by Eve Gaddy
Gina wandered around the study restlessly, looking at the bookshelves, picking out books and putting them back, and sighing a lot.
A sure-fire sign that she had something on her mind. He knew a cowardly urge to hope the problem wasn’t about boys. He sucked at that sort of thing. Gina didn’t want to hear that Jack didn’t trust one single teenage boy with his little girl. She’d say he was being overprotective, and he was. But Jack had been a teenage boy, and he knew how their minds worked.
“Did you want to talk about something, honey?” he asked her.
She shot him a glance and shrugged. “You won’t want to talk about it. You never do.”
Boys, damn it. “Gina, you know you can talk about anything with me. Out with it. What’s wrong?”
“It’s about Mom. You don’t like to talk about her.”
Jack felt a pang of guilt. Gina was exaggerating, but she did have a point. He didn’t avoid conversations about Brianna, at least not with Gina, but he rarely initiated them. It always saddened him to think that Brianna was missing so much with their daughter and with him. “What about your mother?”
Gina sat in the comfortably shabby overstuffed chair where Jack often sat to read—anything except medical journals. He read those at his desk. Curling her legs up under her, Gina began plucking at the fabric of the chair. Another sign of troubled thoughts.
“I miss her,” she said, her tone so sad it broke his heart.
“I know you do. I miss her too.”
“Do you . . . do you still love Mom?”
Now he knew what was going on. He should have realized from the first. “I’ll always love your mother. You know that.”
Gina still looked troubled. She looked up and met his eyes. “You kissed Ms. Parrish.”
“Yes,” he agreed cautiously. “I like her.”
“You’re dating her.”
“Yes,” he said again. And he meant to continue. Where it was going, he didn’t know but in the meantime he wanted to be with Maya.
“You really like her, I can tell.”
Was it that obvious? Even to his daughter, who, like a typical teenager, didn’t usually notice much beyond her circle of friends? Or was it just the kiss she witnessed that gave him away? Gina had seen him kiss women before. Hadn’t she? He thought about that. Maybe she hadn’t. “Does it bother you that I’m dating someone?”
“I don’t know. I like Ms. Parrish. Carmen and I are friends and her mom is cool. But—” she hesitated, then said, “I feel like we’re just forgetting Mom.”
Tears welled in her eyes. The eyes that looked so much like her mother’s. Jack’s heart turned over. “Come here,” he said huskily.
Gina got up and crawled into Jack’s lap, as she had as a little girl. She didn’t fit quite as well, with her long legs, but she was still his baby. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “We won’t ever forget your mother, Gina. She’ll be with us, in our hearts, for as long as we live. No matter what happens in the future, we’ll have our memories of your mom and know how much she loved us.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart,” he answered. “She’d want us to be happy, Gina. Your mother wouldn’t want us to grieve forever.”
“Does Ms. Parrish make you happy?”
Thinking about Maya, he smiled. “Yes, she does. Very happy.”
“Okay.” Gina got up and walked to the door. “Dad?” He looked at her, thinking how grown up she was getting. “I hope you’re being responsible. That’s important, you know.” She left before he could answer. Which was a damn good thing, because he hadn’t a clue what to say.
Oh, my God. He’d just been lectured about safe sex by his fifteen-year-old daughter.
Music. Maya heard music. And not soothing music, either. Had she set her alarm? She cracked open an eye and looked at the clock. Five a.m. The music came from her phone. She grabbed at it, trying to make the obnoxious noise cease. Who the hell was calling her at five a.m.? “Hello.” She held the phone away from her ear. The readout said it was her assistant. “Cindy? What’s wrong?”
“Maya, thank God you answered,” Cindy said. “I thought you might have turned off your ringer.”
Maya sat up, swung her feet to the floor and rubbed her eyes. “What happened? Are you all right? Did we lose a big client?” Cindy wouldn’t have called this early unless it was something serious.
