Sizzling (22 page)

* * *

REID PARKED at the edge of the dock. "I know it's not a
restaurant. Is this okay?"
Lori looked around at the
lake, the twinkling lights of the houses on the other side, and the
tidy row of houseboats at the end of the dock.
"It's
great," she said. "Are you cooking?"
He
grinned. "Not a chance. Food will be delivered later. Come on.
I've been gone long enough that there shouldn't be any press lurking
around."
He led the way to the houseboat. As Lori
breathed in the damp air and the scent of water and plants, she
realized that if the press really had backed off, then Reid didn't
have any reason to stay at Gloria's house much longer. Which meant
she wouldn't be seeing him as much.
The thought saddened her,
so she pushed it away and instead concentrated on the two-story
houseboat in front of her.
The structure was dark blue with
white trim around the many windows and set away from the neighbors.
Planters lined the walkway leading to the front door. Reid unlocked
the door, then leaned in and hit a couple of light switches. Lori
stepped into a surprisingly open space done in leather and
wood.
There was a fireplace and a view of the lights, hardwood
floors, warm area rugs and a staircase leading to the second
floor.
Beyond the living room was a dining area and a doorway
to what looked to be an impressive kitchen. On the other side was a
study.
Everything was perfect. Bookshelves lined the angled
stairway, taking advantage of unused space. There were trunks in
corners, display shelves, welcoming colors and a real sense of
home.
"It's beautiful," she told him. "Really
perfect and amazing. I thought you'd be more the high-rise condo
type."
He shrugged. "I looked at some, but then I
saw this place and I bought it the same day. It was old, so we gutted
the place and built new."
"We?" She did her
best to hold in a wave of jealousy. "Let me guess. Tall, blond,
big boobs and Southern?"
Reid moved toward her and kissed
her. "You think you know everything, but you're wrong. My
decorator was a guy and I didn't sleep with him."
A guy?
She liked that.
"Before you can ask," he said,
touching her face, then easing his fingers into her hair. "I
don't bring women here. This is my place. It's private. You're the
first."
If she hadn't already been in love with him, that
single statement probably would have pushed her over the edge. She
drew in a breath, not sure what she wanted to say, only to be saved
from possibly confessing something she might regret by a knock on the
door.
Reid released her and let in a delivery guy. After
paying the man, he took the two shopping bags from him and walked
into the kitchen.
"Chicken marsala, pasta, a salad and a
special decadent cake for dessert," he told her. "I went
with chocolate because I know you go crazy for it." He grinned.
"I'm trying to seduce you. How am I doing so far?"
He
was the best-looking man she'd ever seen, but that didn't seem to
matter anymore. While the chemical attraction was still as powerful
as ever and probably would be as long as she drew breath, it wasn't
the reason she was here.
She was here because of who he was.
He hadn't seduced her with his body— he'd seduced her with his
soul. The man inside, the heart of him, called to her with a song she
couldn't resist.
She crossed to him, took the bags from him
and set them on the counter. Then she leaned close and kissed
him.
"I don't need chocolate," she whispered against
his mouth. "Not when I have you."
"Tonight you
get to have both. Pretty close to heaven, huh?"
She
smiled. "Closer than you know."

