Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series)

by McDonald, Donna

  “What’s the other part saying?” Shane asked, his husky masculine laugh sending a shiver through her that made him smile at her response. “I bet it’s saying the same thing everything in me in saying right now. It’s saying bring it on and hurry up.”

  Reesa laughed softly and closed her eyes until Shane bit her lip. When her eyelids popped open at the quick pain, there was amusement in his gaze, but something more—something Reesa was not willing to acknowledge.

  “We belong together,” Shane said confidently, pulling away to sit normally in his seat. “The universe sent you to me and me to you. I like the kids and I like you more than any woman I’ve ever met. Let’s see how this goes, Teresa Callahan.”

  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Reesa told him.

  “Okay. You can explain it to me again Monday morning,” Shane said, barely holding back stating his intent to get back into her. “Let’s have breakfast together and swap life stories. We can pretend we just met. I’ll bring bagels. You make coffee.”

  Reesa sighed in resignation and nodded, her hand on the car door. “Shane, I like you too, so I’m going to be gut honest. Don’t weave fantasies about us. My goal is to get permanent custody of the children. They’re going to be a part of my life forever. Those young women you usually date are a much better bet if you want a girlfriend who can pay attention and spend time with just you. We’re different in more than just how we look.”

  Shane sighed at her answer and shook his head, feeling his hair brush his shoulders. He would miss his hair, but he had promised Jillian to get a trim and shave. Looked like he was going to have to clean up his act to convince Reesa he was a grown-up, too.

  “Reesa, you’re the woman I want to spend time with no matter the circumstances,” Shane told her. “I’m adult enough to know that for the truth it is.”

  “There’s a difference between being adult and knowing your mind. You’re not even thirty. I didn’t know what I wanted at your age, and frankly the greatest sex in the universe won’t bridge our differences for long,” Reesa said bluntly.

  “No—but great sex can make us both feel better about life. It might make the hard times more tolerable for you when you know my arms are waiting to hold you,” Shane replied, feeling the smile spread from his mouth to his eyes before he could stop it. Satisfied male laughter followed. “Greatest sex in the universe. Wow. I thought you were great in bed too, honey. You’re the best sex I ever had, but that’s only part of why I looked for you.”

  “When the new wears off, you’ll see I’m just a normal woman. Any woman would like being with you,” Reesa said honestly, opening the car door before she was tempted to fling herself across the stick shift and into Shane’s lap.

  “You said I made you laugh. Well you made me laugh too, Reesa. You made me lose control in bed, which has never happened to me before. You told me life was too short not to follow my dreams. Well, guess what, lady? You’re my dream,” Shane told her. “You need to start getting used to the idea that I want to be in your life.”

  “Stop—just stop with the romance, I already agreed to Monday.” Throat tight and eyes burning over his words, Reesa got out of the car and walked to the house shaking her head in denial.

  She heard Shane’s car pull away from the curb as she shut the door behind her.

  Chapter 5

  Holding her cell phone to her ear, Reesa listened to country music as she waited on hold. Not her favorite music, but it was better than the elevator music the other two companies had on their answering systems.

  She opened the front door when she heard what sounded like a motorcycle in the driveway. Yep—it was definitely a motorcycle. Seconds later, the rider climbed off and peeled the helmet away confirming for certain it was Shane.

  Great, Reesa thought, the man-child rides a motorcycle. And she was the crazy woman who had stupidly agreed to date him.

  “Yes, I’m still here,” Reesa said into the phone, watching Shane unlock a compartment on the back of the bike and pull a paper bag from it. “I have a cracked pipe under my kitchen sink. Friday? No, I can’t wait that long. I need someone today. Yes—I have tried them. Actually, I called both your suggestions and they recommended you. No—I understand. Thanks. I’ll call back if I don’t find someone.”

  Reesa disconnected at the same time she held the door open for Shane.

  “Hi,” she said. “Our date needs a rain check. I have a crisis going on this morning. I can offer you a cup of coffee, but I have to find a plumber who can come today.”

