Читать книгу Say You Want Me - Cindi Myers, Cindi Myers - Страница 10

JONI WOKE the next morning from a restless sleep, thinking of Carter. How was it possible for a man she scarcely knew to disturb her so? Surely she’d never met anyone who infuriated her more. Take that whole business of him paying for dinner. Fragile male ego—hah! He was about as fragile as a concrete wall.

And that kiss—that incredible, mind-blowing kiss. He’d just assumed she’d wanted him to kiss her. Yeah, so she’d enjoyed the kiss. It probably ranked among the top five kisses she’d received in her lifetime. Maybe even number one. That kiss had lit up every nerve in her body like Fourth of July fireworks.

But that was beside the point. Any woman would be physically attracted to a man like Carter. She still knew better than to get involved with him. After all, he was a cop. A man addicted to the power trip of being an authority figure and hooked on the danger rush that went along with the badge. A man who would leave a wife and children at home while he went out the door every day to put his life on the line. Not the kind of man she wanted as a husband and father to her children.

He’d spouted all that nonsense about fate. She didn’t believe in fate. A person had to be responsible for her own life. Make her own choices. Something she’d been trying to tell G.P. since she was ten years old and her grandmother had made her take those stupid dance lessons.

She sighed. Okay, maybe they weren’t so stupid. Maybe it would be nice to learn to dance. But because she wanted to, not because G.P. or anybody else thought it was a good idea.

You sound like a two-year-old. Her conscience jabbed her, and she frowned at her face in the bathroom mirror. It was too early in the morning to grapple with her conscience. A grown woman ought to be able to declare her independence without sounding like a toddler. The point was, she didn’t, didn’t, didn’t want to get involved with a man like Carter Sullivan.

Which took her back to the problem of what to do about G.P. and her plans to see her granddaughter happily married. She wrestled with this dilemma while she munched down a bowl of cereal and packed her lunch. By the time she arrived at work, she knew she had only one real choice.

She found the number for the San Antonio Police Department in the phone book and asked to speak to Officer Carter Sullivan. The operator transferred her to the patrol sergeant. “Officer Sullivan isn’t in right now,” the sergeant told her. “Can I help you with something?”

“No, I…can I leave a message for him?”

“I can put you through to his voice mail. Are you one of his kids?”

“Uh, no.”

“Uh, okay. Well, here’s his voice mail.”

Kids? All the breath rushed out of her. Carter had kids? What else had he failed to mention last night? An ex-wife…or several? Not that they’d gone into much depth about their backgrounds, but you would think a man would remember something as important as children….

“You’ve reached the voice mailbox of Officer Carter Sullivan. Leave a message…”

“Uh, Carter, this is Joni Montgomery,” she stammered. “Call me.” Then she recited her phone number.

She returned to the nurses’ station and tried to concentrate on work, but thoughts of Carter kept intruding. Thoughts of that incredible kiss. Memories of him holding her. Would you get out of my head? she wanted to shout.

“Joni, there’s someone here to see you,” a nurse told her before headed down the hall.

She looked up from her charts at a broad-shouldered man in the crisp blue uniform of a San Antonio police officer. Her heart did a back flip and she felt the blood rush to her face. How was she supposed to deal with Carter calmly when her body reacted so fiercely to him?

“I get a kick out of the way you blush so easily.” He grinned and moved closer to the nurses’ station. “I didn’t think women did that anymore.”

“Blushing is merely an involuntary physical reaction.” She busied herself straightening a stack of patient charts that didn’t need straightening. “Like hiccups, or sweaty palms.”

“Hmm. More attractive, though. Especially on you.”

She could feel his gaze like a hot caress on her skin. When she raised her head, she found him regarding her with a half smile on his lips that would have made a nun have second thoughts about her vocation. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“You forgot to tell me how to get in touch with you. Then I remembered you said you worked at Santa Rosa. I took a chance you’d be here today.”

“I just called and left you a message at the station.”

His smile broadened. “Then you didn’t chicken out.”

She’d wanted to, but she hadn’t been able to think of any other way to appease G.P. Or any other man who would be sure to have her grandmother packing her bags and heading out of Texas in short order. “We made an agreement. I intend to keep my part of it.” After all, how hard could it be to endure one date with him?

