by Jo Leigh
Before he knew what hit him, his erection was pressing against his jeans, his pulse was racing and his breathing labored. All this from a touch. When he met her gaze, he saw he wasn’t the only one. There was desire there, unmistakable, raw, innocent. He moved his hand so it cupped the back of her neck.
Her lips parted.
He pulled her to him, closing his eyes at the last possible second.
Once his mouth touched hers, something seemed to snap inside him. He tightened his hold on her, wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her tight. Desperately, urgently, he kissed her, merging with her, using his tongue and his breath and the fire inside him.
He pressed himself against her, and the feel of her body against his was an agony he couldn’t resist. Moving his hips, he swayed with her and when he heard her low moan he knew she was burning up, too.
Kate pulled away to catch the breath he’d stolen. His head went down until his lips found the sensitive skin on her neck. She moaned again with the heat and the wet.
“Now. Come with me...”
She barely made out the words, but she knew what he wanted. She wanted him, too, with a stunning need. But it wasn’t right. He wanted to escape through her, not be with her. That was a difference she couldn’t live with.
“Stop,” she said. And then she said it again and again until he heard her.
He pulled back, holding on to her with tight hands, and searched her face for clues. He must have seen her doubt and fear, because then he wrapped his arms around her in a hug that wasn’t sexual, just achingly sad.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” he said, his mouth close to her ear. “I still don’t know what the hell to do.”
She ran her hand over his back, feeling the tightly bunched muscles underneath his T-shirt. He was still pressed against her and his desire for her was as evident physically as it was emotionally. The pull she felt was strong. Stronger than anything she’d felt for any man. Even the man she’d loved all those years ago. Still, that wasn’t enough. She would be patient and wait for his brain to take over from his body.
In a move that came from some place she didn’t understand, she rocked him. Like a child. Back and forth they swayed, holding on to each other, feeding each other. She petted his head and whispered words that had no meaning and all the meaning in the world. She felt his chest rise and fall, his shoulders relax, his sexual desire diminish. Finally the madness was gone.
T.J. was the first to step back. He let her go and smiled shyly. It wasn’t an expression he was used to, she would wager. But the moment had been innocent and so it was right.
“I trust you,” she said. “I trust you enough to ask you to believe in me.”
“How am I supposed to fight this?” he asked. “Every time I make a jerk of myself, you end up turning it around so that I come out smelling like a rose. How do you do that?”
“It’s a gift,” she said, smiling.
He nodded. “I’d better warn you. My, uh, reaction to you wasn’t all that surprising. I think there may be more here than friendship. You know?”
“Uh-huh. That doesn’t mean we have to—”
“Right, right. We’re adults and all that.”
“Exactly.”
“But still. Maybe one time—”
She shook her head and moved toward the counter, needing the space between them. “T.J., I’m here for the duration. I have the center and the kids. My dance card is full.”
“Sure,” he said a little too quickly. “I’ve got my job and my place back in L.A. It wouldn’t work.”
“No.” She turned to him and waited until he was looking right at her. “Not just because of logistics.”
His smile was bittersweet and for that she was glad. “No,” he said. “Not just logistics.”
She went back to the counter, surprised by the lump in her throat. It was important that she concentrate on the cup in her hand, the spoon, the sugar—not the tightness inside her that urged her to go back to him.
“So what do we do now?”
She swallowed so that her voice would sound normal. “We wait. Bobby will be back. When he comes, we listen to him. Just listen. No arguments. No accusations.”
“I wasn’t talking about Bobby.”
“I know.”
Chapter 9
T.J. stood in the cool morning air, sipping his coffee, staring at the empty street in front of the center. The doors wouldn’t open for another hour, which was a tremendous relief. He didn’t want to deal with that mess. Not now.
His thoughts were on Bobby and about the past couple of weeks. How he’d thought the kid had changed. Each day T.J. had grown more convinced that Kate’s approach was working. His brother had become less belligerent, more open. Of course, Molly was responsible for a lot of that. She was something. She didn’t give the poor kid an inch. And Bobby had responded like a lovesick puppy. So what had gone wrong?
Even though he’d promised his trust to Kate, he couldn’t stop his doubts. She didn’t understand the kind of life Bobby had led. What Gus and his mother had done. Kate would have had to experience that nightmare to really get it. A mother who drank to make it all disappear, a father who drank for no reason at all. Endless nights of violence, screaming and pain that couldn’t be wiped away in a few weeks at summer camp. Bobby’s mold was cast.
He thought about the families he’d dealt with in his work, how the patterns had become so predictable. The father beats up the kid, the kid becomes an abuser. Time after time after time. He didn’t know if it was genetics or not, just that it was a basic truth. One that Kate didn’t understand.
“Hey, Cap’n.”
T.J. turned at Molly’s voice. She stood just inside the front door, a coffee mug in her hand.
“Morning.”
“You busy?”
He shook his head and she walked out to join him in the middle of the basketball court.
“I wanted to talk to you,” she said, “about Bobby.”
T.J. nodded. “Kate told me.”
