by Harte, Marie
Poor Joey didn’t seem to come from the same supportive family. He was dying to know more about her, but she kept herself closed off. Why?
What the hell was she hiding?
Lou didn’t do married women or women with boyfriends. Might not be a ring on her finger, but he respected a close relationship. He never wanted to be the “other guy,” especially having seen his mother in the role of the “other woman” a few times in her life.
Yet for Joey, he’d pushed all that to the side, anything to have her in his arms again.
He exhaled on a moan. Scared because he thought he might love her. He didn’t know why, didn’t know how it had happened, and so soon. But it had.
Now what to do about it and how to make her trust him with more than her body but with her heart and secrets as well?
Chapter 15
Joey stood with her parents at Brandon’s soccer game Saturday afternoon. Near them, she saw Del and her family. Big Mike and his parents. Had to be his father because the man was a carbon copy of Mike and little Colin. And then Del’s father and her brother, J.T. A nice guy, handsome and again big, like the rest of the men in Del’s life.
Joey looked at her father, a small man. A professional, even in repose. Her father looked old to her, his brown hair slightly gray, his loafers, khaki pants and rolled up blue oxford sleeves screaming white collar even at a kid’s soccer game.
In fact, many of the attendees at the game reminded her of her dad. He talked to a few friends they saw regularly and laughed at something one of the other grandfathers said. Dressed in high-end outdoor clothing and cheering politely for their grandchildren, they looked like ads for an L.L.Bean spring collection.
Unlike Del and her family, rooting loudly, being reminded not to swear, and wearing jeans and sneakers and sweatshirts.
A lot like Joey.
“Excuse me. I’m going to go say hi to some friends,” she said to her mom.
Amy blinked, looked over at Del, and smiled. “Oh sure, sweetie. Tell Colin’s mom and dad I said hi.”
Joey nodded. She walked over to Del and saw the other woman smile.
“Hey, Joey. Did you see that assist Brandon made? Nice.” She held up a hand, and Joey slapped it. Then she started talking plays and strategies, which her husband and brother kept interrupting.
Lively, fun, and real. Being with this group of people and away from the picture-perfect-yet-anything-but family she called her own, she found herself wishing Lou could have been there to share in the moment. He’d have laughed, said stuff in Spanish she couldn’t understand. They’d stand arm in arm, like Mike and Del, and he’d cheer when Brandon—
“Earth to Joey. You in there?” J.T. asked, grinning. The hot man who was Del’s brother always put her at ease despite the fact he had a habit of looking her over like she was a prime filet.
“Sorry. Woolgathering.” She glanced at her parents. “It’s boring over there. I like it over here much better.”
“Well, shit. That was a foul!” Colin’s grandfather roared.
Next to him, his girlfriend Sophie, a pretty woman with white hair, yanked him by the arm. “Liam, language.” She nodded at the small children nearby watching him with wide eyes.
Liam flushed. “Sorry. I mean, shoot! Call the foul!”
Sophie rolled her eyes.
J.T. chuckled. “Dad really gets into the games. You should have seen me playing football as a kid. Man, he was brutal.”
“I can see you playing football.” She eyed his wide shoulders, big hands, and thick thighs. “Why is every guy who knows Del a giant with huge arms?”
J.T. shrugged. “Except for Mike, you mean?”
Mike glanced over, gave J.T. a subtle finger, then turned back to the game.
Joey couldn’t help laughing.
“No idea. My sister is badass with a capital B.” J.T. leaned closer and murmured, “I’d call her a badass bitch, with love, you know, but she’d probably rip off my arm and beat me to death with it. She’s the mean one in our family.”
Joey nodded. “I can believe it. She scared me during the wedding planning. Man, when she changes her mind about irises, she means it.”
Del narrowed her eyes at the pair, and Joey pasted on a bright smile and waved. J.T. did the same and chuckled when Del pointed to her eyes, then to him as if to say, I’m watching you.
