Burning Secrets

When would she learn that there were some things that were better left alone? Like men with some big-time emotional problems, and dark cars that invited intimacy with a man she had no business even thinking about, much less kissing as if her life depended on it. Let the Kingstons exorcize their family ghosts. She had her own problems to contend with.

Resolutely, she jumped up, then went to the dresser. She extracted her nightie from the top drawer. Throwing it, her towel and a robe over her arm, she headed down the hall to the shared bathroom. Her bedside clock had read eleven o’clock. She still had time before her landlady turned off the hot water, Mildred’s way of saving on the electric bill. Putting thoughts of Jesse and their encounter aside, she concentrated on enjoying a relaxing shower and then a good night’s sleep.

Laying her nightie on the vanity and hanging her robe on the back of the door and the towel over the bar, she moved aside a shower curtain covered with all species of colorful tropical fish. She adjusted the water to the hot temperature she preferred, then stripped off her clothes and stepped under the spray.

The silky caress of the water brought to mind again the feel of Jesse’s lips on hers, the way he gently stroked her mouth, almost as if he worshipped it. Her body began to tingle anew and not from the hot water. Slowly, she ran her hands over her skin, her mind conjuring up the image of Jesse Kingston.

Taking the soap, she lathered her body, then massaged the bubbles into her sensitive skin. Slipping back beneath the spray, she leaned against the tiled side of the shower stall. Eyes closed, she luxuriated in the sensual feel of the hot water running over her, rinsing away the velvet lather like a lover’s hands easing away the sweet ache of desire. Jesse’s hands.

She knew with a certainty that making love with Jesse Kingston would be an experience that she’d never recover from. Right now, even with her skin tingling and her lips still swollen from their kiss, she wasn’t willing to take that risk.

Tiny shards of ice attacked her without warning. Her eyes flew open. She’d stood under the shower much longer than she’d intended. The water had turned to arctic runoff. Her memory played back Mildred Hopkins’s warning. The diminutive landlady had been quite firm.

I turn off the water heater at eleven-thirty. No sense letting it run all night. That’s just a waste of good money.

Gasping for breath and fighting a shower curtain that insisted on adhering itself to her slick body, Karen battled her way out of the shower. Grabbing her thick bath towel from the towel bar, she wrapped it around her frigid body, turned off the water, then leaned against the sink, gasping for air.

“Talk about your rude awakenings…. I’ll have to remember that for the next time I have a run-in with Jesse.” No. There would be no more run-ins, no more incidents of her sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong. And above all, no more kisses.

Jesse posed far too much danger to her peace of mind, and she’d do well to remember that. She had not come here to have an affair with a man who could leave scars the size of Texas on her heart, a man who carried his own scars and refused to share them with anyone. She might know way more than she should about the Kingston sisters and nothing about the brother who held himself apart, but she didn’t plan on rectifying that. The less she knew, the better. Once she’d gotten what she’d come for, she’d head back to the safety of New York City.

Grabbing her nightie and slipping it on, she headed back to her room. So much for a good night’s sleep. She deposited her dirty clothes in a pile beside the dresser, promising herself she’d pick them up in the morning. Throwing her head forward, she began towel drying her hair. The vigorous massage felt good and helped her vanquish thoughts of Jesse from her mind.

A knock at the door stopped her. She sighed. Her landlady. Couldn’t the woman tell time? The last thing she needed at midnight was a heart-to-heart. The knock came again, this time more insistent. It didn’t look like she was going to give up. Karen figured she might as well answer it.

Realizing she’d left her robe in the bathroom, she held the towel in front of her, strode to the door, then threw it open.

“Mildred, it’s—”

Mouth agape, Karen went numb. Her fingers relaxed their grip on the towel. It slithered down her body to the floor. Unable to move, she knew that nothing but a thin covering of revealing peach silk and lace hid her nakedness from the mesmerized gaze of Jesse Kingston.

Chapter 4

Jesse climbed back into his car, still reeling from his encounter with Karen.

He had no idea exactly what he’d said, just that he’d babbled about changing his mind and, if she still wanted a tour of the local sites, he’d meet her at the Diner the next morning. He wasn’t even sure she’d answered him. Beyond that, all he could remember was dashing out of the house with the tantalizing image of Karen in that skimpy nightie with her creamy skin and the dark circle in the center of each plump breast peeking through the lace.

