Chapter 7

CHAPTERSEVEN

Tanner acknowledgedthe man inside the guardhouse with a quick wave. He didn’t have time to stop and make small talk with him. Especially since the guy’s first question would likely be to ask why Tanner was returning home before this week’s tournament even began.

“We need to stop at the club,” Sonny reminded him.

The caddy was a bit obsessive-compulsive about storing Tanner’s clubs in a temperature-controlled environment. He preferred they be kept under lock and key in the clubhouse. It always annoyed Tanner that he couldn’t step out onto the golf course behind his house in the late evenings and drive a few balls just for the fun of it.

Since it was highly unlikely Tanner would be using them anytime soon, he didn’t bother protesting. Instead, he steered the Cadillac SUV in the direction of the golf course, two miles deep into the community.

“We should at least hit the range tomorrow,” Sonny said. “It won’t do you any good to let the rest of your game slip.”

Tanner leveled a glare at the man in the passenger seat. “You should have gone on the bag for someone else this week. At least you would have earned some prize money.”

Sonny earned a salary for being Tanner’s caddy, but the opportunity for the big bucks came from tournament play. Most golfers on the tour shared a percentage of their prize money with their caddy. Tanner was no exception. If he finished the year number one in the rankings and won the year-end championship as he planned, Sonny would earn seven figures this season.

This was the trickle-down effect to Tanner’s yips. He squeezed his fingers around the steering wheel trying to alleviate the frustration and guilt swallowing him up. Both men stood to lose a lot if the Whitney situation wasn’t resolved quickly.

“As my momma used to say, ‘I’ll dance wit the guy that brung me,’” Sonny mumbled.

Tanner thought his caddy was being a fool, even though he was grateful for the loyalty. A few years ago, he’d taken a chance on Sonny when the rest of the golf world had written the guy off. Alcoholism had ruined two of his marriages and lost him the bag with three top ten professionals.

At the time, both men were looking for someone to believe in them. Tanner helped Sonny find his way to sobriety while the caddy taught him to trust his innate golf skills. Their relationship was mutually beneficial ever since.

Until now.

“I’ve got video chats with two private detectives Sheriff Hollister lined up,” he told Sonny. “My lawyer should have the birth record any day now. We’ll get this mess cleared up by the end of the week.”

Sonny made a noncommittal sound before leaning forward in his seat. “Um, Tan Man, is that who I think it is?”

Tanner did a double take in the direction Sonny was pointing.

“What the hell?”

Paige Hollister was strutting along the golf cart path dressed in an outfit that left little to the imagination. The white blouse she wore over a lavender two-piece bathing suit might as well have been made from tissue paper, it was so sheer. He’d long suspected her figure would be enticing, but he wasn’t prepared for just how mind-blowing it actually was.

A pair of golfers in a cart slowly passed by her, both men nearly getting whiplash trying to sneak another peek at what was a very fine ass. A wolf whistle filled the air just as a pickup truck nearly collided with Tanner, the driver presumably getting an eyeful of Paige.

“Is that Whitney?” Sonny asked.

Sure enough, the little girl was huddled beneath a big beach towel on top of the flat cart Tanner’s lawn service stored at his house. Paige kept her gaze forward and her chin up as she pulled Whitney along the cart path. Her ponytail was swinging angrily as she marched along.

“For the love of Pete.” Tanner made a sharp U-turn so he could pull up alongside the pair. He jerked the car into park and jumped out. The icy look she greeted him with when he stormed around the hood of the car nearly had him moving his hands to cover the family jewels. Recognition quickly dawned and her expression relaxed into a scowl that wasn’t any more welcoming.

“You’re supposed to be in Charleston,” she practically hissed.

“What and miss whatever this—” He waved his hands at the cart and then at Paige’s outfit. “—is.”

Paige narrowed her eyes to slits. “For your information, ‘this’ is a bathing suit that is perfectly respectable for the beach—where I’m supposed to be this week, I might add. It is also acceptable for wearing to a swimming pool. Unless said pool is surrounded by horny, middle-aged men who prefer to act like middle school boys.”

She pulled her coverup more firmly against her body. Not that it did any good. The fabric clung to her, accentuating her lush curves even more. Paige let out an angry growl.

“None of the reviews mentioned this thing practically disintegrated when it got wet,” she mumbled. “No wonder it was so inexpensive.”

This close he could make out her nipples. They were hard beneath the wet cloth. The breath stilled in his lungs as all the blood rushed to his crotch.

For fuck’s sake.

He was no better than the jerks who had just been ogling her. He forced his gaze up her body. Hell, was that one of his limited-edition golf hats she was wearing? The ones he was saving for Augusta?

Anger is good. Lust is bad.

“I was referring to the cart and the horse business going on here. I seem to recall leaving you the keys to my car.” He moved to block her from view of the on-coming traffic. “You’d get a lot less attention in the Porsche. Why the hell are you pulling Whitney on a cart like a circus animal instead of simply driving to the pool?”

