Once You'Ve Touched the Heart (14 page)

Changing the subject, Tracy asked, “How often do you come here?”

“When I need to relax or think.”

“Which is it tonight?”

He looked up at her, took a swallow of his beer and said, “Relaxation.”

Tracy didn’t realize it, but she had been sitting up the whole time. She squirmed a little.

“Sit back, relax. I swear nothing will happen to you in here.” JD smiled.

Tracy sat back, placed her purse on the seat beside her and crossed her legs. She looked at him. “Why are you so tense, Jeffrey, is it the case?”

He sighed heavily. “This type of case tends to bring out the worst in me.”

“Are you going to talk with the girl’s family?”

It felt good having someone to talk to about his cases. Normally, he would have to work his way through the madness. “I will,” he stated. “You know, my dad used to tell me all the time, the worst thing parents go through when a child dies before they do is not knowing what happened or the guilt of not being there when their child needed them. He used to make it a point to be able to answer those questions for the victim’s family.”

Tracy listened to him. His eyes were full of wide-eyed innocence when he talked about his dad.

“Jeffrey, what happened to your dad, was he sick?”

The expression on his face turned to anger instantly. A flash of hatred came into his eyes as he looked away from her. The waiter knocked on the door. Tracy motioned him to wait.

JD looked at her. “You’re waiting for an answer?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

When Tracy looked at him, it made him feel like he was the only person in the world. The night at his mom’s house he had felt the same way.
How does she do that
? It’s as if she was reaching into his soul and making him reveal his all to her. But this subject was and always had been off limits for anyone. JD looked over and motioned the waiter to come in. He came in, set the plates on the table with all the condiments and asked if there would be anything else. JD answered, “No, thank you.” The waiter stepped out. They both said grace and JD began eating. Tracy sat there and waited. “It smells good and I’m starving,” she said, “but I’m waiting for an answer.”

JD hesitated. “He was killed in the line of duty,” he replied angrily.

Tracy began eating her salad.
Time to change the subject,
she thought. “I noticed a number of pool tables outside the door. Are they reserved for special people or can the public use them?”

Thankful she let the subject go, JD asked, “Do you play?”

“No.” She stopped. “I win,” she said and continued eating.

“Oh, you do?” he said with a questioning tone.

“Yes, really,” she said with a tone of challenge.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Of course not, Jeffrey,” Tracy said while shaking her head, “I wouldn’t challenge you at anything.”

“Oh, now you are attempting to pull me in.”

“I’m sitting here eating my salad.” She laughed. Tracy continued to eat and then said, “But I am good.”

“All right, that’s it,” he replied, wiping his mouth with his napkin and placing it on the table, “let’s go.”

JD opened the door. Tracy stood and turned to face him. “I don’t want you to get upset when I beat you at this game,” Tracy said very seriously.

Confident with his skills, he replied, “Are you backing down from this challenge?” He slid the door open.

He looked so serious and kissable
. “Let’s go,” she said.

As they entered the area with the pool tables, Tracy noticed the place had gotten more crowded. The crowd made her a little uncomfortable, not quite as sure of herself.

JD noticed the change in her instantly. He walked up behind her. “Are you backing out?”

She smiled and sucked her teeth. “Pick a table, and I promise to make it quick.”

He went over to a table, patted it and smiled. “I’ll take you right here.”

The people seated at another table turned to look as Tracy walked close to him and smiled. “You sure you want to do this?”

He took off his jacket laid it across a chair. He took down two sticks and handed one to her. “I’ll be a gentleman and let you break.”

She smirked. “Jeffrey, are you sure?” She laughed again. “You really want to do this?”

He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “You really think you can beat me at this?”

“Yes,” she replied as she laughed.

“Okay,” he said, “you break.”

She sighed heavily. She walked over to the end of the table with the balls and began talking the game. She broke, and several balls fell into the pockets. “You see, Jeffrey, what a lot of people don’t understand, pool is a game of precision. It’s all about calculation. I’ll take the stripes, just to make it interesting.” JD noticed more solid balls fell than stripes, so he was a little surprised she selected the stripes. He began to roll up his sleeves thinking,
Okay, she’s got a little game
, but he wasn’t worried.