  “What’s up?” Shane asked.

  “Do you know how to fix plumbing?” Reesa asked, thinking that it would be nice to have someone in her life who could fix all the various things around the house that kept breaking. Shane was young, but maybe he had more skills than just great moves in bed.

  “Plumbing? No—not me,” Shane said, laughing. “I’m an intellectual and an artist. My man skills do not translate well into household chores. I have a great phone though.”

  Reesa laughed sardonically. Great—she’d agreed to date a man-child with a love of techno toys. “My kitchen is becoming a wetland. I need a fix-it person. Why is your phone so wonderful?”

  Shane dug his phone out of the motorcycle jacket he was shedding. “It’s wonderful because there’s a phone number stored in it for a contractor who knows how to fix things. Here—take the bagels,” he said roughly, shoving the bag into Reesa’s free hand.

  “Hey, don’t squish the baked goods,” Reesa teased, mirroring his gruff tone.

  Grinning, Shane pressed a button and waited. Reesa soon heard a masculine voice answering on the other end of the phone.

  “Joseph, I need you—well, I don’t, but Reesa does. She’s got plumbing problems. I don’t know what kind—the wet kind,” Shane said, frowning at Joe’s rapid fire questions. He put the phone on his chest and looked at Reesa waiting for an explanation.

  “Tell him I have a cracked pipe under the sink,” Reesa said. “It’s the one that makes cold water come out of the faucet.”

  Shane dutifully repeated the information. Reesa saw Shane shake his head and tromp off to the kitchen. She trailed behind him, seeing him smile over the basket of towels by the sink, the wet towels in the sink, and the doors open under it.

  Then Reesa suddenly wasn’t taking in any more of the phone conversation. Instead, she watched Shane lie down on his back and attempt to wedge the width of his shoulders inside the cabinet while he studied the pipes. He didn’t get into the cabinet very far. It was obvious that he was too big for the space.

  Trying not to think about what spaces Shane fit and didn’t fit, Reesa finally turned away from him. It helped her ignore his prone body stretched out in the floor. It was way too tempting to her this morning and she couldn’t help wondering what he’d do if she simply crawled on top on him to rock away the sudden ache between her legs.

  Reesa got down two cups from the cabinet, smacking them on the counter harder than necessary in her physical frustration. She went to pour steaming, fragrant coffee into both, stopping when she heard Shane sputter and curse, and then yell his frustration into the phone.

  Reesa walked over and looked under the cabinet and saw Shane had removed the towel she had strategically wrapped around the spewing, cracked water pipe. Water was dripping off his face now from where the shooting leak kept hitting him. He tried to fight it off with one hand while still talking on the phone he held in the other.

  Reesa imagined the phone getting wet and zapping him, which shouldn’t have been funny, but was. Giggles welled up and escaped. She had never been a giggler, but the situation was just too funny.

  Walking over to the sink, Reesa straddled Shane, standing on either side of his waist as she took a thick, fluffy towel from the basket. She tried to lean under the sink to rescue him from the water that was still steadily assaulting him, but couldn’t reach.

  “Hold still and don’t get any ideas,” Reesa mumbled, dropping to h
er knees and being instantly reminded about how far she had to spread her legs to get around the man. Her face flooded with heat and memories.

  Taking a deep breath before doing what had to be done, Reesa reached inside the cabinet, practically putting her whole upper body in, and began wrapping the pipe with a fresh, dry towel. She pried Shane’s hand off the crack and quickly covered it.

  “Now don’t unwrap it again, Dr. Larson. I don’t have the time or energy to build a damn ark in my kitchen this morning,” Reesa said, ending on a laugh even though she tried hard to sound stern.

  Shane froze at her reprimand, suddenly very aware of the woman crouched over him, all but sitting on his chest. “Call you back later, Joe. Yeah—I’ll get my father to do that.”

  He tossed his phone into the laundry basket with the dry towels and shoved his body out of the cabinet, tipping Reesa down onto him in the process. She called out and grabbed his shoulders for support.

