A little panicked, she jumped up too. “Where?”
His jaw worked, then miraculously, he smiled, a boyish smile that somehow made him look very mature. “To the store to get knobs so Jesse can finish up.”
Oh. Her spine turned to gelatin. “Right.”
“You guys are doing so much...”
That broke her heart too, because they hadn’t really done much at all. “Don’t hate me for this, okay?” Letting that be her only warning, Tonya wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.
Leaning away from her, clearly uncomfortable, he patted her shoulder. “Um...”
“Just a few more seconds.”
“Well...okay.” He patted her again.
She was still clinging to him when Jesse stuck his head back in the kitchen. “You about ready, Kevin?”
“Yeah.” As Tonya released him, he sidled out with alacrity. Jesse went with him, politely giving her the time she needed to regroup.
After a few slow, even breaths, she felt together enough to join the others.
“C’mon.” Brick scooped his arm around Merrily. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Head down, Kevin shuffled toward the door. “I’m ready.”
Jesse gave her a long look, touched her chin and said, “Be right back.” Pulling a note with numbers on it from his pocket, he walked out with the others.
The urge to sneak down the hall and peek was strong. Instead, Tonya returned to her kitchen chair and dropped into it. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of all that still had to be done. She’d never gone school clothes shopping with a very reluctant, unhappy boy. How was it going to work when so far Kevin seemed suspicious of nearly everything?
Well, except for the cat. He adored Love.
And apparently the drive-in.
He also seemed to like his room...
So maybe, as Merrily had said, she was borrowing trouble, making the problems bigger than they really were—when God knew they were big enough.
She hadn’t heard Jesse come back in, so when his warm hand covered her shoulder, she started.
His other hand joined the first and he carefully rubbed. “You’re tense.”
For many different reasons—new reasons, now that he touched her. “You and Brick are so much alike. He just did this very thing to Merrily.”
“What?”
“Shoulder massage.”
“He was probably just on the make.”
Knowing he stood right behind her—knowing they were alone—sent Tonya’s thoughts down a different path. “But you’re not?”
She heard his smile when he said, “Not just yet.”
Darn. She would have loved the distraction.
With a final gentle caress, he moved to stand beside her. “You’re okay?”
She nodded. “Just considering things.”
“Me?”
“You’ve made yourself such a part of everything, of course you factor in.”
He drew her up and out of the chair, turning her to face him and looping his arms around her waist. “Is that a complaint?”
“Only at myself.” She leaned into him, accepting his strength, his warmth and caring. About everyone. Was she special to him? And why in God’s name was she whining about herself when Kevin had had his entire world upended? “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be mopey. It’s just that you make it all seem so easy.”
“Apparently I’m failing, though, given everything Kevin said.”
“You heard?”
“Much of it.”
Soooo... Jesse had heard her tell Kevin that she’d boot him to the curb if necessary.
He urged her head to his shoulder and rocked her side to side. “I do care for him. You were right about that.”
“I know.” How could anyone with a heart not care about Kevin?
“You did the right thing. Said the right things. He needs a lot of reassurance right now.”
Of course Jesse understood. As she kept telling herself, he was wonderful. “Thank you.”
“Now you can reassure me.” The smile warmed his green eyes, made them darker with caring. His voice dropped, went deeper. “Tell me I’m not the only one getting in deep.”
Matching his whisper, she said, “I’m in so deep it scares me.”
He cupped her face, put his forehead to hers. “That’s the last thing I want, honey. Don’t ever be afraid of me.”
“I’m not.” She forced out the truth. “I’m just a little afraid of us.”
“Relationships have been hard?”
They’d been impossible. “A little.” She snuggled in closer, and dared to bare her soul. “But with you, I’d really like to try.” Before he could say anything to that, she added, “At the very least I need to know what it’s like to be with you.”
Levering her back, his expression arrested, he searched her face. “You’re talking sex?”
“Yes.”
His breath caught, then his arms tightened and he put his face against her neck. After a hoarse laugh, he cupped her face and kissed her. “Damn. You make me forget myself. Unfortunately the others won’t be gone long enough for everything I need to do with you.”
How could he expect her to keep it together while he said things like that?
“Kevin starts school in one more week, right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Then for those few remaining days, I’m going to work on winning over both of you.”
He didn’t need to work on her. Shoot, she was already in love. But she’d yet to meet a man keen on waiting. “You really think you can be that patient?”
“I’m going to think of it as extended foreplay.”
She smiled with him.
Going serious again, he drifted his fingers through her hair. “But I’m taking off work that day, and I hope you will too.”
“The whole day?”
His attention went to her mouth; another, deeper kiss followed. Against her lips, he breathed, “It’s going to take me at least that long.”
Wow. After a much-needed breath, she nodded. “Okay.” The whole day. She could hardly wait. “I’m on board.”
“In the meantime, we continue working out the problems. Which include...?”
So now she needed to think—about something other than an all-day marathon of Jesse naked. Returning to reality, Tonya put a hand to her head and tried to order her thoughts.
Jesse watched her as if he wanted a list, so she mentally ticked off some of her priorities.
School was in the top ten. “He needs school clothes. A haircut. I need to rearrange my schedule because I don’t want him home alone afterward, at least not for a while.” When Jesse started to speak, she rushed on. “I know he’s twelve. I was babysitting at that age. But he’s—”
“A guy who needs you.”
“Yes.” Did Jesse need her too? More likely it was all one-sided. She needed him, in so many different ways that her independent nature wanted to rebel.
But more than that, more than anything, she valued the strong shoulder to lean on.
“Mind if I give a stab at the haircut?” He ran those strong fingers through his dark blond hair. “I’m past due, so I figure I can take him with me, introduce him to my barber and all that.”
“I’m sure that’d make for an easier transition. I don’t think he’s ever been to a barber. My sister just cut his hair.”
“Not uncommon.” His grin went crooked, adding to his charm. “My mom always trimmed mine when I was younger too.”