Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series)

by McDonald, Donna

  “I’m sure you’re doing the best you can,” Shane told her, watching Reesa get up to pace. It hadn’t missed his notice that Reesa didn’t sit still very often. She was always a compact mass of energy looking for a purpose.

  “I have money. I can give you fifty thousand and never miss it. My regular royalties are enough to live on,” Shane told her.

  Reesa stopped pacing and stared at him. “I don’t know which shocks me more, the fact you have that much in reserve or that you’re willing to offer it to me.”

  “Good thing my masculine ego is in great shape,” Shane said, frowning. “I’m a published graphic novelist. It’s not bringing in megabucks, but I earn a living at it. The fifty thousand was for a side deal. Continue your story. We’ll discuss your view of my earning potential another time.”

  “I didn’t mean to insult you,” Reesa said softly. “I’m sorry Shane. It’s just that you look like you play more than you work. I wouldn’t care if that was the case because I’m not interested in your money.”

  “Maybe you should be,” Shane told her. “I may not look like it, but I can help you, Reesa. I’m shaving regularly now, but I haven’t had time yet to cut my damn hair. Don’t ask me to give up my jeans. These are my favorites.”

  Reesa laughed at his protests, and shook her head. “I’ve come to like you like you are. Even if I took your money—which I am NOT going to do—it still wouldn’t be enough. I have to come up with twice that much and show it as my income. I have less than a month to make math magic happen on paper.”

  “Does Jillian help you financially?” Shane asked boldly, already guessing the answer, but hoping Reesa wouldn’t be offended that he asked. His level of caring about her situation grew more each time he walked into the house.

  Reesa nodded and bit her lip, trying not to be tearful and sentimental over Jillian sacrificing as much she had. Jackson had been her brother, and she didn’t agree with what her parents were trying to do.

  “Jillian kept her car because I made her, but she sold her condo and gave me the money from that. She’s twenty thousand poorer and living with her parents. She tells me she’s away so much from home that it doesn’t matter anyway.”

  Reesa picked up a pillow, pulling and tugging on it, trying to get it fluffy and back into shape. They needed new throw pillows, but not badly enough to spend the money on them.

  “Jillian Lansing and I have been friends since middle school. When our siblings married each other, we were thrilled to think it made us family and not just best friends. Now Jillian, the kids, and I are all that’s left of our family. It doesn’t seem real that it’s ended up like this,” Reesa said.

  “Are the grandparents not family?” Shane asked gently.

  “Not in the good way. Jillian’s parents didn’t approve of our friendship much or of Jackson marrying April. They were constantly trying to get Jackson to do what they wanted instead of what he wanted. Now they think they can get Zack to do what they want. I think they see themselves as the benevolent grandparents of a UK superstar,” Reesa said meanly. “They don’t seem to care that Zack wants to be an engineer and build cars. The sports are important, but basketball isn’t going to be his whole life. Jackson got hurt and ended up coaching. It didn’t pay nearly well enough to support a family of six. I know Jackson wanted more for his children.”

  “I can only imagine it takes a lot to keep a family this big going,” Shane said, looking around the room. “They did a good job providing for them.”

  “Even after holding it together for six months, I still don’t know how parents do it. Maybe it’s easier when there are two people. I just move from crisis to crisis and hope for the best. At my company, I was considered a problem solver. That makes me laugh now. Taking care of these kids is the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life,” Reesa declared. “And I’ve learned there are some problems that don’t seem to have solutions.”

  “Sometimes solutions can be hidden in the problems. How awful would it be if Zack and Chelsea went to live with their grandparents?” Shane asked, jumping up to walk to her when Reesa started to sniffle. “Hey—I’m not saying I don’t think it wouldn’t be better if they were here. I’m just asking how bad it would be.”

  “The four of them are a family, Shane. They’re supposed to be together—to grow up together,” Reesa said, not able to stop the tears running down her face. “You can’t know what it’s like to lose family until you lose it over and over. I’ve been losing people I love since I was ten. It never gets any easier no matter how much you guard your heart.”

