Explosive Alliance (22 page)

Bo dropped a kiss on her nose, red-tipped from crying tears for him. "Let's go get that ice. Although I have better ideas for using it than on my hands."

He would never look at an ice cube the same way again.

Paige arched her arms over her head until her knuckles skimmed the headboard, but kept her eyes closed to avoid morning a few seconds longer. A post-sex stretch was without a doubt the best stretch ever. And when that came after the best sex ever? She wanted to keep right on arching as long as possible in case this weekend with Bo was all she would have.

At least she had her body back again after fears her past with Kurt would freeze her forever. She sagged on the mattress and rolled onto her side, clutching the sheet, eager to make more new memories to replace the old. They could stay in bed all afternoon and picnic naked. As soon as she found him.

The scent of coffee and bacon in the air answered her question about the empty space beside her.

Gliding her hand along the bare spot as if to capture a remaining hint of the man, she let her mind drift through possibilities of...

A long-distance relationship? Telephone calls and trips crosscountry. And he was considering leaving the military. Maybe he would return to teaching, which enabled him to live anywhere....

Yeah, right. Like he would relocate to North Dakota to hang out with a woman he'd known two weeks, and she couldn't even believe she was considering this. Incredible sex must be scrambling her brain. She needed to accept this pocket of happiness and quit thinking about tomorrow.

A rustle sounded outside the window. A squirrel?

Paige wrapped the sheet tighter. The purse-snatcher incident and break-in had her imagining boogey men behind every tree. She snagged her glasses off the bedside table for a clearer view of the window and the overgrown wisteria bush blocking most of the yard from sight.

Had Bo relocked the window after pitching the phones outside?

"Bo?" she called softly, inching to sit up.

The bush rustled, swaying as if swept aside.

"Bo!" She scrambled back toward the edge of the bed, nerves snapping to attention.

A body filled the window. Or rather shoulders and a face. A handsome and hot face.

"Bo." She slumped with relief, staring at her new lover standing outside, a phone in each hand.

He tapped on the pane with his cell phone.

Laughing at her own jitters, she secured the sheet around her and shuffled across the room. A quick look confirmed. . .yes, he'd locked the window, and his attention to her safety even when they'd been about to jump each other touched her. How could it not, when she'd lived too long with a man who put her and her child at risk?

She flipped the lock and nudged the window up, no easy task while struggling to keep a sheet modestly tucked around her, which elicited a fresh twinkle in Bo's eyes.

"Morning, gorgeous." He leaned inside to drop the phones onto the carpeted floor, the reach placing his face right at her waist for a lingering kiss that tickled as well as aroused.

"Good morning, master of the ice cube."

Fist knotted in the sheet, she threaded the fingers of her other hand through his hair, still damp from his shower. Sheesh, she'd slept deeply not to have heard him. Regret flickered through over the missed opportunity to step inside the spray with him. Before they left tomorrow morning, she would take that memory.

Make the most of every second.

Pulling back, he rested both arms on the ledge and peered up at her. "So is it? A good morning? I didn't mean to lay all that heavy crap from my past on you last night."

"I'm glad you did." She traced along his forehead down to his mouth, which had brought her such pleasure with an ice cube clenched between his teeth. "Makes everything feel more equal since you've had to deal with so much of
my
heavy crap."

And she couldn't help noticing that he'd used sex to dodge further discussion, which also made her realize how little he'd shared about himself that didn't involve a funny story. She might not have noticed before, but now she found herself wanting to know everything about him before he left.

"Fair enough, then." He nodded toward the cell phone. "I thought you might want to call Kirstie this morning."

"She's probably still asleep, with the time difference." Although they would probably be waking soon for church. "I'll check in on her a little later. Thanks for retrieving the phones."

"No problem." He hefted himself up, hooking a knee on the window to propel himself inside.

"Bo?" She startled back a step as he vaulted through and wrapped his arms around her seconds before giving her a toe-curling good-morning kiss.

Holy cow, freshly showered Bo smelled good. He tasted good, too, minty toothpaste and a hint of coffee. She melted into a puddle of hormones again at the stroke of his tongue searching her mouth.

