Real Men Don't Quit(2)

Since the breakup, he’d been much more circumspect. After eight months, the clacking tongues were finally moving on to fresh meat; he couldn’t afford to feed them another morsel. He intended staying in Elliot’s house for a while, and he didn’t need more hassles when he already had enough troubles.

He tugged at the edges of his T-shirt and marched after his next-door neighbor.



Tyler Jones rushed into her house, arms wrapped around her daughter. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it. Her heart was going a million miles an hour, and her body was covered in a cold sweat.

“Sweetie?” She smoothed back Chloe’s curls, her hand still shaking. “What happened out there? How”—she gulped, then forced her voice to steady—“how did you end up with that man?”

Chloe leaned her head into Tyler’s shoulder and plucked at Mr. Piggy’s ears. The solid weight of her small body sent a reassuring surge through Tyler’s that nothing else could. It seemed an age since she’d woken, meandered into Chloe’s room, and found the bed empty. As she’d called and searched fruitlessly through the house and yard, a heart-stopping chill had enveloped her, sending her into a panic. She’d run blindly out onto the street, fear and anxiety gnawing at her, only to spot her three-year-old in the arms of a stranger.

“Mr. Piggy wants a swim.”

“What?”

Chloe sighed at her mother’s dimness and repeated more firmly, “Mr. Piggy wants a swim.”

“Ohoh, no” Realization dawned on Tyler, sending her stomach plummeting. “Chloe, you didn’t go next door to swim, did you?” Her little girl hung her head and stuck out her bottom lip. “Oh, Chloe, no. Not on your own!”

Tyler’s knees wobbled. It was all her fault. All summer long, as one heat wave after another had rolled over the Southern Highlands, the unused pool next door had taunted her. It didn’t seem fair that she and Chloe had to swelter in their creaking old timber house while the sparkling, icy cold pool next door went to waste. She didn’t know the owner of the swanky new house very well. It was just a weekender for him. Occasionally a bunch of people would descend on the place, and there’d be music and chatter for a few days, but most of the time it sat there vacant.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the owner, Elliot Elliston, had dropped by and offered for her to use the pool when the house wasn’t occupied. When he’d departed, and the heat had lingered even though it was officially autumn, Tyler and Chloe had gone next door to cool off. They’d had a fantastic time. Chloe loved the water, and she was a lot less cranky when the heat wasn’t tormenting her. It had become a habit of theirs, spending a half hour or so in the afternoon playing in the deliciously cool water. But those good times could so easily have turned to tragedy.

“Darling, promise me you’ll never try to go swimming without me, okay?”

“’Kay.” Chloe hung her head, her lower lip trembling as she sensed her mother’s distress.

Tyler bit off the rest of the lecture. No way would she bawl out her daughter. She was too young to understand the danger. No, this was all her fault.

“Didn’t you say you needed to use the bathroom?” Tyler asked. Chloe nodded and slithered out of her grasp to the ground. “Do you want any help?”

“No! I’m a big girl now.” Tyler wrapped her arms around herself and watched as her daughter hopped off.

Someone rapped on the door behind her, causing her to jump as her frayed nerves screeched. She yanked the door open and found herself staring at Chloe’s would-be abductor. Damn.

The guy didn’t look too friendly. “We need to talk,” he said through clamped teeth.

Now that she wasn’t so freaked out by Chloe’s disappearance, the man made more of an impact on her. He looked a few years older than her. Tall and athletic, he had long arms and legs stretching out from his gray T-shirt and navy boxer shorts, and his black hair was all mussed up. He wasn’t Prince Charming handsome, but his features were striking, distinctive. A spark of attraction tingled down her spine; she’d never been into princes anyway Then she met his eyes, and the expression in them made her suck in a breath. Hard and black like coal, they bored into her with barely concealed anger.

“Uh, sure,” she said. “I’m Tyler Jones, by the way.”

“Luke Maguire,” he snapped. He didn’t look like he wanted to shake hands. He glanced past her. “Is your daughter around?”

