The Woman Left Behind Read online

  When she got up to cut the cake, the kids all came running. “I want the tongue!” Boom’s son—his name was Matthew—shouted, and Levi said drily, “Son, don’t we all.”

  Everyone except Jina laughed, but Levi joking around was almost more than she could take. She was tolerating him being here, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable with it. After flaying her with words, here he was eating her food and destroying the peace of being in her own space. She didn’t want him here, didn’t want to be able to picture him standing in her kitchen.

  “I think I can cut it so all of you get a piece of the mouth,” she told the kids, and did just that, making a circle in the middle of the cake and then doing some artful cutting that allowed each kid some of the red frosting. Snake stepped in and took the small plate for his toddler, who set up a bellow of rebellion. Over the noise he said, “Sit in my lap, buddy, and I’ll help you eat the tongue cake, okay?”

  “No! No! Mine!”

  He scooped the struggling, protesting kid up under his arm. “It’s yours, I’m not going to eat it, I’m just going to help you. Now settle down.” The last three words were said sharply enough that the rebellion subsided to a quivering chin and damp eyes, which changed to contentment as soon as the first bite of cake was in his mouth.

  It was amusing watching Snake deal with his little hellion, but it did make Jina think twice about wanting kids sometime in the amorphous future. Now, if she could be assured her kids would all be cute charmers like Mia, that would be different. Not that she had to worry about kids now, with not even a hint of a romantic relationship anywhere in her life.

  The whole cake soon disappeared; she felt lucky to be able to serve some of it to Terisa and Ailani and grab the last small slice for herself and retreat to the living room. The rest of the evening went pretty much the same way, with the men grouped in the kitchen with the kids running around. Deep voices rumbled, bursts of laughter came and went, but with the kids around there were limits to the raunchiness they could descend to. The women were content to sit in the living room and chat. When Mia sought out Terisa, climbed into her lap, and promptly went to sleep, Jina took that as a sign that the families would generally have an early departure time. She had no idea what time the single guys were thinking about leaving, but she didn’t mind shooing them out. She’d fed them, she had given them beer; her social obligations had been met.

  There wasn’t much food left to put away, but she got up and took care of that chore. Ailani and Terisa of course offered to help clean the kitchen, but Jina refused them with a smile. “There isn’t much to clean, just some spoons and such. I worship at the altar of disposable plates and cups.”

  “Amen, sister. I’m trying to remember the last time I ate on a real plate,” Terisa said.

  Snake came in with the wild child asleep on his shoulder. “We should get these kids in bed,” he said. “Thanks for having us over, Babe.” He paused. “Where did you get that cake? Brody wants a ‘tongue cake’ for his birthday.”

  “I made it.”

  “Liar.”

  “Am not. I can make cakes, and my mom taught me how to decorate them.”

  He turned and raised his voice so he could be heard in the kitchen. “Hey, guys, Babe made the cake!”

  She saw right away where that was going. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m not baking cakes for y’all. Just not.”

  “Aw, come on.”

  “Feeding the bunch of you is not my job. I didn’t take you to raise.”

  They left kind of in a group, a few of the guys still trying to talk her into baking for them. Levi wasn’t one of them. She had no idea why he’d come, unless he was just looking for free food and hanging with the other guys. He went out without looking at her or saying good-bye, which was fine with her. Donnelly stayed behind, which was also fine; that’s what a boyfriend would do.

  “Thanks for coming,” Jina said as she began loading the few dishes into the dishwasher. “This was nice.” Not great, but nice. He was a good guy to help her out the way he had.

  “I enjoyed it. The guys are cool, aren’t they? I’m looking forward to joining my team, though I wish Kodak had made an effort to work me into the team the way Ace has with you.”

  She snorted. “Even though they’ve worked my butt off, trying to get me in what they think is acceptable shape?”

  He lounged against the cabinet beside the dishwasher, watching her work. “Yeah, even then. When you go on the first mission, you’ll already be part of the team. You know them, and they know you. The rest of us will be going in cold, not knowing what to expect.” He paused. “Maybe you should send a memo to MacNamara that he should make integrated training par for the course.”

  “Maybe you should send the memo. Bring yourself to his attention.”

  Now it was Donnelly’s turn to snort. “Yeah, right. Like I want him to notice me.”

  “Then why are you trying to throw me into the cage?”

  He grinned at her, not the least abashed. “Better you than me, right?”

  He hung around a few minutes more, making small talk, then yawned. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “This program has turned me into one of those mutants who go to bed early.”

  Jina barely kept herself from yawning, too—and it was just nine o’clock. She saw Donnelly out and locked the door behind him.

  Blowing out a breath, she surveyed the condo. Not much damage had been done; she’d have to stack the cushions on the floor in some corner to get them out of the way, but for the most part things were in fairly good shape. The parents had ridden herd on the kids and kept them pretty much under control. Nothing had been broken, a few things were out of place, and that was it. She’d been to parties with her friends that resulted in way more chaos.

  She’d been straightening things for a few minutes when the doorbell rang. Muttering under her breath because Donnelly must have forgotten something and she was already out of the mood for company, she nevertheless took the time to check through the peephole.

  Levi.

  She stood frozen, her heart thundering in her chest. His effect on her was instantaneous, and maddening. What in hell did he want? A second later she decided she didn’t care and left him standing out in the small foyer while she returned to her neatening. He could stand out there all night for all she cared.

  The bell rang again. “I saw you check the peephole,” he said, his deep voice barely muffled by the wood. “Open the door.”

  “Go away,” she retorted. “I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to talk to you.”

  “Tough shit. I have something to say and it’s going to get said tonight, even if I have to kick your door in.”

  “I’ll have you arrested if you do.”

  “No, you won’t, because that would screw with the team.”

  She knotted her fists and clenched her teeth, caught with the truth of that. Working as hard as she had to join the team had made the team a whole lot more important in reality than it had ever been in concept. The guys weren’t just guys, they were teammates.

  She unlocked the door and opened it, but kept her hand firmly on the doorknob and herself planted in the doorway, denying him entrance. If he really wanted in, she wasn’t physically able to stop him, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to invite him inside.

  “What?” she demanded truculently, trying to ignore the almost overwhelming physical presence of him, man mixed with the scent of rain and the chill of a November night.

  He looked down at her, dwarfing her with his height and muscularity, his mouth thin and his dark eyes with that flat expression. “I came to apologize.”

  “I don’t accept your apology,” she shot back. No way was what he’d said all right, and he couldn’t make it right.

  “Then don’t. I waited in the parking lot to see if Donnelly left—”

  “Stalkerish, much?” she muttered. “You could have sent me a text, so I could ignore you. I prefer that approach. Honest.”

&nb