Not Without Her Family

by Beth Andrews

  “It’s no ploy.”

  “Well, then, why don’t we agree to keep any mention of Dillon or Shannon Crandall out of the conversation? Better yet, let’s not talk at all.”

  He nodded shortly and they walked back to the remaining tables in silence. It wasn’t until they’d set the final table down and were heading back for the chairs that Jack spoke again.

  “Allie told me you’re helping her out around here. Giving her advice. You work in the bar-restaurant business?”

  “I thought we weren’t conversing?”

  “That was only one option.”

  “That was the option I voted for.” Otherwise, it was too easy to allow him to lull her into a false sense of complacency. Damn it, whenever they spoke it was too easy to like him.

  When he merely raised an eyebrow she grudgingly admitted, “I tend bar.”

  He lifted a stack of chairs and Kelsey’s mind went blank. God, he was gorgeous. His biceps strained against his short sleeves, the muscles in his back bunched and flexed under his shirt. She caught her breath. Oh, my.

  Off-limits, she reminded herself as her gaze followed his progress across the room. Totally, one hundred percent, hands off, shouldn’t be staring at his ass or wanting to touch him off-limits.

  He set the chairs down, lifted his head and caught her eye. One side of his mouth quirked as if he’d effectively read her mind. “Where do you work?”

  She hastily picked up two chairs. “Place in Tribeca called The Rat Pack.”

  “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “You’re not missing much. It’s one of those new dance clubs where the decor’s trendy, the music’s loud and the customers all think they’re living a real-life version of Sex and the City.”

  “Sounds like you really enjoy your job.”

  She ignored his dry tone. Concentrated on carrying two more chairs across the room. “It paid the rent, and I’m good at it. Or was good at it. I don’t, technically, work at The Rat Pack anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  His question seemed innocent. But she couldn’t shake the feeling it went far beyond mere curiosity.

  “Things at work have been…tense for a while now.”

  Yeah. Tense. Well, that’s what happened when you made the colossal mistake of sleeping with your boss just because you were at a low point in your life and he happened to resemble George Clooney.

  If it was dark. And you squinted your eyes.

  “Kelsey, did you lose your job because of Ward?”

  “What? No.” She laughed humorlessly. “My boss gave me a hard time about taking time off, but he didn’t fire me. I quit.”

  Finished with the chairs, he leaned back against a table and crossed his arms. “Because of your brother.”

  “No. I would’ve quit, anyway.”

  He studied her silently. An old cop trick for getting people to open up. As someone who’d spent a lot of time being questioned by cops, she knew all their tricks.

  Unfortunately, it worked. At least on her.

  She found herself saying, “I made a mistake. My boss, Eric…well…to make a long story short, a few months ago—due to some very poor judgment and a bit too much alcohol—I slept with him. Unfortunately, since Eric managed to get me into bed once, his new mission in life is a repeat performance. When I made it clear it wasn’t going to happen again, he started complaining about my work and giving me the worst shifts…” She chanced a glance at him. “You can see where this is going, right?”

  “If your boss is harassing you,” he said neutrally, “you can bring him up on charges.”

  “Why? It was my own fault. I figure I got what I deserved.” She picked up the rag and bucket Allie had left and carried them behind the bar. “Though, to tell the truth, just having sex with him would’ve been punishment enough.”

  She felt, more than saw, him glance at her. Thought she heard the sound of his choked laughter.

  But when she looked at him, his face was expressionless. “Why did you sleep with him? You don’t seem like the type of woman to let a few drinks make her decisions for her.”

  That much was true, and his insight made her feel warm inside. “It…uh…was a combination of factors really. The alcohol just made it easier to make the wrong decision.”

  And she’d already admitted way more than she’d ever wanted to. She hadn’t told anyone about that night—it wasn’t exactly high on her short list of accomplishments. Yet there she was, blabbing to Jack for all she was worth.

