Then he let his hand drop back down to his side but still didn’t walk away. What was he waiting for? Finally, Ricky stuck his hand out. Jack jerked his head in a quick nod, and the two of them shook hands again for the second time in ten minutes. It felt weird but kind of good at the same time.
“I also owe you for dinner.”
Jack took out his wallet and pulled out a couple of twenties. Ricky hesitated to take them, figuring maybe he owed Jack and Caitlyn more than just some fish and fries for coming after him. Finally, Jack gave him a disgusted look. “Come on, kid, take it so we can get out of here. We’ve kept Caitlyn waiting long enough.”
—
Caitlyn had lost track of time when Marlene joined her at the front window. “He’s still at it out there.”
“I’m not surprised. Washing cars one-handed isn’t easy, but I’m guessing that’s why Jack chose that particular activity for Ricky’s punishment. Maybe the boy will think twice the next time before he takes off like that.”
“I hope so. Jack was really worried about him. We both were.”
Marlene smiled as she watched Ricky at work. “So was I.”
Ricky had finished washing both cars and was now drying them off. He looked sweaty and tired, but as far as Caitlyn could tell, he hadn’t complained once since he’d started slinging soap and water.
When he struggled to reach the middle of the roof, Jack walked over and took the towel from him and finished that much for him. Whatever he said to Ricky had them both laughing. As he walked away, the kid twirled the towel and flicked it out to smack Jack on the butt. That did it. Jack came charging right back, stopping long enough to grab the bucket of soapy water Ricky had been using to wash the car.
The boy took off running, whooping and hollering as he tried to outdistance Jack’s much longer legs. Although she couldn’t hear what Ricky was yelling, she suspected it had something to do with the fact that he’d just finished drying the cars and didn’t want to have to start over again. Jack just grinned and continued on the hunt.
When he finally had Ricky cornered, the boy held up his hands in surrender. Jack only smiled that much bigger and swung the bucket back in preparation of heaving it straight at his intended victim. At the last second, he altered its trajectory just enough to miss Ricky, at least mostly.
It was good to see the pair fooling around together like that. She suspected such horseplay had been pretty much nonexistent in Ricky’s life before this. Jack happened to glance toward the window and noticed her watching them. Once again, she felt the weight of his gaze across the distance. Then he saw his mother was there, too. He waved at her and then did a credible imitation of a mime eating.
Instead of complaining, Marlene laughed. “Okay, I guess that gives me my marching orders. I’ll go see about fixing us all a snack.”
“Need some help?”
“No, but I’d appreciate the company.”
As they headed into the kitchen, Caitlyn realized that it was nearly eight o’clock, although thanks to the long summer days in Seattle, it was still light out. Had she really been there that long? Now that her car was washed, it was time to leave. “Maybe I should be going, Marlene. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.”
“You don’t have to go. Stay and have some dessert with us.” Marlene got four plates out of the cabinet and then set a coffee cake in the middle of the kitchen table. “Besides, it’s not as if you had much choice about it considering Jack ordered Ricky to wash your car. The boy is lucky Jack isn’t making him vacuum the interiors or wash the inside of the windows.”
“I’m glad he didn’t. My car wouldn’t know how to act if it were to get polished up like that. Worse yet, it might expect me to keep it that clean from now on!”
Jack chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. “Okay, it makes me nervous to find you guys laughing like that. What are you two up to now?”
Caitlyn gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look. “Nothing. I was just saying that you and Ricky might have caused problems with my car for me. I’m not fond of washing cars, and I’m afraid it’s going to demand that I keep it all polished and clean now.”
He walked by his mother to lean against the counter next to where Caitlyn was standing. “Not a problem. Anytime you think it needs washing, you can bring it over here. Ricky loves washing cars.”
He said that last part louder, no doubt making sure his young charge heard every word. Sure enough, Ricky came charging into the room. “Speak for yourself, Jack. I’m not the one trying to impress her.”
“Right, and you’re actually working so hard on all that fancy math just because you really like it.”
Caitlyn wasn’t sure who was blushing harder right now—her or Ricky. Jack winked at her, which only made matters worse. Luckily, Marlene took control of the situation. “That’s enough, Jack. You cut the cake. Ricky, fix drinks for everyone. I’ll have iced tea. Caitlyn?”
“Tea will be fine.”
She took a seat at the table and stared in horror at the size of the piece Jack hacked out of the cake and sat in front of her. “I can’t eat that much!”
“Sure you can.”
He then fixed three more, one of which was half the size of the others. He plunked that one down in front of Ricky and grinned, clearly daring the teenager to protest. Instead, Ricky picked it up and offered it to Caitlyn. “If you’d rather have this one, I’m willing to trade.”
“Thank you, Ricky.”
“Hey, he’s in trouble and doesn’t deserve a big piece of Mom’s best coffee cake.” Jack glared at each of them in turn. Neither of them took him seriously, not with that glint of amusement in his eyes and the way the corners of his mouth were twitching as if he was fighting a grin.
