Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) (8 page)

“The rest of the story is still happening,” Shane said easily, reaching over and running his fingers down her arm until he could hold her hand again. “In fact, it’s probably just getting started.”

Reesa nodded. “Well, sitting in your car outside a house full of sleeping kids is not exactly romantic love at its finest.”

“I hear you. How about we see if the magic is still there?” Shane said, twisting his body until he could put his lips on hers.

God, it had been so long, Shane thought, touching his mouth to hers.
She tasted just as good as he remembered, and like the pizza and popcorn they ate earlier.

Her little moan of protest started fires burning again, and then finally Reesa’s lips reluctantly opened under his. Her surrender had Shane grabbing the back of her head and making love to her mouth with long strokes of his tongue. There was something amazing in the way she absorbed the pressure of his actions and gave them back to him.

“Is there ever a time when you’re alone without the kids?” Shane asked, pulling away from the temptation of her now compliant lips before he tried to do what was physically impossible in his car.

“Sara goes to school half days, but only Monday through Thursday,” Reesa said against his thumb that was brushing her bottom lip.

“I work from home right now and make my own schedule. Got plans for Monday morning?” Shane asked, bending to nibble and suck her bottom lip as she shook her head.

“No—I guess I don’t,” she answered.

“Can I be your plan?” Shane asked softly. “We’ll call it our first official date.”

“I don’t know, Shane. Part of me thinks dating you is a very bad idea,” Reesa told him truthfully, barely resisting the urge to lean forward and kiss him back the way she wanted.

“What’s the other part saying?” Shane asked, his husky masculine laugh sending a shiver through her that made him smile at her response. “I bet it’s saying the same thing everything in me in saying right now. It’s saying bring it on and hurry up.”

Reesa laughed softly and closed her eyes until Shane bit her lip. When her eyelids popped open at the quick pain, there was amusement in his gaze, but something more—something Reesa was not willing to acknowledge.

“We belong together,” Shane said confidently, pulling away to sit normally in his seat. “The universe sent you to me and me to you. I like the kids and I like you more than any woman I’ve ever met. Let’s see how this goes, Teresa Callahan.”

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Reesa told him.

“Okay. You can explain it to me again Monday morning,” Shane said, barely holding back stating his intent to get back into her. “Let’s have breakfast together and swap life stories. We can pretend we just met. I’ll bring bagels. You make coffee.”

Reesa sighed in resignation and nodded, her hand on the car door. “Shane, I like you too, so I’m going to be gut honest. Don’t weave fantasies about us. My goal is to get permanent custody of the children. They’re going to be a part of my life forever. Those young women you usually date are a much better bet if you want a girlfriend who can pay attention and spend time with just you. We’re different in more than just how we look.”

Shane sighed at her answer and shook his head, feeling his hair brush his shoulders. He would miss his hair, but he had promised Jillian to get a trim and shave. Looked like he was going to have to clean up his act to convince Reesa he was a grown-up, too.

“Reesa, you’re the woman I want to spend time with no matter the circumstances,” Shane told her. “I’m adult enough to know that for the truth it is.”

“There’s a difference between being adult and knowing your mind. You’re not even thirty. I didn’t know what I wanted at your age, and frankly the greatest sex in the universe won’t bridge our differences for long,” Reesa said bluntly.

“No—but great sex can make us both feel better about life. It might make the hard times more tolerable for you when you know my arms are waiting to hold you,” Shane replied, feeling the smile spread from his mouth to his eyes before he could stop it. Satisfied male laughter followed. “Greatest sex in the universe. Wow. I thought you were great in bed too, honey. You’re the best sex I ever had, but that’s only part of why I looked for you.”

“When the new wears off, you’ll see I’m just a normal woman. Any woman would like being with you,” Reesa said honestly, opening the car door before she was tempted to fling herself across the stick shift and into Shane’s lap.