  He was tricky and he was smart. She had to get rid of him before she told him all her secrets. “Well, thanks for your help. I guess you’ll be go—”

  “Does Allie have any bottled water around here?”

  She blinked. “Uh…yeah…in the kitchen. I’ll get you one.”

  It’s okay, she reassured herself as she pushed through the swinging doors. She nabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and kicked the door shut. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Everything would be okay. She’d give Jack his water and he’d leave. That’s what she needed to gain her equilibrium. She couldn’t think when he was around. He made her edgy. Nervous.

  Damn, she hated being nervous.

  She opened her eyes, turned and gasped in surprise to find herself trapped. Trapped by the table at her back, and Jack’s lean, hard body in front of her.

  “Here’s your water,” she said and shoved it into his stomach.

  Except her shove didn’t back him up. Instead, he smiled as he accepted the bottle and twisted the cap off. “Thanks.”

  She kept her eyes straight ahead, stared at his throat as he drank. An enticing patch of skin was visible at his unbuttoned collar. Her pulse kicked into overdrive.

  He lowered the now empty bottle. Tossed it into the trash can in the corner. “What factors?”

  She jerked her gaze up. “Huh? What?”

  “What factors induced you to sleep with your boss?”

  See? Tricky. She pushed ineffectively at his chest. “Back off. I can’t think when you crowd me.”

  “Really?” Though his expression remained neutral, humor lit his eyes. “That’s interesting.”

  She didn’t think it was interesting at all. Annoying? A little bit. Frightening? Possibly.

  Exciting? Definitely.

  He didn’t move. Just stood there staring down at her. Pressure continued to build in her chest, not easing until he finally stepped back.

  “Everything all right?” he asked when she remained rooted to her spot.

  She let out a shaky breath. “Fine.”

  Why wouldn’t it be all right? She had no job, had spent her last dime trying to find her brother—who wanted nothing to do with her and was the prime suspect in a murder investigation. And last, but not least, she had the hots for the cop who wanted to toss her brother back in prison. A man with a daughter and that whole white picket fence deal she’d figured out long ago she wasn’t meant for. A man she didn’t trust, who didn’t trust her.

  Oh, yeah. Everything was just dandy.

  KELSEY STILL HADN’T MOVED, and Jack sure as hell wasn’t backing up any farther. Not when her scent filled his head and his body was reacting.

  “Are you going to ignore my question all afternoon?”“It doesn’t matter.”

  “It might.” It mattered to him. “If you’re embarrassed—”

  “I’m not embarrassed,” she replied indignantly.

  He’d obviously hit a nerve. “Good. Because I’m not judging you.”

  Her disbelief was plain. “Aren’t you?”

  He kept quiet. Just looked at her. Which was no hardship. As he’d told her earlier, he liked looking at her. Her sharp features, her slender body. The way her teeth worried her plump lower lip when she was thinking.

  “It was stupid,” she finally said. “I was stupid.”

  “I’m discovering you are many things. But stupid isn’t one of them.”

  She blushed. “Yeah, well, the day I…the reason I…messed u
p…was because I’d just found out Leigh, my mother, had died. It threw me, and I let my guard down. Eric was there and I…I guess I needed someone.”

  “Grief can play havoc on a person.” He knew that better than anyone.

  She tipped her head to the side exposing her long, pale neck. He rubbed itching palms down the legs of his jeans.

  “Did it you?” she asked.

  “Did what me?”

  “Did grief mess you up when your wife died?”

  “For a while,” he said slowly, his stomach tightening as he remembered those first few months after Nicole’s death. How much he’d hurt, how alone he’d been. “I had a rough period, but I managed to get through it.”

  “I can’t imagine you allowing anything, not even grief to control you.”

