Always for You: Jack (Sergeant Joe's Boys #1)

by Alexis Morgan

  Jack squeezed her hand. “Believe me, it was my pleasure.”

  They’d reached the door and the moment where they would soon have to part ways. That was the last thing he wanted to do, and he wasn’t going to walk away without kissing her good night. He was already holding her right hand, but now he also claimed her left. Caitlyn didn’t hesitate a second when he tugged her closer. On the contrary, she immediately released his hands to run hers up his arms to rest on his shoulders. The maneuver brought their bodies close, but not close enough.

  The porch light brought out the gold highlights in the wisps of hair that had escaped her braid and framed her pretty face. Jack positioned his hands on her waist and closed even more of the distance between them. He tilted his head to the right, and she did the same. Their lips finally came together, first in a feather-light touch, but that initial hesitation didn’t last.

  Jack nibbled his way across the soft curve of her smile and back again. He liked that she was the one to deepen the kiss, her tongue darting in and out of his mouth as if inviting his to come out and play. God, she tasted so damn sweet.

  Despite the late hour, he was in no hurry to leave, especially when she leaned into his chest and pressed all of her soft curves against him. He’d almost forgotten how sweet it was to hold a warm and willing woman in his arms. His hands moved further south, tracing the curve of her waist, the flare of her hips, and then on to the lush feel of her backside. The only thing better would be if his hands were sliding across bare skin instead of the silky fabric of her dress. It was tempting to tug her skirt up far enough to do that exact thing.

  But evidently his conscience won the argument that had been waging in his mind, reminding him they were standing outside her front door in the glow of the porch light where anyone driving by could see them. He moved his hands to safer territory rather than allowing them to continue exploring and silently promised them it would be different next time.

  If there was a next time. Maybe he should make sure of that before getting in his SUV and driving home to his lonely bed. He gentled the kiss and hoped she sensed his regret. “Maybe we can catch a movie one evening this week.”

  Caitlyn didn’t hesitate. “I’d like that. I think Wednesday is the only night I’m already booked.”

  “Why don’t we aim for Friday night?”

  Mainly because it was unlikely that either of them would have to get up early the next morning. It also didn’t hurt that Saturday wasn’t one of Ricky’s scheduled sessions with Caitlyn. “And now I’d better go while my good intentions are still mostly intact.”

  “And while I’m strong enough to let you go.”

  Caitlyn traced his jawline with her fingertips settling over his lips when she started to speak. “This evening was perfect, Jack. I like being with you, and it’s tempting to invite you inside to pick up where we just left off—”

  He nipped at her fingers and then finished the sentence for her. “But it’s too soon. I get that.”

  There was real regret in her gray eyes. “Forgive me?”

  Jack took a half step back but kept his hands right where they were. “There’s nothing to forgive, Caitlyn. Just know when you’re ready to issue that invitation, I’ll be only too happy to accept.”

  After kissing her one last time, he waited while she let herself inside and locked the door before walking away. He liked that she watched from the front window until he was ready to drive away. She waved one last time and then turned off the porch light.

  Jack cranked up the stereo and hummed along with the song as he drove home. All in all, it had been one hell of a night, one for the record books. Good food, great dancing, and a beautiful woman who had already committed to a second date. A man couldn’t ask for much more than that.

  —

  Ricky was watching the ball game with Jack in the living room while Marlene read some book with a guy wearing a kilt on the cover.

  He was about to head to the kitchen for a refill on his iced tea when he noticed Jack was grinning again. The big jerk had been doing that all morning, especially when he didn’t think anyone would notice. Ricky had his suspicions about the cause behind Jack’s good mood, but he had no desire at all to find out if he was right.

  Then Marlene asked the question anyway. “So judging by that smile on your face, I take it your date with Caitlyn went well last night.”

  Her son glanced in Ricky’s direction before answering. “Yeah, indeed it did. I took her to the seafood restaurant you recommended. Then we went to that club Tino and Mikhail told me about. We stayed until they threw us out at closing. I can tell you this much, Mom, that woman loves to dance.”