“So, Joey,” J.T. drawled. “What’s this I hear about you and Lou being a thing?”
She’d known the topic would come up at some point. Her worlds colliding. Brandon on the soccer field, Lou working with the people on the sidelines. Joey sighed. Not like she was hiding Brandon, exactly. Sort of. Maybe a little.
“We’re kind of dating. Just casually.”
“Liar.” J.T. grinned when her eyes widened. “Dude is into you. We all know it. The Casanova of the garage had his heart handed to him by a—”
“If you say ‘flower chick,’ I might belt you.”
“Petite, feminine flower. How’s that?”
She groaned.
He laughed. “Anyway, the guy is gone for you. So why isn’t he here? He blow you off or something?”
The word blow conjured images from the last time she’d seen Lou, so she focused her gaze on the field and her son, hoping J.T. wouldn’t notice her heated cheeks. “We aren’t joined at the hip, J.T.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d like to be. Has he met Brandon yet?”
“Are you this chatty with all the people you don’t know that well?” she snapped, nerves making her obnoxious.
But J.T. only grinned. “That’s a no then. You afraid he’ll bolt if he knows you have a kid?”
“This is your business why?”
He laughed. “I like you, Joey. But I like Lou too. He’s into you pretty hard.”
She didn’t know about that, and she sure didn’t think Lou would like his buddy telling her about his feelings. “He and I are friends. But Brandon is my son. I don’t introduce him to every man I date. It’s no one’s business but mine that I have a child.” True, yet… “And it’s not like I’m hiding him. He plays with Colin. He’s here in plain view of—” Oh. My. God. More stress she didn’t need.
“What?”
“N-never mind. The point is my relationship with Lou is just fine. When and if we talk about my son has nothing to do with you.”
“Put in my place. Damn, girl. You’re a lot tougher than you look.” He seemed approving, not put off at all. Men. Such a puzzle. His phone jingled. “Sorry, gotta take this.” He stepped away and talked to someone about a tattoo.
Which gave her time to process the fact that she’d seen Felix standing in the parking lot, watching the soccer game. He stared at her when they locked gazes, but he didn’t leave. His presence here, now, meant that conversation with him she’d hoped to avoid would have to happen.
But unlike in the past, Joey wouldn’t let anyone badger her into anything. Not sex, not a warm welcome, and not a free pass to the son he’d signed away his rights to. Joey had a young boy to protect, and she wouldn’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. She walked from the crowded game toward the lot, saw Felix straighten, and hurried her step. Time to get this one issue out of the way for good.
* * *
J.T. watched Joey Reeves hightail it off the field toward the parking lot. Must have forgotten something in her car. He turned back to the field in time to watch Colin dribble around some boy and nail a pass to his teammate waiting in front of the goal. “Nice one.”
“Hey, asswipe, I’m talking to you,” Lou growled over the phone.
“Sorry. Colin just made a beautiful pass.”
“Oh. You at the game?”
“Yeah.”
“So why are you talking to me then? Enjoy your nephew’s soccer game.”
“I am. I can still talk business.”
J.T. wanted badly to mention Joey, but he didn’t want to do anything to ruin Lou’s shot at love. Because he knew the guy, and in all the years they’d been friends, Lou had dated. A lot. But never had he acted lovesick about any of the women he’d been with. Never worn that stupid grin, been mooning about a woman and daydreaming at work. Or been so focused on a chick for this long. For months the guy had been beside himself trying to get Joey’s notice. Yet now that he was dating her, had most likely already had sex with her, Lou seemed in no rush to cut her loose.
“So I’m thinking I’m ready to tattoo my right arm. Same as the left, but with the drawing I made to accompany the vines.”
“Uh-huh.” J.T. glanced at the lot. No sign of Joey. She’d better hurry or she’d miss halftime, when the second-grade tumbling team gave a brief show. “So this tattoo wouldn’t be a picture of a certain flower chick, would it? Or her name or anything?”
