The Detective’s Undoing

Chapter 4

Delia tried everything, but Jacob refused to come out of his room. As kind and patient as Edna was, she refused to make him.

Scott arrived, and he was everything his voice had promised on the phone: reserved, confident and direct. Delia was as tall as he was, something she sensed irked him. He had sun-kissed blond hair, cool assessing eyes and a definite opinion on Jacob. “He’s been through a lot,” he said after listening to how the meeting had gone. “We need to let him adjust slowly.”

Delia bit her tongue because she knew this man was her link to the courts. He had influence there, as well as with Jacob, since the two of them had developed a friendship.

“Jacob, buddy,” Scott called through the door, knocking twice.

“You came!”

The joy in the little boy’s voice was clear to all, and Scott beamed. He leaned closer to the door. “Ready for that pizza I promised you?”

“Yeah!” A hesitation. “We’re going alone, right?”

Scott glanced at Delia. “How about we invite your sister?”

“Why?”

“Because she came a long way just to see you.”

“She never wanted to see me before.”

“We talked about this, Jacob,” Scott said gently, still through the door. “She didn’t know about you before.”

“Well, I don’t want to know her now.”

Scott gestured for Delia to move with him away from the door so they couldn’t be overheard. “He’s scared,” he murmured.

Delia stared longingly at the closed door. Frustration filled her. “I was hoping to spend some time with him today and tomorrow morning. I can only stay until tomorrow afternoon-I have to get back for the grand opening of our guest ranch.”

Scott was silent at that, but she felt his disapproval. Isn’t Jacob more important than your guest ranch? his eyes seemed to ask.

Of course Jacob was, but without the guest ranch, Delia would have no way to support herself, much less her brother. It was their security, their future, and she had to protect that, as well. “I’m not giving up,” she told Scott, determined. “I’m coming for pizza.”

“That’s fine, but I’m not sure it’s wise to push right now.”

Well, right now was all she had. “I’ll meet you there to give him a few minutes, if you’ll just tell me where.”

As she said her goodbyes to Edna, the older woman grasped her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. “Time,” she said softly. “It’ll all work out in time.”

Delia wanted to point out that she didn’t have much time. She’d set the wheels in motion for a custody hearing, and while she was thankful Edna didn’t seem resentful but willing to go along with whatever the court decided, Delia knew the entire thing hinged on Jacob and his needs.

If only he needed her. It was pathetic to think of it that way, but Delia was nothing if not brutally honest, especially with herself.

In her entire life, not once had she ever been truly needed.

Well, too bad, she told herself. She’d survived this long-she’d be fine. It was Jacob she had to worry about, not herself.

Scott stopped her in the hallway. “You’re disappointed.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I knew it would be difficult, but…”

His smile was sympathetic. “But not this difficult. Jacob’s got some things to work out. I think I can help him.”

“You’re good with him.”

His eyes warmed. “Yes. I…I’m very attached to him. I shouldn’t say this, but he’s my favorite. I care about him very much.”

“And?” Delia paused. “I’m sure I heard one at the end of that sentence.”

“And-” his smile faded “-I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think it’s wrong to rush him. To rush this reunion.”

“It’s not a reunion, since we’ve never met before today, and you’re right, I don’t want to hear it.”

Although she’d said it in a light tone, Scott stiffened. His eyes hardened. “I take my job very seriously, Ms. Scanlon. If I don’t like what I see between you and Jacob, I’ll make sure it’s in my report. And that report goes to the judge to be evaluated before his final decision.”

Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the skipping of meals, or maybe it was the undeniable threat in Scott’s voice, but the blood pounded in her ears. Her vision shimmered. And as it had all her life, the threat of confrontation put her chin up and temper out.

Cool as a cucumber, she smiled. “Jacob’s my brother. We’re related by blood. Yes, he’s upset and frightened, but once I get past that, he’ll come around. And you’ll see between us exactly what should be between family members. Affection. Warmth. Love.”

“I’m not the enemy here,” Scott said. “But if there has to be sides, I’m on Jacob’s.”

“That makes two of us.” Head high, she went out the front door. She was hurt, scared and furious. None of these showed.

She blinked in the bright California sunshine and took a deep, shaky breath.

What was she going to do? She had a brother who wouldn’t acknowledge her and a social worker with an attitude. She glanced back at the huge house. Had she really thought the monetary difference between Edna and her would be her biggest obstacle?

Money had nothing to do with it.

