All of You (14 page)

Uh-oh. He didn’t have to be a genius to know a swift redirect was in order. “What if he stays with me?”

“The hospital doesn’t have your number.”

“You will. I’ll leave you all of them.”

“I already told him he could stay.”

“So un-tell him. I’m sure he’ll understand that this isn’t—”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Kyle. There’s no reason to throw him out just because he’s making you nervous.”

“Of course he’s making me nervous. He’s the size of a Sasquatch!”

“What does his size have to do with anything?”

“You said yourself he’d kill a dozen senior citizens on sight. He could tear you in half without breaking a sweat.” Was his voice rising? Hers seemed to be.

“He’s bigger than you too. Are you Superman or something? What makes you magically able to survive when I can’t? Are you militarily trained? Did you take classes in self-defense? Do you have a gun under your bed?”

“No.” Did all of that mean she was and she did?

She crossed her arms and glared at him, her mouth skewed to the side, her head tilted in patent aggravation. “Maybe it’s time we said goodnight.”

He wanted to argue. He wanted to smooth the crease of her frown. He wanted a piece of that cake, the foot rub and maybe a chance to kiss her goodnight.

“Jess—”

“Goodnight, Kyle.”

But a man occasionally had to admit when he wasn’t going to win a round. “I’ll call you tomorrow, to check on Dory,” he added when she looked like she was going to tell him not to bother.

She nodded and went back to making the bed for Daniel. Obviously dismissed, he sighed, turned around and headed back down the hall.

“Dude, thanks for the cake. Excellent stuff.” Daniel grinned, definitely this time. “I just want to thank you guys again for letting me stay. I’ll find something better tomorrow, promise.”

You guys? “Thank Jessica. I’ll be seeing you at the hospital tomorrow.”

“You’re going?”

“Yup, headed home.”

“You don’t live here?” Daniel asked, seeming to be taken aback. “I thought…Mom said you two were a thing. I figured you were married or something.” He turned his head in the general direction of where Jessica was making the bed up for him. “Oh, man, I’m sorry. I never would have asked if Mom hadn’t mentioned it. I’ll work something else out.”

“No, it’s okay, Jessica wants you to rest here. Tomorrow’s good enough,” Kyle made himself say, though it felt like he’d cracked a tooth before unhinging his jaw enough to speak. Daniel really did look exhausted. He’d probably sleep like the dead. Kyle hoped. Jessica would kill him if she thought he’d interfered and sent Daniel away.

“Nah, I’m good. I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“You’re not any trouble,” Jessica said from behind Kyle, her voice a low purr. A dangerous purr, if the hairs on the back of his neck were any indication.

“It’s okay, Jessica, really. I didn’t know you lived here alone. It wouldn’t be right if I stayed. Thanks though, I really appreciate it.” He was already moving into the living room, picking up his jacket and his duffle bag.

Kyle felt the spikes in Jessica’s gaze on the side of his face and he had a feeling he was going to be taking a big blame for this. Huge.

“If you’re intent on going, why don’t you come with me? I’ve got a spare couch,” he offered, risking a glance at her. The spikes turned glacial. Oh yeah. Total blame. He looked back to Daniel.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Nah, not at all. Go ahead and get your stuff, I’ll just leave Jessica all my numbers to be sure we can be reached from the hospital.”

She eventually gave him a pad of paper and a pen. He wrote his home number as well as the cell she already knew, well aware she was ready to poke holes in him with dull objects. “I didn’t tell him to leave, Jess.”

“Sure, you didn’t.”

This was going well. He handed her the paper. She folded it in precise halves, seven times. By the time she was done, it looked like a bullet. Not a good sign.

“Okay, Daniel, let’s get going. I’ll call you,” he added to Jessica as they passed her threshold. He leaned to kiss her cheek, but she leaned away. He all but hopped backward to keep his nose attached to his face when she slammed the door.

“That didn’t look good for you, man,” Daniel remarked while they stared at the silent door.

“Yeah,” Kyle muttered with a deep sigh. “Tell me about it.”

Kyle couldn’t quite make himself go to sleep. He needed it, but none would come.

