“Micki, I don’t need—”
“Don’t,” she sighed. “We were apart for long enough. I may have excluded you from my life for years, but now that I’m back, please don’t do the same to me. You’re in trouble, and this time I want to help you and Tessa face it head-on.”
Tessa looked at him, her eyes telegraphing that she was waiting to see what he’d decide—to cover up the fact that he needed the people in his life or to show them he wasn’t an island.
He knew Tessa wouldn’t leave Steele Ridge, wouldn’t let him handle this situation alone. Which meant he needed his loving, meddlesome family to help protect her.
“Fine,” he said to Micki.
She smiled and pulled Tessa into their hug. “Go get some rest, you two. I’ll be knocking on your door first thing tomorrow morning.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “Bring your best stuff. I can’t work with inferior equipment.”
The tired smile on Tessa’s face told him he’d said the right thing.
21
Jonah’s dad, rarely seen in town, was waiting outside the Murchison building when Jonah and Tessa arrived. The last thing Jonah had the patience for right now was introductions and explanations, but if Tessa’s curious expression was any indication, he wouldn’t be able to avoid it.
At least his dad’s mountain man appearance was relatively tame tonight. His hair was smoothed back and secured at his neck, and his beard looked as if it had been recently trimmed.
“You all right?” he asked Jonah gruffly.
“How’d you know to find me here?”
“I was listening to the police scanner earlier. Called Maggie and she said Reid let her know your whereabouts so her people could keep an eye on things.”
Jonah grunted. The beauty and the hell of living in a small town again. People cared. They cared so much that sometimes it was hard to keep things hidden. “We should probably get off the street.” Because who the hell knew where that son of a bitch was tonight?
Once inside, he said to Tessa, “Tessa Martin, this is my dad, Eddy Steele. Dad, this is Tessa, a…friend of mine.”
Her smile was genuine and completely nonjudgmental when she reached out to shake his dad’s hand. “So nice to meet you, Mr. Steele.”
“Same here.” He made eye contact with Tessa, then his attention shifted back to Jonah. “Son, can I have a word?”
There was no way he’d let Tessa go upstairs alone, and she must’ve seen his hesitation because she said, “I’ll step over here while you two talk.”
When she sat down on the staircase leading to the second floor, Jonah’s dad said, “That was some nasty business today. You sure everyone is okay?”
His patience running low, Jonah said, “You could check on them all yourself, you know.”
“Don’t think I don’t keep eyes on things, boy.”
“Britt taught us that real men protect and take care of the people in their lives.”
His dad’s flinch was visible. He obviously understood everything Jonah was saying with that one statement. That Eddy Steele wasn’t a real man because he left his family. Britt had been the true father figure to Jonah and the others. “You got that high IQ. You think you know everything, but you don’t.”
“Then why the hell don’t you explain why you withdrew from your family?” Jonah shook his head. Why was he opening this old can of worms tonight? He had plenty weighing on his mind already without adding in his dad’s lifestyle choices.
“Because a man shouldn’t shit where he eats.”
Rage boiled up in Jonah’s chest. For the most part, he’d simply written off his dad, not nearly as hurt or angry as his older brothers were, but now, he wanted to deck the old man. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
His dad patted the left side of his chest. “When a man feels too much here”—he tapped his temple—“and can’t control his darkness here, he needs to be man enough to get the hell out of situations where he might hurt the very people he claims to love.” He shot a quick glance toward Tessa. “Looks like you’d do well to remember that.”
In an attempt to center herself, Tessa smoothed fresh sheets on their borrowed bed while Jonah took a shower in the second-floor apartment overlooking Main Street. Once she’d tucked in corners that would’ve made an army commander happy, she unpacked the La Belle Style bags that Brynne had dropped off earlier.
In one, she found items that couldn’t be a part of the boutique’s inventory. Men’s jeans, a leather belt, tennis shoes, soft sleep shorts, underwear, and half a dozen T-shirts. Brynne obviously understood Jonah’s sense of fashion.
Tessa shook out one of the shirts to check out the screen printing on the front. It was some type of math graph and said, “Holy Shift! Look at the asymptote on that mother function.” Tessa wouldn’t have believed anything could make her smile tonight, but Brynne deserved an award for this one.
Tessa put away Jonah’s new clothes, then dug into the bag she assumed was for her. The first item brought hot tears to her eyes. It was the gorgeous dragonfly sweater Brynne had described to her. On it, she’d placed a note.
Please accept this as a gift from me. Tessa, honey, it was made for you. Wear it and think about how richly colorful your life could be here in Steele Ridge.
This family certainly didn’t play fair, did they?
Tessa wasn’t completely sure how Jonah felt about her, but his family seemed like they were her fans.
She was smiling and holding the sweater to her chest when Jonah limped out of the bathroom across the hallway. He wore a thick gray towel around his waist, which left his burn-marked chest bare. When they arrived at the apartment, Tessa had wanted to toss that damn sensor shirt into a dumpster, but Jonah insisted on bringing it inside.
If she had her way, she’d use a pair of wire cutters on it and snip it into tiny pieces.
