Guardian Angel

by Leanne Banks

  When he moved off her, she had to bite her lip to keep from begging him to stay. Dammit, why couldn’t he act nasty? It would be so much easier. “You didn’t push,” she said in a husky voice.

  He helped her into a sitting position and brushed her hair from her face. “I’m not usually this way. But there’s something about you, Talia, something about your smile and eyes.” He tore his gaze from her red lips. “But we don’t need to rush it. When can I see you again?”

  She shook her head. “We can’t.”

  “Can’t?” he repeated, incredulous.

  “That’s right. It just wouldn’t work, Trace. There are far too many—”

  He grabbed her fidgeting hands. “You called me Trace.” His voice held a note a triumph.

  “It was a slip of the tongue.”

  He grinned. “Speaking of your tongue…”

  “Trace,” she warned, and pulled her hands from his.

  “Talia,” he mocked gently. “You can’t convince me you don’t feel anything when I touch you. We’d be crazy not to pursue this.”

  Exhaling a long breath, Talia rearranged her dress. He wasn’t making this easy. She looked him directly in the eye. “It just won’t work. There’s too much bad blood between your family and mine.”

  His brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Bad blood?”

  “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what?”

  “I think you’d better talk to Philip.”

  His gaze was piercing. “What’s the big secret? Why don’t you tell me?”

  She picked up her purse and stood. “You’d never believe me.”

  He stood too. “Try me.”

  That was the problem, she thought. She’d like to try him in all the ways a woman tries a man. Intellectually, emotionally, sexually. She was tempted to tell him what his brother had done to Kevin, but something stopped her. She sensed how disillusioned Trace would be when he learned of Philip’s lies, and a deeply embedded sense of fair play she’d never applied to the Barringers before kept her silent.

  She felt an aching sense of loss for stopping their relationship before it started, but it wouldn’t work. Tears leaked from her eyes. Mortified at such an emotional display, she swiped at them. How could her heart feel ripped in half when she hadn’t given it away yet?

  “Why don’t I tell you?” she repeated shakily. “I guess because I don’t want to be the one to hurt you. And if you have an ounce of integrity or family pride, if you love your brother half as much as I love mine, when you hear the truth, you’re gonna hurt like hell.”

  With that, she fled to her car.

  The following week passed in a blur of expended energy. On those rare moments when Talia’s carefully erected shield of activity crumbled, her thoughts turned to Trace and she waged a furious internal battle against the memories of the way he’d touched her body and mind.

  Touched, she berated herself, was an apt description. Touched, as in mentally ill.

  It didn’t matter that he made her heart race and her blood heat as no man had before. It didn’t matter that he made her feel precious. It didn’t matter that by word and deed he made her believe she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

  It didn’t matter, because it couldn’t matter.

  Trace had called her three times that week asking to see her. Each time she’d forced her mouth to say “No,” while a small voice inside her whispered, “Yes.” At least she’d been honest when she’d turned down his invitation to dinner Saturday night. She’d told him she had other plans, and she did. A hot date with a guy with mischievous blue eyes, curly blond hair and a fun personality.

  At seven o’clock Saturday night, Talia found herself surrounded by the sound of bells, laser guns and simulated jet engines. “Jason, isn’t there something else you want to play tonight?”

  “No,” her four-foot-tall companion insisted. “I’ve been looking forward to playing the Reptile Renegades game all week. Aw, shoot! I keep getting phaser-dazed.” Jason turned and fixed his pleading eyes on her. “May I please have another quarter?”

  She fished another coin from her pocket and put it in his hands. Realizing she’d run out of quarters, she pulled out a few dollar bills too. “Here you go, sport. I’m going to get some more change. I’ll be right back.”

  She turned and was heading for the change machine, when a pint-sized tornado whirled into her legs, yelling, “Reptile Renegades!”

  The boy began to fall, and she instinctively reached for him, steadying his little body.

  “Robby,” a familiar male voice called over the roar of the arcade. “I told you to stop running.”

