The next time he tagged her as “it” she went after him, delving into his mouth, exploring him as he had explored her. She learned the tastes and textures of him, felt the smoothness of his teeth, the faint roughness of his tongue. Unexpectedly his lips clamped around her and he sucked gently.
The incredible sensation sent lightning flaring through her woman’s place and down her legs. She shuddered and pressed harder against him, needing him, desperate for more contact.
He pulled back slightly and rained kisses on her face.
“No,” she gasped, reaching up to hold him in place, then kissing him again, practically attacking him. He chuckled, then plunged into her mouth, stroking her, exciting her, making her want to rip her clothes off and beg him to take her right there.
Thank goodness he could read her mind. His hands settled on her waist, then moved up under the loose sweatshirt she’d pulled on that morning. Strong, warm fingers traced her ribs, making her shiver, before he cupped her breasts against his palms.
Kelly considered herself fairly average on top. Not small, but not huge either. Tanner held her breasts in a way that made her think they’d been designed specifically with his hands in mind. Or maybe it was the other way around. Regardless, as he gently explored her curves, lightly rubbing his palms against her puckered nipples, she felt herself grow hotter.
One of his hands moved behind her for a second. She felt a faint tug, then her bra loosened. Tanner pulled up her sweatshirt, lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth.
The feel of his damp lips and tongue nearly made her scream. She had to hold onto him to keep from collapsing. Heat and need built inside of her until she thought she couldn’t stand it. Muscles quivered. If she hadn’t known better she would have thought that she might climax right then…just because he was touching her breasts. But that wasn’t possible. They were standing in a hallway, both fully dressed. It was crazy to think that—
Tanner swore, then stood up. He clutched her shoulders and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m about to lose it and we know this is neither the time nor the place. Right?”
“Right.”
They both sounded hoarse, their voices thick with passion.
“You’re amazing,” he told her. “I want you so much.”
“And I want you.”
But he was right. There were four children in the house. They were supposed to be baby-sitting. Regardless of how turned on she felt now, Kelly knew that she wouldn’t be comfortable if they took things any further. She was glad they’d stopped. Really. Except every part of her ached for Tanner. How had things gotten so hot so fast? The man could turn her on with a look.
She reached behind her and refastened her bra, then straightened her sweatshirt. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Oh, it was my pleasure and I mean that.” Tanner studied her.
“What?” she asked. “Why are you staring?”
“I’m trying to learn your secrets.”
She frowned. As far as she knew, she didn’t have many. “What secrets?”
“I want to know why you aren’t married.” He reached up and touched her face. “Don’t even think about giving me the ‘I’ve been so busy’ line. We both know it’s more than that.”
What was she supposed to say? Kelly didn’t have an answer. She opened her mouth, then closed it and shrugged.
“Not good enough, Dr. Hall. You’re an amazing woman. Bright, beautiful, sexy as hell. If you’d kept rubbing against me like that I would have embarrassed us both.”
She smiled. “I wouldn’t have been embarrassed.”
“It would have done me in.” He paused.
She knew he was waiting for an answer. “I’m not hiding anything, Tanner. I’m as confused as you are. I think it’s a combination of things. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I think it’s my past, and fear, and maybe circumstances. I’m not sure. What’s your excuse?”
She’d expected him to make some flippant response. Instead he said, “I’m a screwup. Look at what happened when I went to college.”
She took his hand and led him to the top of the stairs where they both sat. Their shoulders brushed against each other. “I don’t believe that,” she said. “It took you a little while to get it all together. So what? Some people aren’t ready for college at eighteen. They need to figure a few things out first.”
“Maybe. I guess I’m something of a late bloomer. It takes me a while to get it together.”
“Now you have Lia.”
“Yeah. A child.”
But no wife.
Neither of them spoke the phrase, but Kelly suspected they were both thinking the same thing. Was he ready now? If so, where did that leave her? Did she care? Did she want to care?
“I think we’re both in a transition stage in our lives,” she said carefully. “That’s not a healthy time to get involved in anything…” She paused. “You know, personal.”
He turned toward her. “Is that your professional opinion?”
“I’m not a psychiatrist. But it is my opinion, professional or otherwise.”
“I see.” He tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “And if I were to kiss you right now?”
Instantly her body went up in flames. It took every ounce of strength she had to keep from swaying toward him. “I’m not sure I could resist.”
He smiled. “Thanks for telling me that.” He leaned close and brushed a kiss across her mouth. “Go to bed, Dr. Kelly Hall. Go right now or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
She hesitated. What did she want? Was it Tanner? Or did she want the safety of her boring, impersonal life? Then she glanced around at the unfamiliar house and realized that regardless of what she wanted, she couldn’t forget where they were.
“Good night,” she said regretfully as she rose to her feet.
He didn’t say anything. He just watched her walk toward the guest room. She had a feeling it was going to be a long time before either of them slept.
The cacophony of the video games blended perfectly with the sound of shrieking, screaming children. Kelly glanced around at the madness that was Pizza Pete’s and was incredibly grateful she wasn’t prone to headaches. She looked at the child in her arms, but Lia slept on, apparently unaware of the frenzy around her.
