Guiding the Fall

by Christy Hayes

  “Okay, okay. Buy me an ice cream. It’s not like I have much say about it anyway,” she mumbled as she passed Jack. “We’ll be right back.”

  When the door shut behind them, Jack walked to the table where Olivia stood next to her bag. “I suppose that was pretty obvious.”

  “I doubt you know how to be subtle.”

  “How did the lesson go?”

  “Good, once she let her guard down. I think she’s suffering from dyslexia, Jack.”

  “Dyslexia? I never considered she had a problem.”

  “It seems pretty mild. We worked on the alphabet, but I’m going to have to do some research on how best to teach her. She’s smart as a whip. I hate that she’s thought herself stupid all this time.”

  “You and me both. Olivia,” he ran his hand down her arm and felt the goose flesh in his wake, “I owe you an apology.”

  “You do?”

  “I was a little forceful last night. You said no, and I didn’t respect your wishes.”

  “That’s…I’m not sure how I feel about you apologizing for what happened. You were right. I do want you. Your apology makes this feel like a game. I don’t like playing games.”

  Jack smiled and inched closer. He’d worried he’d insulted her, or worse, that she thought him too aggressive. Knowing she’d enjoyed herself and wanted more meant his time in the valley would be more entertaining than he’d thought. “I’m sure I can think of a few that might tickle your fancy.”

  “I’m sure you could.” She linked her hands behind his neck. “And I’m more than willing to play those kinds of games with you, but not mind games. I want you, but we need to set some ground rules.”

  “There are rules?” He cringed.

  “Yes. The first one is that I’m not willing to share.”

  “Share? You think there’s more than one woman in my life?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m telling you now there will only be me if we become lovers.” She shook the hair from her face, loosening that elusive fragrance she swore she didn’t wear. “I have a feeling there’s only ever been you.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute. I’ve given this a lot of thought. I know myself well enough to admit I’m in danger of falling for you, so we need to be straight with one another from the beginning. No games, no illusions. You’re only here for a short time. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other simply because I’m teaching your sister, but we have to be discreet. I can’t have everyone in town knowing we’re sleeping together.”

  “I don’t advertise my liaisons, but I sure as hell don’t hide them, either. We’re both consenting adults. I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.”

  “Unfortunately, I’ll still be here after you’re gone, so I do care. I have to care.”

  “Are you ashamed to be seen with me?”

  “Of course I’m not ashamed to be seen with you. Why in the world would I be ashamed?”

  “I’m not exactly the man I used to be. I can’t drive; I can’t do half the things I’m used to doing. I know I’m damaged goods.”

  Olivia laughed and settled her lips over his. “God, you must have been insufferable when you had it all. You’re no more damaged goods than the rest of us. Ummmm,” she moaned when he lifted her onto the table. “I was going to ask you to take me to my friend’s wedding in a couple of weeks.”

  “That’s your idea of being discreet?”

  “It is discreet, as long as you don’t seduce me on the dance floor. Besides, the investigation should be over by then.”

  He ran his tongue along her neck. “How about I seduce you on the kitchen table?”

  “I don’t think we have that much time.”

  “I think they’ll be gone for a while.”

  “Jack, you promised more than a quickie on the table.”

  He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Where are we going?”

  “To bed. I always keep my promises.”

  She grabbed both sides of the wall when he tried to take her down the hallway. “Oh, no, you don’t. Put me down.”

  “Why?” He shifted so her back was to the wall, but he didn’t let her down. They were lined up perfectly and he teased them both by thrusting against her. “Olivia, we just agreed.”

  “Jack, I’ve established a fragile trust with your sister that would shatter if she walked in and found us in bed.”

  “Erica’s not a child. She knows I have sex.”

  “Then let me talk to her about this. Please, she’s not going trust me if she doesn’t respect me.”

  Jack dropped his forehead to hers. “Is this another rule?”

  “That you don’t throw our sleeping together in your sister’s face? That seems more like common decency. Especially since she wants my roommate.”

  “She told you that?”

  “No, but it’s obvious. She doesn’t want him knowing she can’t read very well.”

  “I know. She made me promise not to tell him.” He let her down. “Well, now you’ve gone and ruined the mood. These relationships are a hell of a lot of work.”

  “This isn’t a relationship. This is an understanding. We’re sleeping together. Discreetly. Nothing more.”

  “So when do the benefits of this understanding begin? Because so far it’s just been frustrating.”

  “How about tomorrow night? I’d like to work with Erica some more after my shift at the Tap. I can bring you home with me.”

  “What about your roommate? I’ve just come from your tiny apartment. You don’t think that’ll be a little awkward?”

  “He’s hardly there, but I’ll make sure he’s not home tomorrow night.”

  “Where’s he going to stay?”

  “He works on his cabin most nights. Sometimes he bunks there or with his mom.”

  “So, you’re going to tell him about our understanding?”

  He felt her shoulders lift into a shrug. “It’s not like I can hide it from him.”

  “I never agreed to hide anything. You have the tactical advantage here, Olivia, simply because I’m not able to drive, but that doesn’t mean you’re in the driver’s seat. When I want you, I’ll have you and I won’t give a damn who’s around.”

