Nothing But Trouble (38 page)

R.J. turned and clapped eyes on his older
step-brother, Chase, who was holding the hands of his twin boys,
Kevin and Zack. The kids were three, rambunctious as hell, and
asked a thousand questions. Although they were cute as shit, with
their parents' blonde hair and angelic looks, they were a disaster
waiting to happen. Add their four year old brother, Mason, to the
mix, and the kids could rival Hurricane Katrina.

"On kid duty, huh?" he asked his brother, who
already had to grab Kevin, or maybe it was Zack, from running off
and cracking his head open on a shard of metal. Honestly he had no
idea how Chase and Lacy told the two kids apart. Even their hair
was cut the same.

Chase bent down and picked Zack, or maybe
Kevin, up off the floor and tossed the kid over his shoulder. The
boy kicked his legs and demanded to be put down. The other twin
giggled.

"Yeah, Mason's playing at a neighbor's house
and Abigail's asleep. I told Lacy I'd give her a break."

Kevin, or maybe Zack, looked up at R.J. with
big, round eyes. "And Daddy had to pick up dog shit. But he told me
not to say shit."

R.J. glanced at his brother, who'd been
trying to stifle a laugh. "Nice," he said.

"Yeah, Lacy ripped me a new one over that."
He ruffled his son's hair. "I told you not to say that. It's a
grown up word."

"He also said 'damn.'" The other kid
announced from Chase's shoulder.

R.J. grinned. "Maybe you should stop cursing
in front of your children."

"I don't need that shit from you," Chase
grumbled. "Don't say shit," he warned to the twin still on the
ground.

"Daddy, you said we could play on the cars."
The twin standing up tugged on Chase's hand.

"I said maybe. But I don't trust you and your
brother."

"What's trust mean?" The boy tossed over
Chase's shoulder asked.

R.J. gestured to Mr. Underwood's car. "They
can sit in that one over there. It's all done, so no one's working
on it."

Chase set the kid down next to his brother
and tapped both of them on their bottoms. "You can play in the
orange one over there. But if I see you leave that car, no ice
cream for either one of you."

The kids took off, barely dodging Alex in
their path. The one in the blue shirt opened the door and the two
of them climbed inside.

"Which one is which again?" he asked
Chase.

Chase lowered his brows and shot him an
accusatory glare. "You can't tell your own nephews apart?"

"Half the time you can't either, so shut the
hell up."

Chase lifted a brow, and R.J. wanted to kick
himself for losing his temper. Rebecca had him tied up in so many
knots, now he was snapping at his own brother.

"Get up on the wrong side of the bed today?"
Chase asked with half a smile. "Or maybe whatever's wrong with you
starts with an R and has curly hair."

Ah, well shit. He thought he'd been sneakier
than that.

"Don't act like it's a big secret," Chase
went on. "The whole family knows you belong together. The only one
who hasn't figured it out yet is you."

He rubbed the back of his neck. Was that a
headache he felt coming on? "How did you figure it out with Lacy?"
Because, Lord knew, Chase's romance with his wife hadn't been a
matter of a few candlelit dinners. He'd been just as resistant
toward admitting his feelings for Lacy as R.J. was for Rebecca.
Okay, so fifteen years was a bit long, and Chase hadn't been that
obstinate. But R.J.'s relationship with Rebecca was unique. Not at
all the way Chase started his relationship with Lacy. Theirs had
been immediate and explosive.

"Right around the time Brody punched me," his
brother admitted.

Oh yeah, R.J. remembered that. Brody had
simply been protective of Lacy, but Chase had deserved it. He
hadn't taken Lacy's surprise pregnancy well and had needed some
sense knocked into him. Literally.

"Yeah, but you were being bull-headed," he
reminded his brother. Not to mention R.J. hadn't tossed out a
marriage proposal without thinking.

Chase placed a hand on his shoulder. "My
friend, you are the epitome of bull-headed. In fact, you're so
bull-headed that you can't even see it." A mock smile curved his
lips. "Maybe I ought to send Brody over here to smack you around.
He's good at that."