  Marlene immediately brightened up. “Really? So you finally see the value in those dance lessons?”

  Ricky snorted and punched Jack on the arm. “You took dancing lessons?”

  Instead of getting defensive, Jack snickered. “Boy, you’re in for it now!”

  Ricky sat up straighter and looked from mother to son. She was frowning while Jack looked smug and ready for the battle to begin. “What did I do?”

  Marlene calmly set aside her book after marking her place. “Jack, put on the music while I change shoes.”

  He groaned. “Aw, come on, Mom. I’ve been waiting all week to watch this game. Besides, he’s the one who said something stupid. Not me.”

  Despite his protests, Jack immediately muted the television and headed over to study the pile of CDs laying beside the small stereo on the table in the corner.

  Somebody needed to fill Ricky in on what was happening. “What’s going on?”

  Jack picked out a CD to play before answering. “Mom believes every man should learn how to dance and dance right. To hear my father tell it, she made that a requirement if he wanted to date her. As it turned out, he ended up really enjoying it. As far as I know, he never complained when every so often she dragged him off to some dance studio to learn a new style. In turn, she taught my two brothers and me. And thanks to that smart mouth of yours, now it’s your turn.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously, young man.” Marlene was back. “While you live under my roof, you’ll learn how to dance. Just as I told my three sons, I don’t mean that herky-jerky stuff you young people do to music. That definitely has its place, but there are other styles of dancing you should master.”

  Feeling pretty desperate, Ricky turned to Jack for help. “If I apologize for making fun of you, will you stop her?”

  “Nope, not a chance. It wouldn’t work. Besides, she’s right.” Jack flopped back down on the couch. “Seriously, I can tell you from personal experience that women really love that kind of shi—”

  He stopped mid-word and shot a guilty look in Marlene’s direction. “Oops, sorry, Mom. I meant to say that women really love that stuff. If you don’t believe me, ask Caitlyn the next time you see her. I’m telling you straight up that she was impressed by my dance skills.”

  The smug look on Jack’s face made Ricky wonder if they were the only moves the man had shown Caitlyn last night. On second thought, he’d heard Jack drive up a little before three. If they really had been kicked out of the club at closing, that left only enough time for Jack to have driven Caitlyn back to her place before coming home. Good.

  Meanwhile, Marlene pushed some furniture back out of the way to open up more space in the center of the room. When she was satisfied with the arrangement, she held out a hand toward Ricky. “Okay, young man, let’s get started. It will be a bit awkward with your arm in a cast, but we’ll manage.”

  With his last excuse shot down, Ricky joined her in the center of the room. She placed his right hand at her waist and took his left hand in her right. After making a few adjustments in the pose, she said, “This is the frame. Everything else is built on this position.”

  God, it was weird to be standing there holding onto Marlene. There was no way she’d miss the way his hands were shaking, but he hoped that Jack couldn’t tell. When he glanced in his d
irection, Jack gave him a thumbs-up and then started the music.

  Marlene was talking again. “Normally the last thing I’d want you to do is watch our feet as we dance, but we’ll start off that way so you can see what I’m talking about. As soon as you have down the basic steps, we’ll move on from there.”

  Of course, he stomped on her foot right off the bat, but she only laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Ricky. Why do you think I put on my leather walking shoes?”

  Then she jerked her head in Jack’s direction. “I learned that lesson when I taught him to dance. Can you imagine those size thirteens coming down hard on your toes?”

  Her son immediately protested. “Hey, I wasn’t that bad.”

  “If you say so, Jack.” Marlene smiled and winked at Ricky. “And I had three boys and a husband to teach, Ricky. My poor toes sure took a real beating there for a while. Now, let’s start again, but this time don’t watch our feet.”

