Polished (8 page)

“Thanks.” It was all Jack could manage. Rory shrugged and nodded. Jack caught the curtain as she started to close it again. “Really, thank you.”

She placed her hand on Spencer’s shoulder and he caressed her fingers. With a quirked lip, he tossed a congenial nod toward Jack. “After what the two of us went through, dude, that’s the least we can do.”

Jack couldn’t help but bask in the warmth of their invitation. In the back of his mind he wondered if he deserved it; he wondered what he would have done without them.

* * *

“For such a small injury, they sure give you enough drugs to put you on your ass,” Jack slurred, bumping his head on the door frame of Rory’s tiny Honda. He sunk into the plush velour backseat and circled the palm of his free hand over the surface, trying to get a handle on the light-headed feeling that was threatening to overwhelm him. His injured shoulder throbbed distantly under the haze of narcotics while his arm hung in a sling across his diaphragm. All he wanted to do was sleep, for an eternity if he could.

“Is there someone we should call? Someone who might be worried about you?” Rory asked as she helped Spencer into the car.

Jack grimaced. He’d have to call his father eventually. Just not tonight. “I just want to put this day to bed. I’ll face the world tomorrow.”

Rory turned toward him with a look of understanding. “Don’t worry. Our place is the perfect hideout.” She put the car in drive. “And I make great pancakes. A few of those and you’ll feel like you can do anything.”

Jack smiled. “Not exactly modest is she, Spencer?” As soon as the words came out he wondered if he’d been too forward and shook his head at how impish he sounded.

“Modest? Rory?” Spencer said with a chuckle. “Nah, never modest.”

Rory poked him in the ribs. “Just because you’re hurt, don’t think that you can’t get it.”

Spencer acquiesced with a wink tossed to the backseat. “Okay, okay. Sorry, baby. You are the picture of modesty.”

Rory threw back her head with exaggeration. “Oh yes, and don’t you forget that, mister.” She shot him a surly grin.

Jack sat back, amused with their jaunty back-and-forth. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander over them. Together they made a good-looking couple, paired perfectly in so many ways. Spencer was tall and muscular at around 6’2” and Rory’s shiny reddish-brown bangs fell just short of his chin.

She was a sturdy woman who looked like she could keep up with any of Spencer’s adventures up the mountain. Jack had to wonder if she shared his passion for climbing. The thought interested him—two people sharing something that made their heart skip a beat. Something other than sex, that is. The concept was foreign to Jack, having saved all his thrills aboard his little racing skiff for himself. Sex, on the other hand, he shared readily. He was far more selective about who he invited onto his baby girl than who he invited into his bed.

They spent an hour making their way to Spencer and Rory’s fifties-style ranch house at the base of the Shawangunk Ridge. Rory might not be modest about her pancakes, but the home she kept with Spencer was quietly unassuming, nestled against a sea of black at the end of a sleepy looking cul-de-sac.

At the door Rory shrugged with a sudden insecurity that caught Jack by surprise. “I didn’t know we were having company, so…” Her keys jangled as she tried to slip the right one into the lock.

Jack stopped her from finishing. “You don’t need to… I mean, I’m really grateful that you invited me to stay with you guys.” Suddenly he was the one sounding humbled.

Behind them, Spencer hobbled up the path with his crutches. “Babe, I’m sure Jack won’t mind sharing the room with your piles and piles of books.”

“I’ve kind of made the guest bedroom into my study cave,” Rory explained. “But right now it’s finals on my summer semester so the whole place is kind of a disaster.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Jack said, trying his best to put her at ease. She’d left the lights on inside in her haste to leave, along with a gang of books and papers everywhere.

“I have a big test at the end of the week,” Rory said. She went about scurrying after the mess.

Jack was curious. “What are you studying?”

“Working on my master’s in psychology.”

“Rory wants to make a difference in the world.” Spencer said with a proud nod.

“Nothing wrong with that.” Jack smiled, and shifted uncomfortably in place.

“Oh, jeez. What am I thinking? I’m sure you want to get out of those disgusting clothes.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean your clothes are disgusting, they aren’t…they’re nice…or they were…just that you were stuck in that god-awful tunnel.”

