When he got to the apartment, he bounded up the stairs and rapped lightly on the door, wondering if he shouldn’t be taking the first flight out of town instead.
Dana looked surprised to see him. “I thought you were going to call first.”
“I said I’d be here at eight. Is Sammy ready?”
“He’s not here.”
Jason’s gaze narrowed. “What do you mean he’s not here?” he asked slowly, fighting to keep a lid on his temper.
She held up a hand. “Don’t get angry. He’s just downstairs. He’ll be back in a minute. I want to talk to you before you leave, anyway.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and waited for the explosion of outrage over his arrogant interference. Dana watched him for a minute, then said, “I’m sorry.”
He blinked. “Sorry?”
Her smile was rueful. “Don’t sound so shocked. You know perfectly well I owed you an apology. I overreacted at the school this afternoon. You were just trying to help. I don’t know why you’d want to get mixed up in this, but I’m grateful.”
He brushed an errant hair away from her face. “Why did my wanting to help upset you so much in the first place?”
As if to escape his touch, she began to pace. “I thought you were convinced I couldn’t handle it myself. Since I was already feeling like a failure, it was like rubbing salt in a wound. I’ve done a lot of thinking since then. If you can accomplish something with Sammy that I can’t, then that has to be my first priority. I won’t interfere.”
Jason heard the stoic resolve and sensed the deep hurt behind it. “Dana,” he said, stepping in front of her and taking her hands, “you have not failed anyone, least of all your brother.”
She regarded him anxiously. “Then why does it feel that way?”
“Because parents—and for all intents and purposes that’s what you are—parents always seem to blame themselves when things go wrong for their kids. I just spent a couple of hours with my grandfather, who’s feeling guilty for mistakes he made years ago with my father. Sammy isn’t a child anymore. He’s making choices for himself, choices you can’t control.”
“But they’re such bad choices.”
“Yes,” he agreed, seeing no reason to sugarcoat the obvious. “And between us, we are going to make him see that.”
Uncertain whose need was greater, he pulled her into his arms and simply held her. At first she was stiff, but then she melted against him, her arms tightening around his waist, her cheek resting against his chest. Jason felt the distinct stirring of desire at the press of her breasts, the warm brush of her thighs. As if he was no longer in control, his hands slid down her back to cup her bottom more tightly against him. He felt an immediate rush of heat and drew in a ragged breath. This felt far too right. What would happen when he could no longer get his common sense to outweigh this attraction that was growing day by day? What worried him most was that it was deepening on all levels, not just the physical. As he became more and more entangled in Dana’s life, he saw her strengths more clearly. She was beginning to bring out traits in him that he hadn’t even known existed. Just being here tonight was a perfect example, but spending an evening with Sammy was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
Jason tilted Dana’s chin up and gazed into her eyes. “I want you,” he said bluntly, so there could be no mistaking his intentions.
Her eyes widened. “Where did that come from?”
Though his body ached for her, he tried to laugh off the desire. He loosened his hold, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to release her. “I’ll be damned if I know,” he admitted. “Sometimes I’m just as stunned by it as you are. Something tells me that sooner or later we’re going to have to deal with these feelings, though. We can’t go on denying them.”
Dana wasn’t sure whether her heart was hammering from Jason’s nearness or from his promise. It was something she wasn’t likely to discover tonight, either.
Jason stepped away just as the door opened and Sammy burst in. His glance went from Jason to Dana and back again. For an instant he looked as if he wanted to make an issue out of the embrace he’d interrupted, but apparently he read something in Jason’s expression that stopped him. Dana was grateful for that. She didn’t think she could stand another outburst on a day that had been filled with emotional peaks and valleys.
Though he kept one hand on her waist, Jason focused his attention on Sammy. “You ready, pal?”
“Where are we going?”
“To the gym. If you feel like fighting, I’m going to show you a way to do it that will keep you out of trouble.”
Dana saw the reluctant spark of interest in Sammy’s eyes and heard the eagerness in his tone when he asked, “You and me are gonna fight?”
“That’s right,” Jason said.
Somehow the prospect of her brother and Jason going at it tooth and nail did not strike Dana as a wildly terrific idea. Jason would expect to play by the rules. Sammy would not. “I’m coming, too,” she announced, grabbing her jacket.
Both men stared at her. “Why?” Sammy asked. “You don’t like it when I fight.”
“That’s right. Besides, I will not have either of you knowing moves that I can’t counter,” she said, giving Jason a meaningful look.
“Dana,” he protested.
“Don’t even try to stop me. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll get my things.”
As she left the room, Jason and Sammy exchanged a what-do-you-expect-from-a-woman sort of look.
“Okay,” Jason said with obvious reluctance. “Let’s go.”
At the sight of the seedy gym, Dana began to have second