  “Okay.” But as soon as she started counting off the steps, Ricky automatically looked down to make sure he was keeping a safe distance between his feet and hers. Besides, it was hard to stand this close to Marlene and look her in the eye.

  She gave his left hand a sharp tug, which brought his gaze back up to hers. “Focus your eyes on some point past my shoulder and let yourself feel the rhythm of the music.”

  He did his best to comply. After a few turns the dance steps felt more natural, and he took pride in the fact that he hadn’t stomped on Marlene’s feet again.

  When the song drew to a close, she released her hold on him and stepped back. “I knew you’d be a natural, Ricky! We’ll do two more songs to make sure you’ve got the idea and then call it good.”

  Jack started the music again, and once again Ricky took Marlene’s hand in his. This time, they started off smoothly. He could see why someone her age would enjoy this style of dancing, because it took hardly any effort. The two songs sped by, and she even showed him a couple of extra steps that were pretty easy to follow.

  Even Jack applauded when they finished their last dance. “So what do you think now, kid?”

  He wasn’t sure what to say. It was hard to imagine any girl he’d ever known wanting to dance that way. Unfortunately with Marlene standing right there, he couldn’t be too honest. “I guess it’s okay, but kids my age don’t listen to that kind of music much.”

  Actually, at all. “I like music with a faster beat.”

  After Jack gave him another one of those looks, the kind that meant Ricky had stepped in it again, he shuffled through the CDs again. “Shall we show him a faster beat, Mom?”

  “Jack, I haven’t danced like that in a while. Not since your father…well, you know.”

  “He wouldn’t mind, Mom. Dad knew how much you loved dancing. Besides, the kid will never believe what I can do on a dance floor if he doesn’t see it for himself.”

  Ricky threw his support behind Jack. “That’s true. I can see how those size thirteens would do a good job of marching, but dancing? I don’t think so.”

  He doubted that either of them was fooling Marlene one bit, but at least she nodded. “One dance, Jack, but only because Ricky needs to see what I have in mind for him.”

  Great. Maybe he should’ve stayed out of it. Too late for that, though, so he retreated to the couch to watch. Jack hit the Play button and took his mom’s hand. Seconds later, both of them were grinning as they spun around the makeshift dance floor, their feet a blur as they crisscrossed the room.

  By the time the song drew to a close, Ricky couldn’t help but admire their skills. Dancing like that actually looked like it could be fun. To concede the point, he even applauded. “Okay, Jack, I admit that you can dance.”

  Jack kissed Marlene on the cheek. “Mom taught me well, and I wasn’t lying about how much the ladies admire a man who can really dance. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be so good looking.”

  His mother rolled her eyes. “Humble, too.”

  “Yeah, well, like Dad always said, when you’ve got it, flaunt it.”

  He followed that comment by giving his mother another quick spin. She only laughed when they came to a stop. “Joe was just as incorrigible as you and your brothers, Jack. Now you two can put the furniture back in place. I’m going to go upstairs and sew for a while.”

  Jack did most of the heavy work putting the room back together, but Ricky pitched in with his one good arm. The two of them settled back on the couch and cranked the sound back up on the game.

  After a bit, Jack stared toward the steps that led up to Marlene’s sewing room. “Thanks for going along with the dancing lesson, kid. That’s the happiest I’ve seen Mom in a long time.”

  Ricky wasn’t comfortable with gratitude. “It was no big deal.”

  “It was for her.” Jack turned his attention back to the game. “You know, I’ve always suspected that she never set out to teach us all how to dance just because she thought men should know how.”

  Ricky wasn’t sure if Jack was talking to him or himself. Even so, he was curious about what he was thinking. “Then why did she do it?”

  “For me. I think maybe it was her way of showing me firsthand that a man and woman who love each other can really enjoy their company in a lot of ways. You know, besides sex. Not to mention that a woman shouldn’t have to live in fear of a man’s fists.”

  Then he glanced in Ricky’s direction. “Neither should kids.”

