“When I unlocked the front door, my dad was on the living room couch with the town librarian.I recognized her right away, and I’ll never forget the look on his face.She was straddling his lap, half-naked.He pushed her off and jumped to his feet so fast she went sprawling on the floor.”
The corner of Paul’s mouth tipped up.
Vanessa smiled ruefully.“My dad grabbed a pillow and held it over his lap even though he was fully dressed.His girlfriend was on the floor, topless and dazed, with her skirt hiked up and her legs in the air.And he coveredhimselfwith the pillow.”
Paul threw back his head and laughed.
She gave his shoulder a playful punch.“There’s more.”
“What?”
“The pillow was decorative, with a religious quote.It said:He Is Risen.”
Paul kept laughing, and Vanessa laughed with him.She didn’t forgive her father for his philandering ways, and she didn’t blame her mother for causing the rift between them.She just laughed, because it was funny, and she was desperate to release some of the tension inside her.When she fell quiet again, she found him staring at her.
“He told me it was the worst moment of his life,” she said.
“Because he hurt you, or because it ended his marriage?”
“Because he hurt me.The marriage was already over.”
“Why was it over?”
“According to him, my mom didn’t love him anymore.She stopped sleeping with him.He went to other women for comfort.”
Paul sipped his beer in silence.
“Are your parents still together?”
“In a way,” he said.
“In what way?”
His gaze met hers.He didn’t like talking about himself.She wondered if he’d been this cagey before he’d gotten shot, or if the experience had changed him.Getting personal information out of him was like pulling teeth.
“They’re buried together,” he said.“Side by side.”
Chapter Fourteen
Paul didn’t knowwhat the hell he was doing with Vanessa Nava.
Hadn’t he vowed to keep his distance from her?He was in hiding from a criminal organization that took no prisoners.He had a target on his back.This was not the time to start a romantic relationship.It wasn’t the time to engage in a quick and dirty affair, either.And yet, here he was, lusting after her like a horny schoolboy and trying to score points with her by sharing intimate details.He never talked about his parents’ deaths, not even with Kyle.He didn’t want to talk about it now.
Vanessa’s brown eyes widened with sympathy.“I’m sorry,” she murmured, patting his knee.
He shrugged and finished his beer.It was his cue to leave, but he didn’t leave.He watched her walk into the kitchen for two more bottles.Her denim shorts revealed a lot of leg and cupped her cute ass.He didn’t avert his gaze as she bent forward and reached into the fridge.After popping off the tops, she returned to his side.
“How did it happen?”she asked.
“Car accident.”
“Was it a long time ago?”
“Five years,” he said, leaning back into the couch cushions.
She gave him an expectant look.She wanted to hear the story and connect with him on an emotional level.He wanted to connect with her on a sexual level, without revealing too much about his past.But he understood women well enough to know that opening up to her would make her more receptive to his advances.
“I grew up on a cattle ranch in Katy,” he said.