Caitlyn took a bite of the coffee cake. It was every bit as good as it looked. She picked up her plate and held it out toward Ricky. “On second thought, maybe I do want the big piece.”
Ricky slid his serving out of her reach. “Nope. Too late. You’ve already taken a bite of that one.”
While Ricky watched to see what she’d say to that, Jack swooped in for a sneak attack and stole a bite of Ricky’s cake.
The teenager pulled his plate in close to the edge of the table and blocked Jack’s access with his cast. “Hey! You’ve got your own!”
Marlene, always the calm one, brought a halt to their shenanigans with a simple look. “Jack, I thought I taught you better manners than that, especially when we have company. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be setting a good example for Ricky?”
Ricky didn’t bother to hide a grin. “Yeah, Jack. I’m young and impressionable.”
Her son didn’t look the least bit repentant, even when he reached over to smack Ricky on the back of his head. “Watch it, brat.”
When he winked at Caitlyn for the second time that evening, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re both incorrigible.”
“And proud of it.”
Marlene sighed. “All right, I give up. Just eat your cake, gentlemen.”
As the four of them finished off their dessert in short order, it occurred to Caitlyn that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself so much. Considering how worried they’d all been about Ricky only a few hours ago only made the moment that much more special for her.
However, it was getting late and definitely time for her to hit the road. She’d already had a full day of appointments scheduled for tomorrow, and now she was going to have to squeeze in the one she’d canceled.
“Well, I should be going. Thank you again for the fish-and-chips, Ricky, and for the dessert, Marlene.” She picked up her plate and carried it to the counter.
When she turned around, Jack was up and moving, too. He reached around her to set his plate next to hers. He wasn’t exactly crowding her, but she still felt surrounded by the warmth of his big body and the scent of his skin. Jack’s breath brushed across her cheek when he said, “I’ll walk you out.”
She might’ve said “ok
ay,” but it was just as likely she mumbled some kind of nonsense in response. Right now, she wasn’t exactly thinking straight.
When she picked up her purse, he blocked the way toward the dining room. “The back door’s closer.”
Before they walked out, Jack stopped to look down at Ricky. “You should hit the sack, kid. I expect you over at the annex, cleaning supplies in hand, by seven thirty.”
The teenager groaned and dropped his head down onto the table. “It’s summer, man! Nobody gets up that early.”
“I do. I have to work, and I want to give you your marching orders before I leave.”
“Fine, but I’m pretty sure this counts as cruel and unusual punishment.”
Jack didn’t look at all sympathetic. “You’ll live. Get done by lunchtime, and you can come help me on the next job.”
To Caitlyn’s surprise, Ricky looked decidedly happier. “No problem. How hard can it be to clean that place, even with just one hand?”
Jack’s laugh was positively wicked. “Considering no one has touched the place in weeks, pretty hard.”
Then he ruffled Ricky’s hair. “See you tomorrow, Mom.”
“Okay, son. By the way, I’m having lunch with a friend, and then I have a doctor’s appointment after that.” Marlene began loading the dishwasher. “And before you ask, it’s just a routine visit to renew my medications.”
Jack looked relieved. “Do you want me to pick up something for dinner on my way home?”
“No, I plan to put something in the slow cooker before I leave. We’ll be fine.”
Caitlyn had made it as far as the edge of the driveway while Jack was still inside talking to his mother about their dinner plans for tomorrow. She decided to slip away, figuring he had better things to do than play escort service. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t walk around to the front of the house all by herself.
Before she got very far, the screen door slammed shut and the sound of heavy footsteps headed in her direction. “Caitlyn, hold up!”
Jack caught up with her and immediately slung his arm around her shoulders, once again bringing her into the circle of his strength. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s not a problem. I was going to head on out since it sounded as if the three of you needed some time to work out your schedules for tomorrow.”
“I appreciate the thought. But if you had left, we would’ve missed out on something special.”
The gleam in his eyes made it clear what that something might be, but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “You mean something more special than your mother’s coffee cake?”
“I sure as heck hope so.”
In a sudden move, Jack tugged her into a space between two large evergreen bushes in the planting strip along the side of the house. “Jack, what are you doing?”
“I’m making sure we’re in the one spot where we can’t be seen from the street or from inside the house. I want a bit of privacy for this.”
Then his mouth came down on hers. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. No, it was a take-no-prisoners campaign from the outset. Determined to give as good as she got, she wrapped her arms around Jack’s waist and leaned her body into his. He murmured his approval even as his tongue darted in and out of her mouth, inviting her to join in the play.
When she’d first stepped out of the house, she’d thought there was a definite slight chill in the air, not at all unusual for a Seattle late-summer evening. But right now, the two of them were burning up the night. She reveled in the hard press of his chest against hers, leaving her aching for more. As if reading her mind, Jack slid his hands in between them to cup her breasts in his palms, squeezing them softly several times before once again dropping his hands back down to her hips.
He broke off the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. “Whoa, that’s the second time today that we’ve gone from zero to sixty in nothing flat.”