Rubbing his eyes as if he could erase her image, he sighed and then stared sightlessly out the windshield. What the hell was wrong with him? She wasn’t the first beautiful woman he’d encountered.

Resolutely, he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, adjusted his aroused lower body to a more comfortable position and started the car. If he didn’t get his testosterone under control, this woman would be his death—or what he really feared was she might become his life.

For a long time after Jesse hurried away Karen remained frozen in place. While she fought to regain control of her breathing, she envisioned the look on Jesse’s face, one she’d never seen on Paul’s in all the time they were together. It was more than raw sexual attraction. But she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was that had affected her so powerfully.

In that moment when she’d opened the door and Jesse had taken in the sight of her near-nudity, something had happened between them, something she knew in her gut would complicate what was supposed to be a simple fact-finding trip. Was it possible that it was just the normal reaction of two healthy people coming face-to-face with an embarrassing moment? Or was it something more dangerous?

Slowly, she closed the door, flipped off the lights, and then, skin still tingling from Jesse’s blatant appraisal of her body, climbed into bed, certain that this would be a very, very long night.

The next morning, the Diner was overflowing with early patrons. All of them, much to Jesse’s chagrin, were too interested in the Kingston boy and the city girl. Mostly the city girl.

“Hey, Jesse, who’s your friend?”

Jess looked up to see Fred Connors, the middle-aged owner of the local drugstore, grinning at Karen. The twinkle of intense interest lighting Fred’s gray eyes sent an irrational spike of jealousy through Jess. Fred had a perfect right to be interested in Karen. Jess had no claim on her, nor did he want one. But that rationalization didn’t cool Jess’s boiling blood.

He glanced past Fred to the counter. “I see your breakfast has been served up.” He leveled a challenging glare at Fred. “Wouldn’t want it to get cold, would you?”

Fred turned a deep shade of crimson and backed up. “Uh, no. Nothing worse than cold eggs,” he said. “No offense, Jess.” Fred hurried away.

“None taken, Fred.” Without looking at the man, Jess cut a hunk from the fried egg on the plate in front of him.

Karen frowned at him. “Was that necessary? He was just being friendly. After all, I’m a stranger in town, and he probably wondered who I am. Wouldn’t it have been more polite to simply introduce me?”

Refraining from pointing out that being friendly was most probably not what the man had in mind, Jess propped his fork on the edge of his plate, steepled his hands in front of him and looked Karen in the eyes. “When you’ve lived in a small town as long as I have, you learn that every breath you take is reported up and down Main Street with the speed of light. The less you tell them, the less they talk.”

Karen grinned. “But isn’t that just whetting their appetite for speculation?”

She was right. He knew that nothing got the gossip mill’s wheels turning faster than a mystery. If they didn’t get answers, they created their own. Still, something in him selfishly stopped him from sharing Karen with anyone yet, and most especially another man. Why, he wasn’t sure, nor was he ready to explore the reasons.

Shrugging, Jess picked up his coffee cup and took a long swallow, then set the cup back in the saucer. It had barely been replaced when the waitress appeared carrying a steaming carafe.

“Refill?”

Feeling the waitress’s inquisitive eyes boring into him and then Karen, Jess glanced at Karen’s empty plate. He’d had enough of them being the centerpiece of the town’s morning amusement. “No, thanks. We’re done.” He rose. “Let’s get out of here.” He threw some bills on the table and stood aside for Karen to precede him.

In the car, she swung sideways in the seat to face Jess. “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

“No,” he said and started the car. A moment later they were moving down Main Street. “So where to? The ice caves?”

For a long time Karen just stared at his set profile. “No,” she said with as much determination as he’d just shown. “I want to go to the woods and see where Paul died in the fire.”

Jess’s jaw tightened. He pulled the car over to the roadside. Leaving the engine idling, he turned to her. He had no idea why, but he was suddenly overwhelmed by a need to protect her. “Why would you want to go there?”

Karen clasped her hands tightly in her lap and stared at them. “I don’t know. I never had a chance to pay my last respects. Maybe I just need a place to grieve.” She raised her gaze to Jess’s. “Maybe it’ll bring closure. Maybe not. I just know I need to go there.”