Northern Renegade Page 18

  So, here he sat, one miserable son of a bitch. Dirk had called that right, being dogged out by the three of them. It’d been the longest month of his life...and now she was back. He’d caught a glimpse of her in Gus’s. Then there’d been another “sighting” when he’d been on his way to Bull’s for this meeting, but they’d each taken and were holding their positions. General Wellington had dug in. He’d sort of thought it’d be better once she was back, but really it was worse.

  When she was gone, there was distance separating them. Now, the only thing separating them were her terms, which required unconditional surrender. She was a most unreasonable woman...and a damn fine general...considering she was outflanking him and outmaneuvering him.

  He looked at Sven. “Do I want to know the odds?”

  Sven was known to follow Rooster’s betting and Liam had known for some time he and Tansy were the biggest bet going.

  The big blond grimaced, his eyes sympathetic. “They’re weighted pretty heavily. You’re a long shot at this point.”

  He eyed the three of them. “You all got money riding on this?”

  At least they had the decency to look sheepish. Bull? Even Bull? His uncle shrugged. “Hey, I had to throw a couple of bucks at it.”

  “So, you’ve all got a vested interest.”

  Dirk laughed. “Hell, no. It’s weighted so heavily in Tansy’s favor, the most I’m going to pick up is a couple of bucks.”

  They all eyed him with a mixture of pity and amusement, as if they knew he was fighting a losing battle but were humoring him nonetheless. “I’ve lived through firefights where the odds were stacked against me.”

  Dirk rolled his eyes. Sven laughed. Bull clapped him on the back. “Opening doors, son, opening doors. Sometimes you’ve just got to lay down your weapon and surrender your gun.”

  The subtlety wasn’t lost on him. Bull winked. “It worked out well enough for me. I set siege for twenty-five years.”

  “Look,” Sven said, as if reasoning with a simpleton. “I thought I’d never settle down and look at me. Juliette’s the best thing that ever came my way. And I damn near lost her.”

  Dirk wasn’t about to be left out. “I had my head up my ass and let you waltz Natalie right out from under me. By the way, I talked to her last week.”

  He’d had enough. He pushed back from the table, standing. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a Ben Franklin and tossed it on the table in front of Dirk. “You’ve got five minutes to get that to Rooster.”

  “You can’t bet on yourself,” Dirk said.

  “I’m not, dammit. Put the money on Wellington.”

  He pulled on his jacket and walked down the street to the airstrip, beelining for Merilee. “I need something white,” he said, cutting straight to the chase. “Anything.”

  Merilee grinned and walked over to the table beside the love seat and picked up a lace doily. “That’s the best I can do for you. That or underwear.”

  “I’ll take this.”

  “She’s at Jenna’s.”

  He wasted no time heading back down the street.

  * * *

  TANSY HEARD HIS FOOTSTEPS on the stairs leading to Jenna’s house. She had time to utter one word to her sister before his knock at the door. “Liam.”

  Jenna smiled. “I’ll just step into the bedroom.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Oh, yes, I do.”

  Tansy opened the door and silently stood aside for him to enter. He walked in, past her and tossed something on the table. A white lace doily?

  He faced her, back straight, shoulders up. “You sighted me in your crosshairs the moment I met you. I have been outmaneuvered, outflanked and outranked. I concede the firefight, Wellington.”

  “You are the most unromantic man I know.”

  “True.” He stood unyielding. He nodded toward the white lace. “I surrender.”

  “You know the terms.”

  “We need to negotiate those.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest, holding her line. “Let’s hear them.”

  “Two dogs. Three kids.”

  She waved a dismissing hand. “That’s never been the sticking point.”

  “I suppose you want a ring on your finger.”

  “It’d be nice, but I’m still waiting.”

  “You don’t give a man any quarter, do you, Wellington?”

  “There’s not a lot of room for negotiation on the major term.”

  He stood there, tall and proud, and she waited, her heart thumping in her chest. He was a man of integrity. A man of his word. He wouldn’t give it lightly, which made it all the more important.

  “I love you.” The words hung between them. “All of me. Heart, body, soul, I’m yours.”

  She wanted to ask if it’d really been that hard to say, but she didn’t have to. She knew it had. “Thank you. I love you, too. I’ll stand by you, with you.”

  She picked up the lace doily and handed it back to him. “I don’t need this. The way I see it, it’s not surrender at all, we’re just combining forces. We’ve always been on the same side, Reinhardt. You just needed to figure it out.”

  “Come here, woman.”

  She willingly, eagerly, stepped into his arms, kissing him with all the passion and longing she’d kept to herself for the past month, week and two days—and yes, she’d counted. She felt the same thing in his kiss...and much more. His lips silently spoke of promise and a future and a here and now beyond compare.

  He rested his forehead against hers. “It’s going to take time for me to get this off the ground. I think it’ll work, but it’s not going to be easy. I don’t have anything to offer you, honey, except for a lot of hard work.”

  “The things worth really having usually aren’t easy. God knows, you haven’t been. But we’ll travel that path together and you’ve offered me everything—you and a future together. How did I get so lucky?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing. I guess doors have opened while others have closed, while our paths have led to each other’s.”

