Evan rolled his eyes. “And I want to get the heck out of here. We have all kinds of work waiting on us back at the office.”
Vince lowered himself until his head was resting against the back of the seat. “Can you see the front entrance of the barn from where you’re sitting?”
“Yes.”
“Then keep your eyes on it and let me know when she comes out.”
“What are you going to do in the meantime?” Evan asked wryly.
“Sleep. That is, if I haven’t forgotten how.”
Evan made an amused snort. “Emma’s crying keeping you awake at night?”
Vince closed his eyes. “No. Geena is breast-feeding. Emma doesn’t have to wait for a bottle to be heated. I guess I’ve been taking my work home with me. Once I climb in bed I can’t turn off my brain.”
“Might be you’re just not used to having a woman and a baby in the house,” Evan commented. “I think Joanna was three months old before I slept through the night. Remember, you said I looked like I had some sort of chronic disease. Well, I did. It’s called babyitis.”
Evan was wrong, Vince thought ruefully. He was getting far too accustomed to having Geena and the baby filling up the lonely quietness of his house.
“You still have a chronic disease,” Vince mumbled. “It’s called idiocy.”
“Thanks, buddy. Good to learn you haven’t lost your sense of humor. I—”
The abrupt halting of Evan’s words had Vince glancing over to see his partner shoving a pair of aviator sunglasses onto his nose, then peering through the windshield.
“She’s come out of the barn, Vince. And Skip, the blond, is with her.”
Vince leaned toward Evan until he could pick up the view of Liv and the wrangler. “Yeah. They look pretty chummy, don’t you think?”
“Well, you’d have to do some prying to wedge a piece of paper between them. And the way she’s laughing up at him, he seems to be making her happy. But that doesn’t mean anything. So what if she’s rolling in the hay with the guy? That doesn’t spell horse thieves.”
“No. It spells partners in crime.”
“Oh brother, you need to press the control button on your imagination. It’s definitely gone haywire.”
“Just be patient, partner. He thinks we’ve left the premises. Let’s see how he reacts when he realizes we’re watching him.”
Vince had no sooner gotten the words out when Skip suddenly looked in their direction. As soon as he spotted the two detectives sitting in the SUV, he set Liv away from him and took off in long, angry stride.
“Uh-oh,” Evan said as they watched the tall cowboy approach their vehicle. “He hardly looks like a happy camper.”
“Good. If we can make him lose his cool, we might get this case on a roll.”
When the young man reached the SUV, he bent his head and glared through the open window at Evan and Vince.
“What are you two looking at?” he demanded.
“I’d say I’m looking at a jerk,” Vince answered calmly.
Evan let out a meaningful groan while the cowboy’s face turned as red as the bandanna tied around his neck.
With the sneer on his face deepening, Skip goaded, “Bet you won’t come out of that vehicle and say that to me again, big detective.”
“You stay here,” Vince muttered under his breath to Evan. “I’ll handle this.”
Evan gave Vince a cheery smile. “I’ll be happy to sit and watch.”
Vince climbed out of the vehicle and skirted the hood until he was standing directly in front of the wrangler. “I said I was looking at a jerk.”
“You two are the jerks,” Skip jeered. “Nobody asked you to come around here snooping day after day, trying to cause even more trouble for the Rineharts. The both of you need to get lost and stay lost!”
Vince shot the young man a sardonic smile. “No doubt you and Liv would like to see the last of us. But you’re out of luck. You’re about to get well acquainted with the Carson City Sheriff’s Department.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My partner and I have had second thoughts about you. We’ve decided to haul your ass downtown for further questioning.”
“Like hell!”
All of a sudden, the cowboy decided to take a swing at Vince, but he swiftly caught the combative man’s wrist in midair and twisted his arm against his back.
“Okay. You can either go with us peaceably or go in cuffs,” Vince said roughly. “Either way is fine with me.”
At that moment Liv came trotting up, her anxious gaze darting between the two men. “What’s going on?” she asked anxiously. “Skip? Are you being arrested?”
Vince looked at the woman. “That depends on what comes out of his mouth.”
The young woman started to speak, but at the last moment decided her best course of action would be to flee the scene altogether.
As she hurried off in the direction of the house, Vince said, “Guess she doesn’t want to wait around and hear what you have to say.”
“She’ll tell her daddy about this,” Skip warned. “You can bet on that.”
Chuckling, Vince opened the back door of the patrol vehicle and nudged the cowboy onto the seat. “That’s exactly what I am betting on.”
A half hour later, after Vince and Evan had deposited Skip in an interrogation room, they stepped out in the hallway to give the suspect time to cool his heels.
“You’ve been a detective a lot longer than I have,” Evan said to Vince, “but I’m wondering if you’re on the right track here. Yeah, Skip is an arrogant punk, but I’d rather think he’s got his sights on becoming the old man’s son-in-law. He probably figures it would be easier to leech off the family than to steal.”
Vince thoughtfully stroked his chin. “You make a good point. But either way, I have a feeling that shaking up Skip might prove fruitful. In any case, we had a right to bring him in. He attempted to assault a law officer.”
