Moonlight and Mistletoe

crumble. “What kind of accident?”

“An explosion. Sort of.”

“Sort of? An explosion is usually one of those things that very definitely is or isn’t. Which was it?”

Drat! She dropped the costume to her lap. Did the man have to cross-examine everything?

“It was a definite accidental explosion.” When she noticed her fingers fidgeting in her hair, she paused, drew a deep breath and forced her hands back into her lap. She would not squirm like a sinner on Sunday.

“Mr. McGuffy goofed his recipe and his still blew up. It landed in the middle of the road. The stuff was so high proof that it burned hot enough to melt the asphalt. Now there’s a giant sinkhole in the middle of the road that you can’t drive around.”

“Moonshine?” he asked incredulously.

“Yep. It’s an old tradition in these parts, a teenaged right of passage, sneaking up the mountain to Mr. McGuffy’s. It’s usually harmless fun, but I’m afraid the tradition is officially over now.”

“I should think so. Do the parents know what’s going on?”

She snickered, totally entertained by his reactions. “Oh, yeah. Most of the people who grew up around here have more than their fair share of McGuffy stories.”

“What about you? I’d imagine living this close you were a frequent customer.”

She shook her head, her stomach turning queasy at the memory. “I only did it once. The year I turned twelve, I tagged along with some older friends. Two couples. I wasn’t really there for the shine, but about halfway through our jar, they become more interested in kissing, so I finished the stuff off by myself. I was sick as a dog for three straight days.”

“At that age, you’re lucky you didn’t get alcohol poisoning.”

“Yeah, that’s what Daddy told me. The next day, he made me work in the yard-in the hot sun-all day. I spent hours puking and pulling weeds.”

Lines crinkled around his eyes, and his dimple danced as he laughed. “Bet you learned your lesson.”

“Darn tooting I did. To this day, I’m not a big drinker. And I never go along with something just because everyone else does.”

“Sometimes the hardest learned lessons are the best,” he remarked.

She shimmied deeper into the couch cushions, a wicked grin splitting her face, surprised to realize she was enjoying Kyle’s company. “That sounds like the voice of experience. Let’s hear it.”

Well, hell. This woman sure knew how to turn a simple conversation into a verbal mine field.

Getting Shayna to drop her guard was one thing, but revisiting his own miserable childhood was another. Still, they were bonding, and even though he hated swapping personal tidbits, if it helped get the job done, Kyle would force himself to bite the bullet.

He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid most of my life experiences aren’t fit for sharing in mixed company.”

“Sooo you were a bad boy, huh?”

“You could say that.” His father sure as hell must have thought so, considering how often the old man smacked him around.

“Come on, you’ve got to share. It’s only fair. What’s the worst thing you did as a kid?”

“Are you saying getting smashed on moonshine was the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“Not the worst,” she admitted vaguely, her lids lowering to hide her expressive amber eyes. “But it definitely taught me several lessons I’ve never forgotten. Surely you pulled some kind of stunt as a kid that still affects you today?”

Had he ever. His list of past mistakes was long and personal and something he never talked about. Ever.

“I almost got arrested for armed robbery when I was fifteen.” The confession stunned him nearly as much as it did her.

“Almost?” Eyes wide open now, she leaned intently toward him and hugged her arms around herself. “Sounds like you caught a break.”

“Yeah, not that I was very grateful at the time.” But in the end, that near miss had started him thinking about getting out, about finding a way to turn his life around before he ended up just like his old man.

Shayna didn’t respond, but something about the patient, nonjudgmental way she watched him made him want to share the details, to explain, as she had, the way he’d turned a negative experience into a positive life lesson.

“Back then, my family life really sucked, so I’d started hanging out with a neighborhood gang after school rather than going back to whatever crisis had erupted at home.”

His foster parents at the time had an affinity for off-track betting. When their horse failed to show, they liked to take their frustration out on the first kid through the door.

“One day, the leader of our sorry gang decided we should hang out at the local Cash ’N’ Go. Seemed I was the only one who didn’t know they planned to rob the place. At gunpoint.”

“Oh, no.” Her worried cry mingled with the popping fire reminded him they were completely alone. The solitude made it easier to speak the truth.

“Yeah. When I realized what was up, I pretended to trip over a potato chip display. The distraction caught the clerk’s attention and he ran us off. The guys beat the crap out of me every day for a week, but at least I didn’t end up with a criminal record.”

Warily, Kyle lifted his eyes to hers. Where he’d feared revulsion or censure, he found understanding and admiration. It was a humbling combination.

“You did the right thing.”

“I know that now, but back then, when I was nursing cracked ribs, I was sure it was the stupidest move I’d ever made.”

“You were only fifteen. I’d be willing to bet you’ve done a ton of more stupid things since then.”

Amazingly, her teasing soothed his lingering discomfort over exposing the details of his past. How the devil could one woman be so easy to talk to one minute and so damned difficult the next?

“You would definitely win that bet.”

“See, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?” She tapped his knee before relaxing back against the cushion. “A little more practice and I’m sure you’ll conquer your fear of social chitchat.” With a teasing wink, she lightened the mood, but the damage was done. He’d set out to get her to lower her guard, and instead, she’d completely turned the tables on him.

“I think swapping childhood stupidities goes beyond the scope of mere social chitchat.”

“Guess that means we’ve exceeded expectations, huh? And for our reward-a movie. Two straight hours, no talking necessary.”

“What movie?”

“Home Alone.” She smirked, looking as young and innocent as the child star from the movie, who, if memory served, turned out to be a hell-raiser in real life.

“The movie with the little blond kid who kicks butt against a couple of criminals?”

“That’s the one. And no fair rooting for the bad guys.”

“Who, me? I’m all about justice.”

“No, you’re all about rich clients and good PR.” As soon as the words were out, she cringed, obviously wishing she could take them back, but since she’d broached the subject, he figured the ground rules no longer held. It was the opportunity he’d been waiting for and he couldn’t afford to waste it.

“Who says justice and public relations have to be mutually exclusive?”

All her humor and lightheartedness instantly retreated. “Surely you don’t honestly believe Walker’s offer has anything to do with justice? He’s just trying to buy back his credibility.”

“And isn’t that a form of justice? Admitting to past mistakes and taking steps to rectify them?”

“How can it be true justice without punishment-on his part?”

Warming to the topic, Kyle leaned forward, his hands resting on his knees. “He’s offering to pay you a million dollars. That kind of a fine sounds like steep punishment to me.”

“It’s not a fine when he insists on getting something in exchange.”

“What he’s asking for won’t cost you anything but a little of your time.”