He tried imagining Jessica eating his torte and smiling. No dice. He tried remembering her bent over the hide-a-bed in that slim skirt. Nuh-uh. He tried without the skirt and developed a whole other problem. Groaning, he figured a snack and some hot milk might help—an old trick that still that worked from time to time—and rolled out of bed.

Being mindful of his guest sleeping on the couch, he crept out of his room. At the end of the hallway, as he approached the partition that divided the living room from the kitchen, he realized something was out of place. No snoring. Daniel had been threatening the structure of the building two hours earlier. Kyle stopped and craned his hearing for anything. For all he knew, Daniel had rolled onto his side and was now sleeping like a baby. Not likely, but hey, you never knew.

He leaned out a bit, surprised to see the small reading lamp on. It didn’t give a lot of light, but it was good for sitting in the corner chair and making notes by the phone. The brief peek before he slipped back into the hall showed Daniel folded into the chair, a complicated jumble of leather, denim, arms and legs, his dark head bowed into his hand. He was on the phone.

“I need another day or two,” Daniel’s deep voice rumbled quietly. “I know it’s bad timing, Cody, but I’m not leaving her.”

Kyle grimaced. He should head back to his room. Daniel was probably talking to a friend or something, letting him know he was going to be gone for a while. There was more mumbling on the other side of the wall, but Kyle didn’t bother listening to it.

Just because Daniel was a little scary looking was no reason to think the worst of him. He’d been polite and good-natured. He’d immediately backed out of Jessica’s when he realized she would be alone with him. Hadn’t he come racing down the state line because his mother was in the hospital? How many hardened criminals did that?

Shaking his head, Kyle turned back to his room. He could just lie in bed until sleep came. It would eventually. He’d even taken a whole step when Daniel’s voice picked up, the pitch becoming a deep growl of anger.

“You tell Santos he can wait until I’m damn well ready to make the deal. I’ll be there Sunday. I’m here for the next thirty-six hours and that’s just the way it is. He might find other buyers but he won’t find any before then who can take that kind of shipment without needing extra time. He can wait a day. You tell him that. Tell him I’ll make it worth his while to wait.”

Shipment? Buyers? That didn’t sound like a friend. Kyle moved back to the edge of the partition.

“Fine. Sunday, five o’clock.” The phone clanked when he put the receiver back in place. Kyle listened to Daniel’s heavy sigh, a few swear words and then nothing. Not the sound of the light turning off or Daniel moving. Not even him breathing. It was almost as if…as if he was listening for someone.

Kyle rolled his eyes. Great, Daniel knew he was there. Of course the possibly drug-dealing biker who was a foot taller and a good fifty pounds heavier could tell when he was being spied on. In about ten seconds he’d probably creep around the wall to see for himself. Standing there and getting caught was not a palatable concept, so Kyle took a risk and scrambled to his door as silently as he could. Rattling the doorknob, he made it look like he was pulling the door shut just as Daniel stepped into the hall.

In the shadows, Kyle was dismayed to discover that Daniel looked even bigger. His feet were braced wide, hands already into fists, as if he were trying to look menacing. He took up the entire portal, like a giant shadow with a lot of hair.

“Everything okay, Kyle?” he asked, his deep voice resonating in the tense silence.

“Sure, just can’t sleep. Thought I’d get something to eat.” It wasn’t that he was scared. More that he wasn’t stupid. At least, that’s what he told himself.

Daniel seemed to be deciding if he was faking or not.

“I thought you were asleep.” That was a good, casual excuse.

“I sleep light.”

What do you say to that? “You hungry?”

Daniel sighed, loosening up and shrinking a whole percent all the way around. “What you got?”

Kyle couldn’t help the deep relief that pushed his held breath out. The last thing he wanted was either to get his ass kicked or be introduced to his maker because he’d been dumb enough to eavesdrop. “I don’t know. I’m not much of a cook. Probably something worth eating, though.”

He led the way to the kitchen, aware of the giant behind him. Stick to your purpose, man, find out more before you make up your mind. He hit the lights on the way into the kitchen, causing them both to blink at the sudden harshness, but it took most of the menace out of the night. He opened the fridge and peered inside. Same as usual—beer and sandwich fixings. Eggs. Restaurant leftovers.

