Playing for Keeps (Texas Scoundrels), page 16
She sidestepped a box of collectible books she refused to sell. At least her job situation had improved. Carol Reynolds from the Hart branch of the Texas Federal Credit Union had called her that morning, letting her know they were looking for a loan manager. Apparently, Keith Shelton had mentioned she was in the market for a job and Carol had thought of her when their current loan manager had announced his retirement.
Not everything was sunshine and roses. She still had to pass all the background checks and make it through the interviews with the board of directors. Plus, the current loan manager wouldn’t be retiring for another two months. If the auction pulled in enough money, she wouldn’t have to worry too much. Things would be tight financially for a while, but they’d grown used to cutting corners the past few months.
She hefted a box filled with crystal stemware into her arms and made her way back into the warm sunshine to the rear of the Jeep. Having the extra time between jobs just might be a blessing in disguise since she’d have an opportunity to settle them into their new home.
Life, she’d learned, wasn’t about what happened to a person, but how they handled the obstacles thrown in the way. In the past few months, she’d become adept at looking for silver linings.
She set the last box on the back seat of the Jeep, turning when she heard the sound of Jed’s Escalade pulling into the driveway. Since she was eons past the point of playing it cool, she smiled like a fool when he slid from the SUV. Her pulse picked up speed as he walked toward her. The man was gorgeous. Just looking at him made her girl parts twitch. He wore a pair of jeans that fit his long, muscular legs perfectly. She hadn’t wanted to like him, but he’d proven time and again he wasn’t the shameless scoundrel the press had painted him.
Even the gentle breeze couldn't cool the flush of heat that rushed through her at the sight of him. Their relationship had changed. She wasn’t exactly certain how it happened, but it had. Maybe because she’d stopped thinking of him as the enemy.
God help her, she cared about Jed Maitland. She desired him, too. And that brought an urge difficult to resist, because she really wanted to run up to him and launch herself into his arms. Kiss him stupid and insist he make love to her. A little extreme, especially for her, but the man made her want things she’d forgotten existed. She’d racked up half a week of sleepless, restless nights as proof.
Grateful he couldn’t hear the wild beating of her heart, she smiled at him. “Just like a man to show up when the work’s half done,” she teased.
He slipped off his sunglasses and stuffed them into the pocket of his shirt. “You should have called me. I’d have been here sooner.”
Alone. With Jed. She knew exactly how that would’ve ended.
Yeah, she should’ve called him.
“I had more things I wanted to pack.” She closed the back end of the Jeep, then walked into the garage. “You’d have only been in the way.”
He laughed, a low, comforting rumble of sound. “I don’t think a woman’s ever accused me of being in the way before.”
“Don’t let it wound that oversized ego, Maitland.” She waited until he stepped into the garage before she hit the switch on the garage door opener.
He moved closer, a predatory light shining in his gaze. “My ego is never wounded.” His voice was low and flirtatious. She’d told him once not to flirt with her. What had she been thinking?
He stopped a few inches from her. “Bruised?” she asked.
“I don’t bruise easily.” He braced both hands on the wall behind her, trapping her within the strength of his powerful arms.
“Neither do I,” she whispered.
His eyes darkened.
She forgot how to breathe.
“That’s good to know,” he said, then dipped his head and kissed her hard and deep.
Heaven help her, he made her want, made her need, made her hotter than she ever thought herself capable of being with nothing more than a simple kiss. Although, Jed’s kisses were hardly simple. More like demanding. Hot. Wet. Erotic.
She moaned and wreathed her arms around his neck, pressing closer until the tips of her breasts rubbed against his chest. Tension coiled tightly inside her. Crazy or not, fate had brought them together and there was no denying where they were headed. And if he didn’t make a move in that direction soon, she’d drag him there herself. She had no qualms about being the aggressor.
He gripped her hips and rocked her against him. A bolt of electricity shot through her at the intimate contact, pooling in her belly and heading south. He made her wet, hot with a need so powerful she’d burn alive if he didn’t put out the fire.
He ran his hands up her sides, to her arms, and she wiggled closer. He broke the kiss and pulled her arms from around his neck. Warm, stale air from the garage washed over her, but instead of breaking the spell, spurred her erotic thoughts into overdrive.
“Sweetheart, you’re killing me.” His voice was tight with frustration, his expression tighter.
Feminine satisfaction made her smile. She gave him a throaty laugh she hardly recognized as her own. “The feeling is mutual, Maitland. Crazy, but mutual.”
“What’s so crazy about two people wanting each other?” He didn’t sound irritated, but he looked mildly peeved.
“Nothing, but our...” She didn’t want to use the word relationship. They didn’t have a relationship. All they really had was burning case of lust. Mutual desire bordering on insanity. “It’s just not smart.”
He frowned. “Smart?”
She opened the door to the kitchen and held it open. “Are you coming?”
“Really?”
She laughed. “Don’t be dirty.”
His grin turned wolfish. “If you only knew,” he said, following her inside. He walked to the table and sat. “Is that how you would describe our relationship? Not smart?”
