At that, Grant laughed and took a few steps back. All the while his eyes were on her, focused with a heat that reminded her of soft sheets and sweaty skin. “I’ll see you soon, hot stuff.”
Pepper watched him jog across the street to the lot where his motorcycle was parked. He fired up the engine and roared past her, blowing a kiss her way before disappearing down Magnolia Way with a loud rumble of mechanical thunder.
She had no doubt that someone would be paying good money for Grant’s company at the charity auction. A bad boy with good hands was worth every penny. It just wouldn’t be her pennies. Her house came first.
And even if it were in pristine condition and she had cash to burn . . . she was certain a bid on a Chamberlain would make for more trouble than it was worth.
Chapter 3
“Look who’s back in town!”
Grant looked up from his beer when he heard the bartender, Emmett, announce the arrival of their hometown celebrity, Ivy.
Outside of Rosewood, she was an international rock star. But when she was in Rosewood, she was just his brother’s fiancée. An amusing fact, considering that for a good part of the last six years, she was his brother’s mortal enemy. Such a fine line between love and hate. That’s what he liked to tell himself whenever Pepper insulted him. The night they spent together left no question in his mind that their animosity could be channeled into an explosive passion. He just wasn’t sure why she was so resistant to it.
He was hoping Pepper would come tonight with Ivy. They were friends. Spending a couple of hours in each other’s company where they had to be relatively polite might do them good. But so far, no Pepper.
Ivy strolled in on Blake’s arm, looking as radiant and chic as she did on television, in a red leather motorcycle jacket. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail that showcased her silver lightning bolt earrings. She certainly hadn’t picked up any of that around town.
Grant slipped off his barstool to welcome them. “Welcome home, Ivy,” he said giving her a big hug.
“Thanks. How are you, Grant? Off rescuing kittens from trees and saving damsels in distress from burning towers?”
“Eh,” he shrugged. “Not really. Small-town firemen have a lot of downtime.” He glanced over his shoulder and pointed to the seating area beyond the small dance floor. “There’s a booth in the corner that’s open if you all want to sit over there.”
“Sure,” Blake said, tugging Ivy in that direction.
Grant followed, scooping up his beer and settling into the seat opposite them. “Blake tells me that you accepting his proposal has made him ineligible for the bachelor auction. Are you sure you want to marry him? If you guys broke up for just a month, it would be for a good cause.”
“Hey now!” Blake warned his brother, but Ivy just laughed.
“Sorry, Grant, but I’m sticking it out,” Ivy said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of sad ladies in town, but they already had their chance to land Blake while I was gone. I hear you and Simon are on the auction block, though. Sounds like there’s plenty of Chamberlain meat to fight over.”
Grant snorted. “If you say so.”
The ladies of Rosewood would be very disappointed if they bought Simon expecting a virile, romantic specimen from the Chamberlain family. He seemed afraid of his own shadow sometimes, and considering he was a cop . . . Grant just didn’t get it. He wasn’t much older than Simon, but the gap may as well have been decades.
“Here’s the people I’ve been”—Pepper said brightly as she approached the table, then spied Grant sitting there—“looking for,” she finished, her voice flat.
Grant threw out his most charming smile and slid over in the booth. He gave the empty leather a friendly pat. “Have a seat, Pepper.”
She gave a glowering look to Ivy and then reluctantly settled down in the seat. “Hey, Grant,” she said. “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”
“It must be your lucky night.”
“As long as it’s not yours,” she quipped.
Emmett arrived a moment later, saving them all with an interruption while they ordered drinks. It didn’t last nearly long enough. Before Grant could respond to Pepper, the conversation moved on.
“So, tell us about the new tour,” Pepper suggested.
Ivy started talking, but Grant didn’t pay much attention to what she said. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, it was just hard to focus with Pepper so close to him. She looked amazing tonight. She had straightened her red curls so the fanlike splay of hair fell in a long, shiny sheet of red around her face. Around Christmas, she’d cut her hair to about shoulder length, but when it was straight, it seemed a lot longer. The bright red was stunning against the flawless creamy complexion of her pale skin.
Grant didn’t know much about makeup. He couldn’t tell eyeliner from blush, but he knew he liked Pepper’s handiwork. She had a smoky cat eye tonight with a shimmer of copper that pulled out the golden highlights in her dark brown eyes.
Pepper caught his gaze for a moment, a pale pink coming to her cheeks. She immediately moved to slip out of her light brown leather jacket. “I think Emmett’s got the heat up a little high for folks that are drinking. Is it hot in here to y’all?” she asked.
“No, it’s just me,” Grant said with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes, but that didn’t stop him from reaching out and helping her with her coat. Her top was sleeveless, he discovered as his fingertips brushed along the bare length of her upper arm. The touch was charged, like static electricity that buzzed along his skin and sent a bolt of awareness up his arm.