* * *

"I'M GOING TO cut your sandwich into tiny bites and then
feed them to you," Reid said with a grin. "Later, I'll read
to you."
His grandmother glared at him. "You'll do
no such thing. I might still be recovering from a broken hip, but I'm
strong enough to throw things at your head."
"But
can you hit me?" he asked. "I'm not sure about your
aim."
"Where do you think you inherited your
pitching ability?" Gloria's mouth pulled on the corners, as if
she were trying not to smile. "You're in a good mood this
morning. Why is that?"
Because, for once, his life was
working. Ever since he blew out his shoulder and had to retire from
baseball he'd wondered what the hell he was going to do with himself.
Baseball had been his world. At last there were possibilities.
"I'm
at one with the universe," he joked. "I have a serene
spirit."
Gloria rolled her eyes. "You're annoying,
but I'm going to put up with it. Starting the foundation was the
right decision."
He didn't need her approval, but it was
good to hear the words. "I think so."
"I'm not
happy about your interviews. You've humiliated the entire
family."
No change was perfect, he thought as he pulled
up a chair and sat down. "It's necessary and the price of
getting my message out."
Gloria lay on her bed. She'd
been dressing for the past couple of weeks and getting her hair done.
Except for the fact that she wore casual clothing instead of power
suits, she looked much as she always had. The frail and broken woman
from a couple of months ago had disappeared.
"You're
healing," he said. "That's good."
"It was
get better or die," his grandmother said. "Lori pushed me,
but she was right to do it." Her eyes narrowed. "I know
you're seeing her."
Not a surprise. They hadn't been
subtle or secretive. "Yes, I am."
"How serious
are things?"
"I'm not discussing my personal life
with you."
"Why not? I'm your grandmother."
He
grinned. "I'm actually clear on our relationship. You've been my
grandmother most of my life."
She sighed. "You're
tremendously annoying."
"Charming. You meant to say
charming."
"I did not. I want to talk about
Lori."
"Talk away."
"I want to know
what you're doing with her."
He knew she meant in a
relationship sense, not a sexual sense, but either way, he wasn't
talking. There were a couple of reasons. Keeping Gloria out of his
personal business made a lot of sense. Just as important, he didn't
know how to answer the question.
He knew Lori mattered. She
mattered a lot. He didn't want to think about his feelings or define
them, but they were there. Growing. He felt good when he was around
her and he missed her when he wasn't. For now, that was
enough.
"Reid," his grandmother snapped. "I
asked you a question."
"Lori is off-limits."
"I
could say the same thing to you."
"I know you care
about her. So do I."
"I'm not going to break her
heart," Gloria told him. "You very well may."
"I
won't," he said and meant it. "Besides, how do you know she
won't be the one hurting me?"
His grandmother didn't say
anything. Instead she looked out the window, as if she knew something
she didn't want to tell him. Had she and Lori talked? But before he
could ask, his grandmother said, "I've heard there have been
calls about donating. How is that going?"
"Good. No
matches yet. Madeline's blood type isn't going to make matching easy,
but it's possible. The good news is a guy whose liver was seriously
damaged in a car accident in Kansas is getting a new liver. So one
life was saved."
"Does that make it worth it?"
she asked. "I've seen the interviews. They're not being easy on
you."
If being publicly humiliated about his sexual
performance on national television counted as "not being easy"
then she was right.
"It's worth it," he told her.
"Even if no one's life was saved, it would still be worth it.
People need to donate and I'm reminding them of that."
His
grandmother reached for his hand. He leaned forward and grabbed her
fingers.
"I'm proud of you," she told
him.
"Thanks," he said, and meant it. For reasons he
couldn't begin to explain her words mattered. A lot.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

