Free Florida Knight by Blair Bancroft Page B

pretty boy, a real macho-man hunk. I saw him, remember? I thought he was mad at you, but he was charging along like that ’cuz he was eager to see you.” Mona heaved an elaborate sigh.
    Kate’s head shot up. Not all the undercover necessity in the world was going to make her swallow that one. “Mona, you’d make a romance out of a wrestling match. Believe me, he was angry that night. Spoiling for a fight. This weekend is nothing more than an experiment. I’m keeping my boss happy and–um–sort of testing the waters.”
    “Testing the waters! Girl, you’ve jumped off the deep end, clothes and all.” Mona bent down, picked up the sleeping bag, emphasizing her words by thrusting it toward Kate. “If you think that man’s some tame pussy cat like Ace you can share your bed with, you’re out of your mind.”
    “We’re not sharing a bed .” Kate turned her back on Mona, fitting the bag onto the pile of equipment. This was the last of the stuff for the roof. Ignoring Mona, Kate set about spreading a heavy canvas cover over everything.
    “That man’s a tiger,” Mona lectured, feet firmly planted on the gravel as she watched Kate work. “There’s no way he’s gonna stand for that celibate crap you’re always giving out. Even if he believes it, he’s just gonna consider it a challenge.”
    Silence. Kate tugged on a tie rope, crawled toward the other side of the roof.
    “Kate Knight, it’s high time you found a man tougher than you are,” Mona called. “You know that, don’t you?”
    Kate did a double hitch on the far rail, clambered back toward Mona. She peered over the edge. “I don’t know a thing except I couldn’t say no,” she hissed. “Okay? So let it go, Mona. He’s going with us. And that’s that. The rest I’ll have to deal with as we go along. And tell Bubba not to tease him.”
    “Sure.” Mona’s reply was automatic. She was busy considering her friend’s words, the knife-edged chip on Kate’s shoulder which had suddenly blunted enough to allow a man into her life. There was something very strange here. Kate seldom s lammed a door in her face. About her life before Golden Beach, yes. About the here and now, no. This Michael Gibbs must be someone very special. Or he had a hold on Kate. Or Barbara Falk had a hold on Kate . . . Somehow that made more sense. Kate, the invincible, was having her arm twisted.
    Mona began to worry. She’d have to spout sweetness and light to Bubba or they’d be mopping Michael Gibbs up off the ground. She’d have to play it by ear, discover for herself what the man was like, figure what the tiger was doing in the midst of LALOC lambs. Well . . . the fighters would get pretty hot if they heard her call them lambs. But somehow Mona didn’t think Michael Gibbs fought his battles with bamboo poles padded with duct tape. It was easier to picture him as Indiana Jones in that famous scene where Indy pulls out a gun and shoots the whip-wielding villain dead. Yeah, that suited the Michael Gibbs she’d seen storming up Kate’s driveway.
    Mona sighed. It was either high romance. Or violent disaster. She wished she knew which.
     
    “What’s all that?” Michael demanded on Friday afternoon, regarding the canvas-covered mound on the roof of the van as if he were about to call out the drug-sniffing dogs.
    “Camping equipment.”
    “Camping?” Michael realized he should have asked more questions about the LALOC event. Fine investigator he was.
    “We’re emulating Medieval Times. Did you expect a motel?”
    “Of course not,” Michael snapped. He hadn’t expected anything. He’d been too damn busy to think about it. Well, not too busy to think about spending a weekend with Kate Knight, but camping equipment had not entered his thoughts at all. The possibilities were . . . interesting, to say the least.
    “I’ve provided everything,” Kate said. “Sleeping bag, pillow, towel, wash cloth, soap. I hope you remembered your toothbrush and a