Carved in Stone (9 page)

Melanie laughed at her husband’s side and looked down the café to see Jessica holding a little packet in her fingers. Recognizing what it was, she had to cover her mouth not to burst out laughing hysterically.

“Mr. Larson was right. There’s enough chemistry between them to blow up a science lab,” she said happily. “I better go help Ms. Daniels before she starts flipping out over a condom.”

“Mr. Larson gave Ms. Daniels a condom? Why?” Brent asked, shocked again when his wife gave him a don’t-be-stupid-look. “No way. No freaking way, Melanie.”

Melanie just smiled. “I’m telling you—I’m going to put out the word this place is a pick-up spot for mature singles. We’ll have a waiting list of senior citizens lined up for every meal.”

“If that’s true, how can you bear to look at him? Doesn’t it creep you out? I mean—geez, Mr. Larson’s like fifty at least,” Brent said on a laugh.

“Stop being such a guy, Brent. However old the man is—he’s still plenty hot,” Melanie said caustically. “You should hope you’re going to be the same way at his age.”

“Right. Hot at fifty. Now there’s a goal,” Brent said, laughing and heading back to the kitchen.

Melanie carried two towels to the booth where Will and Jessica had been sitting and started cleaning up the mess. She picked up the art book and dried the edges carefully.

“Gee, most people just leave money for a tip,” Melanie said, barely glancing at what Jessica had in her hand. “I guess I need to have a talk with Will about inappropriate behavior in our establishment.”

“Would it do any good?” Jessica asked meanly, shoving her hand and the condom into the pocket of the apron. The packet was still warm from being in Will’s pocket, and God help her, she couldn’t stop touching it or thinking that Will was probably right about it not fitting Adam. Not that she could confirm though, damn the man.

“You’re right. Will is pretty sure of himself,” Melanie said. “He reminds me of my Dad. Sometimes he’s the calmest man in the world and you think nothing is going on in his head. Then suddenly, you’re having to bail him out of jail.”

“You had to bail Will out of jail?” Jessica asked, startled.

“No,” Melanie laughed, “I had to bail out my Dad for being a public nuisance. I can’t even imagine Will doing anything illegal.”

Then she glanced at Jessica’s doubtful face. “You have a strange effect on Mr.—I mean, Will. He’s usually so nice.”

“Yes, well that nice man accused me of lying,” Jessica said, hurt in her tone.

“Really? Will always had a sixth sense for when someone was lying. Well, were you?” Melanie asked, all but laughing now as she watched Jessica flipping the packet over and over inside her pocket.

“Of course I was,” Jessica confessed. “My self-preservation kicked in. I’m scared of him.”

“Scared of him or of how he makes you feel?” Melanie asked, knowing her face was the picture of confusion. “Will would never physically hurt anyone. I can understand the second one though. In fact, that’s what he said about you too. I can see it could go both ways.”

“Will is scared of me?” Jessica asked, surprised at that. He sure hadn’t acted scared today.

“Of how you make him feel—well, he was scared plenty after your date,” Melanie said, grinning. “Based on what he did to you today though, I think Will must have gotten over it, unless you ticked him off by lying. He hates lying. When he kissed you and walked off, I thought the other women in here were going to chase out after him.”

“Hand me his book so I can take it back to him. Do you know where he lives?” Jessica asked, taking the book from Melanie and staring hard at the girl. “It’s time Mr. Williams and I got a few things straight between us.”

“Will sold his house recently. I think he lives with his son Michael now. I don’t know his address,” Melanie said with a shrug.

“I’ll find him. How many people named Michael Williams can there be in this town?” Jessica asked smartly.

“Uh—not Williams. His son uses the name Larson. Michael Larson. He’s an artist too,” Melanie said, wondering if Jessica was going to figure it out or assume it was a pen name.

“Michael Larson? I actually know him already,” Jessica said, thoughtful. “He lives three streets over from me. I met him at an art show in Cincinnati last year. I even thought about asking him out because he was interesting, but he had some leggy blond on his arm.”

Melanie’s eyes grew wide at that one. “Close call on that one. That would have been awkward.”

Jessica snorted. “If I was seriously interested in Will, I guess it might have been. From what I remember, Michael Larson had a pony tail, very intense good looks and created giant metal sculptures. His work was very symbolic.”

Melanie gathered up the dirty dishes from their lunch, stacking them on her arms. “You don’t have to take the book to Will. He usually drops by several times during the week.”

Jessica pulled the condom out of her pocket and heard the table of older ladies start giggling again.

“This is what I need to talk to him about. The book just gives me a good excuse to track him down. I refuse to spend my week thinking about the things he insinuated. I want this over and settled as soon as possible. The next time I see Everett Williams, I want to do nothing more than just nod and go on.”

Chapter 6

Michael pulled a shirt over his head as he went to answer the insistent buzzing at his front door. His scowl faded when he noticed the very tall, very attractive redhead standing on his front step.

“Mr. Larson,” Jessica said, saying his name instead of hello.

“Yes, and frankly I’ve never been happier to be myself,” Michael said, smiling and letting his gaze take in her completely.

Jessica snorted at Will’s son flirting with her. This one was very practiced at the game, she concluded. There was no mistaking who he was now that she saw him up close. Michael Larson was a smaller replica of Will, only with a head full of hair.

“I’m Jessica Daniels. You’re a lot quicker on the uptake than your father. He has to dig deep for charming social banter.”

Michael laughed, and gestured her in. “I should have known you were already taken. The good ones always are. Come in and tell me more.”

When she walked by him and he got a look at the back of her, Michael just smiled wider. Way to go Dad, he thought enviously. Fine looking woman, and tall—in fact, she was probably almost as tall as his father.

“You look familiar,” Michael said, smiled warmly at her. “Do I know you?”