“No, everything’s fine. Well, not exactly fi—” Her voice cut off and Maya heard muffled sounds. What in the hell was going on?
Cindy came back on the line. “Sorry, I had to—”
She must have dropped the phone again, but this time Maya heard the unmistakable sound of someone throwing up. Sincerely glad she had a cast iron stomach, Maya waited.
A short time later, Cindy spoke again. “I hate to do this, but can you go to Los Angeles?”
“Los Angeles? Today?” Oh, damn. She remembered now. Cindy had a meeting with one of their biggest clients, a photography studio in LA that supplied Maya’s Models with a number of the photographers they used for freelance projects.
“I’ve been sick all night,” Cindy moaned. “I kept hoping I’d get better but—” she gulped—“I haven’t.”
“No, that’s obvious. Shoot me the details and I’ll catch the first flight out. Please tell me it’s this afternoon and not this morning.”
Cindy assured her the appointment wasn’t until late that afternoon, which meant if she was lucky she could make it to LA in time. Minutes later, they hung up and Maya received a text with the details of the meeting on it.
By the time she’d called Amy to ask her to take care of Carmen, booked a flight out of Bozeman, woken Carmen and told her what was going on, choked down some coffee, showered, dressed and packed a carry on, it was late enough to call Jack. Amy was taking Carmen to school and would pick her up as well. If Maya drove like a crazy woman, she’d make it to the Bozeman airport in time to catch her flight.
Naturally, Jack didn’t answer. She remembered he’d said he had early rounds, so she left a message and told him she’d call him later with details. That is, she tried to leave a message, but since cell phone reception was spotty on the way to the airport, she wasn’t sure he’d get it.
Great start to the day.
Chapter Eight
“What happened to Dylan?” Jack asked his brother Wyatt. He and Wyatt had met at Grey’s after work to have a beer and play some pool. Gina had stayed home to “do her homework,” which he knew meant anything but. She’d probably gotten on the phone the minute he walked out the door.
“Dylan stayed home with Lulabelle,” his brother said, referring to one of their mares. “She’s ready to foal any day now.” Wyatt checked his cell phone. “He’ll call me if she does. ’Course I can’t hear it over the noise in this place. I put it on vibrate.”
“I hate cell phones,” Jack said.
“Since when?”
“Since this morning. I’ve been playing phone tag with Maya all day. Either the reception is bad, the messages she’s left me are garbled, or she doesn’t answer and it goes straight to voicemail.”
“Trouble with the Heartbreaker, bro?”
“No, smart ass.” At least, he didn’t think so, but since he couldn’t talk to her he didn’t know. “Stop calling her the Heartbreaker, or I’ll break your face.”
Wyatt laughed. “You and what army?”
Jack considered it briefly, but even though punching Wyatt would be satisfying, he couldn’t do it. His patients would hear about it without fail, and every single one of them would disapprove of Jack punching one of his brothers, no matter how much said brother deserved it. “Ha. You’ve forgotten what happened last time.”
“Probably, since I haven’t been in a fist fight with you since you went to medical school.”
“Some of us are responsible professionals.”
“Yeah. Must be a drag sometimes,” Wyatt said. “Now me, I don’t have to worry about my image. Or wom
en either.”
He had a point. “I’m not worried about women,” he said, focusing on Wyatt’s last comment.
“Obviously, or you wouldn’t be dating the—”
Jack glared at him, daring him to complete the sentence.
“Maya,” he said with a grin, as Jack sank the eight ball.
“Add it to your tab?” Jack asked, racking the balls to start a new game.
Wyatt shrugged. “When’s the wedding?”
Caught in the act of breaking, Jack’s shot went squirrely. “Damn it, you did that on purpose.”
“It’s a logical question. You sure as shit haven’t been sleeping with any other women since Brianna died. Figure that means you’re serious.”