  Talia stared into the boy’s green eyes. Her heart turned a somersault as she looked at the smaller version of Trace. She had no time to steel herself against the effect of Robby’s father before he was standing in front of her.

  “Robby,” Trace began, then broke off when he recognized her. “Talia?”

  Darn. Darn. Darn. Her gaze locked helplessly with his for a timeless moment until Robby began to wiggle. Talia dropped her hands.

  “Look, Dad, they’ve got Reptile Renegades. Can I play?”

  Talia could practically feel Trace tear his gaze from her, and was glad she had a moment to get her bearings.

  Trace gave Robby a quarter. “Wait a minute, Robby. It looks like somebody else is playing right now.”

  Watching Robby’s face fall, Talia quickly said, “There’s room. Four can play at the same time.”

  Robby immediately raced on to the game, Trace following him.

  Talia went to the change machine, her mind racing a mile a minute. Every instinct she possessed screamed out warnings when Trace came around. Perhaps she could bribe Jason to leave, she thought without hope.

  When she returned to the Reptile game, she was all set to haul Jason away.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” Trace said.

  “Uh-huh,” she said in a noncommittal voice, then tapped Jason on the shoulder. “Jason, you’ve been playing this game since we got here. Don’t you want to try something else?” He gave her an uninterested glance, and she looked around the arcade. “How about Ghostbusters? Or the simulated jet flight? What about Skee-ball? I love Skee-ball,” she finished a little desperately.

  Jason regarded her solemnly. “Talia, if you don’t like this game, I won’t make you play. You can play Skee-ball and I’ll stay right here.”

  He said it as if he were giving her permission, and she pursed her lips to keep from laughing. But when she heard the male chuckle behind her, she did laugh, over the whole situation. She’d spent the entire week trying not even to think about Trace, and here he was in the flesh, in a video arcade.

  Jason and Robby seemed to be getting along wonderfully, she thought. It really wouldn’t be nice to separate them. So it looked like she was stuck with three gorgeous males for the evening. Perhaps she could pretend that her history with the Barringers didn’t exist. By his easy manner, she concluded that Trace hadn’t learned about Kevin and Philip yet. And considering their two chaperones, it wasn’t as if anything could happen between Trace and herself.

  “Skee-ball or Ghostbusters?” he asked, holding out his hand.

  Talia shoved the past behind her like dirt under the carpet. It was still there, but out of sight. She smiled and took his hand. “Skee-ball.”

  Several minutes later, Trace shook his head at all the coupons Talia had accumulated. “At this rate, the only way I’m going to be able to get Robby that stuffed animal he saw in the prize window is if I buy it.”

  “Buy it!” Talia exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’d stoop so low. Every kid in here would be laughing up his sleeve if he saw you buy one of the prizes.”

  Trace grinned at her tone of horror. She finished up another game of Skee-ball, and he shook his head again, but this time at the view. The woman had the sweetest backside that encouraged all kinds of thoughts about things he’d rather be doing with her tha
n playing Skee-ball.

  Combing a hand through his hair, he promised himself the time would come. When she turned around and waved her coupons at him, he just barely stopped himself from kissing her.

  “Okay, smarty-pants,” he said, “just how do you suggest I get enough coupons?”

  She shook her head sadly. “Trace, Trace. I can only conclude that you’ve led a horribly deprived life. If you knew anything about arcades, you’d know Ghostbusters is the only way to go if you need a lot of coupons.”

  She glanced at the boys, then asked, “How many do you need?”

  “Three hundred.”

  She winced. “We’d better get started.”

  He hooked his arm through hers, eager for any closeness he could get. “So you’ll help me?”

  She looked surprised by the question. “Of course,” she said, and squeezed his arm.

  It was a little thing, but it stole another piece of his heart.

  They checked on the boys a few times, but spent the next half hour busting ghosts with a light gun.

  Seeing her like this made Trace even more curious about Talia and her life. “What would you do with these coupons if they were yours?”

