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Everyone in town would know about this by morning. Her parents would be horrified she’d even stepped foot in this place. They would be upset when they found out. This had been one of Chad’s hangouts. One of those places she’d been forbidden to go after he’d left.
Some of her friends had used fake IDs during high school to get in. In college she’d been invited on weekends but she’d always made an excuse about why she couldn’t. The only reason that she’d come tonight had been because she’d let Payton dare her into it. Now the worst was happening. She’d disappoint her parents after working so hard not to add to their pain.
The first strain of an old love ballad began. Could it be any worse? “My Endless Love.”
She groaned loudly enough that Payton glanced at her. He no longer had a sappy grin on his face. In fact, he looked a little green. With rising satisfaction, she grinned. This might turn out to be fun after all.
The words to the song began to scroll on the monitor. Payton’s tenor voice sang smoothly. “‘They tell me...’”
He’d surprised her again. The man could carry a tune. She picked up the next line and he took the other. Soon China forgot that she was in front of a group, singing with a man she wasn’t sure she even liked. She had became so caught up in the sound of Payton’s beautiful voice. They harmonized together on the chorus.
On the second stanza, Payton grinned at her when it was her turn to sing. She slipped on the first word but pulled herself together and gave it her best effort. The noise in the room gradually ceased as they finished with a long drawn-out note. The crowd went wild. China glanced at Payton. A smile of pleasure brightened his face. She’d not seen that look in his eyes before.
Payton wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his hard body. She circled his waist with a hand. Briefly she noted she could feel his ribs.
“I think they liked us,” he said near her ear. “We should bow.”
She nodded, overwhelmed by being so close to him and how much she’d enjoyed singing with him. Who would have thought? He led her into a bow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that was the best we have heard tonight,” the emcee announced. “Are you two a couple?”
China shook her head vigorously and stepped out of Payton’s hold.
“Well, you could’ve fooled us,” the man said, as China headed off the stage.
She made her way back to the table, not looking left or right, to pick up her purse. She had every intention of walking straight out the door. China pulled up short when she realized Luke was no longer sitting there. He was her ride home. Where was he?
China searched the area, horror making her heart beat faster. She needed to get out of here.
“You were great.” Doris, Jean and Robin spoke in unison.
“Thanks. Where’s Luke?” She looked from one woman to the other.
“He was on call. He had to go in,” Robin said. “We’re going over to the Hut and see what’s going on there for a little while—want to come?” Robin asked.
China had no interest in going to another nightclub. “No. I think I’ve had enough excitement.”
“I can take you home,” a voice she knew far too well said from behind her.
Did she have a choice? A taxi would take too long. Walk? Her house was too far and it was too late. “I would appreciate the ride.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
Payton seemed as anxious to leave as she was. Picking up her purse and saying goodbye, she made her way to the door. Payton stayed close behind her.
China took a deep breath as she entered the night air. The wind gusted around her, a sure sign that it would rain before morning.
“I’m parked over here,” Payton said.
He strode through the parking lot but not so fast that China couldn’t easily keep up. At the end of the row they walked between two cars and were at his vehicle. With a soft beep the doors unlocked. Payton opened the passenger-side door for her.
“You know, you really don’t have to hold the door for me.”
“I’m just being a gentleman.”
“Thank you, then.” She slipped down into the low seat. “I may need more help getting out than in.”
He chuckled softly. “I can do that, too.”
Payton closed the door and went around to get in behind the wheel. Starting the car, he pulled out of the parking space and asked, “Which way?”
“Back toward the clinic. I only live a mile or so away.”
Payton’s vehicle really was nice. She ran a hand over the smooth leather of the seat. China knew luxury cars. Rob had had one when he’d wheeled into town. He had been a big-time real-estate man from Los Angeles, looking for investment property. He’d come by the clinic and taken a liking to her.
Always a bit of an outsider, Rob made her feel wanted, had filled her head with promises of being the center of someone’s world. Just as quickly as Rob had arrived, he’d disappeared, leaving China crushed. Lesson learned. She rubbed the seat again. Payton’s car and hers were one more thing they didn’t have in common. The feel of the leather reminded her not to pin her hopes on someone. The smalltown life, white sands and blue waters and especially her wouldn’t hold a man. She’d accepted what her life was and would be.
She and Payton rode in silence as if they were both glad to have a reprieve from the noise inside Ricky’s. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes.
“Hey, don’t go to sleep on me. I’ll have to take you to my house if you do.”
Her eyes flipped open and she sat up straighter. “Make a right one block past the clinic.”
“So I’m guessing you don’t want to go home with me.”
China wasn’t going to comment on that statement. She wasn’t up to their usual conversation. He made the turn she’d indicated. “Go three blocks and turn left and the house is the second on the right.”
* * *
Payton smoothly maneuvered through the tree-lined streets and pulled into her drive.
China opened the car door. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Hey, wait a minute. I’ll help you—”
“I’ve got it. See you later.”
She was out and gone before he could open his door. He watched in the illumination of the headlights as she bypassed the walk to the front entrance of the bungalow and continued toward the detached garage further down the drive. Her dress blew in the wind that was picking up. He caught a glimpse of trim thigh before she pushed the hem back into place. Reaching the stairs, she started to climb them.
So China lived in the apartment above the garage. Flowerpots lined the steps. She really loved plants and seemed to have a green thumb. Maybe he’d been a little harsh with his comment about garden clubs. The plant care he was familiar with was done by someone who showed up in a van and brought new plants to replace the brown ones. Neither his mom nor Janice would ever damage their manicures by messing in dirt.
China was nothing like the other women he knew. She was a dependable nurse, helpful beyond necessary, gardener, a darned good singer, and she had the prettiest brown eyes he’d ever seen. What more was there to discover about Little Miss I-can-hold-my-own-in-a-battle-of-wits?
Payton waited until the light flickered on inside the area above the garage before putting the car in reverse and backing slowly out of the drive.
China was the most interesting woman he’d met in a long time. Did he want to discover more?
CHAPTER THREE
NEAR LUNCHTIME, ON TUESDAY of the next week, Doris stuck her head inside Payton’s office and said, “Hey, Jean needs to talk to everyone. It’s a slow day, which doesn’t happen often around here so we’re going to eat and meet at the picnic table out back.”
She headed down the hall without waiting for a response. That might
have been the longest invitation he’d ever received to lunch and he came from a society family who made them a regular affair. Doris, he’d learned, was the mother hen of the group. Robin the precious child they all tolerated, Jean the leader who used a kitten-soft hand but everyone heeded, Luke the fun guy who popped in, and China... He smiled.
Monday morning she’d arrived at work with no comment on their duet on Friday night. He’d overheard the other women teasing her but she had not said a word to him that hadn’t been professional in nature. He would have thought she’d softened toward him after their evening out, but not China.
