Baring It All (Mills & Boon Temptation) Page 10

  “Do you live out here?”

  “Me? No. I have an apartment at the top of the Malone Building in Buckhead and an apartment downtown.”

  “And Lord Sin? Where does he live?”

  Ryan swallowed a smile. She thought she’d just run that into the middle of their conversation. Smart idea. Sunny didn’t know it yet, but she was going to be told eventually. Given his recent state of mental confusion, it might have worked. “Don’t know. Sorry. Maybe Lottie will share that information with you.”

  “But you don’t think so, do you?”

  “I never predict what Lottie will do. We’re crossing the Chattahoochee River, heading into Vinings. This is a pretty historic area if you’re interested.”

  Interested? Oh, yes. She was interested, but not in anything historical. If it wasn’t in the present, it had better be research for a story she was working on. Looking at Ryan was definitely not research, though she did have an undeniable urge to touch his upper lip with hers. “I’m interested in Lord Sin,” she said crisply, sure that he could see the blush that flamed her cheeks. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d stick to business.”

  “Look,” he finally said, “why don’t we try to forget that I kissed you last night? Just sign it off to the fact that you’re an appealing woman and I behaved badly. I don’t usually do that. I apologize. And, if you’ll let me, I’d like to get to know you better.”

  “So, you find me appealing. You were quite open in telling me that you want my body. You said that if I let you try to talk me into your bed, you would help me reach Lord Sin. I agreed to let you try. You just caught me by surprise last night. I was the one overreacting. But I’m ready for you now. So, have at it.”

  That brought another smile to Ryan’s lips. In between bouts of self-recrimination he’d been smiling a lot lately. “You think I’m not going to? Move over a little closer and I’ll show you my best shot.”

  “Pay attention to your driving or you’ll be showing it to the judge.”

  He reached the intersection of the two narrow streets in the middle of Vinings and turned into the drive of a white clapboard frame house with gingerbread trim along the roof of the porch. “Not your fault that you don’t know how to appreciate real talent,” he said, smiling.

  “And what talent is that?”

  “Obviously, my kisses aren’t up to par. You already told me I needed to take lessons from Lord Sin. Maybe I’ll arrange to talk to him, collect a few tips before he leaves,” he said and turned off the engine.

  Lottie was on the porch waiting for her guests. “Good to see you, Mr. Malone, and you, too, Miss Clary, is it?” Today she was dressed in a pleated wool skirt and matching sweater. On a chain around her neck she wore an antique sun-shaped pendant with what appeared to be Chinese writing.

  “Please, just call me Sunny.”

  Lottie nodded. “Come in out of this wind. I know that February must be the worst month of the year. When Sin was young, he used to call it Uglywary.”

  “So Sin—”

  “Not yet,” Lottie stopped her. “Let’s visit for a while first.”

  Sunny swallowed her impatience and, with Ryan at her elbow, followed the statuesque beauty into a house straight out of the forties. It could have been designed for Jane Russell or Joan Crawford. White furniture and drapes, with accent fringed pillows of gold and green. Pale gold carpet and tables made from blond wood.

  In the center of a bay window overlooking a small garden, Lottie had laid out a white lace-covered table for tea. Silver tea service, delicate cups with lavender designs and two silver trays filled with scones dripping with golden jelly and little sandwiches covered with cucumbers and garnished with tiny apostrophes of pimento.

  “Oh my, I feel like I’m on a movie set. This is beautiful, Ms. Lottie. Did you decorate it yourself?”

  “I did. I made all the drapes and covered the pillows.”

  “I’m very impressed. You must have been a designer before you retired.”

  Lottie smiled and sat gracefully on the couch. “You might say that. I’ve always had an eye for color and fabrics. Take her coat and hang it in the closet, Ryan, and close your mouth. This is woman talk. Do you sew, Sunny?”

  Sunny allowed Ryan to help her out of the coat and take it away, pretending not to notice the caress his fingers made along her chin. “No, I don’t know a thing about sewing.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. Girls don’t get taught the way I was. From the time I could stand on a stool and reach the counter my aunt made certain that I knew how to cook, sew and play the piano. She never lived to see how I’d use those talents. But I’d like to think she would have approved. What about you?”

