His First Choice

by Tara Taylor Quinn

  “He didn’t eat with us,” Kacey said.

  She knew Jem was under Lacey’s skin. Lacey didn’t have to say a word and she knew. She just didn’t seem to get that it didn’t matter if Kacey was interested in the guy or not; it didn’t stop the guy’s gaze from straying.

  Kacey also wasn’t quite as good at accepting that she couldn’t make things happen as she thought they should.

  “While I was making grilled cheese, he came out and asked if I’d mind overseeing Levi’s meal so he could keep working.”

  “He didn’t eat?”

  “He ate. But outside, studying drawings and walking around the space he’s framed off.”

  “He needed to get the cement poured today so it would have time to cure.” He’d told her so. “He was probably just running behind.”

  “Or maybe he didn’t want to eat alone with Levi and me. Maybe he ate outside because you weren’t here.”

  Maybe. But if that was so, it was probably because Kacey was giving him no encouragement whatsoever.

  And even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t really believe it wasn’t.

  Besides, at the moment they had a much bigger issue on their hands. Jem believed in his ex-wife. Lacey didn’t. And Levi’s future rested in the middle of the dispute.

  After Kacey went to bed, Lacey took her phone into her craft room, sat at her sewing machine and started working on a quilt she was making for one of the shelters that housed kids on a temporary basis. After a minute she stopped, put her Bluetooth earbud in place and called Jem.

  He picked up on the second ring.

  “I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’ve already given up your entire weekend for me, but this is important.” She’d spent a good twenty minutes practicing that and was pleased overall with the delivery.

  “What’s up?”

  He didn’t sound bothered. But he probably would be as soon as she told him the reason for the call.

  “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

  “Nope. My bottle of beer, the fish and I are happy to have you join us.”

  “You’re sitting outside?”

  “Yep. It’s a nice night.”

  She hadn’t been out, but had an overwhelming sense of wanting to be in that backyard with him at that moment.

  “Is Levi with you?” They couldn’t have the conversation she needed to have if the boy was sitting right there.

  “Are you kidding? He was worn-out. He’s been asleep for more than an hour. And before you wonder, Miss Social Worker, I have a nursery monitor right here on the table beside me.”

  “Believe it or not, I wasn’t concerned.” She told him the truth. She’d seen the nursery monitor in Levi’s room and had noticed receivers around the house, too. Those were some of the types of things she was trained to see.

  “Well, then, I apologize.”

  “For what?”

  “Accusing you of...”

  “What, being on guard and working even when I’m not at work? You don’t have to apologize for that. It’s true.” He wasn’t going to take this well. She just knew it. She wished she didn’t have to make him upset with her.

  She liked him. And wasn’t impartial. Which was why she was no longer on his case.

  “I wanted to ask you something,” she started, lowering her voice in hopes of softening the impact of the coming inquisition.

  “Yes, I’ll have dinner with you, all alone, any night you choose.”

  Her stomach jumped. Making room for the liquid heat flooding her lower belly. “What?”

  “I said yes, I’ll have dinner with you, all alone, any night you choose.”

  Where on earth had that come from? The thought was quickly followed by another. He was drinking beer. And it had softened his brain.

  “Really.” The word was a statement. One meant to show him she knew he was egging her on and she wasn’t falling for it.

  Not that Jem was the type of person who toyed with people. At least, not in what she’d seen of him in the few weeks she’d known him, but what did she know?

  “Of course, really.”

  He sounded completely sincere. Kacey had pointed out on more than one occasion that he was paying as much or more attention to Lacey as he did Kacey. She’d even caught him looking at Lacey over the dinner table that night, when Kacey had been the one talking.

  Of course, Lacey had noticed, too. All the way down to her toes. But she didn’t think it meant all that much.

  So, he wanted to have dinner with her.

  “Why?” She’d never have asked if not for the distance afforded by telephone communication.

  He half sputtered, half chuckled. Like he was choking on a sip of beer. “What do you mean why? You’re a beautiful woman. I’m a normal male with normal urges and I’d like to spend some time alone with you.”

  “Okay.”

  “If you’re worried that I just want you for the sex, then...”

  “I wasn’t,” she interrupted as her panties started to get moist. What in the hell was the matter with her? She didn’t have those kind of reactions. Even in her fantasies. She had too much control to let anything get that far.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he continued, his voice lowered. “I do want to have sex with you. As soon as possible. But I want to have dinner with you, too. And this late-night phone conversation is pretty cool, too.”

  “You’re nuts.” She laughed. The fantasy he was building was going to consume her if she’d let it. And he was teasing her. He had to be teasing her. “You hardly know me.”

  She couldn’t afford to believe he really liked her even half as much as she liked him.

  Because something told her that losing him in the end would hurt far worse than any pain she’d ever known before.

