There's Only Been You (23 page)

She peered up at him through her lashes. “And that was a king-sized bed you bought for the master bedroom?"

"Oh, yeah. California king, to be exact.” He pulled her into his arms and leaned down for a kiss, but before his lips even reached hers, Ethan came running up.

"I found it! Mom, you gotta come see my new room! It's huge!” He grabbed her arm and tugged her along.

Sara pouted over her shoulder as Ethan led her away.

Mike laughed and followed after them.

Ethan's room was indeed large, roughly twenty by twenty feet, nearly twice the size of the cubicle he called a room back home. Sara tried to ignore the pangs of jealousy eating at her craw, but couldn't. She knew she was being silly. She'd probably be spending a lot of time here herself, now that she and Mike were.... were what? What exactly were they doing, besides having really great sex? It wasn't as if he'd asked her to marry him. Oh, he'd said that he loves her. Always had, always will. But what if he got tired of her?

Mike came up behind her and set his hands on her shoulders. “Penny for your thoughts,” he whispered against her ear.

Sara melted against him. All those negative thoughts were wiped from her mind as the heat of his body started her blood flowing to all the right places.

"I was just thinking there's plenty of room here for some of Ethan's toys. His room back home is busting at the seams, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"I did. And you're welcome to send down whatever you like."

"You may be sorry you said that when the dump truck arrives with his things,” she teased.

Mike bent down and wrapped his arms around her. “And will some of your things be in this dump truck?"

Sara frowned. Was he making a declaration? Asking a pointed question? He hadn't asked her to marry him, or even to move in with him, for that matter. She shrugged. “As close as I live, what need would there be?"

She couldn't tell whether or not he was disappointed since he didn't bother to reply. She returned her attention to Ethan. He climbed to the top bunk and looked as if he were about to start bouncing.

"No jumping, Ethan. You'll crack your head on the ceiling,” Mike warned.

No doubt just to prove he could, Ethan bent at the waist and proceeded to jump. He grinned down at them. “Nuh-uh, see? I haven't hit my head one time, I—ow!"

Mike and Sara both laughed. “C'mon, son, climb down from there before you knock yourself out cold,” Mike said.

When Ethan's feet hit the ground, he asked, “Can I put my Spiderman posters on the wall? And my Incredible Hulk poster, too?"

"You can decorate the room anyway you like. It's your room."

"Cool! Mom, can we go to the store? I wanna buy that Spiderman alarm clock."

"You mean right now?"

"Yeah, can we, huh?"

Sara laughed. “Sure, why not. Mike, is there anything I can pick up for you while we're there?"

"As a matter of fact, I need bath towels and washcloths. Would you mind?” He pulled out his wallet and handed her two one-hundred dollar bills.

"Not at all. What color is your bathroom?"

His brow creased. “Hell, I have no idea. Let's go take a look."

Sara followed him into the upstairs bathroom, and her eyes widened when they landed on the bathtub in the corner. “No way! A whirlpool tub? You lucky duck!"

Mike laughed. “You're welcome over any time to try it out. Mr. Pankovich had the bathroom remodeled a few years ago, but I don't think he got much use out of it."

She ran her hand over the shiny tile surrounding the tub. “It does look brand new.” The fixtures were all white, with gleaming chrome faucets in the sink and bathtub. The ceramic tiled floor was also white, as were the walls. The only thing to break the monotony was a thin strip of blue ceramic tile around the base of the tub.

"Well, I hope blue's all right with you."

"Absolutely. And I really appreciate all your help, in case I haven't already said so.” He pulled her into his arms for the kiss she'd been deprived of a few minutes ago.

He brought his mouth down on hers and Sara twined her arms around his neck. She couldn't believe how soft his lips were, and the rasp of his tongue on hers was enough to turn her legs to mush.

"Man, you two are gross."

They broke guiltily apart at the sound of Ethan's voice. Sara cheeks flamed, but Mike merely grinned. “You won't think so in about ten years."

The appalled look on Ethan's face said otherwise, and Sara couldn't help but laugh. She cleared her throat. “Are you ready to go?"

