Tease Me (20 page)

Esmeralda shrugged. “You do pretty good at the salon. Slippin’ in zingers when your client’s deciding if she likes it parted or back. Of course, with a degree, you’d get more cash.”

So much for the prestige and respect of a credential. To Esmeralda, it was merely a matter of more money. Heidi smiled.

Esmeralda peered more closely. “Oh, and, you’ve got the Grand flippin’ Canyon of a love line. One big love for your long, long life.” She looked into her face. “Make sense?”

“I guess.” Could it be Jackson? Her stomach jumped and her heart squeezed. She couldn’t imagine falling any harder in love. But if he was her one love, what should she do about it?

Esmeralda went back to her work. “Aha. Look at all these options, but you only see one way….”

“I do?”

“Oh—see that little barbed wire fence?” She jabbed a spot near Heidi’s thumb. “You cut yourself off from what you need. No woman’s an island, hon. Where’d you get the idea you have to go it alone?”

“I don’t know. I just—”

“Take help when you need it. It doesn’t diminish you. Just use good sense.” She patted the palm and let go. “That wasn’t so bad was it? Want a yogurt drink to wash down the Bs?”

“No, um, thanks.” She left her hand out, palm up, tingling from the scrapes and traces of Esmeralda’s nails, while Esmeralda rummaged around the refrigerator.

Take help when you need it. It doesn’t diminish you.
Had she cut herself off from help just to prove her independence? Her brothers would loan her money for school.
Why couldn’t she take it? She’d done some pretty great things already with Moons. Why did she have to quit?

And was Jackson her one love? Already? Barely a day into her new life? Sometimes it worked like that. And Jackson had been there for her, supporting her from the beginning. He wasn’t perfect. He was different from her, but so what? She loved him. And, maybe, she needed him, too. Not because she couldn’t handle her own life, but because everyone needed support.
No woman’s an island, hon.
Did Jackson need her, too?

The phone rang, making her jump.

It was the detective who’d handled her robbery weeks ago. They’d found her car. He sounded as stunned as she felt and told her where to collect it. “Before you drive it, get a mechanic to look it over. It’s been run pretty hard.”

Heidi had her car back. Beat up, for sure, but it was back. She had a do-over, in a way. And she knew exactly where to tell the tow truck to go.

Three hours later, she climbed out of the tow-truck cab in the driveway of the faded-blue town house with the dingy-white gingerbread trim, her heart filled with familiar joy. She noticed the guys playing basketball again. Probably the very bunch who had stolen her car, but she didn’t fear them. She’d keep her belongings locked up from now on. She was in the city. On the other hand, maybe she’d bake them some brownies. It’d be tougher to steal from someone they knew.

She’d figure it out later. Right now all that mattered was the big bear of a man she was about to roust from his usual late-morning hibernation.

She paid the tow guy and watched him drive away. She looked over at the Outback, no longer the shiny new dream vehicle. It might not even be worth saving, but she knew the best way to find out.

Dizzy from hardly breathing, she banged on the door.

Nothing.

She banged again.

Still nothing.

This time she pounded with both fists and was rewarded by familiar thuds approaching from inside. “Hold your water,” came that voice she loved. Jackson flung open the door. “Heidi?” His eyes widened and he looked so relieved and so full of love that her heart just melted.

“Jackson,” she said.

Here was the man she wanted in her life forever. Sure he would keep big-brothering her, but she could live with that, now that she knew what she wanted for herself. Jackson’s loving bossiness was a small price to pay for her happiness.

“Did I wake you?” she said.

“What do you think?” He couldn’t even pretend to be pissed, she could tell, as he fought a grin, his eyes twinkling with delight.

“I need your help, Jackson,” she said, taking a serious tone.

“You do?” He quirked a brow. “You need my help?”

“Absolutely. Look.” She pointed at her battered car. As if on cue, the front fender dropped to the cement with a clang.

“I’ll be damned. They found it.”

“And I brought it straight to you. Can you fix it?”

“Let’s take a look,” he said, his grin almost taking over his face. He descended the porch and approached the car, then lifted the hood. “Looks pretty beat up,” he said, leaning in, fiddling with some hoses, his voice muffled, but serious. “I’ll do what I can.”

Watching him dig in to rescue her made her heart fill up and spill over. “I love you, Jackson,” she blurted.

“Huh? Ow!” He’d bumped his head on the hood raising up to turn to her. “You do? You love me?” He rubbed his crown. “Do you know what you’re saying? Hell, Heidi, I manage a topless bar.”

“And a band, don’t forget. You manage a band.”

“Who knows what will happen there? I’ll be chasing music the rest of my life.”

“So I’ll chase it with you, while I’m going to school. I start next semester.”

“That’s good. About school, I mean.”

“I was just scaring myself about it.”

“Like I said, you’ll knock ’em dead.”

“You, too. You have to do what makes you happy, Jackson. Go for your dream.”

He smiled softly. “I bet that’s what my mom would have said if my dad had asked her about pursuing his music.”

“I’m sure she would have.”

He frowned. “How will your brothers feel about you being with the guy who got you arrested?”

“When they see I’m happy, they’ll be happy. I acted insecure, so they acted protective.”

“Still, your brothers…”

“They’ll be fine. They had faith in me, too.” Despite their small-town attitudes, their overprotective love for her, they’d let her go without much fuss. They’d kept their worry in check, except for a few frantic phone grillings and the occasional gift appliance or proffered check.

“Besides, I think we should invite them up for dinner and a show at Moons. I’m thinking Jasmine might give Mark a good run. And Autumn could teach Mike something about enjoying himself.”

“Let’s break ’em in easy, Heidi. See how this goes.”

“I’m borrowing tuition money from them, by the way. It doesn’t diminish me to accept what they can easily afford to give.”

“As long as they don’t smother you, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Me, either, right? You want support and love, not a stranglehold? That’s what Autumn said.”

“Yes….”

“Also, she said that I need you to push me.”

“Not too much, though. No drowning the ficus.”

“Exactly.” He grinned at her, love shining in his eyes.

“There it is,” she said softly, “That way you look at me. I love that. It’s like I fill up all the empty places.”

“You do. You light me up, make me want to do more…to be more. I love you, Heidi.”

“Me, too.” Heidi’s heart filled so big she thought she might burst.

Jackson seemed equally moved and had to look away. He squinted into the Outback. “So, is that your stuff I see?”

“It didn’t work out with Esmeralda. Her furniture was too elegant. No breasts. No velvet.”

“A shame.” He shook his head. “There’s no accounting for tastes.”

“So, I was wondering if I could stay here. Just until my car gets fixed?”

“Hmm. Depends on how long it takes to do the work.”

“How long do you think?”

“Not sure.” His eyes twinkled at her, warm with love. “If I play my cards right, for as long as I live. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms, giving her what she wanted and what she needed.

She felt safe and secure and sure of her future. She had
everything she wanted—a plan, a home, a man she loved and all the confidence in herself she needed.

Heidi Fields had finally arrived.