Catch 'n' Kiss (Are You Game?)

by Cahill, Rhian

  “I’m worried,” Dan murmured.

  “You and me both, which is why I’m not letting her stay at the house alone tonight,” Luc said.

  “They can stay at my place.” The offer was out before Dan thought better of it.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t like that idea any more than I like the one of her going home.” Luc seemed to grow two inches as he leaned over Dan.

  Stifling a smile, Dan stood his ground. “Look, I get the whole big-brother-protection thing. I’m guilty of the actions myself, but I can guarantee you I’m not going to hurt Jody or the girls.”

  “Big talk for a guy she didn’t want me to call last night.”

  “Did she call you?” Dan already knew the answer to his question but felt the need to point it out.

  “Shit. No.” Luc rubbed his jaw. “How’d you know that?”

  “I overheard a couple of the officers talking earlier. Do you think she would have called you?”

  Luc looked away for a few seconds before meeting Dan’s gaze again. “No. Leigh freaked out when her father started yelling and rang me. I was on the phone when he started killing her car. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was tell that kid to hang up and call the police. For those few minutes, I was scared out of my mind I’d get there and find them all dead.”

  Fuck. Dan hadn’t known the details, and hearing it from Luc sent a chill down his spine. “We need to thank Leigh for keeping it together enough to ring you and then do what you told her to.”

  “Agreed.” Luc took a step away and stopped. “Oh, and for the record, I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”

  Dan nodded. He didn’t want Luc to feel that way again either. “Do you think he’ll leave them alone when the court order is granted?”

  Luc shrugged. “Hard to say. Before last night I’d have said he was a harmless loser. Now he’s a dangerous loser.”

  Tapping on glass grabbed their attention. Jody sat in the car scowling at them. “We better get going,” Dan said.

  “Are you ready for the third degree when we get in?” Luc asked.

  Dan laughed. “Yeah.”

  Luc grinned. “She’s going to be relentless.”

  “I hope so. I’m a little worried this whole thing has taken the wind out of her sails.”

  “Nah, it’ll take more than this to keep Jody down.” Luc clapped Dan on the back as he walked past and headed for the driver’s side. Taking a deep breath, Dan steeled himself for the coming questions and opened the rear passenger door.

  “What were you two plotting?” Jody twisted around to peer between her seat and the door.

  “Nothing. We were just talking about today.” He didn’t meet her gaze, which he knew would have given the half-lie away.

  “Ha. Bullshit.”

  “Oh, she’s swearing. Always a good sign,” Luc said as he climbed in behind the wheel.

  “You.” Jody spun around and levelled a finger at her brother. “Don’t you do your zipped-lip security-man impersonation on me.”

  Luc laughed. “Jody, Jody, Jody. Would I do that to you?”

  “Argh. Yes, you would. Now I want to know what is going on. Don’t feed me a line, Lucas Wilhelm. I might not be able to stop you from going all macho-protective big brother on me, but you can at least do me the courtesy of treating me like the adult I am and tell me what the hell you’re doing.”

  Luc sighed as he started the car and then moved them out into the flow of traffic. “I’m not planning anything other than making sure he sticks by the court order when the judge puts his stamp on it.”

  “How?”

  “I’ll have someone keep an eye on him for a while.”

  “You’re not going to have me or the girls followed are you? I won’t stand for that, Luc.”

  Dan sat quietly listening to the two of them interact. They were close, and he wondered if they’d always been that way or just since Jody had separated from her ex.

  “I promise not to have either you or the girls under watch. Just the loser ex who suddenly went from harmless to dangerous with the swing of a bat. What the fuck set him off anyway?” Luc asked.

  “He was raving about getting the divorce papers before he started remodelling my car.”

  “But that’s been in the works for well over a year and final for months.”

  “I know.” Jody sighed and slumped down in her seat. “I don’t get why he had a sudden objection to it.”

  “Did you see him before he showed up with the bat?” Dan asked. He wasn’t convinced the guy had gone off the deep end over the finalisation of their divorce.

