She blew out a long breath and raked her tangled hair back from her face. Vince told himself to look across the room, anywhere but at her smoky green eyes and tempting soft lips. But his eyes refused to give up the pleasure.
After six long years, how could kissing her, holding her, still feel as familiar as breathing, he wondered. Why couldn’t he look at her and forget how incredible it had been to make love to her?
“Apparently I’ve made you angry. I’m sorry about that. But if you think I’m going to apologize for kissing you, I’m not.”
Her husky voice was like fingertips brushing over his skin. “I don’t want an apology for the kiss—or anything else! I just want to be…left alone.”
“Really? Five minutes ago it didn’t feel like you wanted to be alone.”
He certainly couldn’t argue that point. After the way he’d behaved, she was probably thinking he was sex starved or desperately hungry for her. Either image painted him guilty.
“Geena, I don’t know what you expect me to say. I—”
Suddenly she moved close enough to wrap her hand around his forearm, and the touch of her fingers made Vince want to groan out loud. Even worse, it made him want to slip his arms around her slender waist and draw her against him.
She licked her lips. “I don’t want you to say anything, Vince. I came in here to finish explaining what I was trying to tell you before I—well, before that kiss happened. I’m still very attracted to you. And it’s pretty clear you don’t want to be that close to me. That’s why I have to move out. As soon as possible.”
He understood what she was saying. He even agreed with her. Yet there was something deep within him that was reluctant to give in to the inevitable. Maybe because giving her up the first time had proved to be the most painful thing he’d ever gone through.
“Are you blind, Geena? A few minutes ago, I could’ve easily carried you in here to my bed and made love to you. That’s how close I’d like to be to you! But we both know that sex wasn’t enough to fix the problems of our marriage six years ago. And it won’t fix anything now.”
Turning her back to him, she bent her head and let out a woeful sigh. “I’m not trying to fix anything, Vince. I’ll admit my memory went haywire for a few days after the accident. But it’s working perfectly now. And I’ve not forgotten that you divorced me. I clearly remember you were the one who wanted our marriage to end. So I hardly expect you to forgive me. Much less want me.”
Frustration hijacked his common sense, and before he could stop himself, he snatched her body next to his and buried his face in the side of her neck.
“You don’t know anything about what I want!” he said, his voice muffled by her soft skin. “Do you think I’ve forgotten how it feels to make love to you? Do you think I don’t remember how it was when we were together? Like this?”
He didn’t give her time to answer. The need to taste her lips was far greater than hearing any words she might have said. Instead, he caught her lips beneath his, and she instantly responded by welcoming the thrust of his tongue and wrapping her arms in a tight circle around his waist.
Years of loneliness and regret suddenly pushed everything from his mind. Having Geena back in his arms and in his bed was all that mattered. Making love to her was the only way he could ease the awful, empty aching inside him.
Without breaking the contact of their lips, he lowered them over and onto the side of the mattress. Lying face-to-face, he continued to feast on her mouth while his hands began a wild, urgent foray of her body. The soft curves of her breasts and hips, the smooth heat of her skin felt like heaven beneath his fingers. But he wanted more, and the barrier of her clothing was preventing him from getting it.
He’d unbuttoned her shirt and was about to push the fabric off her shoulder, when she suddenly tore her mouth from his and jumped off the bed.
“I—I’m sorry, Vince,” she said in a strained voice. “But I can’t let things go any farther.”
With the warmth of her body more than an arm’s length away, cool sanity managed to rush to Vince’s brain and he sat up and watched in stunned silence as she hastily buttoned her shirt back over her breasts.
“Well, at least one of us has come to our senses,” he said with bitter resignation.
Her cheeks were pink, her expression full of regret as she glanced at him. “You don’t understand, Vince. I didn’t have a change of heart about wanting you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I had to stop because my body is still recovering from childbirth. It’s not ready for intimate relations. It will be soon, but not yet.”