“You said I made you laugh. Well you made me laugh too, Reesa. You made me lose control in bed, which has
never
happened to me before. You told me life was too short not to follow my dreams. Well, guess what, lady?
You’re my dream
,” Shane told her. “You need to start getting used to the idea that I want to be in your life.”

“Stop—just stop with the romance, I already agreed to Monday.” Throat tight and eyes burning over his words, Reesa got out of the car and walked to the house shaking her head in denial.

She heard Shane’s car pull away from the curb as she shut the door behind her.

Chapter 5

Holding her cell phone to her ear, Reesa listened to country music as she waited on hold. Not her favorite music, but it was better than the elevator music the other two companies had on their answering systems.

She opened the front door when she heard what sounded like a motorcycle in the driveway. Yep—it was definitely a motorcycle. Seconds later, the rider climbed off and peeled the helmet away confirming for certain it was Shane.

Great,
Reesa thought,
the man-child rides a motorcycle.
And she was the crazy woman who had stupidly agreed to date him.

“Yes, I’m still here,” Reesa said into the phone, watching Shane unlock a compartment on the back of the bike and pull a paper bag from it. “I have a cracked pipe under my kitchen sink. Friday? No, I can’t wait that long. I need someone today. Yes—I have tried them. Actually, I called both your suggestions and they recommended you. No—I understand. Thanks. I’ll call back if I don’t find someone.”

Reesa disconnected at the same time she held the door open for Shane.

“Hi,” she said. “Our date needs a rain check. I have a crisis going on this morning. I can offer you a cup of coffee, but I have to find a plumber who can come today.”

“What’s up?” Shane asked.

“Do you know how to fix plumbing?” Reesa asked, thinking that it would be nice to have someone in her life who could fix all the various things around the house that kept breaking. Shane was young, but maybe he had more skills than just great moves in bed.

“Plumbing? No—not me,” Shane said, laughing. “I’m an intellectual and an artist. My man skills do not translate well into household chores. I have a great phone though.”

Reesa laughed sardonically.
Great—she’d agreed to date a man-child with a love of techno toys.
“My kitchen is becoming a wetland. I need a fix-it person. Why is your phone so wonderful?”

Shane dug his phone out of the motorcycle jacket he was shedding. “It’s wonderful because there’s a phone number stored in it for a contractor who knows how to fix things. Here—take the bagels,” he said roughly, shoving the bag into Reesa’s free hand.

“Hey, don’t squish the baked goods,” Reesa teased, mirroring his gruff tone.

Grinning, Shane pressed a button and waited. Reesa soon heard a masculine voice answering on the other end of the phone.

“Joseph, I need you—well, I don’t, but Reesa does. She’s got plumbing problems. I don’t know what kind—the wet kind,” Shane said, frowning at Joe’s rapid fire questions. He put the phone on his chest and looked at Reesa waiting for an explanation.

“Tell him I have a cracked pipe under the sink,” Reesa said. “It’s the one that makes cold water come out of the faucet.”

Shane dutifully repeated the information. Reesa saw Shane shake his head and tromp off to the kitchen. She trailed behind him, seeing him smile over the basket of towels by the sink, the wet towels in the sink, and the doors open under it.

Then Reesa suddenly wasn’t taking in any more of the phone conversation. Instead, she watched Shane lie down on his back and attempt to wedge the width of his shoulders inside the cabinet while he studied the pipes. He didn’t get into the cabinet very far. It was obvious that he was too big for the space.

Trying not to think about what spaces Shane fit and didn’t fit, Reesa finally turned away from him. It helped her ignore his prone body stretched out in the floor. It was way too tempting to her this morning and she couldn’t help wondering what he’d do if she simply crawled on top on him to rock away the sudden ache between her legs.

Reesa got down two cups from the cabinet, smacking them on the counter harder than necessary in her physical frustration. She went to pour steaming, fragrant coffee into both, stopping when she heard Shane sputter and curse, and then yell his frustration into the phone.