“I stopped by to find out what the plan is for tomorrow night, and so we could get our stories straight before the big event.”

“Speaking of getting stories straight…” She moved out from behind the nurses’ station. “Let’s go back to the break room for a minute and talk about a few things.”

The closet-size room at the end of the hall had just enough space for a table and two chairs, a small refrigerator and a cart that held a microwave, a coffee-maker, and assorted boxes of crackers, cans of coffee and jars of tea bags. A half-empty box of donuts sat on the table.

Joni shut the door behind them and turned to face him. “Why didn’t you mention last night that you have children?”

His smile vanished. “What the hell?” He stared at her, true astonishment on his face. “I don’t have any children. Where did you get an idea like that?”

She clutched the back of a folding chair. “When I called the station, the man who answered asked if I was one of your kids.”

Laughter exploded from him. She tightened her grip on the chair. “What’s so funny about that?”

Carter shook his head. “He wasn’t talking about my children.”

“Then who was he talking about?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “The area I patrol attracts a lot of street kids. Runaways. I try to get to know them—let them know if they ever need anything, they can call me.”

“Street kids.” Her heart gave a little twist. “That…that’s really nice of you.”

“Yeah, that’s me. A regular saint.” He cocked one eyebrow. “Sorry to disappoint you. I know you were expecting worse things from me.”

Touché. She looked at the floor. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“So what’s the deal here?” He leaned toward her, his hands on the table between them. “Did you date a cop once and he did you wrong? Did you have a runin with a bad cop once upon a time? Did your parents threaten to turn you over to the police when you were little and you were bad? Or do you just not like the cut of the uniform?” He looked down at his blue shirt and pants. “I hear women really go for the brown sheriff’s department getup. Maybe I should try that.”

She bit back a smile. Did they teach cops how to ask serious questions in such a nonthreatening manner? No, she’d bet this particular approach was a Carter Sullivan original. “The uniform is great,” she said. And he looked great in it. Every female in the emergency department, including one woman lying on a stretcher, had checked him out when he walked in.

She crossed her arms under her breasts. “I don’t like adrenaline junkies.”

He straightened and drew his eyebrows together. “Try that one again.”

“You know. Men who get off on danger. Cops. Firefighters. Test pilots. Race-car drivers.”

“So the danger thing doesn’t turn you on?”

Why did he put the question that way? This had nothing to do with sex. “Men into those things are selfish.”

He rubbed his chin, considering. “How do you figure that? Haven’t you heard the term ‘public servant’?”

She shifted her weight to one hip. “I’m not saying you don’t provide a public service, or that what you do isn’t important. But nobody stays in that kind of work long if they don’t get a rush from courting danger. Only, when they get hurt—and odds are they will—their families are the ones who pay the price.”

He nodded. “So you figure you’ll just avoid that hurt altogether and stick with nice, safe guys. Like accountants.”

“That’s it.” Her shoulders relaxed. Maybe he did understand.

“What if I told you I pulled an accountant out of a wrecked car just two days ago? Head-on collision with a dump truck.”

“I’d say it sounded like a story you made up to prove a point.”

Laughter lit his eyes. “Okay, so it was a shoe salesman. Same difference.”

“The odds are still in the accountant’s—or the shoe salesman’s—favor.”

He moved around the table to stand in front of her, uncomfortably close. “So love to you is a matter of playing the odds?”

She raised her chin, staring past his shoulder, and tried not to breathe too deeply of his leather-and-soap scent. “Who says I can’t love a safe man as much as a danger junkie?”

“That’s only if we really get to choose who we love.”

She jerked her gaze to his. Why did he look so sure of himself? So certain he was right. “Of course we do. That’s what the whole dating thing is about. Choosing.”

He shook his head. “Uh-uh. Love’s not like that at all.”

“Who made you an expert?”

He stepped closer, backing her up against the door. She couldn’t move away without pressing against him, could scarcely draw a breath without the tips of her breasts brushing his chest. But more than his physical proximity, his gaze held her, silencing her protests, stealing thought. “So when you kissed me last night, it was because you chose to do so?”

She swallowed. “Of course.”