His breath sounded every bit as ragged as hers felt. He brushed his lips across hers again but made no attempt to pick up where they’d left off. “I didn’t mean for that to get so far out of control this time.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” she said and then kissed the slight dimple in his chin to let him know that she wasn’t unhappy about the situation.
Jack shoved his hands into his hip pockets and stepped back. “We’d better start walking again before the last of my good intentions go down in flames. My control is usually better than this, but it’s definitely been a day filled with challenges.”
Caitlyn looped her arm through his. “That it has.”
“Speaking of which, I want to thank you for your help with Ricky. Calm was definitely the way to go with him.”
They’d reached her car, but Jack didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. “Poor kid, while I was explaining everything he’d done wrong, I counted off his major offenses like they were strikes without thinking anything about it. But then I stupidly said, ‘Strike three, you’re out!’ Ricky immediately took that to mean I no longer wanted him living with us.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him to sit back down and listen. Then I explained that wasn’t what I meant at all, but that he had to do something to atone for his mistakes. You know, things like washing cars and vacuuming the annex. I sure as hell didn’t mean to scare him like that.”
Jack stared off into the distance. “What kind of people make kids like him feel like they’re disposable?”
Caitlyn ached for the boy and maybe a little for the man, too. “I hate that for him. Sometimes the world makes no sense to me. Why is it people like his family are so careless with the gift of a kid like Ricky? Don’t they realize there are others who’d give anything to have a son like him and won’t ever get the chance?”
And there she was babbling about a subject that she never, ever talked about. Luckily, Jack was still too focused on Ricky and his problems to pick up on her personal pain. It was definitely time to leave.
“I’d better go, Jack.”
He opened the car door for her before swooping in to give her one last quick kiss. “Lock your doors and drive carefully.”
Then he laughed. “God, I can’t believe I’m channeling my mother.”
“There are worse people to be channeling, Jack.”
She meant that as a joke, but his smile immediately disappeared. “Yeah, I know.”
When he took a long step back, it seemed as if he was putting far more than that short distance between them. Okay, it must be the night for treading on sensitive subjects. She climbed in the car and closed the door. After starting the engine, she rolled her window down and said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”
He nodded. “I’ve got jobs the next few days, so I probably won’t be around when you’re here to work with Ricky.”
Which was probably a good thing. The man was quickly becoming a major distraction for her. “Okay, then. Tell him I’ll expect him to have done a stellar job on the assignment I laid out for him on the dining room table.”
Then she put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, her headlights bathing Jack in their bright glow. He waved one last time before heading back down the driveway toward the garage.
Her cellphone pinged before she’d reached the end of the block. A quick glance at the screen revealed a text message from Jack. It was short and to the point: Dinner Saturday night?
She should think about it long and hard before answering. There were definite reasons why it wasn’t a real good idea. There was the fact that Ricky was still her student, not to mention that made Jack her employer, at least temporarily. It had been just last Saturday that the teenager had made it clear he didn’t like Jack flirting with her. Hadn’t she and Jack agreed that getting involved would be a bad idea right now?
Granted, today he hadn’t acted upset when Jack kissed her on the cheek in front of him or when Jack had announced he was going to walk her out to her car. However, as volatile as Ricky was these days, his feel
ings on the subject could change at any minute.
No, the smart thing would be to say thanks, but no thanks.
With all of that in mind, she stopped at the next intersection long enough to type in her response. When she was done, she studied it for a few seconds and then hit Send. Jack must have been waiting for her to answer, because her phone pinged a second time before she’d made it down the block.
Great! I’ll pick you up at seven. And, btw, wear your dancing shoes!
Chapter 11
Saturday morning Ricky made his escape after telling Marlene he’d be back by lunchtime. It had been days since Ricky had last ventured out on his own. Although he hoped to avoid Toby, there were some friends he hadn’t seen since he’d moved in with Jack. It used to be that the four of them had always had one another’s backs, and he wanted to make sure they were doing all right. He also had some cash to share with them. Jack had insisted on giving Ricky some money even though he’d promised to let him work off the cost of his clothes, picking up trash and stuff on the job site.
Jack had admitted that was their agreement, but then he’d gone on to say that didn’t mean he couldn’t give Ricky an allowance. Something about how a guy ought to have some money in his pocket when he went out. While Ricky hadn’t known Jack all that long, he knew him well enough to know that there was no arguing with the man when he had his mind set about something.
At least this way he could help out a couple of his friends who were going through hard times. The truth was he felt a little guilty having it so good right now when so many others weren’t so lucky. He’d even considered bagging up some of the clothes Jack had bought him to hand out. However, that would only bring up questions he didn’t want to answer. His friends would want to know how he’d scored such a deal. On the other hand, while Jack might not immediately notice the missing clothes, Marlene would since she still did most of his laundry.
He reached the park and was relieved to see that Justin, Casey, and Shelley were all there. Unlike him, they were all over eighteen and legally on their own. When he’d first taken to the streets to get away from Lawrence, they had been the first people he’d run into. He would always be grateful that they’d taken him under their wings and taught him how to survive the daily struggle to keep warm and fill his stomach.
Always for You: Jack (Sergeant Joe's Boys #1) Page 12
