“Trying to fit them in will provide the challenge.”
“Let me see.”
Kevin sighed. “You’re not discouraged, are you?”
“Not a chance. If that was your plan, it backfired. Now that I’ve seen it, I think this place is more perfect than ever.” She grabbed his hand and tugged. “Come on. I want to see that kitchen you’re so worried about.”
“If you insist,” he said, and led the way.
The kitchen was a bit of a mess and surprisingly dark. Not that Gracie would ever admit to it. “It’s perfect,” she declared. “It’s huge, or it will be once we knock out that wall to the dining room. Then we could knock out part of that outside wall and put in more windows. It would be a great area for serving breakfast to guests.”
Her imagination took flight, replaced all of the old appliances with shining new ones, painted the walls a bright yellow, and added curtains. Something country French, she thought. She could call some of her old suppliers in France for the perfect fabric.
Of course, if she was going to redesign this room with fabulous French decor, she’d better master that blasted souffle in a hurry. A menu of plain old scrambled eggs wasn’t going to cut it.
She described her idea to Kevin, who regarded her with amused tolerance. “Can’t you just see it?” she demanded, wanting him to be caught up with her enthusiasm.
“No, but I can see that you do,” he said.
He reached out and slowly brushed a tendril of flyaway hair back from her cheek. Then his fingers lingered in a gentle caress that stole her breath.
Before she realized what he intended, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers, softly at first and then with a hunger that stunned her. Gracie had never in her entire life been kissed with such consuming urgency. Her body swayed toward his, toward the heat radiating from him. Her hands came to rest on his chest, then slid slowly up until they encircled his neck.
And all the while his mouth and tongue were working magic, tasting, savoring, devouring. She was weak-kneed and dizzy by the time he finally pulled away. She was certain only his hands at her waist kept her upright. Otherwise she would have sunk to the floor, maybe made a fool of herself by dragging him down with her.
As a distraction, it was a hell of a kiss. For several very long moments, she had completely forgotten the business at hand: buying this damned house.
When she was certain she could manage it without stumbling, Gracie backed out of his embrace and scowled at him. “It won’t work, you know. You’re not going to dissuade me or sidetrack from trying to get my hands on this house.”
He grinned. “I know that,” he conceded. “But wouldn’t you say the stakes just got a whole lot more fascinating?”
10
“He had lipstick on his collar when he came in last night,” Molly reported to Delia, her expression gleeful. “I checked the shirt he tossed into the laundry.”
“Must have been Gracie’s,” Delia concluded happily. “I heard he swooped into the Beachside Cafe yesterday morning and practically carried her right out of there. Downright romantic is what it was.”
“Do you think we’ll finally get to plan a wedding around here?” Molly inquired wistfully.
“I wouldn’t go getting your hopes up,” Kevin said lightly, interrupting all of the merry speculating going on in his own kitchen. “Gracie doesn’t especially want me. She wants that house of Aunt Delia’s.”
“You could make it a package deal,” his aunt suggested.
A little bit insulted that she didn’t think he could win Gracie purely on his own, he shook his head. “That’s downright pitiful. Don’t you two think I can catch a woman without offering a bribe?”
“Haven’t shown any evidence of it so far,” Molly observed.
He scowled at the housekeeper. “You can be replaced.”
“Not likely,” she retorted.
“Leave the woman alone,” his aunt said. “You should be grateful she’s put up with you all these years.”
“What is this?” Kevin demanded irritably. “A blasted conspiracy? Never mind. I’ll eat in my office. Bring my eggs and ham in there, please, Molly.”
“You’ll get bran flakes and be grateful,” she retorted, and dumped some in a bowl. She then proceeded to drown them in milk…skim milk, at that. “You can take them with you.”
Kevin accepted the sodden mess and turned to his aunt. “This is your fault, you know. Molly used to be docile as a lamb. Did everything I asked without a bit of sass. You’re behind this insurrection and don’t think I don’t know it.”
He heard them laughing as he headed for his office and couldn’t hold back a grin of his own. Nothing could spoil his mood this morning, even if his life was being run by a couple of sneaky old women. That kiss he’d shared with Gracie was memorable enough to take the edge off his anger at Bobby Ray, too. Hell, he might even give his cousin that loan he wanted…right after he reminded him that he had a daughter he ought to be thinking about once in a while.
He’d barely settled at his desk and eaten his soggy bran flakes when his cousin strolled in, his expression defiant.
“I heard you were looking for me,” Bobby Ray said, bracing his hands on Kevin’s desk and staring him straight in the eye. “What’s the problem?”
Kevin drew in a deep breath and changed his mind. He might pummel Bobby Ray into a bloody mess, after all.
“Let’s start with Abby,” he said, managing an icy calm.
“I’ve already called and apologized. I talked to Marianne.”
“So I heard.”
“How? Did you go running right over there so she could cry on your shoulder like always?”
There was no mistaking the nasty insinuation behind the accusation. Kevin struggled to ignore it, kept his temper in check. “Never mind that. Your apology was a little late, don’t you think? You should have been
