The Right Kind of Trouble (9 page)

“No.” Gideon glanced up at the house, his gaze unerringly seeking out the room where she was mostly likely to be. And just as he'd expected, the curtains flickered. There were two libraries in the house. A large, formal one on the first floor, and another upstairs. That one was Moira's place. Bright and open, with light spilling in all year long and flowers added for color—if she wasn't working or sleeping, she could be found there. “She might love me, Brannon, but she doesn't want to. She didn't say a word when I left to join the army and she didn't say a word when I came back after my discharge. She didn't say anything when she heard I was talking about accepting the job with the department in Memphis and I don't expect a big change this time either. She doesn't want what's between us. It's probably easier for her when I'm
not
here. I honestly don't even know
why
she's hurt, because she clearly doesn't want me in her life. I'm just making it easier on both of us.”

He went to turn away.

Brannon grabbed his arm.

“She cried.”

Muscles bunching, he fought the urge to tear away from the grip that held him in place. “You want to let me go now,” he advised, ignoring what Brannon had said.

But Brannon ignored him as well.

“Every fucking day for over a month,” he bit off. “After she told you it was over, she cried. After you left for the army? She cried. Every time you came home on leave? She'd do her damnedest to be in town every day, even if she had to stay up halfway through the night to catch up on school work and all the shit going on with Neve and me. All she wanted to do was see you and know you were okay. And when you
left
? She cried
every
time. That never changed.”

Gideon twisted out of Brannon's grasp, clenching his jaw. He fought the urge to look up at the window again.
She cried …

He thought of the look he'd seen in Moira's eyes just a couple of hours ago, wounded, betrayed. Broken.

But then he made himself stop.

He was done.

He'd finally committed to doing the one thing he'd tried to do for years. He wasn't going back down that hole again. It was too damn empty, too damn lonely down there.

“She got over it,” he said, managing a careless smile. “She got married, right? She moved on. It's time for me to do the same.”

He headed down the stairs, telling himself he wanted a thorough update on just what the security team was doing.

“She never once looked at him the way she still looks at you,” Brannon called out.

Gideon kept walking.

“And she never once cried over him.”

This time, he hesitated.

Then he shook his head and forced himself to keep going.

*   *   *

“Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?”

Moira gave Ella Sue a wide-eyed stare and gestured to her neck.
Gee, I wonder,
she mouthed.

“Oh, it's not that. That would make you look scared. Mad. Both.” Ella Sue pursed her lips. “And you are that, I can tell. But you're also hurting, baby. On the inside.”

When Ella Sue came to sit down on the window seat next to her, Moira drew her knees up to give her room. Then, because she could, she rested her head on the other woman's shoulder. “He's leaving,” she whispered, staring out the window at Gideon. His dark head was bent toward Neil Fraser's bald one.

Ella Sue tensed. “Please tell me you mean Neil.”

Moira shook her head.

“Oh, dear.”

Ella Sue managed to pack an awful lot into those two simple words.

“Yeah.”

Ella Sue's dismayed silence lasted all of ten seconds. Then she nudged Moira aside and stood up. With her back to Moira, she stared into the empty room and then turned to look outside, her dark gaze unerringly seeking out Gideon. That study was brief, but intense and Moira had no idea what the woman was thinking.

When Moira became the focus of Ella Sue's interest, she had the urge to squirm. Or remember something that suddenly needed doing. As if she could see exactly what was going on inside Moira's head, Ella Sue crossed her arms over her chest and started to tap her foot. “So. He's leaving.”

“Yes.” The pain in Moira's throat was nothing compared to the one in her chest, one that threatened to tear her into a hundred, bleeding pieces.

“Then I guess you had better get busy, Moira. Child, I love you, but you've been punishing the both of you way too long. It's time to stop.”

Moira gaped at her. “What … why…”

“Don't.” Ella Sue's eyes flashed. “I've kept quiet and I've done my best to … no. I
have
understood. But do you
really
think this is what your mother would have wanted? What your father would have wanted? You acted like a teenaged girl in love. You behaved like a brat, yes. That doesn't mean you deserve a lifelong sentence.”

Moira flinched as if she'd been slapped.

Then, slowly, she drew her knees to her chest, hugging them as she tore her gaze from Ella Sue's. “You knew. All this time…?”

“Yes.” Ella Sue stroked a hand down Moira's hair, then cupped her cheek. “That crash wasn't your fault. Not yours and not his. Heavens, Moira. If your mother had wanted you home
that
badly, she would have tracked you down and brought you home.”

Moira sucked in a breath, the pain in her throat almost matching the pain in her heart.
Almost.
Nothing would ever hurt that bad.

“Fix this,” Ella Sue urged. “Fix this … fix this tear you've put between you and him, because if you don't, you'll regret it the rest of your life. And so will he.”

Ella Sue left, leaving Moira alone.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

“Moira.”

She looked up from the clothes she'd been digging through. She had a date with Gideon tonight and she was trying to find the best way to wow him. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she wanted …
something
.

“Hi, Mom.”

Sandra McKay stood in the doorway, blonde and beautiful, her hair cut short, an expectant look on her face. “You almost ready?”

“Just trying to find…”

Neve came barging in, braids flying, a wide grin on her face. She leapt up and ended right in the middle of Moira's bed. “Neve, you brat!”

Clothes went flying, and so did the sexy little new set of underwear she'd picked up—the set she'd done her best to keep her mother from seeing.

“Don't call me a brat! Otherwise you'll have to buy
all
the tokens!”

Tokens? “Whatever.” Rolling her eyes, she pushed her sister out of the way as she tried to casually gather up the bra and panty set, dumping some other clothes on top to keep it mostly out of sight. “Would you scram? Gideon is going to be here soon.”

“Gideon's coming?” Neve started to bounce and squeal.

