“Granted, I haven’t actually babysat anyone since the late nineties, but that sounds like an awful lot of money.”
“Don’t forget that you won’t just be babysitting. You’ll be cooking, too. And cleaning up after Lily Ann.”
“It’s more than I would have made at the bar, even with tips.”
“It’s more hours, and in my opinion, harder work. You know what they say about stay-at-home moms, they do the work of something like three full-time jobs.” He realized how that sounded and added, “Not that I’m suggesting you’re a stand-in mom.”
“I knew what you meant.”
“My point is, it’s a tough job.”
“Well, between that and what I’ll get performing with Thunder Sky, I’ll definitely have enough money to leave on schedule.”
“That’s good.”
She looked up at him. “Is it?”
No, actually. It completely sucked, but he couldn’t tell her that. So he settled for, “It’s what you want.”
Her look said maybe that wasn’t the case, that maybe things were beginning to change. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. As much as he wanted to ask, wanted to know what was going on in her head, he kept his mouth shut. He would not say or do anything to influence her decisions.
There was a soft rap on the front door, so soft he almost didn’t hear it. “I wonder who that could be.”
“Maybe it’s Sue,” Reily said.
“Why would Aunt Sue knock?”
“With you and I here alone, do you honestly think she would just walk in?”
He hadn’t thought about that. “Good point.”
He got up and pulled the door open, expecting it to be Aunt Sue. He mumbled a curse when he found that it was his mother standing there. He was not in the mood to deal with her right now.
“What do you want?” he asked through the screen door.
“Is Lily Ann in bed?”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’m guessing that you don’t want her to know who I am. That’s why I came by so late.”
“Yes, she’s in bed, and as I’ve told you repeatedly, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know that I’m leaving.”
Leaving? Was that possible? Or was she just using a reverse psychology tactic on him? Did she think that if she convinced him she was really going to go, he would suddenly have a change of heart and agree to talk to her?
He stepped out onto the porch. “Guess you couldn’t hold out as long as it takes, huh?”
“I guess not.”
She hadn’t even made it two weeks. And when the only thing he should be feeling was relieved, why did he instead feel as if he’d been slighted or cheated?
“I got what I came here for,” she said.
“You did?”
“I guess I just needed to see that, despite what I’ve done to you, you’re okay.”
He folded his arms. “And now you think I am?”
“You have a beautiful daughter and lots of friends. You run a successful business and people obviously respect you. I would say you’re doing pretty well. I guess…I guess I just wanted to know that you’re happy.”
“You could have saved yourself a lot of time and just asked me.”
“Even if you had talked to me, I think I needed to see for myself, and I have. I can also see that my being here is upsetting you, so I’m going to go, and you aren’t ever going to see me again. I promise.”
Just like that, she was going to leave? She was going to give up without a fight, walk out of his life again, without an explanation as to why it had taken her this damned long to pop back into his life?
And isn’t that what he wanted? What he’d been telling her he wanted? Why now did he seem to be having second thoughts? Was he really prepared to let her go and never know what had happened, why she’d abandoned him?
Tears hovered at the edges of her lids, but she blinked them back and squared her shoulders, flashing him a shaky smile. “Goodbye, Joey.”
She turned and crossed the porch, then descended the stairs. As her foot hit the concrete walk he heard himself say, “So, you’re leaving tonight?”
She stopped and slowly looked back up at him. Though it was pretty dark, he thought he saw hope in her eyes. “Tomorrow morning.”
“What time?”
“Early.”
“You’ll probably want to stop for breakfast before you go.”
She paused, then said, “Probably.”
“Well, if you were to be at the diner at, say, nine o’clock, I might see you there.”
“Might?” she asked, and there was a quaver in her voice.
“Yeah.” It was the best he could do.
“Okay.” She turned and walked to her car, which was parked in the street in front of the house.
He opened the front storm door and walked inside. Reily was still sitting on the couch waiting for him. As he sat down beside her she didn’t say a word.
“I guess you heard that,” he said.
She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “Okay.”
He dropped his head against the back of the couch and sighed. “Am I doing the right thing?”
She shrugged. “Does it feel like the right thing?”
“I don’t know. She just looked so…pathetic.”
“She looked pretty pathetic the first time she was here, too.”
“At first I thought she was just trying to con me into talking to her. But when I realized she was really going…” He shook his head. “I guess that knowing she was leaving, realizing I wouldn’t get another chance…”
“She’s your mother. There’s no shame in wanting to hear what she has to say.”
“What if I don’t like what she has to say?”
“You might not, but maybe you need to hear it anyway.”
She was right, but he refused to analyze it to death. “Let’s talk about something else,” he said.
“I have an even better idea.” She swung her leg over him so that she was straddling his lap. Then she leaned in and kissed him—a sweet kiss, with the promise of so much more—and whispered against his lips, “Let’s not talk at all.”
