“Hello,” the boy said, his gaze taking in the ladders and tool boxes. “Did you come to fix the gutter?”
“Sure did,” Joe replied, using his sunny business smile. “Your mother home?”
“You’ll want my Aunt Teresa,” the boy said to Joe, the welcome in his eyes fading slightly. “She’s at a neighbor’s, but will be home in a minute. I can show you what needs fixed.”
“Okay,” Joe said easily, not sure why the kid’s attitude had gone into shutdown on him. He was a friendly guy and rarely had a client complain about his manners.
Shane studied the boy’s quiet demeanor as he climbed from the truck. The look on the kid’s face was sad, but he remained attentively polite to Joe.
Something’s going on here
, Shane surmised. He stood by the truck door and rolled up his t-shirt sleeves in concession to the unusual heat of the autumn day. He turned to the truck to get tools and heard the kid draw in a breath.
“Wow, Dude. I like your tattoo,” the boy said, coming closer. “Care if I look?”
Shane grinned and held out his arm. The little blonde he carried pulled the thumb from her mouth and reached out to touch it, too. The boy pulled her hand away before she made contact.
“It’s okay,” Shane said with a laugh. “I don’t mind if she wants to touch it.”
“That’s the coolest tat I’ve ever seen. Do you read the
Winged Protector
?” the boy asked with awe in his voice.
“I have to,” Shane explained, grinning at the boy’s genuine interest because he knew he was talking to a fan. “I’m the creator.”
“
Seriously?
Wow,” the boy said, smiling at Shane. “My aunt and I are huge fans. We wait on every issue to come out.”
“You may be waiting longer than usual on the next one,” Shane admitted, smiling at the little girl the kid held, who was smiling back. “I’m stuck on something in the storyline.”
“Wait until Aunt Teresa meets you. It’s nuts that you’re really here. So is this like your day job?” he asked, eyeing the truck.
“No,” Shane said with a laugh, seeing the kid’s disappointment in the unglamorous condition of the truck. “Joe’s a friend, and I owed him a favor. He’s using me instead of his ladder today.”
The kid, who was almost as tall as Shane, looked at Joe and shrugged. “I could have helped with that.”
“Probably, but looks to me like you have your hands full,” Shane said, reaching out and pulling the blonde cherub’s thumb from her mouth on purpose. The girl laughed at Shane, and the boy’s gaze went down the sidewalk.
“Here comes my aunt now,” he said.
Shane turned to look at the woman walking up the sidewalk. His heart stopped beating for one moment, and then picked up a panicked rhythm as he recognized her. The wicked laugh that erupted was joyous and a little bit maniacal as he released the tension he’d been carrying around.
Shane looked up at the clouds and the blue between them, filled with gratitude for the mysteries of the world. “Thank you,” he said to the sky, hearing the boy laugh beside him.
“Dude—you okay?” the boy asked, laughing.
Joe walked to where they stood, his tool belt in his hand. He looked at the enormous smile on Shane’s face, wondering since when his friend liked kids so much.
“What’s your name?” Shane asked the boy, his voice demanding of the truth.
“Zack Lansing,” the boy replied. “Why?”
“Zack, I’ll give you a pre-production copy of the next
Winged Protector
novel before it releases if you will tell me the full name of the woman walking towards us now,” Shane said firmly.
“
My Aunt Teresa?
You want to know my aunt’s full name?”
Zack asked on another laugh, confused but thinking it was funny the
Winged Protector
guy was so interested.
Shane nodded slowly. “Yes, I do. I definitely want to know who she is. So she’s your aunt? How about that.”
“Yes. Her name is Teresa Callahan,” Zack supplied. “Let me think, I think her middle name is—“
“—
Ann
,” Shane said firmly with a broad smile.
“Yeah, I think that’s right,” Zack said, his gaze narrowing as he assessed the man again. “You know Aunt Teresa?”
“A little,” Shane said easily, not thinking of his calm answer as lying. “But I would like to know her a lot better. Is that okay with you?”
“I guess. Isn’t that up to her?” Zack asked, laughing at the strangest conversation he’d had with an adult in a while.
“I don’t think so—not this time,” Shane said, feeling a bone deep gratitude for having found her. “Your aunt is my destiny, Zack.”
“
Destiny?
” Zack repeated, laughing at Shane’s nod. “That’s pretty heavy, dude.”
Stopping in the middle of strapping on his carpenter’s belt, Joe’s gaze jumped between Shane and the kid, and then went up the street to the woman with shock.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding,” Joe said in disbelief. “You actually found her?
My client is your mystery woman?
”
Shane handed Joe the tools still in his hands and walked determinedly towards the woman who had changed his life.
***
Reesa Callahan’s mind had been on making carpooling arrangements with a neighbor so Zack could go to basketball practice or she would have noticed the giant blonde-haired man sooner. Looking like a conquering Viking striding towards her, Shane Larson wasn’t exactly a man you could pretend not to see. He had to be every bit of six-foot-four, she realized, watching as Shane steadily held her gaze.
The eyebrow piercing and the tattoo were menacing. A more rational woman would have been put off by that alone. His shaggy hair and unshaven face marred the romantic picture he made, but his sexy, confident, and determined gaze would have set any woman’s heart racing. Just like it did hers.
She told herself not to smile, but it was really hard not to. The rest of his body was as good as God made young men—youthfully attractive, firmly muscled, and the stuff of dreams. And she should know because he’d featured in hers for two weeks now.
Damn—he really was a giant, Reesa thought, tipping her head back and up when Shane stopped in front of her. Her fantasies about those huge shoulders of his were nothing compared to the reality of them. Her fingers curled into her palms remembering. Damn. Damn. Damn.