“What’s that?” He nodded toward the sweater in her hand.
“Oh, just something Brynne left.”
Strolling closer, he brought a clean tropical scent with him. He took the sweater from Tessa’s hands and looked it over.
“It’s not really my style. I’ll probably—”
“Keep it.”
“What?”
“You should keep it,” he said. “It’s beautiful.” Somehow, one of his hands found its way around to the back of her neck and stroked the sensitive skin there, sending a shiver of awareness through Tessa. “Just like you.”
For some reason, that made Tessa’s cheeks heat. Something about Jonah’s rough and intimate tone threw her off balance. She’d been trying to capture this man’s attention, his affection for so long. Now she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“With all the craziness today,” he said, “I don’t think I ever said thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not sure I can count them all. Dealing with my crazy family, staying calm when things went off the rails, maneuvering like a freaking race car driver.”
“I was just—”
Her protest was cut off by his mouth covering hers. The stress and fear of the day finally hit Tessa like a brick to the heart, and her legs shook.
This—Jonah’s demanding lips on hers—felt different.
Deep.
Desperate.
Dominant.
Today’s events had scratched away a little of his veneer. Exactly what she’d wanted, but was she ready for this? Ready for the real Jonah?
A trembling started in her midsection and radiated its way out to every part of her body. Apparently, the sensation was truly physical because Jonah rubbed his hands up and down her arms, but Tessa’s involuntary reaction only intensified.
He must’ve realized she was about to break apart in his arms because he eased away and said, “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”
She wanted to drop her head and rest it against his chest, to reassure herself that he was alive and real, but his burns looked so painful. “He could’ve killed you. I think that’s
what he wants. What do you call it…killing you is his end…”
“End game.”
“How can you say that so calmly?”
“Because I know I’m going to stop the son of a bitch.”
I. Not we. She needed him to understand she had to fight her own fights. Yet his concern for her was tempting her to lean on him more than was healthy. More than was safe.
She needed a minute to get herself under control, because they had to talk and think about this situation clearly. “I could use a shower.”
“Tessa…”
“Yes, it’s temporary avoidance,” she said. “Classic defense mechanism. I just need a few minutes.” If she could wash away the dried layer of fearful sweat on her body, she might be able to regain her equilibrium.
“I left you a towel on the sink.”
She pressed a soft kiss to his bristly jaw, scooped up Badger, and fled. When she stripped out of her clothes, she realized just how dirty she felt. Not only from rushing around trying to outsmart a madman, but also from her complete lack of control in this situation. Her world didn’t work that way. Things had their places.
And right now, everything was decidedly out of order. Why had she believed that she could bring Jonah into her life without it going topsy-turvy?
In retrospect, it was silly and nearsighted. After all, he’d been tilting her world for years.
“C’mon, King B. You’re a mess.”
Her pup flattened his ears back at the prospect of getting under the spray.
“There’s a cookie in it for you.”
Those were the magic words. He let her place him inside the tub and he backed into a corner.
The shower water felt like heaven on Tessa’s skin, easing the gut-wrenching fear that she hadn’t been able to allow herself to feel while she and Jonah had been racing around town. She slid down the tile to sit, letting everything rain over her. When Badger let out a low whine, she picked him up and held him close. “I was so scared. Were you scared?”
He licked her ear and she rested her forehead against his slick fur.
“So many people in danger and they didn’t have a clue. And when Jonah ran inside the house, I thought he might not come back out. If I’d lost you and him, I would’ve…”
She didn’t know what she would’ve done, because her mind wouldn’t allow her to fully form a picture of a world without Jonah in it. It was a vacuum she couldn’t imagine filling.
And afterward in the car, when he said I may have failed you once, but never again, her heart had cracked into tiny pieces.
How could he possibly believe that he’d failed her? If not for him, she might not be alive. She certainly wouldn’t be the woman she was today. Because of him, she’d been able to recover.
To believe she had the strength to build the kind of life she wanted.
It wasn’t until a knock came at the bathroom door, and Jonah called out, “Tessa, let me in. I can’t stand hearing you like that,” that she realized she was making a deep sobbing sound that resembled a wounded animal left on the side of the road to die.
The knob rattled hard. “Talk to me or I’m busting down this door.”
“I’m okay. Just give me a minute,” she called back, her tight throat making the words come out creaky. “Go to bed and I’ll be there soon.”
“Tess…” Something thudded against the door as if he’d dropped his head against the wood. “Let me help you.”
“I’ve got it under control. I’m serious, just leave me be a little longer.”
“If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming back.”
Good. He’d jolted her out of a self-indulgent boo-hoo fest. Yes, feelings needed an outlet, but her little breakdown was something else. Something that made her feel raw and incredibly vulnerable. She turned off the water and dried herself and Badger. When she turned to study herself in the mirror, the foggy surface couldn’t hide her swollen, pink-rimmed eyes.
Good thing Jonah liked the dark.
But when she walked across the hall to the bedroom, the overhead light was still on. Jonah was sprawled on top of the covers, his chest bare and the towel unwound but covering the essentials.