He leaned over and pressed his lips to her throat, barely catching her flesh between his teeth. Heat knifed through her, melting a path from his mouth to between her legs. “And when you practically came in my arms, it’s because you chose to do so.” His voice rumbled through her, making her heart pound.

“I did not…do that.”

He raised his head to meet her eyes once more. “You were turned on though. I’ll bet you were soaking wet.”

If he only knew…She closed her eyes against his penetrating gaze and shivered as his mouth moved down her throat to her collarbone, trailing heat along the V neck of her uniform top. “Physical reaction…is different…from love,” she gasped.

“Maybe. Let’s call it lust then.” He cupped her right breast in his palm. “Tell me you’re not lusting after me right now.”

“Of…of course not.”

He ran his thumb across her erect nipple, sending shock waves rippling through her. “Liar.”

She tried to pull back, but only managed to flatten herself against the door. “What if I am? It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Then it won’t hurt to act on those feelings.” He put his hands on either side of her, flat against the door. “If I locked this door and we went after it right now, it wouldn’t make any difference in how you looked at me tomorrow?”

She glared at him. “You do that and I won’t be looking at you at all tomorrow.”

He stepped back, startling her with the suddenness of the movement. She sagged against the door, shaken and panting. She didn’t know whether to be angry at him for putting her in this position, or for leaving her like this, hungry for more.

“I will never force you to do anything,” he said, retreating to the table. “But don’t lie about what you’re feeling either. If you want me, don’t be afraid to say so.”

Of all the conceited, arrogant—She glared at him. “In your dreams.”

He grinned. “Oh, you’re already there, sugar.” He fished a donut from the box on the table and took a bite. “So what time is Grandma’s get-together tomorrow?”

His question cut off the biting remark forming in her head. She blinked. Was he changing the subject to unsettle her further, or to give her time to cool off?

She thought his fingers trembled as he raised the donut to his lips again and she held back a smile. Maybe he was giving them both time to calm down. “It starts at five o’clock, though my dad will probably be up at five that morning to start the brisket cooking.”

“What time do you want me to pick you up?”

She rubbed her arms. She hadn’t planned on letting him know where she lived. That made this all too personal. “I thought you could meet me at my parents’.”

He shook his head. “That won’t work. Not if we’re supposed to be crazy in love. We should show up together.”

She frowned. “I don’t see what difference it makes.”

“You want to convince your grandmother, don’t you?” He wiped his hands with a paper napkin. “I’ll pick you up and we’ll come in, the inseparable lovebirds. Your grandmother will go home satisfied you’ve found the perfect man at last.”

“Don’t get too far into the role, okay?” She scribbled her address onto another napkin and handed it to him.

He read it and stuffed it into his pocket. “What should I say when people ask how we met?”

“That’s easy. Tell them we met at the hospital. Cops come in here all the time.”

“And we’ve been dating how long?”

“Six weeks.”

“I’m a fast worker, huh?”

“G.P. knew my grandfather six weeks when they got married.”

“How long were they married?”

“Forty-one years.”

He laughed. “And you don’t believe in fate!”

“G.P. and Grandpa were lucky. That doesn’t happen very often.” She didn’t want to talk about her grandparents’ marriage with him. She opened the door. “I have to get back to work.”

He stopped and kissed her cheek on his way out. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening. I’m looking forward to it.”

She stared after him, still feeling the warmth where his lips had been. One moment she was furious with him, and the next he did something that made her positively melt. He’d crashed into her quiet, ordered life like a meteorite. She figured the sooner they ended their deal and parted company, the better off she’d be.

His earlier words to her echoed in the back of her mind (or was that her conscience again?): Liar.

CARTER ARRIVED at Joni’s apartment promptly at 4:45, having circled the block half a dozen times to avoid showing up too early. He ate half a pack of breath mints while he was waiting and cranked the air conditioner full blast, praying his antiperspirant didn’t fail. Though he hoped he didn’t show it, his stomach was in knots at the thought of meeting Joni’s family, especially the infamous G.P.

He didn’t have much experience with families, though as a cop he’d seen plenty of family feuds gone wrong. If the rest of the family was anything like prickly Joni, he’d have one hell of a time keeping his cool tonight. But he intended to give it his best shot. Joni might be difficult at times, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the two of them could make some magic together. Call it destiny, fate, or mere coincidence, but Joni had come into his life from out of nowhere, and he wasn’t about to let her leave too soon.