  “No.” She bolted upright. “Wait. Leigh said he’d come around before I got home but she hadn’t answered the door.”

  Dan caught Luc’s eye in the rear view mirror. “Do you think she said something to set him off?”

  “What could she possibly say? And why would she even talk to him? Leigh said she didn’t answer the door and I believe her. She has no reason to lie about it.”

  “Maybe not, then again, maybe she doesn’t want to tell you what happened,” Luc offered.

  “I still don’t see why she wouldn’t, but I’ll ask her when we get to your place.” Jody settled back in her seat and Dan put his hands over the top of her seat and gave her neck and shoulders a rub.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’re right and Leigh didn’t answer the door.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You told him what?” Jody couldn’t catch her breath. “Why would you do that, Leigh?”

  “Well.” Leigh’s gaze dart over to Dan before coming back to her. “I thought—”

  “You thought wrong, young lady, and that may have been the trigger that set your father off.” Jody paced between the couch and the television.

  “Jody—”

  She quieted her brother with a look and continued to pace. Leigh’s confession explained a lot. Colin’s behaviour had been so out of character. Even when they were together he’d never gotten violent when drunk. Then again, his daughter hadn’t told him he was being replaced in their lives by another man before. Dan stepped in front of her and grabbed her arms.

  “Stop.” He gave her a slight shake. “Leigh didn’t do it out of spite.”

  Jody was appalled that he would even suggest that. “Of course not.”

  “Then take a breath and calm down before you scare Leigh to death,” Dan whispered as he turned her around to face her daughter.

  Oh God. Jody rushed over to where Leigh sat curled up on the couch beside Luc. The poor thing was crying her eyes out and all because Jody hadn’t thought Leigh might misinterpret her reaction to Leigh’s admission.

  Jody pulled Leigh into her arms and rocked her like she had when she was a baby. “Oh, sweetie, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at your father for even thinking he has the right to care about who’s in our lives.”

  “I hate him!” Leigh sobbed against Jody’s shoulder.

  “Leigh, don’t say that. Hate is such a strong word. Things are okay to hate, but not people.”

  “But he’s horrible. And he said he didn’t want us to be happy.”

  Jody’s gaze darted up to meet Luc’s as she ran a hand over her daughter’s head. “Baby, what he wants doesn’t matter.”

  “But, but, he trashed our car so we couldn’t spend the day with Dan. Because I told him that’s what we were supposed to do today.” Leigh sobbed so hard she choked and all Jody could do was hold her and let her cry. She wasn’t sure what else to do or say to soothe her daughter’s fears.

  Cassie came over and held out a box of tissues. Jody tugged a couple from the box and waited for Leigh to calm down a little. Luc indicated he was getting up and she glanced over to see Amy standing in the doorway, thumbnail caught between her front teeth. She hadn’t chewed her nails in years, and Jody prayed this incident hadn’t set her back on that bad habit.

  She was grateful when Luc and Cassie ushered Amy out with the incentive of helping make the hamburger patti
es for dinner. Jody smiled. Amy loved to get her hands into food. And unlike Jody, her youngest daughter showed a real aptitude for cooking. Dan slid into the space vacated by Luc but remained quiet. She’d love to know what was going on inside his head right now. The poor man had been thrown into the middle of her family’s drama without consent, and she was surprised he wasn’t running for the hills by now.

  When Leigh quieted and her sobs had turned to sniffles, Jody eased her away and handed her some tissues. “Feel better?”

  Leigh shook her head. “Why does he hate us?”

  The million-dollar question. No mother wants to have to answer that. Not when the he in question is the child’s father. “I don’t think he hates you, Leigh.”

  “But he doesn’t love us either.”

  Jody closed her eyes and prayed for strength. She wouldn’t lie, but at fifteen Jody didn’t think Leigh was old enough to process the truth either. “He loves you the best he can.” Jody wasn’t about to include herself in that notion.

  “Well, it’s a seriously shitty way.” Leigh pouted and Jody breathed a little easier. If she was resorting to childish pouting then she wasn’t as upset by the lack of fatherly love Colin possessed as Jody feared.