Chapter Sixteen
Reily had never really considered herself domestic. She’d always kept her apartment tidy, and would cook the occasional meal, but the duties of, say, a stay-at-home mom, always struck her as pretty monotonous and boring. But this past week, taking care of Lily Ann, she’d had more fun than she’d ever had slinging drinks and filling peanut dishes.
They made cartoon shaped pancakes for breakfast and baked cookies for afternoon treats. They took walks to the park where they would eat picnic lunches on a blanket in the grass, and do silly things like chase butterflies and play in the sandbox and push each other on the swings. And when a supply list came in the mail from Lily Ann’s new teacher, Joe lent Reily his truck so she could take Lily Ann school shopping, since kindergarten was only a few weeks away.
But Reily’s favorite part of the day was the evening. She and Lily Ann would shut off the television, cuddle up on the couch together and read books. Then she would get Lily Ann into her jammies and tucked into bed and sing her lullabies until she drifted off to sleep. After that, Reily would curl up on the couch with a book, or turn on a sitcom rerun, waiting excitedly for Joe to come home from work, loving the shiver of anticipation when she saw his headlights flash across the front window as he pulled into the driveway. She loved the smile he gave her when she greeted him at the door and the feel of his body as he pulled her close, the softness of his lips as he kissed her hello. The sense of
companionship as they talked about each other’s day, the feeling of intimacy when they shared private things about themselves, made her realize that their relationship was as much about friendship as sexual attraction. Not that there was any shortage of that either.
It had been so hard to keep their physical relationship within her moral boundaries. The closer they grew, the more it seemed to her like the next natural step, to solidify their feelings for one another. Unfortunately, with Sue gone, it was harder than ever to find any time alone. But on Sunday, a week and a half before she was scheduled to climb on a bus and leave Paradise—leave Joe and Lily Ann forever—they finally caught a break.
Joe and Reily sat on the front porch swing, watching the sunset, exchanging secret smiles and stealing the occasional caress, talking about everything and nothing, while Lily Ann sat on the porch with a coloring book and crayons.
“Did I mention that Veronica emailed me this morning?” Joe said offhandedly, as if the fact that they were communicating, even if it was only electronically, wasn’t pretty fantastic.
He almost hadn’t gone to the diner that morning to meet his mother. It had taken him ten minutes of debating before he’d even walked out the door, then another ten of sitting in the driveway in his truck with the motor running before he’d finally left. And he’d admitted later that he’d driven around another fifteen minutes before he’d finally pulled into the diner lot.
And though it had by no means been a touching family reunion, he said the conversation had been very civilized and he’d agreed to keep in touch by email. And that was a start.
“What did she have to say?”
“Just some things about my dad, things I asked her.”
Things he clearly wasn’t ready to share with Reily, but that was okay.
“How’s this one, Reily?” Lily Ann asked, holding up her latest masterpiece. Since she was going to be in real school soon, she had decided that it was imperative she learn to color inside the lines.
“It looks beautiful, sweetheart. I like the purple flowers.”
“And the purple trees,” Joe said softly. “And the purple grass and the purple animals.”
Reily gave him a playful nudge. “She likes purple.”
“Which is a good thing, considering most of her new school clothes are purple, too.”
“Hey, you said to let her pick out what she liked. Encourage her to be her own person. Besides, aren’t you the one who bought her the purple bike and the purple sheets and painted her bedroom walls purple?”
He just grinned.
A truck pulled down the street and rolled to a stop in front of the house. Lily Ann shot up as if she were on springs. “Aunt Emily!”
She darted down the porch stairs and met Emily at the curb, launching herself into her aunt’s arms.
“Hey, kiddo!” Emily said, giving her a big squeeze. She smiled up at Joe and Reily and called, “Hey there, you two.”
“Hi, Em,” Joe said.
“Come see my pictures I colored.” Lily Ann grabbed her hand, dragging Emily to the porch.
“Would you like a glass of lemonade?” Reily asked her.
“I can’t stay more than a minute. My dog Ella is going to have her puppies tonight, and I promised Lily Ann she could help me.”
“Yeah!” Lily Ann hopped excitedly. “Can I, Daddy? Can I?”
“Of course you can,” Joe said.
“I thought she could stay the night, then I could take her with me to Beau’s in the morning. I could have her back here by supper if that works for you.”
Which meant that Reily and Joe would have the entire night to themselves.
Alone.
“Um, yeah, that would be fine,” Joe said, laying his hand on the swing beside Reily’s, his pinky finger barely touching her. Reily’s heart picked up speed and her mouth went dry. When Joe looked down at her she knew exactly what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing.
“Do I get to see baby Kevin?” Lily Ann asked Emily.
“You sure will. Now, get a move on and pack a bag. I don’t want to leave Ella alone for too long.”
“Okay!” Lily Ann bolted for the door.