  “Would I have to pick something out of the window?” she asked.

  “No. You could pick anything. Anything you like.”

  Talia cleared her throat, which had gone dry. His voice was like a caress, suggesting pleasure and tenderness. She wondered if he spoke like that on purpose, knowing what it did to her. She forced herself to concentrate on the game.

  “If I had three hundred coupons,” she said as she zapped a ghost, “I’d trade mine in for Chinese dinners delivered to my doorstep for a year.”

  “For three hundred coupons?” He raised his eyebrows skeptically.

  “Sure, what about you?”

  “I’ll never tell.”

  “No?” She looked at him curiously. “Then let me guess.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll give you a coupon if you can.”

  She cocked her head and considered the matter. “You look like a gourmet cuisine kind of guy. I’ll bet you’d like French food delivered every night.”

  “No.”

  “Okay, I’ll try the he-man approach. Steak and potatoes.”

  He just shook his head and smiled.

  Lord, he thought, he loved being with her when she was like this. She reminded him of a curious little cat, slitting her eyes at him, trying to figure him out in a friendly way.

  “Pizza?”

  “You’re getting close.”

  “Italian food,” she said triumphantly.

  He grabbed her hand. “You’re getting very close.”

  Her breath caught in a short little gasp that nearly undid him. He watched her carefully, wondering if she’d give up the game out of shyness. She held his gaze, though.

  “Something Italian?” she asked in a husky voice.

  He nodded, looking deep into her eyes. “But I’m pretty sure it’s something money or coupons can’t buy.”

  “Me?” She said it as if she were actually considering the possibility.

  He nodded again and raised his finger to her lips.

  She shuddered visibly. Trace was glad he was touching her, so he could feel her response to him. She was much more susceptible to him than she’d let on.

  “I’d like to get to know you, Talia McKenzie.” The passion-rich emotion in her eyes made him want to lay her down and make love to her right there. “Inside and out.”

  A strip of coupons spat out from the slot. The bell signaling the end of the game saved Talia from doing something foolish, like leaning in to the warmth of Trace’s strong body and accepting his invitation.

  She jerked her head to the side, looking away from his heated gaze. “The game’s over,” she said breathlessly. “We should have enough coupons for that little bear now.”

  “Timing is everything,” Trace muttered, seeing that Robby and Jason were approaching them.

  “Talia,” Jason said, “can we please play one more time?”

  She shook her head and gave Trace the coupons without looking at him. “Don’t you remember? We’re going for ice cream.” Relief rushed through her when she saw Jason’s face brighten. Apparently ice cream was the only thing that could top the latest cartoon craze of the Reptiles. Perhaps she’d get out of the arcade while her mind was still intact.

  “Ice cream!” Robby shouted. “Can we go too, Daddy?”

  Oh no, she thought. She looked down at the little boy and searched for a gentle way to refuse. Robby, she could handle. It was his father she’d like to leave there.

  Glancing up at Trace, she caught his expression of amusement. “I don’t think…” Her voice trailed off when she looked at Robby again. She was such a sucker for children.

  “Can we come too, Talia?” Trace asked, a wicked glint in his eyes.

  Oh hell. “We won’t be able to stay long,” she warned, feeling outmaneuvered by all three of them.

  “Great!” Jason said.

  “Great,” Trace echoed, taking her arm.

  “What about the coupons?” she asked, trying to ignore her quickening pulse. “Don’t you want to get the bear, Robby?”

  “Gosh.” He stared at the strips in Trace’s hand, then looked at Talia’s empty hand and frowned. “Well, what about Jason’s coupons?”

  Talia and Trace shared an expression of chagrin. Talia had gotten so caught up in being with Trace, she hadn’t considered the inequity of the situation.

  Robby’s little eyebrows wrinkled in concentration, then his whole expression smoothed out. “Why don’t we split them? What do you think, Jason?”

