by Lori Foster
He didn’t want Casey to accidentally hurt her feelings with his shock. And he didn’t want his nephew ogling her either.
Unfortunately, Jordan reached the waiting room just in time to see Georgia stumble over her own feet. She stared toward Casey, who’d stood when she entered the room.
“Who,” Georgia asked, eyeing the way her daughter clung to Casey’s hand, “are you?”
“He’s Casey,” Lisa said.
Casey smoothed his dark blond hair out of his eyes, then held out his free hand. “I gather you’re Lisa’s mother?”
Georgia looked mesmerized, then gave him her hand. She tipped her head back to see Casey’s face, before looking him over with awe. “Why, I wonder, did I think you’d look like an average kid?”
Casey grinned, showing off his killer smile and shaking her hand gently. “I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Is the whole family like you?”
Emma, who had been sitting quietly on the couch by Adam’s feet, spoke up. “Yes, they are.”
“Incredible.”
Jordan stepped up behind her. “Casey brought you a change of clothes.”
“Oh, yeah.” Casey reached for the bag and offered it to her. “Honey, my stepmother, wasn’t sure what size you might be, so she told me to apologize and explain that she sent things that would adjust.” To Jordan, he said, “She refused to send her a man’s shirt.”
Georgia looked into the bag and pulled out white, elastic waist cotton slacks, a soft pink cotton T-shirt, and a long sleeved matching cardigan. There was even a pair of slip-on casual canvas shoes.
She glanced back up at Casey with a grateful smile. “Please be sure to tell her how much I appreciate this. And I promise to return the clothes right away.”
Casey skipped a look toward Jordan before smiling. “You can tell her yourself. She said to invite you and your family over to the big cookout at the end of the month. Honey likes to show all our neighbors how much she appreciates them by having this huge get-together. It worked out real well last year, so she wants to make it a traditional gathering.”
Jordan choked and considered stuffing Casey into the damn bag. Georgia, he noticed, looked panicked.
“But…” She sputtered, her gray eyes wide, “We’re not neighbors!”
“You live in Buckhorn?”
Georgia nodded.
“Close enough.” He ignored Jordan when he added, “You don’t have to wait till then to visit though. Our house is pretty far off the main road without any other houses close by. Honey said to tell you she’d love the company anytime you feel up to visiting.”
Lisa clapped her hands together, staring with naked adoration toward Casey. “Can we, Mommy, please, please, please?”
“But…”
Casey ruffled Lisa’s hair, then turned to the couch, caught Emma’s hand and pulled her to her feet. She tried to hang onto his hand, but Casey made that impossible. “We’ve got to go before Morgan leaves without us.”
Georgia hustled after him. “Wait! Please, tell your stepmother—”
“Honey.”
“Yes, well, tell Honey that I appreciate the offer, but I can’t possibly come.”
“Jordan’ll bring you.” Casey stared at Jordan, knowing exactly what he was doing. His brown eyes warmed to glittering amber as he said, “He wouldn’t want to disappoint Honey.”
Keeping a relationship purely sexual, Jordan thought, would be pretty damn tough if the whole family got to know her. But then he looked at Lisa, and he gave up with a sound somewhere between a growl and a sigh. “No, I don’t want to disappoint Honey.”
Georgia held the clothes clutched to her spectacular chest, her pale gray eyes flared with dismay, her golden brown hair practically standing on end.
And perversely, Jordan said, “I insist. It’ll be fun.”
“But…”
He turned away and bid Casey and Emma good-night, noticing that Casey was staying just out of Emma’s reach. He shook his head.
“What?”
Georgia stood beside him. He could smell her, warm and sweet, and he wanted to press his nose into her neck, taste her skin. “My nephew,” he said in a rough voice, filled with lust, though she didn’t seem to know it, “didn’t even notice what you’re wearing.”
He hadn’t quite realized it until he said it. But not once did Casey look her over. He’d kept his gaze respectfully on her face, his manner as polite and friendly as ever.