She greeted him at the door, dressed in an orange tank top and white shorts. He had a tough time not staring, and had to continually pull his gaze away from her long, tanned legs and soft curves. “You look great,” he said.

She smiled and surveyed his jeans, boots and knit polo. “You clean up pretty good yourself.”

“I brought you something.” He handed her a pink rabbit’s foot key chain.

“What’s this for?” She inspected the rabbit’s foot.

“For luck. You said you don’t believe in it, but the rabbit’s foot works whether you believe or not.”

She laughed. “All right. I’ll humor you.” She clipped the key chain to her purse. “Are you ready?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m ready. By the end of the evening, your grandmother will love me.” And maybe her granddaughter’s feelings will be a little more affectionate as well.

The drive to her parents’ home in Alamo Heights took only a few minutes. The house was already surrounded by cars, and a trio of little girls chased each other across the front lawn. “You have a big family,” he said.

“Not that big. I have three brothers, Matt, Greg and David. Then there are their wives and children—the girls on the lawn belong to Greg and Matt. David has a baby boy. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Richard will probably be here, and my cousins Marcus and Larry. Uncle Leo and Aunt Lucy, and their sons, Bruce and Peter. Bruce’s wife Penny and their two boys, Zach and Thomas…”

“Like I said. A big family. Must be nice.” He found a parking space down the street and guided the car in. “Three brothers, huh? So you’re the only girl. And the youngest, I’ll bet.”

“David is younger, but, yeah, I’m the only girl.”

He grinned. “No wonder you don’t like being bossed around.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. He was still chuckling when they walked through the front door. The roomful of people fell silent. He looked at her and saw the telltale flush creeping up her neck. “You didn’t tell them you were bringing me, did you?”

She gave him a look of apology. “I, uh, I forgot.”

A woman in her fifties with Joni’s eyes moved toward them. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come in!” She took Carter’s arm and led him farther into the room.

“Mama, I’d like you to meet Carter Sullivan. Carter, this is my mother, Adele Montgomery.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Carter said. “I’d have known you for Joni’s mother anywhere.”

“And I’m Joni’s grandmother.” A thin, angular woman with a thick crown of snow-white hair inserted herself between them and offered her hand. “Pamela Pettigrew, but everyone here calls me G.P.”

“Pleased to meet you, G.P.” Carter shook hands with the old woman, who had a surprisingly strong grip.

She kept hold of his hand and looked him over, starting at the polished toes of his boots and ending at the top of his head. He tried not to squirm, though he had the feeling he was being sized up like a side of beef. G.P. turned to Joni, who stood with her fists clenched at her sides. “Why have you been keeping this man a secret?”

“Well, I, uh…” She looked at him, telegraphing panic.

He put his arm around her. “I think Joni wanted to be sure of my feelings before she sprung me on the whole family.”

G.P.’s eyes narrowed. “And what are your feelings?”

He leaned closer and spoke in a confiding tone. “Just between you and me—I love her.”

He’d meant the words as a dramatic gesture, but a sudden tightness in his chest when he glanced at Joni told him they might be true. This beautiful, aggravating woman had gotten under his skin in a hurry.

JONI STARED AT HIM, openmouthed. Why had he thought it necessary to say something like that? Especially with her whole family watching and grinning like kids at the circus.

She slid her gaze over to G.P. Her grandmother was still holding Carter’s hand, studying him with considerable interest. “Come sit over here and tell me something about yourself,” she said, leading him to the sofa.

Aunts Lisa and Lucy moved over to make room, so that Carter ended up sandwiched between G.P. and the grinning aunts. “Tell me how you and Joni met,” G.P. said.

Carter leaned back against the sofa cushions, long legs stretched in front of him. Joni stood behind her mother’s chair, while the rest of the family arranged themselves around the room. Carter glanced at Joni, then delivered his lines: “I was sitting at a restaurant all alone, depressed because I didn’t have someone special in my life, and all of a sudden, this beautiful woman walks right over and sits down at my table.”

Joni gasped, drawing curious looks from those near her. She dabbed at her eyes with her fingers, pretending to be all choked up. In reality, she was furious. What did he think he was doing, telling her family the truth?

