gave me one at the hospital. I’ve got some over-the-counter stuff around here someplace. I’ll take a couple of those.”
“You bet you will,” she said, spying the bottle of analgesics near the kitchen sink. “What would you like to drink with it? Water or soda?”
“I’d say beer, if you’d gotten the right brand.”
“You’re not supposed to drink beer when taking these,” she told him. “Where do you keep your glasses?” she asked as she searched through the cabinets.
“I don’t have any right now. Just give me the can of soda.”
She did.
Jack took the pills, tilting back his head as he drank half the can in one go. He knew she was watching him. She’d been watching him since he’d gotten out of the shower. But there was a wariness in her gaze that didn’t sit well with him. Never one to beat around the bush, Jack said, “So who was the guy who gave you such a warped view of men?”
“I don’t have a warped view of men,” she immediately denied. “If anything, I have a clearer view than most.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I was married.”
“I guessed that much. And now you’re...?”
“Divorced.” She reached for another bag of groceries, noting that the chocolate mint ice cream had almost melted. Normally she had a system to putting away groceries, one that involved putting away the perishables first. But Jack’s appearance, half-naked and still dripping from his shower, had flustered her.
“What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened?” she repeated, worrying that he’d noticed the melting ice cream and somehow guessed he was the reason for it.
“With your marriage.”
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
“You’re not over him yet?”
“What makes you say that?”
“The look in your eyes. Kitten blue eyes. Ah, now they’re going all frosty. And when you laugh, they kind of shimmer.”
“I’ll bet you say that to all your girlfriends,” she declared before realizing what company that put her in. “Not that I’m one of your girlfriends,” she hurriedly clarified.
“Not yet,” Jack murmured.
“Not ever.” Pulling her scattered thoughts together, Kayla reached into her purse. “The bank put a rush on getting your new checks in. Until then, here are some temporary checks. The cash you wanted with your ATM card is in this envelope. And here’s the receipt for the groceries—the total was seventy-three sixteen. You can make me out a check for that.” She handed him the temporary checks, receipt and a pen.
“How do I make it out?” he asked.
“To Errands Unlimited. And don’t forget to call your friends back. You know, Misty and the gang....”
“They can wait. First I’m calling Vito’s Pizza for dinner.”
“Are you going to be okay here tonight?”
“Why?” Jack countered. “Are you offering to stay with me?”
“No. Misty and the gang were more than willing to come over and hold your hand.”
He shot her a devilish smile, one that was slow and sultry. “They just have a thing for a man in a uniform.”
“You’re not in a uniform now,” she noted with a telling look at his bare legs.
“So you noticed.”
“It’s hard not to,” she muttered. “Aren’t you cold?”
“No. Are you?”
Since she was fanning herself with the grocery receipt, she could hardly say yes. Instead she said, “I’m not the one wearing shorts.”
“More’s the pity,” Jack replied, his gaze traveling down her legs.
It was all Kayla could do not to tug on the hem of her skirt. The look he’d just given her made her feel as if she were wearing black fishnet stockings instead of perfectly respectable tights. “I’m leaving,” she firmly declared. “You’re clearly too stubborn to have anything happen to you, so I’m sure you’ll be fine on your own.” Not that she thought he’d be on his own very long.
“Hey, come back tomorrow and we’ll do this again,” Jack called out after her.
The sound of the door slamming was his only reply.
“So, buddy, tell me again why I had to spend my morning off patching this hole in your wall? Or maybe we should start with how you put a hole in the wall in the first place,” Boomer Laudermilk told Jack the next morning. Boomer was a ten-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department, the same as Jack, and was one of Jack’s closest friends.
“It was a simple misunderstanding,” Jack replied.
“Yeah, right. Like the time the captain caught you short-sheeting his bed.”
“Something like that.”
“Which still doesn’t tell me much.”
“I smashed the tip of my crutch through the wallboard.”
Boomer’s bushy, blond eyebrow lifted almost to his hairline. “In a bad mood, were you?”
“I thought she was breaking in—”
Boomer interrupted him. “She? You didn’t tell me there was a woman involved. Man, I shoulda guessed. There’s always a woman involved where you’re concerned. So what happened this time? You fall for a female cat burglar?”
“I haven’t fallen for anyone! Certainly not a bossy errand girl named Kayla, even if she does have the best legs I’ve ever seen and incredibly big baby blue eyes that show her every emotion.”
“Uh-oh, buddy, this doesn’t sound good.”
“She’s got a kid,” Jack declared, as if that said it all.
“Is that a problem?”
Jack shrugged.
“Don’t your parents run a day care center?” Boomer asked.
Jack nodded.
“Then I’d think you’d be used to kids.”
“You’d think wrong. My folks are good with kids. Not me.”
“So what are you going to do about this Kayla woman you’re not falling for?”