Georgia looked down at herself. “I know you think I should be embarrassed.” She met his gaze, her eyes now somber, sad. “But I’m just too worried.”
Jordan touched her cheek. That didn’t seem like enough so he put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the chair Casey had just vacated. Luckily, there was no one else in this particular waiting room. Earlier a man had come in with a badly cut finger, and a woman had shown up with a twisted ankle. But they had each been attended to and no one had shown up since.
Once Georgia was seated, her hands twisting in the clothing Honey had sent, Jordan asked, “What did they say about your mother? How is she?”
He knelt in front of her, unable to stop touching her. This time his hands rested on her knees. Her skin was so incredibly warm, so silky, he wanted to part her thighs, wanted to tip up her face and kiss her deeply as he moved between her legs. Her thighs were strong, he’d seen that as she danced, and he could only imagine how tightly she’d hold him.
She didn’t seem to notice his touch or his preoccupation, or else she didn’t care.
Jordan shook himself. Adam snored nearby on the couch and Lisa was starting to get bored with the cards. She’d taken to deliberately scattering them, and the last time they’d flown everywhere, she hadn’t bothered to pick them back up.
He had to get hold of himself. Lusting after a woman in front of her children wasn’t something he ever would have done. He wouldn’t do it now. Out of all the brothers, he was the one most circumspect, most discerning.
“Will she be all right, Georgia?”
Georgia nodded. “Mom has emphysema. My father was a big cigar smoker and they say it was his secondhand smoke that…” She looked furious for a moment, then started over. “She’s never been a smoker herself. In fact she hates the things.”
“Me, too.” He took one of her hands, and she didn’t pull away.
“They think she has bronchitis. With her lung disease, that’s a big problem. They’re going to keep her a few days, put her on IV antibiotics, do a breathing treatment every four hours or so. As soon as they get her settled in her room and I make sure she’s got everything she needs, I’ll be able to head home. I just don’t want to go until I know—”
“Of course not. There’s no rush.”
She gave him a distracted, grateful nod.
“When was the last time you ate?”
She looked at him as if he were crazy. “I’m not hungry. But the kids…” She glanced over at the couch. Jordan looked, too. Lisa was still sitting on the floor, but she’d slumped sideways, sound asleep, her head mere inches from her brother’s big toe.
Jordan grinned. “I fed them. It wasn’t the most nutritional meal going. Just sub sandwiches from the vending machine with chips and hot chocolate.”
She rubbed her forehead with a shaking hand. “I should have thought of it. Thank you. It didn’t even occur to me…”
“Hey.” Jordan leaned lower to see her averted face. Very gently he touched her chin. “You had your hands full.”
“I’ll pay you back. How much was it?”
Her polite query set his teeth on edge. “I don’t want your money, Georgia.”
To his surprise, she came to her feet, making him quickly stand so he wouldn’t be stampeded. “It’s not your job to take care of my children.”
Jordan crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her, studying her set expression. “I don’t mind helping out.”
Her soft lips flattened into a hard line. The way she squeezed Honey
’s clothes, they’d be all wrinkled by the time she got them on. Not that he was in any hurry for her to change now that they were virtually alone. The kids were asleep, Casey and Morgan had left, the hospital was quiet.
She looked incredible, sexy and tousled and earthy. His breath came a little faster. “You’re going to need more help, you know.”
She rounded on him, nearly dropping the clothes. Her eyes, circled with smeared mascara and exhaustion, turned stormy gray. She kept her voice low, but it sounded like a growl. “We’ll manage just fine.”
“Georgia…”
Her chin lifted. “You can leave now. I’m sorry I kept you so long. I lost track of the time, but now that I know my mother will be all right, I can—”
Very gently, he interrupted her. “You know I’m not going to leave.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s…” She looked around for a clock.
“It’s very late.” Jordan kept his tone soft and easy, soothing her. He had no idea why she’d suddenly turned defensive, except that she probably hadn’t eaten for a while, her mother was sick, and she’d nearly been arrested.
