Susan Mallery - Lip Service

He hadn’t missed his parents that much, although he’d found himself feeling lost when they died. Maybe it had been the realization that he had no other family. Skye had been there for him and at the time, it had been enough.

“You want to go fast?” Erin asked, looking eager.

Mitch found himself wanting to see what he and Bullet could do.

“Sure,” he said.

She leaned over her horse and whispered something. The animal shot ahead. Mitch tightened his muscles and Bullet raced after her. The wind blew in his face. Despite his amputation, he stayed on the horse without a problem.

Freedom, he thought, grateful for the chance to experience this again. He owed Erin for pushing. Owed and would find a way to pay her back. He would also pay back Skye, but for very different reasons.

SKYE WALKED into the Calico Café and found both Lexi and Dana, their friend and Titanville deputy, already waiting.

“Where’s Izzy?” Lexi asked, then slapped her menu on the table. “Don’t tell me you two still aren’t speaking. What’s going on there?”

Dana picked up her coffee. “Let me guess. It’s a man.”

“Sort of,” Skye said, feeling defensive. “I told her about breakfast. She’s the one who said she didn’t want to come.”

“Who’s the guy?” Dana asked.

“He’s not important.”

“But you’re fighting over him?”

“I know.” Skye slid into her seat and nodded when the waitress brought over a pot of coffee. She waited until hers had been poured to say, “I’m tired of Izzy assuming she’s the only guy magnet in the family. I could be one if I wanted.”

Lexi and Dana glanced at each other, then at her.

“Do you want to be one?” Lexi asked.

“That’s not the point.”

“I’m thinking therapy or medication,” Dana said. “Maybe both.”

Skye managed a smile. “I know it sounds crazy. I can’t really explain it. T. J. Boone is-”

“I know T.J.,” Lexi said, looking confused. “I went to high school with him. He lives in Dallas.” She turned to Dana. “You remember him, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh. He’s pretty enough, if you’re into blond guys.”

“This isn’t about his appearance,” Skye said primly. “It’s about principle.”

“The principle of being right?” Dana asked.

Being in law enforcement and basically sensible to her bones, Dana could be counted on to get to the heart of a matter. Normally Skye appreciated that in her friend. Just not this morning.

“Jed is trying to hook up T.J. and me,” Skye said. “Izzy talked to him and then informed me that there’s no way he’s actually interested in me as a person. And that T.J. is wild about her because who wouldn’t be. The way she tells it is that she’s dating him to protect me and, I guess, to save me from myself.” She took a sip of the coffee. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

Lexi shifted in her chair. “There is a chance that Izzy’s intentions are good and that she really is worried about you.”

“Maybe.”

“She’s your sister.”

“I know that.”

Dana leaned forward. “What she’s trying to say is maybe you should be the mature one in all this.”

“Not what I want to hear.”

“Do you even like the guy?” Lexi asked.

“He’s charming and funny and making a serious effort to win me over. I should like him.”

“But?” Dana asked.

“Can we change the subject? Let’s talk about something easier to define, like our evil half brother. Any luck finding out Garth’s source with the media?”

“Not yet,” Lexi said. “Cruz has hired a detective who’s digging around, but so far we’re not even close. If we could just find a way to link him to something, anything illegal, we could call in the police.”

“Speaking for Titanville’s finest,” Dana said. “I’m ready to be called.”

“I’ve spoken with that woman who filed the lawsuit against my spa,” Lexi said. “She later withdrew it. She’s moved away and despite the fact that she’s not working for Garth anymore, she won’t testify against him. She won’t even admit she filed the suit on his request. It’s so frustrating.”

“But he’s good,” Dana said. “You have to give him that.”

“Yeah, good at destroying us,” Skye said. “Why couldn’t we have a normal half brother? One who wanted to bring us flowers and eat fried chicken? Instead we have someone who is plotting our destruction. It’s like being in a James Bond movie but without all the cool gadgets.”

“Or James Bond,” Dana said.

“That, too.”

“I want to get my hands on him,” Dana said.

Lexi looked confused. “James Bond?”

“Garth.”

“He’s not your type,” Skye teased.

“Tell me about it.”

“And speaking of types.” Lexi eyed Skye’s coffee but reached for her juice, then turned to Dana. “Are you seeing anyone?”

A few weeks ago they’d had a girls’ night helping Dana recover from being dumped. At the time she’d made it clear she was far more upset about the guy leaving her rather than the pain of being left.

“I’m between men,” Dana said. “I’m going to keep it that way for a while.”

“What about you?” Lexi asked Skye. “Are you still going to see T.J.?”

“I don’t know. He’s very nice.”

“Words every man longs to hear,” Dana muttered. “Nice is the death of hope in a relationship. If he’s not making you all tingly, you should leave him for Izzy to play with.”

“Maybe,” she said, knowing she couldn’t tell them the truth. If Jed was serious about her getting together with T.J. then he would pressure her in ways her sister and her friend couldn’t begin to understand. That even now, as a mother herself and a woman with a relatively successful life, she was still afraid of losing her father’s affection.

No matter how many times she told herself she wasn’t that ten-year-old little girl standing over her mother’s dead body, she couldn’t shake the fear of being abandoned yet again. She hated the part of herself that feared Jed, but she also couldn’t ignore it.

“SO, YOU’RE THE JACKASS Joss told me about.”

Mitch looked up from the computer to see a tall man standing in the doorway of his office. The guy was probably in his mid-forties, fit and tanned.

“Who are you?” he asked, already suspecting the truth. Joss wouldn’t be happy just taking away his prosthesis. He would want to make a point, as well.

