But she kept her distance. Smart girl. “If you want the gory details, some slimy bastard snuck up and blindsided me. I think it was a two-by-four, though, not a ball bat.”
“Ohmigod.”
Finally, a dose of the sympathy he deserved. Joe grunted. “That's right. The first blow was to my head, and I still have the lump to prove it. Knocked me on my ass.” He gingerly touched the tender spot behind his left ear. “That's all I remember until I came to.” And for good measure, he added, “I barely managed to make it home.”
Little enough exaggeration there. Getting up the steps to his second-floor apartment had seemed a monumental feat, especially with his twice-cursed bum knee. Even with the help he'd had, it had proved damn difficult.
With a very satisfying, very womanly look of concern in her beautiful light brown eyes, Luna moved closer to the bed. “You've seen a doctor?”
“Yeah, and had a whole series of X rays and pokes and prods. Nothing's broken, though it feels like half my body is crushed. Final verdict was that I'd live, and with some well-placed ice packs, bed rest, and pain meds I should be good as new in a week or so.”
Her concerned gaze skimmed over him. “Are you able to move much?”
Now we're talking.
“The hips work just fine, honey. Course, it'd probably be easier if you did all theâhey, c'mon now, Luna, I was just teasing.” He barely managed to hold in his laugh. “Don't storm away.”
She pivoted on her heel and stomped back toward him. Joe braced himself, waiting for the blast of her ire. She surprised him by drawing a deep breath, then another. And one more.
He sighed. She was such a volatile, passionate woman, which made tweaking her temper fun. He raised a brow. “Got control of yourself?”
She gave one sharp nod.
The little liar. She wanted to bludgeon him. “Good.” He patted the side of the bed next to his hip. “So tell me about this âneeding me' stuff. I'm all ears.”
“God, Joe, you're exasperating.” She dragged a hand through her hair. Today it was soft brown, shoulder length, silky straight. But Luna was such a chameleon, constantly changing on him, Joe wouldn't be surprised if it was red tomorrow and blond the day after. To date, he'd seen her with just about every shade and style to her hair, to the point he had no clue what her natural coloring might be. First time he got her naked, he'd find out, though. He could hardly wait.
In the meantime, he liked it that she kept him guessing. The novelty drew him. Yeah, that was it. The novelty.
From the very beginning, Luna had intrigued him. And he hadn't liedâthe woman had a killer ass. He'd picked up on that the moment she'd come sashaying into his cousin's computer store where he'd been helping out during a difficult time. Because Joe had been doing Zane a huge favor by minding the register, Zane had asked Luna to bring him lunch.
At first, Luna had been more than pleasant, flirting in a way that Joe now realized was a natural part of her nature, not a come-on for him personally. She'd looked at him with those slanted, golden eyes, and he'd seen what he wanted to see: an invitation.
Under normal circumstances, Joe kept a clear head at all times. But with Luna, nothing felt normal. In so many ways, she shot his perspective all to hell. On that particular day, she'd turned to set the meal on the checkout counter, presenting Joe with a perfect view of that delectable rear end, and without even thinking about it or the possible consequences, he'd . . . touched her.
That is, if you could call a pat, followed by a fullpalm squeeze, a mere touch. Soft, warm, resilient . . . He'd gotten one handful and immediately wanted more. A whole lot more.
But Luna had gone rigid, and from one second to the next Joe found himself wearing his lunch instead of getting to eat it. She'd stormed out without giving him a chance to apologize or explain or coax her into a better mood.
It hadn't been easy, but Luna had eventually forgiven him. After all, the chemistry was there, as undeniable to her as it was to him. At Zane's wedding, Joe had finally managed to ease her into one long, wet, blistering kiss that had haunted his nights for three months now.
After that, he'd tried repeatedly to get her alone. Hell, he'd even tried being on his best behavior. Not that his best was all that good. At thirty-six, he'd had a lot of time doing just as he damn well pleased. And the jobs he'd hadâbodyguard, bounty hunter, private dickâhad only made him meaner, a little nastier. It came with the territory and in some cases was outright necessary.
But for Luna, he
had
tried and had been damn uncomfortable in the process.
And still she'd turned him down.
Joe mentally rubbed his hands together. Now, however, fate had thrown her for a loop, and according to Zane, she needed someone exactly like him. Someone unscrupulous, someone hard, fearless. Someone who could kick ass when necessary.
He needed to recuperate before he undertook the ass-kicking part. But for Luna, for a chance to appease his overwhelming lust, he'd manage.
Luna looked very undecided, so Joe held himself still, even held his breath, and after half a minute, just when he thought he might suffocate waiting for her to make up her mind, she came to him.
She sat on the side of the bed, hip to hip. “You'll behave, Joe.”
“Absolutely.” Joe waited, but she didn't say anything more. “Yeah?”
She looked at him, scowled, looked away.
Oh, now this was good. “Shyness?” he taunted in a low tone. “From Luna the loony? Luna the goddess of the moon? Luna theâ”
“All right!” Brows drawn, expression stern, she said, “I have two kids.”
Joe choked. And damn it, given his injuries, choking hurt. He held his ribs and wheezed and tried to catch his breath. Surely, he'd misunderstood. Zane had claimed she had a problem that only he could handle, and Luna herself said she needed him. But Joe assumed they meant to deal with a threat of some kind, a pushy boyfriend, an impatient landlord, even something financial. He could handle any and all of those. But kids? What the hell did he know of kids, other than that he didn't want any?
Finally, eyes watering, Joe sputtered, “The hell you say? Must've been one quick birth.”
