A Daddy for Jacoby

Ric’s tone was patronizing, but Justin didn’t rise to the bait. He kept his back to both of them. For whatever reason, Ric Murphy had made it clear from Justin’s first day here that he didn’t like him. “I think you’ve got your hands full.”

Gina gasped, but before she could say anything someone in the hall called Ric’s name.

“I’ve got to go. You going to be okay here?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Gina said. “I’m just about done anyway.”

Ric stepped over Justin’s stuff and walked out of the room. A long pause filled the air before Gina finally spoke.

Just like Justin figured she would.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

“That’s me,” he said, still not looking at her. “Not very nice.”

“He was just helping—”

“Sweetheart, if that’s all you think he was doing, you’ve got a lot to learn.” He pulled out a couple of sleeping bags and pillows and placed them on the pile.

“What do you care anyway—oh!”

Justin spun. It was a split-second decision. The ladder or the girl. He only had time to grab one and the girl was heading toward him. His hands locked onto Gina’s waist, and he pulled her flush against his chest, stopping her fall.

Biting back a curse when the toppling ladder caught him at the knee, he tightened his grip on her waist to keep both of them from tumbling to the floor. Gina twisted in his arms and he found his nose inches from being buried in her soft curves.

“Dammit, hold still.” He expelled his comment with a hiss.

She froze, but her body responded, easily visible through her cotton T-shirt.

He could have set her to the floor, but instead he slowly dragged her down the length of him, causing that soft T-shirt to ride up even more, until they were eye to eye.

“Did you do that on purpose?” he asked, surprised at the huskiness of his voice.

“Do what?”

He didn’t know if she was blushing because of the closeness of their bodies or the fact her soft words matched his. “Reach too far so I’d catch you when you fell.”

The pink tinges of her skin darkened. “Are you crazy? Put me down.” She squirmed and pushed against his shoulders.

“You are down.”

“I can’t feel the floor beneath my feet.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told I have that effect on women.”

Her blue eyes widened, that famous Steele blue color everyone in her family shared, and her lips parted. A musky, exotic scent lifted from her skin. He pulled in a deep breath, instantly associating it with the spicy-yet-sweet flavor of cinnamon with just a hint of sugar added for flavoring.

It brought to mind the rack of spices he used in the kitchen on a daily basis. On more than one occasion he’d grabbed the tin of dusky, reddish-brown powder whether or not cinnamon was called for in the recipe.

Damn, this girl was trouble with a capital T. She was also innocent with a capital I.

Gina was twenty-two years old, ten years his junior. Justin had learned enough about her in the last three months to know she was one part intelligence, one part wholesome and completely out of his league.

“Justin…”

Her voice, low, throaty and way too enticing, snapped him back to reality. He quickly set her away from him, desperate to escape the effect she was having on him, both physically and mentally.

It was then he saw the pink in her hair. It looked like she’d tried to hide it, tucked back behind one ear, but her fall had caused the bright streak of color to spring forward and rest against her cheek.

He knew it was wrong, he even commanded his hand not to move, but his fingers had a mind of their own. They reached up and with the slightest movement, the curl wrapped around his calloused finger.

“What’s this? Your nonconformist side coming out?”

She jerked her head to the side, but he held tight with gentle pressure. “Hmm, wonder what big brother is going to say?”

“Gage doesn’t care what I do to my hair.” The words were strong, but there was little confidence in her voice. “Are you going to let go of me?”

He didn’t want to. What he wanted was to wrap his finger completely around the strand of hair until his hand curled around the back of her neck. Then he’d run his thumb along her jaw, tilt her head upward as his mouth came down—

Whoa, back up! You’ve vowed to stay away from this girl, remember?

Justin released her and turned away. He grabbed two boxes and headed for the doorway when Ric appeared in it.

“Hey, Dillon. You’re wanted out front.”

“What for? I’m not working tonight.”

“You’ve got a visitor.” Ric looked at the ladder lying on the floor. “Hey, someone said they thought they heard a noise—what happened? Gina, you all right?”

Justin put down the boxes and walked out of the room, Gina’s breathless assurance she was okay ringing in his ears.

Was he stupid?

Gina was smart. Too smart. Did she know he’d been inches away from kissing her? He hadn’t looked into her eyes, hadn’t read her body language. Pink lips and a pink curl was all he’d focused on, but she must’ve known…

Just like she had to know he’d been inches away from kissing her three months ago.

He’d been teaching her how to shoot pool for almost an hour and she’d finally gotten the right ball into the right pocket. She’d jumped into his arms and hugged him and he’d never been more tempted in his life.

Then they’d been rudely, but thankfully, interrupted.

Pushing the memory from his head, he entered the main area of The Blue Creek Saloon and saw the tables and booths starting to fill up with the Friday night regulars for dinner. Some would stay for the live music and dancing later and the spring night would bring out the college crowd once the sun went down.

He spotted Jackie, the assistant manager, near the kitchen entrance and headed her way.

A tall blonde and little boy standing nearby hit his radar, but only because he made sure to always be aware of who was in his personal space. A habit he’d picked up in prison, which is why it still bothered him those punks had gotten the jump on him and Gina that night.

“Murphy said I had a visitor?” he asked when Jackie turned to him.