• • •
A
FTER THEY’D MADE
love the second time, they’d both fallen asleep. Jules awoke to the erotic tingling of Seth’s teeth and tongue stroking the tender flesh between her thighs. Before she’d managed to even open her eyes, he’d brought her to orgasm.
The waking had been every bit as wonderful as Seth had promised it would be, even more so when he joined their bodies together again. Her release came so hard and fast, Jules could do little more than hold on for the ride. It left her replete and drained. While she dozed again, he’d gone back to her apartment and grabbed the baklava he’d brought for dessert.
Seth leaned against the headboard and Jules sat nestled between his legs, her back to his front. They fed each other baklava and talked. She told him about searching for her sisters and he told her about growing up in his mother’s restaurant.
“Mama closes the restaurant on Christmas Day and we have a big party with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Now our children come too. It’s crowded and crazy,” Seth said, then popped a piece of baklava into his mouth.
“It sounds wonderful, being surrounded by so many relatives during the holidays.” A lump formed in her throat and Jules had to clear it before she could speak again. Normally she had a love/hate relationship with Christmas. She loved the lights and music but hated the actual day. “April and Big Jim are only children, so it’s usually just us for the holidays. Not for much longer, though.”
“Are you talking about after the babies are born?” He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. The light brush of his lips on her naked skin made her toes curl.
“Well, yes, but no. I-I told you I want to find my sisters. I spoke to a social worker on Sunday. She helped me as much as she could but then gave me a card for a private detective agency. I’m hoping they’ll be able to do more.”
“A
private
detective?” Seth frowned, his voice heavy with skepticism.
“I know most cops don’t like them, but Mrs. Harris recommended Tidewater Security Specialists.” She leaned to the side to look over her shoulder at Seth. “I’ve tried everything I can think of. I can’t do it alone. I-I need help.”
“Jules, never apologize for wanting to find your family. TSS is the only company I’d call, because I know the owners. Good guys. I hope they can help you. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need me to do anything.”
Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes. Jules wanted to thank him for being so supportive, but didn’t get a chance. Seth squeezed her gently, his naked chest warm and inviting against her back as he said, “And your sisters are missing out, not having you in their lives. Family is everything.”
“You’re secretly a romantic,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“And you’re scared to let anyone else in.”
“That’s not true.” But it had been a few hours ago. Now she wanted to let him in. To show him the real her, the part that made Billy throw her away, and it terrified her.
“Prove it.” He sat back and picked up another slice of baklava. “Tell me about how you ended up in the foster care system.”
Her mouth went dry. “I told you, my father ran out on us when I was nine. It was right after my mom learned she was pregnant and had breast cancer. And my mom died a year and a half later.”
“Juliana, I know the foster care system tries to keep families together, especially young children. What happened that the three of you were separated?”
She still couldn’t bring herself to form the words. The memory of that time still left a gaping hole.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he said, rolling her hand in his and interlacing their fingers. “I can see it’s painful.” He kissed her cheek.
It was the offer that convinced her to tell him. If he had insisted, she would have shut down. But she wanted to trust him.
Please, don’t let this be a mistake.
“After my mom died,” she began. She paused to inhale a breath, hoping it would loosen the knot in her chest, then continued, “Social Services tried to find a relative who would take in my sisters and me, but there was no one. And my father had disappeared long before without looking back.
“So, here we were, three little girls ages ten, seven, and three and a half. We wanted to stay together but there was a
glitch
. A closed adoption had been arranged for Hannah, my baby sister. Before we knew what was happening, she was gone. Then it was just Shelley and me.”
She sat forward and drew a great shuddering breath. For several minutes, Jules couldn’t speak. Tears clogged her throat but she wanted to show a brave face, so she collected herself. As if sensing her need to be strong, Seth stroked his free hand along her back.
He didn’t say anything, just waited patiently.
