Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,27
have been cold and hard but were warm and softer than she ever would have guessed. The way they sank into hers, the way her stomach flipped beneath her ribs.
It hadn’t meant anything. Ben was just trying to distract her because she was so upset over Sam. Still, the heat of his mouth was a memory seared into her brain, and every time she remembered his kiss, a jolt of desire burned through her.
Dear Lord, it was insane. She hardly knew the man. One thing she was sure of—sex meant about as much to Ben Slocum as brushing his teeth. His after-wedding roll in the hay had clearly been a one-night stand. Which she would guess was pretty much Ben’s modus operandi.
As much as she’d like to find out what sex would be like with a man she was so strongly attracted to, she didn’t want to be tossed aside like an old sneaker the next morning.
At the sound of the doorbell, she raced for the door, unlocked it and pulled it open. For an instant her heart soared. Just as fast, her high hopes plunged. The boy on her doorstep wasn’t Sam.
“This is Ryan,” Ben said. “It’s a long story. We need to find a way to help him.”
* * *
Claire called the authorities as soon as she got Ryan’s battered face cleaned up with antiseptic, and the boy stuffed full of the extralarge double-cheese pepperoni pizza Ben ordered from Rusty’s. She was certainly getting more than her share of fast food these days.
While Ben and the boy finished off the pizza, Claire talked to a friend named Mary Wilson who worked at the Department of Children and Family Services. She told Mary how Ben Slocum, a P.I. from Texas, had stumbled upon a ten-year-old boy named Ryan Lynn who was a runaway.
According to Ben, Ryan’s home life was so bad the boy would rather wander the streets doing odd jobs for criminals than stay in the place he lived.
Mary arranged to meet her, Ben and Ryan two hours later at the branch where Mary worked. There, the boy could be medically examined, and Social Services would make arrangements for him to be placed in a care facility until his situation could be investigated.
They would try to locate his family and make an evaluation, find out what was going on that would drive a ten-year-old kid out onto the streets.
Claire felt sorry for the boy, but Mary was good at her job, and she would fight for Ryan. And Claire thought that after his experiences fending for himself, he would do his best to get along in his foster home.
“This is all going to work out, Ryan,” she said as they drove toward their destination. “There are people who care about kids like you. They’ll do their best to find a place you’ll be happy.”
Ryan’s eyes welled, but he didn’t cry. Aside from his black hair and blue eyes, he didn’t look a thing like Ben. Different nose, different mouth, different jaw. Still, Ben had paid two thousand dollars to bring the boy to safety.
It looked more and more as if Laura had been wrong. That Ben would make the kind of father Sam deserved.
Claire tried not to think how she had failed the child. She tried to ignore the ache in her chest when she thought of what might be happening to him. Instead, she focused on Ryan, introducing him to Mary and getting him settled.
Mary put an arm around the boy’s thin shoulders. “We’re going to take very good care of you, Ryan.” A slight blonde woman in her early forties, Mary seemed to have a special way with kids. “I’m going to make sure of that myself.”
Ryan did start to cry then, and Mary pulled him into a hug. “It’s all right, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay.”
When the scene came to a close, Ben handed Ryan one of his business cards. “My numbers are all there. If you need anything, I want you to call, okay?”
Ryan nodded, looking up at Ben as if he were his personal savior. Which in a way he was. “Thanks.”
Ben ruffled his hair. “Take care of yourself,” he said a little gruffly. “You’re getting another chance. Don’t be afraid to take it.”
After final farewells, they left the facility, and Ben drove Claire home, neither of them saying much until they got the car parked and walked back inside.
Claire tossed her purse on the kitchen table. “I guess the men who