"Try it and see what happens," he warned his
brother.

Besides, stubbornness wasn't the problem. Was
it?

No, he'd merely been protective of Rebecca,
keeping her away from damaged goods like him so she didn't end up
with a bruised heart.

Chances are her heart is already bruised. So
what good has all that done you?

Well, hell, how was he supposed to have known
she'd keep on loving him? And how could he have possibly predicted
that her absence would only magnify his feelings for her?

Because you're too bull-headed to see
it
.

Ah shit.

Wasn't this the same problem all three of his
brothers had when they fell in love? Hadn't they displayed the same
unwillingness to accept their fate?

"You know exactly what I'm talking about,"
Chase went on. "You just can't admit it. Something about her
terrifies you." He lowered his voice. "Look, I know what you're
going through. Men are stupid when it comes to women. And trust me
when I say, she doesn't need your version of chivalry. She just
needs someone to love her."

R.J. shook his head. "She deserves better
than me," he muttered.

"What she deserves is for someone to allow
her to make her own decisions." Chase directed his attention over
R.J.'s shoulder. "Kevin, don't jump on those seats. I know what
you're doing," he said to R.J. "Because I made all the same
mistakes with Lacy. You think you're doing the right thing, but
you're not. I'd better get out of here, or my kids will make scrap
metal of your cars."

Chase stomped over to Mr. Underwood's car,
where he unceremoniously grabbed both boys by the backside and
hauled them over his shoulders.

"I don't know how my wife does this every
day," he said to R.J. as he walked out of the shop. The twins were
kicking their legs and demanding to be put down. Chase laughed at
their non-authoritative tones and practically tossed them in the
back seat of his pickup.

R.J. turned back to his work and tried not to
dwell on his step-brother's advice. They were wise words from a man
who'd been in the same position five years ago. If R.J. had any
sense, he'd listen. Not only that, he'd get in his car, find
Rebecca wherever she was, and kiss her until she admitted how much
she loved him too.

Instead, he got back to work because there
was too much of it for him to ignore. Plus, he needed to work out
exactly what he wanted to say.

Several hours later, his mind wasn't in any
better condition than it had been before. He was still confused,
scared, and downright anxious. Funny how one woman could bring out
such foreign feelings in him. Come to think of it, they weren't all
that strange. Rebecca had always made him feel that way.

Actually if he were to be completely honest,
and it was way past time for that,
not
being with Rebecca
had made him feel that way. When he was with her, he felt right.
Everything clicked, as though his surroundings could fade away and
not a shiver of doubt would cloud his mind. Being with Rebecca made
him a better man.

Being without her just made him stupid.

As though conjured by his very thoughts, the
woman herself walked into his shop, all sleek and beautiful, just
as always. Just the slightest glimpse of her had his heart
ratcheting up his throat. Her long, trim legs were wrapped in faded
denim with tattered holes that gave him a glimpse of petite knees.
A form-fitting, long-sleeved shirt fell to her hips, with a
neckline that revealed delicate collarbones. She was so very…
Rebecca.

Just as breathtaking and sweet as she'd
always been.

And he'd been trying to stay away from
her?

She greeted some of his techs, and her soft
voice washed over him like a forbidden whisper. The sound gave him
actual goosebumps, something he'd only designated to women. He
adjusted his package beneath his jeans because the material had
grown tight in the ten seconds she'd been in the building.

How predictable of him.

Sam said something that made her laugh, a
genuine, deep-throated sound that hadn't come from her in a long
time. R.J. grinned at the sweet innocence of her happiness, because
it was long overdue.

He supposed she had a lot to be happy about,
seeing as though the DEA had officially closed their investigation
and surrendered Rebecca's license back to her.

Somehow he managed to hold his shit together
when she approached. The tent in his jeans bordered on
embarrassing, but thoughts of the time when he accidentally saw his
grandmother naked took care of the problem in a snap.

"My dad's car looks really good," she said in
that bedroom voice of hers. The one that always haunted him when he
slept. "You did a fantastic job with it." She leaned against a
Dodge Challenger and tilted her head. A strand of curl fell from
her loose bun and graced cheek, sort of the same way he used to
touch her.

