She whirled on Griff. “Have you thought through the implications of someone like me being married to your brother?”
His eyes narrowed. “Such as?”
“You saw what happened at Ryder and Bree’s wedding. A snake from my past showed up. More slime balls would come out of their holes if I was involved in a highly-publicized wedding. It could risk Kaleb’s safety worse than whatever threat this lady has made.”
Griff looked to Sutton.
“Troy’s a petty criminal,” Sutton said, dismissing her concerns.
“I’ve been involved in crap you can’t even imagine,” she threw at them both.
“Really?” Griff arched an eyebrow at her and Jasmine was quickly humbled. Griff and Sutton had both been through hell and back.
Sutton gave her a placating smile. “This isn’t about your list of misdeeds, Jasmine, it’s about protecting Kaleb and those football players who have been threatened, one of which is your new brother-in-law. Are you willing to use your very unique and effective skills to help all of Griff’s family, and yours?”
Jasmine hated that he’d dismissed her concerns. She’d been involved in dark deals. Criminals had used her because she appeared innocent and beautiful but could fight like a Valkyrie. She’d made so many enemies working on both sides of the law. Her concerns were legitimate. “I am not doing this.”
“You are,” Griff shot at her. “This is my family, my brothers, and you’re as deep in it as anybody.”
“I cannot marry Kaleb Quinn!” Her heart raced at the very idea.
“Why not?” Sutton asked, studying her. “You’re a professional, Jasmine. You’re the first one to admit that your past is dark and complex. You’ve been in much worse situations than this. You can easily protect Kaleb and help neutralize this threat.”
How to admit to these two that Kaleb Quinn drove her to want to behave like a desperate woman? She was enthralled by his music and attracted to him like she’d never been attracted to a man. She couldn’t let her guard down around a man, but especially not around a man with a soft, giving heart like Kaleb’s.
“Please, Jaz.” Griff stared at her so beseechingly she almost broke. “Please. I wouldn’t ask this of you if I could see another option. Protect my brother.”
Jasmine had never seen Griff so humble. She knew she could protect Kaleb. But could she protect herself? There was another question she had to have answered before she could commit one way or another.
“Why did Kaleb say he was engaged, and to someone named Jasmine?”
Griff raised his thick shoulders. “I don’t know the answer to that. If you’ll come with us in the morning, you can ask him yourself.”
Jasmine clamped the inside of her cheek between her teeth. “I’m not committing to do it, but I’ll go with you in the morning.”
Griff stared at her for a few beats, his frustration with her evident. He finally tilted his chin and turned away.
Sutton smiled reassuringly, as if nothing in the world was amiss, and nodded to her. “Get some rest. We’ll go early.”
Jasmine said nothing as she walked from the office and headed for the stairs. Her hands were clenched and her neck muscles tight but her heart was strangely light and all she could think was, I could marry Kaleb Quinn.
Chapter Five
Kaleb couldn’t sleep. He squinted at the alarm clock. Five a.m. His brother, Griff, and his boss, Sutton Smith, had come by last night then sent men to sweep the house and set up protection inside and out. They’d called him late last night and informed him that they had a solution and would be by in the morning. What would the solution be? How would it impact his life? Would it protect those Titans and Patriots players the woman had threatened? He hated how the threat was vague yet specific. What if it was just some prank and they were all going nuts about it?
He shook his head. It didn’t feel like a prank. Not at all.
Pushing himself out of bed, he headed upstairs to his home gym and started his workout. He and his brothers and sister had always been into athletics. His brothers, Ryder and Mack, were both professional football players and his oldest sibling, Navy, was a fitness expert. Griff stayed in fabulous shape with his military training and his current job, doing security with the renowned Sutton Smith. Nobody knew what Colt really did, besides flirt with women, but he was also fit and healthy.
Kaleb worked through a hard set of sprints on the treadmill and the rowing machine before starting his weight workout. He much preferred running on the beach outside his house when he was home, but the security guys who came last night asked him not to leave the house until Sutton and Griff came.
