Chapter 5

Pepper hugged herself tighter to the stranger and whispered in his ear, "Please play along with me. If you do, there's no charge for your stay here."

There was a fifty-fifty chance he'd do it, and she held her breath, waiting for his response. What she didn't expect was for him to cup her head with one of his large hands and pull her in for another kiss. His lips were warm and firm and tasted slightly of coffee. She was so shocked when he traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue that she opened for him without even thinking.

Lordy! He tasted like seven kinds of sin. As his tongue probed her mouth and danced over the surface, her nipples tightened in response and moisture flooded her panties. Her blood heated, and her pulse thundered so hard she was sure everyone could hear it.

Pepper's entire body vibrated as the kiss went on and on and on. Whatever soap he'd showered with still clung to him, tantalizing her senses, something with a clean, outdoorsy scent to it that reminded her of the bay. The day-old scruff on his cheeks and jaw was so sexy she wanted to rub herself all over it like a lazy kitten. She could barely think, her senses bouncing all over the place.

At the point where she was sure she'd pass out from lack of oxygen, he lifted his mouth from hers. She stared for what seemed like an unending moment into eyes so brown they reminded her of melted chocolate before she unwound herself from him and slid to her feet.

"Well!" Maggie's voice broke in from behind her. "That was some greeting."

Pepper smiled nervously at the man whose hands still rested at her waist.

"Thank you," she mouthed. Then she turned to look at everyone. They were all staring at Kyle as if he had three heads or had just landed from a distant planet.

Maggie recovered first.

"Well," she drawled. "I'm Pepper's mother, Maggie Thornton. I'm sure you can understand this is quite a surprise to us. For whatever reason, Pepper chose to keep you a secret even from me. Her mama."

Pepper squeezed Kyle's hand, silently begging him to play along.

"We, uh, both decided it would be better to surprise you, rather than try to explain how we met and why I'd never been here before."

She wanted to kiss him. Again. "Yes. That's right." She bobbed her head like a windup doll.

"So, why don't you tell them all about it?" he suggested. "Honey."

"Pepper told us you met on the Internet." Smarminess dripped from Judd's voice. "Is that the only way you can get a date?"

"Judd Wallace!" Pepper gave him her death-ray stare. "Are you thinking the same thing about me?"

He shifted his gaze to her, startled. Apparently, it hadn't occurred to him he was insulting her, too.

Think up a reason fast. Real fast.

"It turned out one night, for laughs, we both happened to hop on this site." She squeezed Kyle's hand harder. "Right, sugar? Just for kicks, since we'd heard other people talking about it?"

"That's right," he agreed. "We accidentally connected, and the rest, as they say, is history."

"Pepper." Maggie turned to her again. "I think your daddy and I should take you and your young man out for dinner tonight. At that new restaurant I mentioned."

"But - " Judd tried to interrupt.

Pepper smothered a laugh as Maggie flicked a hand at him.

"Oh, hush, Judd. Things have changed. Well, Pepper? What time is good?"

How in the seven levels of hell was she going to get out of this? And Kyle! He'd played along, but he sure wouldn't want to get caught up in this family melodrama.

"How about I get Kyle checked in and settled, and I'll give you a call. That work?"

Maggie chuffed a sigh. "I guess it will have to." She looked at her watch. "I think I'll run home and catch your daddy up on this. You call in a little bit, you hear?"

"Okay."

Cilla sidled over to them, laughter in her eyes. "I'm happy to watch the place if you and your fiancé want to spend some time together." She held out her hand. "Cilla Denbury. We're all looking forward to getting to know you real well."

She winked at Pepper who wanted to kill her right on the spot.

"We're good," she told the woman. "I won't need you until five. Y'all can run along now."

She managed to shoo them out the door as Mary Tierney, the older woman who cleaned the place for them, hurried in the back door. Mary had been with them for five years, ever since her husband passed away. She told Pepper the job kept her busy. Like Cilla, she had become a fixture. And as with Cilla, Pepper was grateful for her.

"Everyone gone?" she called out. "I'm ready to get started.

"This will only take a sec," she told Kyle, who was standing there with amusement dancing in his eyes.

She got Mary started on the rooms then came back into the lobby.

"I am so very, very, very sorry," she told him, wringing her hands.

"I have to say that's not exactly the way I expected to be greeted here." He chuckled.

"Umm." Heat crept up her cheeks. "That was some kiss. I wasn't exactly expecting it."

He grinned, and a dimple winked at the right corner of his mouth. Oh lordy!

"Just trying to get into the spirit of things."

"Well, ummm, thank you. Again."