She pulled two bottled waters from the fridge and handed one to him. “That’s the whole problem.” She twisted off the cap. “We don’t have a relationship.”
He set the water on the table with a snap. “We have a son.”
She shook her head. “No,” she said, joining him at the table. “You and Dani had a son. I adopted him.”
“You’re splitting hairs.”
Was she? Probably, but it was the truth. If it weren’t for Austin, they never would have met. More importantly, they weren’t the only two parties involved. They had Austin’s welfare to think of, too. Hadn’t his outburst Monday night shown them the fragility of their son’s emotional state?
“Does it matter?” she asked. “We have a connection through Austin. Nothing more.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” He came out of the chair and pulled her to him. He banded his arms around her, holding her close.
Her nerve endings started tingling all over again.
He leaned in close. Determination burned in his gaze, tension coiled his body. “Every time we get within two feet of each other something happens.”
Yeah. Spontaneous combustion.
“And you think that translates to a relationship?”
“I don’t know what it means other than the fact that I want you, dammit. And you want me. What the hell is wrong with that?”
“Nothing, but we’re not the only two people involved.”
His gaze slid from her eyes, to her lips, and back again. “Sweetheart, when I get you into bed, you and I are the only ones who will be involved.”
Good Lord, just the thought of going to bed with him had her melting on the spot. He was lethal.
She pushed away from him only because couldn’t think when he was standing so close, or being so blatantly sexual. “I was talking about Austin. You said yourself, whatever affects me, affects him. You think making love to you is not going to affect me? I don’t go in for casual sex. I’m not one of your little gridiron groupies waiting on the sidelines.”
“I never said you were.”
“Let’s just drop it, okay? I’ve got a ton of things to do today and—” Whatever happened to her being the aggressor? She was acting like a timid virgin.
“And you’d rather avoid this conversation.” Irritation lined his words. “Fine. Go ahead and avoid it all you want, Griffen. But the fact remains, we want each other. And you’re going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later, sweetheart.”
She sighed and opened the fridge again, setting the bottled water inside. Yes, they would make love, and she was sure it would be a mistake. A mistake she didn’t have a prayer of preventing.
As she followed him into the family room, her cell phone rang. She dodged a packing carton to snag it off the entertainment center. “It’s my realtor,” she said, then answered halfway through the second round of the ringtone.
“Griffen? Joe Gibson, here. I’ve got news.”
She dropped into the chair. “Good news, I hope.”
“Very good news,” Joe said, “There’s an offer. And they’re willing to pay your asking price.”
A surge of relief welled inside her. “That’s fantastic.”
“Will a twenty day escrow work for you?”
“It will if you can get me into the bungalow by then,” she told him. If her luck held through the auction, she might just be able to climb out of financial hell. The proceeds from the sale of the house would satisfy the mortgages, bring the past due balances on her other debts current and allow her to put even more money down on the bungalow, lowering her mortgage payment on the new place even more.
“It won’t be a problem. I’ll send over the papers later this afternoon.”
“Thank you, Joe. I appreciate all you’ve done.” She disconnected the call.
“He sold the house,” she told Jed, setting her cell phone on the table. “Do you have any idea what a relief this is for me?”
He sat on the sofa and leaned back, looking hot and sexy and so doable. “Yeah, I do.” When he smiled back at her, she melted a little more.
She let it out a long, slow breath. “I think I did it.”
Jed fought to keep the smile on his face and not let her see the truth. He’d have to tell her eventually, that it was his dummy corporation buying her house, but for the moment, he couldn’t help be a tad selfish and let her enjoy the moment.
He’d spent the past three days in Dallas taking meetings. He’d met with his attorney, accountant and his broker, taking a long hard look at where he stood financially. His finances were beyond healthy, but he had no idea what to do about his career. The meetings with his agent hadn’t gone as well. While the advertisers threatening to sue had been placated, he was still on the verge being cut from the roster. The last thing he wanted to admit was that his career was over. Hanging out on the sidelines like a washed-up jock left a bad taste in his mouth. Anything else just felt too much like a mercy fuck.
She sprung up from the chair and looked around the room. “Have you seen my iPad? I need to make a list. The buyers asked for a twenty day escrow.” She snagged her tablet off the sofa and powered it up. “I need to make sure the carpets are cleaned, the appliances, and the lawns done. I suppose I could afford to hire a cleaning service.” She bit her lip and stepped over an empty packing carton to inspect the cream colored drapes. “These should probably be cleaned, too. Or do you think the new owners will want to redecorate?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he told her. “They’re fine.”
He wasn’t fine. Griffen was a dilemma, a distraction, but one he couldn’t get out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. While his accountant had gone over figures and investments, his mind had been on Griffen and Austin. When Steve had discussed the possible consequences of proposed career options and the BMW people with their threats to sue, he’d been obsessed with thoughts about making love to Griffen.
