Without Compromise (8 page)

He laughed, “Parkour.”

“Um, no.”

There was a little silence, then, “Tell me you didn’t.”

She chewed her lip.

“You did,” he had caught her. “You went windsailing.”

“I’m sorry,” she felt a little guilty about it. “You were working, and the opportunity came up.”

“Josie,” Tag groaned, “we were going to do that together.”

“We can go another time,” she promised.

“But it won’t be the same.”

She laughed at his injured tone, “There’s always base jumping – we haven’t done that.”

“Don’t try to butter me up,” his voice was gruff, but she was pretty sure he was laughing.

“I’m really sorry, Tag.”

He sighed, “So, how was it?”

“Very cool until I looked behind myself. I took my eyes off the target, lost my balance, and fell forward – face first onto the bar.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. My face isn’t so pretty right now, but it hurt my pride more than anything else.”

He hummed in agreement, “You want to get some lunch after your meeting?”

“Yes,” she decided to leave the bruises alone, “but not with you.”

“Big plans?” he laughed at her snippy tone.

“I’m meeting a friend from high school.”

“My love life has been kinda slow lately. You want to introduce me to her?”

Josie closed the door behind herself and headed for the stairs, “You want me to set you up with one of my friends? I don’t think so.”

“Why? I’m not good enough?”

“In the first place, I wouldn’t want to lose a friend.”

“Rude,” he interrupted her.

“In the second place, this one isn’t your type.”

“May I point out that you once told me my type was simply female, breathing, willing?”

“Well, my friend only qualifies on one of those aspects.”

“You’re meeting a guy?” he sounded appalled.

Josie craned her neck to see if the bus was coming around the bend, “Yep. The most popular guy in school, actually. I’m thinking about swooning because he called me.”

“What was so great about him?”

“Quarterback, tall, dark and handsome, nice to the nerdy type.”

“Sounds like a jerk to me.”

Josie saw the bus, “I’m gotta go.”

“Call me when you’re done to tell me how it went.”

“Supper?”

“The meeting.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“I’m on call.”

She stepped on the bus, “Bye, Tag.”

Her meeting went well. The terms the production company offered her were better than she expected. The only drawback was that she wouldn’t start until February.

“I could always get you a small role,” Ken offered.

“Ken,” she warned him not to pursue it.

“How about just a commercial?”

She planted her hands on her hips, “A commercial.”

“It’s a one-time deal. It wouldn’t lock you into anything.”

“No, thanks.”

He dropped it, and Josie left. She was on her way to the restaurant when her phone rang.

She answered it with a grin, “I suppose I should be grateful that the crime rate has dropped so far that you aren’t needed.”

“I thought you were going to call me.”

She looked both ways before darting across the street, “How do you know I’m not still in the meeting?”

“You wouldn’t have answered your phone.”

She couldn’t deny that.

“Did you sign the contract?”

“Yep,” Josie offered a smile to an elderly lady who was frowning as they stood waiting the traffic light to change.

“So you can tell me what it is now?”

“No. I told Molly I’d tell her first.”

“So, call her,” Tag hung up.

Josie laughed and called her sister. She was just ending that conversation when the call waiting sounded.

“And the answer is?” Tag didn’t wait for her to say hello.

“I’m doing the stunts for Jessica Morris.”

“Who is that?”

Josie darted in and out of people as she pressed through the lunch hour crowd, “She plays the lead on
The Force
.”

“That horrible cop show? It’s not even close to accurate.”

Josie gasped, “Bite your tongue, man. It’s one of the most popular shows on television right now.”

“I suppose those high ratings have nothing to do with the guy in that.”

“What guy?”

“You know,” he teased, “the one who goes shirtless every episode.”

“He doesn’t go shirtless in every episode,” she argued.

“When are you meeting your friend?”

“In about ten minutes.”

“You know, I was thinking I should come with you. You never know how people have changed. Maybe he’s gone off the deep end.”

“He’s a pastor now.”

“See what I mean.”

