Don't Tell (22 page)

„Oh, to hell with it,“ Max muttered and turned, his emotions naked on his face. „I’m glad I’m home, too. I missed this, all of you, and I was a stupid fool to stay away so long.“

A slow grin took Peter’s face, a look of pronounced relief in his eyes. „So now we kill the fatted calf, for the prodigal son has returned?“

Max’s lips twitched. „Well, not that prodigal.“

„I’ll be the judge of that.“ He threw an arm around Max’s shoulders, six inches taller than his own. „After you tell me all about Denver and actresses and… secretaries.“ Max’s eyes narrowed. „David has a big mouth.“ Peter’s husky laugh vibrated as they started down the stairs. „And it’s been running on overdrive, little brother.“

„We’re tied.“ Phil stood in the makeshift end zone, panting, his breath making huge clouds. He was the oldest cousin and had made himself the leader of the group. Tom didn’t really care; he was just grateful there were kids his age at this party his mom dragged him to. It was cold and wet outside, but for the moment he didn’t have to listen to his mom’s new boss. He grimaced. His mom’s new boyfriend. It would be too weird to even think about his mom that way even if he liked Max Hunter. Which Tom did not. Seeing his grimace Phil yelled over, „You want to stop?“

„No way.“ Tom leaned over, braced his gloved hands on jeans wet from tackling and tumbling in the slushy snow. „I want to win.“

„I’m cold,“ Jason protested. He was a little younger than the others. „I’m going inside for some hot chocolate.“ He tossed a snowball at his cousin’s shoulder. „You coming, Zach?“

Phil’s brother Zach looked to Jason, men back to Tom, torn. „Sorry, Tom. I’m going to quit while I still have feeling in my toes. Come on in. Aunt Cathy makes me best hot chocolate in the universe.“

„With those little marshmallows?“ Tom tucked the football under his arm and began to walk back with the other boys, pleased at having discovered a hidden talent for tossing spirals. The boys had been duly impressed with his status of junior varsity starter on the basketball team, so he felt he’d had little to prove by winning at the expense of frostbite.

„And whipped cream.“ Jason licked his lips, then immediately wiped them dry when the wind burned them.

„From scratch?“ Tom asked.

„Nah,“ said Phillip. „One of those cans.“

„My mom makes it from scratch.“ And if a little pride stole into his voice, Tom could live with it. He understood how rare his mother truly was.

„From scratch? No way.“ Phil approached the end of the driveway where a fifteen-foot pole stood alone, cemented into the ground. Pretending to dribble, he turned a fast circle, faked to the left and executed a perfect air dunk. „Y’think Uncle Max will ever put the backboard back up?“

„I don’t know,“ Jason answered, studying the top of the pole thoughtfully. „My mom hopes so. She cried when she asked him to come home and he said yes.“

Intrigued, Tom eyed the pole as well. „Why did he take the backboard down?“

Phil stopped in his tracks. „You don’t know? Uncle Max was one of the best rookies the Lakers ever had. Went MVP at Kentucky, too.“

Tom’s eyes widened, impressed in spite of his pledge to keep the tall professor at arm’s length until he trusted him with his mother. „Your uncle played for the Lakers?“

Zach jumped in, eager to share part of the story. „Yeah, until he was in a car accident with our grandfather, oh, twelve years ago, Phil?“

Phillip nodded. „Yep. You’ve seen his cane. He was in a wheelchair for years. My dad told me Uncle Max came home from Harvard one time and threw a fit that the backboard was still there. Made Grandma Hunter take it down.

I remember him and my dad having a big fight over it when I was about Petey’s age. They used to fight a lot.“

Tom’s stomach went queasy. „A lot?“

Phil did another air-dunk. „Oh, yeah. Once“ – he paused, thinking – „I think it was four years ago because I was almost eleven – Uncle Max came home for Christmas and he and my dad really got into it. Screaming in each other’s faces and everything. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad so mad, even when Zach got caught with that girl behind the bleachers.“ Phil grinned, narrowly dodging Zach’s revenge snowball.

„Shut up, you idiot.“ Zach cocked his head, tossing another snowball from hand to hand. „Or Dad might accidentally find that magazine you’ve been hiding under your mattress.“

These were fighting words and before Tom knew it, Phil and Zach were wrestling on the driveway, inches from a slushy mud-hole.