“She’d mistaken me for the man she was supposed to meet at the restaurant,” Carter continued. “One look and I knew fate had sent me the woman I’d been waiting for. We talked all evening, and I guess you could say we really hit it off.”

“What a romantic story.” Aunt Lucy sighed.

“When was this meeting?” G.P. asked. “How long have you known each other?”

Joni held her breath. If he dared tell the truth this time…

Carter smiled fondly at her. “Six weeks.”

A collective sigh issued from her entire sappily romantic family. G.P. beamed. “That’s how long my late husband George and I knew each other when we got married.” She touched Carter’s hand. “We had a wonderful forty-one years together.”

“So Joni tells me.”

“I wish you could have known him. He was a wonderful man, so full of life. When I met him, he was a barnstorming pilot, flying around to small towns and performing stunts. Our first date, he took me up in his plane and performed two barrel rolls and a backward loop. I knew right then, he was the man for me.”

“He sounds like quite a daredevil.” Carter had the audacity to wink at Joni.

“Oh, he was. He flew in Korea and worked as a crop duster in the Rio Grande Valley, then flew reconnaissance for Customs. On weekends, we’d go to air shows and he’d fly stunts for fun.” She patted his hand. “But you didn’t come here to listen to an old woman talk. I want to know about you. What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a patrol officer with the San Antonio Police Department.”

G.P.’s laugh was closer to a cackle. She looked at Joni. “Is that so? What did I tell you?”

Joni crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not happy about his job.”

“I predict you’ll get over that soon enough.” She turned back to Carter. “Now tell me about your family. Where do they live?”

“I don’t really have a family. I grew up in several different foster homes. I stayed the longest with the Calabrias, five years when I was in junior high and high school. I still see them from time to time.”

Joni felt like she’d swallowed hummingbirds. She thought of the runaways and homeless kids Carter said he tried to help. Did he see himself and his own childhood when he looked at them?

“You can consider us your family now,” G.P. announced. “I always said Joni needed a strong man who could show her how to really live.” She leaned toward Carter and lowered her voice, though not so low Joni couldn’t hear. “She has a tendency to guard her feelings too well,” she said. “Maybe you can teach her to take a few more risks.”

He nodded solemnly. “Maybe I can.”

Joni turned away. Really, this was getting ridiculous. Carter was acting like this was all real, instead of a ploy to fool her grandmother.

A few minutes later, Carter caught up with her in the kitchen, where she was helping her cousin Bruce slice onions and pickles. “Everything’s going pretty good, huh?” he said softly, helping himself to a pickle slice. Bruce was arguing baseball scores with their cousin Marcus.

“Why did you tell them how we really met?”

“Because I’m a lousy liar. Besides, the truth is a better story. I think it really won them over.”

She made a face. “Oh, G.P. loves you.”

“I like her, too. I like all your family.”

She concentrated on making perfect, even slices. “I didn’t know that…about your family. I guess that’s kind of rough, huh?”

Carter shrugged. “That’s the hand I was dealt.”

She laid aside the knife and dried her hands on a dish towel. “Don’t you have any disgusting habits or annoying traits I can dislike without feeling guilty?”

He laughed. “I can swear in three languages, though that can sometimes be an asset. I can cuss out people in Italian and they don’t know if I’m dissing them or ordering spaghetti.”

She fought hard to hold back a smile. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, so he could whisper in her ear. “I wouldn’t call it annoying, but I do have the very frustrating habit of getting turned on whenever I’m around you.”

She wanted to scold him and remind him theirs was supposed to be a business agreement, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was giggles. Honestly! What was happening to her?

Her father stuck his head in the back door. “Hey, can you two lovebirds break it up long enough for Carter to come out here and play a game of horseshoes? I’ve already beaten everybody else.”

“You haven’t beaten the horseshoe champ of the SAPD West Substation.” Carter released her and followed her dad into the backyard.

Joni leaned back against the counter and sighed. Carter didn’t act like any cop she’d ever known—like any man she’d ever known. He was strong, but soft at the same time. He wasn’t afraid of revealing himself. After all, what kind of man stood up in front of a bunch of people he’d just met and declared his love for a woman?

Even if it was only an act?