“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Maybe I should say who I’m talking about. You’ve got a thing for the redhead.”
Kieran slammed the pantry door and whirled around. “I told you, she’s a client.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said, but I’m not buying it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so defensive when someone brings her up. You’d just ignore all the comments, but you’re feeling too guilty to do that.”
Unfortunately, Aidan happened to be right on target, even though Kieran didn’t plan to admit it. “Look, she’s a nice woman who wants to get into shape. She doesn’t have a lot of money, so her daughter came to see me and asked me to help out. I’m doing both of them a favor without charge.”
Aidan frowned. “In other words, you’re providing your services for free, and there’s nothing more to it?”
“Yeah.” Lie number three. “Something wrong with that?”
“Not at all, except you’re not telling me everything. Did things go beyond the trainer-client relationship last night after I left?”
Kieran gritted his teeth. “I didn’t sleep with her, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Aidan chuckled. “But you wanted to.”
He hated that his brother read him so well. “Okay, yeah, the thought crossed my mind after I—” Nope, he wasn’t going to go there.
“After you what? Kissed her?”
He didn’t have the energy for another lie. “Yeah.”
Aidan pointed at him. “I knew it.”
“I didn’t plan it. It just happened, and I’m not going to let it happen again.”
“What makes you think you can stop it?”
He didn’t have any choice. “Because it’s unethical. Aside from the standing rules of the profession, you told me yourself that it’s a bad idea to get involved with someone you have a working relationship with, even though you didn’t follow your own advice with Corri.”
Aidan ran a fast hand through his hair. “You’re right, but it turned out okay. Better than okay. And the way I see it, you have two options. You let nature take its course and see what happens. Or you cut if off now, because even if you can bench-press a building, you’re not strong enough to ignore the chemistry.”
He didn’t care for his brother’s options or opinions. “I’m not you, Aidan, so you can kiss my—”
“Don’t say it, young man.”
Kieran turned to the right where his mother stood immediately inside the kitchen, holding a plastic container. Lucine O’Brien might be small in stature, but she was more than capable of carrying off the disapproving-parent demeanor in a big way. “Hey, Mom. When did you get back?”
“Just in time to hear your conversation.” She set the bowl on the counter and regarded Aidan. “I believe I heard your daughter.”
Aidan tilted his head slightly. “I don’t hear anything.”
Lucy gestured toward the living room. “Then go talk to your wife. I need to have a conversation with your brother.”
That’s all Kieran needed—another lecture. Only this one could be ten times as bad, depending on how much his mother had overheard. Probably more than he’d hoped, considering the stern look on her face. “This woman you’re discussing,” she said after Aidan departed. “Is this the widow with the child that Mallory spoke of the other night?”
Good thing his sister wasn’t around. Otherwise, he’d have to give her a chunk of what was left of his mind for spinning the rumor mill out of control. “First of all, Mother, my personal life isn’t anyone’s business. Secondly, this whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion. I’m only supervising her fitness program.”
She had the skeptic’s demeanor down to a fine art. “Really? When did you add kissing to that program?”
Damn. “It was a mistake. A spur-of-the-moment thing.”
She folded her arms across her middle. “Perhaps that’s true, but my sons aren’t inclined to do anything they don’t want to do.”
Lucy was right—he had wanted it. If he hadn’t, that kiss would’ve never happened. “I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. I’m going to handle it. And if you’re done with the interrogation, I need to go.”
“How long has she been widowed?” she asked, indicating she wasn’t done.
“Six years.”
“Does she have family here?”
He started to ask why Erica’s life history was so important, but instead decided to answer the question and hope it was the last. “Her parents are in Oklahoma, and she has a brother in Seattle. She moved here ten years ago because her daughter was born with a heart problem.”
That definitely got his mother’s attention. “Is the little girl all right?”
“She’s had several surgeries, but she’s fully recovered.”
Lucy sighed. “And that, my dear, is the ‘big deal.’ You have a mother who’s almost completely alone and a little girl who’s suffered through sickness and the death of a parent at a very young age. I would hate to think you’d take advantage of the situation, especially when it comes to a woman who could still be very vulnerable.”
From the beginning, he’d recognized Erica’s vulnerability when it came to her self-image, but beyond that, she was tougher than a lot of women he’d known. “I understand what you’re saying, Mom, but I don’t intend to take advantage of anyone.”
“Of course no one intends to do that, dear. But intentions sometimes go by the wayside when a man can’t—to quote your father—keep the pony in the barn.”
“It’s stallion in the stall, Mom.” The last time Kieran suffered this much humiliation, his dad had attempted the “sex talk” using Irish proverbs. “If you’re through chastising me—” and embarrassing the hell out of him “—I have to leave, Mom.”
Lucy wagged a finger at him, signaling she still wasn’t finished. “One more thing you should consider. You have a prime opportunity to make a positive impact on not one but two lives by being a role model to the child and a friend to the mother.” She patted his cheek. “That’s the road you should take, my dear. The honorable road.”
His mother was right—he needed to remember the honor code his parents had drilled into him from birth, as well as the professional ethics he’d established early in his career. He would guide Erica through the fitness process, maybe help Stormy with softball and be on his best behavior, beginning tomorrow. Mondays were hell, but he’d find the time for Erica and Stormy. Besides, he’d claimed he couldn’t schedule a session until Tuesday only because he’d needed to take a step back. His weakness wasn’t fair to Erica, and if he was going to do this, he planned to do it right. He also planned to keep his hands—and mouth—to himself.
Chapter Five
Erica couldn’t stop thinking about Kieran’s mouth, no matter how hard she’d tried, and she’d tried all day long, failing regularly in her attempts.
“You’re last appointment canceled, honey.”
After dropping the robe onto the end of the massage table, Erica turned to face the sixtysomething salon owner standing at the treatment room door, her lips the color of hothouse tomatoes, her platinum-blond coif stiff as a springboard. “I’m sorry, Bette. What did you say?”
“Your