Kitabı oku: «Desiring the Reilly Brothers», sayfa 3

Chapter Four

Connor’s laughter still ringing in his ears, Brian winced as he pulled into the driveway. What his brother had found so damned funny, Tina was sure to be pissed about.

He’d known going in that the trick would never work. Just the fact that he’d let Connor try to put one over on Tina proved the level of Brian’s desperation. And in a weird sort of way, he was glad it hadn’t. At least he knew that Tina could still tell him apart from his brothers. It had always been like that. Even though everyone else considered the Reilly triplets interchangeable, Tina was different. So different from every other woman on the face of the damn planet, that if Brian couldn’t get her to leave town soon, he was a dead man. He’d never survive the bet with his brothers.

Hell, any other time, Tina’s visit would have been bad enough. She was a distraction no matter how you looked at it. But now, when he was already a man on the edge, Tina was enough to push him over.

He’d never wanted another woman as badly as Tina. And that still held true. They’d been apart for five years, but just knowing she was in town had his body tightening and his blood pumping. Knowing that she was alone, in the house next door, made sleep impossible and every waking moment a torture.

Oh, yeah. He was in bad shape.

Still grumbling about the coming confrontation with Tina, he stepped out of the car into the cool of twilight. The sun was down, the first stars were just starting to wink into life and jasmine scented the air.

The front door to the main house was open, lamplight spilling into the darkening yard, laying out a path of welcome that he was willing to bet Tina hadn’t meant for him. Brian scowled at the house and told himself he didn’t give a damn what she thought about his plan. He’d had to try, and it didn’t really matter if she was mad about it or not. He didn’t owe her anything anymore. They were exes.

So why then, did he feel so blasted guilty?

And so damned hesitant about facing her?

Hell, he was a Marine.

Trained for combat.

Which, he told himself as he started for the door, might just come in handy when talking to Tina Coretti Reilly.

He took the steps in a couple of long strides and stood in the slice of lamplight, staring through the screen door. From the living room, came the muted, plaintive wail of good jazz playing on the stereo. The dogs had to be outside, or they’d have had their nasty little faces pressed to the screen in an attempt to chew right through the mesh and get to him. So, there was one good point. No dogs to deal with.

He knocked. No response.

He knocked again, louder this time.

“Brian?” she called, “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Come in.”

Well, so far, she sounded reasonable. Good. That was good. He stepped into the house, walked through the living room and tossed his USMC cap at the closest table. He rounded the corner into the kitchen and found her sitting at the table, a glass of white wine in her hand.

She was mad. He could see it. Her eyes danced with it. And damned if she didn’t look great. That extra sparkle in her eyes appealed to him, which let Brian know he was in deep trouble.

“Sit down.”

“No, thanks,” he said, letting his gaze slide over her smooth, tanned legs, her pale green cotton shorts and one of the skimpiest tank tops he’d ever seen. No, he wouldn’t sit down. He wouldn’t be staying that long. Couldn’t afford to be around a woman who could torment him this easily. So, best to just say what he had to say and get out of there. “Look, Tina, I’m sorry about—”

“—sending Connor to get rid of me?” she finished for him, then paused for a sip of wine.

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Well, yeah.”

“That’s it?” She swiveled on her chair, crossed her legs and swung her foot lazily.

Her toes were painted a soft pink and she wore a silver toe ring. Oh, man.

“That’s all you’ve got to say?” One finely arched dark eyebrow lifted.

Brian scraped one hand across his jaw. “What do you want from me? I gave it a shot.” Oh, he had to get out of the room. Fast.

She stood up, set her wine on the table and took a step toward him. Her tank top had those tiny little spaghetti straps and they were the only straps across her smooth shoulders. No bra. His gaze dipped to her pebbled nipples, outlined to perfection beneath the clingy, white fabric. Oh, man.

“Why are you so anxious to get me out of town, Brian?”

“Not anxious,” he said, then corrected silently, desperate. But he couldn’t say that to her. Couldn’t let her know what she could still do to him with a single look.

“Connor didn’t fool me,” she said, hitching one hip a little higher than the other and tapping her bare toes against the cream-colored linoleum.