“Shelley took Hannah’s adoption harder than our mom dying. Before foster care, Shelley had always been obedient and well-mannered. After we lost Hannah, she started acting out, running away. It’s how we lost our first foster home. It scared Shelley so much, she became the Stepford foster child. It wasn’t long before a couple came along and tried to adopt her.
“She would have gone but not without me. I was ten and already over-the-hill in the foster care system. She cried when they came to collect her and didn’t stop until they brought her back.” Jules closed her eyes against the rage that still bubbled inside her at the injustice. “Who knew children came with a return policy?”
Seth muttered a curse under his breath, then pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. “They shouldn’t.”
She nodded. “Since our foster parents had already replaced her with another child, there was no room for Shelley. So I convinced the social worker to move me to the next foster home with her. We went through this a couple of times before I overheard the social worker talking to the foster parents. They were already planning to have us removed from our current foster home if Shelley didn’t go with the next family that offered to adopt her.
“I tried to convince Shelley the new family was a good one. And they were. While the other two families seemed nice, this one really wanted Shelley. They truly cared for her. They wanted me too but couldn’t afford to adopt us both. Shelley refused to go with them, until I gave her no choice.”
A hollow ache opened in the center of her chest at the memory of Shelley’s anguished expression. Jules had tried everything to make Shelley understand she needed to go with this family. Their current foster family wanted Jules out. She’d been caught conversing with ghosts one time too many and her foster parents were afraid her kind of crazy was catching. They had even started whispering that Shelley might go the same way.
Jules couldn’t risk her sister being hurt, especially since Shelley didn’t see ghosts. She communicated with animals. But so far, the foster parents hadn’t noticed that. When they did, Shelley would be labeled a freak like Jules had been.
“What did you do to convince your sister to go with the family?” Seth’s voice yanked Jules from her thoughts. “You
did
do something, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I told her she was holding me back. I could have been adopted a long time ago if I hadn’t had a little sister to take care of.”
“That’s quite a lie you told.” Seth stroked her left arm consolingly. Oddly enough, the touch did comfort her. He kissed her cheek and said, “It must’ve hurt you terribly when she believed it.”
“Well, yeah.” She tried to laugh but it came out like a sob. “I lost my best friend and my family all at once.”
“So, at ten, you sacrificed being with the only family you had left to guarantee her a chance to have one of her own,” he said, admiration in his voice. “So now you search for them.”
“And hope Shelley can forgive me.” She shuddered.
The baklava stuck in her throat and she swallowed hard, feeling more exposed than ever, despite the sheet covering her.
• • •
J
ULES WAS PULLING
away from him. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t said another word, and still Seth could sense a chasm building between them.
He’d had no idea how hard her life had been. His family had always been there for him, even when he’d screwed up. She deserved the same.
And he’d make damned certain she found her sisters. In the meantime, he needed to bridge the ever-widening distance between them. Searching for a lighter topic, he asked, “Why do you call Ernie
Big Jim
?”
A small chuckle escaped her. “Because he wasn’t.”
“This has to be good.” Seth leaned back again, taking Jules with him. Her bottom nestled snugly between his thighs and against his groin.
“Let’s see, after Shelley left, I bounced from foster home to foster home every six months or so. The first three homes had a father-figure named Jim or Jimmy. The fourth home I went to, the guy’s name was Oswald or something weird. I called him Jim one day by mistake. He thought it was funny. I thought maybe this time they’d keep me. They didn’t.
“Two more homes over a four-month period and I started going to some really crappy foster parents. We’re talking they counted the days on the calendar until the foster check came so they could buy cigarettes or lottery tickets.”
Seth believed the foster care system could be very successful, but sometimes it just sucked.
“Why didn’t anyone adopt you?” He had to know. She was smart, witty, kind . . . and he just bet she’d been a loving child.
“I was
different
.”
“Different how?” It wasn’t the word she used so much as the tone of resignation in her voice that tugged at the protectiveness he’d felt growing for her since they’d met.