  “My mother died when I was twelve,” Sunny said. “My father tried to teach me, but he didn’t know much about those things. Instead, to be close to him, I learned to keep books, saw, nail and paint. If you need something added or repaired, I’m a whiz.”

  Lottie looked impressed with her skills. “I’m thinking now that’s a good thing to know. I’ve been fortunate in having male friends who would trade a little muscle for a good meal.”

  “That’s what I’d hoped to talk to you about, Miss Lottie.”

  Lottie looked surprised. “Being a handyman?”

  Sunny laughed. “No. Male friends. I know you’re a friend of Lord Sin’s. I wonder if you’d tell me about him.”

  Lottie stood and started over to the tea table. “I don’t usually talk about Sin. But maybe I will, today. At least I’ll talk about the club—if you like. Let’s have tea first. I’ve made blackberry. I hope you like it.”

  Ryan followed dutifully. “I hope you have something a little stronger, Lottie,” he said.

  “If you’ll put that handle back on the drawer in the kitchen you might find some wine in the cabinet.”

  The laugh Ryan let out said what he thought about repair work as he left the room. “You expect me to be one of these handymen?”

  “No,” Lottie said sharply. “I expect you to go away and let me chat with your lady.”

  “I’m not his lady,” Sunny said as soon as Ryan was out of hearing distance. “I don’t know why everyone keeps assuming that.”

  “I do. I saw the two of you dancing on TV. My screen is still scorched.”

  Sunny grimaced. “I saw it, too. Pretty awful, wasn’t it. I wish the station hadn’t aired the tape. I want the viewers to take me seriously.”

  “Never apologize for enjoying life.” Lottie poured the pale lavender-colored tea into the china cup and handed it to Sunny. “It’s better with cream and sugar,” she said and plopped a lump of sugar into the cup. “You add the cream.”

  When both cups were dressed to Lottie’s satisfaction, she took a dainty sip, looked straight at Sunny and asked, “You’re falling a little bit in love with Ryan, aren’t you?”

  Sunny chewed on her lip thoughtfully before answering. “I hope not. I’ve only known the man for a few days.”

  “That’s long enough. If you belong together, forget all this nonsense about Lord Sin. You won’t regret it.”

  “Oh, Miss Lottie, I’m having a hard time separating Sin from Malone.”

  She laughed. “I can understand that. They’re both very appealing. Never married, but I had two men in my life. Loved them both. I keep hoping I’ll meet another but I guess I’m getting too old to think about a man. There just aren’t any good ones left.”

  “My father is a good man,” Sunny said, then wished she hadn’t when she saw Lottie’s interest.

  “I’d like to meet him. Think he’d go for an ex-stripper?”

  Sunny gulped. She didn’t know how to answer. In fact, she had no idea what her father would think about Lottie. She’d never seen him with any woman except her mother.

  “That’s what I thought. Have a pastry.”

  Sunny took one of the dripping confections and, juggling it and the tea, took a bite. “Oh, my goodness. This melts in your mouth. I can’t believe either of those m
en let you get away.”

  “They didn’t. Sent one packing. The other? Well, maybe I’ll tell you about the other sometime.”

  “Tell me about The Palace Of Sin,” Sunny said, finishing off her pastry and helping herself to a sandwich. “How do you know so much about it?”

  “Worked there for forty years.”

  Sunny couldn’t control her shock. “Really?”

  “Well, it wasn’t known as The Palace Of Sin when I started there. It was a vaudeville house called The Ho Ho Palace.”

  “Ho Ho?”

  “Believe it or not, it belonged to a man who was half Chinese. His name was Ho. Never figured out whether it was his first or his last and, eventually, they both became the same. I worked as a dancer in the chorus until Ho sold the place and went back to San Francisco. The next owner turned it into a burlesque house and I just kept on dancing until I got too old. You look like a dancer yourself.”

  “I danced some, yes. But I was a gymnast, until I grew too tall.”

  “Why did you decide to become a reporter?”

  Sunny helped herself to another sandwich and thought about her answer. “Because of my father.”

