Kicking the Habit (17 page)

Cece hopped out of his truck and jogged around to his door.
She opened the door for him, stared up at him, and then held out her arms.
“Need help?”

“Seriously?” Ace gaped at her. “Why don’t you just castrate
me now?”

“Quit acting like a child. You only have use of one arm. I’m
just trying to help.”

“I can manage.” He brushed her hand aside, vaulted from the
truck, and then grabbed the bag of groceries with his good arm. “Lead the way,”
he said, looking pleased with himself, but he wasn’t fooling her. She didn’t
miss his slight wince or the weariness evident in his every move.

“You silly, stubborn man.” Cece shook her head at him,
closed the door to his truck, and walked in front of him to Granny’s door.

She pulled out the house key Granny insisted she keep and
unlocked the door. Cece stepped inside, but then stopped short in surprise. Her
grandmother stood there in full robes in the kitchen, stirring something
brewing in her cauldron. Her gray hair sprang from her head, as wild and frizzy
as ever, as she hummed and cackled away. Granny was Granny, and Cece was
beginning to think she would never change. Cece was starting to accept that
fact and told herself that if she could just keep her grandmother from landing
in jail or burning down the house, that would be enough.

Granny’s face lit up with she saw Cece. “My sweet angel,
you’re home.” She hustled over to her and hugged her hard. “I was so worried
about you. Please tell me you’re ready to stop this nonsense and go back to the
church where you belong—or at least move back in with me so Charity and I can
take care of you.”

Cece hugged her back, thinking her Granny and sister taking
care of her would be far scarier than any future bad guys who might chase after
her again. “I’m fine, Gran. I can take care of myself, and I’m not home to
stay. I thought you were out in the woods.”

“I was, but I finished early so I came back to start on a
new recipe. I’ve got to get ready for tonight. It’s Halloween, you know.” Her
face sparkled with excitement.

“How could I forget?” Cece said with a smile of resignation,
and she shook her head. “We just stopped by to drop off those supplies you
asked me to pick up.”

Granny slowly leaned back, her gray eyebrows arching high.
“We?”

Cece stepped aside, and Granny’s eyes narrowed to slits when
they landed on Ace. He stood tall and big, still looking every inch the commando,
but a little less foreboding with his skin a bit pale and dressed in a warm-up
suit instead of his usual sport coat and jeans.

“Detective Jackson. Why am I not surprised?” Granny cackled.

Ace’s eyes widened. “I’m not Satan anymore?”

“Don’t push your luck. I still think you’re a devil,” she
thrust a bony finger in the detective’s direction, “but you did save my granddaughter’s
life, and for that I’m grateful.”

“More like she saved mine,” Ace responded, his shoulders
slumping a bit wearily.

“We saved each other,” Cece interjected. “That’s why I plan
to continue working with Detective Jackson in helping the good citizens of New
Hope. We make a great team.”

“Over my dead body,” Ace blurted in total surprise, looking at
Cece aghast.

“I can arrange that,” Granny whacked her wooden spoon as she
yelled accusingly at Ace.

“Calm down, you two. I can make my own decisions, and no
one’s going to die,” Cece said firmly, holding up her hands.

Candy chose that moment to walk out of her bedroom, wearing
only a sheet. She stopped short. “Uh-oh.”

“Hey, babe, I thought we were alone. Did you find out where
all the noise was coming from?” Rocco walked up behind Candy with just a towel tied
around his waist, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

“You better run.” Candy pushed his face away, staring
straight ahead.

“Run? Daddy likes this game. What will I get if I let you
catch me?” He growled and tried for her neck again.

“A whole lot of trouble.”

“You!” Granny shrieked, turning her focus onto a new target.

“Me?” Rocco whipped his head up, his eyes bulging when he
spotted Granny, and he squeaked, “Me what?”

“You must die!” Granny grabbed her robes and charged Rocco,
waving her wooden spoon along the way.

Rocco let out a blood-curdling scream and bolted for the
door, clutching his towel as he ran, in bare feet out, into the freezing cold without
so much as a backward glance.

“My hero,” Candy said in disgust and rolled her eyes, then marched
back into her bedroom.

Kitty yawned and turned his one eye up at Cece, whined, and
then trotted after Candy.

“What the hell just happened?” Ace asked, looking as though
he hoped he’d masked his joy over Granny finding a new object for her spell casting.

“My life,” Cece said on a sigh. “Welcome to it. If you think
this is weird, stick around, Detective. Maybe you’ll finally understand what
led me to the convent in the first place.”

“Thanks for helping me,” Cece said later that evening, after
handing out the last of her candy to the trick-or-treaters. She stared out at
the soft white flakes drifting past the glow of the streetlamp, turned off her
lights and locked the door, then faced Ace who sat on her couch.

They’d left her grandmother’s house without a word, and Cece
had driven him to her place. After changing into the brand new pink and purple yoga
pants and matching T-shirt that she’d splurged on for no good reason—other than
that she’d simply wanted it—she’d let her hair down and ordered them pizza for
dinner. They’d eaten in silence, but he kept eyeing her in the strangest way.
They had just begun to talk when the children started arriving, looking for
candy. The detective had been a good sport and hadn’t complained once the
entire evening.

“I might not like Halloween, but the kids are cute,” he
answered her.

She sat beside him and curled her legs beneath her. “They
are, aren’t they?” She smiled a heartfelt smile, then sobered a little. “Sorry
about earlier at my grandmother’s.”

He shrugged, looking down as he fiddled with the tassels on
a throw pillow. “It’s okay. Your family’s not so bad. I’ve seen worse. Take mine,
for one. At least you know your family loves you, and they are doing their
best.” His gaze met hers and then traced down her figure appreciatively like he
was trying to memorize her features as though he would never see her again.
“You almost died yesterday. I thank you for taking care of me today, but I
think you need to stay far away from me from here on out.”