“Yeah, I know,” Brian said, doing his best to keep his gaze locked with hers. It wasn’t safe, God knew, since her big brown eyes had a way of sucking him in and holding him close. But it was safer than admiring her skin or the way her tank top rode up on her flat belly or the way her shorts molded so nicely to the curve of her behind. Oh, yeah. Safer.

“Why’d you do it, Brian?” she asked, and her amazing eyes locked on to him again.

She was like a damn polygraph. Looking into Tina’s eyes forced a man to tell the truth. At least, that’s how her deep brown eyes had always affected him.

“Because,” he muttered thickly, “I just don’t want you around.”

Her head snapped back as if he’d slapped her, and he cursed himself silently. Then she took a step closer and Brian caught of a whiff of her cologne. She still wore the stuff she’d worn five years ago. A magical blend of flowers and citrus, it smelled like summer and warm nights in her arms and, damn it, he told himself, stop breathing.

A heartbeat later, she’d recovered. “That’s honest, at least. Why?”

He tore his gaze from her eyes, stepped past her and picked up her wine. Chugging a long drink of the cold, white liquid, he swallowed hard and glanced over his shoulder at her. “What’s the point, Tina?”

Tina watched him avoid looking directly at her and a ping of something sad and empty resounded inside her. She’d been so furious all afternoon, waiting to face him, and now that the time was here, all she could think was how different they were together now. The attraction was still there, no doubt about that.

She’d seen his eyes glaze over when he first walked into the room and she’d felt that instant rush of something powerful sweep through her. But then he’d distanced himself without moving a step and she’d felt as though she could reach for him for years and never really touch him.

But she wouldn’t let herself be hurt. Wouldn’t allow him to chase her off. Not until she’d done what she came here to do. And if that meant that she had to fight past his defenses, then she was just the woman to do it.

“Geez, Brian,” she said, just a little hotly, “does there have to be a point? Can’t we just be friends again?”

He laughed shortly and set her wineglass carefully back down. “We were never friends, Tina.”

True. She hated to admit that even to herself, but it was true. From the moment they’d first met, they’d been lovers. There’d been no “friendship” period between them. It was all flash fires and fireworks. It was need and hunger and passion.

If they’d been friends, too, maybe they would have lasted. Maybe Brian wouldn’t have been able to walk away as easily as he had.

“We could be now,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because you meant something to me once,” she said and hoped to heaven he couldn’t see that he still meant something. What, she wasn’t sure, but it was there. “Because what we had was good.”

“What we had is over.”

His quiet voice jabbed at her with the strength of a punch to the stomach, but she didn’t waver. Didn’t let him see how much it hurt to know that all he wanted from her was for her to be gone.

Instead, she asked the question that had been haunting her for five years. After all, if he wanted to be distant, he could give her the reason. He could tell her why he’d suddenly announced he wanted a divorce—without ever saying why.

“It’s over because you decided it would be.”

He sighed. “Tina—”

“Tell me why, Brian,” she said and took a step closer. She saw his blue eyes darken, his expression tighten. “Tell me why you threw us away and maybe I’ll think about leaving.”

She wouldn’t but he didn’t have to know that.

“It was five years ago, Tina. Let it go.”

“You still won’t tell me?” she asked. “Not even for the chance of getting rid of me?”

One corner of his mouth quirked, and Tina felt a tug of reaction down low in her belly. Brian Reilly had one great mouth. Instantly, her brain filled with images of just what that mouth was capable of. Memories crowded into her brain, stealing her breath and making her blood hum with a sense of expectation.

“You wouldn’t leave,” he said, shaking his head. “Not until you’re good and ready.”

Still feeling the rush of attraction, she smiled and admitted, “True.”

“You always were a hard head.”

“Coming from the Rock of Gibraltar, not much of an insult.”

“Didn’t mean it as an insult,” he admitted. “I always sort of enjoyed our arguments—at least, I enjoyed the making up part.”

A rush of heat swamped her, and Tina had to breathe deeply a few times, just to keep her brain on track. “If you enjoyed our marriage so damn much, why’d you—”

“So, why’re you here?” He interrupted her neatly, clearly refusing to talk about the past. Again. Shifting position slightly, he leaned one hip against the chipped, blue tile counter. “Why now?”

He looked dangerous.