  “Oh, he was a reporter, too?”

  Sunny shook her head. “No, my father was an office manager, a bookkeeper for a man who was in the building business. He’s a Baptist minister now.”

  Lottie gave Sunny a measured look. “You responsible for the change?”

  “Not entirely, though I’m sure I contributed.”

  “Are you two close?”

  “Not always, but we’re closer now.”

  “I like that. A child should be close to her parents. They ought to protect each other.”

  “We do, or at least he’s very protective of me. I’m afraid I failed in my attempts to look after him. But I tried.” She tossed her head and took a bite of her sandwich. “As a matter of fact, he’s coming in on Sunday for a visit.”

  Lottie held out the platter of sandwiches. “Thought you said he was a preacher. Isn’t Sunday his big day?”

  “It’s a very small church. They only have services twice a month. He came to the ministry late in life and he was assigned a church nobody else wanted.”

  “Why did he become a minister?” Lottie asked.

  Sunny took a deep breath and let it out. If she was going to convince Lottie to help her reach Lord Sin, she had to gain her acceptance. “I told you my father was an accountant. He was sent to prison for falsifying records and taking bribes—something he didn’t do, Miss Lottie. He vowed he would never handle money again.”

  “So he couldn’t handle money.” Lottie laughed. “Well, he found a profession where he sure won’t have to, didn’t he? What happened to the real crooks?”

  “Some of them are still around, but his boss drowned in a sailing accident while my father was in jail.”

  “I’d say the good Lord took care of the situation right well, didn’t he? How’re you doing in there, Ryan? It’s awfully quiet.”

  “I’m looking for a screwdriver, Miss Lottie.”

  “In the drawer by the back door.” She looked at Sunny and smiled.

  “About the club, Miss Lottie, when did Lord Sin come into the picture?”

  She looked out the window for a moment, then answered. “He was sixteen, too young to even be there when he started. Lied about his age, he did.”

  “Sin started dancing when he was sixteen?”

  “Oh, no, not on the stage. He just played around with it, with the girls. They loved him. His job was to clean up the place, act as a gofer. Just did odd jobs while he went to school. But he had the talent. Always had the talent. He had his moves, even then, and he was smart enough to use the skills God gave him to get where he wanted to go and determined enough not to let anything stop him.”

  “And where did he want to go?” Sunny asked, softly, almost afraid to stop Lottie’s reminiscences, for she understood now that the woman was reliving a part of her past as well.

  “I don’t think even he knows yet. But maybe he’s closer than he was.”

  That wasn’t the question Sunny had wanted answered. She’d hoped for a location, not a state of mind. But Lottie was being much more reachable than she’d been that night at The Palace Of Sin. And Sunny was beginning to like her.

  A howl from the kitchen, followed by a clatter, did what Sunny’s questions hadn’t, brought Lottie to her feet and ended the trip down memory lane. “What have you done now, you rascal?”

  In the kitchen they found a chagrined Ryan holding a handle in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. On the floor was the drawer and all the silverware.

  “It slipped,” he said, grimly.

  Lottie laughed. “You’ve spent too much time learning to make money. You should have practiced using a screwdriver more.”

  “Well, I have other talents.”

  Sunny wanted to laugh at his ineptness. He’d been listening at the door and must have heard her tell Lottie about her father. She held out her hand. “Give me the screwdriver,” Sunny said, picking up the drawer and taking the handle from Ryan. In no time she had the handle reattached and was replacing the scattered utensils.

  Lottie shook her head and gave a tsk, tsk, tsk. “I think you’d better forget having wine, Ryan, and have some tea instead. Sunny has to get home in one piece. Her father’s coming for a visit on Sunday, or did you already know that?”

  “No. I didn’t know that. Leave it to you, Lottie,” he said. “You could ferret information out of a secret agent.”

  “Did that once,” she said as she led them back into the living room. “Didn’t know what to do with it when I got it. The nice young man from the FBI had a hard time making his report. Finally said he’d better avoid dancers in the future.”

  “I’ll bet,” Ryan commented dryly, following the two women into the parlor. “Did you get a commendation from J. Edgar Hoover?”