He nodded toward the corner. “Brynne found a kennel for Badger, and I put a kitchen towel in there. Thought he might sleep better if…”
If he could burrow.
Tessa’s chest felt as if it had been cracked wide open. This man was so much more complex than he looked from the outside. He was insightful and thoughtful and so damn caring, but he rarely let it show, preferring to mask it all behind a dismissive shrug. Why?
“Kennel, King B,” she said, and although Badger gave one longing look at the people bed, he trotted inside the new kennel and scratched at the dishcloth until he’d formed it into a suitable nest.
After giving him the promised treat, Tessa rummaged through the bag of clothes to find a soft cotton chemise and matching yellow panties. She casually dropped the towel to slip on the gown and step into the undies as if she did this in front of Jonah every night. With steadier hands than she’d had earlier, she reached for her hair to pull it out of her face.
“Leave it down,” Jonah demanded, his gaze locked on her.
She shivered at his tone, but released her hair and let it fall down her back. She padded over to the wall switch, but before she could flip off the lights, Jonah spoke again. “I want them on. I want to see you.”
But did he want her to see him?
A lick of awareness went through her, but the red splotches on his body reminded her that he was in pain. He hadn’t followed the instructions he’d been given at the hospital. “You need ointment and bandages.”
He groaned like a little boy told it was time to come in for supper. “It isn’t that bad.”
“I’m not compromising on this.”
“Fine.” He sat up on the edge of the bed, barely keeping the towel in place. “But I can’t reach the burns on my back.”
“You take care of your chest, and I’ll get your back.” She realized her mistake when she climbed on the bed behind him to find his butt revealed in all its muscled perfection. It was like a piece of delicious ripe fruit. She could just lean down and bite…
“Tessa!”
She blinked and looked up to find Jonah holding the tube of ointment the clinic had prescribed.
“Need this?” he asked, his tone full of amusement. “Or did you find something else you’d rather do?”
Why she was embarrassed to have been caught contemplating the texture and taste of his ass was beyond her.
It took a vast amount of concentration to apply the ointment to the multiple burns on his back with steady fingers. The feel of his skin, his muscles, his spine sank into her like sand soaked up water. She carefully placed a Band-Aid horizontally over each wound.
When Jonah twisted his torso to check her progress, Tessa laughed. He’d slapped on his bandages willy-nilly, and he looked as if he’d contracted some kind of latex measles.
He took all the packaging and tossed it on the nightstand, then sprawled out on his side as if they did this every night. As if they hadn’t just become lovers.
If that’s what they actually were.
Because lovers implied that they loved one another. She’d been a little in love with him for years, but over these past few days, she’d begun to fall in love with the real man.
Jonah tugged one of her curls and absently wrapped it around his finger. “You said you were scared he would hurt me. Can you imagine how I felt?”
“Most men don’t want to admit when they’re afraid for their safety,” she said.
“Not that. I meant how fucking afraid I was that you would get hurt.”
“It’s become pretty obvious that I was never the target in the first place. He has some beef with you. He just used me to get the ball rolling.”
He tugged harder, and Tessa turned to face him. “Which means he’s obviously not above using people I care about to further
his agenda.”
“Do you think he knew Micki was inside your house?”
“I don’t know. But he has eyes on all of us somehow. How else could he have delivered that package and set the fire? Or have known if we called the cops? I don’t like that. Don’t like the idea that someone is watching you.”
“If you’re about to make another pitch for everyone else taking a tropical vacation while you find this person, just shut it. Can you imagine your family playing shuffleboard on the Lido deck while you’re here fighting for your life?”
“No, guess not.” A chuckle rumbled up from Jonah’s chest, warming Tessa.
“They love you. You know that, don’t you?”
“What about you?” He kept his attention on the lock of hair he was playing with as if it were a mesmerizing piece of art.
Was he asking what she thought he was asking? Her heart was beating up her ribcage, but something kept her from blurting out how she felt, still too afraid he would push her away. “I’m not much of a shuffleboard player, either.”
At that, his mouth turned down in what, on a three-year-old, would’ve been a pout. Tessa couldn’t resist. She leaned into him and put her lips on that pout, taking care not to brush Jonah’s blistered chest.
His fingers tightened in her hair, just the pleasurable side of desperation. “I want you, Tessa,” he said against her lips. “I need you.”
He hadn’t said he loved her, but for now, she would take what he was offering.
22
Tessa’s skin smelled of the body wash from the apartment’s shower. Tropical—coconut and mango. It made Jonah want to eat her up with a ferocity that shook him.
Truth was, his feelings for her had always shaken him. At first pity, and then shame. He’d tried to make restitution and stay detached, but that hadn’t been possible.
Now, she was in his life under the worst circumstances, and he had fallen in love with her.
Tessa deserved tender care and slow lovemaking. But every time Jonah was around her, every time she touched him, he felt as if the universal clock had been twisted back to the Pleistocene era. His gut told him to grab her and run so that some other knuckle-dragger couldn’t scoop her up first.
Stripping Bare (Steele Ridge Book 7) Page 21