  “I’m not infallible, Kelsey,” he said quietly. God knew that was the truth. But maybe if he opened up to her, she’d respond in kind. He forced himself to meet her eyes, to face the possible derision, the disappointment he’d see there once she knew what he’d done. “Because of my grief, I made a bad decision. I wasn’t thinking straight and went against my supervisor’s orders. I almost lost my badge because I mishandled a case I was working. Worse than that, because of me and those actions, an innocent man died.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  SURPRISE AND SYMPATHY softened Kelsey’s features. “What happened?”

  “Nicole, my wife, was a high-school English teacher. She was dedicated to her students. She wanted to make a difference in their lives. For the most part, she succeeded.”He hesitated, the only sound in the room the hum of the refrigerator. Not many people knew the truth, how far he’d sunk after Nicole’s death. How he’d gone against everything he’d believed in and risked his badge and reputation in an effort to follow in her footsteps.

  “A few months after she died,” he continued, “I picked up one of her students for armed robbery. He’d been in trouble before and Nicole had tried to help him. She’d believed, had hoped, he could change.”

  Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t.”

  “She was an optimist. I’m a realist. But when I brought that kid in, even though my gut told me he was guilty, I kept thinking about Nicole and what she’d want me to do.”

  “Which was?”

  “To help him out. To give him a second chance.” His hands were clenched and he deliberately straightened his fingers. “We had surveillance video from the store showing it was the kid’s partner, and not him, who’d held the gun. So, we let him cut a deal. Instead of going to jail, he was back on the streets. Ten days later, while robbing another convenience store, he shot and killed the clerk.”

  “Is that why you came back to Serenity Springs?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Part of the reason. I ended up being reprimanded for allowing that kid to cut a deal against my lieutenant’s approval. It was then that I realized the only reason I did it was for…”

  “For your wife?”

  He nodded. “So you see? Grief affects people in different ways. It’s understandable if you—”

  “You don’t get it. What you did was out of love for your wife. I didn’t sleep with Eric because I was looking for comfort or because I was grief-stricken. There was nothing. No loss. No pain or sadness. My mother was dead, and I felt nothing.”

  Jack wasn’t so sure about that. Seemed she’d been hurting in her own way. “Either way, you made a mistake. We all do.”

  “It’s not the same,” she insisted as if she couldn’t allow it to be the same. “Okay, so you were hurting and made a judgment call that came back to bite you in the ass. I bet that doesn’t happen often. I bet most of the time you think through each and every action before making a move. Gather your thoughts before saying a word. You’re everything I’m not. Reserved. Cautious. Controlled.”

  Her words whipped through him like a brisk, autumn wind and he felt the thin thread of his control snap.

  “How reserved would you think I was if I admitted I wanted you in my bed?” He closed the remaining distance between them, edging forward until their thighs met and her warmth seeped through his clothes. “How cautious if I said I find you completely sexy and exciting as hell? How controlled if I admitted thoughts of being with you have been driving me crazy since the moment I first saw you?” He had to touch her, so he ran a finger down her cheek before gently cupping the back of her neck.

  Her eyes widened. “There are reasons we shouldn’t—”

  “I want you, and I’m not sure how much longer I can pretend I don’t.”

  The pulse at the base of Kelsey’s throat beat wildly, matching the erratic beat of his own heart. And then, because he couldn’t not do it, he pressed his nose to the side of her neck and breathed her in.

  Her body twitched and she laid her hands on his chest, but she didn’t push him away. A fact he was extremely grateful for as he inhaled deeply again and brushed his lips across her skin.

  She gasped. Jack took that as a good sign. Anything that didn’t involve her stopping him was a good sign. He slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her to him.

  He pressed kisses the length of her neck. Flicked his tongue out to taste her skin. When he bit down gently on her rapid pulse, her fingers dug into his skin. Her deep moan seemed to reach into his pants and wrap around his groin like warm, teasing fingers.

  “Oh, man,” she said huskily. “I don’t think—”

  He set his lips against hers to silence her. He didn’t want her to think. Didn’t want either of them to think. If it meant not kissing her, not touching her, he might never think again.

