Straight to the Heart Page 5

  When he opened the door, she opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, her eyes widening as she took him in.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Went for a run in the desert, took a misstep. What’s going on?” he asked, stepping aside so that she could come in.

  “I was just going to ask if you minded me adding on another shift. Charlie and Lisa can barely keep up in there, and he called me down, but I thought I should check with you first,” she said, still taking in his appearance.

  Tight black jeans and a black T-shirt hugged her shape, and he took in every inch, almost forgetting the events of the past hour. The silver and turquoise earrings she wore gave her an earthy, exotic look that made him want to pull her in and close the door, but instead he nodded.

  “Yeah, definitely. Let me get cleaned up and I’ll be over to help as well. Usually three is enough for Thursdays, but I should have figured it would be busier with these guys playing,” he said.

  “Great, thanks,” she said simply and turned, walking back to the roadhouse.

  Once he closed the door again, what had happened out on his run came back with a vengeance.

  The danger was real. If they knew about him, they probably knew about his parents, who lived just down the road, and his friends. Lisa and her kids—anyone who mattered. The realization only drove home for him how important it was for him to stay close. If he reported this to the marshals, they’d take him into custody, and leave his parents, Charlie, Lisa out here, alone. So he’d keep it to himself.

  His next thought was of Joanna. This was not a good time to get into any kind of relationship—not that sleeping with her meant that they were in a relationship, per se. Still, anyone close to him was in danger, and that wasn’t fair to her. Not after what she’d just been through with the jerk that she’d left behind.

  Ben would make sure no harm came to her either way, whether from outside, or due to his interest in her. He had the marshal’s number, but for now, he’d continue to take care of the situation himself.

  He stepped out of the shower, wincing at a particularly sore scrape on his upper thigh. Bandaging it, he pulled on jeans and a black button-up, heading over to the bar. The deep bass beat of a popular country-rock tune vibrated through the ground as he walked from one door to the other, and he couldn’t help but look forward to seeing Joanna again, no matter what was going to happen—or not—between them.

  JOANNA HOPED THAT BEN DIDN’T check with Charlie about her story. She’d actually suggested to Charlie that she take an extra shift, and then she’d gone over to talk to Ben on her own.

  She told herself it was because she wanted to keep an eye on him. From her apartment window, she’d seen him take off running on the highway, but hadn’t seen him return. He’d left far too quickly for her to try and follow, and she’d been pacing the floor, waiting for him to return.

  Obviously he had come back, and he looked as if he’d had something more than a fall happen—or it had been one heck of a tumble. There was no reason to doubt his story, except that her gut told her he was holding something back. That wasn’t enough to act on, though. Certainly not enough to warrant a call to Don. Maybe if she could get closer, talk to Ben, get inside his house, she could find out more.

  As the evening wore on, she could tell he had taken her seriously. Ben was polite and friendly, but he kept his distance. No more hot looks as they all worked together to provide drinks and sustenance for the energetic groups of dancers and partiers at the bar.

  Finally, after a blur of hours and movement, she collapsed tiredly into a chair by the bar, unsure if she could make it upstairs or not.

  “Wow,” was all she could say, and then said it again when Lisa handed her a wad of cash from the divided tips. Louis had left around midnight, as soon as the band shut down, and it was just the four of them cleaning up.

  Lisa grinned. “It was a good night. Thanks for the help.”

  “No problem. With tips like this, I could quit—”

  She cut herself off quickly, causing Lisa to look at her curiously.

  “Quit what?”

  Joanna smiled, recovering from her slip. It would have been a very, very bad slip, but she was exhausted. Her near revelation of her real job proved it was time for her to go to bed.

  “Quit looking around for something better,” she ad-libbed. “I wasn’t sure I could earn enough to stay here for long, but this changes my mind. Maybe I could even afford a place of my own eventually.”

  Lisa nodded. “You’re a good worker. If you decide to stay on, we’d be happy to have you. Ben, particularly, I think,” she said with a sly grin.

  “Why would you say that?” Joanna asked, not making eye contact as she pushed up from the chair.

  “Don’t play games, Joanna. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s interested in you, and let me tell you, he hasn’t been interested in anyone else since he got back,” Lisa added seriously. “I know you’ve had a hard time, too, but Ben’s a good guy.”

  “Are you warning me off?” she said, looking up with a smile. She didn’t take any offense to Lisa feeling protective of Ben. She’d known him for a long time, from what Joanna could tell.

  “No, just letting you know, Ben’s a straight-shooter. He doesn’t play games, and I just thought you should know that. Sometimes when you’ve been with someone who messes with you—and believe me, I know—it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore.”

  “You’re right, thanks. I kind of figured he’s one of the white hats, but I don’t know that I’m ready to take up with anyone just yet,” Joanna replied honestly.

  “Sometimes it happens whether you’re ready for it or not,” Lisa said softly, her eyes drifting over to where Charlie stood talking to Ben as they put the liquor bottles behind the bar in order.

  “You and Charlie, huh?” Joanna asked.