“You almost died too,” she responded softly. She wanted to
let him know how he made her feel, but she was afraid that would push him away
for good. She took in every big, virile inch of him and realized he was human
too. The thought of never having him in her life again was too much to bear.
“I’m not going to stop helping people, and people with problems tend to get
into all sorts of trouble. I won’t shy away from that. It’s not because of you
that I almost died. It’s because of me and who I am. I’d say I’m much safer with
you by my side, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d say Sister Mary Stubborn suits you perfectly,” he
responded on a chuckle.

“Back to you.” She touched his arm, and his
smile evaporated. “I’m sure your family loves you too.”

“My mother’s a good person,” he said easily.

“No brothers or sisters?”

“Nah. I was handful enough for her.” He
smirked.

Cece hesitated for a minute, then asked, “What
about your father?”

Ace’s smirk turned to a frown. “We moved away after … when I
was young, and we never looked back. By the time I moved home to New Hope, he
was long gone. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.” Ace lifted his good
shoulder in a shrug, as though he didn’t care one way or the other, but Cece
was trained to read through people’s emotions and get to the heart of the
matter. She could see the pain behind his troubled green eyes.

“What happened, Alistair?” His sharp gaze
shot to hers, and she reached out to touch his hand. “Sometimes it helps to
talk about it.”

He sat still for what felt like forever,
then finally said, “Nothing much to say. Basically he went to confession one
too many times, but it was definitely
not
good for his soul or anyone
else’s for that matter, especially my mother’s.”

“How do you mean?” Cece prodded.

“Boy, you don’t give up, do you?” He pinched
the bridge of his nose.

“Not when I see someone I care about in
pain.”

He dropped his hand and let out a breath. “Let’s
just say you weren’t the only nun to ever be caught in the confessional, but
you can bet they sure as hell weren’t praying. There, are you happy now? And
for the record, talking about it doesn’t help.”

Cece vaguely remembered hearing something
about that from Sister Mary Ethel, but she’d had no idea Ace’s father was the
man responsible for deflowering the older nun’s prized protégé. She’d never
forgiven the man and had spent her life reminding Ace of the sins of his
father.

“You’re not like your father, Ace.”

“No, I’m not.” He looked Cece squarely in
the eye, with determination. “And I don’t plan to be, Sister.”

“You sure you don’t want any pain
medication?” she asked, changing the subject and refusing to let him push her
away. “You must be in pain.”

“Nope, I’m good. Pain lets me know I’m still alive.”

“Okay, then I think I know something else that
will
help.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Your clinic is about as close to
the confessional as you’ll ever get me.”

She smiled tenderly and held out her hand. “Come with me,
chicken. I’m not going to make you go to confession. I’m simply going to make
you something to drink.” She towed him after her to the kitchen and pulled down
a mug.

“If I have to drink one more cup of tea, I’ll—”

“We’re not going to drink tea. We’re going to have a little
party with a new acquaintance of mine named Jack.”

Ace’s expression turned guarded, and he stiffened slightly.
“Who’s this Jack guy?”

“Oh, just someone my sister introduced me to.”

“Great,” he growled, sounding anything but pleased.

Cece opened the cupboard above her sink and pulled out the
unopened bottle of Jack Daniels. She poured a little into a mug and handed it
to him. “Here, drink this for the pain.”

Ace’s jaw unhinged, but he did as she said, eying her
curiously as though trying to guess her next move. She didn’t bother with a mug,
just lifted her hand and drank straight from the bottle, her eyes nearly
crossing as she coughed spasmodically. Tears sprang to her eyes and her lungs
burned something fierce, but it was worth it by the expression on his face.
She’d shocked him good and thrown him totally off balance, which is exactly
where he needed to be to ever let this happen. And she knew with every fiber of
her being that she needed this to happen.

She needed him.

“I drank it for the pain, but why did you?” he asked in awe
and disbelief.

“For courage.”

“To do what?”

“This.” She jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his
waist and arms around his neck, as she locked her lips to his.

He grunted, stumbling back a step and flinched in pain.

She tore her mouth away and started to lower her legs. “Oh,
my gosh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. Your arm. It’s—”

“Fine,” he growled back and grabbed her behind to hold her
in place. “Don’t move.” He pressed his forehead against hers for a minute.
“Please, for the love of God, don’t move.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered and wrapped her arms
more tightly around him.

“You sure about this?” he finally asked as his breathing
grew heavy. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m not a virgin, Detective. It’s just been a very long
time.” She kissed his cheek. “I’m sure that if you don’t make love to me now, I
might literally explode,” she said, breathing just as heavily.

He moaned deep in his throat and claimed her mouth hungrily
as he carried her into her modest bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He
knelt over her, his good hand tucking a stray hair behind her ear only to
linger on her cheek before continuing the exploration down her neck, her breasts,
and then her stomach, until she started to squirm.

“Oh my, I could get used to this.” She sighed dreamily. “I
think I might have just found a brand new habit.”

“Oh, Christ,” he responded on a groan. “I think I’m going to
hell for sure.” But that didn’t stop him from lowering his mouth to meet hers and
taking her to heaven along the way.

Kari Lee Townsend lives in central New York
with her very understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter.
A former teacher with a masters in English education, she is a long-time lover
of reading and writing. She is best known as the author of the Fortune Teller
Mystery series, but also writes romantic comedies (under the name Kari Lee Harmon),
as well as children’s fiction about tween superheroes. These days, you’ll find her
at home with her children happily writing her next novel.