Jethro blew out air. How could he say no to that cute face? “Okay. Iwon’t be mad.”
She blew hair out of her little eyes. “Promise?”
“I promise.” He held out a hand. “Let me help youup, Ms. Falls.”
She paused and then took his hand, standing and regaining her balance on the icy sidewalk. “Considering your dog just assaulted me, how about youcall me Gemma?”
Was that another joke? He cocked his head. She was full of surprises, wasn’t she? “Fair enough, if you call me Jethro.”
“Jet-ro,” Trudy said happily. “Jet-ro and Rot-co.”
“Okay,” Gemma said, releasing his hand and looking around as she stepped back. “So, well. I guess we shouldn’t tell Barb that her famous rum balls were smashed into the ground?”
Jethro looked her over. Barb was very particular about sharing her rum balls, so she must really like Gemma. “Er, no.”
“Rot-co,” Trudy gurgled, petting his back.“I likes him.”
“Me too,” her mother said gently.
Jethro was liking the dog more than he had a moment ago, and he really liked that Gemma hadn’t corrected her daughter. Maybe he’d misjudged her. Then he caught sight of her car by the entrance. “You didn’t get a new tire?”
“Um, no.” She reached down for her daughter’s hand. “It’s on my list to do. We have to go, baby.” She turnedtoward the car.
Trudy reluctantly released Roscoe’s fur. “Can doggy come?”
“Not today,” Gemma said, stepping gingerly over a clump of dirty ice.
“You have to get a new tire,” Jethro said, following them. “It’s dangerous to ride around with the spare.” What the hell was going on? The woman obviously cared about her daughter, so why would she put the child in danger?
“I know.” Gemma reached the car and lifted Trudy, carrying her around to the passenger side andher car seat.
It hit him. Slowly but smack-dab in the head. The woman didn’t have the money to get a new tire. In fact, she was wearing one of Serena’s skirts beneath her coat. Why didn’t she have money? She was a college professor. “Do you have a gambling problem?” he asked mildly before he could stop himself.
She shut the rear door and glared at him over the roof of the car. “What iswrongwith you?”
“I’m not certain. There’s probably a long list of things,” he admitted, enjoying the color bursting into her cheeks.
She rolled her eyes. Actually rolled them. “No, I don’t gamble. Why do you jump to the worst conclusions about me? About my mothering skills?”
Yes, he had done so twice. He rubbed a hand over his chest. “You look like my mother and she was…unkind.”
“Oh.” Gemma drew back, her eyebrows rising. “Well, okay, then. My mother was unkind and drunk, so I get it. No worries.”
He smiled. “Ah. We’re in the bad mother club. I see.”
“No club.” She looked down and then hurried around to thedriver’s side.
He beat her to the door and opened it for her. “Come on. We’re bonding over our crappy childhoods.”
She sat quickly, tossing her bag to the other seat. “No. No bonding here. None.” She looked straight ahead, her entire body stiff.
He frowned. “Okay. Well, drive carefully.” He gently shut the door, stepping away when she immediately started the engine and began backing out of the spot.
That was odd. Unfortunately for both of them, he’d never been able to ignore a puzzle.
Chapter Six
“You called?” Jethro escaped the rickety elevator, surprised once again it hadn’t dropped him to certain death as he rode it down to the basement office space currently utilized by the Deep Ops Team. Roscoe bounded out at his side, happily running toward the dangerous men who occupied the room.