Lou laughed. “Hell no. That’s the kiss of death. A woman’s name on your arm practically guarantees she dumps you soon after.” Fortunately, Lou hadn’t completely lost his mind. “But I am thinking about getting a flower. To go with the rose on my chest. But not a rose, something different.”
“A flower?” J.T. shook his head.
“This has nothing to do with Joey, damn it.” Lou sighed. “Don’t be a pain in the ass.”
“Bring me the sketch. I’ll do it if I approve.”
“Fuck you.”
J.T. laughed. “Kidding, man. Chill.” He watched as the other team scored. That had to hurt. Colin looked furious. “So what’s up with you and Joey anyway? You seem kind of serious about her.”
“I am.” Lou sounded weirded out. “She’s so sweet. Gentle.” J.T. didn’t know about that. “Different from the women I’m used to. She fits me, man.”
Oh boy. “But you’re a lone wolf. El lobo single-o.”
“You’re so sad. First of all, ‘lone’ is solitario. But we don’t use ‘lone wolf’ in Spanish. You’d say un soltero. Gringo.”
“Yeah, that. Somehow I see Joey with a passel of kids.” At least one of them a boy. “Think she’d be happy being Lou’s woman, no kids, no attachments?”
“Hey. I’m attached to my family. You’ve met them. All twenty-five of us,” he muttered.
“Twenty-six. You always forget Chavela’s youngest.” J.T. grinned. He loved Lou’s family. So many pretty ladies, and they all thought him finer than fine.
“Yeah, well, Tía Chavela’s youngest is twenty-one, player. Keep it in your pants.”
“Lou, you wound me.” He laughed at the fast-and-furious swear words coming his way. “Just something to think about with Joey. She’s cool, man. We all like her.”
“So do I.” Lou paused. “Not to change the subject, but did you talk to Heller lately?”
“No, why?”
Lou told him about Heller’s mom dying.
“Shit. That’s so sad. I’ll call him.”
“Good. I was going to stop by the shop later today, because knowing him, he’s working.”
“Sounds about right. I’ll stop in too. Around three.”
“Good. See you then.” Lou disconnected before J.T. could razz him more about Joey.
Poor Heller. J.T. liked the guy a lot. Heller had always been close to his mom, a giant of a woman with a heart as big. So nice, and she kept her husband Carl in line. Probably the reason Heller hadn’t killed the guy yet. Such an asshole. J.T. wondered if Heller had had to deal with his old man yet about arrangements for the funeral.
Hell. He tried calling Heller and got his voicemail. Halftime started, distracting him, and he watched a bunch of little kids rolling over the ground and each other, much to their parents’ enthusiastic laughter and applause.
Being around all this family crap gave J.T. the warm and fuzzies. Seeing his sister so happy was the best thing ever. Yeah, he could handle the McCauleys. A great family who treated Del like she belonged. To his surprise, they treated him the same way. None of them seemed to care that his dead mom had been black, that he owned a tattoo parlor, or that he and his family were a lot less well-off than the McCauleys.
Nonjudgmental and nice as shit. Just what his sister needed. His father too. He glanced at Liam, who fairly glowed with contentment next to Sophie Ayers.
J.T. had a huge mom-crush on Sophie. She’d never had kids and now treated him like a son. He had a feeling his dad might be gearing up to propose to the woman, but Liam was no doubt afraid she wouldn’t have him.
J.T. snorted. Liam was turning into a real pussy. Time to handle his business before a fine woman like Sophie left his ass for someone who’d pop the question.
He joined his dad and Sophie and wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders. “Hey, Miss Sophie. When are you going to drop my dad and consider a younger, sexier man?” He waggled his brows.
She blushed. “Stop it, J.T.”
“Don’t be an ass,” Liam growled, but his father had a sparkle in his eye. “My Sophie is plenty happy with me. She knows I worship the ground she walks on.”
Sophie smiled. “That’s true.”
