“You what?”
He had come by her suite to pick her up.
“I, uh, ran into Tori Drake this morning,” Cash said.
“And Tessa?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. She’s really nice. So nice she asked if I wanted a tour of the farmette. We’re going to meet up there before supper.”
“What interest do you have in a garden?”
He thought for a moment. “I couldn’t say no without being rude.”
Penny watched him carefully. She wondered why she felt she was missing something. The one thing she didn’t want to get out, was out.
“That explains all the little looks I got today.”
“I’m sorry, Pen. Tori was there as soon as you closed the door. Before I could make my escape, here comes Tessa! What was I supposed to do?”
“Lie.”
“About what? No one asked me anything. No one implied anything. But I didn’t have a shirt on or shoes thanks to you pushing me out the door without letting me get dressed.”
“Don’t make this out to be my fault. Stop!” She clasped her hands on either side of her head and pressed. “I can’t believe this. I sound like a shrew!”
“You don’t sound like a shrew.”
God, could this man be any nicer? If he was, I’d find a way to lay all the blame at his feet. Huh. I did that already.
“I’m sorry.”
She ran everything through her mind. Tori and Tessa likely assumed I spent the night with Cash. Big deal. Tori was encouraging me to do that anyway. I don’t know Tessa very well but with two people “in the know” others would know soon. So what? I don’t expect to see any of them ever again. I can do whatever I want. As a grown woman with no responsibilities, I can sleep with whomever I want to. Cash was watching her carefully.
“I don’t know why I made a big deal out of it. I don’t care who knows who I have sex with.”
“Well, may I say, I do.” Cash grimaced. “That didn’t come out right.”
She saw his embarrassment and she laughed. “I know what you meant. And I don’t sleep around.” She looped her arms around his neck. “I know it might be a hardship for you, but I prefer being the only one for the next few days.”
It warmed her heart to see his smile. Sliding his arms around her waist, he kissed her, taking her breath away.
“That’s great to know. I’m a one woman man.”
Oops. A little too chummy. “For the next four days anyway.” She turned away to get her purse, making it appear she did not see his look of concern. Not good to get too close to those you are actively lying to, girl.
When she turned back to him she made sure she was all innocent fun and happiness.
“You didn’t say where we were going.”
“Nope. It’s a surprise.”
“It’s good I like surprises.”
He held her hand down the hall and the stairs and out to find a vehicle waiting for them.
“You rented a car?” she asked.
“No, it’s mine. I like the hybrid for driving long distances.”
“That’s a smart move. Not everybody gives a damn.”
He laughed and opened the door for her. “It’s my sister. She’s an environmental police woman.” He chuckled.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.” Closing her door, he walked around the front of the car and got in the driver’s door. He put on his seat belt and drove away. “I told you she was engaged, right?” Penny nodded. “Well, they started out on very different sides of the protect-the-environment debate.” He glanced at her then back to the road. “She being a confirmed tree hugger and he being the new owner of the Jet Ski rental on the beach.”
“There isn’t a Jet Ski rental on the island.”
“Not yet. But it’s going to open soon. To accommodate her, he redesigned gasoline storage, bought quieter mufflers for the Jet Skis and generally bent over backwards for her.”
“That’s so sweet.”
“Huh.”
“You don’t like him.” She made it a statement.
“I don’t know him. He answered her door the other day when I arrived. He was half-dressed.”
“So?”
He gave her a sad look. “You’re not a big brother, are you?”
“I should hope not!”
“And you don’t have one either, I presume.”
Wistfully, she frowned. “No. No brothers. No siblings.”
She watched the road in the fading sunlight. There was a comfortable silence until Cash touched her knee.
“I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
She smiled for him. “Not sad. But I always wanted a big brother. So did my father.”
“Suffice to say, being a big brother is a full-time job. You have to watch out over all your siblings, help them out of the crises they get themselves into, bandage their skinned knees and cancel your dates when the babysitter can’t make it.”
“Oh, boo-hoo.”
He grinned. “Yeah. It was the best and the worst.”
“How many are still at home?”
“Hmm? Oh, none of us live at home. Dixie Rose was the last to move out. She’s the youngest.”
“We’re going into Fort Meyers for dinner?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he directed car into the historic downtown area. He checked street signs and finally pulled into a parking lot.
“The Veranda? This is supposed to be a fantastic, and romantic, restaurant with an antebellum flavor.”
“That’s what I heard.”
They exited the car and walked through the courtyard. It was paved with old bricks and there was a porch across the front of the building.
“It’s beautiful.”
Cash took her hand. “I’m glad you like it.”
She smiled as her stomach somersaulted. I hope I get through this romantic evening for two without tripping over my tongue.
The maître d’ escorted them to a table next to a multi-paned window. Once they were seated, the sommelier came with a wine list.
“You pick the wine, Penny.”
“Oh. Okay.” I’d be more confident if it was a list of local beers. “Will you be ordering red meat or something else?”
“Red meat. I need all the iron I can get.”
She felt the red blush rise from her neck to her face. “Seems to me you eat plenty of iron,” she mumbled.
“What was that?”