“Are you going to be serious or not?”
Joe clutched his aching ribs. “Believe me, sweetheart, I'm as serious as a nun on Sunday.”
She drew a big breath. “I have a cousin who passed away two years ago. She left two kids. No one knows who their father is, so now they need a guardian.” She stared at her hands in her lap, and for a moment, it appeared she might actually cry.
Typically male, Joe felt himself melting. There was just something about a tearful woman that made a man feel more like a man, protective and strong, the conquering hero ready to comfort the vulnerable little lady. And when that little lady happened to be Luna . . . Well, she was usually so brazen and self-assured it really threw him to see her like this. If he weren't so beat up and sore, he'd pull her close and hold her, snuggle her into his chest, rub her back . . . That'd be real nice, for sure. But odds were if he got her that close, especially while she was being all soft and female, he'd do something to get himself slugged.
Better not try it.
But while he waited for her to compose herself, he could at least hold her hand. Her nails were painted fuchsia, and she wore several silver rings. Small-boned, her hand felt delicate in his.
Shit. He hadn't wanted to think of Luna as delicate. He wanted to think of her only as sexy. Hot. Provoking.
His.
He'd had a lot of fantasies about her needing him, but not like this. Not all the emotional stuff. This time the groan was silent, caused by a cramp in his brain, not his body.
“How did she die?” He kept his tone gentle, low.
“A stupid car wreck. She left one night for groceries and never came home again.” Luna sniffed. “They've been through the wringer, Joe.”
He tilted his head, trying to see her averted face. Teasing her seemed his best recourse. “I swear, if you cry, I'll fall apart, too, and then where will we be?”
She snorted at that. In the next instant, she shed the vulnerability, once again as cool as the other side of the pillow. “They've been through several guardians, but no one permanent. I spoke with Willow, Chloe's daughter, for about half an hour. She sounded almost . . . desperate. I don't like that.”
“Chloe was your cousin?” Joe stroked her knuckles with his thumb, marveling at how soft she felt, distracting himself from the emotional issues trying to crowd his brain.
She nodded. “We met once or twice when we were younger, but I barely remember her at all. I didn't even realize she'd passed away. No one notified me of the funeral.”
“So why are they contacting you now?”
“I'm all that's left. Willow isn't quite fifteen yet, but she sounds much older. She's been trying to take care of her younger brother and deal with the constant changes. It's too much. I have to go there.”
“Course you do.” Joe gave her hand a squeeze. He couldn't imagine what Luna thought he might add to the equation. Hell, he wasn't a family man, but he also wasn't a complete bastard. “So where do I fit into this?”
“Then, you're willing to help?”
He gave her a level look for that ridiculous question. “You mean you don't know? And here I thought you were Luna, goddess of the moon, all powerful, all seeing . . .”
Again, she looked ready to hit him.
Joe laughed. “Come off it, honey. You assumed before you came here that I'd help, otherwise you wouldn't have asked.”
She acknowledged that with a shrug. “All things considered, I thought I could probably count on you.”
Ah ha. A cocky grin tilted his mouth. “You mean because of the sexual chemistry between us.”
Far too serious, Luna gazed at him. “No. I meant because deep down, you're one of the best men I know.” Her gentle voice took him by surprise. “Zane certainly trusts you.”
Now damn it, that threw him completely off guard. He'd had all kinds of sexual banter ready to go and she had to hit him a low blow by complimenting his oft-maligned character.
While Joe mentally fumbled, Luna went on unfazed. “But before you agree, you should know that the kids are a handful. Willow hinted that they'd riled some of their neighbors with harmless pranks, and now some people are . . . well, blaming them for all kinds of things and generally giving them a hard time.”
“A hard time, huh?” Joe smirked. It had to be more than that or Luna wouldn't be trying to coerce him along. She wasn't exactly helpless herself, and in the normal course of things, he had no doubt she could handle a few annoying neighbors. She'd sure handled him, and in the process, she'd made it more than plain that she wanted nothing to do with him. It said something about her present situation that she'd come to him now.
It also emphasized her faith in his abilities.
You're one of the best men I know.
Now, didn't that beat all? She wasn't here because she wanted him, but out of some misconstrued notions on his nobility. Joe clenched his teeth. She was sure to be pissed when she found out that he didn't have a noble bone in his body, and it wouldn't really be fairâto her or to the childrenâfor him to get involved.
But how bad could a couple of kids be? They were little people, right? Limited in their destructive abilities. Neither he nor his sister had married yet, so they were a long way off from supplying any babies to the family, much to their mother's annoyance. But between his four cousins, there was a gaggle of kids ranging in age from eighteen months to nearing fifteen. Joe enjoyed them whenever he visited. Kids could be charmers, as long as they weren't
his
kids.
Having made up his mind, he pushed away his ever-present physical discomfort and faced Luna. “All right. Let's hear it.”
“It?”
“The scoop. What have the rugrats done? How much trouble are they in?”
“I don't know that I'd really call it trouble,” she hedged. “There are just a few people hoping to run them off.”
“What kind of people?”
Luna looked him over, then said, “Big people.”
“Big, huh?”
“And scary.”
He grinned. “That right?”
“And mean.”
“I am not mean.”
“I didn't say you are. I said the people bothering the kids are mean.”
“Right. And you figure you'll fight fire with fire by shoving me under their noses?”
It was her turn to grin. “However imposing and unscrupulous they are, you have to be more so, Joe. I've seen you in action when you were helping Zane, and I've heard all the stories your cousins have told. You can handle anything and anyone.”