Rescue My Heart (24 page)

She laughed. “Yes.”

Grif shook his head, looking both appalled and impressed. “Go, Dad.”

“I guess…”

Grif let out a breath. “Now tell me about you.”

“What about me?”

“Your divorce.”

“Dammit! Adam has a big mouth.”

“What is all this, Hol?”

“Well, let’s see. You and Adam have been gossiping like a pair of little girls, so it must be middle school recess!”

He smiled and immediately looked younger, softer than the hardened soldier he’d turned himself into.

“It’s not funny,” she said, but seeing him smile made her smile, too.

Her office door opened and Kate strode in carrying two lunch boxes—one
Star Wars
, the other
Transformers
—and a drink carrier of two steaming coffees. “I’ve only got a half hour,” she said, not looking up, concentrating on keeping the drinks balanced. “Kyle Wu dunked Emily Carter’s ponytail into the finger paints this morning, taking her from blond to green in zero point two. So now I’ve got a parent conference at one thirty to get yelled at by Emily’s dad. Good thing he’s totally hot.” She glanced over at Holly’s opened laptop, caught sight of Grif, and jumped.

The coffees clattered together and spilled down her front. She sucked in a breath and dropped everything. “Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.” She pulled her blouse away from her skin. “And
ow
.”

Holly rushed forward. “Are you burned?”

Sucking in air through her teeth, Kate did the hot-coffee-on-her-chest dance, and then ripped her blouse off. She sighed in relief for the briefest of seconds before remembering Grif. Squeaking in embarrassment, she covered her boobs with her hands and ducked behind Holly’s desk.

From her crouched position, Kate grimaced up at Holly and mouthed,
Oh. My. God. Did he see
me?

Holly shook her head no. A little white mercy lie between best friends, because of course Grif had seen her, from her pretty leopard print bra to her very full 36Ds bursting from the seams.

They were hard to miss.

“Hey, Kate,” Grif said from the desk.

Kate dropped her head to her knees. “Hey, Grif.”

Grif stretched his neck and tried to look down. “You okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sure? Because all I can see are your ears, which are twitching.”

“Only one-third of the population can twitch their ears,” she muttered, face still averted. “And only one-third of those people can twitch one ear at a time,” Kate said. Still out of sight of Grif, she smacked herself in the head.

Grif laughed softly, amused by the stats Kate always spouted when she was nervous. “Good to know.”

Kate ducked even lower and shot Holly a pleading save-me glance.

“Okay, well, I’m glad you called,” Holly said to Grif. “It was good to talk to you. Be careful out there, it’s a full moon tonight.”

“And because of the earth’s rotation, we’re even closer to the moon and its pull,” Kate said, lifting her head. “Also, Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.” Then she covered her own mouth with her hand, closed her eyes, and shook her head.

Grif grinned. “Maybe you should stand up and let me look at you. And make sure you weren’t burned.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Say good-bye, Grif.”

“No, really, I’m a trained medic. I should check out—”

“Uh-huh. Love you.” Holly shut her laptop.

Kate slowly rose, her very pretty breasts quivering. “Oh my God. Griffin Reid saw my boobs.”

“You’re no longer the invisible high school geek, you know. You’re all grown-up and pretty.”

“Pretty much a mess, you mean.”

“I’m not kidding. If I was a guy, I’d totally want to do you.”

Kate beamed. “Really?”

“Really! Honey, you’re the swan now, why do you still get so nervous around guys?”

“I’m only hot without my clothes, and no one ever sees me without my clothes. Just my ob-gyn, and now Griffin Reid.”

Holly handed her a wad of napkins, which Kate used to
mop up the coffee. “Would you stop referring to my brother by his full name? He’s just a regular guy.”

“Yeah, a really,
really
good-looking guy.”

Holly grimaced. “Nice bra, by the way. And what happened with that online dating service you joined?” She pulled her sweater from the back of her chair and handed it to Kate to put on.