He eased his head up from hers. "Have I told you yet you're gorgeous?"

"Yes, and you're so full of it."

"Not today." He traced her bottom lip with his thumb in an echo caress of some of his ice play the night before. "Being with you was even more mind-blowing than I expected, and let me tell you, I had high expectations."

What did a woman say to that? She had so little experience with morning-after chitchat. None, actually, since she'd never done the affair thing before. He seemed to like her straight-up attitude. She would have to go with that. "I believe it's safe to say you put any of my worries about sex to rest."

Bo winked and dropped another quick kiss on her lips. "My pleasure."

He stepped back and she darn near lost her sheet she'd forgotten to hold because her fingers preferred the feel of his chest. She grappled to secure the wrap. Naked would be fun, but only if he joined in.

For the first time she looked beyond his blue eyes to his clothes—pressed khakis, a button-down shirt and tie, more formal than he'd worn at the wedding.

And so mouthwatering she gripped her sheet tighter to keep from yanking him back into bed with her when he was obviously on his way out the door. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Uh, yeah, for a few hours." Passing her, he strode to his closet and unhooked a dark blue jacket.

Avoiding her eyes? "But I'll be back in time to take you out to lunch. I left breakfast on the counter if you're hungry now."

She'd thought they would have breakfast in bed. Where was the great Romeo player she'd expected him to be? Instead she was seeing a man as confused as she felt, which touched her heart more than if he'd showered her with an elaborate meal served up with roses. "Do you mind if I ask where you're going?"

"To see Sister Nic." He shrugged into the sports coat. "We usually catch morning Mass and then have breakfast whenever I'm in town over the weekend."

Ah, now she understood. This man who worked not to share about himself would lose major privacy if she stepped into that part of his world. She waited for the invitation to join him while he gathered up his wallet and change off the dresser. How strange that she would be hurt if he didn't ask her to go along and scared if he did.

He smoothed his jacket and gave his tie a final tightening tug that must have darn near choked him.

"Would you like to come with me?"

Nerves pranced in her stomach like one of her four-legged patients. "Yes, I think I would, if you really want me there."

"I do." He nodded, that tie so snug she feared he might pass out before they made it to the Jeep.

Even though he avoided discussing his biological parents, she understood well Sister Mary Nic had been the true mother figure in Bo's life. Was she reading too much into this invitation to join him?

Because, in spite of all her resolutions to simply enjoy a fling with Bo, it sure felt like a meet-the-parents moment.

Everybody else had parents here today except her.

Kirstie hopped out of her Uncle Vic's truck into the parking lot, her white church leathers pinching her feet. She'd asked to wear her tennis shoes with her jean dress, but Uncle Vic made her put on these ugly old things that hurt when she ran.

Scuffing a toe over the sidewalk up to the big brick chapel, she worked to mess up the shoes good while Uncle Vic held her hand on their way. She didn't want to be here with Uncle Vic and Uncle Seth. She wanted her mom, her dad, too. And maybe Bo because he was fun, and if her dad was here, then Bo wouldn't be a boyfriend so it would be okay to have him around.

But her mama was in Charleston. No fair. Kirstie dragged her other shoe, scraping the side along an angel statue with extra oomph. She wanted to go see her old house and her friends and flowers.

And what if Mom didn't come back?

Over by the big steps, she saw him—her stranger friend who told stories about her daddy. The man wasn't wearing his fixer-guy uniform today, just regular clothes like everybody else, but she still recognized him and his bushy eyebrows.

It would be tough to talk to him without Uncle Vic noticing and asking lots of question. He was real good about watching her, holding tight to her hand anytime they went anywhere. Or letting her ride on his shoulders. And when she thought of how nice he was, she felt sort of bad about ditching him. But she would be right back before he knew it.

Still, he was tough to sneak away from, not like Uncle Seth.

Ahhh.
Idea.

She tugged his hand before he could start up the steps. "Uncle Vic? I'm gonna ask Uncle Seth to walk me to Sunday school class so you can get to the doughnuts before all the good ones are gone."