  “Life is shitty sometimes. But we can’t let those bad things destroy the good,” Jody said.

  “I know.” Leigh sniffed into her handful of tissues. “But it still fucking sucks.”

  “Leigh, language.” It didn’t matter how crappy the situation, Jody wouldn’t let her rule about swearing slide.

  “Aw, Mum, c’mon. It’s not like Amy’s in the room,” she whined.

  Dan chuckled and Jody gave him the evil eye, prompting him to cover up with a fake cough.

  Leigh’s head swivelled back and forth, her gaze bouncing between the adults like spectators at a tennis match. Before her daughter could say anything, Jody said, “Why don’t you go wash your face and I’ll see if Uncle Luc has any of that ice cream you love.”

  “Ice cream before dinner?” Leigh’s voice rose with hope.

  “Yep. I think today calls for dessert first, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Leigh bounded off the couch and ran from the room.

  “So is that a treat, a reward, bribery or distraction?” Dan asked.

  “I have no idea, but I figure we could all do with something frivolous and pleasurable right now.” Her gaze caught his just as she said the word pleasurable and all sorts of adult pleasures flitted through her mind. She’d love to lose herself in his arms right now. Sink into the oblivion of pure ecstasy Dan delivered. Except that wasn’t happening any time soon. After last night and today, Jody wasn’t ready to add another complication to her life.

  And Dan O’Conner was one huge complication.

  Dan had no idea what was going on. Jody had gone completely cold on him. It was like a switch had been flicked. Dinner had been interesting. She’d avoided looking at him, and if she’d said more than two words directly to him he’d hand over his beloved Ducati. Luc had given him a questioning look across the table that Dan couldn’t even begin to answer. Luckily, the girls and Cassie had carried the conversation enough to cover up any lag in talk.

  Jody was currently in Luc’s living room with the girls. They were watching a movie from Luc’s collection. A chick flick. Which meant he and Luc were more than happy to be stuck in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.

  “Wanna tell me what happened?” Luc asked as he took a stack of dirty dishes from Dan.

  He shrugged. “If I had a clue I would.”

  Luc straightened. “You two didn’t have a fight or something?”

  “Hell, no. I can’t even pin-point when exactly she started giving me the cold shoulder.”

  “What happened with Leigh after we took Amy out of there?”

  “Nothing. There were no more big revelations. Although it does appear as though Leigh mentioning me set off the ex.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought he’d care. There has to be something else driving the sudden shift in behaviour.” Luc began loading the dishwasher. “I’ve got someone looking into his recent activity.”

  “Does Jody know?” Dan could only imagine her reaction if she didn’t.

  “Not specifics, but she knows I’m not staying out of it this time. I did that when she caught him cheating on her and look where that got her, years of crappy treatment.”

  “He cheated on her? Is he an idiot?” Dan didn’t expect an answer really. As far as he was concerned, the guy had to be stupid to let Jody go.

  Luc chuckled. “Among other things.”

  “Look.” Dan tried to collect his thoughts. “I’m not sure where this thing between me and Jody is going, but I can tell you where I want it to end up. I like her. A lot. I like spending time with the girls already, and we’ve barely managed a few hours. She intrigues me, not to mention gets my engine revved with just a look.”

  “Whoa.” Luc put up a hand. “I don’t need to know any of that. And I’m not just talking about you two getting it on. All I need to know is that you’re serious, and I think you’ve proven that in the last twenty-four hours.”

  Dan nodded.

  “But you’ve just been given a front row seat to her less-than-pleasant past, and I’m not all that sure that all the emotions and drama associated with it aren’t still weighing on her mind. She swore she’d never get involved with a guy again when Colin walked, and I believe she meant it, which is why you and her raises more than my eyebrows.”

  Dan pretty much figured the spectre of her past stood between them. He just had to work out how big of an obstacle it was. “Neither of us expected to connect the way we do.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing, because if she’s got time to think about something she’ll worry it to death before she ever gets started.”