Used to.

It doesn't have to be in the past tense.

His hands weren't that dirty, but he picked
up a rag anyway because if he didn't occupy himself, he'd bend her
over his arm and embarrass them both.

"Thanks," he managed to grunt out. "I was
just about to take it for a spin." Lie. "Want to join me?"

Her tongue swiped across her lower lip, which
damn near gave him an aneurism. "Okay," she replied.

Ten minutes later, they were cruising in her
father's brand-new car with orange paint, white leather seats and a
kickass manual transmission. His team had outdone themselves with
this car, and he knew Donald Underwood was going to love every
surface of the vehicle.

"It's like a completely different machine,"
Rebecca said in awe as she ran her hand over the dash. "It even
rides better."

"Think your dad will be pleased with it?" he
asked, even though he knew the answer. He just needed something to
say so he didn't swallow his own tongue.

She twisted in her seat to glance behind her.
"He's going to love it." Her green eyes fixed with his. "You're
really talented, R.J."

He moved one shoulder, which was more nerves
than anything else. "It's my job."

"It's more than just a job," she argued.
"Cars have always been your passion. You're lucky you get to do
what you love."

He glanced at her just before turning to the
baseball fields. "So are you."

"More or less," she said with a sigh.

"You got your license back, Rebecca. Why
don't you seem happier?"

She unbuckled her seatbelt when he parked in
front of one of the baseball diamonds. "Believe me, I am happy. But
I can't help but feel like I'm selling out by joining Dr.
Scarboro's practice."

That was his overachiever. Always feeling
like she could reach higher.

"You're not selling out. You're being smart."
He draped his arm over the wheel and looked at her. "Joining
another practice allows you to get back to work right away. If you
build a new place from scratch, it could take you years to get
going."

She glanced down at her hands, and her
uncertainty was like someone scooping out his guts with a
spoon.

"But I finally had a chance to have
everything I wanted, and I didn't take it. What if this opportunity
never comes again?" She pinned him with eyes full of questions. "I
feel like I let my dreams slip through my hands."

Rebecca had always had more confidence than
anyone he knew, and rightfully so. To hear her question herself had
his protective instincts coming out. He turned in his seat and
abandoned his personal vow not to touch her.

He smoothed her hair back from her face.
"Rebecca, whether you realize or not, you're already living your
dream. You put yourself through medical school, you're a great
doctor, and your patients love you. What more could you ask for
than that?"

Her mouth opened, then shut, as though
something was on the tip of her tongue. The urge to kiss her was so
strong that he actually leaned across the seat. But something
stopped him short. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to
start something he couldn't finish. Maybe it was the look in
Rebecca's eyes, all hope and need and things that still made him
hyperventilate.

Just as he pulled back, she leaned forward
and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft and light, but still
elicited a response from him. His hand tightened around her head,
holding her closer to him even though he knew it would be smart to
just drive her back to work. But damn, he couldn't help himself. It
wasn't a very passionate kiss, but he still didn't want to let her
go. Even the smallest of touches with Rebecca could send his world
in a tailspin and his heart punching through his ribcage.

Rebecca broke the contact first. Even though
he ought to be grateful, disappointment wrapped around him just the
same.

"I know what more I want," she said in a near
whisper. "I love you, R.J."

The words weren't a surprise to him, but they
knocked the breath from his lungs anyway. All he needed to do was
say it back to her. Be honest. The familiar tightening in his chest
started again.

"Rebecca―"

A flash of darkness clouded her eyes. It was
instantaneous, but he knew her well enough to recognize the shadow
of pain. Dammit, how did he always manage to come off as an
ass?

"It's okay, you don't need to say anything."
She sank back into the seat with defeat slumping her shoulders.

"Rebecca, I was just going to say―"

"I need to get back to work."

R.J. wasn't sure if not enough had been said,
or if too much had transpired between them. Their relationship had
become diluted with the same predictable conversations and
arguments. Yet, each time they expected a different outcome.