  When her hands slowly slid up his chest, when her lips softened and her mouth finally opened under his, his sense of relief made him dizzy. Or maybe it was her tongue against his, the sweet taste of her that made his knees weak and his heart heavy.

  She felt so incredibly good. He continued his assault on her mouth, he used his lips, his tongue, his teeth until they were both breathing hard, both frantic in their need to get closer.

  Still kissing her, Jack set both hands on her waist and lifted her onto the table. Easing himself between her thighs did little to alleviate the ache in his groin. He placed his hands behind her knees, spread her legs and wrapped them around his own waist. The contact hit him like a bolt of lightning.

  Nestled intimately the way he was, he couldn’t stop himself from rubbing against her softness and heat. She groaned, low and deep into his mouth and raised her hips in a silent plea.

  Half-mad with wanting her, he continued to kiss her deeply as he laid her back on the table. He wanted to climb up and settle his weight on her more than he wanted his next breath.

  Her legs slid down the outside of his thighs to dangle limply over the table edge.

  He kissed his way down her throat. Easing his hands under the hem of her shirt, he pushed the material up exposing her smooth, flat stomach and the top of her red tattoo and the silver belly-button stud—both of which he promised himself he’d return to later.

  He pushed the shirt up. Caught his breath. She wore one of those fancy bras, a white one edged in lace, that pushed her breasts together and up so they almost spilled out of the silky material.

  Jack smoothed a finger across the lace. “Pretty.”

  “I’m flat-chested.”

  He looked up to see a hint of vulnerability in her eyes. He shook his head and smiled at her. “Not flat. Small.” Flicking the tiny clasp, he opened the bra. The air suddenly left his lungs. “You’re beautiful.”

  He bent his head, suckled one hard, pink tip into his mouth, grunting in appreciation.

  While he tongued her nipple, he rubbed her other breast, tweaked and pinched the nipple until she was writhing beneath him. He couldn’t remember a time he’d wanted a woman more. Not even Nicole. He shoved the traitorous thought aside.

  The incredibly sexy, breathy sounds she made played in his mind like a smoky jazz tune. She arched against his touch. Clawed at his shirt until it
pulled free from his pants, and slid her soft, cool hands across his lower back, up his spine and down again.

  He kissed his way to her other breast, lapped it into his mouth and sucked hard. Her body lifted underneath his touch and a cry escaped her.

  He shifted lower, rubbing her nipples between his fingers as he trailed his mouth down her torso. He traced his fingertip over the swirly edge of her tattoo and twirled his tongue around her belly button before pressing his mouth against the juncture of her thighs. She lifted her hips. Even through the thick material of her jeans he could smell her desire, knew she was wet and swollen for him.

  A groan ripped from his throat. “You feel so good. This feels so good.” He slid back up her body and kissed her again. “Let’s go upstairs so we can—”

  He broke off when Kelsey’s head reared up and she frantically pushed at his shoulders while her legs kicked in her effort to get away. He straightened. Afraid that in her haste she was going to fall off the table, he attempted to help her up only to have her swat at him like he was a bug.

  Jaw tight, he watched her roll to the side and slide off the table. She turned her back to him, adjusted her bra and pulled her shirt down to cover all that tempting skin he hadn’t had enough of.

  Aroused, and more than a little frustrated, Jack tipped his head back and heaved a breath. Damn it all to hell.

  SHE WAS SHAKING. God, she was literally shaking. Kelsey closed her eyes and took an unsteady breath. What had she been thinking?

  Well, she hadn’t been thinking, that much was plain.Her skin was sensitized to the point of aching, her clothes felt too tight, too constrictive, and her heart was beating hard enough to burst out of her chest.

  “Kelsey?” Jack’s voice washed over her causing her to shiver.

  “What?” Longing and regret made her voice sharper than she intended.

  She heard him sigh. “Could you look at me? Please?” he added quietly.

  She pressed her lips together and finished adjusting her shirt. He stared at her intently as he tucked his own shirt back into his pants.