Always had, which she had to admit, if only silently, had been part of his appeal. Black hair, blue eyes, a broad chest, narrow hips and the ability to wear blue jeans like no one else she’d ever known. Of course he could get to her in a heartbeat. There probably wasn’t a woman on the planet between the ages of sixteen and sixty he wouldn’t affect.

Swallowing hard against a sudden knot of need that had lodged in her throat, Tina said, “Nana went to Italy. She needed help with Muffin and Peaches.”

“And that’s it?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. “The only reason? You didn’t talk to my brothers or anything?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, trying and failing to read his expression. “The only one of your brothers I’ve talked to is Connor.”

He didn’t look as though he completely believed her, and she wondered what he was thinking. Wondered just what else was going on. And even as she wondered, Tina knew she’d never find out from Brian, so she’d just have to snoop around a little.

Brian had the decency to wince when she said Connor’s name. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I knew it wouldn’t work and still let him try.” Clearing his throat, he added wryly, “If it’s any consolation, you scared the hell out of him.”

Tina smiled. “Actually, yes, it is some consolation. But it doesn’t tell me what I want to know. Which is, why’d you do it in the first place? Why is it so important to get me out of town?”

His features closed up and a shutter dropped over his eyes. It was the only way to describe the sudden distance in him. One moment he’d been less than a foot away from her and the next, he might as well have been on Venus.

“Doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It does to me,” she admitted.

“Just forget it all right?” He pushed away from the counter and half turned toward the back door.

“The dogs are out there.”

“Damn it.” He did a quick about-face and stalked across the kitchen and into the living room.

Tina was right behind him.

He snatched up his cap off the table and marched across the dimly lit living room to the front door. As he stepped out, Tina reached for him and grabbed his upper arm.

He stopped dead, as if he’d been shot. He looked down at her hand on his arm, then slowly lifted his gaze to hers.

She knew what he wanted, but she didn’t let go of him. It wasn’t only stubbornness that had her hanging on, it was also the direct heat that had zipped through her body at the first touch of him. Electric. It felt as though live wires were dancing and skittering inside her veins and she didn’t want to lose that sensation so quickly. It had been way too long since she’d felt it.

“I’m not leaving,” she said firmly, meeting his gaze so tightly, she saw the shift of emotions in his eyes, but they came and went too fast to identify them. “I’m going to be here for three weeks, Brian. So you’d better find a way to deal with that.”

His jaw clenched and she was pretty sure he was grinding his teeth. Which, actually, made her feel a lot better about the whole situation. Sure he wanted her out of town. Sure, he didn’t want her to touch him.

Because whether he wanted to admit it or not, he experienced the same short-circuiting sense of excitement from her that she did from him.

Which meant, all in all, that Tina was going to have an easier time seducing him than she’d thought she would.

After all, that’s why she was here, right?

To get Brian into bed.

To get pregnant.

And then to leave.

She let him go on that thought because the idea of leaving was less pleasant than the other thoughts had been and she didn’t want him to see any hesitation on her face.

“Fine.” He nodded and stepped out onto the porch. Settling his cap on his head, he looked at her from eyes shadowed by the black brim of the cap. “Three weeks. I can handle it if you can.”

Then he stomped down the steps, circled the house and headed for the stairs to his apartment. The dogs erupted into howls, yips and barks and Tina chuckled when she heard Brian mutter, “Shut up, you little beasts.”

Handle it?

He might think he’d be able to handle it, but Tina knew that she was getting to him. Knew that before the next week was up, she’d have him just where she wanted him.

The only question was, would she be able to handle leaving him again when the three weeks were over?

Bright and early the next morning, Tina dressed carefully in cream-colored linen slacks and a pale russet blouse. Then she snapped Peaches and Muffin onto their leashes and headed down the street.

It felt strange to go for a walk. Too long in California, she thought. Out there, people drove a half a block to a store rather than walking. Traffic was awful because carpooling had never taken off. Californians liked their cars and their sense of independence too much to share rides. They wanted to be able to go, when and where they wanted to.

Here in Baywater though, the quiet streets were made for walking. The sidewalks rose and fell like waves on the ocean as they climbed over tree roots. But when the sidewalks split, the city came out and patched the cement. A much better solution to Tina’s way of thinking, than the California answer to growing trees—which was to rip them out at the roots and plant newer, smaller trees. And then when they grew, rip them out and start over again.