Almost done with his fourth round of weights, he heard doors opening and closing downstairs and voices. He’d hoped to be done with his workout and showered before they got here.
Grabbing a chilled, lemon-scented towel and water bottle from the mini-fridge in his gym, he threw his sweaty shirt in the dirty towel bin and wiped his face, chest, and arms down quickly before heading through the hallway to the main staircase. He should find a clean shirt but it was just Griff, maybe Sutton or some of his men.
The voices were coming from the living room so he jogged down the stairs and through the archway. The living room overlooked the beach and ocean with two-story, floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun was just coming up on the opposite side of his house in the east, making the water sparkle and dance with its rays. Kaleb didn’t even notice the view as he stopped abruptly and stared at his dream woman, standing in his living room. She was more beautiful than any breathtaking vista.
“Jasmine,” he whispered.
She stared at him with a slightly open mouth. Her eyes went over his face, his arms and chest then back up to his face. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
He wasn’t sure what she meant. “Staring at perfection,” he admitted.
She clamped her jaw tight then stormed toward him, stopping a foot away. “Where is your shirt?”
He glanced down at his bare abdomen then back into her deep brown eyes. Was it possible her eyes were a deeper brown and her lips were more exquisitely formed than the last time he’d seen her? She’d told him to write a song, and he had, multiple songs about unrequited love. He was a goner when it came to this woman. He hardly knew her and she had him wrapped up tight.
“Sorry. I was working out and sweaty so I tossed my shirt in the dirty clothes bin.”
“You don’t smell like you’ve been working out. Why don’t you stink?”
He smiled, grateful he didn’t stink.
“Jaz,” Griff’s voice came from the side.
Kaleb glanced up, shocked that Griff and Sutton were both in the room. He didn’t like that he’d been so invested in Jasmine he hadn’t noticed them and he didn’t like the way they were both appraising the situation. Sutton’s look was half-amused, half-surprised. Griff’s gaze was serious and wary.
Jasmine stepped away from Kaleb and glanced at the men also. “Don’t give me that look,” she bit out. Kaleb wondered who she was snipping at. At least it wasn’t at him. “I can’t do this gig if he is going to walk around half-naked.” She flung a hand at Kaleb.
Kaleb’s eyebrows rose. “In my defense, this is my home and it’s six-thirty in the morning.”
Her dark eyes swung back to him. Her small hands were clenched so tightly all the muscles in her lovely arms were flexed. “Well if these two expect me to share your home, you’re going to have to cover that body up.”
Kaleb stepped back at the vehemence in her voice, the daggers in her gaze, but most especially the words coming from her full, luscious lips. “Share my home?”
“Why don’t you go shower?” Sutton suggested. “Griff can whip us up some breakfast and we’ll chat while we eat.”
Kaleb folded his arms across his chest, which earned him another appreciative look that quickly turned into a glare from Jasmine. “I’d prefer to know what’s going on,” he said. “The shower can wait.”
&nbs
p; “Putting a shirt on can’t,” Jasmine said.
Sutton ignored Jasmine’s comments and gestured to the couches. “Let’s sit.”
“I’d prefer to stand,” Kaleb said. He wasn’t usually so antagonistic but he didn’t like the looks these three were giving him or the fact that Sutton and Griff had sprung Jasmine into the situation without so much as informing him. He groaned inside. He was the one who’d thrown Jasmine into this when he’d said her name at the concert. Was he putting her in danger? He remembered the way she’d handled that guy at Ryder and Bree’s wedding. She could obviously take care of herself, and if she worked for Sutton she was a top notch professional, but could he control himself with her around?
Sutton nodded, not seeming put out at all by Kaleb’s attitude. “We feel the best approach to the threats you’ve received is to play along and catch the person tonight as they go to retrieve the money.”