She gave a wry grin.
“Too old to adopt, remember?” she answered a little too lightly and shrugged. “Anyway, the last foster home I lived in was with Little Jim. He was a real winner. Big beefy man, hands like Easter hams, and a mean streak so wide, everyone hid when he was drunk. One day he took a swing at one of the younger boys in the house. I got in between them and he clocked me.”
“He punched you? You were . . . what, twelve at the time?”
“Yeah.”
He ground his teeth, biting back the litany of curses he wanted to spew. To hit a child, a
girl
, sent Seth into an orbit of pissed he seldom visited.
“Please tell me you reported him.” He managed to keep the majority of the venom out of his voice. “Better yet, give me his name and address. I’ll visit him personally.”
“No need.” She shook her head and a dreamy look hazed her eyes. “Big Jim happened to be visiting his mother when Little Jim chased me outside. I crawled into the back seat of this beat-up station wagon across the street. I heard Little Jim bellowing for me but I didn’t move.
“This young couple, who looked like they weren’t much older than me, climbed into the front of the car. April turned around and gasped when she saw me.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know what freaked her out more: the split lip Little Jim had given me or the sight of him leaning in her open window to yell at me. He ordered me to get out of the car. That’s when Big Jim turned around and looked at me. He told me, ‘Safety is a right. Not a privilege. Stay here as long as you like. I’ll make sure no one hurts you again.’ Then he leaned over and whispered to April.
“Without another word, he stepped out of the car and went toe-to-toe with Little Jim. They looked like David and Goliath. I didn’t want him injured because of me. But when I started to get out of the car, April stopped me.
“She promised me her husband wouldn’t be hurt. And she was right. No matter how many times that drunk tried to punch Big Jim, he never managed to touch him. When the police arrived, they saw Little Jim throwing punches and Big Jim backing up with his hands in the air.”
“They arrested your foster father, then?”
“Yep. When social services arrived on the scene to remove all eight children to other homes, they said they couldn’t find a place for me. I’d need to go to juvenile detention for the night. Big Jim wouldn’t hear of it. He and April offered to take me in.
“I kept waiting for them to get rid of me too. I refused to call him anything but Big Jim for the next eight months. But incredibly, a year after we met, they signed my adoption papers.”
Jules exhaled a large breath and Seth found himself doing the same. He sat in awe of her. She’d been through hell as a child and still she smiled. No wonder she was so untrusting.
“Probably a little TMI, huh?” she asked, her cheeks reddened.
“No, not too much at all,” he said. “You’ve had such a rough childhood. It’s amazing you’re as well-adjusted as you are.”
“Thanks . . . I think.”
“It’s a compliment,” he assured her. He reached out and stroked her cheek. Pleasure coursed through him when she turned her face into his palm. “You really are precious. How could anyone ever let you get away?”
• • •
S
HE OPENED HER
mouth to tell him that somewhere between two days ago and now, she’d fallen in love with him. And wanted to let him in even if that meant telling him her darkest secrets.
And he believes in the concept of a sixth sense.
Would he believe in her unique abilities or would he be like Billy and her foster families and look at her with fear and loathing in his eyes? It didn’t matter that she hated her abilities. Or that she was determined to escape from the ghosts that haunted her.
All that mattered was in the end Billy had thrown her away, like so many others had done before him.
If sexy Seth, the warrior with the melted-chocolate eyes, looked at her as the others had, it might break her.
But if she stayed here much longer, she might lose the fight with that inner child in her that always cried out for acceptance.
Time to leave.
Setting her dessert plate on the end table, she stood and let the sheet fall back to the bed. From behind her, Seth whistled.
“You are quite a sight to behold.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Yes, and shadows do wondrous things for a woman’s figure.” She crossed to his dresser, where the lamp light didn’t quite reach. Lifting her bra and panties from the stack of folded clothes she’d placed there earlier, she said, “I should be going.”