  “I’m not going to have sex with you in public,” Olivia choked.

  “You’re so literal.” Jack let out an exasperated breath. “Tell Lyle and Erica. Tell whomever you want. Or don’t tell. I don’t care.” He put his hands on her face and traced her lips with his thumb. “I want you, Olivia.” He stepped forward, backing her against the wall again. “And you want me. Some things you just can’t hide, even if you try your best.”

  She let her hands glide up his chest and into his hair. He never knew how erotic a scalp massage could be. “Are you saying people will know no matter how hard we try?”

  “I’m saying I’m not going to try. When you’re around, I want to touch you.” He dropped his hands to her breasts and molded them with his fingers. “Once we’re together, I’m only going to want you more.”

  “I’m not exactly fighting you off. You can have me, Jack. I just want to be careful. About everything.”

  He cupped her bottom and cursed her jeans. He’d be inside her already if she’d been wearing a dress. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into tonight?”

  “Absolutely positive.” She arched against him. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t fool around.”

  “Fooling around isn’t going to ease the tension.”

  She nibbled on his ear. “It’s supposed to build anticipation.”

  “It’s working. I feel like I’m back in high school.”

  “Let’s pretend we are.” She kissed the corner of his mouth and then the other. “Back in high school, I mean. Let’s pretend my parents have left us alone for half an hour.”

  “Half an hour? In high school?” he asked. “I could’ve had you and cleaned your house in a half hour back in high school.”

  “Ten minutes, then.”
<
br />   “I’ve got you alone for ten minutes?”

  “Not even.” She groaned when he lifted her up, but she pushed his hands away from the buttons on her blouse. “Clothes stay on.”

  “You don’t think Erica’s going to know what we’ve been doing when she comes home and I’ve got a raging hard on?”

  Olivia laughed. “You can hide in your room.”

  He tried to unbutton her jeans, but she slapped him. “I mean it, Jack. Behave, or we don’t fool around.”

  “Okay, okay, but you can’t blame me for trying.”

  “I hope they get back soon.”

  “Why?” he asked against her lips.

  “Because I’m weak and I can’t hold out much longer.”

  Chapter 32

  Erica kept her eyes on the window and away from Lyle. As mad as she was at Jack for sicing Olivia on her, she was even more furious with him for insisting she have ice cream with Lyle. How was she supposed to share anything with him after that kiss? She didn’t have an explanation for her behavior. She never imagined he’d kiss her and blank her mind so that before she knew what had happened, he’d backed her against a wall. If she hadn’t come to her senses, how far would she have gone?

  His phone rang, and she saw Jill Jennings on the display. Lyle ignored the call.

  “You don’t have to do this, you know,” she said after the ringing stopped. “Jack just wanted to be alone with Olivia. Why don’t you drive to your place and I can walk back across the river?”

  “I like ice cream. I know you do, too.” She felt his eyes glaring into the side of her face. “I think you’re afraid to spend time with me.”

  “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Okay, fine. You can sit there and watch me eat my ice cream.”

  “Whatever,” she grumbled. Afraid of him? Please. She just didn’t want to be around him. She didn’t want to feel the way she did, all queasy and lightheaded. His truck smelled like him, wood shavings, and fresh air. He parked the SUV in the Dairy Barn’s lot. “We can go through the drive-thru.”

  “Your brother didn’t want us back so soon. I, for one, don’t want to catch them having sex. Do you?”

  “Gross. Of course I don’t.” She slammed her car door and stomped inside the small restaurant. The smell of fried food hung heavy in the air.

  Lyle walked up to an open cashier. “Hey, Robert. How’s it going?”

  The cashier smiled and returned Lyle’s greeting before asking for his order.

  “I’ll have the double cone dipped in chocolate sauce, please.” Lyle swiveled around to stare at Erica. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

  Erica’s mouth watered. Of course she wanted something. “I’ll have a small cup of swirl.”

  “Small?” Lyle asked.

  Erica’s lips twitched. “Medium. Please.”

  “Medium swirl,” he told the cashier. He paid with cash and pocketed his change. He handed her the cup when their ice cream was ready, but not before licking his cone with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old. “I love the Dairy Barn. Do you have any place like this in Denver?”

  Erica squeezed into a booth along the window and Lyle sat opposite her. “There’s a local shop with all organic ingredients. Their stuff’s okay, but it’s not this good.”

  “Why do people try to make ice cream healthy?” Lyle asked and Erica tried not to smile. She’d wondered the same thing every time she went to the Ice Cream Peddler.

  “Don’t know,” she said between bites. “I guess it makes them feel better about eating fattening stuff.”

  “They just need to exercise more.”

  She eyed him over her cup. “Is that why you’re so skinny? All that running you do?”

  “Probably. My mom’s not a big woman and my dad wasn’t either. It’s a combination of good genes and the running.”

  “Why do you run?”

  He pursed his lips. “I like to run. I’m pretty fast, so I always did track and cross country growing up. I ran in college. It…settles me, I guess. It helps me think clearly and levels me out. You know, it kinda takes the edge off my temper. Does that make sense?”

