Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

Sequel to Belonging

PAT CUNNINGHAM

Copyright © 2012

Chapter 1

“Woot! Woot! Hunk alert. Major hottie at ten o’clock, also stretching into eleven and twelve.”

Colleen Brenner followed her coworker Norelle’s lustful leer out the preschool’s front window. One glance and she didn’t need to ask. The hottie in question stood literally head and shoulders above all of the moms and most of the dads lined up to pick up their offspring. He had the body to match the height, lean and long-legged as a Thoroughbred, with an easy grace. She guessed he’d probably heard the word “beanpole” enough to last him a lifetime. Also “sexy,” “cutie,” and “hubba hubba whoo.”

She leaned toward the window for a closer look. She wouldn’t mind using any or all of those terms on him herself. Except…

“Now’s your chance,” Norelle said. “Grab a couple kids for cover, and get out there. Stop him before he gets away.”

“He’s not getting away. He’s getting in line. He’s here to pick someone up. He’s a dad, Norelle. That means there’s a mom in his life.”

“So? He could be a single dad. Mom could be an ex. Maybe he’s here for a brother or sister. He may be in the market for a mom. Get your butt out there, and show him your stuff. C’mon, Col. Don’t make me shove you.”

“Did we get a new student?” Colleen said, dodging the topic at hand. “I thought I knew all the parents. I don’t remember seeing him before.”

“He sure does stand out in a crowd.” Norelle pressed up against the window like a child at a candy store. “Fresh meat. Mmm mmm good.”

“Exactly my point. Look at him, Norelle.”

Norelle made a guttural, feline growl. “I’m looking.”

“I mean look at his face.” The object of their scrutiny chatted and joked with the other parents. His smile flashed like lightning through storm clouds, brilliant enough to make her squint. “That’s a happy man. Nobody’s that happy unless they’re in love.”

“Or nuts.” Norelle frowned and leaned away from the window. “Happy stranger shows up at a preschool. Not a good combo. I’d better check with the office. Keep the kids inside for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

“Thanks a bunch.” Norelle headed out the door ahead of Colleen’s sarcasm, leaving Colleen to ride herd on seventeen clamoring preschoolers. Those already able to tell time clustered around the door. Colleen shut the blinds on the window. If they spotted their parents now, she wouldn’t emerge from this situation alive.

Before she let the blinds fall, though, she indulged in one last three-second study of Mr. Too-Tall Hottie. He was too far away for her to spot a wedding ring. All she had to go on was instinct, and her instincts said he was taken. Too bad. Somewhere, some lucky woman walked the streets of Hermosa Beach, California, with a sexy guy’s love in her heart. Someday it would be Colleen. Just not here, not today, and not with him. But someday.

Norelle returned at a brisk skip. “We’re cool. Dr. Stanton called in earlier. She said a family friend named Jeremy Teach would be picking up Shayla this week. Her exact words were, ‘Look for the fellah whose head scrapes the ceiling.’ I think we’ve found our boy.” She slanted a look at Colleen and pitched her voice below the chatter of the children. “Think you’ve found your man?”

“Forget it. He’s giving off definite married vibes. That’s a man in a committed relationship, bet you anything.”

“Wuss. He’s hot, and he’s not a psycho. That’s good enough for me. It should be good enough for you. You’re way too picky, Col.”

“So not helping. Okay, fine. You want to see me with a sexy guy? I’m asking Nathan out.”

“Not if you want to keep your hair. Okay, couple-busting-up is a bad idea. But you don’t know for sure he’s in a couple.”

“You don’t know he isn’t.”

“God, you’re hopeless.” A whiny toddler grabbed on to Norelle’s leg. Norelle dislodged him gently, with a smile and a pat on the head. “The natives are getting restless. Let’s get the little darlings back to their folks and out of our hair for the day.”

Together, they got their charges rounded up and into a semblance of a line. Older children held hands with younger pair-ups. Colleen and Norelle took personal charge of the most troublesome cases. Today that included the hyperactive Harrington twins and Shayla Stanton. In spite of Norelle’s reassurance, Colleen wasn’t turning this pretty, blonde child over to any stranger without assessing him first, no matter how big of a sex god he might look like.

Her apprehension proved unfounded. The minute they got outside, Shayla yanked herself free of Colleen’s gentle grip and beelined straight for Long Tall Hottie with a loud squeal of delight. He caught her up into an airplane sweep before he set her on his shoulders. From this lofty perch, she crowed her superiority to her earthbound classmates.

Nothing ventured, Colleen thought, and went over to introduce herself. Norelle would never quit bugging her if she didn’t at least make an effort. On the way over, she shot her hand through her hair. Its dark, shoulder-length waves hung limp after a day shepherding the next generation. If only she’d worn just a touch more makeup to soften her angular features.

“Hi,” she said, and extended her hand. “I’m—”

“That’s Miss Colly,” Shayla broke in. “This is Uncle Jermy. She peered down at Colleen with the dignity of a queen and announced, “He’s taking me to Burger Barn.”

“Jeremy,” Mr. Long Tall corrected. “I’ve got pickup duty this week. Annie Stanton should have called ahead.” He grasped Colleen’s slender hand briefly in his immense paw before he had to snatch it back to grab for Shayla, who had twisted around to wave to a knot of her classmates. “Ow! Easy on the hair there, peanut.”