“The woman on the phone turned out to be one of Wendy’s aunts,” Alex was saying, her voice raised to be heard over the din. As she spoke to Kelly, she kept her gaze fixed on her son, Tyler, and Griffin, who were intensely concentrating on a game that involved hitting a fake gopher with a sponge bat. The gopher popped out of different holes in the ground and so far had eluded even a single bop to his plastic head.
“I didn’t know Wendy had any family other than her mother,” Kelly said. Wendy, the pregnant teenager who had moved in with Alex until her baby was born, had told Kelly that she was pretty much alone in the world.
“I guess it didn’t occur to Wendy that anyone would help her. After all, her own mother threw her out when she found out the girl was pregnant.” Alex shook her head. Her short brown hair flew around her face before falling back into its perfect wedge. “I don’t understand parents like that. But it’s turned out well. The aunt wants to give Wendy and her baby a home and good start. Apparently this aunt is a teacher and her semester will be up in a couple of weeks. Wendy’s going to stay with me until then.”
Kelly studied her friend. “You don’t look happy about her leaving.”
“I’m not,” Alex admitted. “She’s a terrific young woman and I’ll confess to adoring her baby. But this is going to be good for her. She’s going to sign up for community college and go after her degree.”
“Just think, you’ll have a spare bedroom again,” Kelly teased. “How long until it fills up again?”
Alex laughed. “I’d like to have a week of peace, but I have no expectations.”
“Uh oh. I know that look. Who’s next?”
“No one.” Alex hesitated,
then moved her plastic soda glass in a circle on the picnic table. “Okay, there’s this kid. Brett. He’s sixteen and really doing well since his surgery, but he needs to start rehabilitation. His insurance doesn’t cover living expenses while he’s in rehab and he lives too far away to commute. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking of offering him a room with me. Just while he recovers.”
“You’re amazing,” Kelly said. For as long as she’d known Alex, the other woman had been giving room and board to a parade of strangers in need.
“We’ve had this conversation before.” She paused as Tyler came running up.
“We got ’em!” he crowed. “Did ya see, Mom? Griffin got him twice and I got him once.”
“Good for you. Want to play again?”
Tyler nodded furiously. Alex handed them each another quarter and the two boys took off. Kelly looked around for Tanner, Drew and Lisbeth, then spotted them entering the laser tag arena.
“I don’t know how you did it,” Kelly said, her gaze moving to Tyler. “I thought residency was hard enough on its own, but you had a child.”
Alex shifted on the hard seat. “I’ll admit to being tired a lot of the time. Having a baby terrified me, mostly because I didn’t know anything about them. But we’re muddling through together.”
“It’s more than muddling. You’re both thriving.”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “It helped that I was so far along in my studies. I think if I’d been in medical school I wouldn’t have made it. But I was well into my residency when he was born.”
Kelly thought of her own past. She’d been seventeen when she’d gotten pregnant. She hadn’t even been to college, let alone medical school.
“Did you always want to be an orthopedist?” Kelly asked.
“Absolutely.” Alex grinned. “When I was all of twelve my dad helped me with a bird I’d found. Its wing was broken. I still remember how stunned I was that the wing actually healed and the bird was able to fly away. From that moment on I knew I wanted to do the same thing for people.”
“There aren’t a lot of women in that field,” Kelly said.
“Tell me about it. There have been problems, but I’ve survived. What about you? Did you change your specialty? I know most students have trouble deciding.”
Kelly drew in a deep breath. “I’d wanted to be a pediatrician but that didn’t work out.”
“Too bad.” Alex nodded at the sleeping infant. “You’re good with them, but then you’re good at what you do now. Think of the mothers and babies you’ve saved. Besides, we women have to stick together.”
Kelly made herself smile, even though she could feel the familiar sadness filling her. So many questions. Had she made the right choice with her daughter and had she made the right choice with her career? Not that it mattered. It was too late to change either decision.
“Enough being serious,” Alex said as she slapped her palms on the table. “Come on. We’ll challenge the guys to a race. I know it’s silly but I love those car video games. Where else can people crash into walls and walk away without even a bruise?”
Kelly followed her toward the collection of freestanding video games. Tanner, Lisbeth and Drew appeared to be talking excitedly about their game of laser tag.
“You hit me fifteen times,” Lisbeth complained as she studied her score sheet.
Tanner looked sheepish. “You’re an easy target, kid. What can I say. I hit Drew a bunch, too.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t hit either of you once,” Lisbeth said.
“You didn’t hit anyone,” Drew pointed out. “But don’t worry. You’ll do better next time.”
“He’s right,” Tanner said, pulling the little girl close. “Besides, you’re prettier than both of us.”
“And smarter,” she insisted.
Tanner laughed. “Maybe.”
As Kelly watched him, she couldn’t help remembering her own past. Her father had been wonderful with her. He’d expected a high standard of behavior, but no matter what, she’d always felt he loved her. As she cradled Lia close, she knew that Tanner was going to be the same kind of father. Gentle, kind, yet always teaching and showing by example.
“How are you holding up?” Tanner asked.