“He always wanted to be a pastor.”

“And what does he want with you?”

“To catch up.”

“You know that’s code for ‘I want to see if you’re still as sexy as you were in high school,’ don’t you?”

Josie rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t sexy in high school. I was a bit of a loner.”

“Goth?”

“No – just dorky and shy.”

“Weird.”

“Yes,” she agreed with his assessment, “yes, I was.”

“No. I mean it’s weird that you were like that in high school. You aren’t now.”

“I think I’m just more comfortable with who I am.”

“Talented and beautiful?”

Josie wasn’t sure what to say to that. Tag had never demonstrated any attraction to her before. Or, if he had, she had missed it entirely.

“Um, I’m being paged, Jo,” his tone was more stern than it had been.

“Go save the world,” she said as she hung up.

She crossed the final street before her destination and was about to open the door to Cloud Nine when she spotted a familiar face.

“Dave,” she reached out and gave her friend a quick hug, “you running a little late too?”

He opened the door and ushered her in, “As usual.”

“You find the restaurant okay?”

“No,” he admitted with a laugh. “That’s why I’m late.”

They sat down, and Dave got straight to the point.

“How’s Molly?”

Josie leaned on her elbows, “Why didn’t you just call her, Dave?”

He sighed, “Tired of her saying ‘no,’ I guess.”

They were halfway through their meal when Dave looked to the door, eyebrows raised.

“Something wrong?” Josie spoke around her bite of sandwich.

“A SWAT uniform just came in and sat down at the counter.”

Josie resisted the urge to turn around and look, “You sure he’s SWAT?”

“Yeah. He’s loaded for bear, and it says SWAT across the back of his shirt.”

“Is he ordering?”

He laughed and nodded, “I suppose even the tough guys have to eat.”

Josie smirked, “Is there a back door to this place?”

“Why?” Dave smiled at her, “you running from the law?”

“No,” she opened her phone, “Excuse me, Dave. I need to text someone.”

She pulled out her phone and texted with one hand.

I thought you were out on a call.

She set her phone down and leaned in toward her dinner date, “Can I just apologize ahead of time?”

“For what?” Dave took a sip of his soda.

“My self-appointed guardian.”

“Huh?”

Her phone beeped.

It was resolved quickly. May I join you?

She held out her phone to Dave so he could read the text.

“Your guardian?” he pointed to the phone.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He glanced up at Tag, “Is it the SWAT guy?”

She nodded.

Dave smiled and waved Tag over to their booth. Josie stood quickly and slid in next to Dave. There was no way she was getting trapped in the booth.

“Dave, this is Tag Madden, Molly’s nosy neighbor. Tag, this is my friend, Dave Howe.”

The men shook hands.

“Josie says you’re a pastor?”

Dave nodded, “I’m the education minister at our church.”

“Same church Josie and Molly go to?”

“No,” Dave glanced at Josie, and she could tell he was trying to figure out the relationship between Tag and the sisters. “I’m in Jersey. I’m just over for the day, so I thought I’d call Josie.”

“How nice,” Tag took a bite.

Josie kicked Tag’s shin.

He barely reacted.

“You have a wife over there in Jersey?” Tag almost managed to make the question sound natural.

“Not yet.”

Josie made an effort to kick Tag again, but he was ready for it. She found her foot trapped between his knees.

“And why is that?” Tag continued on undaunted.

“Frankly,” Dave picked up a fry and chewed on the end, “I’ve only loved one girl my whole life, and she’s turned me down a couple times already.”

Tag didn’t take his eyes off the other man, “Sorry to hear that.”

Josie kicked at Tag’s shin with her other foot. It was hard enough to make him drop her first foot.

“So, you met through Molly?” Dave was no dummy. He knew there was something going on that he couldn’t see.

“Not really,” Josie tucked her feet under herself and angled her body toward Dave. “Tag chased me through the street of New York because he thought I was a criminal. As if it wasn’t bad enough to do it once, he repeated the performance the following night.”