Jason sidled up next to Tom. „I bet you a quarter Phil goes in the mud first.“

Tom frowned. „Stop it! Stop it, both of you!“ Phil and Zach looked up, their fight paused mid-frame.

„What?“ Phil asked.

„Why?“ Zach asked.

Tom shook his head. „Stop fooling around and finish your story. I want to know about the fight your dad and uncle had. It’s important.“

Phil rolled off Zach and came to his feet, brushing off his jeans. „That was pretty much it. Dad and Uncle Max screamed“ – he shrugged non-committally – „then Max slugged my dad and – “

Tom’s heart stopped. Oh my God. „What did you say?“

„It was really more like a shove,“ Zach said, shaking snow from inside his sleeves. „They didn’t give each other black eyes or anything.“

„Wonderful,“ Tom muttered. He’d known something was wrong with Hunter right away. His mother was just so blind. She was normally pretty smart about most things – except men. The smartest thing she’d done in the last seven years was to keep them away. He clenched his fists at his sides. His mom might be naive, but he wasn’t, by God. Let Hunter try to lay a hand on her. Just let him try.

„You’re awfully quiet,“ Caroline observed, looking over her shoulder at Max sitting at her dinette table while she poured their coffee into two of her best mugs. „Best“ meaning unchipped and void of any Carrington pep slogans, of course. Nothing she would ever be able to afford could compare to the exquisite china she’d seen in the cabinet at Max’s house. His mother used the china as casually as if it were Wal-Mart Correlle, telling Caroline that if you were afraid to use it why bother having it? There was some reapplicable wisdom there, Caroline knew. She’d ponder it later. For now, she was watching Max who had been uncharacteristically quiet all the way back to her apartment that night, surprising her. His welcome-home party had been an unqualified success. Watching Max with his family made her wistful for things she still didn’t dare wish for.

„I was just thinking,“ Max responded. „Thanks.“ He took the cup she offered and waited for her to join him. „I was thinking about you.“ He grinned when she blushed. „And about us.“

She winced as her hastily gulped sip scalded her throat. „Us?“

„Us.“ Sobering, Max reached for her free hand. „And the fact that you’re one of my students.“

„Oh?“ She felt her contentment evaporate. This didn’t sound promising at all.

„How attached are you to my class, Caroline?“

She swallowed her sigh of relief that his next words didn’t include „best that we don’t see each other any more“ or „we can still be friends.“

„What do you mean?“

Max set his coffee cup on the table with precision. „I mean I want to see you. Anywhere you or I choose. If I want to take you to dinner or hold your hand, I don’t want anything keeping me from doing so.“

Caroline closed her eyes for a moment to get her galloping heart under control. She could feel her cheeks getting hotter by the second. „And my being your student would.“

„It could. Just yesterday Dr. Shaw confronted me on it.“ Caroline opened her eyes to see his gorgeous mouth bending up in a rueful smile.

„She did?“

„Uh-huh.“ Max sipped his coffee, not taking his eyes from her face. „She apparently figured out David is not my significant other and that you and I went out to dinner that night. And frankly, I’ll be damned before I let Shaw get her claws into you. Do you need my class to graduate?“

She squeezed his hand, her heart still pounding as the greater significance of his words overwhelmed her. He was protecting her in a way no one ever had before. It felt good. Really, really good. „I only wanted to be in Eli’s class one more time. You want me to drop the class?“

„Would you? If I’m out of line, I’ll back off and wait until the end of the quarter to…“ He waggled his brows suggestively, sending the heat in her face spreading downward.

The sudden urge to draw a similar response from Max was far too strong to resist. So she didn’t. Propping her elbow on the table and leaning her chin on her fist, she lowered her eyelids. Then lifted her lashes and reveled in the way his eyes flashed and the muscle in his cheek twitched. She might have been inexperienced, but she was a fast learner. And Max Hunter was an exceptional teacher. „But I’ll miss hearing you teach,“ she murmured, running her finger across the knuckles of his clenched fist. She was no longer afraid of that fist. Oh, no. Not since she’d figured out what made it clench. „Will you tell me how it all turns out for England in the end?“

Max shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable. „Um, John signs the Magna Carta and England goes on to produce the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Sting.“

Caroline laughed. „Good enough for me. I’ll drop the class first thing Monday morning.“