Looking up, she smiled. “Nothing.”
She cleared her throat. “How about this one?” she asked pointing to a robust red she had tried and liked before. Once. A long time ago.
“Very good, madam.” And off he went.
She tried relaxing back in her chair and, although comfortable, it didn’t seem to relax her. She sat forward.
Cash reached across the table and slid his hand under her hers. His gaze was on her hand as he brushed her skin.
“So soft and silky.”
And I’ll die trying to get my working calluses back when I go to work. When I go back? Or will I go back?
* * *
Cash kept his eyes on Penny’s hand. But he felt her slight reaction to his comment. He let her hand go and smiled. “How do you keep your hands so soft? I know you use them—”
“Ah hum.”
He grinned. “To sign your name, wash your face…”
“Very funny.”
The waiter arrived with the wine. After opening the bottle, he offered a taste to Penny. She sipped, swished it around in her mouth and swallowed. Cash almost groaned remembering the last time he watched her swallow.
“Very nice,” she said to the waiter. He filled each glass.
They clinked glasses. “To the Casa Blanca Resort & Spa!” Penny said.
Cash paused. “To us,” he said and took a drink of the dark red wine.
Seemingly flustered, she smiled and sipped.
Cash was in a quandary. This was a woman he was halfway in love with. She was warm and witty. Open and friendly with strangers and cheerful almost all the time. It was the “almost” that created the quandary. Certain subjects shut her down and he couldn’t find a common thread. One day it’s her father, the next it’s her smooth skin. Maybe her father didn’t like soft skin? That’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous! Why am I questioning this? Is it because I could love her? Or because she’s running shy from me? Either way, I’ll find out what her story is.
Cash knew he was going to ’fess up sooner or later. He only had a few days with her unless he told her what he really did for a living. There was danger there. She could go ballistic over his ploy and turn him inside out with accusations and tears. Or, she could take it philosophically and expose her own secret.
Like that’s going to happen. Any one of my sisters would skin a man alive who didn’t tell them the truth. Lying is not a good foundation for a relationship. But if she gets mad and dumps me, I never had a chance in the first place.
Keep telling yourself that, buddy boy. And brown cows give chocolate milk.
The conversation over dinner flowed easily. They discussed music, each confessing they liked country. Books, he liked dark thrillers and she said fantasy or romance.
“Aren’t they the same?” he asked.
“Mr. Funny Man.”
Movies, he liked action/adventure and she liked science fiction.
“Ah, what’s your favorite?”
“Forbidden Planet.”
“You haven’t seen Forbidden Planet.”
“Not only have I seen it, but I own it on DVD. That was the start of serious science fiction movies. The effects were sophisticated not amateurish and it was Robbie the Robot’s debut.”
“Ha. I guess you have seen it.”
“And it was before Leslie Nielson got into comedy.”
“You surprise me, Penny.”
They discussed their pets. Penny loved hearing stories about Dixie Rose bringing home every type of animal she found lost or injured. It made for quite a menagerie during their younger years.
Penny came up with a couple of stories about pets but didn’t seem really engaged in them. Sometimes Cash thought it sounded like she was telling a story she’d heard and not been a part of. She stumbled through a dog story seeming to change things as she went along.
“The dog was chasing a ca—kitten—through the b—dining room.”
Suddenly she asked for more of his stories.
He laughed it off. “We had this cow on my dad’s ranch. This was the meanest, nastiest critter you ever met. One morning my brother Mason and I were riding bareback—which we were not supposed to do—pushing the herd to the barn corrals. Well, Mason leaned over to swat her rump to get her moving when he slipped off his horse.”
Penny gasped but Cash held up his hand. “He didn’t even hit the ground. He hung off the horse and hovered over the cow until she gave a jump and ruined his balance. He landed laying across her back.” He had to stop and laugh at the memory. “So, there’s Mason, laying across the cow’s back as she placidly trotted back to the corral. He’s bouncing up and down and looking as terrified as I’ve ever seen him.” By now Cash was chuckling like a kid and holding his stomach. But he had to finish so he caught his breath and looked Penny in the eye. “My father and grandfather were at the corral as Mason’s horse and I walked up behind the cow. She stopped at the gate and Mason slid to the ground. And that damn cow sauntered into the corral like nothing happened. My grandfather looked at my father and deadpanned, ‘Told you what would happen if you rounded up cows bareback.’”
Penny was laughing, too. Cash sighed.
“God, I miss those days.”
“You miss farm work? Riding all day long until your legs cramp? Getting home at nine covered in cow manure? Branding? Calving?” But she was smiling.
“How do you know about all that?” he asked. “I thought you visited for a week a couple of summers?”
It took a moment but Penny went sheet white. “Oh, I have a good imagination.” She patted her lips with the cloth napkin and pushed out from the table. “And I saw it all during those couple of weeks. You know, my grandad and my father. And the cowboys of course. Excuse me, will you? I’ll be back in a minute.”
Cash watched her hustle away from the table like a calf at branding time. Oh, yeah. Something is going on here. And I’m gonna have fun finding out what Miss Penny Sykes is hiding from me and the world.