He looked down, a long way 'cause he was so tall. "I'll take you."

She crooked a finger for him to lean toward her, then checked to make sure nobody was listening. "I think Uncle Seth likes my teacher."

Uncle Vic smiled, which made her feel even more guilty because he didn't smile that much. "All right, then, Miss Matchmaker. Have at it."

He let go of her hand.

She would do something nice for him later, like fill the dog bowls with water without being asked. For now she was almost home free.

Kirstie raced across the grass to her Uncle Seth already busy talking to another lady who was wearing a dress Mama would have called "too short for church." A lucky break, since Uncle Seth would want Kirstie out of the way.

She yanked on the bottom of his coat. "Uncle Seth? I'm gonna go to Sunday school with my friend Emily and her mama."

That would be fun except she didn't have friends here. Emily lived back in Charleston.

He pulled his eyes off the short-skirt lady. "Where are Emily and her mom?"

"Uh..." Kirstie looked around the crowd until she found icky Bitsy from her school and pointed. Uncle Seth wouldn't know the difference. "Right there."

"Okay, kiddo. Have fun."

She skipped over toward Bitsy, who told everybody Kirstie's daddy sold drugs so they better not play with his daughter or people would think they were doing drugs, too. She stopped behind Bitsy's mama and glanced over her shoulder at Uncle Seth. He waved once and turned away.

Bingo.

She veered off from icky Bitsy before the meanie could say something nasty. Kirstie ran really fast through a group of people and out the other side, away from where her uncles could see her. Panting, she looked around, searching until she found bushy-eyebrow man. She would have to remember to ask him his name this time.

She folded her hands behind her back and stared up. "Hi."

He jerked, sort of surprised-like and not very nice looking, then he smiled and everything was okay again. "Hello, Miss Kirstie Adella. Are you having fun?"

"Not much."

"It's a shame your mama can't be here, too. But at least she's having a good time in Charleston with her new friend."

Her friend. Bo. Kirstie's stomach felt funny, and she hadn't even eaten a doughnut yet.

"Yeah, she is." She held out her hand. "Wanna go for a walk and talk about my daddy?"

"I like your new friend." Sister Nic held an unsmoked cigarette between two fingers with reverence.

Sitting on the stone bench by a trickling water fountain, Bo studied Paige over by the garden entrance with his cell phone. They would leave for lunch as soon as she finished checking up on Kirstie. "I figured you would. She's a nice lady."

Nice? What a namby-pamby word for an
awesome
lady.

Just looking at that cell phone against her ear made him think of tossing it out the window, which made him think of what came after. And how exciting it would be to peel that khaki skirt and white T-shirt off her later. Then, holy hell, he really needed to quit thinking or he might scorch this garden faster than when he'd poured too much fertilizer on the lawn.

"She obviously cares for her little girl."

He glanced away from Paige and back at the aging nun who'd bandaged his knees far longer than his own mother. They couldn't look any more different, Sister Mary Nic checking in at five feet tall when wearing those clunky nun shoes. She weighed all of eighty pounds soaking wet and could scare the crap out of a roomful of elementary hellions with just a look.

But when she smiled her approval with eyes as dark as her skin, the world was right and he could conquer anything. Which made him wonder what he hoped to accomplish by bringing Paige here?

Approval? Maybe. But more than that he needed direction from Sister on what to do next.

"Paige is a good mom." He knew well what a gift that could be for a child. "No surprise Kirstie's a great kid with lots of grit. She's got these big brown eyes behind her glasses that just get to you even when she's cranky or puking on my boots."

He let his eyes linger on Paige while the memories from the air show rolled over him. Seemed like forever ago.

Birds chirped in the magnolias and dogwoods shrouding the garden in privacy. An itch started right between his eyes, as if he'd been targeted by a certain Super Nun's laser look.

Bo snapped his attention off Paige and back to Sister Nic. "Don't go there, Sister."

"Go where?" She brought the cigarette to her nose, but still didn't light it. She must be quitting—again.