In The Tycoon's Bed. Maureen Child

other side of the counter. “But isn’t it still better for them to know him?”

      “Yes, of course, it’s just …”

      “Confusing?”

      “Extremely,” Sadie said with a sigh. “You know, even when I was a kid, Rick Pruitt … confused me.”

      Abby laughed. “Sadie, when we were kids, all boys confused us. Hasn’t changed much.”

      “No.” A sad smile curved Sadie’s mouth as she idly straightened a stack of Magic Wonder fountains. “But for you, it was different. Your family was rich, but they didn’t keep you separate from everyone in town. Brad and I went to private academies, remember?”

      She shrugged as if it didn’t bother her, but it still did. When she was a girl, Sadie had wanted friends. She’d seen the other girls her age going shopping or sitting in the diner, laughing together or flirting with boys, and she had desperately wanted to be one of them. But except for Abby, she remained an outsider. Just as she had been for most of her life.

      “True, you weren’t around much,” Abby mused. “Even when you were, your father didn’t really like you hanging out at the diner with the rest of us.”

      Sadie laughed at the image. “The children of Robert Price didn’t ‘hang out.’” She took another sip of water and looked out over the crowd gathered in the square. “We didn’t really belong in Royal, you know? Oh, born and raised here, sure, but we could only see the other kids on the weekends, so we never really built the kind of friendships here that everyone else had. Our father was too determined to keep us isolated for whatever reasons.” She smiled, reached over to squeeze Abby’s hand. “If not for you, I would have been miserable. It was hard on me, but in a way, I think it was even worse for Brad.”

      “In what way?”

      Sadie pushed a stray lock of blond hair out of her eyes and shrugged again. “I don’t know, he was popular with the girls in town.”

      “Of course,” Abby muttered. “He never did have any trouble attracting girls.”

      Sadie grinned. “He’s my brother and he irritates me beyond all reason at times, but come on. He is great-looking.”

      “Maybe,” Abby allowed.

      Still chuckling, Sadie said, “Anyway, even though most—” she paused for a knowing look at Abby “—of the girls liked him, the guys in town weren’t real thrilled with the ‘rich guy’ swooping in on the weekends.”

      “Yeah,” Abby said softly, reluctantly. “I’d forgotten about that.”

      Sadie blew out a breath. “God, that sounds so whiny, doesn’t it? Poor little rich kids….”

      “You’re not whiny. Ever. So,” Abby prodded, “tell me about Rick?”

      Sadie smiled ruefully. “You remember, he was Mr. Popularity even then. Captain of the football team.” She shook her head and called up the memory of a teenaged Rick Pruitt, and in response, she felt that odd fluttering in her stomach again just as she had then. “He wore jeans and boots and T-shirts and his hair was too long and his eyes were too dark and he looked like every girl’s dream of a bad boy who was really a good guy.”

      “Yeah,” Abby said, smiling with her. “I do remember Rick as a teenager. Pretty studly even then.”

      Smiling, she looked at Abby. “He would walk into the diner and every girl there would turn to look at him.”

      “Even you,” Abby said.

      “Me, too,” she admitted, then laughed a little. “But he hardly knew me. Still, anytime he said hello, I’d start burbling and stammering. I felt myself blushing and couldn’t stop it. Ridiculous, right?”

      “Not really. We all acted like that as kids.”

      “Yes,” Sadie said, “but I’m still doing it. The old Rick was pretty irresistible. Now, though, since those last tours of duty, he’s … changed. Become more—I don’t know, not closed down, because he’s open and loving with the girls. But there’s something about him that is shut away. Locked down. And that tears at me, Abby. Oh,” she said, pausing to huff out a frustrated breath, “I don’t know why he affects me like he does, but it’s automatic. Rick Pruitt’s around and my brain turns to mush and my body lights up like one of these skyrockets we’re selling.”

      “So having him around all week was a little tough?”

      “Just a little.”

      “I hear that,” Abby said, looking past Sadie to frown. “Nothing’s as easy as it should be.”

      Sadie turned to follow her friend’s gaze and sighed when she spotted Brad walking through the crowd. “So, you’re having a few issues with men right now, too, huh?”

      “You know I love you, Sadie,” Abby said, scowling at the oblivious man as he stopped to greet a friend. “But your brother sometimes makes me want to scream.”

      “He has that effect on women. Even his sister,” Sadie admitted ruefully.

      “Well, this woman isn’t going to let him win. He’s trying to ignore me at the TCC. Thinks because I’m an ‘honorary’ member, what I have to say shouldn’t matter.” Abby winked at her. “He’s the most hardheaded man I’ve ever come across and arguing with him is like trying to talk sense to a wall. But, I don’t give up easy and Bradford Price won’t know what’s hit him when I’m through with him.”

      Sadie grinned in solidarity. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only female being driven slowly insane by a man. “Good to hear. Can’t wait to see it.”

      “There’s something else you should see right now.”

      “Hmm? What?”

      Abby turned Sadie toward the counter. “Why don’t you take care of this customer?”

      Rick Pruitt leaned his forearms on the sun-warmed counter, looked through the screen at Sadie. “So, what kind of fireworks do you have?”

      He was in uniform and Sadie felt her breath slide from her lungs in pure, female appreciation. He looked tall and strong and proud. The left side of his chest was covered with rows of colorful ribbons and a few medals glinted dully in the sunlight.

      A couple of women walked past behind him and Sadie saw them giving him a slow once-over. Even though a spark of jealousy flared up inside her, she couldn’t blame the women a bit. Rick was the kind of man that men wanted to be and women simply wanted. And when one corner of his mouth tipped up in a half smile, Sadie knew she was in very deep trouble.

      Just as she had admitted only moments ago, she could actually feel her brain shutting down while her body kicked into high gear.

      “Sadie?” he prompted, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Fireworks? What kind are we talking about?”

      It wasn’t easy, but she managed to get a grip on her imagination and her hormones. “The usual kind. They’re safe and sane and very pretty.”

      Then she sent a frown after Abby who walked away chuckling. A second ago, she’d been thinking how much she had missed Abby when she was living in Houston. Now, her best friend had left her alone with the very man Sadie had been complaining about. The traitor. Looking back at Rick, she forced her brain to wake up and pay attention, then kept her voice brisk and businesslike.

      “What can I get you? All of the proceeds go to the women’s shelter.”

      “Ah,” he said. “Like the pink flamingos.”

      “Exactly.” And, Sadie knew that Summer’s shelter would be getting a nice donation today, judging from how busy the fireworks stand was. “So, what do you need?”

      “Now, that’s a tricky question, Sadie,” he said, voice dropping