He reached down and scooped the little brat up. “Men are pigs because they like tossing misbehaving little girls out the window when they don’t do what they’re told.” Sean play-tossed her toward the window and then yanked her back.
Kelly squealed in delight and gripped on to his arm like a leech. Megan frowned at her small daughter and brother. “And what did this misbehaving little girl not do that you told her to do?”
Sean felt Kelly’s little fingers squeeze his shoulder tighter as she returned the steely gaze of her disapproving mother. Then she looked at him, pitifully, as if to plead,
You can’t rat me out, Uncle Sean!
Uh-oh.
Giving the little darling a reassuring squeeze, he looked his sister straight in the eye, and not for the first time in his life, lied through his teeth. “She didn’t do anything. I was just teasing the little squirt.”
He had a brief, slightly traumatic flashback of seeing Kelly discover and pull out his brand-new iPod while he talked to Andi on the phone. He’d asked the kid, a little tensely, to put it down, but she’d only giggled, finding delight in her poor uncle’s obvious torment.
Sean had eventually wrestled the expensive gadget from her potentially destructive little hands, but not until after having to make short his phone call with the woman who’d been on his mind all afternoon.
“Uh-huh.” Megan knew him well enough to know he was covering something up, but she let it slide. “You two turkeys can do me a favor and go tell Jason it’s time for you kids to start settling down for the night. We’re going to have a homework check in half an hour.”
“Right away, ma’am.” Sean led his niece in giving Megan a military salute, and then he planted his co-conspirator on the ground so she could race and do her mother’s bidding.
They found his twelve-year-old nephew lodged in front of the TV watching some Japanese-looking cartoon with rapt fascination. “Time to hit the showers, kid,” Sean told him.
“Aw, just five more minutes. Just five more.”
“Sorry. Mom’s orders,” Sean warned.
“Please. I haven’t seen this episode, and I gotta see what happens,” Jason pleaded with the same pitiful look Kelly had given him in the kitchen.
Sean felt himself caving in until Kelly pointed out, “Yes you have. We’ve both already seen this one
soooo
many times.” She rolled her eyes and reached for the remote control. “It’s almost over anyway.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Yes-huh.”
“Nuh-uh,” Jason yelled at the top of his lungs.
“
Yes-huh
,” Kelly screamed back.
“All right, that’s enough.” Sean grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. “Upstairs, now. Both of you.”
After a little more squabbling, the two little terrors reluctantly did as they were told. By the time Megan relieved him of duty, Sean was exhausted. Looking after kids was more tiring than running a marathon. He kissed Meg goodbye, already thinking ahead to tomorrow when he’d have to juggle his already scheduled appointments to accommodate a hastily squeezed-in rendezvous with Andi. Megan walked him to the door. “What do you think about the Woodbine Werewolf legend?” he asked, pausing with one hand on the doorframe.
She quirked an eyebrow at him but didn’t laugh. “I think it must be almost Halloween and you’re considering running a feature on it again. Am I good or what?”
He half smiled. “There’s a reporter in town from a tabloid. I’m helping her do research on it.”
“Her?” Trust Megan to pick up on that one insignificant detail. Her eyes lit up with the same mischief her children had obviously inherited. “So what does she look like?”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Uh-hmm. Must be pretty. Probably didn’t fall for your charm, which is why you’re helping her out. You’re nothing if not determined.”
He hated it when she went all analytical on him. “Can we get back to the question?”
“No, I don’t believe we have a werewolf running around. Do I believe everyone who has reported seeing it is lying?” She glanced toward the trees surrounding her modest house, seeming to think about it. “These are good people, Sean. They saw something, I’m sure, but I’d be an idiot to believe it was a werewolf.”
He couldn’t have agreed more. Still, if Andi was anything like she’d once been, she wouldn’t leave until she had investigated her story from every possible angle. Certain people in the county were sick and tired of reporters stirring up rumors about the werewolf, and he figured she would be in for a pretty rough time if she visited some of the residents.
Damn. He owed it to her to help her out while she was here. He’d said some pretty hurtful things to her once, and it was obvious she hadn’t forgotten any of it. Neither had he, unfortunately.
The memory of Andi’s tears still held a punch that made him flinch. Andi had been so good-hearted, so naive in a lot of ways, and he’d worried she wasn’t tough enough to manage the reporting position for which she’d wanted his recommendation. Not to mention, their college newspaper advisor had warned Sean he wasn’t doing Andi any favors by coddling her with kid gloves. The things Sean had said to her that last day hadn’t necessarily been true, but they had been necessary, or so he’d thought at the time.