  He’d never seen such agony on anyone’s face. Shane put his arms around her, pulled her into his chest, and held her close.

  “Who did you lose at ten?” he asked, whispering the question.

  “All my real family,” Reesa said. “They died in a car crash. I didn’t. April’s family adopted me when I was twelve. There were no living grandparents and no siblings to take me in so I lived in a children’s home in Morehead for two years. I know exactly how the kids feel losing their parents. I lost my parents and a younger brother and sister. I don’t want these children to lose each other.”

  Shane slid to his knees, his arms around Reesa to press his face between her breasts. “If I was a millionaire, I would give you every penny I had so you could fix this like you think you need to fix it.”

  “Shane,” Reesa said softly, wondering how in the world she’d found such a kind hearted man in a bar. She slid down him to her knees to hug him back. “Well what else would a superhero with a million bucks to throw around do? You have the kindest, most compassionate heart of any man I’ve ever known.”

  “Take the fifty thousand I have, Reesa. I was just going to use it to buy a house. I don’t need a house yet,” Shane said, pulling them both to floor.

  Shane took the pillow she’d been mangling and put it under his head, and then pulled Reesa on top of him. Once she was stretched out with her head on his chest, he stroked her back and kneaded her shoulders until he felt her muscles unwinding at last.

  “I appreciate you for offering, and I will think about it,” Reesa said carefully, knowing full well it wasn’t an option she could ever in good conscience consider, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “But if I can’t come up with the other fifty, it won’t matter anyway. Right now you’re giving me the best help anyone could just by being a friend and listening.”

  “So what—you think we’re just friends with benefits or something?” Shane demanded, trying to tease a laugh out of her. “Boy are you wrong.”

  “I’m wrong, huh? What do you think we are then?” Reesa said, lifting her head to look into his face.

  Shane met her gaze and held it for several seconds. “A lot more than just that,” he said finally, instinct telling him she’d just deny the truth if he said it out loud. Reesa had too full of a plate to discuss adding another person permanently to her life yet.

  Reesa laughed at Shane’s non-answer and laid her head back down on him. “I’ll get you a blanket if you want to spend the night on the floor. I make pancakes for breakfast on Sunday mornings. I have go sleep in the bed because Sara will be in there looking for me in a few hours.”

  “I’d love to wake up here tomorrow,” Shane told her, rubbing her back again. He’d love a lot of things.

  “I’d like you to stay. I wish it was under better circumstances,” Reesa told him regretfully.

  “Reesa, just so you know—I still want you,” he said. “I don’t want my desire for you getting lost in the chaos of everything else in your life. Don’t forget that it’s the woman I want.”

  “How could I forget something that big?” she teased “I feel it under my stomach right now.”

  Shane laughed at her honesty. “Oh, that’s where I put it,” he said.

  “I can show you where to put it Monday morning,” Reesa teased. “And next weekend—I’ll have two whole days. Right now, I have to ignore it because I can’t do a damn thing about it.
”

  Shane snickered at the irritation in her voice. “Well, it’s good to know I’m not suffering alone.”

  “See, if you’d gone home with that leggy blonde at the bar, you’d be getting lucky right now,” Reesa teased.

  “I’ll wait for you,” Shane said firmly, not missing the serious question beneath the teasing comment. She might be reluctant to discuss her feelings for him, but he knew she at least wanted him and only him. He’d have bet his fifty thousand on that fact without blinking. That’s how sure he was.

  “As bad I hate it, you’re going to have to get off me and quit testing my restraint,” Shane told her. “I haven’t seen my limits in a long while, and you test them constantly.”

  Reesa sighed and rolled off Shane onto the floor, landing on her back and staring at the ceiling. “Next weekend I intend to show you what I’m like when I have more than two hours to spend with you,” she said, liking Shane’s masculine laugh.

  “Can we do that show and tell in the big bed?” Shane asked, turning his head to smile at her.

  “We can start there,” Reesa agreed, meeting his gaze with her own demanding one.