The trees in Baywater, left alone to do what trees did best, stretched out leafy arms toward each other, making thick green arches over the wide streets. Kids rolled by on skateboards, neighbors worked in the garden and everyone had a swing on the front porch, just made for sitting and watching the world roll by.

God, she’d missed it.

“Hi, Mrs. Donovan,” she called and grinned when the old woman pruning her roses lifted a hand and smiled.

“That’s another thing,” Tina said, talking to the dogs as they pulled her forward, “neighbors actually talk to you here. They smile. Nobody ever smiles on the freeway.”

The dogs didn’t care.

Tina’d never really thought about the differences between South Carolina and California much before. Mainly, she guessed now, because if she had, the homesickness would have crippled her. Always before, her visits to her grandmother were quick and so full of activity or just plain sitting at the kitchen table talking, that she didn’t get the chance to wander around her hometown. To appreciate the quiet beauty and the peaceful atmosphere. To give herself a chance to wind down from all the hurry up and wait in California.

Now that she had, it was addictive.

Muffin and Peaches strained at their leashes, wandering back and forth until the twin, red leather straps were hopelessly tangled and they were just short of strangling each other in their enthusiasm. Tina laughed and skipped over Peaches as she darted backward to smell something she’d missed.

Quickly, Tina bent down and did a hand over hand thing with the leashes until they were straight again. “Now, how about single file?” she muttered and laughed as Muffin’s tongue did a quick swipe across her chin.

Straightening up, she started walking again and as the dogs’ tiny nails clicked against the sidewalk, she thought about her latest plan.

Tina had spent a long, sleepless night thinking about Brian and what he’d said. Or more importantly, what he hadn’t said. And just before the first streaks of light crossed the dawn sky, she’d realized what she had to do.

Talk to the one Reilly brother who wouldn’t lie to her. The one man she knew who was obliged, by virtue of his career, to tell her the absolute truth.

Father Liam.

Chapter Five

The rectory at St. Sebastian’s Catholic church was old and elegant. Built in the same style as the small church, the rectory, or priest’s house, looked like a tiny castle, squatting alongside the church itself. Ancient magnolia trees filled the yard and their wide, silky leaves rustled in a barely felt breeze as Tina approached.

The rectory’s weathered gray brick seemed to absorb the summer sunlight, holding it close and giving the building a sense of warmth, welcome. Sunshine glinted off the leaded windows and the petunias crowding huge terra cotta pots on the porch were splotches of bright purple, red and white in the shadows.

Muffin and Peaches raced up the sidewalk, dragging Tina in their wake and she was laughing as she rang the doorbell. An older woman, tall, with graying red hair and sharp green eyes, opened the door and asked, “May I help you?”

“Hello. I’d like to see Father Liam, if he’s here.”

The woman gave Tina a quick but thorough up and down look, then nodded and stepped back, issuing a silent invitation. Tina stepped into the room and gathered up the leashes tightly, keeping the dogs close at hand. She looked around and smiled at the dark wood paneling, the faded colors in the braided rugs and the sunlight spilling through windows to form tiny, diamond shapes on the gleaming wood floor.

“He’s right in there,” the woman said, reaching for the leashes. She spared a sniff as she added, “I’ll take your dogs to the backyard while you talk to Father.”

Before Tina could agree or not, the woman had Muffin and Peaches in hand and headed down a long, narrow hallway toward the back of the house. Shrugging, Tina crossed the hall to the door indicated, knocked and pushed it open.

Liam was sitting in an overstuffed chair, his feet up on a magazine-littered coffee table. He dropped the book he was reading, grinned and jumped to his feet when he saw her. “Tina!”

He crossed the room in a few long strides and enveloped her in a fierce, tight hug. Tina held on for a long minute, grateful for the warm welcome. Brian had certainly made it a point to let her know she wasn’t wanted. Getting this kind of reaction from Liam soothed her bruised feelings.

When he grabbed her shoulders and held her back for a long look, he grinned. “You look terrific. And it’s so good to see you.”

“Thanks, Liam. Good to see you, too.”

“Come in, sit down.”

“Sure you’re not busy?” She glanced around, but all she saw were the magazines and the open book, now lying on the carpet.