Andi Lockhart had been like a kid sister to him in college—well, up until he’d beat her out for editor of the college rag and he’d finally taken off those kid gloves in order to help prepare her for the career she so obviously wanted. After that, she’d hated his guts, but before that, they’d been friends, he’d thought. It would be easy to fall back into the habit of looking out for her. Not to mention she had morphed into one fine-looking woman, one he wouldn’t mind getting to know better.
“Do me a favor.” He stepped onto the porch and let the screen door close between them. “Tell your boss I’m gonna be paying him a visit either tomorrow or the next day to talk about what he saw last year. Make sure he’s on his best behavior, will ya?”
“Of course.” Megan smiled. “Oh, and Sean? Make sure you don’t come while I’m on my lunch break. I want to meet this mystery lady of yours, especially if she has more sense than to fall for the likes of you.”
“Hey, you were bragging about me earlier, remember?”
“Temporary insanity. I’m better now.”
“On second thought, make sure you’re on your best behavior too.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of embarrassing myself—or you.” Her mouth curled up in an evil smile.
Andrea inhaled the cool, crisp autumn air as her feet pounded the trail she’d discovered behind her motel. The steady rhythm of a run usually relaxed her, but today she remained wound up tighter than an accountant on tax day, feeling anxious and more restless than she’d been the night before. Not even the hot shower after her workout helped ease the tension.
She spent half an hour trying to choose a suitable ensemble to impress the man coming to pick her up, then realized how ridiculous she was being and picked out her favorite burgundy pantsuit. To hell with what he thought. He was married, for heaven’s sake. She was an experienced journalist and knew better than to make assumptions based on the muffled conversation she’d overheard on a telephone call, but she found it hard to let her mind overrule her emotions. She always had when it came to Sean.
She yanked back her hair into a clip.
You aren’t naive anymore. You don’t need Sean’s approval to be happy.
She scowled at her reflection in the mirror, seeing nothing but an impeccably dressed career woman.
But no matter how Andrea looked, more and more of her old anxieties were coming out. Feelings she thought she’d buried long ago. Andrea blew out a frustrated breath and slammed her hairbrush down on the table.
You aren’t like this anymore
.
You’re calm, collected and professional.
She usually knew where to draw the line between her personal and professional life.
This simply wasn’t like her.
By the time Sean knocked on her door, Andrea was ready and waiting to take her mood out on him.
She jerked open the door with a frown. “You’re late.”
“Boy, you are a ray of sunshine, aren’t you? Good morning to you too.” He smiled and shook the bag he held in one hand. She ignored it and concentrated on him instead. He was dressed semi-professionally in a pair of khaki pants, a black button-up shirt and a black sports coat, but the effect was offset by the dirty, scuffed boots on his feet. “Sorry I’m
five minutes
late. I stopped and picked up something for the road. Donuts. Coffee in the truck. Peace offering?”
“Thanks. I’ve already eaten.” She closed the door behind her and checked to make sure it was locked. “I thought I’d just follow you to the school. I’m sure you have a very busy day, and I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“I really don’t mind chauffeuring you around.”
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
“Okay.” He must have sensed her mood and was trying to decide what to do about it. “You have a prime opportunity here to make every woman in this county jealous, but don’t worry. I’ll let you have a rain check. I’m in the black truck next to your car.”
She resisted the impulse to roll her eyes and slid her sunglasses on instead. Aside from her rental, his was the only car in the lot.
He took a bite of a doughnut, gave her a thorough once-over and smiled as if he liked what he saw. “The school is about ten minutes from here. Try to keep up if you can.”
“I can hold my own, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, Sunshine.”
Andrea had no trouble following Sean. He was a courteous host. He slowed down to wait with her through two red lights when he could have easily sped through. At one point she got behind a bulldozer and a dump truck going only about twenty miles an hour.
Ugghh
. Sean slowed down again so she could keep him in sight, which only added to the blossoming guilt in her chest. Guilt that brought shameful color to her cheeks and made her feel downright evil for taking her mood out on him. No matter what their history was, she liked to think she was more mature now. She shouldn’t let him bring out the worst in her. She wouldn’t blame him if he changed his mind and sped off, leaving her to find her own way.