  Lisa jumped, and realized she’d been caught. “Yeah, but it’s…new. I’m not even divorced yet, so we haven’t been public about it.”

  “You can count on me not to say a word,” Joanna promised, and made a mental note to check into Lisa’s husband’s background as well. “But if you don’t need me anymore right now, I’m going to go to bed and probably sleep through the next day or two,” she joked, knowing she had to be up and ready for the lunch shift the next day.

  “I hear ya. It’s okay now, in the summer. My mom takes the kids on my late nights, but when school starts, I’ll only be able to do Friday and Saturday. That’s why I’m so happy we have you—it takes a real load off for all of us,” Lisa said with an appreciative look. “Finding good, reliable help isn’t easy these days.”

  Joanna squelched the pinch of guilt that the comment brought, smiling and saying good-night as she stretched her arms over her head and then headed for the stairs.

  She hadn’t done too much undercover work over the years. Mostly, she chased down bad guys out in the open and took them to jail when she caught them.

  This was different. There were no bad guys in sight, and she was lying to the good guys. It bothered her more than she wanted it to.

  Less than three weeks, more like two and a half, and she’d be out of here. She was quite sure Lisa and Ben would find another waitress to take her place, and life would go on.

  As she walked up the stairs and into her apartment, she went directly to the very-chilled-down bedroom, turned the AC to low and fell into bed, coming immediately awake as the memory of her and Ben here on the bed just a few hours ago came back to her in an erotic flash.

  Groaning in frustration, she pushed back off the mattress and stripped down, heading into the small, square shower. Opening the little window high on the wall, she turned on the water and stepped in.

  Thoughts of Ben followed her. His strong shoulders, the way he had weighed her down into the bed, his erection pressing into her thigh.

  We could have some fun. No strings attached.

  Joanna ran the bar of soap over her skin and c
losed her eyes, picturing Ben, and thinking about what could have happened if she had just said yes.

  One simple little word, and she could have known what it was like to be with him.

  Running a hand over her breasts, she teased her nipples, remembering how he had touched her.

  Letting one hand slide lower, she fantasized about how he’d look without those jeans on, how big he’d be, and how he’d feel sliding deep inside of her.

  Within seconds a deep, throbbing climax had her shaking, leaning back against the shower wall and crying out as she let every image loose in her imagination. Driving herself up one more time, she found her pleasure easily a second time, and then collapsed forward, the hot spray raining over her.

  As her hand fell to her side, momentary satisfaction was replaced with a frustrating sense of it not being enough.

  Not nearly enough.

  But it would have to do, she told herself ruthlessly as she finished washing, dried off and walked out to the bed, exhausted.

  Lisa was right, she thought sleepily as she began to doze off. Ben was a good guy, a white knight. He deserved better than someone being with him under false pretenses, even when it was her job. Even when she was keeping him safe.

  She couldn’t afford the distraction, and he deserved more than her lies.

  Maybe…when this was over?

  Maybe after his appearance in court, when she wasn’t working here and could be honest about who she was. Maybe then, they could spend some time together.

  The delusion vanished as quickly as it had arisen. If—or rather, when—Ben discovered who she really was, she figured he wouldn’t be so crazy about her then.

  She was here to do her job, not to sleep with Ben Callahan. Even so, fantasies of what could have been followed her into a restless night’s sleep.

  BEN STOOD OUTSIDE THE BAR FOR a long time. He’d taken out some bags of trash and stopped to pick up a few beer bottles ditched at the edge of the parking lot when he’d looked up and seen the light go on in Joanna’s window.

  It wasn’t like him to stand outside a woman’s room gawking, and he didn’t know why he did it now, but he did. Standing still in the dark, he heard her turn on the shower.

  The window was too high for him to achieve true Peeping-Tom status, but he waited there, listening to the water, imagining what she’d look like with the wet spray cascading down over her body, driving himself completely crazy.

  Then he heard something other than the sound of the water floating down, clearly the soft cry of a woman in climax rising over the rain of the shower.

  The idea of Joanna up there, alone in the shower, touching herself that way nearly dropped him to his knees right there on the pavement. He wanted nothing more than to go up and join her.

  Aching, hard as a rock with wanting, he forced himself to walk back to his house instead of up to her room. He didn’t bother turning on the lights as he made his way upstairs, stripping down and falling on top of the blankets, not even bothering to cover up.

  The echo of her moans teased his mind, and he wanted to be the one giving her that pleasure. Wanted to bury himself deep inside her, taste her, touch her and take her in every way he could imagine. He could imagine a lot.

  Remembering how she’d felt beneath him, how quickly her nipple had hardened under his fingers, how soft her mouth was, he closed his eyes and pictured her in that shower. In his mind’s eye, he was there with her. A few quick strokes later, the release he found offered minor relief, but paled in comparison to how he knew it could be with Joanna.

  After the trial, he promised himself in the dark.

  After the danger had passed and his testimony was done, he’d go to her again, and this time, they’d find their satisfaction together. Not alone, like this.

  It was only a few weeks, and then they could be together. The thought was enough to let him sleep, even though another part of his mind taunted him that he’d never be able to wait that long.