Over her head, J.T. mouthed, “What about a ring?” and lifted his arm, pointing at his ring finger.
His dad turned red.
“Liam?”
Liam gently extricated Sophie from under J.T.’s arm and tugged her closer to him, putting a proprietary arm around her. “Ignore him, Sophie. All those paint fumes going to his head.”
“Paint fumes? I paint people, not cars.”
Sophie frowned. “Ignore what about him? He’s just teasing, Liam. I highly doubt J.T. plans to get you out of the way so we can date. He’s not my type anyway.”
J.T. saw her fighting a smile and acted offended. “Oh? What? I’m too handsome for you?”
“Yes. I like my men rougher around the edges.”
Liam preened. Only his father would take that as a compliment. “Yeah. I’m rough. No pretty boy like my son.”
J.T. rolled his eyes. “Get a room, you two.”
They laughed, as did the older McCauleys, who’d apparently been paying attention to the pair. Beth waved J.T. over, then whispered, “Do you think he might propose?”
J.T. might have made a slight error in judgment, teasing his dad about a ring. Then again, he liked Sophie. His father loved her, and the old man wasn’t getting any younger. Time for him to find happiness again. “I don’t know. But I’m all for it. Sophie’s great.”
Beth beamed. “My baby sister, married.”
“Well, now, let’s not jinx it, honey,” James, her husband, cautioned. “If Liam’s anything like me, he’ll need to go at his own pace.” Then he glanced at J.T. and smirked. “But nothing says we can’t help get him there before the next century.”
J.T. grinned. He noticed Del and Mike arguing over a call, the boys taking the field again, but no Joey. Hmm. Now where had she gotten off to?
* * *
Joey’s pulse raced as she stared at the face that’d meant so much to her so long ago, and now…nothing. “Felix.”
Still blond and blue eyed, still oh so easy on the eyes. He had filled out in the nine years since she’d seen him last. Now twenty-six, a grown man, no longer a scared teenager. She wondered if he still did everything his mother said. Not making the Rogers name look bad had been all Gina Rogers had cared about back then. A congressman’s wife who’d had her eye set on a Senate seat. And now that her husband had it, she’d apparently been right to keep her son from his own child.
“Joey.” He smiled, his gaze warm. “It’s great to see you again.”
“What do you want, Felix?” Polite but firm and uninviting. Just the tone she’d been hoping for.
His smile left him, and he swallowed. He seemed…nervous? Very unlike the captain of the football team, prom king, and student council president of long ago.
/> “It must be a shock to see me again.”
She said nothing, knowing she was missing her son’s soccer game. Wanting this to be over so she could go back to her life.
“I’m back in the city now. For good.”
“And?”
He sighed. “And I wanted to talk to you. About…Brandon.”
She hated hearing her son’s name on his lips. “What about him? You signed your rights away a long time ago. Remember? Right before we broke up and you pretended I’d never existed.” She wanted to punch him, the old hurt swimming back despite the dam she’d made to keep the past in the past.
“I’m so sorry.” He took a deep breath and let it out, running a nervous hand through this hair. The familiar gesture upset her, because she still knew that much about him. “So much that happened back then was a mistake. Not you or Brandon,” he said quickly. “I meant letting my mother muddle my thinking. Letting her and my father tell me what to do.”
“It’s over with. You’re back. Okay. Are you done?”
He frowned. “No. I’m not. I want to meet him.”
“Who?” She knew damn well who. Her palms were sweating. None of this should be happening. He’d said he’d stay away. He’d signed official documents to that effect.
“This isn’t the time or place. I just wanted to see him again. But I should have called you, set up a time for us to talk without him around.” He looked over her shoulder, and she knew he was watching her—not their—son play. “Can we meet and talk later? Maybe tonight?” He handed her a card. “Here’s my number.”
She crushed the card in her fist. “I’m busy tonight.” Spending time with my son.
“Then later this week?” He looked determined. “Putting me off won’t make me go away. I need to talk to you, to explain things.”