by Jodi Thomas
“Did you need to talk to me about something?” She sat all prim and proper, almost as if she’d rather be somewhere else. Another planet, maybe.
“No,” he said as he moved his fingers over her leg, still warm from her bath. “In fact, I don’t want to talk at all.” If she was going to bolt, he might as well know it now.
Tinch pulled her to him slowly, but firmly. He wanted to give her time to run, and he planned to make it plain what he was going to do.
She didn’t protest or speak. She just stared at him with those beautiful stormy-day eyes, and he realized something odd. Addison was more afraid of herself than she’d ever be of him.
Her mouth was velvet against his as a long gentle kiss passed between them. She wasn’t kissing him back so much as letting him take his time kissing her.
Then he broke the kiss and settled back, waiting for her to react. Knowing the doc, he wouldn’t have to wait long.
“I thought we decided to go back to being friends?” She straightened as if she didn’t notice she was sitting on his lap.
“This is me being friends,” he whispered against her ear. He liked the nearness of her. The way he could feel a fire building in her. The way she gave nothing away, but made him earn every touch.
When she didn’t answer, he added, “You have any problem with it, Doc?”
“No,” she whispered as he moved his hand along her back. She remained still as he opened the quilt and slid his fingers over her long legs.
If she knew how dearly he needed to touch her, she’d probably be frightened. His hand moved over the worn flannel shirt boldly. “Any problem now?” he asked as he kissed her throat and his palm rested over her breast.
“No,” she answered, and leaned her head back. “No problem at all unless you stop.”
Tinch smiled and tasted her throat. She was melting.
Slowly, she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder as he rocked her in his arms. She felt so good against him. He breathed deep and slow for the first time in a long while.
“I just want to hold you,” he said, pulling the quilt over them both.
She opened her mouth, waiting for another kiss.
When he didn’t act, she straightened, put her hands on his face, and pulled him into the kiss.
Tinch laughed when he finally broke free. “All right, baby, I’ll kiss you as well as touch you.”
She settled against him as if waiting for him to honor his promise, and he did.
After a while, she whispered with almost a cry, “I’m leaving in three months.”
He didn’t let go. “I know.”
“I can’t stay here. Everything is waiting for me back in L.A.”
“I know.” He moved his face into her damp hair, loving the smell of it. Tinch wasn’t a man who ever kidded himself. He knew he had little to offer compared to a career in L.A.
“I …” she whispered, as if about to say something he didn’t want to hear.
He kissed her again. Suddenly hard and demanding, as if he knew they were no longer at the beginning of something, but at the ending.
She pressed against him, forcing her heart to beat against his. When he lifted her to face him, she straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips as she wrapped her arms around him and gave herself into one kiss with her entire body.
Molding her to him, Tinch let passion set fire to them both. In the corner of his mind, he knew if he didn’t stop, there would be no stopping between them. He’d never kissed a woman like this … like it was more important than breathing … like they might both die if they mated and neither one would care.
Almost violently, he broke the kiss and just held her while she calmed. She didn’t seem to want to talk any more either. He pulled the quilt over her shoulders and moved his hands down her body gently. When he reached her hand, he threaded his fingers through hers, taking back the touch she’d pulled away from earlier.
He nudged her head back against his arm and began tasting her neck, loving the little sounds of pleasure she made. Once she warmed, she was a wonder. But right now, he wanted her warm, loving, willing, not so hot with passion he wasn’t sure he could handle her. He wanted to know all about her, mind and body, so when they made love it would take all night.
“It’s not fair,” she said as he tugged the quilt around her.
“What’s not fair?” He moved his hand inside the open V of the shirt she wore, loving the feel of her warm skin between her breasts.
“It’s not fair that you’re not the one waiting for me in L.A.”
Tinch stilled, trying to force at least a few brain cells to function. “So, the doctor you talked about is still waiting for you?”
She seemed to sober too. “Glen Davidson. He thinks we should collaborate on the research he’s doing. It’s actually a great honor. My father says it would be a great marriage for me, both personally and professionally. My father says that just the fact that he’s waited a year for me should make me feel flattered. Today he yelled and told me it’s time I came home and stopped playing around. They want to schedule the wedding as soon as I get back.”
His hands felt wooden as they slid around her waist and lifted her off him.
“What’s wrong?”
“You didn’t tell me you had someone waiting for you. Evidently, a fiancé. I thought he was just some guy your parents were trying to match you with, not someone you were considering.”
“Well …” She shrugged, as if she’d never thought about it that way. Glen was more than just some guy, but he wasn’t her fiancé. He was more a career option that just happened to come with a marriage offer, but she couldn’t say that to Tinch. He’d think her cold, maybe even heartless.
Tinch stood and moved a few feet away from her. “I thought you were talking about a situation you were running from, not a future husband. If you didn’t want the guy, you should have told him, not left him hanging for a year. Sounds to me like you’re still thinking of marrying him for the job.”
“No. Not really. Not yet.”