  “Sure. I guess I should start running if it takes the edge off a temper.”

  “You? A temper? I don’t believe it,” he joked.

  “You don’t seem to have one at all.”

  “It’s the running. Besides, you haven’t seen me mad yet.”

  When he winked at her, she looked away. Why did he have to be so nice to her and pretend as if he hadn’t kissed her silly? Why wasn’t he demanding to know why she’d freaked out and run away? She couldn’t figure him out at all.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he said.

  Here we go, she thought. He wasn’t so far from normal after all. Her stomach clenched as she said, “Go ahead.”

  “How did you become such a good cook?”

  She choked out a laugh.

  “Something funny?” he asked.

  “No. You just surprise me, that’s all.” She licked her spoon and set the half empty cup on the table. “If I wanted to eat, I had to cook. I’m sure Jack told you our dad was a drunk. I figured if I wanted him to stay alive, I’d better keep some food in his stomach.”

  “Did your mom teach you before she died?”

  “No. I made a lot of sandwiches at first, but even a kid gets tired of peanut butter and jelly. I experimented with whatever we happened to have. Eventually, I started to enjoy coming up with new meals and mixing ingredients.” She picked up her cup but didn’t take a bite. “My cooking was the only thing he ever complimented me on.” She said it before she knew the words were out of her mouth.

  “Do you still enjoy it?”

  She shrugged and spooned up more ice cream, thankful he hadn’t asked something more personal. “I guess. Jack needs to eat and he sure doesn’t know how to cook. If it wasn’t for me, he’d eat every meal at a restaurant.”

  “Have you thought about getting a job as a cook back in Denver?”

  Erica swallowed a bite and hoped it cooled the anger boiling in her gut. Lyle obviously thought she should be doing more with her life than taking care of Jack. But could she blame him when she’d thought that herself? “I’m not that good.”

  “That’s not what I hear or what I’ve tasted. Your lasagna was excellent. I don’t think Olivia would waste her time learning from you if you weren’t.”

  “She just wants to sleep with my brother.” An unexpected wave of guilt hit Erica. She’d spent the evening slowly starting to like Olivia. Yes, Olivia wanted to sleep with Jack, but she also wanted to help. The blond bimbo was tougher than she looked. “But I think she’ll catch on eventually.”

  “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  “Who does the cooking at your place?” Erica asked. She tried to imagine Lyle and Olivia cooking and eating meals together, but a clear image wouldn’t form.

  “Nobody. We just share space. Every once in a while we’ll split a pizza or something, but neither one of us is there much.”

  “Do you cook?”

  “A little. When I have to. My mom made sure we knew the basics, but it’s just me, so cooking usually means heating up something in the microwave.” He popped the end of the cone in his mouth at the same time she licked the last of her ice cream.

  They watched each other over the sticky tabletop. Erica was the first to look away. Lyle’s stare held too much intensity. He was always looking at her in a way that made her feel naked. “Do you think they’re done?” she asked.

  “Done what?”

  “Having sex?”

  Lyle laughed. “Do you really think that’s what they’re doing?”

  “If my brother has his way, yes. You don’t?”

  He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe. Do you want to give them some more time in case they are? We could go for a drive or something.”

  Oh, no. She’d rather walk in on Jack and Olivia than be alone with him on a dark road. “No, no
. I’m tired enough to chance it.”

  “Okay.” Lyle edged out of the booth and walked to the door with his hand on her lower back. Erica felt every one of his fingers as they seared into her skin.

  He opened the passenger door for her and waited until she’d settled inside before closing the door and walking around to his side. When he got in, her nerves sprung back to life. The sun had set and the car seemed too small and quiet in the dark.

  “Is this music okay?” he asked.

  She recognized the country tune the local station liked to play. “Sure, it’s fine.”

  “I can change it if you want.”

  “No. I like this song.”

  Without thinking, she hummed along. Before she knew it, she was singing along, enjoying the song about a girl and a boy riding alone in a truck. They were going parking, ending up in the back seat while a guitar played over what must have been their bittersweet first time. When they pulled along the entrance to the property, Lyle slowed the car and stared at Erica, his face serious.

  “What?” she said. “Do I have something on my face?”

  “You have a beautiful voice. I could listen to you all night.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t realize I was singing.”

  “Why are you sorry? You’re better than the radio.” He reached over and flicked the dial to off.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, suddenly panicked.

  “Sing for me, Erica. Sing that song you always sing. The one about the tree and the river.”

  “What? No.”

  He reached over and settled his hand on her leg. “Please?”

  “Lyle, I was just singing along. I don’t sing by myself.”

  He parked the SUV next to the fence by the house. “I’ve heard you with your guitar. You’re too good not to share. Please? One chorus. Sing that song you made up.”

  “No. I…I can’t.”

  His hand was still on her leg. When he shifted to face her, he moved it to the console between them. “Are you going to let me kiss you again?”

  She was going to throw up all that ice cream she just ate. First he wanted her to sing for him and then he actually asked if she would let him kiss her? “I…I’m not sure why you’d want to.”