Careless (17 page)

“You and my son…”

“That’s one of the things I’m not too sure
about, Ashley.” Tori liked Mike’s mom too much to feed her false information
just to placate her. “I like him a lot, but…”

“But you’re not sure you can trust him?”

Tori looked up, surprised by her insight.
“What makes you think that?”

Ashley laughed. “Honey, I’ve known that boy
all his life, and he’s always been terrible at relationships.” Her eyes
sobered. “I think it may have had something to do with the divorce. He seemed
to take it a lot harder than Jay did. He just kind of shut down emotionally
after Josh moved out. He dated a lot, but never got seriously involved with
anyone.” She shrugged. “Or if he did, he wasn’t willing to open up to me about
it.”

“It must have been hard to watch him go
through that and not be able to help him.” Tori had always been close to both
of her parents and she knew she could go to them with any problem, except of
course for the fact that some maniac seemed hell-bent on making her his sex
slave.

“You have no idea.” Ashley sighed. “When
Derek came back to town, Mike was still so bitter, so angry. He felt hurt,
betrayed… I didn’t think we’d ever get through it.”

“But they’re so close now.”

“Yeah, but it was a long road back.
Thankfully, we got there.”

Tori smiled. “I’m glad. You’re all good
people. You deserve to be happy.”

“But my son isn’t happy, honey. Not really.
He has his work, which he loves, lots of good friends, and a family who loves
him. He dates, of course, but…”

Tori rested her chin on her hands and
closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about Mike with another woman, much
less invite his mother to tell her about it.

“The women he gets involved with are so
wrong for him. I have to wonder if that’s why he chooses them.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s so obvious that a guy like Mike needs
a woman who’s as strong as he is to keep him on his toes, but he keeps hooking
up with—”

“Doormats?” Ashley and Tori looked each
other in the eye and burst out laughing.

“For lack of a better word, yes.”

“I just call it like I see it.”

Ashley leaned back and hugged a fringed
throw cushion close to her body. “That’s what I love about you. Hell, that’s
why America fell in love with you. You say the things other people wish they
had the guts to say.”

“Not everyone likes that about me. I’m not
sure Mike does.”

“Trust me, it’s what drew him to you in the
first place. I’d watch you two together the first few times you met. I’d hear
you giving him grief and I wanted to go over there and give you a high five, ’cause
I’d been waiting forever to hear a girl backtalk my son like that.”

Tori laughed. “He sure didn’t seem to
appreciate it.”

“Didn’t he?” Ashley paused as though she
was considering whether she could risk overstepping some unseen boundary.
“Something changed between you two a while back.”

Tori closed her eyes and wished she had the
courage to get up and leave the room, but she would never disrespect Ashley,
not just because she was Mike’s mother, but she was someone she counted among
her friends. “What do you mean?” Obviously, she hadn’t been as good at hiding
her feelings as she’d hoped.

“You used to have this playful banter. You gave
him grief every chance you got, then all of a sudden, something changed. I saw
it in your eyes when you looked at him. You were hurt. You tried to avoid him whenever
possible. And you always brought a date to every function; you never did that before.”

So much for being discreet about their
non-relationship. “I realized he wasn’t who I thought he was.” She knew it hurt
Ashley to hear that. It hurt her even more to say it. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t
have—”

“No, I asked for the truth. I knew I could
count on you to be honest with me. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“I like him, I do. He’s really stepped up
when I needed him, and I’m so grateful, but…”

“You only think of him as a friend, is that
it?”

No, she had plenty of friends, both male
and female, and none made her feel the way he did. “I don’t know how I feel.”

“Really?”

Tori didn’t know why she was surprised
Ashley was pushing this; her own mother had done the same. “Maybe I do know,
but I’m not ready to tell him.”

Ashley smiled. “I thought so. You wanna
tell me why?”

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I understand. There are some
things you don’t want to discuss with your boyfriend’s mother.”

“Oh, Mike’s not my boyfriend!” She cursed
her big mouth when she saw the disappointment cross Ashley’s face. “I didn’t
mean it the way it sounded. Your son’s a great guy. Any woman would be lucky to
have him.”

“But you don’t want him?”

“It’s not that. It’s just…” Tori decided it
was time to go for broke. If Ashley was determined to push, she’d just have to
push back. “When we slept together, he called it a mistake and told me to get
the hell out.”

Ashley cursed softly.

It was so unlike her that Tori had to
laugh. “My sentiments exactly.”

“My son can be so smart about some things,
and such an idiot about others.” She grinned. “The latter he got from his
father.”

Tori laughed. “I’m sure he did, but don’t
worry, I won’t tell Josh you said so.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t told him before.”

“So, now that you know the whole story, you
understand why I’m reluctant to believe him when he tells me he’s in love with
me.”

Ashley’s mouth dropped open. “He actually
said that?”

“Yeah. Why do you seem so surprised?”

“In all of his thirty-two years, I know
he’s never said that to another woman before.”

A seed of hope took root. Maybe she was
different. Maybe he was being sincere. “How do you know?”

“Just a couple of weeks ago, we had Jay and
Victoria over for dinner. Mike came too. I don’t know how it came up, but Mike
was giving his brother grief for telling his wife that he loved her every time
he left home. Mike told us he’d never uttered those words to a woman and
couldn’t imagine he ever would.” Ashley’s eyes darkened. “It broke my heart
hearing him say that. He’s too young to be so cynical. Just knowing that he had
the courage to say it to you gives me hope.”

