it. You don’t have to rush off to help whoever has a problem. You’re stretching yourself too thin. Between the cows and the crops, brothers and sisters—”
“Dixie,” he warned.
She sat down at the table. “Look, you’re here for four days, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Instead of staying here, you should check in at the Casa Blanca Resort & Spa. They have massages, a wonderful restaurant and even a small farm! You’ll love it, trust me.”
Cash thought back to why he’d decided to visit Dixie Rose practically unannounced. He’d finished up one evening and was so tired he’d wanted to lie down in a cow pasture and sleep for a week. He was exhausted. Working a farm and cattle herd was hard work. Lonely work. Which was why he was looking to get leg shackled. Too bad the beautiful brunette staying at that resort hated farming. I have enough time to get married by the end of the year even if I indulge in a vacation fling first. A very satisfying fling if the brunette was up to it.
But he couldn’t let Dixie know he already had plans to spend time at the resort. “You just want me to stay there so you can have Brand stay over here.”
“He’d stay over even if you stayed.”
Anger flashed through him. His vision clouded. And he realized what she’d done. “You think that’s going to convince me to leave you here alone?”
“Cash. I live here. I’ve lived here—alone—for almost eight months. I’m a big girl now.” She got up and held his face. “I love you. Go stay at the resort. Have some fun. Relax. Believe me, when your four days are up you’ll be looking for ways to extend your vacation.” She kissed his cheek.
He scoffed.
“I’m going to find Brand and drag him to the grocery store. If you insist on staying here, with Brand, you’re welcome. But I think you should take me up on the resort thing. Because, baby, you need it.” She swung a bag over her shoulder and sashayed out the back door.
“Damn.” He hated when one of his siblings was right. Especially Dixie Rose. Even if she didn’t know it wasn’t because of her boyfriend. She was the youngest and had no right to be more perceptive than him. Hah! He knew he needed a vacation. He was here wasn’t he? And he could use a fling. It had to be a fling since he was a farmer which Penny hated and he’d lied to her. Not an outright lie. After all he did sell commodities. Did it matter that they were milk and sorghum he raised himself? He didn’t think so.
Still.
Penny was at the resort. He was at Dixie’s. Kind of hard to have a fling when someone lived on the other side of the island.
It was just his luck he hadn’t unpacked his car. And the fact he brought his car instead of his truck? Just icing on the cake. No explanations needed.
Was he really going to do this? Hell, yes!
He hurried out to his car and opened the trunk. He fished around until he found the crystal dog he bought Dixie and grabbed some notepaper from his laptop case. He went back inside, wrote a note, put the note and the little dog on the kitchen counter, returned to his car and pointed it at the other end of the island. Dixie would laugh when she read the note that simply said, “For some ungodly reason, I’m taking your advice.”