Evan’s grin was full of mischief. “Right. So you begin questioning him and I’ll go make us some coffee. This might take a while.”
*
Later that night, Geena was sitting at the kitchen table going through the classified ads in the newspaper when Vince walked tiredly into the room. At a few minutes past nine, it was the earliest he’d come home in the past several nights and the first time she’d actually seen him in the last two days.
She dropped the paper to the tabletop and smiled at him. “Hello, stranger. Another busy day?”
“Always.”
He pulled off his jean jacket and tossed it on the back of the chair, then quickly removed his holstered weapon and placed it in a cabinet drawer. As he moved around the kitchen, Geena couldn’t help but notice the weary slump of his shoulders and the dark crescents beneath his eyes.
She knew from experience it would do no good to tell him he needed to rest or slack off at work. At the age of fourteen, after losing his father to a criminal’s bullet, Vince had been driven to become a lawman, to work his way up to being a detective. Along the way his mother had forsaken him and his wife had crumbled beneath the strain of his job. But none of that had deterred him from the purpose he’d given himself. Now Geena could only wonder if he believed the sacrifices had been worth it.
“I left a plate for you on the stove. Just in case you haven’t eaten,” she said. “Why don’t you sit and I’ll heat it in the microwave for you.”
“I can do it.”
She rose from the chair and plucked up the covered plate before he could reach it. “Nonsense,” she told him. “I need the exercise. Emma has been so good today I’ve hardly had to do anything.”
“So she’s asleep?”
Geena gestured toward the breakfast bar. “She’s over there in her bassinet. I rolled it in here so I could keep an eye on her while I cooked.”
Spotting the baby bed, he crossed the room to where Emma lay sleeping. Geena watched for a moment as he leaned over the baby, then turned away as he
r throat grew thick with emotion. Vince was so incredibly gentle and loving with Emma that Geena had no doubt he would be a wonderful father. But the attention he could give a child would be limited by the hours he devoted to the sheriff’s department. Perhaps that was the reason he’d never remarried or had a child of his own, she thought sadly. Maybe he’d already decided he couldn’t be a detective and have a family, too.
“She already looks like she’s grown since we brought her home from the hospital,” he said as he returned to the table and took a seat.
“So far she seems as healthy as a horse. She hardly ever spits up and she only fusses when she’s wet or hungry. Sometimes I worry that she’s too good.”
“Hmm. That might change soon enough. I’ve heard Evan speak of the hell they went through when Joanna started teething.”
She set the plate in front of him along with a set of silverware, then crossed to the refrigerator to fill a glass with ice and tea.
After she’d served him the drink, she took the seat kitty-corner to him.
He inclined his head toward the paper. “Looking to buy something in the classifieds?”
She picked up the paper, and after folding it into a small rectangle, placed it out of the way. “Not buy. To rent. When I left Pendleton I’d thought I’d have a few days before the baby arrived to look around for an apartment. I didn’t know I was going to be waylaid with amnesia. Before you walked in the kitchen I was going through the listings to see if there was anything I might like or could afford.”
“Find anything?”
She was glad he was looking down at his food instead of her. She didn’t want him to guess how desperately she was going to miss him once she and the baby moved to a place of their own.
“Actually, there’s a house on the northwest side of town that sounds interesting. It has a small fenced-in yard and it’s not far from the school where I’ll be teaching. And the price is right. The owner has promised to show it to me tomorrow. So I wanted to ask you about driving your truck. I could take a taxi, but I need to go by the mall and pick up a cell phone, too.”
“You’re welcome to use the truck whenever you want.”
She folded her hands on the tabletop. “That’s another thing I need to do. Start looking for a car. Thankfully I had complete coverage on the one that burned. The insurance agent said I should be getting the check for it next week.”
He looked up. “Are you sure you can afford a new vehicle?”
She supposed it was logical for him to think she’d be short on money. Up until her memory had returned, she’d not possessed a dime. But now that she had access to her bank accounts, she had enough to see to her needs.
“A nice used one will work fine for me. And the insurance refund will cover most of the cost. The rest I can manage.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “You know me, Vince—I always did save my money. And I got a nice signing bonus from the school here in Carson City. I have enough to take care of myself and Emma.”
His head bent over his plate, but not before she’d spotted the tight, thin line of his lips.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Don’t you believe me?”
“Sure. I believe you.” He took a few more bites of food, then looked up at her. “What about Emma? Surely you’re not going to drag her out and about while you do all this running around?”
Geena stiffened. Where did he come off questioning her financial situation or her mothering decisions? He gave up that right when he divorced her.
“Actually, Marcella has volunteered to watch her tomorrow while I look at the house and pick up the phone. But I’ll soon be taking her on short outings.”
“Well, she certainly doesn’t need to be out in public, where she could pick up all sorts of germs,” he said crossly.
Unable to hide her irritation, she scowled at him. “Do you honestly think I would needlessly put my daughter’s health in danger? Emma isn’t a preemie! She was born a hefty seven and a half pounds, and the pediatrician pronounced her very healthy. I have enough sense to keep her safely dressed and covered, and I know to keep her away from crowded places. She can’t stay in the house forever, Vince, and neither can I, for that matter!”