  Jason liked that idea. Both boys snatched up their share of the coupons and ran to the prize counter. Trace halted the smaller boy and bent down to whisper something in Robby’s ear that brought a smile to his little face. Talia’s heart felt squeezed tight when Robby stretched his arm around Trace’s neck and kissed him.

  Trace straightened as Robby dashed off, looking after his son with an affectionate, proud light in his eyes.

  “Pretty impressive,” Talia said.

  He turned to her and nodded. “That’s what I told him.”

  And another stone fell from the fortress around Talia’s heart.

  Everything was going fine at Walton’s Ice Cream Parlor. The boys had conned a double dip out of the adults without too much trouble. While Talia splurged on a hot fudge sundae, Trace opted for a root beer float.

  “Jason will be getting a new brother or sister any day now,” Talia informed Trace.

  Trace glanced at Jason. “Is that so? I bet you can’t wait.”

  “Yeah, I’m really hoping for a brother. Getting a sister would be awful,” Jason said, and rubbed his chocolate-smudged nose.

  “Hey,” Talia said in mock offense. “I’m a sister and you don’t think I’m that bad.”

  Jason grinned. “Nah, but you don’t act dumb like most girls. It’s probably ’cause you’ve got a real neat brother like Kevin.”

  Talia laughed. “I’m sure Kevin would agree with you.”

  “When’s he coming home? He promised to take me to the lake this summer.”

  “He’ll be home in a few weeks,” Talia assured him. “He’s taking exams, then going camping with his friends.”

  “In New England?” Trace asked, remembering Kevin attended MIT.

  “Vermont.”

  “Kevin’s great,” Jason said, “but he doesn’t smile very much.”

  Talia’s stomach clenched. “He used to smile a lot,” she murmured.

  The group fell into silence. Unaware of the tension, Robby continued mauling his melting lime sherbet. Jason concentrated on scooping up his last few bites.

  Trace thought of the phone calls he’d made to Philip, phone calls his brother hadn’t returned. Wrestling with his impatience at being left in the dark, he twirled his straw through the float and looked at Talia. “Did Kevin change when your mother died?” he as
ked gently.

  She drew a deep breath, the kind of breath a person takes when she feels tired or burdened. “Some. It was really the next year, though, when…” She broke off, and her sad expression tore at him.

  With lips and cheeks covered in green, Robby suddenly said, “Daddy’s got a brother. He wants to be President and Daddy’s going to help him.”

  Talia sucked in a quick breath and pushed away her bowl of ice cream. Her stomach would revolt if she forced down one more bite. She’d pretended she bore no animosity against the Barringers, but it had taken only a couple of innocent comments to bring reality crashing down.

  She was frustrated with the tug-of-war she felt when she was around Trace. On the one hand, she couldn’t dismiss what the Barringers had done to Kevin. On the other hand, she was having a hard time dismissing Trace’s strong appeal.

  “Time to go, Jason.” She turned to Robby. “It was nice meeting you. Your daddy’s very lucky to have you for a son.”

  Robby grinned. “I know.”

  She forced a laugh, tousling his hair. “I just bet you do. I guess I’ll see you at the next LAM meeting, Trace.”

  She wouldn’t meet his eyes, Trace noticed. She stood, looking as if she were ready to run. He knew he couldn’t stop her, couldn’t fight what stood between them until he found out what it was. But he could give her something to think about in the meantime.

  He stood too. “You’re forgetting something.”

  After wiping Jason’s chin, she finally looked at him. “What?” she asked, her voice edgy.

  He clasped her hand and pressed a coupon into her palm. Her hand trembled the way he predicted her body would when he made love to her.

  Her eyebrows drew together in puzzlement. “What’s this for?”

  He smiled. To make sure she understood him, he spoke with deliberate temptation and challenge. “Whatever you want.”

  Her cheeks flushed as she tried to shove the coupon back at him.

  “You’re blushing,” he murmured:

  “I never blush,” she shot back, her embarrassment turning to anger. “I’m not fair enough to blush.”

  “Whatever you say,” he said.