Jack felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Brianna, but brushed it aside. He opened his mouth to explain that his sex life hadn’t been quite that dismal, but thought better of it. His sex life, or lack thereof, was his own business. “Who said anything about marriage? We’re just getting to know each other again.”
Wyatt smirked at him. “Whatever you say, bro.”
After that, Jack’s game went to hell. He couldn’t stop thinking about Maya. Maya and the M-word. Marriage.
If Jack hadn’t been so preoccupied, he’d have cared more that Wyatt was cleaning up at the pool table. Where the hell was Maya? he wondered for the hundredth time. If just one of those calls had been more clear, he would know. As it was, he missed being with her. One night and he already missed her. And he didn’t like it.
Since Maya had returned to Marietta and she and Jack had gotten together, everything had been going great. Blue skies all the way, baby. Jack knew what could happen when everything seemed too good to be true. Great times, right up until everything went to shit.
Brianna’s death had taught him that. They hadn’t had the perfect marriage, but they’d had a damn good one. They’d loved each other, loved their child, they’d believed in their marriage and that they’d grow old together. Instead, Brianna had been hit by a car, while crossing the street. Sudden, shocking, devastating death. She’d lived long enough to say goodbye to Jack and Gina. And then she was simply . . . gone.
God, he didn’t want to dredge up those feelings again. He’d pulled himself together and soldiered on. He couldn’t fall apart. He had his daughter to think of. He had to be strong. He had to deal. Over time the pain had lessened, fading from razor sharp to a dull ache. But he’d never forgotten it. Never forgotten that first surge of grief, the feeling of the bottom dropping out of his world, when the woman he loved had left him.
“Your shot,” Wyatt said. He took a swallow of his beer, then set it down again. “Jack? Are you okay?”
“Fine.” He sank two more balls, then missed an easy one, because he couldn’t get Maya off his mind.
Jack hadn’t thought about another woman for longer than a day or two until Maya came back into his life. The sex was fantastic. Strangely enough, that was part of the problem. He and Brianna had loved each other, enjoyed each other, been comfortable with each other. But if he were honest, he had to admit he’d never experienced anything like the white-hot fire that exploded between him and Maya when they came together. That couldn’t last, could it?
Maybe he was overthinking the situation. He did that sometimes. He should just enjoy what was going on now and not worry about the future.
“Are you gonna play or what?” Wyatt asked.
Damn Wyatt for making him think too much. He and Maya were having fun. They enjoyed each other. They enjoyed the sex—who wouldn’t? They cared about each other, sure. That didn’t mean either one of them was ready to commit to anything serious. There was no need to get his shorts in a twist. Especially not over anything his brother said. He took his next shot and missed.
“Eight ball in the corner pocket,” Wyatt said, and sank it. “Game over, bro.”
Yeah, he was doing great if Wyatt could beat him at pool. “You’re a sneaky bastard, aren’t you?”
Wyatt grinned. “Double or nothing?”
“You’re on,” Jack said, determined to wipe that smart-ass grin off his brother’s face.
Maya finally reached Jack late that night. At first, she got his voicemail, but before she could hang up in frustration, he came on the line.
“Maya?”
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you? I know it’s late, but I haven’t been able to reach you all day.”
“No, that’s okay. Where are you?”
“Los Angeles.”
She heard rustling. “Sorry, dropped the phone. Los Angeles as in California?”
“Yes, I had an emergency business trip. My assistant was ill and I had to take over for her.”
“Do you have to do this often?”
“Not often, but occasionally. Anyway, I’m sorry it took so long to get in touch. I’ll be home late tomorrow afternoon.” She could imagine him right now, lying in bed shirtless, the stubble on his jaw making him look a little bit scruffy and a lot wicked. She wanted to be there with him. Badly.
In fact, she’d missed him far more in the hours since she’d left Marietta than she would have believed only a few weeks ago. You’d think she was madly in love.
Oh, crap. She was madly in love. With Jack Gallagher. Again.
“Maya? Did you hear what I said?”
