Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) (6 page)

Brent sighed and had the grace to be ashamed for a moment, not that he believed for an instant that there was any other man in Teresa Callahan’s life. A man couldn’t wedge himself into the crowd inside this house, much less gain enough of Reesa’s attention to get her into bed.

There was a sudden commotion from the living room. Reesa sighed as she heard the kids slam the front door. They just never thought to close it softly.

“Hi, honey. I’m home,” Shane sang out loudly, walking into the kitchen with as much bravado as he could, carrying a giggling Sara. He immediately lowered her to the floor. “Walk now, princess. Go put on your dancing shoes.”

“Yes, Shaney,” Sara said, scurrying out of the kitchen and down the hall.

Pretending to ignore the man sitting at the table, Shane walked to Reesa and bent to brush a quick kiss over her lips still parted in shock at the sight of him. Unfortunately, he was too nervous to even enjoy getting to kiss her again after dreaming about it for two weeks.

“I ordered pizza. Zack and Chelsea are on the lookout for the delivery man,” Shane said as casually as he could.

Then he turned just as casually and pretended to be surprised at the man sitting at the table. The man was Michael’s height, dressed in clothes that definitely fit the car in the driveway, and reeked of successful male. Shane hated that someone so picture perfect was the
last guy
, but he suddenly understood why Reesa had passed up Mr. Preppie that night in the bar.

Lucky break for me
, Shane decided, not feeling as bad about his T-shirt and faded jeans as maybe he should have. Apparently, she had gotten tired of the dweeb before he met her. The thought made him smile at the man who was history.

“Hello,” Shane said. “Sorry. I didn’t see you sitting there.”

Not looking to see if Reesa was furious with him or not, Shane walked to the table, slid into a chair next to the man, and held out his hand. “I’m Shane Larson—and you are?”

“Brentwood Addison—Teresa’s fiancée,” Brent said firmly, shaking Shane’s hand as he wondered why Reesa would let a man who looked like him hang around impressionable kids. He was unshaven, needed a haircut, and his clothes had definitely seen better days. Was that an eyebrow piercing?
Shit—the guy was a hoodlum.
What was Reesa thinking?

“Fiancée? Reesa, I thought you said you two broke up?” Shane asked sincerely, swinging a questioning gaze to Reesa, hoping she answered right. Otherwise, Shane might have to reconsider taking lethal action and declaring death to the dweeb.

“Brent and I broke things off months ago—
many months ago
,” Reesa said firmly, narrowing her eyes at both men, but she saw Shane get the message she was sending.

But what is Shane up to, and why were the kids acting like they know him?

“Hey, Shane—how much are we supposed to tip the pizza guy?” Zack asked, coming into the kitchen and looking at Shane while avoiding his Aunt’s piercing gaze drilling a hole through his skull.

“Five will do it,” Shane told Zack, sensing Reesa’s urge to ask what the hell was going on. “Tell Chelsea I want my change this time.”

Zack grinned at Shane’s over-acting and joined in to show his support. “I’ll tell her—don’t know if it will do any good.”

Shane watched Zack disappear and fought the urge to sigh at a ruse that could fall apart any second.

“What’s going on, Shane?” Reesa asked, gathering her wits and aiming a laser sharp green-eyed gaze in his direction.

Shane shrugged, hoping Addison didn’t see him swallowing hard. “I got conned into buying pizza. You didn’t start cooking already, did you? Geez—I’m sorry, Reesa. I should have called to ask on my way over. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I talked to Zack and Chelsea.”
There—that was mostly truth.

“How long have you and Teresa been dating?” Brent demanded, looking at Shane and wondering what was going on.

There was no way Reesa was dating a kid with tattoos and piercings. Only Larson’s height and body build saved him from looking like one of Zack’s friends.

“Two weeks—well, if you want to call what we’re doing
dating
. I don’t know what to call it yet,” Reesa said, surprising both men and herself.

