Under Pressure (Body Armor #1)(116)

“If she does,” Merrily assured him, “she’ll know what to do. But what a great surprise that would be, huh?”

“I hope she waits till I’m here with her.” He dropped down to sit against the kitchen wall, gently urging the cat into his lap. “I don’t want her to be alone.”

And even that, such a caring sentiment, left Tonya’s throat tight.

“Tell you what.” Merrily knelt down beside him. “How about I get my pet sitter to come stay with her, and if she goes into labor she can give us a call? What do you think?”

“You have a pet sitter?”

“I do. Sort of like a kid sitter.” She patted his knee. “You had those when you were younger, right?”

Without answering, he did some quiet thinking, then shifted his troubled gaze to Tonya. “Maybe it’d be easier if I just stayed here with her. I mean, if you want.”

Maybe it was past time she actually told him what she wanted. His room was almost done, he’d been with her now for a couple of weeks and they really needed to get some things bought for school.

They needed an understanding.

Turning to the others, Tonya asked with a smile, “Could I have a second with Kevin, please?”

Brick nodded. “We’ll wait in the living room.” He and Merrily stepped out.

Pausing by her, Jesse cupped the back of her neck and kissed her, warm and firm, right on her mouth. That kiss felt like reassurance that she was doing the right thing. Like backup if she needed it.

Like caring, whether she’d admitted to wanting it yet or not.

Lightening the mood, he winked at Kevin and left.

Tonya’s thoughts scrambled, trying to find a toehold on the right thing to say. She wasn’t good at this, not like she’d been good at so many other things. Real estate, managing her money, planning her future—as a single woman with no children—yes, she’d been great at that.

But this...talking with a troubled boy, not so much. She felt totally out of her depth.

But then, she hadn’t been good at being a sister, either. At least, not the type of sister Cissy had apparently needed.

Suddenly realizing how Kevin eyed her, she asked, “What?”

“You guys do a lot of kissing.”

Her smile slipped. “Well...”

“It’s not like how my mom was always kissing guys though.”

Oh God. How much had he seen with his mother? “How is it different?”

“The guys, mostly.” His expression hardened. “They were gross.”

“Jesse’s not gross.”

“No.” He eyed her again. “He likes you. He’s nice.”

“Very nice.” Had the men she’d brought around not really liked Cissy? “So you don’t mind him being here?”

Kevin shook his head, looked away and asked, “Does he mind me being here?”

“No!” She went to her knees beside him. “Jesse likes you, you know that.”

“But—”

Shoulders back, she said with assurance, “If he didn’t, then he could take a hike.”

His blue eyes, so much like his mother’s—so much like her own—widened.

“But he does,” Tonya promised him. “He told me so. Heck, he’s told you so, even if he hasn’t outright said it. Why else would he want to fix up your room and take you to the drive-in and—”

“Because he likes you.” Kevin concentrated on the cat rather than look at her. “And I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You couldn’t, so please don’t ever think that.” Bottom lip caught in her teeth and her brows knit together, she settled herself beside Kevin there on the kitchen floor. “How come we always end up on the floor?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I do. You get down here to help make Love comfortable. That’s such a nice thing to do.” She brought her knees up, clasped her hands together and looked at him.

Kevin avoided her gaze.

“I figured we should talk.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“First, though, I’m not sure what kind of guys Cissy brought around, but Jesse would never use you to get to me. He’s not that way. He’s a really good man, because if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t allow him to be around you.”

His brows kept twitching, but he didn’t say anything, either to accept or reject her assurances.

“And he would never consider you in the way. You need to get that idea out of your head. In fact, I’m sure he enjoys your company.”

Kevin looked at her like she was nuts. “He enjoys your company.”

It hurt, but she got her mouth to smile. “Well, sure he does. I’m fun to be around, right?”

Sounding very unsure, Kevin said, “Yeah.”

She didn’t let his lack of conviction bother her. “You’re fun too. And so is Jesse.”

Kevin kept quiet.

“I like Jesse, and I hope you do too.”

“Sure.”

“But you know what I’d really like, Kevin?”

He shook his head.

“For you to be happy.”

In his first real show of attitude, he snorted, glared at her with eyes gone glassy, then brought the cat a little closer for a hug.