Dave looked at Tag, “Care to tell your version?”

He didn’t try to deny it, “She looked suspicious crawling out her sister’s window.”

Dave laughed at her, “You were always a bit unorthodox.”

Josie couldn’t deny that.

”She wouldn’t join the cheer squad because of their short uniforms, but she wore those horrible tights to the gymnastic meets.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “The cheerleaders wore far less than I did.”

Dave looked at Tag, “She used to practice her balance beam routines on the fence that went around the football field. It drove our coach nuts.”

“I’m sure it was distracting,” Tag looked a bit put out.

“I wasn’t doing it during practice,” Josie scoffed. “He just didn’t like it because his wife was the cheerleading coach, and she was irritated that I wouldn’t be on the team.”

“I was impressed with how you stood up to her,” Dave told her. “Most of us were scared of her.”

“I’ll bet,” Josie laughed.

“We were,” he insisted. “Molly only got out of it because she hurt her knee playing basketball.”

“My dad wouldn’t have let us do it anyway. He didn’t like the skimpy costumes any more than I did.”

Dave swallowed his food, “I knew I liked that man.”

Josie pushed her plate away from herself, “Even the first time you met him?”

“You mean the time I came to your house and he said there was no way he was going to let his daughter date a dumb jock who was more concerned with the football scores than his own soul?”

“As I recall, that didn’t go over so well.”

“I was fifteen,” he reminded her, “and it made a huge difference in my life.”

Tag was now just pushing his food around on his plate, “Sure.”

Josie and Dave glanced at each other before they looked back to him.

“You know, Tag,” Dave’s voice was soft. “I came over here with a purpose. It’s been a couple years, so I was hoping she’d change her mind.”

Tag stood up and threw some bills on the table, “I think I’d better get back to the station.”

Josie wondered if she should go after him.

“He’s not a believer,” Dave guessed.

She shook her head.

“That’s rough.”

“It doesn’t matter. He goes through women like a suburban goes through gas.”

“Nice analogy, but I don’t buy it. He really likes you.”

She laughed, “He likes all women, Dave. It’s all the thrill of the chase for him. Besides,” she scooted from the booth, “as you say, he isn’t a believer.”

They said goodbye and parted ways.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Tag didn’t bother calling Josie in the following days. He missed the sound of her voice, but he knew it was a lost cause. She had a history with the other guy, he shared her faith, and Dave honestly seemed like a good person. Tag didn’t stand a chance.

              “What are you doing?” Jacobson came into the gym.

              Tag kept pounding his fists into the leather, “I’m knitting a scarf.”

              “I can see that,” Jacobson stood on the other side of the bag. “I just thought you were going to come with us to the bar.”

              “Well, I’m not,” he punched again.

              “You seeing someone right now?”

              “No.”

              Jacobson steadied the bag, “When was the last time you were on a date?”

              “You asking me out?” Tag put more force into his thrusts, “Cause you really aren’t my type.”

              “I’m a little worried,” Jacobson admitted.

              “Is my work suffering?” the last word was punctuated with a blow to the bag.

              “Not that I can see.”

              “Then mind your own business.”

              Jacobson shoved the bag back toward his friend, “Fine.”

              Tag put his palms out to stop the bag from hitting him.

              He planted his face on the bag. He knew he had been a bit surly lately. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with him; he had never been this affected by a woman before.

              He wouldn’t even try to deny to himself that Josie was different. She was full of energy, adventurous, and had a quick wit. She was also compassionate and deeply devoted to her faith. The whole package was more appealing than any other woman he had met. However, Tag had never been looking for a relationship before, and he couldn’t imagine why the conviction that he couldn’t have one with her was so disturbing to him.

              He hit the showers and went home. He was just about to sit down to a sandwich when the sound of arguing drew him back downstairs.

              “I’m telling you, she’ll want to see me.”

              A guy Tag didn’t know stood at the door leaning over Al.

              “Why don’t you just ring her apartment then?” Al was standing in the entry, apparently refusing to open the front door.