“It’s about knowing the positions of the balls and the distance the ball has to travel.” She hit two stripes, one going into the pocket in the middle on the left and the other going into the right pocket at the end of the table. “Knowing just the right amount of power needed to get the balls to travel the distance to each pocket.” Calling the next pocket, she continued. “Being able to calculate just the right angle to connect with the balls to get them to go in the direction you want.” She stood up and watched the ball go into the pocket. She walked around the table and stood before him. “Kind of like what you have to do with men, or so I’ve been told.” She smiled. “Excuse me,” she said. He smiled and stepped back. Three stripe balls were left. She bent over the table. “Ten in the right center pocket.”

“You can’t make that shot,” he whispered in her ear. “You should go for nine in the left pocket.”

She stood up and turned to him. He was standing so close. Tracy could feel his warm breath on her face. She looked up, and then seductively asked, “Are you trying to take me out of my game?”

He bent his head down to her ear. “Yes,” he whispered.

My goodness, he has wonderful eyes
. Taking in a breath, she said, “Excuse me.”

He stepped back. A few people had gathered near the table watching the game. One of the guys spoke, “Hey, JD,” he said laughing. “What you been into?”

“Getting my ass kicked right now,” he replied.

Being that close to Jeffrey had distracted Tracy. She had to take a moment to exhale before she took the shot. Tracy knew she could make the shot; she had made it several times before with Turk. She set the stick against the table, took off her blazer and untucked her blouse.

That unnerved JD. Now he was watching the movement of her body, more so than the shot she was about to take.
Damn, that woman has a body on her,
he thought.

Tracy picked up her stick, looked at him and repeated, “Ten in the center right pocket.” As she leaned across the table, JD’s friend looked up at him, “Whenever you get tired, I’ll happily take an ass whipping from her.”

Tracy hit the 10 ball. It banked against the left side of the table and went into the center right pocket.

“Yes! Nothing but net,” she said as she walked past JD smiling. “Now, just for you, nine in the left pocket.”

JD made a mental note,
Don’t ever let her break
. But it was all good. He liked seeing her confident and comfortable with him, just enjoying life.

Tracy put the end of the stick on the floor, put her hands on her hips and looked up at him. “Which pocket would you like the 12 ball to go in?”

JD blinked when she asked the question. She was sexy as hell standing there, with that stare from her light brown eyes going right through him. “Anywhere you want it to go.”

“You do realize I’m going to win this game?”

“There will be others,” he responded with a smile.

“You promise?” She smiled.

He looked at her and knew he meant what he was about to say. “I promise, there will be many more.”

She smiled, and then banked the ball against the end of the table where he was standing. It landed in the pocket at the end of the table.

A small crowd that gathered cheered, “Man, that was a shot.”

She looked at JD. “I’ll make it painless: eight ball, corner pocket.” The ball dropped in the corner pocket. She walked to the end of the table where he stood, gave him her stick and announced, “I’m starving, let’s eat.”

JD smiled, put the sticks up, grabbed their jackets and walked out of the area.

“You do know that only a very secure man could take an ass whipping like that and walk away with his head up.”

JD turned to the voice that made the statement. “Doug, hey, man,” he said as they shook hands.

“It’s been a while, JD; it’s good to see you.”

“Same here, man. How’s everyone?” JD asked.

“Doing good, man, doing well,” Douglas replied. “Who’s your guest?”

“This is Tracy Washington. Tracy, this is the friend I told you about, Douglas Hylton. He’s another one of my boys from high school.”

“This is a very nice establishment you have here, thank you for having me.”

“Hello, Tracy, I’m glad you’re enjoying your visit,” he replied.

“Business looks good,” JD commented, looking around.

“Can’t complain, man. Let’s go back to the Chambers,” he said, referring to the dining area.

They all walked back to JD’s room. Someone had placed their plates on heaters to keep the food warm.

“You two finding everything satisfactory?”

“Yes, but I reserve the right to complain about your pool tables later,” JD said laughing. “I think they are rigged.”