  Before he could think of a response, Jack went on talking. “Some of my fondest memories are of Dad and us kids taking turns trying to outshine each other dancing with Mom. Maybe not so much for Tino, but having fun like that was definitely a first for me and Mikhail. It took us all awhile to realize that Joe and Marlene went out of their way to give us good memories to replace some of our earlier ones, which sure as hell weren’t anything like happy.”

  Then he pushed himself up off the couch. “I’m going to grab another beer. Do you want anything while I’m up?”

  “Sure. How about a refill on my tea?”

  As Jack left the room, a movement on the staircase caught Ricky’s attention. How long had Marlene been standing there? Long enough, he guessed, considering the look on her face. She held her finger up to her lips, silently asking him not to let Jack know she’d overheard their conversation. When Ricky nodded, she disappeared back up the stairs.

  He didn’t know what she thought about what Jack had said, but Ricky knew one thing. He had a few memories of his mom and dad laughing together. But when it came to Lawrence and his mother, he couldn’t think of a single one. Who knows, maybe things were different between the couple when he wasn’t around. For her sake, he hoped that was true.

  But he didn’t think so.

  Chapter 14

  Jack shut off his power saw and set it aside when a patrol car stopped in front of the house where he was laying a new subfloor. The owners were at work, so at least he didn’t have to explain to them why the police might be looking for him. He’d mention it to them later when they got home in case one of the neighbors happened to bring it up.

  He took off his safety goggles and dropped them on his portable workbench and waited for the two detectives to come to him. Detective St. John had called an hour ago and said they’d like to talk to him. Jack hoped they had some news on Ricky’s identity or, better yet, that they’d found out who had put the kid in the hospital. Judging from their grim expressions, that wasn’t the case.

  “Detectives.”

  St. John mustered up a half-hearted smile. “Mr. McShane, sorry to interrupt you on the job, but we needed to follow up with you on Richard Patton.”

  Jack took off his ball cap and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his T-shirt. “I figured as much. What do you need to know?”

  Detective St. John pulled out a small notebook and a pencil. “Let’s start with how he’s doing. Has he caused any problems for you or your mother?”

  “Nothing more than the usual teenager having an issue over ha
ving to report in regularly. I did get him his own cellphone to help with that. His caseworker has been keeping tabs on him and us regularly. In fact, Mrs. Harkens and I spoke earlier this morning. You can talk to her, too, if you have any concerns.”

  Detective Daily joined the discussion. “We’ve already done that. She seems happy with how things are going at your house. She said that you got Ricky hooked up with a tutor to help him get caught up on his classes. That sounds like you and your mom plan on keeping the kid even after the school year starts. Am I right about that?”

  Where the hell were they going with this? He aimed for sounding calm rather than defensive when he answered. “Yes. We’ve told Ricky from the start that he has a home with us as long as he wants one.”

  The two men exchanged glances, but Jack had no idea what they were thinking. Before he could ask, St. John changed the topic.

  “We haven’t had any luck tracking down any family. Has the kid told you anything or let slip any details that might help us with that?”

  Jack jammed his ball cap back on his head. “No, he hasn’t. I keep hoping he’ll tell me what’s going on with that, but I’ve been reluctant to press him too hard for answers. He’s gone out a few times to see some friends, but he hasn’t even done that lately. For the most part, he sticks pretty close to home or he comes on the job with me. The only reason he isn’t here now is that he had a doctor’s appointment and then his lesson with Ms. Curtis.”

  Neither of the detectives looked happy. Jack didn’t blame them. He shared his own feelings on the subject. “It can’t be a good thing that nobody has reported the kid missing. The best I can figure is that he’s a runaway, but there’s no telling where he started off or how he ended up here. Regardless, I know you guys must have some kind of national database you’ve been checking. If no one has posted information on Ricky by now, it can only mean that no one is looking for him.”

  He threaded a little steel into his next words. “At least not anyone who has his best interest at heart.”