“We met at the art show in Cincinnati last year. You had a lovely blond on your arm most of the time. I also remember your work was very interesting. A person couldn’t stand near one of your art pieces and not feel what’s going on. Your art is very powerful.”

“Forget my Dad and the blond,” Michael said easily, morally lifted by her praise more than the fifteen thousand dollar check he had just cashed for one of his pieces. “Want to go out with me?”

“Too late. You should have dumped the blond and asked me a year ago. I’m here to fight with your father, who gave me this,” Jessica said, holding up the condom packet in two fingers. “One horny man in your family is all I can handle at a time.”

Michael let loose a bark of laughter that shook the hallway of his house.

“No shit?” he said proudly. “My brother Shane is not going to believe this. Dad must
really
like you.”

Jessica snorted. “Hardly. If anything, your father and I seem destined to crash and burn together. He’s determined to make me his rebound woman after his divorce. I’m really not interested in playing that role in his life. Where is he, so I can get this fight over with?”

Michael raised his eyebrows at her vehement statements but motioned her to follow him down the hall.

At the patio door leading out into the work area, Michael stopped and turned around to face Jessica Daniels again. He could feel the energy emanating off her, feel her looking ahead trying to get a glimpse of his father. Michael mentally crossed his fingers that his father got this right.

“You know, for a year now my father has been passing up leggy blonds half his age looking for you,” Michael told her, grinning at her consternation. He pointed to the condom in her hand in case Jessica Daniels tried to pretend she didn’t understand what he was explaining. “I just thought you should know that before you pass up the chance to use what Dad gave you. Frankly, Ms. Daniels, my father is the best man you’re ever going to come across in your life.”

“Children often idealize their parents, Mr. Larson. Maybe there are unpleasant things about your father’s personality that have eluded you up to now,” Jessica told him, irritated more when Michael Larson only smiled at her as if he knew something she did not.

“I didn’t say he was perfect. I said he was a good man. Be careful out there. Dad’s probably covered in marble dust,” Michael told her, sliding the door open for her, “and he probably has his music cranked up too loud to hear you coming. Just stand where he can see you. He’ll eventually leave the zone and notice.”

Jessica nodded. She stepped forward, stopped, and then sighed as she turned back. “You’re a good son, Mr. Larson.”

“Michael—please. If Dad bought condoms to use with you, we’re practically family,” Michael teased, laughing at her frown.

“I hardly think that’s the case,” Jessica said sarcastically, walking out into the work area.

What could have been a beautiful arbor was covered with a metal roof shielding a long expanse of courtyard from the weather. There was an eight-foot privacy fence surrounding the whole yard, which was nothing but work area. Near the house were piles of metal, several tool boxes, and a dozen or more weld spools. These were obviously the tools of the metal worker.

As she walked farther down the area, she heard the distinct chink, chink of a hammer and chisel chipping away at some stone. Then she saw him. Behind safety glasses, his amber gaze was focused intently on what he doing. A man’s figure was being further revealed with every stroke of the hammer, she saw.

And just as Michael Larson had warned, there was a set of white headphones running from Will’s ears to his front jeans pocket, the same pocket he had pulled the condom from earlier. Jessica couldn’t stop herself from wondering if everything in Will’s pocket was just as warm as the condom packet had been.

Shaking her head to clear the erotic distraction, Jessica strode forward and placed herself in his view. Will stopped hammering immediately. Walking to a nearby table, he laid the tools from his hands next to others on it. He motioned her forward, pulling the headphones from his ears and the player from his pocket.

With little other choice, Jessica had to move forward. Then her gaze went immediately to the new statue. Her breath caught. The part of the torso that was finished was even more perfect than the one he had taken her to see.

“What number is this one?” she asked, forgetting for a moment why she had come.

“Seventeen,” Will said, picking up a small, fluffy brush and running it over his body to sweep the worst of the dust away.

“You’ve improved since the one I saw,” she said softly. “You really are exceptional.”

Will walked over to her. “You can touch it if you like, but be careful of the edges. It’s not smoothed out yet.”

“No,” Jessica said, clearing her throat. “That’s all right.” She took a step back from him. “I brought back your book.”

“Thanks,” Will said. “I completely forgot about it. I could have picked it up later in the week.”

He took the book and tossed it on the tools table. It wasn’t the real reason she’d come by, and they both knew it. Though he had to give her credit for coming by so soon.

Will studied her nervousness and fought a grin.

“Is the book the only reason you’re here?” he asked bluntly, his knowing gaze daring her to lie again.

“No,” Jessica said, pulling the condom from her pocket and holding it out to Will, who just smiled at it. “This is yours. I don’t want it.”

“Actually, it’s yours. I’m not planning to use it unless it’s with you,” Will informed her.

“Stop saying that,” Jessica ordered loudly, her voice rising with her anxiety. “We are not dating. We are not doing anything else. I don’t want you to be interested in me that way.”

“Who are you trying to convince? You picked me up, remember? Besides, the truth was in your kiss,” Will said sternly, reaching out a palm. “Give that to me before you rip the package.”

Relieved he was acting sensibly regardless of his words, Jessica put the condom packet into Will’s hand only to be surprised when he reached out his other hand and pulled her forward by the pocket of her jeans. He slipped the condom into one of her front pockets, and then pulled her hips against his firmly.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Jessica Daniels. Don’t keep me waiting too much longer. But in the meantime, I really, really want you to kiss me with some real passion,” Will whispered against her mouth. “I want it as badly as you wanted me to kiss you the first day we met.

“Will,” she said his name starkly, shaking her head from side to side. He was so stubborn. Jessica hated his persistence, but she also couldn’t remember the last time she’d craved a man’s kiss as much as she did Will’s.