She threw her shoulders back and stepped forward. He could practically feel the anger radiating off her.

“I would have loved to drive your fancy Porsche had it been properly equipped with a back seat and suitable child protection,” she snapped.

The heat was scorching off Tanner now, although for a very different reason. The scent of coconut and sunshine had him glancing down at the exposed skin on her chest. A tiny bead of perspiration was meandering down into the valley between her breasts. He licked his lips.

“Oh my God, you’re as bad as the rest of your infantile golfer buddies.” With a huff and a stomp of her foot, she yanked on the cart and pulled it forward, narrowly missing his toes. “Come on, Whitney. We need to get home and get ready.”

Tanner shook his head to regroup.

“You’re not pulling her on that thing all the way home,” he argued. “It’s more than a mile.”

She swung around, walking backward as she continued to pull Whitney. “Ooo. A whole mile, is it? I’m sure that distance is probably daunting for most of the paper-doll women you surround yourself with. Newsflash, though, Down Under Dude. You should probably find yourself a woman with more stamina.”

With a flick of her ponytail, she spun back around and continued walking. Tanner meant to follow, but he was trying to convince his body that she had not just issued a blatant sexual challenge.

A woman with more stamina?

For the love of fuck.

“Um, Tanner,” Sonny was saying from somewhere behind him. “Cell phones are rolling.”

Shit.

At least that got his feet moving in the right direction.

“Get in the car,” he demanded once he caught up with her.

Paige stopped short, this time nearly taking off his shin with the side of the cart.

“Do you have a child’s car seat in that car?” she asked, a touch too sweetly.

Tanner looked down at Whitney. “She’s not a baby anymore. She doesn’t need a car seat.”

“Children forty pounds and under are required by law to ride in a booster seat.” Her smile was smug. “Seeing as that car does not have booster seats, Whitney will not be riding in it. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to hurry home and get changed. Whitney has a ballet class this afternoon.”

Booster seats? Ballet? The woman was certifiable. What had he been thinking leaving her in charge of Whitney?

He watched her walk away from him, her sweet ass sashaying from side to side. Yeah, he’d been thinking with the wrong head.

“Take the car,” he growled at Sonny. “I’ll meet you back at the house.”

“You sure?”

No! He needed to get as far away from her lush lips and provocative body as he could. Except he couldn’t let her walk home like that alone. His mother—and a few nannies—raised him better than that.

He waved Sonny off and trudged after Paige. Whitney looked back over her shoulder at him, her eyes wide. Tanner relaxed his face and tried to smile at her. At the very least, he attempted not to scare her.

“I’ll pull it,” he said once he caught up to them. He reached for the handle before Paige let it go. Heat raced to his junk when their fingers tangled. She pulled her hand away as if he’d scalded her. She cleared her throat while he did everything he could to catch his breath. They walked along in a tense silence for several yards.

Tanner looked back at Whitney. “You okay back there, Whit?”

The little girl moved her chin up and down slightly.

“You tell me if I go too fast, okay kiddo?”

Whitney’s shoulders relaxed and the nod she gave him this time was slightly more pronounced.

He focused his gaze back to the front, only to find Paige studying him quizzically.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

A ghost of a smile flitted over her lips. She shook her head.

Tanner sighed. “I may not know all the ins and outs of keeping a four-year-old safe, but that doesn’t mean I want any harm coming to her.”

Paige acknowledged him with an arched eyebrow and nothing else. They continued in silence for another quarter mile.

“I thought you were going to be gone through Sunday,” she finally said.

“Yeah. So did I. Something came up.”

She jerked her gaze over to him. “Something about—” She motioned behind them with her head.

“Yeah.” It wasn’t a lie. He wouldn’t have the yips if Whitney hadn’t shown up.

Paige moved in a little closer and lowered her voice. “Have you found her?”

He didn’t have to ask who the “her” she was referring to was. “Not yet. But we’ve got a new lead.”

Mainly that his brother was the little girl’s dad. Not that he was sharing that with Paige. Or anyone else right now

“I take it I’m not getting a new car, then?”

He looked over to find her lips twitching at the corners. It made him want to take her by the damn ponytail and kiss those luscious lips of hers senseless.

“No, but your car is ready. And paid for. I told Almeda she could have the entire week to spend with her daughter and new grandson, though.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”

The intensity of the relief that washed over him was unexpected. He told himself it was because Paige was just what Whitney needed, a protector, an educator, a friend. And caring for Whitney was his main priority.

He glanced back over his shoulder. The beautiful little girl sitting on the cart was his niece. His brother’s child just as much as Liam and Luca. Everything suddenly looked different. Yes, he needed to find Donella. But that didn’t mean he would let this part of Tristan slip back out of his life.

Now all he had to do was figure out how he was going to share a house with the temptress beside him for the next six days without combusting into a cloud of lust.

* * *

Paige was goingto spend the next six days sharing a house with Tanner.