  “You’re wrong about that.” How a voice could sound so sexy she had no idea. But just listening to him talk was making her want to go to bed with the man. Which was not a good thing. At all.

  Maybe in the secret recesses of her mind. But nowhere else.

  Of course, these days, people had sex without even dating. Or dating exclusively. They had sex without love. Or even a great deal of affection.

  People. Not her.

  But he didn’t know that...

  “We might not have known each other long,” he continued, “but the way you came into my life was pretty intense.”

  Sure was. She’d told him he was under suspicion because there were reports his son was being abused. “I suppose.”

  “I had the hots for you the second I saw you standing on my doorstep.”

  If that had been a confession, he’d sounded way too proud of himself to be seeking forgiveness.

  And she was too busy accepting the fact that he’d had the hots for her when she’d been all Lacey. On the job. Completely herself. Her heart fluttered.

  And then slowed.

  He’d had the hots for her before Kacey came to town.

  Other guys had chosen her, too, before they’d met Kacey. Before they’d known a larger-than-life rendition of her, one who was equally nice, existed.

  He wouldn’t be the first guy to settle for her when Kacey made it clear she didn’t want him.

  Her high school prom date had that distinction. The one who’d taken her home early because her skin was breaking out in glittery welts.

  “I’ve spent a few evenings with you, getting to know your tastes.”

  She’d purposely kept things completely business. For both their sakes. “I...guess.”

  “I’ve just spent the entire past weekend in your home. I know what kind of housekeeper you are. What kind of cook. I know you put the toilet paper on the roll with the end on top instead of on the bottom, which makes it easier to find when one needs to pull..
.”

  “Okay, now you’re embarrassing me.”

  “I noticed because I do it the same way.”

  She was even more embarrassed.

  “I know that you have a genuine fondness for my son, that you’re a natural around him and that he likes you.”

  “He adores Kacey.” She wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. Fantasy or no.

  “When he asks for one of you, he always asks for the other, too.”

  “And do you, too?” Growing up in Hollywood, they’d had their share of come-ons from men who wanted to take them both home.

  They’d even had an offer for a B-rated movie deal once. Kacey had fired the agent who’d passed that one on to them.

  “A guy might fantasize,” Jem said, his tone sobering, “but I like to focus on one woman when I’m making love. There’s only one of me.”

  Were they really having this conversation?

  She needed to stop it, but didn’t want to. She was kind of enjoying herself. Because it didn’t really mean anything.

  And because it was better than pissing him off, which was what she was about to do.

  “So...if I agree to this dinner thing...does it mean I have to have sex with you?” The line was more Kacey than her, but she pulled it off.

  She hoped he’d say yes. She knew that if he did, she was going to end things right there.

  “Sex is not a requisite for a dinner date.”

  “You’re sure.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Wow. What man gave up sex, even in jest?

  “Okay, then.” She called his bluff. Because the conversation was beginning to matter.

  “Did you just agree to have dinner with me? Alone? As in a man and a woman on a date?” He showed no signs of distress. Or humor, either. He sounded like he really and truly wanted to have dinner with her.

  She wasn’t sure why he was pursuing her like this, but she would not let herself get in so deep she’d get hurt. But...

  “I think so. Yes. And I’m not having sex afterward.” She needed him to understand that right up front. It couldn’t get that far. She couldn’t have sex without falling for him. And she absolutely could not fall for him.

  She had no idea what made him different from any other guy she’d ever dated. A couple of whom she’d had enjoyable sex with, without heartache when the relationships ended. Regret, sure. Who liked to share an intimate relationship and not have it work out? But heartbreak? Not since college, when she’d brought her boyfriend home for Christmas and he’d dumped her for Kacey.

  Jem was discussing nights for their proposed date. Lacey was scaring herself to the point of wondering if she should back out.

  “Is Wednesday okay?”

  “Yes. Kacey and I don’t have any plans.”

  “Do you think we could talk her into watching Levi?”

  “I don’t think we’ll have to twist her arm.” If her sister had still been up, she’d be sitting there eavesdropping and nodding her head emphatically.

  He suggested a couple of places they could go. She told him to surprise her, because she truly didn’t care where they went. And if she knew, she’d start looking forward to it, picturing the evening in detail, building it into more than it could be.

  But she couldn’t let him hang up. Not yet.

  Because he might be canceling that date before he’d ever made a reservation.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  GLAD THAT HE’D changed his mind and taken a beer back outside rather than going to bed on a Tressa low, Jem stretched out in his seat, bantering back and forth with the woman on the other end of the line.

  He’d forgotten what a natural high that could be. He’d been into Tressa. Really into her. But he couldn’t remember the sound of her voice ever wiping away everything bad in his world.

  He’d been into other women, too. A few of them.

  Nothing compared.

  He’d asked Lacey Hamilton out on a date. And she’d actually said yes.

  She said yes! He felt like his junior high self, ready to race his bike to the top of the mountain that stood just outside his hometown and scream at the top of his lungs.