  4

  “NICE OF YOUR MOM TO TAKE THE kids,” Charlie said, grinning wickedly and diving back under the covers to slide his hands up Lisa’s shapely legs, parting her thighs and making her arch off the bed in a way he loved to make her do.

  It was a rare opportunity, a whole night together, the chance to wake up together in the morning. He was exhausted, and so was she, but neither of them felt like wasting the moment. He never spent the night at her place because of the kids and because of her husband threatening her bid for full custody.

  So their time together had consisted of stolen moments, times when they could sneak off and be together for a few hot, heady bouts of lovemaking. Not that he was complaining, but the prospect of waking up with Lisa in the morning had him so excited he could hardly sleep.

  He found ways to keep busy, enjoying her cries of satisfaction as he made her come again, and then moving up over her to slide home and find his own, too.

  Later, he pulled her close, kissing her hair.

  She was the best woman he’d ever known. The fact that she’d fallen for him, with his one leg and not much else to offer a woman, proved that. Or maybe she just had a thing for lost causes. He wasn’t going to look at it too closely.

  She didn’t deserve any of the hard things life had tossed her way, and Charlie wanted to give her everything else, all of the good things she deserved.

  “That was nice,” she murmured sleepily, her hand draped across his chest.

  “Nice?” he asked in mock surprise. “All you have to say for all of my efforts is that it was nice? I guess I’ll just have to try harder,” he declared, lifting the blankets as if to go back under, but she stopped him, laughing.

  He loved how her eyes lit up when she laughed.

  “No, no, I mean it was very nice. Amazingly nice. Just like you,” she said, her hand to his face, drawing him back next to her. “If-you-do-it-again, I-might-have-a-heart-attack nice.”

  He smiled. “That’s better.” But then he sighed and pulled her in closer. “It was nice. So is this.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “No word from your lawyer yet?”

  “Just the bill. But no, Paul is still trying to get shared-custody, and I’ll be damned if I let that happen. No way can he have those kids except under supervised visitation. Not the way he drinks,” she said, and he regretted bringing it up, feeling her body tense next to his.

  Paul had beat Lisa when he was drunk, and she’d kicked him out when he’d started turning his anger on the kids.

  Personally, Charlie would like to take care of the problem himself. Drive over to Midland, have a little heart-to-heart with the man and show his face the pavement if necessary. Get him to step away from Lisa in any way he could.

  But he knew that wouldn’t help. In the end, the bastard would only use it against her. Paul had a good job, though how he kept it was anyone’s guess, and he could afford a lawyer who fought for his “rights” with his kids. Charlie was giving her every cent he could to help pay for a lawyer just as good, but it was slow going.

  He had to be patient. Lisa was his, and he’d protect her in any way he had to, and if that meant not fully being part of their lives for now, that was okay. He spent time with her and the kids. They liked him; he thought so anyway, and he loved them like his own. It would happen, sooner or later.

  Maybe they’d have a few more of their own, he thought, the well of emotion nearly bursting in his chest.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said, turning over and pushing up on one elbow. “A guy stopped by the house for you.”

  His sleepy, relaxed state changed quickly. No one knew about him and Lisa, not even Ben. Charlie hadn’t been willing to risk it, just in case Paul found out. No one should be looking for him at her house.

  His gut sank, because he knew who it was before she spoke.

  “Yeah? When was that?”

  “Evening before last. I’m sorry, it just completely slipped my mind. The kids were driving me crazy, and then there was work, and
I—”

  “Did he say who he was?” he interrupted.

  “He just said to let you know Joe had come by, and wondered if you had finished the job. Are you working on a bike for him?”

  Charlie made extra money on the side refurbishing motorcycles. He didn’t ride anymore, but he enjoyed working on them.

  “Yeah. I guess I must have mentioned you to him. Sorry about that,” he said, his gut twisting.

  Joe wasn’t waiting for a bike. Joe was a part of Charlie’s past he’d rather forget, a part that had come back to haunt him. Charlie had assumed it had gone away, that if he just let time pass, they’d leave him alone. But they had been watching, apparently.

  This was more than a visit, it was a message. He hadn’t told them about Lisa—no way—but they were letting him know that they knew. Knew about the two of them, knew that she was important, and that they could walk right inside her house if they wanted.

  He pulled her in as she began to snore softly in his arms. He’d do anything—anything—he had to in order to protect her and the kids.

  This time, that could come at a very high price.

  It could cost him his best friend. Charlie knew the secret Ben was keeping—the men who’d threatened him told him what had happened at the rodeo, and that Ben hadn’t been out of town last week to check on a problem with their liquor distributors. Well, he had, but he was also meeting with the feds about a murder he’d witnessed. Knowing his friend was going through that ate Charlie up inside. Still, Ben hadn’t come to him, either.

  He had to put Lisa and the kids first. Ben would understand, but hopefully, he’d never have to find out what Charlie knew, or what he’d been asked to do, if only Charlie could find a way out of it.

  For now, he would lose his mind in Lisa, and leave the rest for later.