Andrea parked beside Sean, took a deep breath to steel her nerves and grabbed her bag.
“Making good use of your time while you’re here?” She nodded at the equipment bag he’d pulled out of his car. She might as well be pleasant.
He shrugged. “We always need school photos to fill up the paper. But you should know that, Andi. You started out, where? Professor Suddeth told me but I can’t remember. Small paper in Kentucky, right?”
She slowed her steps and sent him a sideways glance, grateful she still wore her sunglasses. She’d been working out an apology in her mind for the rude way she’d greeted him at the motel and his words caught her off guard.
It shouldn’t have mattered that he didn’t remember where she’d first gone to work, but it did.
“Tennessee. Three years before moving up to a daily.”
“Oh yeah? Which daily?”
They were almost at the front entrance. Andrea didn’t like to think of herself as a coward. Reaching up, she pulled her sunglasses off and looked Sean straight in the eye. “Colorado Springs, crime beat.”
“Good paper. So how did you end up writing for a tab? You can do better. I know that for a fact.”
Did he? She wasn’t in the mood to argue. She held the door open for him. She kept her tone polite. “It’s a long story, and I’m on a tight schedule. After you.”
“Most people would have turned the question back on me and asked how I ended up writing for a weekly.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“Just an observation, Lockhart.”
“We both know it’s none of my business. The way I see it, it was an accident we ran into each other after all these years. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just a colleague lending me a hand this morning. Nothing more. Nothing less. And please, don’t feel obligated to help me just because we once knew each other. I appreciate what you’re doing—I do—but it’s not necessary.”
He watched her as if trying to read her eyes and not her tone. After a moment of uncomfortable perusal, Andrea looked away.
“Then I guess we’d better get to it, then.” But as he passed through the entrance, he mock-punched her in the arm and smiled. “Lighten up, Lockhart. You’ll live longer.”
Lighten up?
She had to grit her teeth to stop from charging after him and returning his punch, a real one.
Whoa, girl.
He still knew exactly how to push her buttons, and she warned herself not to rise to the bait.
Andrea tried to regain her mental composure as she watched Sean flirt shamelessly with the school secretary. It was obvious from his familiarity with everyone that Sean was a regular visitor here. It still seemed surreal that Sean Hunter, onetime golden boy reporter, had been reduced to this—covering high school happenings. She found some comfort from the idea that, career-wise, he was no better off than she was these days. Some might say she even had the upper hand, considering she probably made double his salary and was read by millions of people across the country.
But when Sean introduced her to the school principal, she realized by the look on the man’s face that at least Sean still had something she did not—respect.
“I can’t say I’ve ever read your publication before, but I’ve certainly seen it while waiting in line at the store.” Principal Bach greeted her with a halfhearted handshake. “What can we do for you, Ms. Lockhart?”
“I would like to speak to some of your students and their club advisor, if that’s possible. Since you’re familiar with the publication I write for, I’m sure you can easily guess which students I wish to see.”
“Ah, of course.” The gray-haired man exchanged looks with Sean. “It is close to Halloween, isn’t it?” He looked at Andrea. “This time of year, we get a lot of calls from reporters wanting to do a story on the so-called werewolf. I can probably pull Mrs. Spencer out of class for a few minutes to speak to you, but unfortunately, I can’t just let you talk to any of our students without their parents’ permission. School policy. I’m sure you understand.”
Andrea sensed she’d just met her first reluctant source for this story. Not a big deal. She was used to it. She conjured up one of her best smiles and was about to point out that she was more than willing to wait for that permission when Sean sat his bag on the counter and pulled out some papers. “No problem, Carl. I called Sandy this morning to make sure those students had media permission slips on file, and bless her heart, she even faxed me copies. Here, this will save you the trouble of pulling them up yourself. As you can see, all but one student in the club has a signed permission form from their parent on file. There should be no problem letting them speak to Miss Lockhart.”
Principal Bach looked taken aback and Andrea had to admit she was pretty surprised herself. She glanced at Sean but he only grinned and winked at her. Bach slid his reading glasses on, glanced over each of the slips and looked at Sean and Andrea with a frown that suggested he still wasn’t about to give in without a fight.
“We don’t like for our students to be distracted while learning is in progress. I’m afraid I can’t just pull these students out of their classes to speak with you, but you’re welcome to come back at the end of the day. If you’re lucky, you might be able to catch a few of them before they leave school grounds.”
