aren’t you going to kiss me again?” She took a shaky step in his direction.
He took another step backward toward the door. “I think I’d better be going.”
“Not just yet.” She grinned at him and his whole body went rock-hard. “Um…um… Stay long enough to help me.”
He would be a lot better off simply making a run for the door; instead, Jake made the fatal mistake of asking, “Help you with what?”
Rocking uneasily on her feet, she reached for the hem of her sparkly orange, long-sleeved top and pulled it up and over her head in one move. Pitching the top into a corner, she turned back to him wearing nothing above the waist but a silky lace bra and a big smile. She tilted her head and stared at him as if to say, Help me and yourself, big boy.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” His voice was too steely and harsh for the situation. But he was at a loss as to how to change things.
She shook her head. “What am I doing?”
“Making it hotter than hell in here.” His mind was on a dangerous edge as he fought with dueling impulses.
He needed an out. Fast. Or an excuse to change the subject.
Fortunately, he’d spotted something to talk about while she’d had her back turned. It gave him a momentary reprieve and would be something to occupy her mind, he hoped.
“You have a tattoo on your shoulder.” He slid a little farther away and pointed. “What is that? A mermaid?”
“That’s Disney’s Ariel. I had her done last week. I think she’s kinda sexy. Do you like her?”
The mermaid tattoo did look like a kid’s cartoon character. It was sweet, but not the least bit sexy.
“She looks like you,” he managed. “With the red hair and all. But why her?”
“The tattoo was an effort to change. To become a new person.”
That sounded like just so much psycho babble to him. “And did you? Become a new person?”
Mary’s face flushed bright red. “Not yet. But Ariel is helping me on my journey to find the real me. I was hoping.” Her words stopped as her face paled.
Reaching a shaking hand toward him, she clutched her stomach with the other hand. “I was hoping you would help me, too.”
With that, whatever she’d eaten for the past twenty-four hours came back up her throat and spewed from her mouth. If he’d been a step closer, it would’ve gone all over him. As it was, the goo covered her pants and got on her shoes.
She started to cry in earnest. “I’m sooo sorry. Look at me. I’m a mess.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help.” He couldn’t stop himself. He could no more leave her like this than he could play the violin. It wasn’t in him.
He took great care in carrying Mary into the bathroom and cleaning her up. After using a washcloth on her face, he splashed water into her mouth and let her swish toothpaste to rinse. When he was done, he helped her out of her shoes and pants and pitched them into the tub. He found a couple of aspirin in her bag on the back of the toilet and got them down her with a big glass of water. Then he carted her to the bed, threw the covers back and slid her between the sheets.
“Thank you. I’m grateful. But my head is still spinning.” She beamed up at him. “Are you going to join me? “
He shook his head and saw the shadow of disappointment cross her face. “Uh, I’d better clean up some more before I do anything else.”
“Don’t leave me, Jake. Please.”
“I won’t go far,” he promised. “You’re going to be fine. Don’t worry. Rest is what you need most.”
It took him ten minutes to wet a couple of towels and clean up the carpeting. He threw the towels into the tub and filled it up with hot water to let everything soak.
When he arrived back beside the bed, Mary was sound asleep. He headed for the door. With his hand on the knob, he remembered his promise not to leave.
But she would be all right. He could sneak out and she would never notice he’d left until morning.
Then he made the mistake of turning back to look at her.
She looked peaceful now, but what if she had alcohol poisoning or something? Perhaps she could get sick again and choke to death before ever waking up.
He walked to the desk and dragged the tiny chair over beside the bed. Figuring he could sit here for a while, he decided he had nothing better to do tonight.
As Jake stared down into Mary’s sweet face, he remembered their kiss. He’d kissed a lot of women over the years. In fact, for five whole years of his life he had looked forward to sharing his wife’s kisses on a daily basis. But Tina had been gone for ten years, and at this point he couldn’t quite bring the memory of his dead wife’s kisses to mind anymore.
Was that disloyal? Jake couldn’t stand thinking about that possibility, or about Tina right now.
He couldn’t concentrate on anything but the way Mary clung to him. The way her body had melded to his as if the two of them were destined to be together. As if they had been made for each other right from the beginning of time.
A stray curl of soft red hair had fallen over her cheek, and he reached over to push it behind her ear. Running his knuckles over ivory skin, Jake remembered how open she’d been. From the very beginning in the bar, she’d been willing to tell him anything.
She’d also been wide-open to his kisses. Gave him everything he asked for—and more. She was a hell of a good kisser, making him wonder who had taught her so well. Her file hadn’t listed a boyfriend or fiancé, but Jake felt sure that by the age of twenty-nine there must’ve been someone.
The thought of her file reminded Jake of his mission. He wouldn’t leave her for long, but he was overdue to check in with his partner.
Forcing his fingers away from her soft, smooth skin, Jake pulled the sheet up over her shoulders and tucked her in. He’d covered up the mermaid, but he didn’t think she would mind.
Smiling, he pocketed her key card and slipped out of the room. Seconds later he was down the outside stairs and in the parking lot, looking for a quiet place to make his call.
“What do you mean your assailant—the kid—got away?” His partner Jim was chuckling so loudly over the phone that Jake was afraid someone in the hotel might be able to hear him. “You can’t mean you’ve suddenly grown into such an old man.”
Stepping farther under a tall ponderosa pine, Jake gritted his teeth and backed into the shadows. “Ha. Ha. Very funny. What are you? All of two years younger than I am? Or maybe you’ve regressed to your teenage years while I’ve been away. At least I got in a clean shot at the kid. Broke his nose for sure.”
“If he was someone from Honey Creek, a broken nose won’t be hard to spot.” Jim’s silent grin shouted right through the receiver, even