Her heart was still on lockdown. And her brain knew enough not to trust a man who up until now, ignored responsibility for his own daughter. But her body . . . that was an entirely different can of worms. Just the brush of his fingers against hers moments ago had her nearly losing her balance. The sizzle she’d felt New Year’s Eve was definitely not a fluke.

“Still doing okay back there, Whit?” he called over his shoulder.

His attentiveness to the little girl warmed her. He did seem to have her best interests at heart. Of course, it all could be a smokescreen. Jon had pretended to be an entirely different person with Paige—one who didn’t have a wife and three young kids at home in Champagne. And Paige bought it quicker than a Lululemon markdown.

Not this time.

Sure, there were likely extenuating circumstances surrounding Whitney’s parentage, as her father insisted. Two sides to the story and all that. But that didn’t mean Paige was going to trust a man again. Particularly not a sexy golfer with an Australian accent and heart-stopping dimples.

“So, Whitney is already enrolled in ballet,” Tanner said. “How much is that going to cost me?”

Paige snickered. “Lucky for you, I seem to be related to the instructor. Ginger invited Whitney to sit in on Emily’s class this afternoon. But I did buy her a leotard and some tights to wear.”

“Mmhmm. My credit card alert pinged me frequently yesterday.”

“Again, lucky for you I’m a thrifty shopper.”

“That’s not what the account balance said.”

Fortunately, his words didn’t hold any bite.

“You told me to do whatever it took to keep her happily entertained this week,” she said. “I don’t have a carpet bag like Mary Poppins. And from the looks of it you can afford it.”

He laughed, the sound of it so relaxed it made her grin.

Tanner stopped suddenly. “There it is.”

Paige sobered up. “There what is?”

“That smile you beguiled me with New Year’s Eve.” His gaze was filled with wonder. “I was beginning to think it might have been a mirage.”

Oh. My.

She was light-headed again. Fortunately, the sound of someone clearing their throat snapped Paige back from doing something stupid. Like melt at Tanner’s feet.

They turned in unison to discover her father leaning against his Bronco parked in Tanner’s driveway.

“Afternoon.” His tone was relaxed, but Paige had no doubt his eyes were spearing both of them with a pointed look behind his Aviator’s.

Great.Had he discovered her ugly truth? She could only imagine what he thought of her. Not to mention that her current outfit backed up whatever assumptions her dad had.

Beside her, Tanner stiffened slightly. “Afternoon, Sheriff. What brings you around?”

Her dad stepped away from the Bronco, his mouth softening into an easy smile he aimed in Whitney’s direction. “I’m here to escort one little girl and her nanny to ballet.”

Paige’s body relaxed with relief. Her reputation was safe for another day. “I thought Kate was coming to pick us up?”

“Max took a while settling down for his nap, making Kate late to pick up Emily,” he explained. “The logistics were starting to get complicated, so I offered to come by and get you two.”

It sounded innocent enough. “That’s . . . nice of you.”

“We all do our part in this family.”

Paige ignored the reference to her being a part of the McAlister family. It was easier that way. “We’d better get changed then, Whitney.”

The little girl tried to scramble off the cart, but her foot got stuck in the towel she was wrapped in. Tanner quickly scooped her up before she hurt herself.

“You’re all wrapped up like a little burrito there, Whit.” His indulgent smile brought out those knee-weakening dimples. “How ‘bout I just carry you inside.”

Tanner whistled as he carried Whitney into the house. Paige bit back a sigh at the sweet image.

“I’m surprised to see Tanner back in Chances Inlet,” her father said.

Paige risked a glance at him. As usual, his face was inscrutable.

“That makes two of us. He just arrived a few minutes ago. He said there has been a new development in the search for Whitney’s mother.”

“Did he?” Her father nodded. “That’s good news.”

A painful silence stretched between them until he finally spoke again.

“And you? Will you be staying now?”

Wasn’t that the twenty-thousand-dollar question?

“Tanner’s housekeeper won’t be back until Sunday. It’s a big enough house that Whitney and I can keep out of his way,” she assured him.

If her father didn’t think it was a good idea for her to stay alone in a house with Tanner Gillette, he kept his thoughts to himself. He followed her through the garage and into the kitchen. Tanner was standing in the center of the room with his hands on his hips staring at the countertops. They were littered with water-colorings Whitney painted earlier in the day.

Tanner cocked an eyebrow at Paige. “Are we opening an art gallery?”

Paige bit back a smile. “It’s good for her to express herself through art. It helps with emotional healing.” She hastily stacked all the paintings into a pile.

“But do any of them give us a clue as to where her mother disappeared to?” Tanner asked.

She met his frustrated gaze. “No,” she replied softly.

Tanner turned and walked into the great room. He stood silently staring toward the golf course.

Paige sighed. “I’ll hurry and get changed so we can go. I’m sure you’ve got someplace more important to be.”

“Nothing is more important than you, Paige,” her father said.

She wanted to call him on his blatant lie, but she was emotionally drained from all the competing feelings swirling inside her. It was simply easier to head down the hall and distance herself from both men.