“Sorry. Something about the football game tomorrow night?”
“Gina is going with Mattie and a group of girls that Gina says includes Carmen. Charlie Guthrie’s taking them and then they’re spending the night at Mattie’s.”
“I remember now. But Charlie just had them spend the night. Is she sure she wants them all again?”
“She said since it’s an away game they’d be back late, so they might as well all sleep over.”
A big smile spread over her face. “I don’t suppose you want to come over tomorrow after I get home?”
“I don’t suppose I would. I know I would,” he said.
They talked for a while longer and then hung up. Maya felt giddy. Ridiculous at her age, but that’s how she felt. She hugged her pillow and shivered, thinking about making love with Jack again. And when she fell asleep, she dreamed of him.
Maya had called Jack from the airport and he was waiting for her at her house when she drove up. Minutes later, he had her backed up against the wall, his hands sliding beneath her dress and hers already wrestling with his shirt buttons.
Her lips clung to his. His hands were busy unzipping her dress, then pulling it down. He unhooked her bra, pushed her panties down her legs and suddenly she was standing there wearing only her suede platform sandals. His mouth left hers to cruise along her jaw, her neck, heated kisses pressed against her pulse, then dropping lower to her breasts. Maya wrapped her legs around him and he strode to the couch. He let go of her and dazed, she watched him unbutton and unzip his khakis, slide them off along with boxers in one smooth motion.
She pulled him down beside her, barely gave him time to roll on the condom before she straddled him and lowered herself onto him. He was hard and hot and felt so good she wanted to scream, and when his hand slipped between them to caress her, she did scream. He kissed her, put his hands on her hips and helped her rock until she was flying again, higher and higher. Jack groaned. She moaned. She squeezed tight, feeling him shudder, as he said her name and pumped inside her one last time before he came.
They didn’t speak for a long time. Eventually, she bit his shoulder gently and sighed. “That was some welcome home.”
“I don’t think I can move.”
“Me either. Why do we have to?”
“Food,” Jack said. “I need food.”
“I have frozen pizza.”
“Yeah? What kind?” She told him. “Diet pizza? Really?”
“Of course. What did you expect? I may not be at my model weight, but I still have to work at it to be able to get in my clothes. Did you think I was just magically slim?”
“Yes.”
Maya laughed. “I eat what
I want when I go out, but at home I’m usually very careful.”
“Don’t you have anything else?” he asked plaintively. “I could call for a pizza delivery, but we’ll have to get dressed. Or one of us will.”
“I’ll get dressed. You can order. I like vegetables,” she added as she picked up her scattered clothing and went to her bedroom to find something comfortable to wear.
They ate pizza and watched a movie, part of one, anyway. They talked about Maya’s business trip and whether she needed to hire another assistant, and about Jack’s nurse’s running feud with one of his patients. He wouldn’t tell her who his patient was but she knew anyway, since Vera’s and Mrs. Delaney’s feud over the bake-off was common knowledge.
They made love and talked and made love again. Maya hadn’t been this happy in a long, long time. The night was magical. Marvelous. Perfect.
Until she told him she loved him.
Chapter Nine
Monday afternoon Maya met Amy at the Java Cafe. “Let’s sit outside,” Maya said after they picked up their lattes.
Amy looked at her curiously. “Okay, but it’s a little chilly.”
Maya didn’t care about that. She needed to talk and she wasn’t anxious to broadcast what she had to say to every person in the cafe.
“What’s wrong?” Amy asked when they sat down.
Maya sipped her latte, burned her tongue and frowned. “I did something stupid. I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it, but by then it was too late. I’d already opened my big mouth.”
“Just guessing, but does this stupid thing you did have something to do with Jack?”
“Who else?” she asked glumly.
“Is it really that bad?”
Was it? “I think so.”
“What did you do? Why do you think you screwed up? Last I heard, you two were well on the way to being madly in love.”