  Instead, he sat there sipping beer, unable to wipe the goofy grin off his face.

  “Jem?”

  “Yeah?” Had she changed her mind about going to bed with him after dinner? Okay, it might be a little premature, but...he was ready. More than ready.

  If she was...

  “On another note, I still haven’t told you the reason for my call.”

  Thinking back, he figured she was right about that. He’d hijacked the conversation to talk about dating.

  She said yes!

  Maybe she’d changed her mind about the tile or paint color in the room he was building for her—a common phone call in his line of work.

  “It’s about Levi.”

  His feet came back down to the ground with a flop as he reminded himself that she was off the case. She couldn’t take his boy away from him.

  And then he realized that she wouldn’t take his boy away from him. He’d just talked about how well he’d gotten to know her.

  It seemed he really had. If he were abusing Levi, she’d take him in a heartbeat. And he’d expect her to. Otherwise, they were on the exact same side.

  “What’s up?” His tone was even when he finally spoke. Coming from a place of confidence, knowing Lacey was his partner on this one. Not his adversary.

  “Has he ever talked to you about learning to swim?”

  “Yeah, of course. He loves the water,” he answered and then tried to remember specifically what Levi had told him. “There’s a pool at Tressa’s place and she was adamant about making sure he knew how to swim so there wouldn’t be any danger of accidental drowning. I told you how she overdramatizes everything. But she handled it. She taught him to swim all by herself.”

  He’d been proud of her. She’d taken control of herself, been positively productive and done something good for their son without Jem’s help.

  Lacey’s silence left him room to say more and he added, “He’s not ready to join a swim team or anything, but he’s proficient. He can get from one side of the pool to the other without taking in any water. It’s only seven feet across, but the point was to know that wherever he fell in, he could get to the side.”

  Again, Tressa’s plan had been good, well thought out.

  “But you weren’t there to see the actual lessons?”

  “No.” He remembered that with a little regret. He’d have liked to have been included. But he got so much of Levi to himself, he certainly couldn’t begrudge his ex-wife her share of big moments alone with him. “I was in San Francisco for a California contractors’ convention and also to meet with a potential client and work up a bid for me to send one of my crews up to work on a complex of condominiums.”

  “You were gone awhile, then.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned back, put his feet up again and took another sip of beer. “A little over a week. It’s the longest I’ve ever been away since Levi was born, and I gotta tell you, it wasn’t easy. I called him every day. Twice. Morning and night. I think he handled the separation a lot better than I did.”

  Wow. Talking to someone about his personal stuff, one-on-one, felt good. Damned good. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed that part of having a companion.

  “And by the time you got back, he knew how to swim?”

  “Yep. But that’s kind of been the story of Levi’s life. He masters new skills as soon as he puts his mind to them. Like walking. When he was ten months old, he took one step, holding on to the chair he’d pulled himself up on, and within two days, he was walking from the chair to the couch.”

  Suddenly he was back to doubting again. Kacey an
d Lacey had been alone with Levi that afternoon. And the boy had been subdued at dinner. Because he was exhausted, Jem knew, but...

  “Why the questions about him learning to swim?” he asked now. “Was there a situation with him when Kacey took him to the beach? Did she tell you something I should know?”

  Levi could have run off toward the water—though if he had, it would surprise Jem. Levi knew the consequences—no beach for the rest of the summer—if he didn’t respect the dangers inherent in being near the water alone.

  He started to sweat until Lacey said, “He was perfect at the beach. Kacey didn’t tell me something you should know, Levi did.”

  Everything inside Jem slowed down. Feet firmly on the ground, he sat forward, staring in the dark toward the pavers he’d laid himself.

  “What did he tell you?”

  “He asked Kacey and me how our mother held us both underwater at the same time when she taught us to swim.”

  That could mean any number of things.

  “He demonstrated to us how his mom held his ribs and squeezed as she held him under the water.”

  Four-year-olds exaggerated. Levi told him impossibly outrageous stories all the time. And Tressa did have a tendency to panic. She could have had too tight a grip on him, but only to keep him safe.

  Was everything they did going to be under scrutiny now? And for how long? What in the hell had that anonymous phone call gotten them into?

  “He said that he cried.”

  “He told you that?”

  In the version he got, Levi had had great lessons. He’d excelled as usual. When he’d made it across the pool by himself, Tressa had bought a little plastic basketball hoop and basketball for the pool and they’d played with it and had a blast.

  Levi had taken him by the hand out to her pool to show the little plastic basketball hoop to him as soon as he’d gotten back to town.

  “He also told me that he didn’t tell you, which is why I’m telling you. It seems significant that he not only didn’t tell you, but that its magnitude is such that it’s still in his data bank.”

  He didn’t disagree with her.

  She was telling him. Talking to him like a friend would. Or someone who also cared for his son.