With just one kiss.
Pierce felt alive, for the first time in a year, and the change was more than welcome.
What would it be like to make love to Jacquie?
He really wanted to find out.
Even if there was a son.
“No, Cole, I’m fine,” she said, apparently as oblivious to Pierce as he was fixed on her. “I just stayed to work out.” She laughed and shook her head, her voice filled with affection. “No, I’m not home yet, which is why I didn’t answer that phone. I’ll call you when I get there.” She paused to listen, a smile tugging at the corner of her luscious mouth. Pierce forced himself to look away, get up, brush himself off. He unlaced his other glove and took it off. Slowly. He didn’t want to leave.
He didn’t want to eavesdrop, either, but he really wanted to know more.
It had been a while since he’d felt conflicted about anything and that was interesting, too.
“Give me an hour,” Jacquie said, then laughed a little as she shook her head. “Yes, an hour. An entire hour.” She listened for a minute. “Because I have to clean up, that’s why, then get all the way uptown.” She glanced toward Pierce and smiled, clearly expecting him to understand.
He didn’t, not really. No one had checked on him in a long time. He hadn’t checked on anyone since he’d managed his team, and that had been about ensuring a mission’s success. He guessed that the son was protective of his mom, which was a nice thing. It was responsible. Pierce respected the impulse. How old was Jacquie’s son? Where was he? He was calling in and had expected her to be at her apartment, so he must not live with her.
Maybe he lived with the father.
Maybe he wasn’t a young child.
“Why would I be in a hurry? It’s not that late.” Jacquie’s smile warmed Pierce all over again and it wasn’t even for him. “Look, Cole, I’ll call you then,” she said with patience. “Don’t get stirred up. Please. Everything is fine.” She paused, nodded, then spoke firmly. “I’m fine. You don’t need to launch an intervention. I’m the adult, remember. I’ll call you. Promise!” Then she ended the call and shook her head. “My kids think I can’t survive without them, which is kind of funny if you think about it.”
“Kids?” Pierce echoed. She had more than one?
“Four,” she confirmed with a shake of her head and he blinked. He had the urge to run, but fought against it and stayed. When Jacquie continued, he was glad he had. “All flown from the nest, though. I’m on my own again and it is strange.”
Pierce was relieved. Her kids were adults. They wouldn’t walk in on anything. They didn’t live at home anymore, so they wouldn’t be demanding her attention. She was effectively single, just like him.
Unless she was still with the father. Pierce wasn’t interested in even a fling with a married woman. He had principles.
“Weird in a good way or a bad way?” he asked, gathering data.
She shrugged. “Both. I was ready to have some privacy and looking forward to it, but now that they’re gone, the apartment feels too quiet.” She shuddered and spoke softly. “Filled with ghosts.”
Pierce took encouragement from that. It seemed to imply that the father was gone. “You must have been a young mother,” he said, watching her closely.
“I was, but thank you for that.” Jacquie laughed, her eyes dancing as she surveyed him. “I didn’t expect flattery.”
“It’s not flattery, just an observation. They must be adults to have left home and you don’t look old enough to have four kids over eighteen.”
“Thank you, but I am.” She smiled at him and he found himself watching her mouth. The air sizzled between them and he guessed that he wasn’t the only one remembering that kiss—or wanting another. “We married young.”
We. Was the husband past tense? Pierce waited.
Jacquie stepped closer as she counted them on her fingers. “Ashley is twenty-seven, and in LA; Brandon is twenty-five and lives in Seattle with his girlfriend; Maddy is in London, England, for a year with her work and is twenty-three; and my baby Cole at twenty-one is in Chicago at med school.”
Pierce was even more relieved. Not only did they all live elsewhere, they lived far away. Maybe her kids weren’t that much of a complication.
But the father. What had happened to him?
Pierce couldn’t bring himself to ask. It seemed too personal a question, too intrusive. He could check the database of the city register once he got home. That wouldn’t be unreasonable.
Jacquie was studying him while she redid her ponytail, her expression more serious. Pierce guessed that she was aware of his concerns. Had his reaction shown? He was usually good at remaining impassive, although he had been surprised. Maybe she was intuitive.
“Do you have kids?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. Never married.” He sounded emphatic, but he didn’t care. He had no ties and she might as well know it.
Jacquie smiled again. “That doesn’t necessarily mean you have no kids.”
Pierce gave her an intent look. “For me it does.” If they differed in this view, he would walk away and forget that kiss.
“Mitchell was like that, too.” Jacquie’s gaze was assessing. “My husband died when Cole was a baby. We married young, had kids quickly, then I ended up raising them on my own. It’s been twenty years.” She watched him, gauging his reaction, and must have seen his relief. “Or is that too much information?”
Pierce smiled this time. “I think it’s exactly the right amount of information.”
“That’s what I was hoping.”
“It must have been hard,” he managed to say, having no idea what it would have been like.
“Sometimes it was. I won’t lie about that.” She frowned a little. “And it was surprisingly lonely, being the only
