Rescue Me (10 page)

But was it even worth it?

Their friendship would go no further than where it was right now. She’d already established that in her mind, and her boredom with their date to night had confirmed it. If Rashad could not handle being strictly friends, then Renee would have to cut all ties. It was as simple as that.

She’d never been one of those women who needed a man on her arm to feel complete, but she was careful about not pushing guys away, either. She knew she had her share of daddy issues, but she refused to let her abusive father color her judgment of men in general.

She’d only had a couple of serious boyfriends in her life, and they had always started out as friends. In the beginning she’d sort of hoped she and Rashad could develop the same type of friendship. But that wasn’t going to happen. Whenever she finally decided to enter a relationship again, she needed to have at least one thing in common with the guy.

“And he should definitely love football,” Renee whispered as she raised the volume on the television a couple of notches. Stuart Scott was about to lay out the matches for tomorrow’s games.

Chapter Eight

 

“Why do I let you get me into these situations, especially at this time of the morning?” Penelope huffed. “Normal people choose to sleep in on a Saturday, you know.”

“This is more fun than wasting away your Saturday morning in bed.” Renee said as she grabbed hold of the brown peg above her head and heaved, scaling up another foot of the rock wall.

“As cold and lonely as my bed is, I’d still rather be there than hanging off the side of this stupid wall,” Penelope said.

“C’mon, it’s not that bad.”

“I’m guessing this harness thingy doesn’t have your underwear riding up your butt,” Penelope deadpanned.

Renee laughed so hard she nearly lost her footing. “I am so going to get you for that,” she warned, still laughing.
“We only have a few feet to go before we’re done. You can take the stairs down.”

They made it up the rock wall. Renee held back just a bit so Penelope could climb onto the ledge ahead of her. Her friend was waiting with her hands on her hips when Renee finally pulled herself up into a standing position.

“You do realize only insane people engage in these types of activities for ‘fun,’ don’t you?” Penelope made air quotes after the word
fun
.

“In addition to being great exercise,” Renee said, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair, “it’s also an excellent stress reducer.”

“Ah, you see, hon, that’s where we differ. For a girl like me, hanging off the side of a rock
causes
stress, even if it’s a fake rock with a padded floor at the bottom. Besides, there is not enough stress in the world that will send me to doing some of the things you do to relieve stress.”

“Please, with all the stuff going on these days, I’d have to go skydiving to release the adrenaline stored up in these muscles. Come on.” She motioned for Penelope to follow her down the staircase that ran along the backside of the rock wall.

“What’s going on?” Penelope followed close on her heels.

“Don’t worry about it,” Renee said.

“You know me better than to think I’d let you brush me off,” Penelope snorted. When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, her coworker grabbed her by the arm and pulled Renee around to face her. “You dragged me out of bed at six in the morning; the least you can do is bare your soul.”

“Such a small price to pay,” Renee chuckled.

“Spill it.”

“Really, it isn’t anything serious.”

Penelope just stared, her expression unrelenting.

“Oh, all right,” Renee said. “Can we at least talk about this over a round of kickboxing?”

“Uh oh, this must be big.”

“You asked for it,” Renee reminded her. Grabbing a couple of padded gloves from the rack that ran the length of the gym’s wall, she dragged Penelope to the center of the floor.

Fashioned in kneepads and protective headgear, Penelope held up her gloved hands. “Come on, talk to Mama.”

Debating the wisdom of
baring her soul
, Renee asked, “Remember the copy machine guy from the other day?”

“Oh yeah. I found out he’s little Jasmine Holmes’s father. The one who lost his wife in an accident a few years back.”

“Yeah, I know,” Renee said.

“And I found out he is still single.”

“Yeah.” Renee executed a round house kick. “I know.”

Penelope gave her a hard look, her eyes in an accusing squint. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Renee said.

“Renee.” Penelope sounded like a mother who knew her guilty two year old was lying about stealing a cookie before dinner.

“I swear, nothing happened.”

“But you want something to happen.”

“Oh yeah,” Renee answered. She threw three successive punches into Penelope’s gloved hand.

“Take it easy,” Penelope said. “Why don’t we just talk before you kill me?”

“I’m sorry.” Renee wiped sweat from her brow. She took a swig of water from the bottle she’d placed a few feet away from them on the floor. “I kind of ended things with Rashad,” she confessed.

“When?” Penelope tore the cushioned helmet from her head.

“Last night. I didn’t exactly end it, but I’m going to.”