  “So what are you saying?” Dan asked. If anyone could give him some insight it would be Jody’s brother.

  “It’ll be an uphill battle.”

  “But it’s winnable, right? You’re not suggesting I give up?”

  “What? No. I’m making sure you understand how difficult and stubborn she can be. Shit, she stayed married to that idiot out of stubbornness. She’d probably still be married to him if he hadn’t been the one to walk.”

  “He walked? She didn’t tell him to go?”

  “Put it this way, I think he got to the punch line first. She was ready to leave, had made the decision, but the girls made it harder to just up and go.” Luc ran his hand over his head. “Look. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. It should come from her. I just think you need to really be sure you want to continue seeing her. Those girls, all of them, have been through enough, and if you’re not in it for the long haul then back out now.”

  “I’m in it as deep as a man can get.” It wasn’t a confession of love. He’d save that for Jody, but he figured Luc would understand what he was saying.

  “Good. Good then.”

  Neither of them had a chance to say anything further because the bundle of energy that was Amy came barrelling into the kitchen. “Uncle Luc, Uncle Luc. Cassie said you can make us popcorn. Can you?”

  At thirteen she hadn’t quite given up some of her childishness, but Dan could see the woman starting to unfold inside her. “Aren’t you still full from those two hamburgers you ate at dinner?” he asked.

  “No. In fact my tummy is so empty it’s aching.”

  Luc laughed. “Yeah, right, your eyes have always been bigger than your belly. Give me five minutes and I’ll bring a bowl of salt and vinegar popcorn in.”

  “Yes!” She fist-pumped the air and disappeared back the way she’d come.

  Luc shook his head. “Her energy levels always amaze me. I wish I could bottle it. I’d make a fortune.”

  “She’ll lose some of that when she gets older. My sister was the same. Then she hit puberty and turned into a slug that we had to drag out of bed every morning.” Dan leaned against the kitchen counter. “Do you have a popcorn machi
ne or do you use the trusty old saucepan?”

  Rubbing his hands together, Luc opened the pantry. “Neither. I’m a microwave man all the way.” He pulled out a box of microwave popcorn and tossed it at Dan. “You pop, I’ll get the toping ready.”

  Jody could not believe she’d agreed to this. After she’d made the decision—again—to distance herself from Dan, she’d done the complete opposite. Again. Okay, so the girls—or more pointedly, Amy—were the reason she’d said yes, but she still had to take responsibility for her own actions. If it were anyone but her, she’d conclude the woman chopping and changing her mind was bipolar. Instead, she had to admit she was totally smitten and not willing to do what her brain kept telling her she should.

  “C’mon, Mum.” Amy grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the ice. “Quick.”

  “What’s the rush?” Jody stumbled as she tried to walk on the thin blade of metal on the bottom of the very uncomfortable boots she’d spent the last ten minutes lacing up.

  “I want to beat Leigh.” Amy let go and raced for the opening in the barrier that surrounded the ice rink.

  “Be careful,” Jody called out. She shouldn’t have wasted her breath. Amy was off and running. Literally. Her long, colt-like legs took her across the icy surface so fast Jody’s head spun. “Jesus.”

  Dan chuckled behind her. “I doubt he can even help you with that one.”

  She sighed and glanced over her shoulder at him. “You’re right. Nothing short of Valium can help with that one once she gets going.”

  “I don’t think you need to worry.” He indicated the ice rink with his chin. “She’s already got the hang of it.”

  Jody turned back to see Amy skating past as though she’d been doing it all her life. “Oh my God, look at her.”

  “She’s a natural.” Dan moved beside her and took her elbow. “C’mon, your turn.”

  She allowed him to guide her onto the ice. Her knees shook, which didn’t help, but she did manage to stay upright. At least she did the first time around. The second saw her getting a little too confident and paying the price. One slightly bruised backside. And while the fall had hurt, it wasn’t enough to have her leaving the ice. Both the girls were whizzing past with the speed and skill only the young possessed.