Page 2 of Tucker

For one thing, she was related to the most prominent, respected family in the area. Her father and three uncles were pillars of the community, known to everyone, respected by all. Anything that happened in or around Buckhorn, Kentucky, the brothers knew about it, probably had a hand in it, or had orchestrated it themselves. They claimed ownership of the area and the residents, and felt responsible for them all.

But when it came to family, they were tighter than tight. Getting involved with one meant getting involved with them all.

Kady was Gabe Kasper’s eldest daughter. Though the youngest of the infamous Buckhorn brothers had been a dedicated husband and father for longer than Tucker had known him, rumor had it he’d been a real player in his youth. Clearly, karma was a bitch because his daughters were not only knockouts in the looks department, but also grade-A flirts.

Hitting on Kady would mean drawing scrutiny from that powerful family—and there were a hell of a lot of them, starting with the four brothers and their wives, then the numerous siblings, cousins and in-laws.

But he liked her family. That wouldn’t hold him back if it wasn’t for the second thing: Kady teased every man, young and old, who came within shouting distance. Flirting seemed a natural part of her persona. Even the way she commented on the damn weather had every man with a heartbeat thinking in innuendos.

It was wet.

It was hot.

Steamy, humid, damp...

When it came from her, it all sounded sexual. Add in the way she looked at a man,everyman, and it made it nearly impossible to know if her coy gazes and sly smiles actually meant anything.

Hell, she was doing it now, staring at him with her thick lashes shadowing her eyes, a slight curl to her soft lips.

Tucker decided, not for the first time, that it was safer to stick to business. For added effect, he put on his best expression of authority. “We’re in the middle of a storm and it’s dark as Hades out here.”

“A storm?” she said with surprise, peering at the sky as if she hadn’t known. “Why, I believe you’re right.”

Ignoring her saccharine sarcasm, he swiped rain and mud from his face and asked, “Was there a reason you’re out and about, Kady?”

“Yes, sir.”

Oh, that deference was its own sort of come on; he’d love playing cop to her damsel in distress...and thinking that was dangerous. He gave her a stern frown.

She sighed. “You’re no fun at all.” Taking pity on him, she pulled around in front of his SUV, put the vehicle in park and turned off the engine. He walked to the driver’s window, ready to ask what she thought she was doing, but she turned away out of her seat and beckoned him with a finger. “Come around back.”

Said the spider to the fly...

Though the rain was cold, it was a smothering hot night, and he could almost feel the steam rising from his shoulders and the back of his neck.

With or without the storm, that was a typical reaction when he was around Kady.

He hesitated, but he wasn’t a coward, so he trudged through the puddles accumulating on the road and walked around the van.

Kady opened the doors. “Come on up here.”

He eyed her skeptically. With all the equipment, there wasn’t a lot of room left in the cargo area of the van. She’d laid an already muddy towel on the floor, but held a clean one in her hands.

Almost as if she expected to dry him herself.

His skin prickled at the thought, and he swallowed heavily.

Voice softer now, she promised, “I don’t bite, you know.”

Damn it, now she was taunting him? Not tonight.

Mouth tight, he reached for a handhold and pulled himself up next to her. “I never said—”

“Not unless you ask me to.”

His gaze clashed with hers, and she actually smiled.

Oh God, he envisioned that soft mouth open on his shoulder, the wet touch of her tongue, the sharp edge of her teeth grazing his burning skin...

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