“He swore he was going to tell you. We discussed it the other night. He just wasn’t sure you’d believe him.”
“Not believe Gus was an abusive jerk? Why wouldn’t I?”
“No, not that. Bobby thought you wouldn’t believe that he was trying to get Teresa to leave him. That he was trying to get her to walk out and never go back.”
“He was right. I don’t believe it.”
Molly sighed. “Haven’t you learned anything from Kate?”
“Pardon?”
“Kate. Hasn’t she taught you anything? About people, about how they can change.”
He eyed her for a moment. She was a beauty in her own right, with those striking eyes and that toned body. Even wearing men’s boxer shorts and a T-shirt, she was pretty and it was easy to see why Bobby had fallen for her. “Don’t you get it?” he said. “People don’t change. They adopt behaviors that serve a purpose. When that purpose is over, they revert to type. You can dress a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but it’s still a wolf.”
“No wonder Kate hasn’t slept with you.”
“What?” That one took him by surprise.
“It’s clear you two have the hots for each other. Any dummy could see that. I wondered why Kate wasn’t doing something about it. Now I know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re a fatalist. Gloom and doom and why bother. She’s not.”
“And that’s why she hasn’t slept with me?”
Molly nodded. “Of course. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s a very remarkable woman. She saved my sorry butt and Peter’s, too. And we’re not the only ones. She isn’t about to give up the goodies to someone who doesn’t see who she is.”
“Goodies?”
“Men have asked her out. Lot’s of ’em. But she keeps to herself and spends all her energy on the center. It’s not healthy, but that’s her. I figured you would be the one to unlock the gate, but now I see that she can’t sleep with you. It wou
ld be like consorting with the enemy.”
“Molly, I think that’s enough, don’t you?”
T.J. spun around, sloshing his coffee so it spilled on his hand. Kate was behind them, close enough to have heard every word.
“But, Kate—”
“Please go inside,” she said.
Molly shrugged and walked slowly past her boss into the center.
After she was clearly gone, Kate took a step toward him although she couldn’t meet his eye. “Sorry about that. You know Molly.”
“Yeah. She’s a pretty smart cookie.”
“She’s got a mouth the size of Nebraska.”
“Is she right?”
Kate, arms crossed, head down, found a pebble and kicked it with her toe. “The views expressed are not necessarily those of the management,” she said.
“I see. So why aren’t you sleeping with me?”
She looked up then. “I’m not going to discuss this.”
He started toward her. “Why not? It’s a perfectly reasonable question.”
“Knock it off, T.J. We’ve got other issues on the table.”
“You’re such a spoilsport.”
That made her smile at least and let her off the hook. Molly had hit the nail on the head and they both knew it. Oil and water, light and dark. They just had no meeting ground. Friendship? Maybe. More? Uh-uh.
“If Bobby doesn’t come back in the next half hour, I want us both to go over to your mother’s house.”
“And do what?”
“With any luck, find out what happened last night. Where he was when the robbery took place.”
“Looking for an alibi, huh?”
“Here’s what I think,” she said, ignoring his baiting tone. “I think Danny’s gang committed the crime, then someone, maybe even Danny himself, called the cops. It would be real convenient for them to have a scapegoat and I’m quite sure Danny would be tickled pink to see Bobby take the blame.”
T.J. couldn’t find any holes in her logic, assuming Bobby was innocent. “Maybe we should go after the source. Find Arcola.”
“We can try, but it won’t be easy. He doesn’t have a permanent address. He lives wherever he can find a couch to sleep on. But first, I think we should find Bobby before the police do.”
T.J. walked with her into the center, closing the door behind them. He knew he should be thinking about his brother, but Molly’s talk kept swimming in his head.
He took a sidelong glance at Kate. What would a relationship with her be like? Intense, that’s for sure. Fun, too. But the important thing for her would be respect. She would have to respect the man she loved, not just understand him. Believe in what he believed in and vice versa. With Kate, there was no middle ground. She needed a hero to love.
If wishes were horses...
They reached the kitchen and T.J. let Kate walk through the door first. She stopped suddenly and he nearly bumped into her. When he saw Bobby sitting at the table, he stopped, too.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked.
Bobby nodded. He sure didn’t look okay. He had a doozy of a shiner and his shirt was torn at the neck. T.J. glanced down and saw that the knuckles on his brother’s right fist were swollen. “Who won?”
Bobby looked at him bitterly. “Guess.”
“Danny?”
His brother’s eyebrows went down in a look of utter confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You didn’t have a fight with Arcola?”
“I haven’t seen him in a week. Gus beat the crap out of me, okay? You remember Gus, don’t you?”
Kate moved from the door into the kitchen and T.J. followed. She went over to Bobby and tilted his face up, turning it slightly so she could get a good look at his black eye. “I’ve got an ice pack in the freezer,” she said. “T.J., would you mind?”
She sat down across from Bobby and lifted his hand. It was swollen, red and bruised, but when she moved his fingers and his wrist she found nothing broken. “Want to talk about it?”
Bobby looked from her to his brother. T.J. was next to him, holding the blue ice pack.