“I’m Alex.” The guy walked into the office and took a seat without being asked. “Joss asked me to stop by and talk to you.”

Mitch could see both the guy’s hands, so he must have lost a leg. “Which one?” he asked.

“Right. Makes it a bitch to drive. Mid-thigh. I was a kid, driving drunk.” Alex shrugged. “It happens. At least I had the excuse of being a teenager. What’s yours?”

“I fell on a bomb.”

“I don’t mean for losing your leg. I mean for acting like a jerk. From what I hear, you beat yourself up pretty bad last week. No matter how hard you push yourself, you’re not going to grow back your leg.”

Mitch’s mild interest turned into annoyance. “Thanks for the greeting card’s worth of advice. I’m busy.”

“Too bad. I’m not leaving until I’ve said what I came here to say.”

Mitch crossed his arms over his chest. “You think you can make me listen?”

“Probably, but think about it. Two cripples wrestling on the floor, prostheses and crutches flying. Do you really want people to see you like that?”

The image was so clear, Mitch found himself fighting a smile. “It might damage my tough-guy image.”

“You think?”

“So why are you here?” he asked, although he already had a good idea.

“To talk to you about what it’s really like, long term. To tell you that it’s going to get better, but not until you accept that your life has changed. Beating yourself up, mentally and physically, won’t make it go away. You’ve got to be smart about the prosthesis.”

“Assuming Joss gives it back to me.”

“He will. But take it slow this time. You have to adjust.”

“Slow isn’t my favorite speed.”

“It won’t have to be for long. You have sex yet?”

The question surprised Mitch. “Yes.”

“Good. Some guys put it off. You need to get back on the horse, so to speak.”

Mitch thought about Skye and the way she’d lost herself in the moment. “It wasn’t with a horse.”

Alex laughed. “I didn’t think so. Did you get on top?”

Mitch hesitated. “No. I wasn’t sure…”

“You’ll have to practice. If you’re not in a relationship, wait until you’re comfortable with the lady. It takes a bit to get the leverage right.” Alex grinned. “But it’s worth it.”

Mitch’s imagination went back to Skye, but instead of picturing them outside, on the ground, he imagined a bed and her below him, breathing hard, her eyes sinking closed. It didn’t seem to matter how angry he was with her, he still wanted her.

“You’re not the only one going through this,” Alex said, pulling Mitch back from his fantasy. “Everyone around you is adjusting, too. Your friends and family don’t know what to expect or how to act. Should they help? Get out of the way? Ask how you feel? Most people want to do the right thing but don’t want to push. Help them by being honest. If you don’t want help, say so. If you want assistance, make that clear. If you expect them to guess right every time, you will be losing a whole lot more than a few toes.”

Mitch looked at the other man. “It’s hard for me to consider that the people around me are going through something, too.”

“They are. It’s a big change, but it doesn’t have to be a bad one. It’s all up to you. Take control.”

“That I can do,” Mitch told him.

IZZY LACED UP her climbing shoes. T.J. waited until she was done to hand her a harness. She grabbed it from him, feeling crabby and not sure why. He’d called and asked her to go rock climbing. She’d accepted the invitation. So why did she want to snap at him?

There were a lot of complicated reasons, she thought, tightening the harness. Most of them revolved around her sister, but it was a lot easier to be pissed at T.J.

She wanted to yell at him, but couldn’t think of a good reason. Maybe she could complain about the date. She was good enough to sweat with but not good enough for dinner and a movie? Except she wasn’t the dinner and a movie type. If they were going to have fun, they should have fun. If the night was about sex, why waste a lot of time eating a meal she probably didn’t want or seeing a movie? They should get to the sex.

But what was rock climbing? It was the kind of afternoon you could spend with a relative.

“You look like you want to take me on,” he said. “Are you mad at me?”

“No.” The word came out sharper than she intended. “You’re dating my sister.”

“Skye and I have been to dinner.”

“That’s a date.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”

“You can’t be interested in both of us. We’re totally different.”

“I’m a guy with varied interests.”

Not a good enough answer. “If you have a sister sex fantasy, let me be clear. Yuck. And no way in hell.”

He grinned. “I hadn’t thought about it but now that you mention it…”

She glanced around for something to throw at him. “I’m serious.”

“Then I guess I have to be. Do you want to get exclusive?”

She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“Should we get serious, be boyfriend and girlfriend, only see each other and no one else?”

Izzy took three steps back and had to resist the need to make the sign of the cross. “No way. Why would you even ask that? We’ve been out twice. I barely know you.”

He tightened his own harness. “I’m going to bask in the boost you just gave my ego. After that endorsement, I can die a happy man.”

He was slick, she would give him that. And smart. But what else was he? “Okay, I get your point. We’ve only been out a couple of times. Why should I care that you’re seeing anyone else when I don’t feel the need to avoid other men.”

“You have other men?” he asked.

“Not the issue. I don’t care who else you see.” Except for Skye, she thought, the crabby feeling coming back. But why should she sweat any of it? She did though and that complicated everything.

“I don’t care who else you see, unless it’s my sister. You should make things easy and just pick one of us to pursue.”

“Any suggestions as to which one would work out best?”

If she said herself, then Skye could get hurt. She would certainly think Izzy was trying to make a point. But Izzy wasn’t ready to back out, either. Mostly to see how far T.J. would take things.

“You two could decide between you,” he told her.

“You’re not that much of a prize.”

He clutched his chest. “Wait for it. Ego boost number two. I’m not sure I’m going to get my head through the door when we’re done here.”