Vince felt worse than an idiot. “I should’ve already known you weren’t physically ready for sex,” he muttered. “And I damned sure shouldn’t have been asking you for it.”
Wiping a hand over her face, she turned her back to him, and he could see she was still trying to gather her composure. The idea that their embrace had affected her as much as it had him shook Vince even more.
“This is all my fault,” she said tightly. “I started something I couldn’t finish. Sort of like our marriage.”
The sour note in her voice bothered him far more than it should have. It was one thing for him to be bitter and accusing, but Geena had never been a caustic person. In fact, she’d almost been too accepting of his faults, and quick to blame herself for not being able to deal with his job.
“Let’s not talk about our marriage.”
She turned to face him. “That’s over and done with. The only thing I want you to know now is that I’m not the same Geena I was back then. I might look the same and my kiss might taste the same, but I’m different in here.” She tapped a finger against her chest. “I’m grown up, Vince. I’m strong enough to stand on my own—to take care of myself and my child. And I’m not about to let anyone or anything cause me to crumble again.”
She didn’t give him time to fully digest her words, much less make a reply. She hurried out of the bedroom and carefully shut the door behind her.
*
The next afternoon, Geena made a hurried inspection of the rental house, then stopped by the cell phone carrier to replace the one that had burned in the wreck. When she finally finished her chores and returned to Vince’s house, she found Marcella on the back patio in a wooden rocker with Emma sound asleep in her arms.
“Oh, you’re back so soon!” Marcella exclaimed the moment Geena stepped onto the shaded patio. “Just when Emma and I have been having such fun!”
Geena sank into a lawn chair angled to the rocker. “Has she been a good girl? I tried to get everything done as quickly as I could.”
Smiling, Marcella gently rubbed the baby’s back. “She’s been wonderful. You wouldn’t consider letting me take her home with me, would you?”
Geena chuckled. “Sorry. I think I’d miss her too much.”
Marcella sighed. “I’m not going to give up on having a little girl of my own someday. I still have a few fertile years left.”
Chuckling again, Geena said, “I’d say you have plenty of fertile years left. All you need to do is find a good man.”
“Finding a man is easy. Finding a good one is nearly impossible,” she joked, then glanced over at Geena. “So tell me about the house.”
“I’ve already signed the lease.”
Surprised, Marcella asked, “Already? It’s the first place you looked at!”
Geena shrugged. “It was just the type of place I had in mind, so I didn’t see any need to look farther. It’s nice and cozy with a cute backyard, and with school about six blocks away, it will take me only a few minutes to zip to work from there. Plus the rent fit my budget.”
“Well, sounds nice,” Marcella replied. “So when are you planning to move? I’ll try to get a day off work to help you.”
Geena shook her head. “No. I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’ve already done so much for me.”
“That’s what friends are for. Besides, once you get settled I might ask you to watch the boys for me from ti
me to time. That is, if you can bear putting up with two rowdies.”
Geena smiled. “I’m a teacher, Marcella. I’m used to rowdies. I’d love to keep the boys.”
“School starts in less than three weeks. Have you started thinking about child care for Emma?”
Sighing, Geena leaned back in the lawn chair. “It’s something I don’t want to think about. I’m not sure I can go to work and leave her. But unfortunately, I’m going to have to force myself. Since I’ve just now become employed by this school I’m not eligible for maternity leave. And I can’t afford to take off any unpaid days.”
Marcella reached over and gave her arm a reassuring pat. “You’re not alone, Geena. It’s just a part of being a working mother. Once you find a babysitter you really trust, you’ll feel better about it.”
“I had hopes you might be able to help me in that department. I have no idea where to start looking for a dependable babysitter.”
A clever smile crossed Marcella’s face. “I know someone who’d be perfect for baby Emma. Annie lives two doors down from me and I’ve known her for years. She’s a widow in her fifties. Sweet and gentle and knows all about babies. She should—she’s raised four of her own.”