Jacob was just scared, she told herself. And thought himself alone in that. He wasn’t, whether he knew it or not.

And at the thought, a very small bit of her anxiety slipped away. No, it hadn’t been the warm open-armed welcome she’d imagined, not even close, but she’d seen him, she’d looked into his dark troubled eyes and had recognized a kindred spirit.

That, and all her hopes and dreams, would have to get her through.

“Delia.”

Jolted out of her musings by Cade’s husky voice, Delia came to a stop beside the rental car. He was leaning against the driver’s door, arms and ankles crossed.

A casual pose. Not such a casual man.

The sun was behind him, like a halo over his dark hair, shadowing his expression. But just the sight of him, waiting for her, did something strange to her insides.

She wasn’t a woman easily affected by a man. There’d been few in her life she’d ever trusted, few she’d let know her, and fewer still who could trip her pulse.

Yet this man did exactly that and more, which didn’t sit well with her. He was the opposite of everything she’d ever wanted. Security. Safety. And that other, that illusive thing she’d just today discovered about herself-that inexplicable need to be needed.

Tall, dark and tempting as he was, Cade could give her none of that.

“How did it go?” he asked, concern evident in every tense muscle.

She really hadn’t had much chance to think about him and why he’d come. She’d been far too nervous and anxious about Jacob. Now she wondered what he was thinking and why she cared so much.

“Hey.” Frowning, he straightened away from the car. “You okay?”

No. No, she wasn’t okay. Wasn’t sure when she would be okay. “I…” Suddenly being in front of Edna’s house, with Scott probably watching her out the window, weighing her every move and planning her future around it, felt oppressing. “I need to get out of here,” she murmured as her headache kicked in. She rubbed her temples. “Can we…”

“Yep.” With surprising gentleness, he steered her around the car and opened the door for her. She expected to be grilled, but he didn’t say a word, and she was grateful. “Here’s the address Scott gave me,” she said, handing him a slip of paper. “It’s where they’re going to go eat.”

“Do we have some time?”

“A little, maybe.” The pounding in her head made her dizzy, so she leaned back and closed her eyes. She heard the engine come on, but she didn’t move. It felt good just to drift.

She must have fallen asleep because when the engine stopped, she jolted awake. They were at a park. “What…?”

“You looked like you needed a minute first, and we never talked about which hotel-”

“Hotel,” she repeated inanely. God, tonight. Sleeping. And Cade, his rough and tough body sprawled restlessly between the sheets. They’d probably be tangled around him, for she didn’t imagine he slept quietly.

He gave a low and sexy chuckle. “Don’t you have enough to worry about without adding anything else?” he asked.

“Yes, I-”

“Tell me how it went with Jacob.”

The quick change of subject, from teasing to seriousness, left her head spinning all the more. “It didn’t go very well,” she murmured. “In fact, I think it’s safe to say it went very badly.”

With amazing tenderness-she never imagined Cade could be tender-he reached up and pulled her fingers away from her temples.

“Hush,” he whispered, then slipped his own fingers through her hair and massaged her head.

The moan slipped out of her before she could stop it, which horrified her. “Shh,” he said, and continued to work magic with his fingers.

The windows were down. Around them were tall aspens, weaving in the light wind. The sun was warm. Children played in the distance, and birds and insects serenaded them. It was a lovely day, a lovely moment with his talented hands on her, and Delia began to relax.

“I blew it,” she said. “I tried to rush Jacob when all I wanted to do was reach him. It was a fiasco.”

“You’ll try again.”

“How?”

“You giving up already?”

Her gaze whipped to his, registered the direct challenge there, and within a second her self-pity ceased. “Do I look like a quitter, McKnight?”

His lips curved slowly as his gaze ran over her, lingering in spots that suddenly tingled, making her heart dance that funny little dance again. “No, ma’am,” he drawled. “You certainly don’t look like a quitter to me.”

Darn it, but that smile of his was a lethal weapon. “Tell me again why you’re here. With me. And don’t give me the friend thing again. It doesn’t fly.”

“No?” In the blink of an eye he was closer, so much so that she could feel his warm breath on her face. “Let’s try this, then.”

And his mouth came down on hers.

She made a noise that Cade took to mean she was surprised, but hell, that made them even. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but he did, and she tasted like heaven. Because he wanted more, he nibbled at her lips until she let him deepen the kiss. Now he made the noise of surprise because something happened, something really good. An almost forgotten sense of wicked abandon came over him.