  “Are you getting philosophical and sentimental?” she asked.

  “I have my lapses.” He looked down at her, his eyes glittering with a look she had longed for on all her lonely nights since they’d been apart. “Now why don’t you leave that dress on, but—”

  “Liam—” She stopped his wandering hand.

  “Tansy?”

  “Jenna’s in the other room.”

  “Hi, Liam,” Jenna said, poking her head out the door. “Welcome to the family.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to take your sister now. She has building plans to look over.”

  Jenna laughed. “Okay. Her suitcase is here, though.”

  “We’ll come back for her things later,” he said, already ushering her toward the door. She could feel the sexual tension radiating from him. He was as ready for her as she was for him.

  “He’s in charge,” she said to Jenna over her shoulder as they walked out the door.

  She wrapped her arm around his waist, feeling the quiet strength of her strong man. At least she’d let him think he was in charge. It just worked better that way.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Blazing Midsummer Nights by Leslie Kelly!

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Blaze story.

  You like it hot! Harlequin Blaze stories sizzle with strong, sexy heroines and irresistible heroes playing the game of modern love and lust. They’re fun, flirty and always steamy.

  Visit Harlequin.com to find your next great read.

  We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks

  Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks

  Read our blog for all the latest news on our authors and books: HarlequinBlog.com

  Subscribe to our newsletter for special offers, new releases, and more!

  Harlequin.com/newsletters

  Harlequin and Mills & Boon ar
e joining forces in a global search for new authors.

  In September 2012 we’re launching our biggest contest yet—with the prize of being published by the world’s leader in romance fiction!

  Look for more information on our website, www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com

  So you think you can write? Show us!

  1

  SOMEONE ONCE SAID that the course of true love never did run smooth. As Mimi Burdette watched two of her good friends sway together in a romantic dance, however, she had to disagree. Because the true love between this couple had been obvious to everyone who knew them, almost from the moment they’d met.

  “They look like a prince and princess,” murmured Anna, her neighbor, friend, landlady and tonight’s hostess.

  “Considering the setting, maybe a fairy king and queen.”

  She wasn’t kidding. The woods surrounding the backyard of the old plantation house just outside of Athens had been turned into a mythical forest. As dusk fell and a thousand twinkle lights began to gleam in the night, everyone at the engagement party slowed to appreciate the beauty all around them.

  A trio of musicians softly strummed their instruments, the lyrical notes riding a warm, summer breeze. The Spanish moss hanging from the live oaks gleamed silver under the evening dew and the firefly-soft lighting. Magnolias the size of dinner plates dotted the trees, looking like a thousand full moons, filling the air with their evocative scent. Lanterns hung from the lowest branches of the graceful pines, and the arches of a dozen arbors were draped with writhing, sweet-smelling jasmine and heavily laden grapevines.

  Okay, the vines and fruit were fake. But what an effect!

  “You really outdid yourself,” Mimi said to Anna, who stood watching the proceedings, wearing a smile.

  The older woman, dressed as always in colorful, flowing robes, merely shrugged. “Setting the stage for romance is easy when the people involved are meant for each other like Duke and Lyssa.” She chuckled. “Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’m helping with the costumes and props for the downtown theater group’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

  With her filmy, billowing clothes, and her long ash-gray hair, loose and wavy and entwined with flowers, Anna looked more like a hippie than a retiree. So maybe it wasn’t so surprising that she could take a normal backyard, ringed by normal Georgia woods, and turn it into something out of a storybook.

  “Anyway, it was just a few lights, some fabric—easy.”

  “Maybe for you, but other than advertising, the creative wiring was left out of my genetic code. To me, this looks like pure sorcery and magic.”

  The soon-to-be bride and groom deserved a magical wedding. They were wonderful people, and she already missed having them as neighbors. They’d already moved into their new house, but until a week ago, had lived right across the hall from her own first-floor apartment in this grand old estate home.

  Anna and her husband, Ralph—dubbed Obi-Wan because of his love for all things Star Wars and his sage, all-knowing demeanor—had bought the place decades ago and raised their family here. Once the kids were gone, they’d divided the three-story mansion into six small apartments, figuring the rental income would keep them nicely provided for in their retirement.

  With the unit across from Mimi’s vacant, and another unrented one on the second floor, the big house was feeling empty. Plus, Anna and Obi-Wan’s volatile marriage was on the rocks again. Obi-Wan’s one fault was his jealous streak. He was always accusing other men of being after his wife. His latest accusation had angered Anna enough that she had moved into one of the vacant units to teach him a lesson.

  In this economy, three rentals not bringing in any money was not a good thing. She had to wonder where Anna had come up with the funds to throw this engagement party for her former tenants. Mimi had offered to help pay—she could certainly afford it and would have loved to help—but Anna’s pride wouldn’t allow her to accept. The most she would allow was the use of Mimi’s nice discount on much of the food.

  Sometimes it really paid to be the daughter of the owner of a chain of grocery stores. Not to mention being the head of marketing for said grocery store chain, with an express ticket to the executive offices of her family’s business.