“Play along meaning …?” Kaleb’s throat was tightening and at the same time it felt like his heart was beating so high it was in his throat. Play along meant he married—his gaze flickered to the beautiful woman mere feet away— Jasmine.
“Your parents are flying in from Rhode Island. Ryder and Bree will be coming from Texas. With Griff here and the preacher we have on hand, we feel it’s enough to pull off a wedding ceremony on the beach this afternoon. A ceremony that we’ll share all over your social media and leak to some key paparazzi.”
Jasmine said nothing but the angst radiating from her was enough to show how she felt about the situation.
Kaleb shouldn’t have but he said quietly, “And who am I marrying?” He hoped, yet didn’t dare hope that it was her.
Sutton flashed a smile. “The person you claimed to be engaged to … Jasmine.”
Kaleb ignored the glower from Jasmine and returned the smile.
Jasmine was a mess. She vacillated between anger at the situation and all the men in the room and the intense attraction and pull she felt to Kaleb. Why didn’t the man go put a shirt on? She’d seen many a bare chest in her day but the way his lean muscles rippled under his smooth, tanned skin was mesmerizing. What woman would be immune to the man? He glowed like Adonis.
“Why did you claim to be engaged, and to someone named Jasmine?” she threw at Kaleb.
“Now, Jasmine, we can worry about that later,” Sutton said.
“No. Nuh-uh. You told me I could ask him.” She stared at Kaleb. “So I’m asking.”
Kaleb pressed his lips together and then he splayed his hands and she should’ve closed her eyes to protect herself. The muscles in his arms, shoulders, and chest flexed. No man had a right to be that beautiful. If it was only his exterior beauty she could’ve ignored it, but from his songs she felt like she knew this man’s heart and it was made of gold. Definitely not the man for her.
“Women are constantly throwing themselves at me,” he started to explain.
Jasmine’s eyebrows rose as jealousy dug at her and made her stomach roll. “Ooh, it must be tough being so handsome and famous.” Her voice was sickly sweet.
“Jaz,” Griff’s voice was a quiet warning—stop picking on my brother.
She gestured for Kaleb to continue.
He took a long breath then admitted, “Last night I’d had enough. My head was pounding and I’m so sick of the women …” He looked down. “You heard about the concert?”
She would never admit to him that she’d been there. Sutton cleared his throat. She ignored him and nodded for Kaleb to continue.
“They were all screaming for me to ‘marry them’ and …” He pushed a hand through his hair, the move did nothing for Jasmine’s nerves as his biceps flexed and her mind rushed back to him holding her close on Bree’s wedding day. Dang him being such a nice guy. “I obviously wasn’t thinking straight. I told them I was engaged and they asked for a name.” Suddenly he was looking everywhere but at her. He licked his lips and admitted, “I said your name.”
Jasmine’s stomach lifted and then dropped just as fast. “What?” she gasped out. He’d said her name, but he hadn’t been thinking of her, had he? What if he liked her like she liked him? That would be catastrophic, especially if they had to actually get married, and then pretend to be together. One of them had to keep their head on straight, sadly, right now she wouldn’t place money on her staying in control.
Kaleb stared at her and it was as if they were the only two people in the world. He didn’t offer any explanation or apology. He’d said her name. That was all he gave her. It was out there for her to stew about and Sutton and Griff to probably wonder about. Luckily her boss and friend were the last men in the world to delve into anybody’s personal space.
Kaleb’s blue eyes were so appealing as he focused in on her. If she was a wussy girl she’d probably think they were dreamy. She was not a wussy girl. She straightened her back and stepped farther away from him. It was either that or see if that chest was as perfect-feeling as it looked. It was! She remembered from the infamous hug at the wedding. Sheesh, Jasmine, get under control.
“Do you want to explain your plan now, Sutton?” she asked, trying to keep her voice level and unemotional. She didn’t know if it worked, and that made her mad. Kaleb had no right to pull her in with those eyes, that kind, beseeching look he had about him, and make her appear unprofessional in front of Sutton and Griff. She respected these men above all others and she’d worked hard these past two years to prove her value, and commitment, to them.