Maybe, if she knew what they looked like. She was about to mention this important little detail when Sean beat her to it yet again.
“I’m sure Sandy wouldn’t mind having a note passed on that we’d like to meet with them, now would you, Sandy?” Sean gave a flirtatious wink at the plump brunette sitting nearby, eavesdropping on the exchange.
“We do it all the time.” Sandy speared the principal with a defiant look. “Of course, I’m sure Principal Bach has forgotten to mention it, but that particular club meets today right after school anyway. Miss Lockhart, you can get the whole group at once if you don’t mind waiting until then.”
“I don’t mind at all.” Andrea sent the woman a grateful smile. “What time does the club meet, and where can I find it?”
Outside, Andrea turned to Sean. “Thank you. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in getting those permission slips ahead of time, but I’m perfectly capable of—”
“Sneaky, wasn’t it?” He grinned.
“I work for the
Naked Truth
. I’ve seen sneakier. Would you mind giving me directions to the science lab so I’ll know where to go this afternoon?”
He shrugged. “I could, but why bother? I’ll just show you later, when we come back.”
“I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Really, there’s no need for you to come back and meet me later.”
He leaned against his truck and crossed his arms. “What? Still don’t trust me? Come on, Andi. Is that any way to treat the man who cleared his very busy schedule to spend the day with you?”
“Please don’t call me Andi,” she bit out. Only two people had ever called her that—Sean, in college, and her older brother Nick. It might have been cute ten years ago, but now it was just plain annoying and resurrected memories she’d best leave buried. “Besides, I never asked you to clear your schedule for me. I know how to do my job just fine on my own, thank you.”
“Of course you do. You had a great teacher.” His lips betrayed a smirk as he moved around to the driver side of his truck. “Now get in, Lockhart. Time’s a wastin’.”
“I appreciate the offer—”
“Get in.” He nodded to the passenger’s side of his truck.
Okay, she’d tried to be nice. It wasn’t working.
She crossed her arms and stood still. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not going anywhere with you. I have places I need to be.”
“Places I can take you.” When she didn’t budge, he shook his head and leaned between his open door and the hood of his truck. “Come on, Andi, it makes more sense to leave one car here. You can get it when we come back, or would you rather drive?”
She considered him carefully. “Why are you so intent on us leaving together? What’s your motive?”
“Because it’s almost Halloween, and I need a feature for the front page that week. Because you’re doing the same story. Because I know my way around, and you don’t. I can stand here all day explaining my viewpoint, but surely common sense would tell you the same.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Still trying to scoop me, Hunter?”
He shook his head. “Come on. Would you stop being so stubborn? You can hardly consider me competition on this one. We’ll have entirely different readerships. Why shouldn’t we work on it together and pool our resources? Besides, I can guarantee we’ll have totally different angles on this story.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
He nodded to his truck. “Get in, and I’ll tell you.”
The idea did make a lot of sense. If he was offering, why shouldn’t she use his help? It would probably get her in and out of this town a heck of a lot faster than doing it on her own.
Reluctantly, she climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. His eyes were twinkling in a way that suggested he’d never doubted she would accept his help, and she shook her head, slightly disappointed in herself that she had.
“Okay, Hunter, I’ll bite. How can you guarantee our stories will be so different?”
He put the truck in gear, sent her one of his trademark smiles as he reversed out of his space and said, “Because, Sunshine, my story will be about
you
.”
“
Me?
”
“Think about it. What better angle could I have than a tabloid reporter coming to our sleepy little town and hunting werewolves for Halloween?”
“But—”
No, she couldn’t argue with the idea. She had to admit, it was a unique hook, considering he’d already reported the sightings to death. “All right.” She sighed, pulling her seat belt across her chest as she smiled at the irony of it all. “But at the very least you owe me lunch for this.”
“Oh, Sunshine, I’ll feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few days. In fact, get used to having me around. I intend on being your shadow for as long as you’re in town.”
“Great.” She shook her head. “Just what I always wanted—my very own
stalker
.”
His sexy chuckle filled the cab of the truck and stirred arousal deep inside her. She was half certain Sean Hunter was a married man, and she certainly didn’t trust him, but by some cruel twist of fate, he still affected her. Sitting beside him now, she was conscious that the mere male scent of him had her senses tingling. If he pushed enough buttons, the awkward, intimidated young girl she had once been could very well resurface and make a complete fool of her.