  Some people wondered why she lived here, in a small apartment in an old house, when she could afford to buy her own home, or sponge off her parents at their estate. But Mimi loved this place, loved the history of it. More importantly, she loved the sense of community she found here, where she was free to be herself and didn’t have to wear the socialite hat, or the business executive one. She could just be Mimi.

  “Oh,” Anna said, snapping her fingers as she remembered something. “You’re going to have new neighbors. My daughter, Helen, and her little boy are moving from Atlanta next weekend, taking the vacant unit on two. And I rented the apartment across from yours today.”

  “Really? That’s wonderful,” Mimi said, surprised.

  “I invited the new tenant to come tonight, but he didn’t want to intrude—he moved in this afternoon.”

  “You must be so glad,” she said, relieved to know one financial burden had been lifted from her landlords’ shoulders. She doubted they’d take rent money from their daughter, who had gone through a bad divorce last year.

  “One B is a real hottie,” Anna said, her eyebrows waggling.

  “There are more important things than hotness.”

  Definitely more important. She’d been involved with superhot guys in the past and had the psychological burn scars to prove it. The last supersexy, relied-only-on-his-looks guy she’d dated had ended up “borrowing” her credit card and buying a matching pair of his-and-her motorcycles.

  That had been bad. Worse? Mimi hadn’t been the her.

  No way was she stepping close to the flames again. Now when she looked at a man, she was more interested in steadiness, self-confidence and brains. If those things came in nice-looking packages, okay, but looks alone just didn’t cut it.

  Fortunately, it was possible to have all of the above. She only had to look across the crowded party at her own golden-haired escort to see that.

  Dimitri was perfect. He was everything she’d been telling herself she needed, and was nothing like the men who’d hurt her in the past. He’d also been hand-picked for her by her own father, who was notoriously hard to please. Normally, that would be a bad thing; she didn’t like doing what was expected of her, and knew her father to be a bully. But considering her bad luck with romance, and her efforts to improve her relationship with her dad—who stood firmly in the path of her going where she wanted to go professionally, i.e., right into his office once he retired—it seemed like a smart move.

  The icing on the cake? Dimitri was also very handsome.

  But handsome doesn’t always equal hot. And enjoying being with someone definitely doesn’t always lead to physical heat.

  She sighed deeply, wishing that little voice in her head would shut up, even while acknowledging the words were true.

  But it didn’t matter—handsome was enough. Handsome was movie-star good looks, good manners, holding the door. Handsome was every hair in place, jaw smoothly shaven and a nice suit. Handsome was self-confidence borne of being admired by everyone who knew him, and inspiring fantasies of Prince Charming in just about every woman who saw him. Handsome was a good-night kiss with enough tongue to be provocative but not enough to be impolite.

  Handsome was Dimitri.

  Hot was…something else.

  Hot was sexy, rugged and edgy. Hot was unpredictable. Hot smelled sweaty and male, not doused with expensive cologne. Hot had thick muscles that gave proof of utter strength and could make any woman feel feminine by contrast. Hot had an edge of danger, wasn’t always courteous, didn’t treat a lover like a fragile object. Hot had a deep voice, knowing eyes and a stubbled jaw that every woman wanted roughing up her inner thighs. Hot would ensnare a woman…mind, body and soul.

  She fanned herself, acknowledging
the truth. Handsome she had. Hot she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

  More importantly: handsome she should have. Hot she should stay away from.

  She shook off the mental images. Enough with the hot fantasies. Handsome reality was bringing her a glass of wine, drawing the appreciative stares of every person with a uterus.

  He was hers if she wanted him. And you want him. Damn it, you’d be crazy not to want him!

  But she was beginning to wonder. Heck, she hadn’t even been the one to invite him here tonight. Anna had bumped into him at the store and extended the invitation. Mimi had no idea why he’d accepted, considering he didn’t know anybody here except her. Since he’d said yes, he’d naturally expected Mimi to be his date, which should make any woman extremely happy.

  “Okay, Miss Smarty-Pants, if you’re not about looks, care to explain your date over there?”

  “You invited him,” she pointed out.

  “Only because you’ve gone out with him a few times.”

  “I know, my family swears he’s perfect for me. And he is very good-looking,” she admitted. Then, speaking more to herself, she voiced the concern that had been niggling at her. “But there’s also something called chemistry.”

  “Hate to break it to ya, but you two ain’t got it.”

  She sighed. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Only to an expert like me.”

  And to Mimi. She’d already figured out that good looks didn’t always inspire sparks, and dating someone wasn’t the same as wanting to go to bed with him. If it were, she and Dimitri would probably be sleeping together, or perhaps even engaged, which was what her father was pushing for. Pushing hard.

  Dimitri was a new executive with Burdette Quality Foods, the family business. He was also her Dad’s right-hand man. Cultured, handsome, well-educated. The perfect guy in every way.

  But perfect for her?

  Anna shook her head and tsked. “Honey, it’s obvious you’re experiencing a small sexual dry spell.”

  “Small? Try Sahara-sized,” she admitted, wondering, not for the first time, if there was something wrong with her.