"Yep. I know exactly what I want.” He grabbed Sara's arm and pulled her out of the bathroom. “Hey, you ain't gonna kiss Jason, too, when you go on a date with him, are you?"

Sara stopped dead in her tracks at his innocently spoken question. She bit her bottom lip and glanced back at Mike. He didn't look happy.

"You have a date with Jason?"

"No,” she grinned, “but Garrett does. Jason called earlier, and they made plans to go shoot darts tonight."

Mike crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the bathroom sink. “Which reminds me, you never did tell me why you and Garrett got into it yesterday."

She gestured toward Ethan with her eyes, making it clear she didn't want to talk about it in front of him.

Ironically, it was Ethan who replied, “Uncle Garrett heard me and Mom talking about how she slept with you instead of me, and he got real mad. He yelled and stuff, but then he apologized, so I'm not mad at him anymore."

Mike's lips twisted as if trying to hold back a grin. “Well, that's good, you shouldn't be mad at your uncle. He was only trying to protect your mom."

"From you? You'd never hurt my mom, would you?"

"Of course not. But you can never be too careful when it comes to the people you love. I'm glad you and your mom have your uncle Garrett to look after you."

"Hey, Mr. Andrews, we have a question,” one of the delivery men called out.

"I'm on my way!” Mike gave Sara one last quick kiss, then ruffled Ethan's hair. “See you when you get back."

Ethan grabbed her arm. “Come on, Mom, before they sell all the Spiderman alarm clocks!"

"All right, Jamison is meeting me here at seven. You clear on what you have to do?"

Jason and Jimmy sat in Jason's truck at the corner of Military and Vine, where in less than six hours, Garrett Jamison, and hopefully Mike Andrews, would both come to an untimely end. They were going to be the victims of a cop-hating maniac, and if things worked out the way Jason expected them to, he'd come out of this smelling like a rose. He'd considered having Jimmy pump a bullet into
his
arm or shoulder, just to make it look good. But some cuts and scrapes should be just as effective, he decided.

Jimmy fidgeted in his seat and reached up to dig in his ear. “Man, I don't know if I can do this. I ain't never shot nobody before. Especially no cops."

Jason reached out and twisted Jimmy's bandaged nose.

"Owww! Goddamn it! What did you do that for?"

"I'm reminding you of exactly why you're doing this. Are you going to let that prick get away with busting your nose? I bet he's
still
laughing about it. Him and Jamison both.” Jason had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. God, how he hated dealing with this whiny bastard.

"Believe me, I wanna get even with him. But Jamison never did anything to me. Why do I have to take him out?"

Jason shot Jimmy a look designed to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Because if you don't, they'll be fishing your dead bloated ass out of the bay. Now I repeat, are you clear on what you have to do?"

Jimmy glared at him. “I'm clear. You just make sure nothing goes wrong. ‘Cause if I get busted for killing a cop, I ain't going down alone."

"Don't worry, my plan is foolproof.”
Not that it matters, you pathetic piece of garbage. You'll be laying on a slab in the morgue, right next to Jamison and Andrews.

Sara and Ethan spent most of the afternoon helping Mike make his new house feel like a home. Sara had purchased plenty of bath towels, hand towels and washcloths, and because she'd gotten them on sale, there'd been enough money left over for a bathroom rug and tank set, as well as a new shower curtain.

Nicky, Uncle Luke, and even Garrett came down to see if they could help, and Mike wasted no time in putting them all to work.

Old man Pankovich had moved in a hurry, so he'd left behind a lot of odds and ends. Especially downstairs in the basement which was nothing more than a huge storage room at the moment. Mike told the guys how he planned to remodel the basement into a sports bar, and that was pretty much all they talked about for hours.

Sara was as happy as she'd been in a long time. All the men in her life were getting along famously—even Garrett and Mike were exchanging complete sentences. Ethan was in his glory, following the men around, being passed from one shoulder to another. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard him laugh so much.

And while the guys were working downstairs, she had plenty to keep herself busy upstairs—washing curtains and drapes, vacuuming, dusting the ceilings and walls, wiping the baseboards down with furniture polish. The house had been kept up surprisingly well, but once Mr. Pankovich's furniture had been moved out, it became obvious there was plenty of cleaning left to be done. Also, a few of the rooms could use new carpeting, particularly the living room.