  Seconds later, Shane was sitting up with her still straddling his lap. His face and hair dripped water on his shirt, which was completely soaked on one side from fighting the spewing water, but all Shane was really conscious of was the woman in his lap.

  “Your water shut-off is stuck. Do you have an adjustable wrench?” Shane asked, thinking how satisfying it was to be close to her again.

  Reesa scrambled to scoot backwards off his lap only to have Shane put his very large hands on her rear and pull her hips forward to put her back in place. Be calm, she told herself. Don’t go all nuts-o just because the man is finally under you again.

  “If that tool is in the garage, I doubt I would recognize it,” Reesa told him, trying to distract him. “I don’t have repair skills either.”

  Shane snickered. “My father and Michael are both guys who can do this stuff. I’m afraid the fix-it gene passed me by. I do have other valuable skills if you’re interested.”

  He grinned when Reesa squirmed on his thighs, realized what was happening to him under her, and then froze in his lap. He wasn’t ready to let her up yet, but he didn’t want to scare off by being too bold either.

  Time for a change of subject, he decided.

  “I’m totally soaked. Joe kept asking me questions and I couldn’t do much one-handed. I got it unwrapped, but I couldn’t put the towel back,” Shane said, happy to hear her giggle again. Who knew he would like a giggling girl? “Joe said he can’t come by until tonight. He said to turn off the water and wait for him, but said the valve would probably need a wrench since it was stuck. I’m afraid if I try to bust it loose with brute strength, I’ll break it completely off. You don’t have enough towels for that emergency. We’d drown before we got the ark built.”

  “If two college educated people can’t figure out how to turn off the water under the sink, we don’t stand a chance in hell of building anything to keep from drowning. Got any other ideas about what we can do?” Reesa asked, liking the way Shane laughed and flirted with her in the midst of the chaos and his wet condition.

  Forgetting for a moment where she was sitting, Reesa reached into the basket for another dry towel. She draped it over Shane’s still dripping hair and massaged his scalp and his hair to dry it. His eyelids drifted closed at her actions and had her turning to mush inside.

  What a big sweetie, she thought. He just wants someone to be nice to him. The temptation to be even nicer was suddenly more than she could handle and her lips found their way to his. She held his head still with handfuls of wet hair tangled in her fingers. He just looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes and a gaze dark enough to drown in.

  God, he tasted good.

  And he smelled good.

  Not to mention that he felt great, Reesa thought, unable to resist rocking in his lap finally and moaning at the lovely friction between them.

  The next thing Reesa knew, she was being kissed very thoroughly, Shane’s tongue invading and finding hers.

  There was no mistaking the magic between them this time.

  This was unbound lust on the kitchen floor. No alcohol to dull the senses. No excuses other than simple need and a mutual attraction to each other too strong to deny.

  Suddenly, dating was looking like the slowest path to the destination, but it would definitely give her a legitimate reason to sleep with Shane again when she got the chance.

  Shane pulled away first from their kiss, but kept a firm grip on her hips.

  “I have to call my father,” he said sadly, his words vibrating against her mouth. “I’d rather roll you over in the floor and make you even more happy to see me, but I’m going to do the mature thing this morning. We need to save the kitchen. Joe said water damage on floors can be expensive to fix.”

  “How is calling your father going to help? Is he a plumber?” Reesa asked, running a hand over his face as she pulled the towel away. “Oh my God—you shaved. Did you shave for me?”

  Shane sighed, the look of pleasure in Reesa’s eyes combined with her hand stroking his jaw threatened his resolve to prove to her that he wanted more than just a sexual relationship. Though he damn well wanted that too—God yes, he wanted that. He stroked her backside with trembling hands, which was becoming a common occurrence around her. Shaving had just taken on a whole new meaning to him. It was to put that pleased approval in her green gaze.