Her outburst seemed to catch his attention, and he studied her for long moments. “Sorry,” he said finally. “What you do with your daughter is none of my business.”
He got up from the table and carried his plate over to the sink. Geena shoved a hand through her tumbled hair and wondered why she suddenly felt like an ungrateful heel.
Rising from her chair, she joined him at the sink. “I didn’t mean to sound so cross, Vince. It’s just that I—with the car burning all my belongings, I’m having to virtually start over. There’s so many pieces of business I need to take care of and things I need to get that it’s getting to be overwhelming.”
He rinsed the plate beneath the faucet, then placed it in a wire drainer. “There’s no urgency for you to try to get everything done at once. Seems to me you’re in a big hurry to move out of here.”
She drew in a bracing breath and blew it out. “I am in a hurry, Vince. I can’t keep living here with you.”
That brought his head around, and Geena swallowed as his piercing gaze slipped over her face.
“Why? I couldn’t be getting on your nerves. I’m not here that much.”
Heat flowed into her cheeks, and she didn’t need a mirror in front of her to know her face had turned pink. “No. It’s not that. You—you’ve been more than generous letting me have the run of the house.”
He moved closer, and Geena was amazed at how six years apart had done nothing to dim the rush of awareness she got whenever he grew near. “Surely you’re not worried what people are thinking about you living with your ex-husband.”
Her short laugh came out more like a strangled cough. “Not hardly, Vince. Other than Marcella, I haven’t made many acquaintances around here yet. It hardly bothers me if your friends have wagging tongues.”
“Then what’s your hurry? Emma isn’t quite two weeks old yet. You need to give yourself time before you take on a move.”
“I don’t have time. School starts in a little over two weeks’ time. It would be much easier for me to move now than after I start work.”
“You can drive to work from this house as easily as you can another,” he pointed out.
He didn’t understand. But then, how could she expect him to? He’d gotten over her years ago. Being near her didn’t make him all shaky and weak the way it did whenever she got within ten feet of him. He didn’t ache with longing to touch her, kiss her. He didn’t wish he could go back and erase their divorce.
Suddenly she wanted to touch him so badly that she linked her hands together and squeezed so tightly the tips of her fingers turned red. “Yes, I could. But—oh, Vince, do I have to spell it out to you? I can’t—well, being around you like this isn’t a good thing.”
“Why?”
The fact that he was so blind to her feelings caused desperate frustration to take hold of her. “Why? Because every time you walk into the house I want to do this!”
Before he could guess her intentions, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his.
For a brief second, her action must have stunned him. He stood motionless, his lips a stiff line beneath hers. Then just as suddenly his arms were around her, crushing her against his chest. His lips opened to begin a wild, hungry search of her mouth.
The feel of his hard body next to hers, the subtle male scent of his skin and the taste of his lips rapidly filled her senses until she was floundering to stay afloat, to remind herself to keep breathing.
Behind her closed eyes, her head was spinning, while the rest of her body was on fire with the need to get closer to the pleasure only he could give her.
Somehow the kiss grew from a hungry search to raging hot passion, and before Geena knew what was happening, her back was pressed against the counter and Vince’s hands were cupped around
her breasts.
The tight ache building deep within her caused her body to instinctively arch into his. The shift brought her hips in perfect alignment with his and suddenly his hard arousal was pressing against her, telling her exactly how much he wanted her.
The sensation was so heady it was almost painful, making the tiny moan in her throat turn into a deep, urgent groan. Her arms slipped from his neck to wrap tightly around his waist and draw him even closer.
One second his tongue was inside her mouth, tasting and tempting, his hands cupping her rounded bottom. And then a few seconds later, he was stepping away, drawing in ragged breaths and staring at her as though he’d been kissing a stranger.
“Geena! I—”
The remainder of his words never came as he suddenly turned on his heel and hurried out of the room.
Pressing a hand over her hot lips, she stared at his retreating back. Had she lost her mind? She’d grabbed and kissed him like some sort of wanton hussy inviting him to make love to her! Now she’d probably ruined their tenuous friendship!
But she couldn’t worry about that now. Vince was more than a friend. More than an ex-husband. He was the man she’d never stopped loving. Maybe it was time she quit trying to hide that fact from him and herself.
Chapter Eight
“May I come in?”
Vince paused in the process of unbuttoning his shirt and turned to see Geena standing in the open doorway to his bedroom. The sight of her shapely figure silhouetted against the dim light in the hallway caused his gut to clench with longing, his lips ache to kiss hers all over again.
“Would it stop you if I said no?” he asked gruffly, then shook his head. “Come in. We might as well clear the air right now.”
She quickly crossed the few steps between them, and Vince had the ridiculous urge to jerk the front of his shirt back together. As though covering his naked chest could hide the desire that was still flooding his body with heat.
“Vince, I want to explain.”
Grunting, he jerked off the shirt and tossed it on the bed. “Can you?” He tugged on a T-shirt, then glanced at her. “Because I sure as hell can’t. Other than the fact that we both just behaved like a couple of fools.”
His Badge, Her Baby...Their Family? Page 11