Rescue Me

him?”
    He nodded. “He’s living in northern California. I guess his latest wife left him and took the last batch of kids, so suddenly he remembered he had another son.” He pointed the beer at himself. “Me.”
    Compared to the other night, he was suddenly a font of chattiness.
    “I met with him and listened to him and his problems. At that time, I was all into thinking about forgiveness and shit, but after about an hour I’d heard enough and left.”
    “Just an hour?” That didn’t seem very much time after so many years.
    “If he’d asked about my sister or my nephew I might have given him more time.” His jaw got tight and his light green eyes narrowed, and Sadie got a glimpse of the warrior in Vince Haven. The Navy SEAL with a machine gun across his chest and a missile launcher on his shoulder. “What kind of asshole doesn’t ask about his own goddamn daughter and grandson?” He raised the bottle. “Fuck him.”
    And she thought she had issues.
    He lowered the beer and its foam bubbled up the neck. “An old buddy once told me that sometimes a person needs forgiveness so they can move on and forgive themselves. If the old man had asked about Conner, I might have given him a chance. I’m nicer than I used to be.”
    She bit the side of her cheek to keep from smiling.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Is Conner your nephew?”
    “Yeah. He just turned six. He’s really funny and smart, and he sent me a picture he drew of my truck and me. He’s big on drawing pictures.”
    And Vince missed him. He didn’t have to say it. It was in the sadness in his eyes and voice. “Does your sister know about your dad contacting you?”
    He shook his head. “And I’m never going to tell her.” He laughed without humor. “And the ironic thing is that if my father knew who she was marrying, he’d suddenly remember he had a daughter.”
    “Who’s she marrying?” Prince William was taken but Harry was still available.
    “She’s remarrying her son of a bitch ex, Sam Leclaire.”
    The name sounded vaguely familiar.
    “He’s a hockey player with Seattle.”
    Sadie tapped the mouth of the bottle against her chin. “Hmm.” She went to a lot of Coyotes games and was an Ed Jovanovski fan. “Big guy? Even for a hockey player. Likes to instigate? Spends a lot of time in the penalty box? Blond? Hot?”
    “Sounds like him. Except for the hot part.”
    “I saw him play the Coyotes in Phoenix a few months ago.” She set the bottle next to her on the desk and, because Vince’s green eyes narrowed again and she found him even more handsome when he was all irritated, she added, “He’s smokin’ hot. Or as we say in Texas, ‘hotter than a goat’s butt in a pepper patch.’ ”
    “Jesus.”
    “And that’s really hot.” She turned her mouth upside down in a fake frown. “Don’t be bitter.”
    He frowned as he raised the bottle, but she doubted he was truly mad. She was fairly sure his ego could take the hit.
    “Don’t worry.” She shook her head and chuckled. “You’re really hot, too . . . for a guy old enough to be Becca’s dad.”
    He lowered the bottle without taking a drink. “Are you going to laugh yourself into a fit about that again?”
    “Maybe. It’s just the gift that keeps giving.” She stood and reached for the handle of the sledgehammer.
    “What are you going to do with that?”
    “Worried?” She tried to lift it with one hand. It hardly budged.
    “Terrified.”
    “How much does this thing weigh?”
    “Twenty pounds.” He moved toward her and set his beer next to hers.
    She used both hands and lifted it a foot off the floor. “I could get a lot of frustrations out and do a lot of damage with this thing.”
    With one hand, he took it easily from her grasp and tossed it behind him. It hit the floor with a hard thud. “I know a better way to get your frustrations out.” His palms slid to her waist and he pulled her hips against his.
    She looked up into his face, at his eyes staring down into hers. “What did you have in mind?” she asked, even though against her pelvis she felt exactly what was on the man’s mind.
    “Doing damage.” He lowered his face and pressed his forehead into hers. “Lots of damage.”
    Heat warmed the pit of her stomach and spread to her thighs. She wanted to press her body against him. Skin against skin. This was why she’d stopped by the Gas and Go. She could have fueled her car in Amarillo or the Chevron across town. She pulled at his T-shirt