“So how many children does she care for?”
“Usually just one or two. And she’s very picky about the families she allows into her home,” Marcella answered. “At the moment she doesn’t have any kids. She was keeping a boy, a toddler, but the family moved away. Broke her heart. She’d become pretty attached to the little guy. Would you like to meet her?”
“She sounds like just the sort of person I’m looking for,” Geena agreed.
“Great,” Marcella said happily. “I’ll call her tonight and set up a meeting.”
Geena looked around Vince’s backyard. Since she’d been living here, she’d grown accustomed to sitting on the patio and watching the birds flit around the branches of a piñon tree and squirrels race around the top of the privacy fence and up the fat trunk of a hackberry tree. A charcoal cooker was pushed along one side of the house and a wooden picnic table sat in the flimsy shade of a honey locust.
The large yard was a relaxing piece of outdoors, a space perfectly made for a family. In fact, she could easily picture a swing set sitting in one corner with a sand pile nearby. She could imagine a dog with long hair, floppy ears and a happy yip chasing a tennis ball and a pair of squealing kids.
“You have something else on your mind.”
Yes, Geena thought, she had an impossible fairy tale on her mind. But she didn’t want to admit to her friend, or even herself, that she’d never quit dreaming of a life with Vince.
A hopeless sigh escaped her. “I’ve been thinking how ironic it is that I ended up here in Vince’s home. I never expected to see him again in my lifetime.”
One of Marcella’s brows lifted with speculation. “You mean you really didn’t plan to come here because of him?”
Geena shook her head. “I realize it looks that way,” she said ruefully. “But I honestly didn’t know Vince was living in Carson City. After my marriage to Brad was dissolved, I felt a little lost and homesick. I decided to come back to Nevada, start over and put the mistake behind me. But I didn’t want to settle in Reno. Not with all the memories of Vince and our marriage there. So I decided Carson City would be nice. Especially with it being close to Lake Tahoe.”
“It would have been easy to search Vince’s name before you made the decision to move here,” Marcella gently pointed out.
Geena stared down at her lap. “Easy, yes. But too painful. It was better for my peace of mind not to know where he lived or what he was doing. But in this case, I guess I should’ve made that search. Then I could’ve changed my plans and moved to Ely or Las Vegas—anywhere but Carson City.”
She looked up to see Marcella’s head swinging back and forth.
“Things happen for a reason, Geena,” she said. “You were meant to see Vince again. And I’m just wondering if moving out of this house and getting away from the man is really going to make you happy.”
A tiny pain stabbed Geena in the chest, then quickly filled her heart with a heavy ache. “I have to move on, Marcella. It’s not healthy to be in a place where you’re unwanted,” she said glumly. “No matter how much you like it there.”
“Hmm. I didn’t see anyone twisting Vince’s arm when I spotted him going into your hospital room with a bouquet of roses.”
The pain in her chest grew worse. “Vince is a decent guy and he does the decent thing when he’s needed.”
“Obviously.”
Geena looked at her friend. “Look, Marcella, there’s a lot you don’t know. Vince is the one who divorced me. I couldn’t deal with seeing my husband for just a few hours every week. And he loved his job too much to change.”
“Did you ask him to quit?”
Closing her eyes, Geena pinched the bridge of her nose. “Not outright. But I suppose I asked him in a thousand other ways. Finally, I got so miserable I began drinking wine in the evenings to numb myself. After a while I became more dependent on it—until I ruined everything good between us.”
She opened her eyes and was surprised to see Marcella studying her with empathy rather than disdain.
“Geena, you’re obviously not that person now. I’m sure Vince can see that.”
“Yes. I’ve grown up since then, and I learned from my mistakes. I’m not that Geena anymore. But Vince hasn’t changed. He’s the same detective living out the same long hours on the job. It would never work between us again. At least, he believes it wouldn’t.”