“As you can see, we are really accustomed to guests,” Spencer joked. He put his arm around Rory like he knew she needed the reassurance. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll lend you a pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt for the night.”

Jack didn’t have the heart to tell him he usually slept nude. The fact was, he usually slept nude because he usually wasn’t alone. “Thanks, but I really need a shower.”

Rory looked mortified. “Of course you do. And you must be starving. Both of you.”

“Don’t go to any trouble for me,” Jack interjected. “I’m sure I could get a pizza delivered or something.”

“Not this late,” Spencer interrupted. “Sorry, man. You are officially in the sticks up here. Nothing stays open past ten o’clock.”

“I’ll whip up something while you’re in the shower.” Rory dodged to the kitchen, calling out from inside the fridge. “I’ve got some veggies and…hmmm…some chorizo sausage.” She popped up over the counter. “You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”

Jack shook his head, tilting it as he spoke through a half grin. “I’ve been called lots of things, but never that.”

Rory giggled and sighed in amusement. “Tell me then, Jack. Of all the things people call you, what do you answer to?”

Jack felt the telltale rumble low in his chest drawing him toward the hunt. His nostrils flared just slightly, like a wolf on a scent. She was flirting, even if she hadn’t intended to be taken seriously. Jack was more than familiar with the subtlety of women. He licked his lips and a smoldering smile appeared like a reflex. Jack was a hunter, all right. But Rory wasn’t on the menu for tonight, or ever for that matter. He’d have to put the wolf back in its cage.

“Just call me hungry. Whatever you make, I’m sure it will be delicious.” He pointed a thumb toward Spencer. “This guy couldn’t stop talking about your good cooking.”

Spencer was looking at them quizzically, his eyes darting back and forth from one to the other. “Yeah, she’s a great cook. Listen, the bathroom is down the hall, second door on the left. There ought to be some fresh towels on the shelf in there.”

“Cool. Thanks.” Jack took the hint and headed off to the bathroom. Seemed like Jack wasn’t the only one who had picked up on the energy in the air. He grumbled a curse to himself on the way down the hall and promised to make it at least until tomorrow without trying to charm the pants off someone.

* * *

Spencer situated himself on one of the counter stools facing the kitchen. His face was full of curiosity. “What was that?”

Rory flipped her hair out of her face and frowned back at him. “Huh? What was what?”

He pointed in the direction of the hall bath, where the water was beating onto the floor of the tub in a distant hiss. “That.”

“Spence. You’re not making yourself any clearer.”

Spencer shook his head. “OK, maybe it was just me, but…nah, forget it.”

Rory shrugged. “Forgotten.” She leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

Then Rory started slicing a zucchini. Spencer picked up a carrot and began to peel it. He was careful to get all the rough skin off for her before handing it over. They were both silent until she took it from him, her thumb lingering on his hand with a soft circular stroke.

“I know how horrible it must have been for you in that tunnel…the water. I would have been there sooner…I just didn’t know. I feel terrible.”

“Don’t do that. You’re the only reason we got out when we did.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t alone.” Rory glanced down the hall. “He’s not such a prick after all, huh?”

Spencer had to smile at that. “No, he isn’t. I got to know him some while we were down there.”

“I guess you would have. Does he have a boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Spencer tried his best to seem shocked by the question.

“Yeah, a boyfriend.” Rory shifted her hand onto her hip. “Don’t tell me you think he’s straight.”

“The subject didn’t come up, exactly.” He cocked his head and narrowed his gaze, as interested as ever. “What makes you think he’s gay?”

“For one, his eyes like to linger in all the wrong places when you aren’t looking.”

Spencer shook his head. “You’re bullshitting me.”

Rory giggled. “Your gaydar is nonexistent.” Spencer was quiet in response to her jibes and she smiled warmly into his unease. “That doesn’t bother you, does it? That he was checking you out?”

Spencer flew his hands into the air in a gross dismissal of the entire subject. “You’re crazy. He isn’t gay.”

“I’ll ask him.”

“You will not.”

“I won’t be all obvious or anything. I just want to know which one of us is right.”

“Right about what?” Jack said from the edge of the living room. He was clutching a towel around his waist as best he could with his free hand, the other arm tucked awkwardly into his sling. Spencer swallowed and wondered if the hairs standing up on the back of his neck were a result of being caught talking about Jack or the punishment for staring at his six-pack.