“You two need to get ready for your wedding and stay together,” Sutton gave them both a significant look, “until we apprehend the threat. I’ve already got the money ready for the drop tonight and a team standing by to make sure he or she doesn’t escape.”
“You think it might be a man?” Kaleb asked.
Sutton nodded. “I never presume anything in my business. Who in your past or present would be upset enough about you saying you were engaged to issue a threat like this?”
Kaleb paused and then said, “My assistant, Kelly, wasn’t too thrilled I was engaged and she questioned me about it, but … I can’t see her doing anything like this.”
“We’ll check into her.” Sutton stared at him. “I know you have numerous fans so I’m probably pinning this on one of them, but can you think of anyone else, especially a woman? Did the voice sound familiar at all?”
“I didn’t recognize the voice but …” Kaleb glanced at Griff. “Did you tell him about Amelia?”
Griff nodded. “We’re checking into her.”
“Who’s Amelia?” Jasmine broke in.
Kaleb turned to her. “My college girlfriend. She’s … insane.”
Griff grunted his agreement.
“When I broke up with her our senior year she stalked me, and even a restraining order didn’t help. They finally admitted her to a mental institution. I haven’t heard anything from her in years though.”
Jasmine didn’t blame the woman. Kaleb loving and then dumping a woman would probably drive the most level-headed person to the nut house.
Sutton nodded. “If you think of anyone else, please let us know. We have some impressive people in our research department.”
“Thanks,” Kaleb said.
“Griff and I will be back for the wedding at fourteen hundred hours. I’d like you two to stay here. A team will set up the wedding and dinner down on the beach. I have an approved team who will come in and get you both dressed and pressed for the event.” He smiled at Jasmine, knowing she hated being subjected to hairstylists, dress designers, and makeup artists. She did it more often than she liked for jobs where her angelic face was almost as important as her fighting skills. Kaleb probably had to deal with that kind of junk all the time. He didn’t even react.
Sutton started to head toward the front door but he veered back and said in a low tone to Jasmine, “Play nice.”
Jasmine blinked up at him. “He makes it hard,” she whispered back. She glanced over at Kaleb, who was staring at her as if he could hear every
thing.
Sutton chuckled. “You’re a professional. You’ve got this.”
Jasmine nodded. His encouragement flooded her and she appreciated his faith in her. Interesting that his faith, at the moment, wasn’t that she could take down multiple armed men after beguiling those same men into thinking she was an innocent, beautiful woman. Sutton already knew all of that about her. His faith was that she could pretend to marry this all-star and get along with him. It sounded infinitely harder than infiltrating a mafia ring or allowing a human trafficking operation to capture her, and then taking them all down and freeing innocents.
“Cheers.” Sutton gave her a pat on the shoulder, knowing she didn’t allow much physical contact. He was a better surrogate father than anyone she could imagine. He walked away. Griff shook his brother’s hand, saluted her, and followed Sutton out of the living area and toward the front of the house. When the door shut behind her boss and her co-worker, she suddenly felt awkward, unsure, and terrified. That made her mad. She never felt any of those insecure emotions.
Her gaze darted around, avoiding Kaleb. She took in the view of the ocean, the two-story living area with far too many windows from a security perspective. The room was decorated in a pale blue and white beach kind of theme with dark wood and steel accents. “Beautiful house,” she grunted out.
“Thank you.”
The silence stretched and scratched and became unbearable. Finally Kaleb said, “So what do we do now?”
Jasmine’s gaze flew to him. “Well first of all I think you should take a shower and put some clothes on.”
His laughter rolled over her, warm and sweet, like a perfectly baked cinnamon roll oozing with cream cheese frosting. “You don’t like me without a shirt on very much, do you?” His blue eyes were yanking her in and she had to stop this, now.
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