“No, she’s gone to the bathroom.”

With a curt nod, he took a couple of steps into the house, and she found herself faltering back. Damn, it wasn’t like her to be so meek, but she seemed powerless to resist.

“Good. She shouldn’t hear what I’ve got to say to you.”

Tyler’s stomach tightened at his grim tone. “Look, I’m sorry for overreacting back then. I didn’t realize Elliot was back. We won’t bother you anymore.”

He frowned. “Bother me?”

“Elliot gave us permission to use the pool when he’s absent, but we’ll stay away now that he’s here with guests.”

“I’m by myself, using Elliot’s house for a while. He’s my agent.” Luke sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I’ve got a lot of work to finish while I’m here, and the last thing I need is you spreading goddamn lies about me to all the neighbors. I wasn’t trying to abduct your little girl.” He gestured with his hands, impassioned. “I was goddamn saving her. If I hadn’t been there, she might have gotten past the pool fence and fallen into the goddamn water.”

Her heart was beating fast again, thudding in her eardrums as her imagination went into overdrive. She swallowed and nodded, but Luke Maguire didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in berating her.

“What were you doing while she was wandering outside by herself?” He cast a contemptuous gaze around the place. The living room was messier than usual, she knew, which meant to some people it looked like a bombsite. “Maybe it took you a while to even realize she was missing.”

She gasped. “How—how dare you?” she spluttered. “How dare you insinuate I’m too careless to look after my daughter?”

He blinked, and his expression became rueful. “Well, you insinuated I was a child abductor, so we’re quits now.”

She blew out a breath. “I guess you have a point.”

Their eyes connected, and for a moment there was breathy silence. Jeez, just like a corny romantic movie, she thought.

“But still, you should be taking better care of your daughter,” Luke continued. “If you let her wander around like that, sooner or later something is going to happen to her. If nothing else, social services will come knocking on your door.”

His words knocked the air from her lungs. She felt the blood draining from her face. “You’re not” She swallowed some bile. “You’re not going to report me, are you?”

His eyes narrowed. “What are you so afraid of?”

Nothing, except losing the most precious thing in her world. She’d had social services come sniffing around her and Chloe once, a long time ago when Chloe was a baby. Everything had been quickly sorted out, but she still had nightmares about it, and she couldn’t go through that experience again.

She tipped up her chin and gestured around the room. “Nothing. I’ve got nothing to hide. Feel free to look around. Sure, it’s a bit messy, but you won’t find any drugs, booze, or cigarettes, and the fridge is full of fresh, healthy food. Go on, check us out if you don’t believe me.”

Luke held up his hand. “Okay, I believe you.”

She leaned against the couch, still dizzy from the fright. “I’m the first to admit it’s not easy to make ends meet sometimes, but Chloe means everything to me.”

He nodded, sighing and scanning the room again. “Do you make sure all the doors are shut at night? Secure all the windows?”

“Of course I do. It’s just Chloe and me here, so I make sure the doors are shut. And all the windows have locks on them. I fitted them when we moved in.”

Luke walked through the living room and into the adjoining kitchen. Tyler couldn’t help wincing as she viewed the clutter there with fresh eyes. With the sink full of greasy plates and a basket of dirty laundry under the table, Luke must think she was a typical, ditzy single mum. Hell, she was still in her sleepwear without even a dressing gown to cover her. He wasn’t to know she’d been working late last night; all he saw was evidence of her incompetence as a mother.

“I think I’ve found your problem.” Luke pointed to the kitchen chair standing next to the back door. “Does this chair belong here?”

“No.” Tyler frowned. “It usually sits over there by the table.”

“Chloe must have dragged it here, climbed onto it, and unlocked the back door.”

“You’re right. Those are her slippers under the chair.” She pressed cold hands to her cheeks. “Oh, God. The little monkey.”

“Clever little monkey. She must have been quite determined to get out.”

“Lately she’s been asserting her independence all the time. I’m not allowed to help her with anything.” She gazed at the back door. “I’ll have to put deadlocks on all of them.”