              “She’s not answering,” the guy yelled back.

              Tag went downstairs and opened the door, “What’s the problem?”

              The guy looked normal enough, but Tag wasn’t convinced.

              “Thanks,” he tried to push past Tag.

              “Where are you going?” Tag caught the guy and propelled him backward.

              Al slipped inside and closed the door behind himself.

              “Listen, buddy,” the guy’s tone lowered, “I’m just going to see my girlfriend.”

              “Edna?” Tag folded his arms across his chest.

              “Molly,” the guy mirrored Tag’s position.

              “Molly’s not here anyway. She must have had some sort of dinner to do cause the upstairs smells like heaven.”

              The guy allowed himself half a smile, “You sure she’s not here?”

              “She never cooks like that for herself,” Tag felt no remorse about lying to the guy.

              The guy narrowed his eyes, “Who are you?”

              “I’m her neighbor, Tag.”

              “Tag, huh?” the guy shook Tag’s hand. “I’m Brandon.”

              “If I see her, I’ll let her know you stopped by,” Tag hoped the guy was smart enough to see the dismissal for what it was.

              “Thanks,” Brandon gave Tag one more glance and left.

              Tag went upstairs and knocked on Molly’s door.

              She didn’t answer.

              “It’s me, Molly. He’s gone.”

              She opened the door, “Thanks.”

              He leaned against the door frame, “Do you want to tell me about it?”

              “I don’t know how he found me,” she led the way into her darkened living room. “I’m sure my parents didn’t give him my address.”

              “Old boyfriend?”

              “Yeah. Stupid choice, really. We dated for about a year – he was really sweet most of the time, but he would do things like cut off other drivers or throw things at the television when he got angry. After I saw him shove a guy at his office, I decided it was time to get out of the relationship.”

              “He didn’t take it so well?”

              “Actually, he took it fine at first. I told him I just wasn’t ready for a relationship, and he told me to think of him when I was ready.”

              “Why’s he looking for you?”

              She shrugged, “A few months after I broke up with him, he started coming by. He was a little more aggressive each time. So, I moved in with Josie until I found this place.”

              “And this was how long ago?”

              “Three years, I guess.”

              He turned away, “Let me know if you need anything. I’m just a holler away.”

              “You know what I could use?”

              “What?” he stopped and looked back at her.

              “An explanation,” she flipped on the light.

              His brow furrowed.

              “My sister was hanging out with you a couple days a week until a few weeks ago. Now she doesn’t talk about you, and she changes the subject every time I mention you.”

              He blew out a breath of air, “She’s probably just busy.”

              “She’s not. In fact, she has more free time than usual right now.”

              “Maybe it’s her new boyfriend.”

              Molly’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “Boyfriend?”

              “Dave somebody-or-another.”

              “She’s not dating anybody,” Molly insisted.

              “I met him myself.”

              Molly shook her head, “She would tell me if she were dating someone. Besides, the guy she wants to date is unavailable.”

              “He’s not now.”

              She eyed him speculatively, “What do you mean?”

              “I’m not sure what the problem was before, but when I saw them, they seemed like they were pretty happy.”

              “You’re imagining things, Tag. Where did she even meet this supposed boyfriend?”

              “She’s known him for years,” he coughed up a laugh. “You probably know him too.”

              “Dave?” her eyebrows drew together.

              Tag didn’t respond because there was nothing more he could say.              He didn’t want to describe the guy or tell Molly about all the details he had gathered from his brief meeting with them.

              Finally, her face cleared in recognition, and her eyes widened, “Dave Howe?”

              He wasn’t sure, “Maybe. He was a quarterback at your school.”

              “Josie was with Dave?” she whispered.

              “Yeah. He’s a pastor now, so I guess that’s good enough for your dad.”

              “My dad?”

              Tag wondered why she looked so shaken by the news, “Yeah – something about how he had to put God above football before he could have her.”

              Molly snorted, “You have the wrong idea, Tag.”