Tinch opened the door for her to walk ahead of him inside. When they were in the warm light coming from the kitchen, he said slowly, almost too calmly. “What am I, Addison, the fling you hope to work in before you go back home and settle down? I never thought I’d be the one to keep you here, but I hoped I was more than a fling. So tell me, what is it between us, Doc?”
She hesitated too long. She could probably see the hurt in his eyes, and they both knew he’d guessed the answer.
“If Jamie hadn’t come along, this never would have happened. It’s not something I planned between us. Would a fling be so terrible?”
“Don’t blame the boy. He had nothing to do with what’s started between us, and we both know it.” Tinch felt like someone had just stripped the wiring in his entire body. Every cell seemed to be jerking in pain, but he’d learned a long time ago that pain didn’t kill him.
“Tinch, don’t make it sound like I planned this. I didn’t. There’s just this thing between us. I think I felt it from the first. It’s like this pure attraction neither one of us can ignore.”
“I think you should go back home, Addison. We don’t need you anymore.” He didn’t understand what was between them either, but he’d thought it was more than some animal attraction. He’d hoped it could be the beginning of caring, but what did he know about relationships? He was over thirty, and he’d had only one other. He’d never been one of those guys who played around. He didn’t know how to keep something like loving light and meaningless.
Addison pressed on her eyes with the palms of her hands. “I don’t want to fight with you. Can we just go to bed and talk about this in the morning?”
“Fine.” He didn’t want to talk either. He felt like a fool for thinking for one moment that they might be building something. Even now, mad at her for leaving some guy in L.A. hanging while she kissed him like the world was coming to an end any moment, Tinch fought the urge to touch her.
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She was halfway up the stairs before she noticed. “You coming?” she called.
“No. I’ve got some work to finish,” he answered just as coldly as she’d asked. “I’ll be up later.”
He grabbed the quilt she’d dropped and went to his study without bothering to turn on a light. He knew he wouldn’t climb the stairs tonight. He couldn’t. As he spread out the quilt, he mumbled to himself, “I thought I was becoming her lover, only to find out I’m just her lab rat. Someone she planned to experiment with before she went back to her real life.”
He tried to fall asleep, thinking of Lori Anne and all the gentle nights of loving they’d shared. They’d been best friends, forever friends she used to say. He could read her thoughts, and she knew him so well sometimes he swore they could go weeks without talking. They breathed together, always knowing how the other would act.
He never regretted the years of taking care of her. To him it was just another way of showing his love, and he knew if he’d been the one who had cancer, she would have taken care of him. They were two halves of a whole. They always had been. When she died, he felt like someone had cut him in half and then left him to stumble around.
Only, tonight, when he closed his eyes all he could feel was Addison in his arms. She was totally different. Not only didn’t she know what he thought, but Tinch had a strong feeling that most of the time she didn’t care. Making love to her would never be calm and comfortable. It would be a battle, half surrender, half conquest.
He woke a little after dawn with Jamie standing over him.
“You all right?” Jamie frowned.
Tinch scrubbed his face. “I just need coffee.”
A cup appeared from behind him. He took it with both hands, but when he turned, Addison was already heading back toward the kitchen. He couldn’t tell if she was still mad at him or just in a hurry.
Tinch downed the weak coffee and tried to clear the river of cobwebs floating like scum in his head.
“What time is it?” he asked no one in particular.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell time.” Jamie sat down next to Tinch as if he thought he needed to be watched carefully.
“It’s after seven,” Addison announced. “Your cell phone was upstairs and woke us both up.”
“I answered it,” Jamie volunteered. “The sheriff says she’s on her way out to talk to you.”
Tinch glanced at Addison, but she just shrugged. By the time he changed into clean clothes and remade the coffee, Alexandra Matheson was knocking on his door. He waved her in and reached for another cup.
The sheriff might not have any kids, but she must have learned a few tricks. She walked straight to Jamie and handed him a gift.
The kid was so excited he could barely open it.
“I thought you might not have seen Treasure Island. If your uncle doesn’t mind, you could watch it while I have a cup of coffee with him.”
Jamie glanced at Tinch.
“Sure,” he said, knowing the sheriff’s plan. “I’ll bring you a bowl of cereal to eat while you watch. We have little enough time to watch TV with all the work around here, might as well catch a little while you eat.”
Jamie ran toward the TV in the study. “Thanks,” he yelled back.
Tinch delivered the cereal, made sure the volume was high enough to block any conversation from the kitchen area, and poured himself another cup before he joined the two women at the table.
“Good coffee,” the sheriff said as she held up her cup.
Tinch didn’t miss Addison’s frown. The doc seemed to think coffee should be about the same color as tea. She’d been doing her best to ignore him, and he hadn’t had enough sleep to figure out why he’d been so mad at her last night, but their problems, or rather her problem, would have to wait until the sheriff left.
“Any luck at the funeral?” Tinch asked, his voice low.
“Not much. We have no idea who the creepy people in the van were, or the two guys who looked like hired guns, but we did get a positive ID on the driver of the van. He’s a small-time dealer named Memphis Stone trying to work his way up. He was one of several dealers mentioned from Dallas who might have been Sadie’s supplier.”