  Shane groaned. “Go away, woman. Get me a blanket and let me be noble while I still have a sense of what’s right here.”

  “Fine,” Reesa said rolling to her feet. “I’m not going to let you be noble next weekend. You’re not the only one that likes it rough.”

  “Damn it, Reesa,” Shane said tightly. “Shut up and get me a blanket—now.”

  Reesa laughed all the way down the hall to the closet. When she got back to the living room, she tossed the blanket on top of Shane. She was smart enough not to get too close, especially not within reaching distance. Both their limits were being tested. And she had never been a person to deny herself much when it came to men.

  “Good-night, Shane,” she said softly.

  “See you in the morning, honey,” he answered.

  Reesa walked back to her bedroom, marveling again at the difference a few weeks could make in a person’s life. She couldn’t imagine any other man but Shane Larson camping out on her living room floor.

  ***

  When Shane woke and opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Brian, who was sitting on the couch and laughing at him.

  “Dude—you’re scary in the morning,” Brian told him.

  “What time is it?” Shane asked.

  “Morning time,” Brian said, grinning. “Don’t worry—you didn’t land in some time warp. It’s just Sunday.”

  “Do I smell pancakes?” Shane asked.

  “It’s Sunday,” Brian answered.

  Shane laughed. “So if I was around more often, would I eventually start to understand your non-answers to my simple questions?”

  “Probably not,” Brian said, grinning. “I can’t believe Aunt Teresa made you sleep on the floor.”

  “You got a problem with that?” Shane asked.

  “Why would I?” Brian asked. “I slept in a bed last night.”

  Shane pulled his pillow from behind his head and bopped a surprised Brian with it. The boy jumped up and ran away laughing.

  “I guess I don’t snore because I’m sure you would have told me about it,” Shane said sharply, sitting up and bending forward to stretch out his back. Sleeping on the floor had not exactly been comfortable, but it was worth it to be here. “I’m going to the bathroom. Is it free?”

  Brian nodded to the hall where he and Zack shared rooms. “Use ours. Chelsea uses the one on this side of the house. She stays in there for hours.”

  “Thanks,” Shane said, climbing to his feet.

  When he came out of the bathroom, he heard singing—loud singing. In the kitchen, he found the source. Reesa and Sara were listening to music and both belting out an oldie song about it being in his kiss. He watched Reesa’s hips swinging in time to the music as she flipped pancakes and sang with Sara. A bleary-eyed Zack sat at the dining table, but Shane’s gaze came back to Reesa shaking her rear. Shane closed his eyes, glad he wasn’t awake enough to have a stronger reaction that couldn’t be hidden from onlookers.

  When he opened his eyes again, Sara was singing into a spatula and holding a hand out as Reesa shook her rear and twisted. And that was the moment when he knew the truth was bigger than any problem, the moment he fell totally in love with Teresa Callahan. The little sassy blonde backup singer she came with was just a perk, he thought, grinning at the serious look on Sara’s face as she sang off-key.

  Shane rubbed his chest and the tightness growing there, his empathy for his Dad and Michael growing with every passing second. Love wasn’t as comfortable as he thought it would be. In fact, it was just about everything but comfortable. He wanted the woman, wanted this life with her, and would deal with waking up to the chaos every day if that’s what it took to marry Teresa Callahan.

  Reesa must have felt him staring at her because she swung around.

  “Oh—good morning,” she said to him, and Shane had the distinct feeling she wanted to walk to him and kiss him. He wanted it too.

  “Good morning,” Shane said, sliding into a chair at the dining table to keep from going to her or falling down in shock.

  When the pancakes were off the griddle, Reesa poured a cup of coffee, put in some creamer as she had seen Shane do, and carried it to him. As she started to walk away, Shane grabbed her wrist. “Thank you for the coffee. I really like waking up here, even though I could have done without Brian torturing me.”

  Reesa laughed and patted his cheek with her hand. “How do you feel about banana chocolate chip pancakes?”

  “WHAT?” Shane asked. “Is that what kind you make?”