Reesa walked over and looked under the cabinet and saw Shane had removed the towel she had strategically wrapped around the spewing, cracked water pipe. Water was dripping off his face now from where the shooting leak kept hitting him. He tried to fight it off with one hand while still talking on the phone he held in the other.

Reesa imagined the phone getting wet and zapping him, which shouldn’t have been funny, but was. Giggles welled up and escaped. She had never been a giggler, but the situation was just too funny.

Walking over to the sink, Reesa straddled Shane, standing on either side of his waist as she took a thick, fluffy towel from the basket. She tried to lean under the sink to rescue him from the water that was still steadily assaulting him, but couldn’t reach.

“Hold still and don’t get any ideas,” Reesa mumbled, dropping to her knees and being instantly reminded about how far she had to spread her legs to get around the man. Her face flooded with heat and memories.

Taking a deep breath before doing what had to be done, Reesa reached inside the cabinet, practically putting her whole upper body in, and began wrapping the pipe with a fresh, dry towel. She pried Shane’s hand off the crack and quickly covered it.

“Now don’t unwrap it again, Dr. Larson. I don’t have the time or energy to build a damn ark in my kitchen this morning,” Reesa said, ending on a laugh even though she tried hard to sound stern.

Shane froze at her reprimand, suddenly very aware of the woman crouched over him, all but sitting on his chest. “Call you back later, Joe. Yeah—I’ll get my father to do that.”

He tossed his phone into the laundry basket with the dry towels and shoved his body out of the cabinet, tipping Reesa down onto him in the process. She called out and grabbed his shoulders for support.

Seconds later, Shane was sitting up with her still straddling his lap. His face and hair dripped water on his shirt, which was completely soaked on one side from fighting the spewing water, but all Shane was really conscious of was the woman in his lap.

“Your water shut-off is stuck. Do you have an adjustable wrench?” Shane asked, thinking how satisfying it was to be close to her again.

Reesa scrambled to scoot backwards off his lap only to have Shane put his very large hands on her rear and pull her hips forward to put her back in place.
Be calm
, she told herself.
Don’t go all nuts-o just because the man is finally under you again.

“If that tool is in the garage, I doubt I would recognize it,” Reesa told him, trying to distract him. “I don’t have repair skills either.”

Shane snickered. “My father and Michael are both guys who can do this stuff. I’m afraid the fix-it gene passed me by. I do have other valuable skills if you’re interested.”

He grinned when Reesa squirmed on his thighs, realized what was happening to him under her, and then froze in his lap. He wasn’t ready to let her up yet, but he didn’t want to scare off by being too bold either.

Time for a change of subject, he decided.

“I’m totally soaked. Joe kept asking me questions and I couldn’t do much one-handed. I got it unwrapped, but I couldn’t put the towel back,” Shane said, happy to hear her giggle again. Who knew he would like a giggling girl? “Joe said he can’t come by until tonight. He said to turn off the water and wait for him, but said the valve would probably need a wrench since it was stuck. I’m afraid if I try to bust it loose with brute strength, I’ll break it completely off. You don’t have enough towels for that emergency. We’d drown before we got the ark built.”

“If two college educated people can’t figure out how to turn off the water under the sink, we don’t stand a chance in hell of building anything to keep from drowning. Got any other ideas about what we can do?” Reesa asked, liking the way Shane laughed and flirted with her in the midst of the chaos and his wet condition.

Forgetting for a moment where she was sitting, Reesa reached into the basket for another dry towel. She draped it over Shane’s still dripping hair and massaged his scalp and his hair to dry it. His eyelids drifted closed at her actions and had her turning to mush inside.

What a big sweetie
, she thought.
He just wants someone to be nice to him.
The temptation to be even nicer was suddenly more than she could handle and her lips found their way to his. She held his head still with handfuls of wet hair tangled in her fingers. He just looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes and a gaze dark enough to drown in.