“Anything else?
The sheriff nodded, glanced toward the study, and added, “An undercover cop in Dallas got a tip that Sadie stole a great deal of money before she left. The dealer, our van driver to the funeral, is looking for information about her kid. Since he didn’t find Jamie or the money at the trailer, my guess is he thinks wherever Sadie left the kid, she left the money. My source said all he knows is the guy goes by the name of Memphis and word on the street is that he’s not a man to cross. He’s not tall and from what the cop said, he loves to pick on anyone weaker. He heard Memphis broke a woman’s fingers once just to see how many it would take before she passed out from the pain.”
“And you think he’s coming here?”
Alex nodded once. “I got a half million reasons that he’s coming. In fact, I’m guessing the guy is already here. He didn’t find out what he wanted to at the funeral, so he’s settling in waiting for his chance and that means he’ll be pulling into your gate soon.”
Tinch got the picture. “If he’s coming after the kid, I’ll be waiting. It may take him a while, but eventually he’ll find out Sadie had a sister and when he does, he’ll find me.”
Straightening, as if she had to say something, Alex added, “Tinch, he’s not coming after you or the kid. He’s coming after the money, and I think he’ll do whatever he has to do to get it.”
“I get the picture, but Jamie had nothing with him and he’s never mentioned any money.”
Alex nodded. “I’d suggest you and the boy disappear, but I’m not sure. If they can track you here, they might be able to follow you if you decided to run with Jamie. I can think of a few lowlifes in town who might be watching your every move right now just for the promise of drug money.”
“I’m staying. I’ve got a barn full of horses who need care and a small herd over on the north pasture who will need to be moved after the first freeze. My life, my work is here. If we have to make a stand, we make it here. I’ll leave the gate unlocked so if they come, they’ll come in that way. I’ll hear the chime and be ready for them.”
“But the boy,” Addison objected. “He’ll be in danger if he stays.”
Tinch faced the doctor. “He’ll be in danger wherever he goes. I’ll take care of him. Make sure he knows what to do if trouble comes. We’ll manage.”
The sheriff looked like she was debating which side to be on.
Tinch knew he was right about being able to make a stand here. No one could get close without him knowing it, and he was already well armed. If they moved the boy, there was always the chance the drug dealers could find him, and if they did, he’d be less protected. No foster home or group house could watch him like Tinch could.
“All right, Jamie stays with you. I’ll have a deputy drive by every hour, and you keep that cell within reach. If we get a call from you, we’ll be on our way.” She looked at Addison. “But you, Dr. Spencer, need to leave.”
Agreeing, he let out a long breath. “She wouldn’t even be safe next door. Right now the easiest way to get to my house is to cross the field between her house and mine. If she were gone, I could bolt the gate to her place. If trouble comes, I want it heading in straight on, not sneaking in the back.”
The sheriff didn’t give Addison time to object. “You’re right, Tinch. Right now no one knows the doctor is involved. She’ll be safe enough in town.”
Tinch saw something in Addison’s pale eyes. Not fear or anger, but determination. She felt the same way about Jamie as he did. It didn’t matter what they’d fought about last night. Right now they had to keep Jamie safe.
He could see the logical side of her reasoning out what would be best for the boy.
Alex poured herself another cup of coffee. “I think I’ll catch a little of Treasure Island with Jamie whil
e you two talk. I think the boy might know something he’s not talking about. Maybe his mother told him never to tell and he thinks he’s staying true to her.”
“I doubt it. The kids talks all the time. Seems like if he were holding a secret, it would have dribbled out already.” Tinch watched the sheriff walk into the study and Addison climb the stairs. He followed the doc, having no idea what to say to her.
When he reached the bedroom, she was standing next to what he now thought of as her side. She held his flannel shirt in one hand.
“I’m taking this with me. You gave it to me.” She said the words as if she held something of value.
“I loaned it to you,” he said, fighting down a smile. Surely the doc wasn’t going to argue over a ten-year-old shirt. “But you can have it. It looks better on you anyway.”
She began rolling it up. “I’ll go over and clean my stuff out of the Rogers house before I head to work.”
“Where will you stay tonight?”
“It doesn’t matter. I could probably sleep at the hospital till I find a place. Maybe book a room at the bed-and-breakfast. It’s close to the hospital and at least I’d get one meal a day.”
Tinch had so much he needed to say to her, but now didn’t seem the time. “Thanks for your help with Jamie,” he finally managed.
“You’re welcome.” She picked up her purse and cell phone.
“When this is over …” He didn’t dare move one step closer to her. “When Jamie is safe, I’m coming after you. You owe me a date.”
“I may already be gone.” She bolted from the room before he could say more.
By the time he followed, she already stood at the door. As she stuffed his shirt in her big purse, she called to Jamie, “See you later, kid. Try to keep your uncle out of trouble.”
Jamie waved. “See you later, Doc.”
“See you later,” Addison said as she ran for her car.
Tinch walked to the door and watched her go. When this is over, I’m coming after you. Only problem is I have no idea what I’ll do when I catch up to you.
Chapter 29