Tori didn’t know what to say. She’d been so
caught up worrying about the effect it could have on her if she made the
mistake of letting him in only to be hurt again, she never thought about what
she might be doing to him. “I’m hopeful, too,” Tori said, smiling. “For the
first time in a really long time.”

Ashley got up and sat down on the ottoman in
front of the couch. She reached for Tori’s hands. “I know I don’t have the
right to ask you this, and Lord knows my son would kill me if he knew, but…”

Tori smiled. “It’s okay. Just ask.”

“He may seem like this big, tough guy, and
I know he is, but…” She sighed. “He’s still my son, and I don’t want to see him
get hurt.”

“I don’t want to hurt him, Ashley.” She
squeezed her hands. “But I don’t want to get hurt again, either.”

“I understand. Can you just give him a
chance, please?”

Tori leaned forward to draw her into a hug as
she whispered, “I want to.”  

“The place is clean, Lieutenant. Either he
came back to get the stuff or he was here when he took the pictures. Could you
tell by the angle where the camera was positioned?”

“I think they were taken from my right
side.”

Mike understood why Tori felt the need to
destroy the pictures, but he still wished she hadn’t. Even if she hadn’t wanted
anyone else to see them, he could have studied them and gained a clue he might
have missed the first time he gave them a cursory glance.

“He may have been at the window. I can’t
remember if it was open.” The window had been the last thing on his mind when
he entered Tori’s bedroom last night.

Remnants of the pictures were pieced
together on the kitchen counter, but she’d torn the glossy photos into so many
small pieces it was difficult to make out any of the details.

“So you two were…”

Mike rolled his eyes at the detective. “We
were having sex. Any other questions?”

Detective Smith laughed. “So, your
girlfriend’s this big country singer and you’re tryin’ to keep it from your
buddies downtown. What’s that about, Coop?”

“I didn’t think it was any of your
business.”

“How the hell did you ever get a hot little
piece of ass like her anyhow?”

Mike took a step forward and fisted his
hands at his sides. “I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you. I’ve just about
reached my breakin’ point, and since that piece of shit who took those pictures
isn’t here, I’m itchin’ to find another target to take my frustrations out on.”

Smith took a step back, putting his hands
out in front of him. He clearly wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking on
someone half his age and twice his size with fury in his eyes. “Forget I said
anything.”

“For the record,” Mike said, between
clenched teeth, “Tori’s not just some piece of ass to me. She’s someone I care
about a hell of a lot, and if you’d been doin’ your job, that asshole would’ve
been locked up instead of breakin’ in here scarin’ her half to death.”

“Coop, you read the case file. You know
I’ve handled this case by the book, but I’ve got ten other cases that have to
take priority right now. Murder, rape, kidnapping—”

“Good thing nothin’s more important to me
than solvin’ this case.”

“She’s lucky to have you.” Smith smiled.
“If anyone can get this guy, you can.”

Mike raked his hands through his hair,
trying to will away the migraine gaining momentum in the back of his skull. “I
sure as hell hope so.” 

Tori bounded down the stairs to the waiting
SUV limo early the next morning. She felt better since she’d finally been able
to put her relationship with Mike in perspective. A man didn’t put his entire
life on hold to come to a woman’s rescue unless he had feelings for her. She
just had to trust his feelings were as strong as hers. Strong enough to survive
months apart while she was on the road, or nights when he was lost in a big
case and had to cancel their plans at the last minute… The reality of their
situation began to settle in on her when Joe hopped out of the limo to open her
door.

He grinned at her. “Good morning,
beautiful.”

“Hey, Joe, sorry to drag you out of bed so
early.” She reached up to brush a kiss across his cheek and smiled when he
blushed. He’d been with her since the beginning, every tour, every interview,
rehearsal, autograph signing, and studio session. He was the eyes in the back
of her head whenever Luc insisted she needed them.

“It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

“As long as I’ve got this monkey on my
back, Luc’s determined to ramp up security. I guess he told you, huh?”

“He sure did. Can’t be too careful, Tori.”
He made sure she was tucked safely in the backseat before he slammed the door
and walked around to the driver’s side.

“How’s your daughter?” she asked when he
started the engine. “She must be startin’ high school in the fall, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” His jaw tightened as he
pulled out onto the quiet residential street. “It sure would be nice to see her
more, but you know how it is with girls her age. They don’t have time for their
old man anymore.”

Tori knew Joe had been involved in a messy
divorce before he started working for her, but she didn’t ask the details. She
believed in being friendly with her crew, but Luc warned her that she needed to
know where to draw the line.  

“Yeah, I seem to remember my life was all
about boys, boys…” She pressed her finger to her lips, pretending to be deep in
thought. “Oh, and boys, at her age.”

“That’s not somethin’ a daddy wants to hear
about his little girl.”

The tension in his deep voice skitted up
Tori’s spine. They’d always engaged in playful banter before, but obviously
she’d hit a sore spot where his daughter was concerned. “I’m sorry, I was just
teasin’. I’m sure your Lisa isn’t nearly as boy crazy as I was at her age.”

He looked at her in the rear-view mirror
before he slipped his dark glasses into place. “You were boy crazy, huh?”

She laughed, hoping to ease the sudden
friction between them. “I still am.”

“Really?” He took a corner a little too
sharply, and Tori slid across the leather seat.

“Easy…” she said, gripping the door handle.
“I don’t want to hit the stage with a bruised rib or two.”

He muttered an apology before asking, “Any
leads on this clown who’s after you?”