“I think you just got your ass whipped.” Doug laughed. “Look, I’m going to let you two get back to your evening.” Shaking JD’s hand, he added, “Don’t make it so long next time, man.” Douglas smiled at Tracy. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You, too,” Tracy replied.

“Have a good evening.” Doug turned and left.

“You set me up,” JD said. “Who taught you to shoot pool like that?”

“My brother.”

JD laughed. “I should have known. Is there anything you are not good at?” He was not expecting to get the answer he got.

“People,” she said. “I’m not good with a lot of people.”

“I don’t buy that,” JD said as he started eating. Tracy actually did what JD thought was impossible. He was able to let go. He didn’t feel as if he had to impress or prove anything to her. He could relax and talk freely. “You are a beautiful, intelligent woman and sexy as hell. So far, I know you got game with the b-ball court and on the pool table. You are by far the easiest person to talk to, at least for me.”

Tracy never looked up from her plate. Beautiful, sexy. It was confusing hearing this from him.

JD continued, “Ashley talks about you like you are her own personal guardian angel and so does Monica. Rosaline thinks you are one of the most generous people she has ever met. Cynthia is jealous as hell of you and Mama, well she thinks you are an angel sent down by God himself just for me.”

Tracy sat back listening to the things he was saying and she couldn’t believe he was talking about her. Noticing her reaction JD stopped talking. Her hand was lying on the table. He put his hands over hers. “Tracy, what’s wrong?”

She swallowed hard. “What do you think, Jeffrey? We have been tiptoeing around each other for a while now. Do you feel the same things I do when we are close to each other or is it just me?”

He sat there for a moment. Tracy called his card and she was right, they had. He had to get this out. Tracy did not retract the question, even though her mind was telling her to.
Take it back
, her mind was saying,
you don’t want to hear this answer
.

Jeffrey put his fork down and moved to sit beside her. He put his hands behind her head and gently rubbed her neck. He exhaled. “Tracy.” He kissed her forehead and then rested his head against hers. “I’m not good at this, so bear with me.”

Jeffrey was too close to her. Tracy was having problems breathing again.
Hold your head up
, she told herself.
You
asked the question, now be woman enough to accept the answer
. She held her head up and looked at him as he talked.

“I’m not sure how to answer that question.” JD hesitated. “I’ve asked myself that question over and over since Al’s case.” He smiled and continued talking and playing with her hair. “At first I thought I was just fulfilling my promise to Al to protect you and make sure you were okay. But then things got to the point that I wanted to see you, to talk to you.” He hesitated and exhaled. “Not one day has gone by in the last two weeks that you haven’t crossed my mind. And lately, when I have days like today, I find myself wanting to be with you. You have a way of knowing what to say or do to make even my bad days okay.” He smiled. “The other day when I saw you with Brooks, I didn’t like it. I thought I was going to lose it.” He laughed nervously, and then looked into her eyes
.
“I would love nothing more than to be with you, but there are issues concerning you and,” he breathed heavily, “and my past that I need to address before I can do that.”

Tracy could not believe Jeffrey was saying these things to her. He was feeling the same as she was feeling. Too many moments had been wasted, but not this one. Tracy wanted to feel the way she did at the club a few years ago. She placed her hand on the side of his face and as he leaned into it, she gently kissed his lips.

The kiss was innocent and her lips were soft, and JD wanted more. Just a little more, he thought as he returned the kiss. But the sensation of her touch was too much to resist. He needed to taste her, so he allowed his tongue to lightly cross her bottom lip.

Something stirred within her at his touch. Whatever it was, Tracy wanted more, and she parted her lips a little. JD pulled back a little, pushed her hair from her face and looked at her. There was no mistaking what he saw there and he wanted all she was offering. JD wanted Tracy. Whatever it would take, he was going to have her. He pulled her closer as he leaned in and kissed her, again parting her lips in search of her tongue. Their tongues found each other and a small groan escaped her throat as Tracy began to relax in his arms. As hard as he tried, JD couldn’t stop himself; the kiss went deeper and for a moment he actually lost control. His mind had told him to pull away before, but not this time. Tracy placed her hand on his chest and what felt like a wave of hot liquid surged through him. As he held her, JD decided he was going to have her.