At the disbelief in Brent’s gaze, Reesa made a decision to side with the kids, even if that decision did indirectly align her with Shane as well. Shane she could handle. She knew he was far more intelligent and reasonable than he looked.

“I keep telling Shane that I really don’t have time for dating. He just keeps showing up at my door anyway. The kids seem to like him. I’m still trying to make up my mind,” Reesa said truthfully, moving from the middle of the kitchen floor to lean against a cabinet. She suddenly needed the support to hold her up.

“You want me to get rid of him for you?” Brent said, eyeing the scruffy giant with dislike.

Reesa snorted, fighting back a laugh.

Shane heard her snort and grinned. It would take three of Brentwood on a good day to extricate him from Reesa Callahan’s kitchen if he didn’t want to leave.

“Reesa knows all she has to do is tell me to go and really mean it,” Shane said easily. “I’m not as scary as I look.”

Reesa rolled her eyes at Shane’s statement just as Sara bounced back into the room in her princess get-up and her pink ballet slippers.

Shane rose from his seat and bowed low to Sara, who giggled again.

“Princess Sara,” he said, his deep baritone ringing out in the kitchen. “I see you found your dancing shoes. I am glad for Her Majesty.”

“
Yes—I did
find my dancing shoes
,” Sara declared, matching her tone to Shane’s and making her voice as deep as possible.

Reesa snickered at the faux haughty exchange, and then gave in and laughed. “Would the princess like popcorn with her pizza this evening?”

“Yes, please,” Sara said graciously, walking by Brent and stopping. “You may go home now. Shaney is here. He will take care of us.”

Shane bit the edge of his lip to keep from laughing. He glanced at Reesa, who was standing hands-on-hip looking at Sara in obvious shock, but she said nothing in rebuke of the little blonde vixen.

God, when he got his hands on Reesa Callahan again, he was not letting go this time, Shane decided.
He wanted that irritation aimed at him just so he would have a chance to soothe it. He wanted to kiss her until she laughed, which instinct told him she would. He wanted to know how deep she’d had to dig inside herself for what it took to hang tough with the kids.

He wanted to know all of her.

Brent looked at Shane, who eased back down into his chair after Sara left. “
Two weeks, huh?
You’re awfully comfortable around here for a man who’s only known Reesa for two weeks.”

A tall boy Shane had never seen before came into the kitchen. He was not as tall as Zack, but was as tall as Chelsea. “Hey—are we really having pizza tonight?”

“Yes,” Reesa said, putting an arm around his waist and hugging.

Shane watched the boy he guessed was the missing “Brian” freeze then relax in Reesa’s arms.

“Hey, Brian. How’s it going?” Shane asked, hoping the kid wouldn’t blow it for him.

Brian could see the man’s nervousness even through the confidence he exuded. Fortunately for Shane Larson, Brian was as anti-dweeb as the rest of his siblings. His aunt’s old boyfriend deserved cement shoes for trying to split them up, not to mention wanting to ship him off to boarding school. Thankfully, Aunt Teresa had chosen them over the man. Which was a good thing, because from what he’d read, killing a man could be really messy. He looked at Shane, studying his size. Larson looked capable of doing it.

“Was pizza your idea?” Brian asked, checking out Shane’s scraggy appearance as he waited politely for a reply.

“Yes, but I’m in trouble over it. I forgot to tell your aunt I was bringing dinner,” Shane said, relieved when the kid offered a grin.

“You’ll hear about that later,” Brian said in warning.

“Nah,” Shane denied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “I got ways to get around the ladies. Want me to share my secrets with you sometime?”

Brian laughed at the brag he hadn’t seen coming.

This time Shane noticed it was Reesa who froze as she stared at Brian’s grin. But it was the expression on Reesa’s face that had Shane thinking it best that Brian not catch her.

“Do me a favor, Brian. Go make sure your sister doesn’t keep my change,” Shane ordered. “Zack didn’t give me much confidence in being able to enforce it.”

“Do I look like your MADLAM?” Brian asked.