By two o'clock, everyone was starving, so Mike sprang for lunch, and the first meal was officially eaten in Mike's new home.

By five o'clock, the men had the entire basement cleared out, and Sara had re-hung all the freshly laundered curtains and drapes, plus dry dusted every square inch of the house.

Mike thanked and shook hands with the guys as they headed home. Once the door closed behind them, he pulled Sara into his arms and proceeded to kiss her breathless.

As if on cue, Ethan came sprinting around the corner. A look of complete disgust twisted his little face. “Oh, man, not again!"

Sara managed to hold back a grin, but Mike said, “You'd better get used to it, little man. Because I plan on kissing your mother every chance I get.” To drive his point home, Mike bent her over his arm and planted another one on her.

Ethan rolled his eyes, but a reluctant smile broke out on his face. “Whatever,” he said, before racing back up the stairs.

Sara gazed thoughtfully up at Mike.

"What?” He slipped his hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"I was just thinking."

"About...?” he prompted, brows raised expectantly.

"About what a great guy you are. And what a fantastic father you've turned out to be."

Mike blinked, as if he wasn't quite sure he'd heard her correctly. “I'm sorry, but did you just compliment me?"

"Yep. How's that for a total shocker?"

"And what exactly brought you to this grand conclusion?"

She shrugged. “Just everything. I mean, you're terrific with Ethan, and he obviously adores you."

"When I'm not kissing his mother."

She smiled. “Yeah, but don't worry ‘cause that's when I adore you, so it kind of evens out."

He bent down and kissed her again, gently this time, then lifted his head to say, “Well, if I'm so wonderful, how come you won't move in with me?"

Sara cocked a brow. “For starters, I haven't been asked."

"I kind of thought it was implied by, ‘then how come you won't move in with me?’”

"That's not asking, it's assuming. And since we've been back in each other's lives barely a week, it's an awfully big assumption."

Mike stared down at her, very much tempted to argue the point. He surprised himself by saying, “You're right. It
was
a big assumption. It just kills me when I think about how different our lives would be if.... well, if I wasn't a complete idiot. But haven't we missed out on enough? Dammit, Sara, I don't want to waste any more time."

Sara gazed up at him and admitted, “Neither do I. But, on the other hand, the thought that you could just up and leave again one day, and I'd be left to explain to our son why, scares the hell out of me."

Mike pulled his hands from her pockets and took a step back. Hands on hips, head hung low, he took a couple of deep breaths to rein in his temper. “I would never—
never
—leave my son. Period. No matter what ends up happening between the two of us, I will forever be a part of Ethan's life. So I want this to be the last time you ever suggest I'd walk out on my kid. Understand?"

Sara stared at him without responding for what seemed like an eternity. Then silent tears began to fall and she angrily swiped them away.

With a muttered curse, Mike took her into his arms, infuriated with himself for losing his temper and causing her even a moment more pain than he already had. He reminded himself that her wounds were still open and fresh, and her insecurities, as far as his intentions were concerned, were valid and quite justified.

She put up a half-hearted effort to free herself, but he held her tight.

"Sara, I'm so damn sorry, I didn't mean to take my frustrations out on you. It's just ... the guilt I feel sometimes is more than I can handle, and I don't know what the hell to do with it."

She took a shuddering breath against his chest. “I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. I just don't know what to think. My heart tells me you mean everything you say. But I've spent the last eight years believing I can't trust my heart where you're concerned."

He cuddled her against him, his chin resting on top of her head. “Sweetheart, as long as you believe I love you, and that I love our son, I'm content to wait until you're ready to trust in me again. Patience has never been my strong suit, but for you, I'll wait forever, if that's how long it takes."

"Mom? Are you all right? Dad, why is she crying?"

Mike hadn't heard Ethan come in, and he suddenly felt like an even bigger jackass than he had a second ago.

Before he could answer, Sara sniffled, wiped her eyes against his T-shirt and said, “I'm fine, sweetie. You know how silly I get sometimes. Remember when that mayonnaise commercial made me cry?"