“This is one of those weird life coincidences, isn’t it?” Reesa demanded, going on offense before he could even open his mouth. “Look, Shane, do us both a favor and just go away.”
“
Go away?
Are you crazy? It’s taken me weeks to find you. God, I forgot how short you are,” Shane said, reaching down and stroking her smooth cheek with his hand as he smiled into her face. “I can’t believe you didn’t come back to me. I’ve looked for you every day.”
“Shane—stop the full court press here. There’s a reason they call it a one night stand,” Reesa said softly but firmly, stepping back and away from his caressing hand. “You know I never meant for you to find me.”
“
One night stand?
Is that what you think happened between us?” Shane asked. “Boy, were you wrong. That was us falling in love, which is why we’ve been thinking of each other so much since. Missing you has even been affecting my work.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We had sex. We did not fall in love, Shane Larson. You don’t even know me,” Reesa said firmly, walking around Shane.
Shane caught up to her in one giant step. “Maybe not, but I want to know everything about you. Now I at least know your real name,
Teresa
. You can’t hide anymore.”
“That’s not my name,” Reesa hissed.
“Want me to call you
Ann
, instead?” Shane asked, starting to get annoyed with her refusal to pay attention. “Zack told me your real name.”
“I—no, we are not talking about this. Just please go away. I have enough problems in my life to deal with,” Reesa said more softly, not wanting him to know how much his presence there unnerved her. “Go find one of those tall, leggy blondes who like you so much. Fall in love with one of them.”
“No woman could possibly follow you,” Shane stated firmly, ignoring the hurt her comment caused him. She had been all he’d thought about for two weeks, and it made Shane mad as hell to think she would lie about returning his interest. But his anger was not going to win her.
“Who’s the great kid?” Shane asked, changing tactics and the conversation which was getting him nowhere.
“The great kid is my nephew, Zack. The little one he’s carrying is Sara. Chelsea and Brian are in the house. They’re my nephews and nieces, but I’m raising them. For all intents and purposes, I’m a single mother with four kids,” Reesa said, fighting the sinking sensation the words always caused in her. “Now you know what I was hiding and can see for yourself why a night of casual sex now and again is all I have time for in my life. So go away now, Shane.”
Reesa walked up the sidewalk passing by Zack and all the questions in his eyes about Shane. She walked by the mini-van, opened the screen door, and went into the house.
Inside, her best friend in the world, Jillian Lansing, was sitting on the couch looking at fashion magazines with fourteen-year-old Chelsea. She wanted to tell Jillian about Shane showing up and ask her what to do, but there wasn’t opportunity. Three of the four kids were all within hearing distance.
When Jillian let out a quiet expletive, Reesa knew Shane Larson had followed her into the house. She had no choice but to turn around and deal with him, which meant looking up almost a foot and a half into a face that was remarkably familiar to her considering this was only the second time she’d seen him. But she could get used to that face, Reesa admitted, even as unshaven and menacing as it was at first glance. Shane Larson was appealing to her on many levels, which was too bad because Reesa had no time for appealing. Reesa had no time for anything.
His brown-eyed gaze was calm but determined as it held hers. Her own gaze raked his face looking for some clue as to why such a young man was pushing her to let him into her life when she’d made it more than obvious that she had no interest in pursuing anything more with him.
“Look, Shane, I don’t know how you found me or what you think is going to happen, but I guarantee it’s not going to work out like anything you think,” Reesa told him.
Shane only smiled at her protest and looked over at Jillian. “You were the friend who waved at the club,” he said.
Jillian nodded. “I’m Jillian Lansing, also Aunt Jillian to these guys. This is Chelsea.”
Chelsea’s gaze swept Shane from his size fourteen feet to his glinting eyebrow ring. “Hi,” she said, her eyes going wide at his appearance.
Shane smiled at the girl. “Hi, Chelsea. My name is Shane Larson. I’m dating your Aunt Teresa.”
“We are not dating,” Reesa said firmly, practically growling the words.
“Maybe not yet,” Shane amended, “but we will be. I’m a great guy, Teresa.”
Zack came through the door with Sara still in his arms. The little girl tapped Shane on the shoulder and held out her arms. Shane took her and raised Sara high until her head almost touched the nine-foot ceiling of the entryway.
“Sara likes me,” Shane said to Reesa, his look daring her to deny it.
“Of course Sara likes you,” Reesa replied snidely, “she’s blonde and female. In twenty years, she’ll be your perfect woman. We’ve had this discussion before, and I’ve seen your preferences in person.”
“Yes you have,” Shane said boldly, his narrowed gaze and tight voice the only indication that she was ruffling his composure. “You see my ideal female every time you look in the mirror,
Teresa Ann Callahan
.”
As lines went it wasn’t all that bad, Reesa thought, but if she rolled her eyes up any higher, she’d be looking at the inside of her brain. What was it going to take to get rid of this guy?
Zack walked up and put a hand on her arm, drawing her attention away from Shane.
“Aunt Teresa, you’ll never believe this. Shane’s the artist who makes the
Winged Protector
novels. He’s the creator.”
Reesa swung a startled gaze to Shane. “
Winged Protector?
Is that what’s on the tattoo?
” she asked in a squeaky voice, unable to stop the question or prevent her awe from peeking through her resolution not to be interested. Her gaze went to his arm.
Shane just smiled and nodded, enjoying her surprise and turning his arm around to show her. “See? I told you I was a good guy.”
“I purposely picked the worst guy I could find. I can’t believe he turned out to be
you
,” Reesa said, turning on her heel and heading to the back of the house.
Shane watched her run away and had to fight the urge to laugh at her cowardice. It was going to take more than just sharp words to discourage him. The ache for her had hit him full force over and over while they had stood arguing in the street. He wanted to hug her and tell her it was going to be okay. He wanted to hold her until she attacked him again.