Out of Eden. Beth Ciotta
Martin,” he called. “Stop what you’re doing and join us.”
Travis abandoned his post, set aside his brush and wiped his hands on a rag.
“I’m Jack Reynolds.”
“The new chief of police.” Travis nodded. “Welcome to Eden.”
“Jack’s a native,” Ray said.
“I used to make him chocolate Cokes when he was a kid,” J.J. said.
Travis just nodded.
Kylie shifted as the two men studied each other. She sensed some tension, which was weird. They’d never met before today. “I’m doing some renovations,” Kylie said, wanting Jack to vamoose. “I’m allowed.”
“No, she isn’t,” J.J. said.
“My family owns this business.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Keystone. “It’s part of a historical block.”
“You’re allowed to maintain the look of your storefront,” J.J said. “But you can’t alter it. Not drastically. You have to get a permit for that.”
“You’re kidding.” She’d never heard of that. Then again, her family had never tried painting the storefront anything other than what it had been before. Tradition.
Jack folded his arms over his chest, studied the storefronts. “Deputy?”
“Anything to do with the building’s exterior is governed by the Historic Preservation Society,” Ziffel said. “She needs approval from them and the town zoning board.”
“Told you,” said J.J.
Kylie narrowed her eyes. “That’s mature.”
“Kylie,” Jack said.
“Yes?”
“Get a permit.”
J.J. and Keystone chuckled.
Max, the contrary cuss, said, “Ha.”
Kylie wanted to smack them all. She envisioned knocking Jack off his black utility boots with a side kick. But if she’d learned anything from her two years of jujitsu, it was self-discipline. She clenched her fists at her side and took a cleansing breath. It didn’t help.
Deputy Ziffel cautioned the men about disturbing the peace and herded them back to their respective stores. The mutt stayed put.
Jack glanced at the paint cans lined alongside the building, then focused on Travis. “Got any white paint?”
“I could get some.”
“Cover up your handy work until Kylie gets a permit.”
Travis didn’t say anything. He just left. To get some white paint, she presumed.
Dang.
“How do you know that guy?” Jack asked.
How do you know that dog? “He works at the hardware store.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“Working for me.”
Jack squinted at the trim. “Pink?”
“Moroccan spice.”
“Looks pink.”
Kylie just smiled. Actually, it was a muted tone compared to what she’d first had in mind.
Jack met her gaze. He didn’t smile back. “You want to piss off your brother? Get a permit.”
“You said that already.” Kylie couldn’t say what set her off, specifically. She was miffed about a lot of things. Not knowing about the permit, for one. Travis, for two. She’d felt some sort of bond with the man. He’d taken vacation time for her, committed to her cause. Then, at the first sign of trouble, he’d thrown in the brush. Okay, so Jack was the law and Travis was a law-abiding citizen. Still, she felt deserted and disappointed. Much as she had with Faye.
“I will act out of the ordinary in order to attract and promote change. Change is exciting. Change is good.”
She turned on her rubber heels and commandeered Travis’s brush. She eyeballed the stern-faced chief and, ignoring the skip in her pulse, dipped her weapon in Moroccan Spice.
“Don’t do it,” Jack warned.
“Don’t worry,” Ziffel said as he returned to the scene of the almost crime. “Kylie’s a sensible girl.”
It was the exact wrong thing to say. She climbed the ladder, gripping the rungs with one hand, holding the paint-slathered brush with the other.
“Used to be modest, too,” she heard Ziffel say. “Although her undies ain’t what I’d call sexy.”
Kylie froze two rungs from the top. “Are you looking up my skirt, Ed Ziffel?” She glared down. “You are!” And so was Jack.
He grinned. “Boxers?”
“They were the only clean shorts I had!” Any further explanation was silenced when she misstepped. She grabbed the ladder with both hands, bobbled the brush. Her heart pounded in her ears, muffling Ziffel’s curse.
She glanced down and saw the slash and dribbles of pink—er, Moroccan Spice—on the deputy’s dark blue uniform. The brush had bounced off his shoulder and landed on the sidewalk. “Sorry,” she squeaked as the paint-splattered cement zoomed up to her face in some weird 3-D movie illusion, then slammed back down to earth.
“You shook things up,” said Jack, sounding half amused, half pissed. “Happy now?”
“Not really.”
“Climb down.”
She would if she could, but her legs wouldn’t move.
“Now.”
She broke out in a sweat, her vision blurred. She cursed the cosmos—the liquor kind—and her hangover. Hugging the ladder tight, she focused straight ahead. Which put her at eye-level to the sign with her family’s motto: Practical shoes for practical people.
“Not for long,” she whispered through clenched teeth.
“I won’t ask twice,” Jack said.
“New crowd gathering,” Ziffel muttered, then switched to an authoritative tone. “Move along, people. Nothing to see.”
She tensed when the ladder creaked under more weight. She felt a couple of soft bounces, then a hard body climbing up behind her. Every nerve in her body pulsed. She told herself it was because she’d had a fright. Not because Jack’s front was plastered to her back.
Pursuing an intimate relationship would only end in heartache.
“When did you get so damned stubborn?” Jack said close to her ear.
No way was she going to admit to a hangover-induced dizzy spell. Aside from all the nerve pulsing, she felt slightly better. Probably because she was focused on the feel and smell of Jack and not the long drop down. She relaxed against him, and next thing she knew she’d been plucked from the ladder. Her knees buckled when her boots hit the sidewalk, but she didn’t crumple due to Jack’s hold on her waist.
“You can go, Ziffel,” he said. “Drop your shirt at the cleaners and be sure to send Miss McGraw the bill.”
“Hey,” she complained. But Ziffel was already stalking off and Jack was hauling her inside McGraw’s. She pried at his hands. “Stop manhandling me.”
He let her go, but backed her up against the wall in between the gumball machine and the cashier counter.
She didn’t like being bullied. She especially didn’t like the erotic thrill she got when he braced his hands on the wall and fenced her in. Or the heat between