Colleen smiled. Everything about him prompted smiles, from his shaggy, chestnut hair to that cute nose to his deep, friendly voice, down to the legs that went on longer than a politician’s speech. She decided she liked his eyes best. Their color hovered between deep-blue and an even deeper gray, like the underside of summer storm clouds. His eyes deceived; sunshine gleamed within the storm. Just standing here beside him made her feel warm and at ease. She imagined how that warmth would serve him, and her, in the bedroom, intensified by the most intimate of sharing.

Pity he was taken. All her life she’d been able to get an accurate read on people, often from a single glance. Her brother Michael had dubbed it her “psychic prickle.” The heat of his touch and the purr in his voice confirmed what she already knew. Jeremy Teach brimmed over with love…for someone else. The luckiest damn woman on the planet, Colleen thought with a mental sigh of regret.

Mr. Long Tall, now and forevermore Mr. Off Limits, was speaking to her. “So you’re Miss Colly. Shayla talks about you a lot.”

“Colleen Brenner.” They managed a longer handshake this time. She let go first, reluctantly. “Shayla’s a dream student. She’s interested in everything and gets along with everybody. She does get a bit rambunctious sometimes. You might want to cut back on the sugar.”

“I’ll pass the word along.” This came out punctuated by grunts because Shayla had started to bounce on his shoulders. “That’s it,” he told the girl. “No burgers for you. We’re going straight home, and you’ll have to eat spinach.”

“Yuck.” She settled at once. “Spinach sucks,” she confided to Colleen.

“Hey!” Jeremy said. “Little girls don’t say words like that. Who’s been teaching you words like that?”

“Uncle Wally says it all the time.”

“Uncle Wally says a lot of bad things. No more Wally words for you. Little-girl words only. Got it?”

She poked out her lower lip. “Okay.”

“Atta girl. Let’s go get that burger.”

Shayla brightened immediately. “Can Miss Colly come, too?”

He looked at her in open speculation. Oh God, those eyes. They made her want to blurt out a yes in capital letters. He’s married, she scolded herself.
In his mind if not in reality. Doesn’t matter. It’s the same thing.

“I’d love to.” The words startled her. Who had said them? Her? Oh Jesus God. Maybe there was time to make amends. She forced her traitorous tongue back under her control. “Are you sure you don’t have anyone waiting for you at home?”

“Not until tonight,” he replied easily, without a hint of guilt. “How about you?”

She thought of her simple, one-bedroom apartment and the single-serving mac and cheese she’d had lined up for dinner, then looked up into his compelling eyes again. Not even a contest. He certainly showed no qualms over what amounted to a dinner date lite, and she couldn’t imagine him cheating. Maybe she’d read the signals wrong. “I’m good. Just give me a couple of minutes to make sure everybody gets on their way, okay?”

She scurried back to rejoin Norelle in handing off their charges. Norelle sidled up to her and waved alongside her to the last departing parents and their offspring.

“Well?” Norelle demanded. “Do we have liftoff?”

“He’s taking me out for a burger. Wipe that smirk off your face. It’s not a date. Shayla’s chaperoning.”

“Dry run, then. Pre-date. Told you he’d be interested. He’s single, and he wants you. What else do you need?”

Colleen chose to ignore that. What she wanted most she could never have. Her own body had made sure of that. As far as needs went…crap. So many what-ifs and if-onlys kept popping into her brain, sparked by a simple handshake. The tangled signals he sent out were making her crazy, and they hadn’t even gone to dinner yet.

“I want a full report,” Norelle said. “Text me every hour, even if you’re doing it. Especially if you’re doing it.”

“You want me to ravish him on a plastic table in front of the dinner crowd?”

“Hell yeah! Take pictures.”

“So not helping. I’m telling Nathan what a sleaze you are.”

“He knows. Now go forth, young slut. Have fun. Fill me in tomorrow morning, and don’t leave anything out.” Smirk intact, Norelle retreated into the building.

Colleen retrieved her sweater and purse and hurried back to Shayla and Jeremy. They set off with Shayla still riding on Jeremy’s shoulders.

“No car?” Colleen said.

“It’s at the Stantons’. They’re only seven blocks from here. Can you handle the walk?”

She lifted one foot to show off her tennies. “I work with little kids all day. I have to stay in shape. I’m only a couple of blocks from the school myself. I don’t think I’ve had my car out all week.”

“The weather’s been terrific lately,” he agreed. He smiled up at the sky. “I used to work nights. It didn’t hit me until just this year how much I missed the sun.”

She matched his lengthy stride with ease and could tell he was impressed. His graceful movements stirred a vague sense of familiarity and fired long-ignored desires.

Jeremy finally set Shayla down at the door to the Burger Barn. Colleen took the girl’s hand and found them a table while Jeremy went to the counter. Shayla resumed her bounces on the plastic seat, and Colleen resumed her study of Jeremy. He looked just as fine from the rear as he did from the front. Colleen caught herself licking her lips and tucked her tongue away. It didn’t change the view, or her body’s response. She combed her fingers through her hair again.

“Do you like Uncle Jermy?” Shayla asked suddenly.

Busted by a five-year-old. “Yes,” she admitted. “Yes, I do. He seems really nice. Does he live with you and your mom and dad?”

“Nuh-uh. He used to, but now he has a ’partment by the big school. I don’t get to go there much, ’cause Uncle Wally sleeps in the day.” She dropped her voice to a conspirator’s whisper. “Uncle Wally says ‘suck.’”

Colleen frowned minutely. So Uncle Wally with the not-nice vocabulary was Jeremy’s roommate? Not Aunt Somebody? She took a longer, more thoughtful look at the tall, attractive man at the counter and bit back the question on her tongue.