DANI TOSSED her car keys to the valet and then hurried into the
restaurant. She saw Gary waiting by the window and rushed up to
him.
"I'm late," she said by way of greeting. "I'm
sorry. It's only my second day at the restaurant and there's so much
to learn. I lost track of time."
Gary smiled at her, then
stunned her by leaning in and kissing her cheek. "Hi. I'm not
mad. You look happy."
"I am. I love my job. I know
it's early and I'm still in the fun part of work, but I love it. I
love the staff, the customers. I adore the food. It's amazing. I may
actually have to start exercising to keep from gaining weight."
She
kept talking— make that babbling— some from excitement,
but mostly out of shock. Sure, Gary's light brush across her cheek
was hardly news-worthy, but his caress had been unexpected. Nice, but
unexpected.
She resisted the need to put her fingers on the
spot his mouth had been as she tried to figure out what she felt.
There hadn't been any kind of
zing
of excitement, but that was
okay, right? Sex wasn't everything. Gary might not make her thighs go
up in flames, but she liked him.
She smiled at him. "I've
probably wound down for now," she said. "How are you? How
was your day?"
"Fine." He moved them toward the
small desk at the front of the foyer. "We have a
reservation."
She glanced around at the crowded
restaurant. It was one of those neighborhood places with great food
and plenty of regulars. The food smelled good and Dani liked the mix
of clientele. There were families, older couples, several large
parties and a group of women laughing in a corner.
"This
is nice," she said. "I've never been here."
"The
food is excellent. The menu has a lot of variety and everything is
good."
They followed the hostess to a quiet table in the
back.
"How did you find this place?" she
asked.
Gary held out her chair, then took the seat opposite
hers. "I used to work around here."
They were in an
older part of Seattle. She frowned as she tried to place a college.
She couldn't think of one in the neighborhood. It was mostly
residential.
"Where?" she asked. "At a private
school?"
He hesitated. "I wasn't always a
teacher."
"Oh. Okay."
It was then she
remembered she didn't know very much about her date. She knew he had
a sister, that he was kind and a great listener. Embarrassment
flooded her body as heat crawled up her cheeks.
"I'm a
horrible person," she said, with a groan. "Totally
disgusting and self-absorbed."
"What are you talking
about?"
"Me. My behavior. How many times have we had
coffee together? How many of those conversations have been about my
life, my problems, my job search? Me, me, me. It's awful. Why on
earth did you want to have dinner with me?"
"Because
I like you."
He must or he wouldn't have asked. She
pushed aside her menu and leaned forward. "I apologize for my
lousy behavior and promise that tonight is just about you. I want to
know everything. You can skip the being born part— that's a
little too messy for dinner conversation. But feel free to pick up
with your first memory after that."
He smiled. "You
have nothing to apologize for. I enjoy talking about you."
"Guys
like to talk about themselves."
"I'm more
comfortable listening. An old habit."
Which made him
practically perfect boyfriend material. He was smart and funny and
kind. A really decent person.
"So why aren't you
married?" she asked. "We've established you're not
gay."
He grinned. "But I am thinking of upgrading my
wardrobe."
She laughed. "I'm serious, Gary. Are you
keeping secrets?"
She'd asked the question lightly, then
stiffened when he didn't chuckle or tease in return.
"Not
secrets so much as information," he said.
She knew that
whatever it was, she was going to hate it. The knowledge formed deep
in her gut and sat there like a rock.
"You're married?
You killed a man? You used to be a woman? You have a contagious
disease and now I have three weeks to live?"
"No."
His expression was kind. "Nothing like that."
A
woman in her forties walked by the table, paused and backed up a
couple of steps. She looked at Gary, her eyes widening in
surprise.
"Father Halaran?"
Dani
straightened. A thousand thoughts flooded her brain but just one in
bright neon letters flashed: Father Halaran?
Father
Halaran?
As in…
Oh, dear God.
Gary nodded at the woman.
"Hello, Wendy. It's just Gary now. Remember?"
"What?
Oh, right." Wendy looked at Dani, then jerked her gaze back to
Gary. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."
"It's
been a couple of years and I'm doing well."
"I'm
glad. It's, ah, good to see you, Fa…ah, Gary."
The
woman walked away.
Dani blinked several times as her mind
slowly cleared. "So," she said, trying to sound casual when
in truth she was in the mood to scream. "That was
interesting."
"I used to be a priest."
"I
kind of figured that out."
He smiled. "Good. I left
two years ago. That's when I started teaching. I lived a few blocks
from here and always liked this restaurant. I probably should have
taken you somewhere else."
Did he really think that was
the biggest problem they had? "No. This is lovely.
Really."
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I
don't know. I'm trying to absorb the whole priest thing."
"You're
not Catholic," he said. "It shouldn't be a big
deal."
"You'd think. But it kind of is."
Although she couldn't say why.
A priest. As in married to the
church. As in celibate. Talk about a springboard to discussion. So
had he…been with a woman since? And if he hadn't, did he want
to be? Did
she
want to deal with that?
"Say
something," he told her. "What are you thinking?"
"No
wonder you're a good listener."
"Is this going to be
a problem?" He picked up the menu, then put it down. "I
wanted to tell you, Dani. There just wasn't a good time. It's not as
if I could introduce myself that way. 'Hey, I'm Gary. An ex-priest.
And you are?'"
She smiled. "That would be kind of
scary."
She looked at him, at the kindness in his eyes,
at the smile that had become familiar to her. She liked him. She
trusted him. He was a good man.
"Everything about leaving
was scary," he told her. "I'd been on exactly one date in
my life before I made my decision to become a priest. I'd never held
a job, lived totally alone, been a normal person. I'm still
adjusting, but I like it. This is where I'm meant to be. Are you okay
with that?"
Was she? She opened her mouth to say she was,
but then she couldn't. The knot in her gut hadn't gone away.
"I
have the most uncomfortable feeling that God is sending me a really
big message. He's telling me I'm not supposed to be with anyone right
now," she said. "For once, I think I'm going to listen. I'm
sorry, Gary."
She grabbed her purse and stood. He rose,
but didn't try to stop her. Disappointment darkened his pale
eyes.
"Maybe if you took some time to get used to the
idea," he began.
She shook her head. "I don't think
so. I'd like to stay friends, but I understand if you don't want to
do that. If you expected more."
"I'd hoped," he
admitted.
Guilt flooded her. She didn't want to hurt him, but
she couldn't ignore how she felt.
"I'm sorry," she
said and hurried away.