He tried to tell himself she was a mistake, but that didn’t stop the constant ache wanting her caused. He tried to tell himself he could make love to her and get her out of his system, that they could have a few laughs for as long as it lasted, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. Griffen wasn’t a fling. She played for keeps.
Despite that particular complication, he still wanted her.
She smiled up him, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Guilt crashed in on him. He should tell her he was the one who bought her house. Tell her that on Saturday he planned to raise the bids himself or outbid everyone else so she’d have the money she needed from her auction. And he should tell her about the trust fund he’d set up for Austin.
Later. He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing that cheerful sparkle leave her eyes.
“I feel like celebrating.” She set her tablet aside, walked toward him. He snagged her hand and gave a gentle tug, urging her into his lap. She slipped her arms around his neck and moved in for a kiss.
To hell with guilt, he thought, as he obliged. She tasted sweet. She tasted like home. Regardless of the stark fear that thought evoked, his body responded to her.
She ended the kiss quickly and scrambled off his lap. “To hell with my diet. When Austin gets home from school, what do you say we drive over to Goldie’s for some fried chicken and gravy?”
He couldn’t have heard her right. “What do you mean Austin’s at school?”
She nodded, picked up her iPad again, and started tapping the screen. “He won’t be home for another...,” she checked the gold watch on her wrist, “...ten minutes.”
“They let him back early?”
She looked over at him, her brows puckered in confusion. “Back? What are you talking about?”
Dread crept up his spine, tightening the back of his neck with tension. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?”
He rubbed at the tension but it didn’t ease. “This is partially my fault. I told him I’d talk to you about it the other night, and with everything that went on, it completely slipped my mind.”
“Jed, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“Austin got into a fight at school on Monday. He was suspended for the week.”
She shook her head. “No, that can’t be right. He went to school this morning. He’s gone to school all week.”
“Not to school he didn’t,” he said, his tone dry.
“Are you sure?” She dropped onto the chair. When she looked at him, the concern in her eyes tripled his guilt. “At the very least, someone should’ve called me to set up a meeting. It’s school policy. He can’t go back until I meet with the principal.”
“I’m sorry, Griff. I screwed up, but Austin still should’ve told you.”
“This isn’t like him,” she said. “He’s never lied to me about something so important.”
“When you didn’t ground him right away, maybe he figured you’d never find out.”
“Mattie is a teacher at the high school. Of course I’d find out.”
“And no one from the school called you?”
“No.” She picked up her cell phone and scrolled through the list of incoming calls. “Nothing.”
Jed sat forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “He’ll be home soon. We’ll find out where he’s been hiding out all week.”
“I can’t imagine—” She quieted when the kitchen door suddenly slammed closed.
Austin walked across the kitchen and dropped his backpack on the table. “Hey, Mom. How long until dinner?”
“Where have you been?” Jed demanded.
Austin stopped and glared at his father. “Out,” he said, his tone filled with uncharacteristic insolence.
Griffen didn’t know what had happened to her sweet baby boy, but he was turning into a stranger. “Austin, sit down. We’d like to talk to you.”
Austin walked into the room, keeping a wide berth from both of them, to slump onto the other end of sofa. He leaned back and propped one foot over his knee.
“Why did you lie to me?” she asked.
He wouldn’t look at either of them, keeping his gaze transfixed on the half-filled box of DVD’s. “I never said I was going to school.”
“You said you’d see me after school. You led me to believe that’s where you’d gone. How is that different from lying?”
Austin shrugged. “So am I grounded or what?”
“You bet your ass you’re grounded,” Jed bit out.
Austin looked from Jed to her. His dark eyebrows pulled into an angry frown. Anything was better than the I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude he’d given them since walking in the door. “Fine. For how long?”
She looked to Jed, but he kept silent. “Two weeks,” she told Austin. “No privileges.”
“And you can forget the tournament this weekend,” Jed added.
Austin shot off the sofa. “You can’t do that.”
“Can’t I?” Jed countered. “Watch me, pal.”
“Mom. Do something.”
Identical pairs of chocolate eyes turned to her. She had the distinct impression she was being asked to choose between them. She knew what she had to do. No matter how much it hurt Austin now, she had to side with Jed. Austin had to learn he wouldn’t be allowed to pit the two of them against each other.
“Yes, Austin. He can,” she said quietly.
“You’re going to let him do that to me? He doesn’t have the right.”
The torment in her son’s voice nearly broke her resolve, but she had to stand firm. “Yes, he does. You wanted your father in your life. This is part of the deal.”
Tears and accusation welled in Austin’s eyes. She nearly caved.
“I hate you. I hate you both,” he said before running from the room. His feet pounded on the stairs, then moments later, his bedroom door slammed closed.
“That went well.” She blew out a stream of breath. She needed to talk to him, needed to let him know what he’d done was unacceptable. They were only punishing him so he’d learn that deceit came with consequences. She stood but Jed reached out and clasped her arm in a firm grip.
“Don’t, Griffen.”
“I have to go to him.” She tugged but his iron-hard grasp held her tight.
He shook his head and stood. “Give him time to cool off first.”