And he couldn’t stop thinking about getting her naked and under him. Or over him. Or…
He felt like a complete bastard. “Listen to me, Georgia.” He waited until her eyes lifted to his. “I’m going to drive you home after everything is taken care of here.”
“Why?” She stared at him, her face flushed. “You don’t even know me. And what you do know about me, you disapprove of. You certainly don’t owe me anything.”
“Georgia.” He said her name like a caress. He didn’t mean to, but he did. “No man would leave you here alone like this.”
She laughed at that, a mean, bitter laugh. “You are so wrong.”
It took a lot of effort not to get riled, not to react to his sudden suspicions. But she was too upset right now, too overwhelmed, for him to start interrogating her. There’d be plenty of time for him to learn more about her past later. He’d see to that. “How else would you get home?”
“We can take a cab.” She drew a shuddering breath. “Since I got my money from Bill, I can easily afford—”
Jordan took her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, leaning down so that he could whisper. The very last thing he wanted to do was wake the children.
Her eyelashes fluttered at his nearness, but she didn’t look into his eyes. She stared at his mouth instead.
“I’m taking you home, Georgia. Accept it. We’ll get your car tomorrow and then you can check on your mother and, after all that, we’ll talk about the cookout my family has planned.”
She covered her ears with her hands and pulled away. “I have to change now. Will you…” She made a disgusted sound. “Will you stay here with Lisa and Adam?”
“Of course.” Why was she covering her ears? It wasn’t like he’d been being abusive. He’d offered her help. He’d been gentle, calm. He hadn’t told her that he wanted her, that just touching her damn shoulders and bringing her close had nearly driven him to his knees and made him semierect.
He watched her walk away, and decided that he would tell her. Tonight.
He wasn’t at all sure he could last another day this way.
5
THE CAR RIDE home was mostly silent. There wasn’t a single other vehicle on the road, the kids were sound asleep and the clouds had finally cleared enough to let the moonlight dance over the wet streets. Overall, it was a sleepy, relaxing, lulling ride.
But she was far from relaxed. “Jordan…I’m sorry I lost my temper with you.”
Jordan glanced at her as if surprised that she’d spoken. Aside from getting her arrested, he’d been wonderful, and she’d been a raving bitch. All because he scared her.
And when she was around him, she scared herself. The man didn’t need to say anything important, not even anything seductive, and she wanted him. An intolerable situation, and she was far too tired to deal with it.
She could hear the smile in his mellow, mesmeric voice when he spoke. “No problem. You’ve had a rough day.”
Georgia made a sound of agreement, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Maybe if she didn’t look at him, if she didn’t see his wide, hard shoulders, the thickness of his muscled forearms, the way his light brown hair caught the moonlight and how deep, how seductive his green eyes were when he turned them toward her—well, maybe it would help. But she doubted it. He was a sinfully gorgeous male, tall and strong and hard, but she’d seen strong attractive men before, dealt with them every night at the bar. No, it was much more than Jordan’s looks, much more than his physical attributes.
All the man had to do was mutter two syllables and she wanted to melt. Something about his voice affected her deep down inside, stripping away her defenses. It made her imagine awful, wonderful things.
She shook her head, more at herself than anything he did or said. “I appreciate the ride home. And how you carried the kids out. I could have managed, but—”
“But you’ve had enough to deal with.” He reached across the seat and his large hand squeezed her shoulder. Even through the borrowed T-shirt, his touch was electric. She caught her breath, not wanting him to know how he affected her, how amazingly turned on she was even at this moment.
She’d had very little sleep over the past two days. She’d worked a double shift and dealt with the threat of being arrested, then the gut-wrenching fear over her mother’s health. She had no idea how she was going to manage to work and take care of her mother at the hospital, with no baby-sitter. Things looked very grim.
But still she wanted him when she never wanted any guy. She’d long since considered herself immune to the normal urges most women felt. So what if Jordan was an uncommonly patient and wonderful man? She shouldn’t care that he was gorgeous and as finely built as a Greek statue, or that he had a voice warm enough to melt butter.
