hopped out of the vehicle and bounded up the steps.
Molly and Rina stopped talking as he entered the kitchen. Molly had her hair up and he flashed back to when he’d kissed her neck. That sweet spot where her pulse had been beating so strongly. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but her lips looked full and her mouth so...addicting. He was going to crack, unable to resist the lure of Molly much longer.
The worst part was that she wasn’t doing anything. She was just being friendly...
“I have a call?”
“Yes. It’s Dennis Lock. He said it was urgent,” she said. “You can take it on the extension in the den.”
“Thanks,” he said, walking past both women down the hall to Mick’s den. As he entered he realized the room was slowly becoming Molly’s. There were little touches that hadn’t been there when it had been Mick’s domain.
Things like a scented candle on the credenza. And the pile of papers that had always been stacked precariously on the edge of the desk had been cleared off. A framed picture of Molly and Mick had taken its place.
Jason wiped his hands on his jeans before leaning on the desk and lifting the handset.
“McCoy here.”
“Ace. Took long enough. One thing we have to do once you win the bid is get a cell tower put in. It feels like the dark ages when I have to call a landline.”
Jason smiled to himself, suppressing a chuckle. “It is a different world out here.”
“I bet. I have two pieces of news. The decision has been made for the facility and my sources said I’ll be happy. You should hear something informal today. I’d call Lynn.”
“Will do, sir. What’s the other news?” he asked.
“I need you back here for an interim medical evaluation. They are pressuring us to name a commander for the first mission and I want it to be you. Doctor Tomlin needs to see if you are making enough progress.”
Jason rubbed his chest as, for the first time, he worried he might not be physically able. His body was the one thing he’d always taken for granted. Even when his mom had died and he’d been left on his own, he’d been healthy.
“Okay. What if I’m not?”
“Don’t even think it,” Dennis said.
“You’ll have to name someone else, won’t you?”
There was silence on the line for a long minute and Jason felt a burst of anger. Dammit.
“Hemi’s good,” Jason said finally.
“He is, but he’s not ready. Not yet. I want you, Ace. But we won’t send you to space if we can’t bring you back whole.”
“Fair enough. I can’t get down to Houston today. Can I come tomorrow?”
“Yes. Call Lynn first and then Tomlin. She’s going to want to set up a series of exercises and tests.”
Dennis finished the call and Ace hung up the phone but didn’t leave the room. He didn’t make the other calls he needed to make. He glanced down at his body. He’d been working out every day and he felt like he was in the best shape of his life. But he had no idea if his bone density had improved. Hell. He wanted to punch something. He wanted...
There was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Molly.”
Yeah, that was what he wanted.
* * *
MOLLY HAD KEPT Jason at arm’s length as much as possible during the last five weeks, burying herself in work. Done the smart thing. But she wasn’t too sure how much longer she could do it. Hence, standing outside her own den door, knocking.
She’d seen the look on Jason’s face when Dennis’s name had been mentioned. She thought they’d have a little more time before NASA made a decision about the facility, so maybe instead this was...news about Jason and the space program.
She’d stood outside this door more than once. When she’d set herself on fire in the barn, Dad had taken her to town for emergency treatment and then when she’d come home and was healthy again, he’d told her to meet him here. She’d known she was in trouble...
This time it was Jason in trouble. Not her. She felt it. She had no idea what kind of news he’d gotten, but she heard banked anger in his voice on the phone and she told herself it wasn’t her problem.
She could just walk away and no one would blame her. Jason wouldn’t blame her or expect anything else from her, but she couldn’t do that. No matter how much she’d been trying to think of their lovemaking as sexy fun, she cared about him. Always had.
She’d spent most of her teenaged years pretending that he was just another one of her dad’s boys. But he never had been. She couldn’t lie about that. Her heart wasn’t fickle.
She opened the door. He sat there on the edge of her desk. The look he gave her was desperate and dark.
It hadn’t been good news.
Of course, it hadn’t. Good news wasn’t usually urgent.
“Want to talk?”
He shook his head.
“Want to be alone?” she asked.
“No. Molly, I don’t want to be alone,” he said slowly, emphasizing each word.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“You. No more pretending. Can you do that? If not, turn around and leave. Give me some time to get my head back to the polite place I’ve been in for the last few weeks,” he said.
She stood there. She should walk away. That would be the smart thing to do. This wasn’t the sweet Jason who seduced her with barbecue sandwiches and stories. This was a man who was broken and he needed something raw from her.
God, she wanted to give it to him. She wasn’t going to leave him alone. She closed the door behind her and then leaned against it, her hands behind her back.
He looked down at the floor.
“Leave, Molly. I’m not the nicest guy right now.”
“I can’t,” she admitted. “I’ve been trying to pretend that all the little things that make you the man you are haven’t affected me, but they have. I can’t keep ignoring it.”
He lifted his head and in those light blue eyes of his she saw so much emotion. Anger, agony, fear and need.
Focus on the need, she told herself and subtly locked the door behind her as she took a step forward. Rina sometimes just let herself in and Molly didn’t want to be interrupted. Not now.
She toed off her boots, noticed that Jason shifted on the desk to face