“I don’t know. Do you? What’s a MADLAM?” Shane asked seriously, fascinated and forgetting that his role in the household was just a ruse.

“Muscle And Down Low Activity Man,” Brian said, deadpan. “You know—hired muscle, dude.”

“Well—
dude
—do I look like I need more muscle? That thinking is seriously messed up for someone your age,” Shane said, narrowing his eyes.

“I get that a lot,” Brian answered. “I’ll talk to Chelsea, but I’m keeping a percent of the take.”

“My change is history, isn’t it?” Shane asked sarcastically.

“Pretty much,” Brian stated, leaving the room.

“You got him to laugh,” Reesa whispered, turning a teary gaze on Shane.

Shane rose from his chair and went to Reesa. Brentwood Addison be damned. Whatever the story about the kids’ parents, there was no doubt that Reesa genuinely loved and cared for them.

Shane held her face in his hands, smiling at her teary eyes.

“Sorry—it’s just that he
really
laughed. Wow, Brian hasn’t laughed in a long time,” Reesa said quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

“I’m getting a doctorate from Johns Hopkins in Psychology that my parents mostly paid for. Please don’t tell them I was using it to encourage your nephew’s illusion of being a hit man,” Shane said, brushing tears away with his thumbs, as she laughed over his plea.

There was a commotion in the living room and a bunch of arguing and haranguing of the delivery person. Finally a triumphant Zack carried three extra large pizzas into the kitchen, trailed by his siblings.

They stopped as they saw their aunt looking away to keep them from seeing her cry. They looked at Shane expectantly.

“Dude—who made Aunt Teresa cry?” Zack demanded.

“They are only happy tears,” Shane said easily, covering for Reesa. “Your aunt just decided to date me. I’m so awesome I choke women up.”

Reesa sniffed and looked at Shane again, this time exhaling on a laugh. What the hell was she going to do with him? He was simply too nice to send away.

“
Date you?
How can I date you? You’re too tall,” Reesa declared.

Shane dropped to his knees. On his knees, he was looking up slightly into Teresa’s face. “How about I promise to walk around on my knees when I’m here? This is better, right?”

“Get up, dummy,” Reesa ordered, sniffing harder.

“
Awwww
…Aunt Reesa called Shaney an
ugly name
,” Sara declared.

“She’s sorry,” Shane said quickly. “Aren’t you, Reesa?”

“Yes, but probably not as sorry as I’m going to be for letting you stay and eat pizza with us tonight,” Reesa said. “I’m going to make popcorn now. We can’t eat pizza without popcorn.”

“Popcorn and pizza?” Shane asked, confused. He climbed to his feet again.

“Afraid to try something new?” Reesa asked, peering up into Shane’s face.

Shane shook his head. “Not if it’s with you,” he said, letting her answering laugh at his flirting instill him with hope.

“Be warned then if you stay. The zoo animals get wild when you feed them,” Reesa warned. “Brent? You staying for pizza, too?”

But when she looked where Brent had been sitting, there was no one in the chair.

“I guess the answer to that is no,” Shane said, fighting not to smile about the guy just leaving.
Good riddance and don’t come back,
he thought.

“Our conversation wasn’t going anywhere anyway,” Reesa said on a sigh. “I’m not up to dealing with any more drama.”

And maybe that’s one more problem solved in my life,
she thought
.
Though when Reesa’s gaze went back to Shane, she realized she might just have traded up problems.

“The
dw
—I mean, Mr. Addison left a couple minutes ago,” Chelsea said, unable to keep the pleasure from her voice. “Good thing Sara didn’t hear what he was saying as he walked out. I don’t think she’s heard all those ugly words yet.”

Zack and Brian laughed as they watched their Aunt Teresa grimace and shrug in resignation.

When Reesa turned her back, Shane exchanged a look with Zack, sliced a hand across his throat in a cutting motion, and shook his head to not press the issue.

“
Who is saying ugly words in my kingdom?”
Sara demanded. “I’m the princess. I will talk to them and tell them they are not allowed.”