  “No, but the guy from the Bureau didn’t miss one of my performances for the next two months. I was afraid I was going to have to adopt him, too.”

  “What happened to him?” Sunny asked, taking a seat on the satin divan. She’d heard Lottie’s “too” but didn’t want to stop the flow of information by asking about it.

  “He met Isabella and switched loyalties immediately. Have some tea, Ryan,” Lottie said and sat across from Sunny. “Now, where were we?”

  “We were talking about your FBI agent and Isabella. Would that be the same Isabella who had the birthday party at Rainbow House?”

  “The one and only,” Lottie admitted. “The silly thing is still vain. I was good, but she was always better. That’s because she was the most erotic of the dancers. Guess that’s why they made her Sin’s teacher. She broke in all the new dancers but Sin went far beyond all the others. He was the answer to every woman’s dreams.”

  “Isabella taught Lord Sin?”

  Lottie nodded. “She taught him how to dance.”

  “I think we’d better be going,” Ryan said, suddenly standing behind Lottie. He leaned down and gave Lottie a quick kiss on her cheek. “Thanks for the tea.”

  Lottie gave him a flick of her hand. “You didn’t drink any yet. What’s wrong with you? You asked me to give Sunny some information on Lord Sin and that’s what I’m doing. She’s not ready to go yet. Either go for a walk or be quiet.”

  “Lottie,” he said in a warning voice. “Lottie, I don’t think Lord Sin would appreciate your being quite so frank.”

  “Why? I’m talking about the club, not about him. But if I were to decide to, I could tell this young woman a thing or two. Maybe I will. Sin needs to learn that maybe he’s not always right. Besides, I like Sunny Clary. Any girl who has an ex-con for a papa and still cares about him is okay in my book.”

  “Isabella may have taught Lord Sin to dance,” Sunny said quickly, in an attempt to cut off any questions from Ryan, “but I’ll bet you taught him other things that were equally important.”

  “I like to t
hink I did.”

  “I found him very—interesting,” Sunny said wistfully. “I wish I could have seen him perform more than once.”

  Lottie smiled. “You know, I may be able to help you there. I think I have a tape of one of his rehearsals.”

  “Lottie!” Ryan started toward the door. “Let’s go, Sunny, before Lottie gets in big trouble with Lord Sin. You do want your interview, don’t you? He might decide not to give it to you.”

  “Yes, of course I still want the interview.” Sunny stood, puzzled at the sudden underlying tension in the room. “I’m sorry, Miss Lottie. I didn’t intend to get you into any trouble.”

  “You didn’t get me into anything,” she said, looking resigned as she stood. “Fetch her coat, Ryan.” She turned back to Sunny. “I’ve enjoyed this afternoon and I like you. I didn’t intend to, but I do. Sometimes I think we keep too many secrets.” With her back to Ryan she leaned down and picked up a tape from beneath a table. “If you and your father aren’t too busy, I’d love to meet him,” she said and stuck it into Sunny’s briefcase.

  Sunny returned her smile and walked to the door where Ryan was waiting. “I think he’d like that very much,” Sunny said. “Perhaps we can have dinner.”

  Lottie slapped her knee. “Of course. Ryan will cook for us. Won’t you, Ryan?”

  Ryan looked cross but he managed a weak smile. “Perhaps.”

  “You cook?” Sunny asked, trying not to respond to his frown.

  “I told him to show you his talents,” Lottie said. “This is only one of them. He’s also good at—”

  “Goodbye, Lottie.” Ryan gave her a quick kiss, opened the door and ushered Sunny out before Lottie could finish her sentence.

  “Dare I ask about your other talents?” Sunny asked as Ryan closed his car door.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t.”

  “Why are you so angry, Ryan?”

  “I’m not angry. I just didn’t expect the two of you to become best friends. Normally, Lottie is like a clam. Today, she turns into Lord Sin’s personal publicity woman.” He took a deep breath, then looked at Sunny. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I reacted like that. I promised you I’d help you get to people close to Lord Sin, that they’d be the ones to determine whether or not they’d intercede with him on your behalf. I just didn’t expect it to really work.”