  Reesa nodded. “Yes. Why? It’s the kid’s favorite kind. We always have them on Sunday. I’d like to put walnuts nuts in them instead, but not everyone around here likes nuts.”

  She went back to the griddle and poured another batch without waiting for his answer.

  Shane looked down the table at Zack, who was smiling at him.

  “I like pancakes too,” Shane said.

  “Does that mean you have to stay with us forever?” Zack teased.

  “I don’t know what it means,” Shane said truthfully, sipping the coffee in relief. “What are my chances of talking your aunt into it?”

  Zack looked around the table at Shane’s holey jeans. “You need to fix some things first. I am not talking my aunt into keeping a boyfriend who can’t afford jeans without holes.”

  Shane snorted. “I will get a haircut and lose the eyebrow ring, but I will not give up the jeans. A man has to have principles.”

  “I like your holey jeans,” Chelsea said, walking up behind Shane. “Or maybe I’m just getting used to them. They seem pretty normal for you now. I guess you’re just a casual kind of guy.”

  “Is that an insult?” Shane asked, looking at Zack.

  “Don’t ask me,” Zack said. “I had a fight with my girlfriend because I told her black was a depressing color. She said it was thinning. What does that mean? I like how she looks. If I wanted skinny, I’d date skinny. What’s the big deal?”

  “It means you need to stick with telling her she looks great no matter what color she’s wearing,” Shane said dryly, drinking coffee.

  Brian walked by the dining table and flinched when Shane jumped at him like he was getting up to tackle him.

  “Dude—you’re going to give me a complex,” Brian said. “And I seriously don’t need any more.”

  Shane laughed. “It’s okay. I’m a head doctor. I can give them AND take them away,” he said wickedly.

  Brian laughed. “That’s just wrong.”

  Shane laughed. “What time is it Brian?”

  “Look around—you got eyes don’t you?” Brian demanded.

  Shane put his coffee down and acted like he was standing up.

  “I’m not your watch, but it’s eight-thirty,” Brian said, laughing. “What is your problem?”

  “I’m not a morning person,” Shane
told him. “I need a lot of quiet and civility in the mornings.”

  Reesa brought a huge platter of pancakes to the table. “Here’s some to start. I’m making more, but I don’t want these to get cold.”

  Zack handed Brian his plate. Shane watched amazed as Brian very politely put three pancakes on it and passed it back. Zack thanked him and started eating.

  “So what’s that? You save your all social skills for Sunday morning pancake breakfast?” Shane asked, giving Brian a questioning look.

  Brian laughed and held out a hand for Shane’s plate. Shane handed him the plate and watched as he repeated the process for Shane.

  Then Brian plated up pancakes for Chelsea and Sara. He even cut Sara’s into bites for her. When everyone else had food, Brian fixed a plate for himself.

  Shane shook his head, staring at Brian. “Dude—your niceness in the mornings scares the hell out of me.”

  “Shaney, you said another bad word,” Sara said, her mouth full of pancakes.

  “Sorry,” Shane said to Sara, who pointed her fork at him in warning like Zack had pointed his finger yesterday.

  “Sorry, Brian,” he said to Brian, who was openly smirking.

  “Don’t do it any more,” Sara ordered, going back to her pancakes.

  Shane sighed as Zack and Chelsea just ate and laughed.

  Reesa brought the coffee pot and refilled his cup. “Is that leggy blonde looking better to you yet?” She squealed when Shane pulled her mouth down to his for a hard kiss.

  “Stop teasing—it’s not funny. Is everyone around here a morning person but me?” Shane demanded, frowning when he let her go.

  “No,” Zack said morosely. “And I hurt people who harass me before I’m awake. You’ll learn.”

  Shane nodded. “Reesa, stop cooking and come eat,” he ordered.

  “Last batch,” she promised. “The last one always has the most chocolate chips in it. And it’s mine, all mine.”

  Shane watched her carry her pancake to the table like a prize. That pancake and sleeping with him were the only two semi-selfish things Shane had ever seen Reesa Callahan do for herself.