Suddenly Sexy by Linda Francis Lee Page B

Palace and she said she could probably get me a job if I come
out and interview. She's going to let me stay with her until I find a
place of my own."

Jesse waited until she was done speaking. "Will two thousand help you
get started in Las Vegas?"

Belinda's eyes went wide. "Well," she said, seeming surprised by her
good fortune. "Sure, that'll work."

Tension sliced through Jesse as he looked out the window again to where
Travis sat by the pool.
"Then I'll write you a check."

"Oh, okay. Good. Well then, um, great. If I could get that from you
now, the car's packed, then I'll get out of your hair."

She started to stand.

"What about the boy?" Jesse asked, stopping her. "He'll stay with you
in Las Vegas?"

"Actually, no. Not until I get a place of my own. But I have someone
here who he's going to stay with."

He glanced back at her sharply. "Who?"

"A ... um .. . friend." She became nervous.

"A good friend?" he persisted, his expression exacting.

"Okay, no. It's with a lady who lives down the street from us."

"You're leaving him with some lady?"

"Not just some lady. A
neighbor lady. And I know her . . . sort of. At least I know her good
enough,
since I don't have anywhere else to leave Travis, and I can't take him
with me and have him stay in
a tiny apartment with a bunch of gals who work at Caesars Palace!"

Her face was red now with irritation and frustration, and probably with
more than a little guilt.

Jesse pressed his eyes closed, something deep and emotional riding
through him. "Then he should stay with me."

Belinda gasped. "With you?"

Kate felt surprise ripple through her. He'd just seen the boy for the
first time, and now he was offering
to take care of him? It hardly made sense.

The muscles in Jesse's jaw worked, a fierceness coming into his eyes
that would have given any sane person pause. "Yes, with me."

"Listen," Belinda said, growing concerned, "I didn't come here looking
to make you a father."

"Then why did you come?" he asked harshly. "Just for money? Is that it?"

Belinda blushed red.

"You can't walk in here, announce I have a son, then turn around and
disappear. It doesn't work that way."

The woman looked at the file and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I
thought it would work that way with you."

His jaw ticked.

Then she shook herself. "I'm not interested in giving up my boy. The
arrangement with the lady might
not be perfect. But it won't be for long. A month, tops. And I won't
let you take Travis away from me."

Jesse visibly calmed himself. "I understand that, and I'm not asking
you to give him up. I don't want you to give him up. As soon as you're
settled, let me know and I'll send him out on a plane." He looked her
directly in the eye. "Do you really think it's wise to leave him with
some lady for a month?"

Panic battled with practicality on Belinda's once-pretty face. "Damn it
all, you swear you won't try to keep him?"

"You have my word."

She studied her ex-boyfriend for a minute. "Well, maybe that could
work. But I'll want him back as
soon as I'm settled."

"Just tell me when you're ready."

She hesitated for one last second, before she conceded. "Okay, let me
go talk to Travis."

She pushed up from the table. As soon as the door closed behind her,
Jesse went to the kitchen. Kate found him at the sink, looking out the
back window. She stood in the doorway for a long second, taking him in.

The unfortunate incident regarding her, a pot of tea, and the publicity
queen Gwen was forgotten. She focused on this man, someone, she
realized, she didn't even know anymore. He might still laugh and tease,
but all traces of the boy she grew up with were gone. Standing there
looking at him, she saw
that his expression was no longer carefree, his smile no longer easy.

That was one of the things that always surprised Kate about Jesse—the
way he walked through life with
a bad boy's grace, his smiles and teasing quips making him seem as if
he didn't have a care in the world. But now, looking