“Go on,” T.J. said. “Take it.”
Bobby got the pack and put it gingerly on his eye. “I been going to see her. Trying to tell her to get the hell out. The bastard’s been picking on her more since I been here.”
Kate kept her attention on Bobby, even though she could feel T.J. tense beside her. She wanted to tell him to keep calm, to listen without judgment. It was out of her hands now.
“Why won’t she go?” T.J. asked, his voice brittle.
“She thinks it’s her fault. That she asks for it.”
T.J. swore. He moved behind Kate so she couldn’t feel him anymore. “Why didn’t she tell me what was going on? I saw her five days ago and she didn’t say one damn thing.”
“She don’t want to bother you.”
“Bother me?”
Bobby was staring at his brother, the accusation inescapable. Kate turned to look at T.J. He had taken a seat on the other side of the table. His face was passive, but his hands were clenched in tight fists.
“She knows you don’t give a damn about her.”
There was a long stretch of silence. Kate could hear the clock above the sink tick away the seconds. She wanted to ease the situation, to give comfort, but her instincts told her now was not the time. This conversation was long overdue.
“That’s not true,” T.J. said. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Understand?” Bobby’s voice rose higher and louder. “What do I have to understand? He’s a son of a bitch and if she don’t get out of there, he’s not going to be happy with screaming at her. He’s gonna hit her again. You and I both know that.” Bobby stood and tossed the ice pack onto the table.
Kate moved forward, ready with a hand to hold him back, but he stepped out of her reach toward T.J.
“He gets drunk—hell, he’s never not drunk and then he goes home and rags on her until she cries herself to sleep. What’s so hard to understand about that?”
“You don’t think I tried to get her away from him?”
“When? Nine years ago?”
“I learned my lesson.” T.J. stood up and paced. “She doesn’t listen.”
“So you just gave up?”
“What was I supposed to do?” He wasn’t even pretending to be calm anymore. His arm shot out wildly and his voice got louder. “Stay there for the rest of my damn life and watch her destroy herself? She loves playing the martyr. She gets all that wonderful attention from the neighbors and her sisters and most of all, her loving sons. She’s not the innocent victim here, Bobby. All she’s done is trap you in her sick little web.”
“You’re one sorry bastard,” Bobby said. “She’s your mother.”
T.J. walked to the sink and leaned against the counter. “Were you with her all night? Did you go anywhere else at all?”
Bobby looked at Kate, surprised. “What’s he talking about? I told you.”
“There was another arson fire, Bobby. Someone called the police and told them you were there.”
Bobby sat down again and looked briefly at T.J., then back at her. “Who?”
“We don’t know. It was an anonymous tip. The police were here.”
He swore. “I was with her. You can ask”
“I called this morning,” Kate said. “Several times. There was no answer.”
He shook his head. “We, uh, she fell asleep, so I unplugged the phone. I went for a walk...”
T.J. turned. “Did you go near the fire? Could someone have seen you?”
Bobby looked terrified. He sought out Kate’s gaze and pleaded for her sympathy. “I don’t know. I guess.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” T.J. came toward the table. “Why did you lie?”
“I don’t know!”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
Kate stood. “Hold it.” She reached out and grabbed T.J.’s arm. His muscles were taut beneath her
hand. “Sit down.”
It took a few seconds for T.J. to hear her. Finally he stopped glaring at his brother and looked at her.
“Sit down. We’re going to talk about this calmly. Understand?”
His mouth tightened to a thin line, but then he nodded. He walked carefully to the chair across from Bobby and sat.
“Bobby, I want you to tell us exactly what happened last night. Then we’re going to call the police and tell them. Everything will be all right if we keep our cool. Got it?”
Bobby nodded.
Kate positioned her chair so that she could look at both brothers. She thought about getting coffee, but then Bobby started to talk.
Kate smiled at the last of the kids to leave the building, then shut and bolted the door. She was so tired she could barely see straight. Still, there was cleanup left and it washer turn to make dinner. The thought made her groan.
What a hell of a day. After Bobby had told them about his night and the police had come and questioned him to their satisfaction, she’d still had to referee basketball, stop two fistfights, counsel a sixteen-year-old girl who thought she might be pregnant, and be nursemaid to two feverish babies until their mothers could pick them up. A drink—an ice-cold martini with three olives—sounded awfully good right now. Then a dip in a clear blue pool. A massage. Sleep. Was it so much to ask for?
On top of everything else, she’d had to keep her eye on T.J. She had to admit he’d handled himself well this morning. No outbursts, no posturing. He’d listened, although she didn’t think he believed Bobby. That would take time.
She started the rounds, picking up empty soda cans and assorted candy wrappers. Something shiny winked at her from the bottom of the corner pocket of the pool table. Another condom. Why would someone put a condom there? She shook her head and slipped the silver packet into her pocket. Another few minutes and the room was clean. Well, clean enough.
She shut off the lights. Peter was still cleaning up his area, but Molly had closed the nursery. Kate found her in the kitchen, sitting with Bobby. His eye looked worse, now there was a good deal of purple mixed with the black, but that was to be expected.