“Don’t forget your toothbrush!” Joe called as it banged shut behind her.
Reily asked Emily, “Who is baby Kevin?”
“The nephew of my friend Beau. His half sister passed away a couple of months ago and left her infant son, Kevin, in his care. He’s been taking care of him ever since and recently started the process to adopt him.”
“How sad,” Reily said. “Not that he’s adopting him, I mean, but that his mother just died.”
“Beau will take good care of him.”
“He sounds like a lucky little boy.”
Joe casually draped his arm across the back of the swing, letting his fingers barely brush her shoulder and her heart went berserk.
“So, I understand you’ve been a big hit singing with Thunder Sky,” Emily told Reily. “I’d love to see you perform.”
“Well, next Saturday is your last chance. After that I’m leaving for Nashville.”
Emily looked surprised. “Oh, I didn’t realize that you were still going.”
A lot of people in town seemed to be laboring under that same misconception. “A week from Wednesday, if all goes as planned.”
“Well then, I’ll have to be sure to come by the bar this Saturday.”
Joe ran a single finger down Reily’s nape, and she shivered at his feather-light touch. But he pulled his hand away when the front storm door flew open and Lily Ann rushed out, hauling her Cinderella backpack behind her. “I’m ready!”
“Let me check,” Joe said, motioning her over. He unzipped the bag and rifled through its contents. “Toothbrush, PJs, clothes for tomorrow…looks good.”
He zipped it back up and handed it to her.
“Kiss!” she said, and Joe gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye. Then she held her arms out to Reily. “Kiss!”
Reily kissed and hugged her, too, then watched with a lump in her throat as Emily buckled her into the truck seat. She’d spent so much time with Lily Ann this past week, she was going to miss her.
“Well, you two have fun tonight,” Emily said, winking as she got into the driver’s seat of her truck and started the engine. There was obviously no doubt in her mind what Reily and Joe would be doing tonight.
The truck had barely pulled away from the curb when Joe’s hand settled on Reily’s thigh and began to drift slowly back and forth, gradually moving upward.
“So, we’ve got the house to ourselves tonight,” he said. “Anything special you’d like to do?”
“Well,” she said thoughtfully, when inside she was ready to burst. “We could watch a movie. Or play a board game. Or we could just sit and talk.”
“We could do that,” he said, his fingers slipping inside the leg of her shorts.
She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Or I could strip you naked and kiss every conceivable inch of your body.”
He looked down at her and smiled. “Last one inside is a rotten egg.”
* * *
They were barely through the front door when Reily launched herself at Joe. He fumbled with the lock as she tugged him across the room, toward the couch—which he assumed was just out of habit. But he’d be damned if their first time was going to be on that lumpy thing.
“Upstairs,” he said.
She looked up at him through the veil of her lashes, wearing a teasing, seductive smile. “What’s the rush?”
For weeks now he’d been exercising the utmost control, respecting her wishes, but now he was at the absolute end of his patience. Tonight he was the one in charge, which meant they were having sex—lots and lots of sex—and they were doing this his way.
He grabbed hold of her and hiked her up over his shoulder.
“Joe!” she half screeched, half laughed. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to my bedroom. No more couch. In fact, I might just take it out back and burn it.”
She laughed. “I can walk, you know.”
“I’m calling the shots tonight.”
“By acting like a caveman?” she said, sounding indignant. “And who says I’m letting you call the shots?”
He shouldered his way through the door, walked to the bed and dumped her down in the middle of it. “I do.”
“Well, lots of luck with that,” she said, and just to assert her authority—at least, that’s what he assumed she was doing—she grabbed the hem of her top and pulled it up over her head. Then she unfastened her bra and pulled that off too, pinning him with a so there look. He might have been annoyed, but she was damned pretty, and he got distracted looking at her instead. He’d never been the kind of man who favored one part or another on a woman’s body. He liked the entire package, and Reily, she was just perfect. Although to be fair, he wasn’t getting the complete picture.…
Reily must have read his mind because she reached down, unfastened her shorts and shoved them off. With only her panties left, she was as close to naked as he’d ever seen her. But not naked enough.
He pulled his shirt off, then knelt on the bed beside her. When he touched her belly, just below her navel, she sucked in a quiet breath and her eyes darkened to the color of midnight. With the very tips of his fingers he traced a path along the waist of her panties. “I think these need to go.”
“I think they do, too.”
He slid them down her legs, and…oh yeah, she was definitely the full package.
“Now you,” she said. Demanded really.
His brows rose. “Is that an order?”
“As a matter of fact, it is. And do it…sexfully.”
His brows rose. “Sexfully?”
“You know, like a striptease,” she said, pushing herself up on her elbows as if she were settling in to watch.
He was pretty sure she was kidding, but just in case she wasn’t, he said, “I’m not exactly the striptease type.”
No Ordinary Joe Page 17