Because she didn’t know if she wanted to get in a car with him. Just standing here a few feet away, she was too physically aware of him. “I’m not sugar. I won’t melt in a little rain.”

He chuckled. “No, you’re not sugar sweet. That’s what I like about you. You strike sparks. I can’t forget how you tackled Larazo.” His smile faded. “But you should have had a weapon. You weren’t strong enough to handle him.”

“Maybe I should ask your uncle to give me lessons.”

“That’s a thought. Or maybe I can teach you.” Then he shook his head. “No, lots of body contact. It wouldn’t work. I’d forget what I was doing.”

And so might she. Why did every reference come back to the physical? No, she shouldn’t let him take her home.

He was studying her face. “Take a chance. I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to do. We’ll talk.” He thought about it. “Maybe.” Then he grinned. “It’s hard to be honest when I’m trying my best to convince you I’m no threat.”

He couldn’t convince her. He was a threat to her. No, it was her own emotions that were the threat.

“You have to leave. I have to finish my shift.”

He didn’t speak for a moment. “I’ll wait for you outside. I’m parked across the street. Old beat-up tan Chevy. It’s not pretty, but it’s transportation.” He didn’t wait for her to answer as he strode toward the door. “And it will keep the rain off you.”

He was gone before she could reply.

She stared after him, her hand clenched on the cloth.

“Who is that?” Teresa Maddel had come out of the kitchen and was standing, gazing out the window at John Gallo as he ran across the street. “Hot, very hot, Eve.” She made a mocking gesture of fanning herself. “I don’t think you can handle him. You should leave him to me.”

Eve didn’t think she could handle him, either. Just those few minutes had made her feel uncertain.

“His name is John Gallo.” She began to fill up the saltshaker. “And you’re welcome to him.”

“I’ll take him.” Teresa was only half-kidding. “You don’t run across sexy guys like that every day of the week. Introduce me the next time he comes in.” She wandered back toward the kitchen. “And I’ll do the rest.”

Yes, Teresa would give him anything he wanted and ask for more. She was almost twenty, and some of the stories she told Eve were very graphic. Eve had a mental image of a naked Teresa moving beneath him and Gallo driving hard, fast, and—

Only the naked girl had suddenly become Eve, not Teresa. And the muscles of her stomach were tensing as he entered her and—

Don’t think of it.

Ready to perform.

She had thought that about John Gallo at the hospital. Tight, sensual, ready to perform.

She had spilled the salt. Her hand was shaking.

Stupid. She wasn’t this weak. It was only a crazy physical yen. She should be able to control it.

But Teresa had evidently experienced that same reaction and she was not going to control it. Maybe she had the right idea. Take any pleasure that came your way.

But she wasn’t like Teresa. She knew that sex had consequences that eventually caught up with you. Look at her mother, look at Rosa. She wouldn’t be caught in that trap.

She wasn’t that weak.

*   *   *

IT HAD STARTED TO RAIN when she left the restaurant.

The tan Chevy was parked across the street.

She stopped, staring at it.

John Gallo got out of the car and stood in the rain, holding the passenger door open for her. “Come on. Hurry.”

The rain was pouring down his face, and his shirt was already starting to cling to his body. He didn’t look as if he even felt it.

He smiled and repeated softly, “Hurry. I can’t wait.”

Neither could she. She was running across the street. “You’re an idiot.” She jumped into the car. “Look at you. You’re drenched.” She leaned back in the seat. “Now get in the car and drive me home.”

“Not such an idiot.” He was in the driver’s seat and starting the car. “I needed something to help you make up your mind.” He slanted a glance at her. “And I don’t melt either, Eve. At least not in the rain.”

“I should have left you standing there in the downpour,” Eve said. “And I will next time. Or I’ll send out Teresa, one of the girls I work with. She wants to meet you.”

“Not interested.” He smiled. “And you wouldn’t leave me out in the rain.”

“Why not?”

“I might rust. I’m going to be too valuable to you for you to take the chance. You’re going to like the way I move.”

“Stop it.” She drew a deep breath. “You said we could talk. This isn’t talk. This is some kind of game I don’t know how to play.”

“I know how to play it. And it’s all I can think about.” He stared straight ahead, watching the windshield wipers brush away the rain. “Okay. Talk. How is Manuel?”

“Fine. It’s as if last night never happened.” She paused. “What did you do to Rick Larazo?”

“Who said I did anything?”

“What did you do?”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “You don’t want to know. It took a little persuasion to make him see that confession was good for the soul.”

“Why did you do it?”

“It was easier for me to remove Rosa’s problem than it was for you to do it.” He paused. “And you told me you wanted it.”

“As if that would make a difference.”

“It made a difference. I wanted to please you.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? Because I wanted you to please me. I thought there might be a return on the investment.”

“You thought I’d screw you if you did that for Rosa?”

He sighed. “If you want to put it bluntly.”

“I do. I hate people who beat around the bush. And I didn’t tell you to go after Larazo.” She added grudgingly, “Though I might have done it if I’d thought it would work. He deserved to be punished.”

“Oh, he was.”

“But I wouldn’t screw you as some kind of reward. That would be nuts.”

“It wouldn’t if it turned out to be a mutual reward. I was just hoping to sway you a little in my direction.” He lifted his brow. “Are you swayed?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll have to keep on trying.” They had reached the housing development, and he pulled the car over to the curb across the street from the project. “I’ve only just begun.”

The rain was pounding on the roof of the car and enveloping them in a rhythmic sound that had its own intimacy.

Intimacy. That was what Eve had been trying to avoid, and all of a sudden it was there, surrounding her.

“Thanks for the lift.” She reached for the handle of the door. “Good night.”

“It’s still pouring. Stay a minute until it lets up.”

“I have to get to bed. I have school tomorrow.”

“No mother waiting anxiously for her little girl?”

“No.”

“You were all bent out of shape when I mentioned drugs. You took it personally. Is she the user?”

She didn’t answer directly. “I hate what they do to you.”

He nodded. “She’s the user. I don’t like them, either. My uncle was on prescription drugs for a while, and it turned him into another person. Does she make it rough on you?”

“You mean, does she beat me? No, she’s not like that even when she’s on the stuff. She just wants everything pretty, and it looks that way to her when she sees it through a veil of crack. She doesn’t see that everything is really falling to pieces around her.”

“Not a good life for you.”

“I manage,” she said tersely. “Keep your pity, I don’t need it.”

“I don’t pity you.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t let myself. It might get in the way of getting what I want. I told you that was my main objective.”

“Why?” She looked straight ahead. “Why me? I’m not drop-dead gorgeous. I’m not even particularly pretty.”

“No, you’re not.” His smile vanished. “You’re too thin, and your face doesn’t look like some movie star’s. But I don’t want to stop looking at it. Do you know what I thought when I first got a good look at you when you were sitting on those stairs? You burn, Eve. Your hair was shining more red than brown under those lights, and your whole being was focused on Rosa and her baby. You were so alive and intense, I felt as if I’d scorch my fingers if I touched you.” He added softly, “And I couldn’t wait to feel the burn.”