As his hands swept up and down her arms, she shivered, making that little sound again, the one that reminded him of a kitten getting its belly rubbed. He decided he liked that sound a lot.

She clung to him, her fingers tangled in his hair as she held his head close, but he was so breathless from just that one kiss he tore his mouth from hers and buried his face in her neck. He found skin so sweet and soft he had to explore it with his tongue. Then the sensitive spot beneath her ear drew him, and he kissed her there.

She whispered his name on a sigh, making herself vulnerable in a way he hadn’t imagined this strong woman ever doing.

It was startling, shocking, humbling.

So was how much he wanted her.

Rocked to the core, Cade leaned back just enough to see her face. His shock was mirrored right back at him, and more. There was stunned arousal, too. And fear.

That had been no ordinary kiss, in fact, that had been like no other kiss he’d ever had.

Delia’s breath came in uneven little pants, and her lush mouth was still wet and now slightly swollen. Clearly she was in no better shape than he to examine what had just happened and why.

“Time for pizza?” he asked, his voice gravelly with desire.

“Yes!” she agreed quickly. “Yes.” Backing away, she adjusted her seat belt, ran a hand through her hair, anything to avoid meeting his eyes. But that was okay with Cade because he knew what was in his eyes-a mixture of confusion and lust, and he sure as hell wasn’t ready to face either. Not with this woman, the one woman in far too long who seemed able to saunter right past his defenses directly to his heart.

Switching on the ignition, he drove out of the quiet park and back into the real world, where he was just the private investigator on a case that would soon be over, and she was just a client. Where neither of them would be tempted again because they were wrong for each other, all wrong.

Wrong for each other, he reminded himself at the pizza parlor where he watched Delia try to win the approval of a brother who wasn’t going to be easily reached.

Wrong for each other, he reminded himself again on the drive to the hotel she’d chosen when it was all he could do to concentrate on the road, when he really wanted to snag the too-quiet Delia close for an embrace he was sure wouldn’t be entirely for comfort.

Wrong for each other, he reminded himself yet again when they got to the hotel and their separate rooms, and Delia disappeared into hers, her willowy body slow with exhaustion, her eyes shadowed and troubled.

Suddenly it hit him right there and then, with the force of a tornado, as he stood there in the hallway of the hotel holding his key in one hand and his heart in the other, ready to be crushed. Again.

He was starting to fall.

It wouldn’t, couldn’t happen. First of all, with the exception of that one amazing kiss, she didn’t want him. She wanted someone who could give her a home, a future. Love.

He couldn’t do any of that.

He didn’t want a home, not ever again. It was bad enough he’d been stuck out on the ranch for as long as he had with his case. No, what he needed was to get out, to be free without any restraints, and he needed this with a violent urgency he nearly couldn’t contain.

He had other cases, he reminded himself. Plenty of them. And all along, when the coziness and warmth of the Triple M had gotten too much for him, when it reminded him of things better left in his past, he’d used those cases to run.

But he’d always come back.

He was going to have to remedy that.

Easier said than done, because that night, when he could have been working or reading or even sleeping, he lay in bed in his lonely hotel room and studied the ceiling. Thinking.

Yearning. Aching.

Watching Delia tonight had been heartbreaking.

Jacob was a small kid, but with eyes as sharp as a tack. He didn’t miss much, and certainly not the fact that Delia was trying to please both him and Scott.

Jacob had weaseled a shocking amount of quarters out of her, then managed to snub her when she offered to play some of the games with him, instead choosing Scott, who’d looked delighted at the invitation.

Unintentional or not, Scott hadn’t helped matters any, because his mere presence made it easy for Jacob to ignore Delia.

Cade figured all Jacob needed was to be told Delia was his sister and that was that. Family was family. The kid was decent, but he was wary and afraid, almost as if he needed to give himself permission to accept Delia.

Cade had wanted to do that for her, to slam his hands on the table and tell Jacob to listen up and face facts. He’d wanted…to act like a father.

Wasn’t that a joke. He’d had his one shot at being a father, a husband, too. His family had loved him in spite of all his faults, and he’d returned that love with all his unscarred heart. But he’d failed them, and because of that, had caused their deaths, no matter how inadvertently.

Wouldn’t everyone who knew him now be shocked to know that? Shocked to know he did everything in his power to not think about it? That he used his job to hide from his past?

Yeah, maybe thinking about the hauntingly beautiful Delia helped a little, helped him forget his weaknesses, but he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve a second shot at happiness.

Ever.