“Nope. Just reading a murder mystery, but it can wait.” He took a seat beside her on the couch. “When did you get in? How long are you here for?”

“A few days ago and three weeks,” she said, smiling. Priest or not, Liam Reilly was the kind of man women noticed. His black hair, longer than his brothers’ military cuts, was thick and wavy and his deep blue eyes were framed by long, black lashes. Tall and lean, he walked with an easy grace and his mouth was usually curved in a grin designed to win female hearts. There’d been a lot of disappointed women in Baywater when Liam entered the priesthood.

He looked at her carefully, tipped his head to one side and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She laughed shortly. “You must be psychic as well as a priest.”

“Nope,” he assured her with a grin. “Just incredibly handsome and charming.” Then he added, “But I know my people and my instincts are telling me there’s something bothering you.”

“Score one for Father Liam.”

“Good. Now why don’t you tell me what it is.”

Where to start? It had seemed like a good idea at the time, coming here, to talk to Liam. But priest or not, he was also Brian’s brother. Would he really side with Tina against his family? Or would he just clam up and keep whatever secrets Brian was hiding?

“You’re thinking,” Liam said softly. “I can practically see the wheels turning behind your eyes.”

“I’m just wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

“Of course you should come to see me.” He reached out and took one of her hands with both of his. “Especially if there’s something bothering you.”

A knock at the door sounded and the older woman poked her head into the room. “Would your guest like some tea, Father?”

Covertly, Liam shook his head at Tina, but she ignored him. It had been a long walk. “That would be great, thank you.”

When the woman was gone again, Liam sighed. “Mrs. Hannigan makes the world’s worst tea, poor woman.”

“Sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said on a sigh. “I’m almost used to it now anyway. But it may kill you.”

“I’m tough,” Tina assured him.

“Not tough enough to hide whatever’s bothering you. So spill it.”

She did. Right or wrong, she’d made the choice to come to Liam, so she would see it through. She started at the beginning and hit only the high points. How she’d decided to become a mother and how the only man she wanted to father her child was Brian and how she was now starting to worry about it all because Brian was so determined to stay away from her and “…so,” she said, winding the story up, “Brian had Connor try to get rid of me, and then refused to tell me why he wants me out of town so badly. I know something’s up, I just don’t know what.”

Liam laughed.

Throughout her story, he’d watched her eyes and she’d noticed first, understanding, and then the amused sparkle in his concerned blue gaze. But outright laughter seemed a little harsh.

“Hello?” she said, reaching out to slug his upper arm. “I came here for comfort, you know. And some answers.”

“I know, I know,” Liam said, still laughing as he rubbed his arm and then stood up to greet Mrs. Hannigan as she reentered the study. He took the tray from her and set it down on the coffee table. Once the woman was gone again, Liam poured a murky brown liquid into one of the tall glasses filled with ice. Giving it a wary look, he passed it to Tina. “Drink that, if you’re feeling brave, and I’ll explain.”

She did and at the first sip, she shuddered and felt a caffeine reaction punch through her like a bunched fist. The woman must have brewed the tea for days. It was almost thick enough to chew.

“I did warn you,” Liam said, obviously watching her reaction.

“Right.” She set the glass onto the tray, then turned to face her ex-brother-in-law again. “Start talking, Liam.”

He did. And when he was finished, she just stared at him for a long minute.

“You bet your brothers that they couldn’t abstain from sex for three months.”

“Yep.” He grinned again and leaned back into the faded floral couch.

“You’re a priest.”

He held up one finger. “I’m also a Reilly. And I know my brothers. They’ll never make it.”

“And you’re enjoying this.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said with relish and rubbed his palms together. “And,” he said, “with you back in town, the odds just went even higher in my favor.”

“How do you figure?”

Liam smirked at her. “Please. You and Brian are meant to be together.”

“We’re divorced, remember?” Tina cringed inwardly at the word. She still didn’t like it. Still hadn’t accepted it, even five years after the event.

She’d dated over the past five years, but Brian had always been there. In her heart. In her mind. He was the shadow she couldn’t quite lose. The memory she couldn’t quite forget. He was the love of her life. Or, at least, he had been.

Liam waved one hand at her, waving away her objections. “I blessed your marriage,” he said. “And the marriages I bless don’t dissolve.”

