Unexpected Romance (5 page)

"No
pressure. well maybe a little pressure. But it's come from Mom too."

"Second,
if you want to take classes part time, you can do that. You might
have to quit with Kip and Mandy and I know they'll hate to see you
go." He shook his head. “You could start with one thing
then next year change your area of study, I'm okay with that. But you
don't have to decide your forever job at twenty."

"You
can probably talk with a career
counselor
at school," Nicole added. "One who will give you more than
a generic aptitude test that spits out generic responses. Someone who
will look at you and see what you like. What were you good at as a
kid?"

"Besides
kicking people's asses to save the vulnerable? I don't know."

"Social
work," Corey said. "Something with social work." He
smiled and stood. "Look, Tonya, no matter what you decide, we
love you. And I'll support you. Sometime in the next ten years, I
will kick you out."

"Love
you too," she said. "Thanks."

"Goodnight.
The front door is locked," he said. "Don't forgot to turn
off the lights."

"I
always remember. Chris leaves them on."

"You
sound like you're four, blaming your little brother," Corey
teased. "He's been good though otherwise? Since our chat?"

"He's
fine, big brother. I swear I can take care of myself. Goodnight."

She
followed them out of the kitchen, flipping the switches along the way
that plunged everyone into darkness. Down the stairs, she felt a bit
keyed up, so she paced the hallway. She stopped in front of Chris's
door and lifted her hand to knock. But she chickened out and dropped
her hand. She went back to her room.

Then
realizing she needed to wash her face and brush her teeth, she left
for the bathroom she shared with Chris to do so. After she washed her
face, she stared in the sink. Thankfully, Chris was a considerate man
and he wiped the sink after he used it, he didn't leave his towels or
clothes on the floor. Some of the guys Corey let stay down here were
utter slobs who assumed they still lived with their mothers, she
guessed.

Once
she had finished washing, she found herself knocking on Chris's door.
"Uh, just a second," he said. A moment later, he opened the
door wearing T-shirt and boxers. His smile transformed to a look of
surprise. "Tonya," he said.

"Hi,
sorry, you were probably asleep or something. I'll go."

"No!"
He stepped back and cleared his throat. "No, I was lying in bed,
reading. Come in." He pulled the door back and she stepped into
the lion's den.

Chris
had stripped to his boxers when there was a knock on his door. "Uh,
just a second." He tossed his mystery novel aside and pulled on
the shirt from atop the laundry pile in the corner. He assumed it was
Corey.

He
opened the door with a pleasant smile on his face. Tonya stood there.
With little convincing, she came into his room. He breathed a sigh of
relief. He couldn’t image what Corey would think if he wandered
down and found them talking quietly in the doorway of his room.

He
studied her face. She was scrubbed clean of all traces of make-up. It
made her look young, innocent. Sweet. He grinned. Okay, the last one
was out. She had recently added some streaks of red to her hair,
which looked cute.

"Do
you want to sit?" He gestured to the bed. "I'm going to
sit. Have a seat." He wiped his palms on his shirt.

She
sat on the end, practically squatting on the edge. He stared at her,
his mind blank of conversation starters. He was a guy never at a loss
for words, but he couldn’t think of a single topic to open
with. He squelched his urge to reach for her and talk to her with
actions. Women were complicated; lust and sex were simple.

"I
talked to Corey tonight. Like you said."

"Good."
He nodded a few times, searching for words. "Did you decide to
go for something? What did he say?"

“
He
said that I am not obligated to him. If I don’t want to try
school, he won’t force me. If I want to take a year or two more
to figure out what I’m good at, that’s fine with him. Or
just take some classes to try them out, that’s okay with him.
He's going to kick me out in ten years, so I need to hurry."

"I
told you. Didn't I?"

"Yeah,
yeah. Look, being part of a family is new to me, having people to
support me."

According
to the guys in the dressing room, the family thing was new to Corey
as well. He had some serious wild days. But he had no problem
settling down now. He clearly loved Nicole and all three children,
treating them as if they were his own.

His
parents, while good people, didn't exactly have a healthy
relationship. His hosts' relationship made settling down seem a
little more palatable. Having kids was a little too freaky. At
twenty-four, Chris had a lot more living and partying to do before
he'd go with that route.

“
What
did you decide to do?” he asked.

She
chewed on a fingernail for a moment. “I still don’t know.
Maybe I’ll take a few classes this fall and see if I like the
whole childcare gig. I could do evening classes and I can still work
for the Turner’s. If they still want me. I think Kip is
retiring, so maybe they won’t need me.”

“
I
bet they keep you around.”

“
What
about you? Have they told you what’s going on?”

“
Not
for sure yet, but I have a feeling they’ll keep me around full
time next year.”

“
A
feeling huh?”

“
Yep.
Don’t you ever go with your gut?”

“
Nope.
Got me into trouble too many times.”

“
What
sort of trouble?”

“
Smoking.
The wrong guy. Telling the truth, even when I knew no one would
believe my side of the story.”

"I
assume that somewhere in there lies the reason you think I'm an ass.
We've been alone in my room for ten minutes and I haven't touched
you." He reached over and stroked the back of her hand. "Broke
the record now."

She
tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t help smiling. "It's
too late now to be friends, you'll be leaving eventually."

He
brought her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips across her knuckles.
"I'm not talking about being friends. I'm talking about
pleasure. Mutual pleasure. I'm sure a sexy woman like yourself is
familiar with such a term."