“Omelets and beer or sandwiches and beer?”

“Got chips?”

He pointed to the cabinet next to the stove. Daniel crossed to the long pantry panel, opened it and pulled out a package of pretzels.

“Sandwiches,” they both agreed. Against his better judgment, Kyle grinned, relieved again when Daniel matched him. When he wasn’t prepared to rip your throat out, Daniel Pierson was a pretty likable guy.

Kyle reached into the fridge and started pulling out fixings. The sound of the bag popping and then the subsequent crunching let him know what Daniel was up to.

“You really didn’t eat much today, did you?”

Daniel grunted a negative. “I got Jessica’s call and hopped right on the bike. I was over in Blythe. Near Nevada,” he clarified. “She just caught me. If I hadn’t been asleep, I’d have been riding out in the opposite direction.”

“How do you get into biking?” Was that a job?

“Just happens, really. You start off riding crotch rockets cuz they’re fun. Some guys get started on dirt bikes, but that wasn’t really my thing. Don’t like dirt much.”

Kyle had to fight to keep his eyebrows from rising while he constructed the sandwiches.

Daniel chuckled at his struggle. “When you’re my size, you can’t stay on regular bikes too long. I got into Harleys when I was a kid. I mean, you don’t have to ride to appreciate the beauty of ’em. But when you ride…man, there’s no better feeling than a hog.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” He might hate cars, but they were a hell of a lot safer than bikes.

The other man lifted his chin in question. “You don’t like bikes?”

“Only if you count the ten speed I had as a kid.”

“You’re missing out, man.”

“I think I’ll live.” He handed Daniel the sandwich. When he saw the man take huge bite, he rethought biting into the other one and handed it over as well.

“You not eating?”

Kyle smiled. “I’ll start with pretzels.”

Daniel shrugged and took it. “So what’s the deal with you and Jessica?”

Well, maybe he could make another sandwich. Kyle pulled another set of bread slices out of the bag and dipped into the mayo jar again. “You’ve got me.”

“You’re not seeing each other?”

No, I’m just trying to get her to marry me. “We’re trying.”

Cheeks full, Daniel stared at him in question.

“It’s complicated.”

“Women usually are.”

“Not for me.” Kyle sighed. “At least, they never were before. Jess is…special.”

“She’s nice. Mom talks about her a lot.”

“You and Dory are close, then?”

Daniel took a big bite and nodded. “It was just me and her most of the time. She was kind of wild when I was a kid,” he conceded.

“No,” Kyle replied with false shock, his laughter escaping. “She seems so down to earth and conservative.”

Daniel’s dark eyes danced. “She showed you the tattoos already then?”

“Tattoos?” He tried to picture where Dory could be tattooed. Then he winced and thought better of it. “No, haven’t seen any. She just talks about sex a little more than my local politician would like.”

Daniel laughed, a rough rumbling sound that could have been a cough. “She does have a kinda dirty mind. But I like that best about her. She always says what she thinks. We figured that’s why she never got re-married. No one but me really put up with always knowing what she thinks. Except Jessica.”

“Sounds like one of those situations where you took turns taking care of each other.”

Daniel nodded. “She didn’t handle losing my dad real well. Once she was back on her feet, though, we got along a lot better. She’s the one who got me into bikes. Probably thought it’d make me feel closer to my father. A lot of our friends were bikers. I remember this one guy had an Indian—”

“He just kept one around?” Kyle asked, trying to picture that in a way that wouldn’t get him labeled a racist.

“Original bike manufacturers, man. They went out of business back in the fifties. They’re back now, but it took ’em fifty years to pull it off. Anyway, finding a ’53 Chief is a lot like finding a perfect Babe Ruth autographed baseball in your backyard.”

Kyle whistled.

Daniel nodded appreciably. “Exactly. I was like, sixteen, looking at this thing and I fell in love. Just fell in love. It was beautiful. I was goner from that day on. You couldn’t get me off bikes after that. Mom taught me to ride and I was on my way.”

“On your way where?”

Daniel tilted his head. “Wherever I wanted.”

“Don’t you ever want…you know, more?”

“More what?”