“Nice in theory,” she said.

He shook his head, sat up and leaned in toward her. “Tina, you guys are both Catholic. You know as well as I do that Catholic marriages are forever.”

“Until the state of South Carolina says they’re not,” she reminded him.

“My boss has a lot more clout than the governor,”

he said, with a smile.

“I guess so,” she admitted, but shook her head again.

“Look,” Liam told her, giving one of her hands a squeeze. “Brian’s a man on the edge already. It wouldn’t take much for you to push him over.”

“So my priest is suggesting I seduce a man who isn’t my husband?”

He winked at her. “According to the church, you’re still married. Besides, this is a poor parish. We need that new roof.”

In spite of everything, Tina laughed. “You Reillys are really something.”

“We thank you.”

“I don’t think Brian will,” she mused, reaching for her iced tea, before remembering and drawing her hand back empty.

Liam scooted around on the couch, dropped one arm across Tina’s shoulders and gave her a brief hug. “That’s where you’re wrong, Tina. Brian made a big mistake letting you go. Maybe it’s time you showed him how big a mistake it was.”

She leaned into the solid comfort of Liam’s embrace and thought about everything he’d said. As she did, she smiled. The only reason Brian would be trying so hard to get rid of her, is if he didn’t trust himself around her. Which told Tina that seducing Brian Reilly just got a lot easier.

Now all she had to do, was convince herself that she really was doing the right thing.

No problem.

By the time Brian got home from the base, he was worn out. He’d done everything he could to run himself ragged so that he’d sleep tonight, without the taunting dreams he’d been experiencing the past few nights.

Ever since Tina came back to town, he’d hardly dared close his eyes. The minute he did, she was there. Surrounding him in living breathing color. He could feel her, hear her, smell her. She filled his mind and tortured him in his sleep.

For three nights running, he’d awakened in the middle of the night, with his only recourse an icecold shower.

Not the way he wanted to spend the next two and a half weeks.

So until she left, he’d just work himself into the ground so exhaustion would take care of shutting down his too-busy mind. Today, after taking his jet up for some qualifying runs, he’d hit the weight room, then talked three of the guys into doing a fivemile run. The summer heat had pounded at them and the humidity was enough to make a grown man weep.

But as he pulled into the driveway that night, even exhaustion couldn’t completely stamp out the instantaneous reaction his body went into at Tina’s nearness.

The house was lit up like a fistful of birthday candles. Every light in the living room was on and a wide slice of lamplight spilled from the kitchen windows onto the flower-lined driveway. Music, something soft and entreating, drifted through the partially opened window overlooking the drive. It all looked warm and friendly, but he knew that inside that house was the biggest danger of all.

Brian walked along the driveway and stopped just short of stepping into the patch of light. Instead, he stayed in the shadows and looked through the kitchen window. Tina was there, alone, dancing slowly to the beat of the music playing on the stereo. His breath caught as he watched her move around the room in time to the music. Her body, long and lean and tanned, looked great in the shorts and skimpy tank top she wore. Her hips swayed, her eyes closed and when she lifted her arms like a gypsy dancer, it was all he could do to keep from storming into the room and grabbing her.

He rubbed both hands across his face and told himself to get a grip. But it was impossible. When he was thirty thousand feet above the ground, in the cockpit of his F-18, blasting across the sky, he felt in control. Sure of himself. But with his feet firmly on the ground and Tina in Baywater, Brian was a drowning man going down for the third time.

God, why was this so hard?

He’d let her go five years ago because he’d believed, deep in his heart, he was doing the right thing for her. For both of them. And it was fairly easy to keep himself convinced of that when she was on the opposite end of the country.

But now that she was home again.

Here.

Within arm’s reach—he wasn’t so sure anymore.

As that thought skittered uneasily through his mind, he headed toward the stairs, determined to ignore Tina and sneak—correction—go home without seeing her. And take another cold shower.

Of course, he’d forgotten about the damn dogs.

Muffin and Peaches erupted into a cacophony of sound that damn near deafened him and Brian shot the closed, backyard gate a furious glare. The little mutts had it in for him.

Suddenly the back door flew open, he turned to look and there was Tina, silhouetted in the doorway. His heart did a quick spin, jump and lurch and it was a second or two before he could draw an easy breath.