  “Dad’s not a plumber, but he owns a lot of useful tools. Hopefully, he’ll have a set of channel locks or an adjustable wrench of some sort. We need to get the water turned off before you run out of towels or the crack decides to burst completely,” Shane said, sighing hard when Reesa finger-combed his wet hair and tucked it behind his ears.

  Do not attack her. Just because she’s sexy and caring and sweet and—remember the kitchen needs saving. The kitchen is wet. You’re wet. Reesa probably is too, and in the good way—damn it.

  Shane sighed again and spoke his regret out loud. “Damn our timing this morning. If the sink wasn’t a priority, I would show you what I am good at around the house.”

  Reesa laughed his statement, wondering if her sexual frustration was as obvious to Shane as his was to her.

  “I have the first set of towels I used this morning drying in the dryer now. I can stave off the leak a little longer. I’m not domestically talented, but I’m resourceful when I have to be,” she said, avoiding all response to his statement. Reesa didn’t dare answer it. She was too honest and he’d have her naked two seconds after she told him how badly she wanted him.

  “Resourceful is good,” Shane said, bringing her forward in his lap again and settling her where he wanted to feel her most. He closed his eyes at how good it felt to hold her. “Resourcefully sexy. Resourcefully hot. I can’t believe how much your resourcefulness does for me. Can you tell?”

  He pushed up against her, thrilled when she raggedly sighed.

  “Yes, I can tell. Better let me up Shane while it’s still an option for both of us,” Reesa said quietly, closing her eyes against what she saw in his gaze, and okay—what she feared was also in hers beaming back at him.

  “Hug me first,” Shane ordered softly, unable to let Reesa go when he wanted her so badly. “I need to hold you for a minute. I know it’s all we have time for right now.”

  His honesty charmed her as it had that night two weeks ago. Reesa dropped the wet towel she had used to dry Shane’s hair on the floor beside his leg and wrapped both arms around him. When she did that, Shane brought his legs up and crossed them, rocking her further into his embrace until he had wrapped himself so completely around her that he cocooned her with his entire body.

  This is bad, Reesa thought as she let herself sink into the comfort of him. Very bad, even though it’s also very good. The man was practically melding with her. Hugging Shane felt even more intimate than kissing him. Kissing was predictable. This—whatever was in their embrace—she didn’t know what to make of it. She’d never had a man wrap her up in his arms like he wanted to make her part of him, which was the problem with Shane Larson. He was living some fantasy
about her, and it was tempting to just go along with his delusion.

  Oh hell, she thought, no, no, no. There could be no keeping him or him keeping her.

  Fun was fun, but Reesa knew she definitely was not ready to add seriously dating a younger man to her already crazy life. Losing Brent had been bad enough. When Shane stopped wanting to date her, she didn’t want to feel like she’d lost an arm or some other equally vital body part. She already knew he was going to be harder to forget than any other man. She still remembered everything about their one night.

  Reesa pushed away and climbed off Shane as fast as she could without stumbling.

  When she was standing over him, Reesa looked down into his face surprised to see something hard and fierce in his gaze as opposed to something soft and comforting.

  Every male she had ever slept with had looked at her in that same possessive way and it had never sat well with her. Reesa was so not ready to see that look in Shane Larson’s eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Shane asked as he studied her slight curves.

  “Nothing. I’m—I’m going to look for that wrench,” Reesa said, dashing out of the kitchen through the utility room door.

  Shane watched Reesa flee and rolled himself forward until he could stand. He fished his phone out of the towel basket and called his father. The tools were at Michael’s house, but it wouldn’t take his father long to get to Reesa’s after stopping for them.

  Reesa came back in from the garage without anything, which made Shane grin at her guilty expression. He had hugged her and scared her, which seemed strange to him considering just moments before that they had both been ready to have sex on the kitchen floor. Why in the world was hugging more intimidating to her?

  “Dad’s coming to the rescue and bringing wrenches. He’ll be here in thirty minutes,” Shane said, noting her discomfort and fighting not to ask her about it.

  “It’s really nice of your father to come help someone he doesn’t know,” Reesa said.