“Fine.” She motioned to Lia. “She’s wet, so I thought I’d go change her. I’d make you do it, but I doubt there’s a changing station in the men’s restroom.”
“Saved by inequality,” Tanner teased. “Thanks for taking care of her while I was with the other kids.”
“It’s hardly difficult. I adore her.”
“Me, too.”
Their gazes locked and she knew they were both thinking about what had happened last night. And what had not happened. The kiss had come close to leading to something else. Something neither of them was ready for. But had it become inevitable? A shiver rippled through her.
She turned and made her way toward the restrooms at the rear of the building. As she moved through the crowd, she heard a man yelling at his daughter. Kelly held Lia close, grateful this little girl wasn’t going to have to deal with a difficult parent. She would always be loved, as Kelly had been loved…right up until she got pregnant. That was the one thing her father couldn’t forgive. Was that why she couldn’t forgive herself?
She reached the restroom. The door pushed open and three teenage girls stepped out. They were talking and laughing and didn’t even notice her. But she studied them, wondering if any of the three looked like her daughter. Annie Jane was nearly fourteen. Practically a young woman.
Then, as she’d done a thousand times in the past, she pushed away the aching inside of her and focused on the task at hand. She’d lost the right to worry about her daughter the day she’d made the decision to give her away.
Several open boxes of pizza covered the wooden picnic tables. “But I wanted soda,” Drew said.
“Thanks for the info, but we agreed on milk,” Kelly told him mildly.
“You agreed. I wanted soda.”
Kelly stared at the nine year old. “Drew, if you’re going to be difficult, I want to take this discussion outside.”
Tanner waited, breath held, then his nephew nodded once. “Sorry, Kelly. Milk is fine.”
“Good.” She set a glass in front of him.
The mini drama was like a dozen others that had been played out today. Pizza Pete’s was a lot of fun, but it also stressed the kids and the adults. Still, as Tanner glanced around the crowded table, he knew there wasn’t anywhere else he would rather be. He had his daughter in his arms, his family nearby, good company, halfway decent food. Life didn’t get much better than this.
“Do you like my hair, Uncle Tanner?” Lisbeth asked. She spun her head back and forth to show off the ribbons she’d won earlier. Kelly had braided them into her hair.
“You look lovely,” he said. “I think you’re the prettiest little girl here.”
Lisbeth giggled and blushed. Then Griffin knocked over his milk.
Kelly started to stand up but Tanner motioned her to stay seated. “My turn,” he said. He shifted Lia to his left arm, then climbed out from the picnic table and headed for the counter. There he ordered another milk and grabbed a fistful of napkins.
“Isn’t she a beauty,” a woman said.
Tanner saw a petite blonde smiling at Lia. She turned her attention to Tanner. “Yours?”
“Yup.”
He took the milk and pocketed his change. Unfortunately the woman didn’t seem inclined to let him slip by. She stood firmly in his way.
“Does she look like your wife?” the woman asked.
“I’m not married.”
“Oh.”
There was a wealth of meaning in that single word. At one time in his life, Tanner might have been willing to take the woman up on her offer. After all she was around his age, pretty enough, and willing. For a while, that had been all he’d needed. But not anymore.
The woman sighed. “So you’re a single dad. You’re doing a great job.” She
pointed to a collection of boys by a martial arts video game. “Two of those are mine. It’s their dad’s weekend, but the jerk flakes out on a regular basis.”
“That’s too bad.” Tanner inched past her. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my family.”
He pointed toward the picnic table and she glanced in that direction. Her welcoming expression faded. “Oh. Is one of them yours?”
He assumed she was speaking about Alex and Kelly, not all the children. “Yes.”
“I see. Fine.” She spun on her heel and left.
Tanner made his way to the table and took his seat. He dropped the extra napkins onto the puddle of milk and handed Griffin a new carton.
As Griffin took it, he wrinkled his nose. “Sorry, Uncle Tanner. I’m more careful now.”
“I’m sure you will be.”
“I knew I was right,” Kelly said as he settled next to her. “But I never thought to have it proven to me.”
“What?” he asked, even though he knew exactly what she was talking about.
She pointed to the sleeping baby in his arms. “Lia is a chick magnet.”
He frowned. “Do you really think I care about that?”
“I’m not sure. Now that you have a child, the next most obvious step is to get involved with a woman. A single mother is a good match.” She looked across the table toward her friend. “Alex is a single mother.”
Tanner didn’t understand. Was Kelly suggesting that he get involved with Alex? How could he? She was certainly very nice and he liked her a lot, but last night Kelly had been the one he’d been holding and the one he’d wanted to make love with.
“I heard that,” Alex said, grinning. “And while Tanner might be in the market for a mate, I don’t think I’m who he has in mind.”
He glanced at the woman sitting across from him. Alex gave him a knowing look. So she knew he had a thing for Kelly. At one time the information might have bothered him, but not anymore.
“Speaking of which,” Kelly said brightly, “I’m going to be giving Tanner a baby shower. Actually the shower is for Lia, but you know what I mean.”
“What a great idea,” Alex told her, then winked at Tanner.
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