Jack. Never losing his patience with the ever-talking, constantly-in-motion boy as they waited in lines or made their way through the crowds. It had been more than Erin expected, much more. For just today, she had allowed herself to pretend they were a family and realized that Jack wasn’t the only one who missed having a male figure in their lives.
Tony elbowed his way through the restaurant. “Where do kids get their energy?” he asked as he placed their trays on the table.
Erin helped Jack position his wheelchair and then slid on the bench beside Tony. “He doesn’t look energetic now.”
Jack, stuffing chicken fingers and fries into his mouth, looked like he could fall asleep chewing. His eyes were heavy and even the din of people talking and bustling past their table didn’t faze him.
Erin’s legs throbbed and muscles she didn’t even know she owned screamed in protest from the hours they had spent racing from one side of the park to the other, not wanting to miss a single thing. She leaned down and rubbed the painful knot in the back of her calf.
“You okay?” Tony asked, nodding his head at her calf. “I can get rid of that cramp for you.”
“No, thanks. It’s okay.”
“Look, trust me.”
Trust him? He had no idea how impossible that would be.
“Pull your toes toward your nose. It releases the cramp. When you get home, massage your calf and put a warm compress on the muscles. It should help.”
She pulled her toes upward and the seizing pain subsided.
He hid his grin at the surprised look on her face.
“So how do you know so much about leg cramps, Detective?”
Tony shrugged. “Played football in college. Dealt with a couple dozen of them.”
She smiled up at him and the bright sparkle of her green eyes stole his breath away. Wispy red curls framed her oval face, cascading in waves over her shoulders and down her back. Full, rosy lips drew his attention. To his surprise he found himself wondering what they’d feel like pressed against his own.
Tony gave himself a mental shake. He was here to do a favor for a boy. Nothing more. He had no time in his schedule or a place in his life for a woman—and most definitely not a single mom with a kid. He needed a distraction and he needed it now. When he glanced across the table, he laughed out loud. Jack, his head propped on his elbow, his mouth hanging open, was sound asleep.
“Looks like Jack’s down for the count.” Tony grinned. “I thought if he didn’t wind down soon, I’d be the one sitting in that wheelchair with him on my lap.”
Erin laughed and the delicate, musical sound made him think of wind chimes in a gentle breeze.
“Maybe we ought to call it a day and head back toward the buses. What do you say?” Tony asked.
“My thoughts exactly.” She gathered the empty food containers and stacked them on her tray.
Tony didn’t want to be but he was drawn to her. Despite his internal alarms telling him to run to the nearest exit. Despite the knowledge that he had nothing he could offer her. This type of woman wanted commitment, permanence. Two words not in his vocabulary.
Yet she intrigued him. She was an enigma. Vulnerable yet strong. Feminine yet fiercely independent. He found the combination intoxicating. He slid his arm around the back of her chair and lifted the edge of her jade silk scarf, letting the delicate fabric slide through his fingers. “This color looks good on you, brings out the color of your eyes.”
“Thank you.” Her words came out in a husky whisper. Her pulse drummed against the slenderness of her throat. Erin stood and began clearing the table. “Jack had a wonderful day,” she said, keeping her eyes averted and her head down. “I don’t know how to repay you.”
“How about dinner Friday night?” Tony winced the second the words flew out of his mouth.
Erin almost spilled the tray. She set it back down, took a deep breath and faced him. “Nothing personal, Tony. You’re a great guy.”
Tony didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or be offended.
“Ouch,” he said. “Men know those words are the kiss of death.”
“You’ve been really good to Jack…and to me,” Erin said. “But I’m not looking for a relationship right now. And even if I was…which I’m definitely not…I have an ironclad rule. I don’t date cops.”
“Rules are meant to be broken,” Tony replied.
Wasn’t that the truth? Wasn’t he breaking his own ironclad rule to avoid all women with strings attached? No one had more strings than a single mom. He cocked his head and studied her. “A man must have hurt you deeply.” Maybe that was what pulled him. Just his protective instincts rising up. He could deal with that. Before she could answer, he said, “It doesn’t matter. I’m not asking you for a date.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Dinner Friday night is not a date?”
“Nope. It’s another opportunity for you to shower me with thanks for a job well done. It’s a chance for me to talk about myself to a captive audience. It’s even an opportunity to discuss world events and the weather. But it certainly isn’t a date.”
His lopsided grin almost broke her reserve. She ducked her head so she didn’t have to look into those gorgeous brown eyes. She liked this guy. And she didn’t want to.
She carried the tray to the trash. Lost in thought, she didn’t notice a person trying to squeeze past until it was too late. He slammed into her with the force and speed of a defensive football player. Making a frantic grab for the nearest post to break her fall, she glanced over her shoulder. The man not only hadn’t slowed down, he had already disappeared. Steadying herself, she vowed to pay closer attention to her surroundings and keep her mind off of Tony before she got plowed over.
When she returned to their table, Tony’s silence made her think he had accepted her answer. Erin bent down to gently wake Jack, but before she did, she stole a glance in Tony’s direction. When their eyes met, he did the only thing he could have done to stop her dead in her tracks. He winked.
“He did what?” Carol asked as they sat together behind the nurse’s desk in the emergency room.
Erin chuckled. “The egotistical, know-it-all winked at me.”
“Are you going to go out with him Friday night?”
“No. He can wink all he wants. A rule is a rule.”
Carol finished writing her nurse’s note. “The nerve of the man. Well, that’s it, then. You have to kill him. And there’s not a jury in the world that would convict you.” She leaned over Erin’s chair and stage-whispered in her ear, “Because they would be too busy finding you certifiably insane.”
“Ms. Erin?” Lenny Richards, one of the hospital phlebotomists, interrupted their conversation. “I’m headed to the lab. Call me if you need me.”
“Sure, Lenny.” Erin smiled at the man and his face lit up. She watched him walk to the elevator and a pang of sympathy hit her. Nature had played a cruel joke on him. Deeply pitted skin left over from adolescent acne coupled with ears sticking out from his head seemed harsh enough. But his mouth didn’t quite fit his face. He held his lips slightly parted so often she wondered if he could close them.
“The guy gives me the creeps,” Carol said.
“Says the Christian, Bible-toting woman in the room,” Erin chastised.
“I’m polite when he’s around. I don’t speak negatively about him to anyone—”
Erin raised an eyebrow.
“Except to you. And you don’t count because you’re my best friend. I tell you everything.”