“We've got a date. It's our anniversary,” Moira said loftily.

“Oh. Oh, dear … Moira, I asked if you had plans.”

Looking over at her mother, she said, “I do. Gideon. It's our anniversary. I told you that
weeks
ago.”

The look on Sandra McKay's face had Moira's stomach going tight. “Oh, don't you dare try to push Nevie off on me. Gideon and I have been planning this for
weeks
! Don't you remember me going shopping for clothes last weekend?”

Sandra passed a hand over her face. “Moira, calm down. I do … I must have confused the days when I asked you. Everything has been so messed up since Richard died.” Her mouth tightened as she looked over at Neve. “We're trying to make … arrangements.”

“I
have
arrangements.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Moira glared at her mother.

“I don't care for that tone of voice.” Sandra's eyes chilled. “Keep it up and you
won't
be going on that date with Gideon, or anywhere else for the foreseeable future.”

A mutinous retort leapt to her lips, but Moira bit it back. Her mother didn't make empty threats.

“You go on your date,” Sandra said, her face set in implacable lines. “But we're going to talk about your attitude tomorrow.”

“Mommy…” Neve's voice fell into a needling whine. “I wanna go with Moira and Gideon. I wanna go on a date.”

“Too bad, brat!” Moira made a face at her.

“That's enough, Moira.” Sandra held out a hand to Neve. “Come on, baby. Maybe you, Daddy, and I can have a date. I need to call Ella Sue, work something else out, okay?”

*   *   *

“I can't believe she expected me to babysit Neve tonight,” Moira said as Gideon climbed off the bike. She had a picnic basket in one hand, a flashlight in the other. “She's known I've been planning this for
weeks
.”

When he stood in front of her, he bent his head and his mouth closed over hers in a deep, hot kiss that left her head swimming.

“You know … I don't recall us setting up a date to talk about your mom,” he said when he lifted his head away.

“Ha, ha.”

Gideon grinned back, taking the basket from her. They started to walk, heading around down the path that would take them down along the river. They had wanted to go to the same place where he'd first kissed her, where he'd asked her to be his.

So that's where they were going. It was only about a half mile from the house, but nobody was going to bother them there.

Besides … she was thinking about talking him into going to the pool house later. Her parents had indeed taken Neve out on a ‘date' and Brannon was grounded, so he wasn't going swimming. Neve wasn't allowed to swim unless Dad was home and Dad wasn't going to want to swim by the time they got home, so even if they
did
end up coming back home …

Privacy!

“Mom just spazzes over everything. I know what the problem is. It's all because Richard died. She's like determined to find a new guardian. She's
such
a spazz,” Moira said. She shot a look back at the sexy work of art that was her boyfriend and shrugged.

Gideon had been her friend first. Then he'd become her boyfriend … now he was her lover. He was her everything.

She wanted to feel his body pressed up against hers again.

The first time hadn't … well, it had hurt. It had been awkward on top of that, but she was stubborn. And the second time? Much better. She thought maybe tonight, if she could talk him into visiting the pool house, they could have a third time and it would be even better.

“Chill out, Mac. You're lucky you got a mom who cares.” Gideon's mouth tightened a little. “Shit, you got two parents who care. Toss in Brannon and Neve and you're like the picture-perfect family.”

“Neve's more a picture-perfect brat,” she said, laughing.

Gideon, in her mind, was about perfect. Nobody understood her like he did. Of course, he also had a mad affection for her annoying little sister, but nobody was
completely
perfect.

“She's a kid.” Gideon caught her around the waist and kissed her neck. “You were a kid once too, Mac. I remember that … and you grew out of it. So will she.”

“Humph.” She elbowed him in the gut and they started walking again. “She's got a crush on you.”

She saw the grin that split his face, and rolled her eyes.

“I know.” He chuckled. “I'm irresistible to the McKays. What can I say?”

“Yeah, well, I think Brannon is immune.”

Gideon almost choked laughing.

*   *   *

The chaise lounge wasn't exactly a bed of roses, but it might as well as have been as she and Gideon fumbled with each other's clothes.

They'd spent more than a few nights out here, doing this.

Their first time had been on this lounge, and she thought maybe it was her favorite piece of furniture in the whole damn world.

When he slid his mouth down to rub it against her neck, she brought her foot up and dragged it along the hard, heavy muscle of his calf. The coarse hair tickled her foot. She awkwardly lifted herself against him, and he made a low noise in his throat, driving against the hollow between her thighs. It sent a slow curl of heat through her.

When she did it again and she heard him moan, it gave her the courage she needed to slide one hand between them and rub him through his shorts.

He tensed, and when she closed her hand around him, he lifted his head, eyes glittering.

“You don't know when your folks will be home,” he said gruffly.

“They aren't going to come out here this late. They never do. Dad will be too tired after working all day then going out, and Mom only swims when we make her. Come here…”

She slid her fingers up higher and freed the button on his shorts. His breathing went ragged. “You … Moira…”

In the dim glitter of lights that filtered in through the windows, their eyes met. She licked her lips, blood rushing to heat her cheeks as she tugged at his underwear. As his eyes went hooded, she shoved her hand down the front and closed her hand around his penis. “Again, Gideon.”

She loved the feel of him. He was … soft. At least his skin was. Softness wrapped around the hot, heavy length of his cock, and she felt something pulse inside when he jerked in her hand.

“Again.” He rubbed his mouth against hers.

They fought with their clothes, her shirt and bra ending up in a twisted tangle around her arms and shoulders, while he yanked her panties and shorts down.

He came back to her and she gasped, the feel of him passing back and forth between her thighs filling her with liquid heat.

“Make love to me, Gideon,” she said, surprising herself with how easy it was to say those words.

He groaned and came inside her. “You don't have to ask me twice.”