He
glanced up at her and found daggers in her eyes. But when he brushed
his lips against her knuckles she shivered. He dropped her hand and
used his hand to cup her face. He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"I
like you, you like me. No big deal."

"How
do you know I like you?' she demanded, trying to pull back.

"An
educated guess."

"It
is a big deal to me. I've only been on a couple dates, I've never
dated anyone. I've never … never mind."

The
only reaction he allowed his body was to widen his eyes. Holy hell,
she’d never dated, never had a relationship. Never had sex.

He
leaned toward her, his thumb tracing over her lips. “What about
kissing, Tony?”

She
dropped her eyes and started pushing him away. “ I need to go-”

He
put a finger on her lips. “I promise it won’t hurt.”
And before she could protest, he kissed her. Merely his lips bushing
across hers, as softly as he kissed her hand.

“
Chris,”
she whispered. Did she mean to whisper or had she meant to shout and
lost her voice?

He
took advantage of her parted lips and swooped his tongue past, taking
the risk of getting bit. When their tongues met, she gave an
approving groan and her hands settled on her shoulders.

“
Relax,”
he whispered as he peppered her neck and cheek with kisses.

Then
his mouth seized hers again his tongue swirling. He’d spent a
lot of time honing his kissing skill level. He was good with his
hands, fingers and the rest of his body as well. And he had been
focused on hockey for the past month, his body was straining to show
her how good he was.

When
she shifted and her thigh rubbed against his erection, she froze. He
felt it and stopped himself immediately. He swallowed hard before
lifting his head to look at her.

“
I
should go,” she said, pushing on his shoulders to move away.

“
It’s
okay.” He licked his lips, tasting her and got a surge of
sexual tension. “I don’t mind if you stay and talk more.
Or just sit here.”

She
shook her head and her hair swung around her face and shoulders.

He
grabbed her arm and let it slide to her hand. He kissed her hand once
more. “Think about the date. I think we need to get out of the
house.”

She
refused to meet his eyes. “We get out plenty. Especially you,
practice, road trips.”

“
Missed
me did you?”

She
dropped her head and he regretted attempting to joke. Something had
her tense. “Goodnight, Chris.”

He
watched her leave with great regret. He leaned back on his pillow and
rubbed his hands over his face. He didn’t want to think about
what might have caused her to tense up. He hoped it was inexperience,
rather than something darker in her past. He locked his door and then
stretched out on his bed.

He
felt sure if he tried he could find himself a good fantasy, involving
a certain dark-haired beauty.

Tony
poured several mugs of coffee and put them on a tray. She carried the
tray to her brother's living room and set them on the coffee table.

"I'll
go check on the kids," she said. Mandy and Kip Turner were over
for supper with their four kids.

"Sit
down," Corey said. "Jessa is down there, you aren't on duty
here. have a cup of coffee then we'll do the cake."

"Cake?"
Mandy said, stirring her coffee. "Is it a birthday I missed?
Tony?"

"Nope.
Just some cake, all right?"

"You
don't sound suspicious at all," Mandy said, narrowing her eyes.

Tony
laughed as Kip grabbed his wife's arm. "Calm down. It's only
cake."

Twenty
minutes late, Kip, Corey, and Chris wandered off to play a quick game
of pool before cake. That left Mandy, Nicole and Tony chatting in the
living room. She decided now was as good a time as any. "I'm
going to apply for school in the fall." It was the first time
she'd said it out loud, it scared her.

"Oh
great," Nicole said. Then she looked at her best friend. "Except
for you."

Tony
inclined her head to her boss. "I'm sorry."

"Not
as sorry as me. The kids will miss you, hell I'll miss you. I mean I
know it's the right thing for you to do, but I don't want to let you
go. Who will make me cookies?"

"I'll
bring you cookies when I can. I just won't bake them at your house
anymore."

Mandy
sighed. "Is this your official resignation?"

"Not
yet. I have to apply and be accepted. It shouldn't take too long to
find out."

Mandy
nodded. There was a wail from down the hall followed by Jessa,
holding Paige, appearing around the corner. Nicole went to soothe her
little one.

"So,
Chris?" Mandy said out of nowhere.

"What
about Chris?" She'd been avoiding looking at him all evening,
because it made her want things she wasn't supposed to have. Not with
him. He was too good-looking.

"Both
of you stare at each other when you think no one's watching."

"I
haven’t looked at him tonight, at all.” Tony felt a blush
creep up her face.

Mandy
laughed. "He's handsome."

"Yep.
Too handsome, too charming."

"Is
there such a thing?" Mandy mused. "I guess I used to think
Kip was too handsome. I'm lucky, he thought I was gorgeous. And
brilliant. So what has Chris done that's worthy of the cold
shoulder?"

"Personally,
nothing." Yet. "I don't date the terminally charming is
all."

"He
seems like a nice, normal young man. very little charm. As far as I
know, you don't date anyone. I guess Chris asked you out. Like that
cute guy from the sub shop and the cute guy from the deli department.
And the cute-"

"All
right. I have reasons for not trusting 'cute' guys. I'll tell you
another day, because that would take ages. And Chris didn't ask me
out, well he did once, I think, the first day we met."

"Did
he wander into your room and hump your leg?"

Tony
snorted then coughed to clear the coffee from her windpipe. "Damn
it. If you must know, he kissed me."

"Was
it good? The first kiss has to be good."

"It
made my fingers and toes tingly and I felt light headed." Tony
had no other kiss to compare it too. The memory of the bully's kiss
was fogged by him trying to force her, then spreading
rumors.