His Most Scandalous Secret

“I wanted to make sure you got home all right.”

The sound of his voice did things to her. Made her shiver. Made her unconfined breasts feel strangely fuller.

“Tessa? Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m fine.” His voice, the memory of his serious face and the admiration he hadn’t hidden for the way she’d handled Stone Man streaked through her mind. She wasn’t used to being treated as a capable adult. He couldn’t have any idea how much it meant to her that he had.

“No sign of the teenager?” he asked.

“None. Thank you for your concern, though.”

“I’m having a friend in the police department check him out, just to be sure. He’s fairly new to the area, and he’s gained a reputation fast with the kids around here.”

“Is he the kind of boy you try to get involved at the Center? Do you seek out the troubled kids, Chase, and set them on a different path?”

“I do what I can. Sometimes I succeed.”

Sometimes I don’t. The unspoken words carried resignation. How had she become connected to him so fast that she could hear what he didn’t say?

Because what’s forbidden is always more of an allure.

Tessa ignored her thoughts and stretched out on the sofa, letting all the sensations settle in. She was hot and cold and shaky and...alive. Maybe it was just reaction to her success—her emancipation from her old life and inauguration to her new one.

Regardless, Chase Ryan was a bonus she hadn’t counted on. Now she had to figure out what to do about it. He needed her—or someone like her.

And her family would die if she—

“Tessa? Where’d you go?”

“Um, I was just thinking that maybe you could go ahead and schedule a self-defense class for the weekend. Might as well capitalize on my current fame.”

“I’ll get on it right away.”

She didn’t move after she hung up the phone. Instead, she closed her eyes and imagined his face. An old image superimposed itself for a moment, then got shoved behind the newer one without effort. She’d entered into a risky business. The route she’d intended to take no longer seemed the right one. No longer made sense. No longer seemed plausible, even.

Because in all of her plans, she hadn’t counted on there being so much to lose.

Two

Chase knew the minute that Tessa arrived at the Center for her first day at work. He didn’t leave his office to greet her, but let her go to the day care center on her own.

The Center hummed with talk of her. She’d attained sainthood with just one miracle.

“Good morning.”

He turned from the window. She hadn’t gone to day care first, after all. There she stood, in a denim jumper, a baby blue T-shirt that matched her eyes, and sneakers painted with teddy bears and balloons. Head to toe, she looked like a preschool teacher.

“Morning,” he said. “Are you ready for this?”

“You bet. I hardly slept last night, I was so excited.” She leaned against the door frame, as if she had all the time in the world, not the three minutes she really did have before she should be reporting to Chandra.

“I posted a sign-up sheet for your self-defense class,” he said. “It hadn’t been up an hour before it was half-full. I expect that by the end of the day, it’ll be a sellout.”

“You can schedule two or three sessions if you want, in order to fill the demand. I’ll be concentrating more on awareness than technique, and smaller groups would work better. I’d also prefer coed.”

“We pretty much do everything coed here. I don’t believe in segregating them. The only way the Center can be successful is to have everyone a part of everything, like a family. We preach tolerance. We try to elevate everyone’s self-esteem. If we don’t, we lose the girls to single motherhood and the boys to gangs.”

Soft. Her eyes were so soft as she smiled at him. Tempted him. As if to say that he could share with her, things he’d never shared.

“I like your philosophy, Mr. Ryan,” she said.

“It’s not mine alone. It’s what’s been proven to work.” He walked around his desk and came up beside her, close enough to smell her perfume, close enough to thread his fingers through her curls, if he’d wanted. If he’d been allowed such a luxury. “I’ll walk you to day care.”

“I can manage. I just wanted to say good morning. It’s important to greet people, don’t you think? And to let them know when you’re leaving.”

So—he’d been put on notice that she would be saying hello and goodbye every day. That she would seek him out. That he should seek her out if he was leaving for some reason.

“Are we allowed to hug?” she asked.

His hands curled into fists. “What?”

“Do the adults hug the children here? There are so many rules these days. Sick, sad rules because people cry abuse so easily.”

“Oh.” Disappointment swept through him before he could squelch it. He’d already locked on to the image of him holding her. Her holding him. “We encourage appropriate physical contact.”

“Now there’s a textbook answer.” Her eyes danced merrily. She feathered the hair on his arm with her fingertips until his skin rose in bumps. “Is that appropriate?”

“Try it on one of the boys and you may have to use every self-defense technique you know.”

She tossed her hair. “But I’m safe with you?”

“Not safe at all, Miss Rose.”

Her eyes flickered with interest. He never flirted with women. Never. But she was digging deeper into him than anyone had and finding a place he hadn’t known existed.

“Safe is for wimps,” she said.

“And we all agree you’re not a wimp.”

“Oh, I have my moments.” Her hand drifted away. “I’m sure I’ll see you occasionally throughout the day.”

“Count on it.”

A smile came and went. “I will.”

He let out a long, slow breath as she walked away, leaving a trail of fragrance and an eyeful of softly swaying hips. He swallowed, hungry for her, at the same time wary of the hunger.

Maybe it was time to take his first vacation in nine years.