“Why?”

Renee sent her a blunt look.

Penelope sucked in a breath. “Copier guy? You gave it up to copier guy? When?”

“Please,” Renee snorted. “When was the last time I gave
anything
up? But I wanted to,” she admitted. “I still want to. Really,
really
bad.”

“I’m trying to decide whether I should be upset since I specifically told you I wanted him, or if I should do a little happy dance for you.”

“He is so not the type of man a girl would just hand over to her friend. So if you want to fight over him, be my guest. Just remember I’m in much better shape than you are.”

“Who are you telling? You’d kick my butt from here to Thursday.”

“Yes, I would,” Renee laughed.

“When did you get all possessive over this man you just met?”

“Since he saw me naked.”

Penelope’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “It was an accident,” Renee explained. “He came by yesterday to look over the damage to the house, and he walked in on me as I was getting dressed for my date with Rashad.”

“Oh my God, I would have died.”

“I know!”

“
I
would have died. You have no reason to. If I had your body I would have given him a tour of the house completely naked. I, on the other hand, have this muffin top to hide.”

“You do not have a muffin top,” Renee chided.

“Thanks to you. I guess I shouldn’t complain about these six a.m. workouts anymore, just in case some hot guy decides to barge in on me when I’m naked. What am I talking about?” Penelope snorted. “That stuff never happens to me.”

“I’m starting to regret that it happened to me,” Renee said. “I can’t stop thinking about him. My body has been in that hot, just ask me to strip and I’d do it in an instant mode ever since he walked in on me.”

“Oh, all hot and tingly. I remember that feeling,” Penelope said with a wistful sigh. “It’s been a long time since I felt that way.”

“Me, too, which is what scares me. Granted, I only went out with Rashad a few times, but I wasn’t tempted to so much as take off my shoes around him. Alex Holmes comes over to assess Aunt Lorna’s house, and I’m ready to drag him on the sofa and rip his clothes off. It’s crazy.”

“It’s not crazy, it’s instant attraction, baby. Don’t fight it.”

“I can’t allow anything to happen with him. He’s the parent of one of my students.”

“You’re his daughter’s librarian. What kind of favoritism can you show?”

“Not the point. It’s unethical.”

“Whatever.” Penelope waved her off. “If you want him, you’d better go after him because a horny single gal like me will be waiting to scoop him up.”

“Keep your hands off,” Renee laughed. “He’s coming over again this morning, along with a crew from his construction company.”

“Wow, he works fast, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, they’re going to start with demo.”

“Well, this is what I suggest.” Penelope clasped her hands around Renee’s. “Bypass the showers here, invite him in the trailer for his morning coffee, and do a little innocent striptease.”

“You are no help at all.”

“Oh, come on. You have to do this. For both of us, because I expect you to give me the play by play when you’re done.”

“You are worse than a guy,” Renee laughed. “Are you coming over to watch football?”

“It depends on what time I finish with the meeting with
my
contractor. How did I get stuck with a sixty year old grandpa with a beer belly for a contractor, and you get Alex Holmes? Life is so unfair.”

“Don’t envy me just yet. I’ll most likely end up making a fool of myself. Let’s get our stuff together. I want to make sure I’m home before the work crew arrives.”

“Take my advice,” Penelope said. “Wait to shower.”

Alex stopped Jasmine as she came up the hallway from her bedroom. He pointed to her feet. “Where are the pink socks I laid out for you?”

“I don’t want to wear the pink socks,” Jasmine said in that whiny voice Alex had heard more than he had the patience for this morning.

“Jasmine, get the pink socks.”

“But I want to wear my SpongeBob socks.”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to wear your pink jumpsuit. Those SpongeBob socks are yellow and blue. Now, if you want to wear SpongeBob, go in the closet and get your jeans and that yellow shirt Uncle Eli bought you.”

“But I want to wear my jumpsuit.” She stomped her feet.

“Jasmine!” Alex tried hard to keep his voice at a tolerable level. His shoulder had been hurting the hell out of him since yesterday, and had kept him up most of the night, along with that stupid European history paper he’d been working on for a week. He wasn’t up for dealing with a tantrum.

“I’m putting an end to this right now. I’ve already ironed the jumpsuit. Put on your pink socks.” She started to speak, but Alex stopped her. “I don’t want to hear it. Get the socks.”

