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.
“Before you left Atlanta today, I promised you a replacement at the earliest possible moment,” Daisy told him. “Lucie should be back in the country next week and Dom’s latest assignment might end early and he could be available within ten days.”
“Next week is too long.” Vic groaned inwardly. He couldn’t stand a week of walking around with a hard-on, caused by the most talkative, irritating, gorgeous, irresistible woman he’d ever met. If they’d met in a social situation where he could walk away and not look back, he would do just that. He’d done it before when he’d been physically attracted to the wrong kind of woman. And God knew Penny Sue Paine was about as wrong as you could get. Wrong for him, that is. She’d make some local yokel a great little wife. The kind of wife who baked cookies, attended PTA meetings, took the kiddies to Sunday school and would appease all her husband’s needs in and out of the bedroom.
Now where had that last thought come from? From below his belt, that’s where.
“Vic? Vic, are you still there?” Daisy asked.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m still here. And I expect you to perform a miracle and get another agent to swap assignments with me. If you can do that, I’ll owe you big-time.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but it could take several days.”
Several days? Just how long would his resolve to not make a move on Penny Sue last? “Yeah, sure. Okay. I should be able to make it for a few days.”
“I’m sure you can. Whatever’s got you running scared can’t be that bad.”
“Who says I’m running scared?” Vic practically shouted the question.
“Sorry. I just meant—”
“No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. It’s not your fault that I got stuck with this assignment. It’s not anyone’s fault. Just the luck of the draw, I guess.”
“Vic, I promise I’ll get someone to replace you just as soon as I possibly can.”
A soft knock sounded on the closed bedroom door and then a sweet, sexy voice called, “Vic, supper’s ready. It’ll be just you and me and Aunt Dottie. Come on down whenever you’re ready.”
“Be right there, Penny Sue,” Vic replied, then said into the phone, “Thanks, Daisy. I’ve got to go.”
“Hmm…already on a first-name basis with Ms. Paine, huh?”
“Don’t go there,” Vic warned.
Daisy laughed. “Enjoy your supper.” Then she hung up before Vic could say anything else.
He closed his cell phone, inserted it in the belt holder, walked to the door and opened it. Penny Sue stood there smiling at him. Pretty Penny Sue. He tried to concentrate on her beautiful face so he wouldn’t react sexually to her, but despite his best efforts, he let his gaze travel over her quickly before refocusing on her face. His body stirred to life, reminding him how attracted he was to this woman. Instant attraction. It happened to people. Even to him. But only a couple of times in the past. And never with a nice girl like Penny Sue.
Maybe she’s not so nice, an inner voice suggested. Could be she knows exactly what kind of vibes she’s putting out. It’s not as if she’s a teenage virgin. A woman her age had to know the score. Right?
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You’re acting mighty peculiar,” Penny Sue said. “You’re not sick or anything, are you?”
He willed his libido and erring thoughts under control, then cleared his throat. “I’m fine.” Smile at her, he told himself, but he couldn’t quite manage it. He wasn’t the kind of guy who went around grinning like an idiot.
“Supper’s ready. I imagine you’re hungry. Flying always makes me ravenous. I don’t know why. Come to think of it, traveling of any kind makes me hungry. And wears me tee-totally out, too. Some people can drive hundreds of miles and it doesn’t affect them, but if I drive to Huntsville and back, I’m wiped out. What about you? Are you one of those…”
He wanted to tell her to shut up, to remind her that she was rattling, that she talked way too much and about absolutely nothing of any importance. But instead he simply concentrated not on what she was saying, but the way her mouth moved and the way her dark eyes sparkled.
He followed her along the hallway and down the stairs, nodding occasionally and saying uh-huh a couple of times as if he were actually listening to her instead of struggling not to grab her and kiss her to make her shut up. When they reached the dining room, she turned to him and said something, then waited for a response. Okay, his goose was cooked. He had no idea what she’d asked him.
“Would you repeat that?” He made direct eye contact with her, hoping she would take that as a sign of interest.
“I said I want us to have a big Christmas wedding and I’d like to be pregnant with our first child when we return from our honeymoon,” Penny Sue said, her expression dead serious.
“What!”
“When I asked you to marry me, you said uh-huh. Didn’t you mean it? Are you saying now that you’re having second thoughts?”
Despite the earnest expression on her face, Vic realized she was joking, paying him back for his lack of attention. “No second thoughts. Only I’d prefer waiting until New Year’s Day to get married. Start the year off right.”
Penny Sue’s lips spread into a tentative smile. “You haven’t listened to a word I said. You just tuned me out, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m afraid I did.”
“Why?”
“Why?”