She knew he disapproved of her, and that should have taken care of the rest. But somehow, maybe because her children seemed so taken by him, his disapproval didn’t matter.
“You deserve to take a break, Georgia. And I like your kids. Adam reminds me a little of Casey when he was that age. Constant motion right up until he runs out of steam.”
A distracting topic if ever there was one. She gladly accepted it. “Your nephew certainly took me by surprise.”
Jordan’s smile was gentle and filled with pride. “He’s an amazing kid. Only eighteen, but I swear he has more common sense, more backbone and maturity than a lot of men twice his age. We pretty much raised him ourselves, you know.”
She didn’t know. Since she’d moved to Buckhorn, she’d kept to herself except for her work. And she certainly hadn’t tried to form any friendships at the bar. She didn’t have time to gossip with neighbors, or go out of her way to get to know anyone. “We, meaning you and your brothers?”
“That’s right. Casey’s mother couldn’t deal with a newborn infant, and she took off. Sawyer, my oldest brother, the one who’s a doctor? He was still in medical school when Case was born, but he brought him home from the hospital and that was that. I was…let’s see, fifteen at the time. And I remember being absolutely fascinated. I looked up to Sawyer and Morgan a lot, and I’d always seen them in a one dimensional way, you know?”
“Yes.” She saw most men in a one dimensional way—selfish. Her father, her ex, her boss, the men who threw money at her while she was on stage…. She squeezed her eyes shut at that thought, praying that none of the men were spending grocery or bill money. Some of them, she was sure, couldn’t afford what they tossed at her while downing drink after drink, night after night. And if she thought about that too much, she felt miserably guilty.
But the brothers, even the nephew, had thrown her for a loop. They were unlike any men she’d ever known. Their very posture spoke of confidence and honor and respectability. She found herself intrigued.
Because she knew it had been true for her father, and true for her ex, she asked, “Things ch
anged a lot with a baby in the picture?”
She waited for Jordan’s complaints on the hardships of keeping up with an infant. Once again, he took her by surprise.
“I wouldn’t say they changed, just adjusted a bit. In a good way. Sawyer was always so straight-faced, so serious. And then there he was, cuddling this little squirt and grinning all the time and looking so happy to change a diaper or give a bath.”
Georgia stared at him. When she’d had Lisa, she’d always felt the same way. Everything her baby did she’d thought was magical and amazing. But she’d never considered that a man might have that outlook. “You’re serious?”
Nodding, Jordan said, “I used to think nothing could pull Sawyer from his books, not even a beautiful woman. But if Casey made a noise, he was there, checking on him, smiling at him.”
Jordan grinned with the memories, then shook his head. “Morgan was always the rowdiest. He fought for the fun of fighting. Everyone still jokes about him bordering on the side of savage.”
“I can see that.”
Jordan glanced at her quickly before returning his attention to the road. “He makes a hell of an impression, doesn’t he? He’s kept our town peaceful, usually with little more than a look. But whenever he touched Casey, he was so gentle. It boggled my mind. Now, with his own daughter, Amber, who’s heading on two, he’s the same. I swear he could wrestle buffalo with one arm and hold her close with the other, making sure not a one of her little curls got ruffled. He makes a hell of a sheriff, and an even better dad.”
“You have an impressive family.” Beyond impressive really. Having only met Jordan and Morgan, she should have been prepared for Casey. How could he have been anything less than spectacular, surrounded by such incredible uncles?
Jordan gave one nod. “Yeah, I think they’re pretty great. Gabe, the youngest, started his own business not too long ago and already he’s got more work than he can handle. He can build or repair anything, and after his marriage he decided he needed to get things a little more on track.”
“On track how?”
“Before he met Elizabeth, he just worked when the mood struck him—or if someone needed something. He was always willing to help out. But Gabe preferred to spend his time in other pursuits. I doubt there was ever a day when he was without female company. Women flocked to him. It was almost uncanny. From the time he learned the difference between males and females, every girl in the area was after him, and he took advantage of it. They spoiled him rotten.”