A pause hung in the air, heavy with the unspoken words on all their lips. Spencer shook it off, cutting the silence with a nervous rap on the counter. “Dude, I’m sorry. We didn’t get you the pajamas.” He started to get up, but Rory was quicker.

“Babe, don’t. I’ll get them.” She was off to the bedroom and Spencer was left with a tanned, half-naked Jack Rothman staring back at him.

“How’s your ankle?”

“Hurts like fuck. Your shoulder?”

“Nothing a few big-ass pills can’t fix.”

Spencer tried to find a place to put his eyes. They kept drifting back to the slackened fabric at the darkening trail of hair below Jack’s navel. He actually felt his cheeks burn when Jack caught the line of his gaze. Looking away now would only confirm his guilt. Either way, he was screwed.

“I kind of doubt that was what you wanted to ask me, though.”

Spencer looked up at Jack’s smoky grin and immediately turned away in embarrassment. He gazed out the window at fireflies blinking in the night. “Uh, it was nothing.” Shifting gears, he pointed. “Over that foothill is the base of my ridge.”

Jack sauntered nearer and tucked his head toward the window. Spencer cut his eyes in his direction, unable to resist another peek. Under his breath he cursed in aggravation at his feeble willpower.

“What a moon out tonight, huh?” Jack remarked. “I can see the ridge. Must be a gorgeous view in the daylight.”

Spencer nodded. “This place is really special to me.” It surprised him to speak such truth to a near stranger, but Jack didn’t really feel like one. Not anymore.

Jack smiled. “It’s good to have someplace where you can be yourself.” He placed his hand on Spencer’s shoulder, squeezing softly.

It was a welcome gesture and somehow familiar. Since they’d emerged from that godforsaken hole, Spencer had come to appreciate the gentle strength of Jack’s touch.

Jack leaned close to his ear, close enough to feel warm breath on his neck. “You two are luckier than you know.”

Turning toward him, Spencer searched Jack’s eyes for the hidden meaning he’d heard in his words.

Rory appeared behind Jack with the pair of plaid cotton pajama pants Spencer favored for puttering around the house. It did weird things to him, knowing another man would be in his clothes.

“Here you go, Jack,” Rory said with a warm smile, handing them to him. She slipped behind the counter to attend to the simmering veggies and sausage. “I’m going to toss this with garlic and oil and serve it over pasta.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be right back.”

Spencer turned toward her as Jack left them. “What about a shirt?”

Rory shrugged. “It’s too hot. I wish I could go topless too.”

Spencer shook his head. “You’re too much.” The idea of Rory sitting topless at the table along with the two of them, chatting lightly and asking for the parmesan cheese was more than a bit comical, but far from off-putting. He wanted to get up and pull her waist from behind while he told her how much he’d like to have her naked right now, but his damned ankle wouldn’t make that easy. A houseguest in the other room wouldn’t make it so easy either. Maybe if they were really quiet…

Chapter Seven

Jack returned shirtless as predicted, rubbing his flat belly. “I am really starving. I think it’s been like twelve hours since I ate last.”

Rory placed two plates piled with her last-minute culinary concoction on the table. The two men sat on either side of her, both inhaling deeply over their steaming dishes with hungry looks on their faces. She warmed at the thought. It pleased her to provide them sustenance after the ordeal they’d been through. Unable to help herself, she reached out and cupped Spencer’s face and planted a kiss to his cheek. It was a silent thank-you for coming out of the accident OK. He touched her hand and quirked his lips in response, all the “you’re welcome” she needed.

“So what do you think will happen with the tunnel project now?” Rory asked between delicate bites. She’d served herself a small portion, perfectly measured according to the diet she’d taken up the past week.

Jack visibly tensed at the subject and Spencer blew out a long sigh before answering, “Probably going to be some kind of long-drawn-out investigation.”

“Does that mean the project will be on hold?” Rory asked. “Does that mean you’ll be home every night? No more overtime?”

“I hope not, babe. I mean, I don’t really like working doubles, but it will be hard to say goodbye to that overtime cash. Soon as I get the all clear with this ankle, I wanna be back on the clock.”