Page 33 of Queen of Diamonds
9
Rand stoppedby Summer Fashions to give Kinsey the keys to her new locks.
“Well, hello. I’m Shannon. How may I help you?”
He smiled at the pretty blonde-haired woman whose eyes were blatantly roaming over him. “Is Kinsey Landon available?”
Her lips formed a pout. “It’s so not fair.”
“Pardon?”
“Kinsey’s getting all the hot guys today. She needs to share, dontcha think?”
“Um, I guess that’s up to her.” What hot guys were visiting Kinsey?
“Are you one of her brothers, too? And please don’t tell me you’re also married.”
“No, just a friend. Is she around?” He thought it best to ignore her second question. It wasn’t good that he was relieved Kinsey’s visitors were her brothers. He’d spent the morning convincing himself that he was going to step away. But that streak of jealousy that had heated his blood when thinking Kinsey had hot-guy visitors said putting distance between them might be harder than he thought.
“No. She went to lunch with her brothers, but she should be back in about ten minutes if you want to wait. You can keep me company.” Shannon peered up at him with bright eyes and a hopeful smile.
This one was a man-eater, so definitely not a good idea. And it positively wouldn’t be wise to be here if her brothers came back with her. “Do you have an envelope you can give me?” Although leaving the keys with Shannon probably wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t strike him as being a responsible kind of girl.
“For you? Sure.”
He followed her to the cash stand, then managed not to roll his eyes when she pulled an envelope from a drawer and wrote a phone number on it.
“Here you go,” she said, holding the envelope so that her number was impossible to miss. “I don’t usually give out my number before I know a guy’s name.” She giggled. “For you I’m making an exception. What is your name, anyway?”
An older woman walked out from the back, saving him from having to answer. She glanced from him to Shannon to the envelope that Shannon tried to crush into his hand when the woman appeared. Not wanting to get the girl in trouble, he took it and stuffed it into his pant pocket. A bell dinged as three women walked in.
“Shannon, please go help those ladies,” the woman said.
“Oh, all right.” She winked at him before bouncing away.
Rand seriously considered kissing the woman for saving him from Shannon’s clutches.
“I know. You’re about to thank me for rescuing you.” The woman chuckled. “Shannon’s a great sales associate unless you’re what she calls a hot guy; then she goes a little crazy. I’m Corrie, Kinsey’s boss. Can I help you?”
“Actually, you can.” He pulled the envelope from his pocket. “Would you make sure this goes straight to Kinsey?” At her nod he lifted a pen from a cup on the counter, crossed out Shannon’s phone number, and after writing Kinsey’s name on the envelope, he dropped the two sets of keys in it and then sealed it.
Back at his car, he texted Kinsey, letting her know that her boss had her new keys. Before he could pull out of the parking space, he spied her crossing the street, flanked by Alex and Court. He couldn’t quite figure out what it was about her that drew him. He’d never felt an instant connection with any other woman the way he had Kinsey, not even with his ex-wife. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful with a killer body, although he appreciated both those things.
He waited until they disappeared into the store before driving away. As much as he wanted to explore this thing between them, there were some good reasons not to. His own issues being a big one, not to mention three overgrown and overprotective brothers with the ability to put a serious hurt on him if he was ever the reason for so much as one tiny tear leaked out of their sister’s eye. And yet he couldn’t seem to stay away from her.
Saturday afternoon Randpushed the intercom button at the Gentrys’ gate. He glanced over at Kinsey. “Did you tell them I was coming with you?”
She grinned. “Nope. I thought it would be a fun surprise.”
“Not so sure about that. Maybe I should have worn my bulletproof vest.”
“I won’t let them shoot you.” She leaned over the console and waved her fingers at the gate’s camera. “I promised him you won’t kill him. Let us in.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, little sister.” The gate swung open.
Rand snorted as he looked at Kinsey. “Told you.” That had been Nate, and there had not been amusement in his voice.
“He can sure sound scary when he wants to,” she said, dramatically widening her eyes, making him chuckle.