              For some reason, it just irritated him further when Molly contradicted him.

              “I don’t think so. He told me he had been in love with the same girl for years, but she had rejected him. I was there,” he insisted, “and I saw them. She was not rejecting him this time.”

              A myriad of emotions chased over Molly’s face, but Tag couldn’t discern any of them. She finally spoke up again.

              “Tag, Dave and I dated for six months right after I started college. He proposed, but I thought we were too young. He proposed again after college, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a pastor’s wife.”

              Tag told himself to breathe.

              “Josie isn’t dating Dave, Tag. I can guarantee it.”

              It was too much for his brain to process all at once. He spent the first two months of knowing Josie, trying to convince himself she was just a friend. About the time he began to think this girl was a little different – to think he was ready to settle down into a long-term relationship – he discovered she was dating Dave.  Then he spent another month telling himself he was wrong about Josie – that she hadn’t been everything he had ever been looking for in a woman.

              And now, “You mean she’s . . .”

              “Single,” Molly agreed. “Unattached, available.”

              He nodded, dazed, “I gotta go home.”

              Molly followed him to the door, “There’s still the issue of your faith.”

              He didn’t answer. He wasn’t blind to that obstacle, but it seemed so much less of a problem than another man.

              It didn’t take him long to call Josie. She answered her phone a bit tersely, but he figured he deserved that much.

              “Would you be willing to listen to an explanation for my behavior?”

              She didn’t respond immediately, but Tag didn’t jump into the silence. His job required him to be patient, and he utilized that skill.

              “Okay.”

              “Over lunch?”

              She was silent again, but it didn’t last as long this time.

              “Fine.”

              “You want to come over here? I could make something.”

              “I’m not in the mood for mac and cheese,” she shot back.

              Tag laughed, “You underestimate me. I can also heat up spaghetti from a can.”

              “Gross.”

              “How about Banana Leaf?”

              “Okay. When?”

              Tag looked at his watch, “Twenty minutes?”

              “I can’t get there that fast. Make it forty.”

              “Done.”

              He looked in the mirror, considering whether or not he should shave all the stubble. He grimaced at the thought, but he figured desperate times called for desperate measures. He got out his razor.

              “Look at you,” Josie was waiting at a table when he arrived. “All prettied up.”

              He felt better than he had in weeks, just seeing her there. Her easy teasing prompted a grin from ear to ear.

              “I figured if I was going to apologize, I’d better make it good.”

              Josie laughed, “That’s nice, but now you look like a fifteen-year-old. I never realized what a baby face you have.”

              He rubbed at his smooth chin, “Hence the stubble, I guess.”

              She touched his face, “It’s nice.”

              He captured her hand under his own to keep her palm pressed against his skin just a moment longer.

              Josie’s smiled faltered, and he dropped her hand.

              “I’m so sorry, Josie. I should have called you.”

              She shook her head, “I have no reason to be upset – not really.”

              He raised his eyebrows in question.

              “It’s not as if we had some kind of agreement that we would call each other a certain number of times a week. If you were busy or not interested in meeting up with me. . .I don’t have any reason to be upset.”

              As she spoke, her voice got softer, and she dropped her eyes to her plate.

              “I wasn’t busy, Josie. I just didn’t know if you wanted to hear from me. I thought you were dating Dave.”

              She looked up at him, eyes opened in a universal sign of shock, “Dave?”

              “I figured he had finally convinced you to date him,” Tag wasn’t sure how to get through this without sounding like he was jealous.

              “You thought I was dating Dave?” she looked almost disgusted by the thought. “Me. Date Dave.”

              “You were talking like,” he began but then realized he couldn’t really explain it away. “I didn’t want to get in the way.”

              She rolled her lips and nodded –disbelief evident on her face.

              “I didn’t know,” he insisted, hoping he sounded sincere. “If I were dating a girl, I wouldn’t want another guy hanging around.”

              “So, you just did the gentlemanly thing?” she picked up her menu.