Kyle clamped down on his frustration. He couldn’t be the only guy in the world who felt like this. “I don’t know. A house. A family?”

Daniel shrugged. “Never really thought about it. Women don’t exactly fall all over themselves to jump in front of my bike, if you know what I mean.”

“My brother says the same thing.”

“Your brother rides?” Daniel looked so hopeful, Kyle felt bad about laughing. But the image of Lucas on a motorcycle was too ridiculous to consider.

“He says women are hard to find.”

“But not for you.” Daniel finished off his sandwich with a chomp.

Kyle lifted his hands. “I don’t know why. I like them, they like me. I guess they don’t intimidate me. You just talk to them like they were anyone else and they seem to respond to it.”

“You think I’m intimidated by women?” Which sounded more like, “You think I can be intimidated?”

“That might not be the best word. I don’t worry about how they’ll respond. If they walk away, so what? There’s always another one to talk to.”

“What about Jessica?”

Kyle took a sip of his beer, his confidence dropping like a rock. “Like I said. She’s different.”

“She intimidates you?”

“No. Yes.” Way to make sense there, buddy. Now he knew why Belinda didn’t like talking about Lucas. “It’s…complicated.”

Daniel polished his beer off and made a gesture asking where to toss it. Kyle pointed under the sink. He finished off his own and gathered the plates to put in the sink. As he rounded the island, he stumbled to a stop when he saw Daniel bend down to put the bottle in the trash. The unmistakable shape of a gun holster was visible past the line of Daniel’s torso.

Averting his eyes, Kyle made himself put the plates in the sink and pretend the camaraderie they’d just had was still there. Instead, all he could think about was the phone call he’d overheard and the fact that there was a man in his house with a gun. A stranger with a gun.

“I’ll take care of these in the morning,” he mumbled, anxious to get back to his room and go to sleep before he started thinking. Or worse, not thinking and doing something stupid. Like getting shot.

Jessica arrived at the ICU bright and early the next morning, having slept surprisingly well despite a face-first dive into the torte that tasted a lot like guilt. Carrying a vase of daffodils, she had her smile pasted on, ready to be cheerful for her friend. Instead, she stopped short when she found Daniel already there, speaking in low tones to his mother, whose face was pale and drawn. She couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but both of them looking grim and worried couldn’t be good.

“What’s wrong?” she asked automatically, worrying more when they both seemed surprised to find her in the room. As if they hadn’t even seen her come in.

“Oh, nothing honey. Daniel’s always a grump this early in the morning,” Dory replied, pasting on a smile of her own, if Jessica wasn’t mistaken. Without her makeup and wig, Dory looked more weathered and definitely more stressed.

Hoping to alleviate that a little, Jessica accepted the explanation with a nod to Daniel, who gave her a weak smile of his own.

“They don’t have strong enough coffee here to wake up a guy my size,” he explained, rubbing at his right eye with his half-gloved hand. “Kyle wakes up pretty early for work, so I just left when he did.”

“Yeah?” Jessica didn’t know that. Then again, living here in California, it made sense that Kyle had to beat the market opening on the east coast. She’d always gotten flack for being a morning person. Interesting that Kyle seemed to be too.

But not that interesting, she reminded herself. Finding things that made him fit her better was not a good plan. She was supposed to look for reasons not to like Kyle Lonnigan.

“So you two got through the night all right, then? No problems?”

Daniel shook his head. “None at all. He makes a killer midnight snack. Even has a comfy couch.”

Drat.

“He said I could stay until Mom’s doctors say she’s out of the woods. You have yourself a nice guy there, Jessie.”

“Jessica,” she corrected automatically, though she remembered to put a smile back on when she said it. Only Kyle ever called her by a diminutive. There didn’t even seem to be any point in telling him not to anymore. Odd that she didn’t find it annoying, something she obviously had to work on.

Daniel apologized, which she waved off. After a few more minutes, she’d have to get to the office. No one there had been given an explanation about what had happened to Dory, and Jessica was not looking forward to providing one. Thanks to her wounded comrade, she had a bad habit of thinking of Gregory Groom, Esquire as Greggy Groom, asswad. One of these days, she was going to call him that to his face and there would go ten years of career building.