“All the guys I’d want to date live in Coeur d’Alene.” She slipped into the sweater, looking far better in it than Holly had. “I don’t have time to drive hours for my nookie.”

“Seriously. Is that all you think about lately?”

“You don’t get to ask me that. You got lucky this week.”

“I…what?” Holly went still, the proverbial deer in the headlights. “How did you know? Who told you?”

“You. Just now.”

Holly dropped into her chair. “That’s a good trick.”

“I’m a teacher. I know
all
the tricks. Well, except how to get
myself
some nookie.” She picked up the lunch boxes and handed Holly one. “And I can’t believe you were going to try to keep such vital information from me.”

Holly searched for a different topic. “So how is it your fault that Kyle ruined Emily’s hair?”

“Oh, it’s not. But Emily’s mom was a high school beauty queen and she pays big money for her blond hair every three weeks. Her daughter’s a natural, and they’d just had their hair blown out and done up. Green wasn’t in the cards. Nice change of subject, by the way.”

“Dammit, you really are good.”

“Don’t you know it.” Kate opened her lunch box.

The two of them met every week for lunch, taking turns providing the meal. On Holly’s week, she’d run into town and pick something up, usually from the deli.

When it was Kate’s turn, she cooked. Today’s lunch was carefully and lovingly packed chicken enchiladas, and Holly’s mouth watered at the scent. “You’re a domestic goddess.”
She sank her teeth into her first bite and moaned as pleasure exploded across her taste buds.

“Yeah?” Kate asked.

“Oh my God, yeah. Now be quiet. My food and I need a moment.”

Kate grinned and nodded. She was good with silence.

Sort of.

Okay, she was horrible with silence. She managed to hold it for one full minute—a record. “Tell me about the trip with Adam.”

Holly pretended that Kate was really asking about the trip. “You know we found my dad.”

“Yes, on day two. Which leaves one whole night unaccounted for.” A teacher through and through, Kate paused, waiting for the correct answer. “I want details, Holly. Spill.”

“You first,” Holly said. “How was ballooning?”

Kate shook her head. “I didn’t go.”

This was a surprise. Kate had so been looking forward to it. “Why not?” She frowned. “Wait. By any chance, did Grif talk you out of it?”

Kate blushed. “Why would you think that?”

“Because he IMed me right before I left the other day, and he’d been keeping track of you.” Holly watched, fascinated as Kate’s blush reached the tips of her ears. “Kate, what’s going on?”

She waved a hand in front of her mouth. “I used too much chili pepper. Yow, it’s hot.”

Holly grabbed a bottle of water and pushed it across the desk toward Kate, who grabbed it gratefully. “I mean between you and Grif. What’s going on between you and Grif?”

Kate choked on the water.

Holly set down her fork and stared at her friend, torn between amusement and horror. Kate was as up-front and honest as they came. She didn’t have a deceptive, manipulative,
evasive bone in her body. What she did have was a crush on Holly’s brother. Always had. But Holly thought she’d gotten over it, since the last time Grif had come home, he’d plowed his way through every single woman he knew.

Except for Kate.

“Tell me you’re not pining away for him,” Holly said.

Kate took a bite of enchilada and shook her head.

“Kate.”

Kate took a second, huge bite of food so that she couldn’t talk.

Holly thunked her head to her desk.
“Kate.”

“Look, he’s not even home or planning to be home anytime soon. And I’m doing the online dating thing. A guy’s going to turn up. Hopefully in the same country as me. One who’s not my best friend’s brother. No worries, okay?”

“It’s not about him being my brother. It’s about you. I love Grif, very much, but you need a
one
-woman type of guy.”

“No,” Kate said. “I’ve decided I’m not going to limit my options to one guy. I bought a wide selection of sexy lingerie, not just this one bra. And I intend to find a wide selection of men to go with.” She looked at her watch. “Can I keep the sweater for now? I’ve gotta go. Oh, and book club tonight, don’t forget.”