Max visibly relaxed and again Caroline was struck by the realization that her answer really mattered to him. „Good.“ He pushed his cup to the middle of the table. „So where’s your bodyguard?“

Caroline frowned at his choice of words. „Tom? He’s in his room, doing his math homework. He has to get a B on his report card or he doesn’t get to go on a camping trip with his friends next weekend. Why do you call him that?“

„Because of the look on his face when he came in from playing football with my nephews. He doesn’t like me, I think.“

Caroline bit at her lower lip. „Oh, I don’t think that’s true.“ Although it was. She too had seen the look on Tom’s face and it had been worrying at the back of her mind all evening. „He just doesn’t trust you yet. It’s just been the two of us for a long time and he’s… protective of me.“

Max looked unconvinced, but didn’t press it. „How long has it just been the two of you?“

Caroline glanced away, unable to meet his eyes. She’d known he would ask. She’d just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. „Emotionally, all of Tom’s life.“

„And physically?“

Caroline pushed back from the table and rose. „Seven years. Would you like some pie?“

Max slowly stood and followed her into the kitchen. „No, but we can change the subject. I’m sorry if I got too personal.“

„No,“ she murmured, wiping the clean counters free of non-existent crumbs. „You have a right to your questions.“ Her spine straightened a hair. „At some point you’ll have the right to answers.“

„But not today.“

She turned then, and met his concerned eyes. „Not today. Please.“

He tipped her chin up and lightly covered her mouth with his. „Not today.“ He bent to nuzzle the curve of her neck through the collar of her sweater, sending a shiver down to her toes. „Ready to change the subject now?“

„Mmm.“ She tossed the dishcloth into the sink and lifted her arms around his neck. „I’ve been ready since you walked down your stairs tonight all clean-shaven and ready to take me home.“

He chuckled, deep down, settling his hands lightly against her back. „So you noticed.“

She slid one hand from his neck to the hard line of his jaw, now smooth. „Mmm. I was sure your mother could hear my heart knocking.“

His eyes went dark and he hissed in a breath, setting her skin tingling in anticipation. She’d been waiting for him to kiss her all day, waiting for the feelings only this man had ever been able to arouse. A second later he took her mouth with the force of a breaking dam. Greedily, as if he’d never get enough. She knew she never would. She pressed closer, hoping he was as aroused as she, needing to feel the evidence of his arousal against the part of her body that throbbed every time he was close. His hands moved down her back, gripping her buttocks, lifting her to her toes. Not nearly high enough. The thought pierced the haze of her mind when she felt him pulsing against her stomach. Not nearly close enough. She struggled against him, whispering his name against lips that continued to plunder. Ready to beg for more, for anything he could give – when abruptly he released her and took a step back.

Caroline rocked back on her heels with a hard jerk. She pressed a trembling hand to her heart, hoping the feeble gesture would keep it contained within her breast. In her very limited experience, this had been the pinnacle. Her body was still tingling, her buttocks aching with the need to feel the warmth of his hands there again, her breasts tender with the need to press against him again. But there he stood, eyes closed and jaw taut, looking for all the world as if he intended to run. He’d pushed her away. Hurt pricked at her thumping heart.

„What’s wrong, Max?“ she asked quietly.

With what looked like an effort, he steeled his spine and lifted his eyelids to stare and the hurt slid away as she felt the warmth return all over again.

„You wanted me to stop.“ His husky tone was slightly accusatory.

„I did?“ Caroline moved a step closer, trapping him against the counter. She could become quite attached to the art of flirtation with such a man as her partner. The heat in those smoky eyes of his should be melting the Formica by now. „Funny, I remember wanting a lot of things, but stopping wasn’t one of them.“ She hooked a finger in the collar of his sweater and tugged him down a few inches. „I wasn’t trying to get away.“

She could see his pulse pounding in his throat. „You weren’t?“

Mercy. „Uh-uh. I was trying to get closer, but I think I need to drag out the stepstool.“ Then she gasped in surprise as his hands slid under her arms, and he twisted, lifting her onto the countertop, settling himself between her knees.

„How’s this?“ he murmured.

His face was now level with her own. „Much better.“ Very conscious of his hands lingering, almost cupping the sides of her breasts she drew a breath and reached to smooth the hair behind his ear, wondering how far she’d let this go. Wondering now, as reality intruded, what she really would have begged him for.