“Hmm. What do you think?”
Geena sighed. “What I think doesn’t matter. He’ll never give me a second chance.”
*
“Remember, Noelle wants this baby shower to be a surprise for Geena. So you’ll have to act like you’re taking her to our place just to have dinner and get acquainted. Think you can handle it?”
Vince forced a bite of cold sandwich down his throat as he glanced over his shoulder to see Evan leaned back in his office chair and his cowboy boots resting on the edge of his desk.
“Evan, you should have told Noelle not to go to all this trouble. I can easily buy everything Emma needs. That is, if Geena will let me,” he added dourly.
With an impatient shake of his head, Evan said, “You don’t get it, partner. This kind of stuff is important to women. Geena needs to make new friends. She needs to see that people care about her and the baby. Besides, Noelle is thrilled about this party—she’s been planning it ever since Emma was born. I know you don’t want to disappoint her. And I’d break your neck if you tried.”
Seeing there was no way out, Vince said in the most casual voice he could muster, “Okay, okay. I’ll have her there. What time?”
“No later than seven. Tonight—you do remember that, don’t you?”
“Tonight! I thought you said it was tomorrow night.”
“Hell, Vince, are you in a daze or something? I talked with you about this three days ago!”
Vince’s mental condition went far beyond dazed. Ever since he and Geena had ended up on his bed two nights ago, the woman had been like a thick fog, clouding every cell in his brain.
It was still difficult for him to believe how much he’d wanted to make love to her that night. Just thinking about the way her soft body had felt against his was enough to make his toes curl.
Damn it! He didn’t know why she’d ever touched him in the first place. To find out for herself if he still had the hots for her body? Well, he’d certainly given her a clear answer to that question.
I’m strong enough to stand on my own—to take care of myself and my child. And I’m not about to let anyone or anything cause me to crumble again.
Geena’s words that night were still lurking around to haunt him. Yes, he could see that Geena had changed into a better, stronger person. But that hardly meant the two of them could make a go of marriage again. Dear God, he’d gone through hell
trying to deal with her unhappiness. Since then, his job had become even more important to him. He’d become a detective and a damned good one. If his father could see him now, he’d be smiling.
Or would he? Parry Parcell had been a family man. He’d adored his wife and two children. And while he’d been alive, they’d been one happy family. What would his father think of Vince’s crumbled marriage? Would he have praised Vince for standing up for himself and his job? Or would he have been disappointed that his son hadn’t figured out a way to juggle his job and a wife?
Shaking himself back to the present, he looked over at Evan. “I’m just dealing with a lot of things right now. Geena’s planning on moving out soon. She’s already rented a house and put down her deposits on the utilities.”
“That ought to be making you happy. You can go back to being a bachelor with no one to interfere or answer to.”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “That’s just the way I want it, too.”
Frowning, Evan gestured to the sandwich lying on Vince’s desk. “Finish that damned thing. If we’re going out to the Rinehart ranch this afternoon, we’ve got to get going or we won’t be finished by quitting time.”
Even though his appetite had disappeared, Vince picked up the sandwich. “I’m beginning to think we’re wasting our time. Skip wouldn’t break under questioning. Where he and Liv are concerned, I could be barking up the wrong tree.”
Evan got up from his desk and began to fill an insulated mug with coffee from the percolator. “From my experience your hunches have always been right. We need to apply more pressure. The more we push, the more likely something will break.”
The same scenario was happening to him, he thought, as he tossed the last of his sandwich into a wastebasket. The more Geena talked about moving out, the more he felt as though he was breaking into helpless pieces.
“What we need to do is put pressure on Liv,” Vince reasoned. “But that could cause major problems. Stallion or no stallion. If it meant keeping his daughter out of jail, Rinehart wouldn’t hesitate to get her lawyered up. We’d have hell getting any information from her then.”
His Badge, Her Baby...Their Family? Page 12