“I’ll be late. Thing One and Thing Two have training class first.”

“Since when do you take your dad’s heathen puppies to obedience training?”

“Since he paid for the classes but can’t go. Like you said, they’re heathens. They can’t miss a lesson.”

“Uh-huh.” Kate tucked her tongue into her cheek. “And does your willingness to suddenly do this have anything to do at all with the obedience class teacher?”

Holly busied herself with cleaning up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. And so do I. We teachers are hot.”

“Aren’t you late?” Holly asked desperately.

“Yes.” But Kate didn’t move. “Adam’s the instructor, right? The guy you’re apparently going to give another shot at breaking your heart?”

“I’m not going to let him do that. It’s not like that this time.”

“What is it like?”

Holly hadn’t the foggiest…

“Holly,” Kate said very gently, reaching for her hand. “Why go back to Hurt City? You’ve already been there.”

“I’m just living in the moment,” Holly said. “That’s all.”

“And the moment is telling you to go for the hottest man in town?” Kate asked. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Gotta aim high.”

“And I’m not going to give him the power to hurt me,” Holly said. Probably. “I’m not going to give anyone the power to hurt me, not ever again. I’m just trying to enjoy life.”

Kate smiled at that. “Well, he certainly has a look about him that says he knows how to make a woman enjoy herself.”

Holly couldn’t stop the satisfied sigh that left her lips, making Kate laugh.

“I’m jealous,” she said, standing, gathering the two lunch boxes. “It’s been too long since I had that look on my face. Just be careful, okay? Promise me.”

“Scout’s honor,” Holly said. “I’ll be the Queen of Careful. Tonight’s just about helping my dad.”

Kate shook her head. “You’re the worst liar on the planet, you know that? Every time you lie, you suck your lower lip in between your teeth. You need to work on that.”

When Kate left, Holly brought up the camera function on her phone and looked at herself. “You are not falling for him again,” she said, and caught herself sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth. “Dammit!”

Much later, Holly went in search of Thing One and Thing Two for their class. She found the dogs were with her dad, who was hitting golf balls into a tin can in his office.

The six-month-old puppies were sleeping, but when Holly walked in, they bounced up, ready for action. Seventy-plus pounds of action each barreled straight at her, tongues lolling, eyes bright with excitement, ears flopping without restraint.

She held up a hand. “Stop!”

To be fair, they did try. But the wood floors didn’t provide any traction, and they slid, barreling straight into her, taking her out at the knees. She hit the floor, which apparently was an open invitation to play. She tried to get up twice and was knocked back down by sheer exuberance. Giving up, she lay on the floor. “Help.”

Her dad laughed. “You volunteered for this…”

She rolled to her knees and got herself up. She was covered in dog hair and also some doggy drool. Eau-de-dog. “I could be in New York, working at some fancy bigwig corporation, you know, putting my pretty education to good use. I don’t have to be back here being kissed to death by wayward puppies.”

“True. But you made a choice. Sorry already?”

She let out a breath. “No.” Not even a little bit. She’d discovered something about herself coming back here. She hadn’t been cast in a plaster mold at birth—she was whomever she chose to be.

And right now, she liked the person she’d chosen. She liked being that person here in Sunshine. And after her two-day foray into the wilderness with the sexy, enigmatic blast from her past, she could even imagine herself sticking here for a long time.

She pictured what Adam’s expression might be if he could hear her thoughts, and it made her smile. The big,
bad, tough, edgy, dangerous-as-hell Adam Connelly didn’t show much on the outside, but on the inside he’d be panicking big-time.

She’d like to see that, but it would have to wait.

Because she might be ready for Adam and whatever came with him, but he was most definitely not ready for her.

A
dam stood in the yard watching as his human and canine students began arriving for his dog obedience class. The group comprised mostly new dog owners and wayward puppies, so he was expecting the usual mayhem. Normally he prided himself on being the calm in the storm, but tonight Holly pulled up and his calm suddenly vanished.