Her bottom lip poked out and her eyes welled with tears, but Alex held his ground. His daughter had inherited her mother’s manipulative streak, along with her light brown eyes and naturally curly hair. Jasmine could turn those tears on and off like a faucet, and had learned to use them to her advantage. As hard it was to see his little girl cry, Alex was learning to refrain from giving in to her demands. The battle over the socks would probably be just the tip of today’s iceberg.

A car horn blew.

“Jasmine,” he called. “That’s Kayla and her mom. You’re going to be late for Campfire Girls.”

Jasmine trudged up the hallway, her pink and white backpack hanging over one arm. Alex captured her by the ponytail and slipped the backpack from her arm. He unzipped it, took out the SpongeBob socks, and stuffed them in the front pocket of his jeans.

Sneakiness. Another trait she’d inherited from Chantal.

Alex shook his head. The girl was only six years old. If she was already trying to pull the wool over his eyes, how would he get through the teenage years?

He followed Jasmine as she stomped out of the house to the silver SUV in his driveway. Leslie Morgan sat behind the wheel, her daughter, Kayla, in the front seat.

Alex took a deep breath, gearing up for this morning’s encounter with the Queen of Horny. The newly divorced Mrs. Morgan had made her feelings more than clear when she’d come up to him at Jasmine and Kayla’s first softball game and not so innocently brushed her hand across his fly while handing him this season’s game schedule. If he ever had the urge to engage in a little casual sex, Alex knew of at least one willing participant.

“Thanks for picking Jasmine up for the meeting,” Alex said by way of greeting as he walked up to the SUV. He looked over to the passenger side and gave Kayla a wave.

“My pleasure,” Leslie Morgan said. Her eyes traveled from the top of his head to his slipper clad feet in a slow, blatantly sexual perusal. He needed a shower after that dirty look.

“I’ll pick Jasmine up around four?” Alex confirmed.

“That’s fine. These girls have no problem keeping themselves occupied for hours on end,” she said. In a lowered voice, she continued. “If you want to come by a little earlier, I have ways to keep you occupied, too.” She ran her tongue along her lips.

Alex backed up a step. “Uh, yeah. Okay, then. I guess you
all better get going before you’re late for the meeting.” He peered at Jasmine sitting in the back of the SUV. “You have on your seat belt, Pumpkin?”

“Yes, Daddy,” came her reply.

Leslie put the SUV in reverse. “See you later, Daddy.” She whispered the last word, her mouth tipping up in a sensual smile as she backed out of the driveway.

“Lord, have mercy,” Alex said under his breath.

This celibacy thing wasn’t easy, and women like Leslie Morgan made it a hundred times more difficult. Just because he’d chosen to abstain from sex didn’t mean it wasn’t on his mind a hell of a lot. And after yesterday, it was about the
only
thing on his mind. The thought of Renee’s wet, naked body wrestled a groan from deep in Alex’s throat. He ran his hand down his face, clenching his eyes shut as the image of her incredible body assaulted him.

“Just stop thinking about her,” Alex pleaded with his brain.

As if that would happen any time soon. He needed to head back in and get ready to meet the twelve man crew that would be at her aunt’s house in another half hour. If everyone who’d signed on to volunteer showed up, it wouldn’t take his men long to get through the demolition. They could possibly start the washing down process and dehumidifying the house to rid it of the toxic mold by next weekend.

The phone was ringing when Alex reentered the house. He picked up the cordless in the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter.

“This is Alex,” he answered.

“Hey, man, have you heard from Mama?” came Eli’s voice over the line.

“Not since yesterday. Why? What’s up?”

“I called her a couple of times last night, and then again this morning, but she’s not answering the house phone or her cell phone. She asked me to check the hot water heater.”

The apple was arrested halfway to Alex’s mouth. “What do you know about hot water heaters?”

“I’ve helped you on enough home repair jobs. And you shouldn’t be doing that kind of work.”

“I’ll stop by there on my way home later today,” Alex said, cradling the phone between his ear and left shoulder. “I can look at a hot water heater without injuring myself,” he snorted before taking a bite out of his apple.

“Where are you going today?” Eli asked, and Alex realized he’d said too much.

“Nowhere,” he answered.

“Alex.” Eli’s voice was filled with accusation.

Alex emitted a long suffering sigh. He was not up for hearing his brother’s mouth this morning, but Eli wouldn’t stop until he got the information he sought.

“I’ve got a crew going out to look at a house today,” Alex said. “One of the teachers at Jazzy’s school got ripped off by a crooked contractor. I offered to put one of the volunteer crews on it to help her and her aunt rebuild.”