“Everything looks delicious,” Jen said, reaching for two plates. “Where is Holly, by the way?”
Jane wrinkled her brow. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she set up the tables.”
Carson was noticeably absent too. Cash wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one. As much as he didn’t want to imagine his lieutenant screwing around, he hoped Carson and Holly were inside getting it on somewhere. At least that would mean they were on their way to fixing the problems between them.
“I’m sure they’ll turn up soon,” Cash said, catching Jen’s frown. “Come on, let’s have something to eat.”
They spent the next twenty minutes chatting with Jane while they scarfed down some food. People drifted over to say hello, including Dylan and Jackson.
“So you’re the Texan,” Jen said, giving Jackson a thorough once-over.
Cash knew she liked what she saw. Women went wild for the smooth-talking Texan, with his wavy brown hair and tall muscular frame. The guy lived in faded blue jeans, plaid shirts and combat boots, which made him appear laidback but at the same time tough.
Jackson winked. “And you’re even more beautiful than everyone described, sugar.”
“What the hell, Texas?” Jane grumbled. “Why don’t you ever call me sugar?”
“Why don’t I call you sugar?” Jackson hooked a thumb behind her. “That’s why.”
Next thing Cash knew, Becker was barreling toward them with a surprising spring to his step. “There’s my little angel,” he said happily, in no way resembling the man who’d picked them up at the police station the other night. This Becker was relaxed and overjoyed, smiling broadly as he greeted his kid.
Sadie wiggled in her mother’s arms and stuck out her chubby fists in Becker’s direction. “Gah!” she cried.
Becker gave everyone a brisk nod. “That means dad.” He promptly scooped Sadie out of Jane’s arms and tucked her against his chest.
“It means everything,” Jane muttered under her breath. “It’s the only word she says.”
“Thanks for coming,” Becker told the men. He glanced at Jen. “You too, Jen. I’m sorry to hear about the troubles you’ve been having with your ex-boyfriend.”
She shrugged. “Thanks, but I think the trouble’s come to an end.”
Cash casually squeezed her arm before she could say more. He didn’t want her bringing up the bar fight and reigniting Becker’s anger.
“So the little princess is growing up,” Cash said, reaching out to touch one of Sadie’s tiny hands.
She immediately curled her whole fist around his index finger and squeezed. Man, the kid was strong. Then again, she was the offspring of Thomas Becker, so no surprise there.
“She sure is.” Becker planted an indulgent kiss on the tuft of red hair atop Sadie’s head. “And she’s smart as a whip. She—” He halted, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at something behind Cash. Then he made an annoyed sound and turned to glare at his wife. “Why the fu-fudge did you invite Steven?”
Jane was clearly braver than Cash and the others, because she didn’t cower under Becker’s hard stare. “It was the polite thing to do.”
“Polite? That lunatic nearly killed our child.”
Cash and Jen exchanged WTF looks.
“It was harmless fun!” Jane shot back.
“Who’s Steven?” Jen asked tentatively.
Becker jammed a finger across the backyard. Everyone followed his gaze, but the only person in their line of sight was a chubby blonde with a cherub-cheeked infant in her arms.
“Wait—Steven’s the baby?” Dylan said, looking confused.
“Spawn of Satan,” Becker corrected.
Jane sighed. “Beck tags along for my Mommy and Me program.” Which she sounded incredibly unthrilled about. “Last time we were there, Steven crawled over to Sadie and knocked her over. It was nothing. They both got giggly about it and wiggled around on the floor afterwards.”
Becker looked livid. “That baby had malevolence in his eyes, Jane. He knew exactly what he was doing when—”
“Who wants to help me refill the beer cooler?” Jane interrupted, turning away from her husband.
Cash spoke first. “I’ll do it.”
He resisted doing a victory dance as Dylan, Jackson and Jen all scowled at him in betrayal. Whatever. He didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse over saddling them with Becker. Babies with malevolence in their eyes? Fatherhood had clearly turned the commander into a crazy person.
Besides, Cash had been hoping to get Jane alone today. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, he pounced on it, trailing after the redhead as she headed for the house.
“We stored all the alcohol in the fridge in the basement.” Jane opened a door in the hallway, pulled a metal string, and light illuminated a narrow staircase.
“I’m glad we have a moment alone,” Cash said as they trudged down to the basement. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
She looked intrigued. “Okay.”
The Beckers’ basement was unfinished, a large dusty room cluttered with boxes. Jane walked over to a large freezer against the far wall and leaned in to grab a case of beer, which Cash promptly took from her hands and set on the floor. “Let me do it. How many cases do you want to bring out?”
“Two or three should be fine.”
As he grabbed two more and added them to the pile, Jane leaned against the wall. “So what did you want to talk about?”
He hesitated before reaching into his back pocket for the flash drive he’d shoved there. Guilt pricked his gut. He hated going behind Jen’s back, but he knew that if left to her own devices, she would keep stalling, the way she had for the past five days.
Despite her insistence that she was ready to seriously pursue photography, she’d already started second-guessing herself again, this time with the photos she wanted to include in her portfolio. Since no papers or magazines in the area had any open full-time positions, her best bet was to submit work to a bunch of places in hopes of landing a freelance gig, but the way she was agonizing over this portfolio, it would take years before she sent any submissions out.
That’s why he’d wanted to talk to Jane. Before marrying Becker, she’d worked for a big-time magazine in L.A., and Cash was hoping she could put feelers out with her former editor. But he knew they’d need to see Jen’s work, and he also knew Jen wouldn’t dream of sending stuff to such a prestigious publication.
Cash shifted on his feet. “You still keep in contact with your editor at Today’s World, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
He rolled the flash drive between his fingers, battling another pang of guilt as he remembered how he’d snuck onto Jen’s laptop when she was in the shower earlier and copied her entire picture folder onto this drive.
“Jen’s a photographer,” he started. “And she’s damn good.”
“Really? I had no idea.”
“She doesn’t advertise it. And I don’t think she realizes how talented she actually is, but trust me, she’s the real deal. The thing is, she’s too scared to show her work to anyone. She just started researching where she can submit to, but I remembered that you worked at Today’s World and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask you to take a look at this.” He held out the USB stick. “All her stuff is on this.”
Jane tucked it in her front pocket. “Sure, I’d be happy to take a look. And if her photographs are as good as you say, I’m happy to forward them to the photo editor at TW. He’s always on the lookout for talented freelancers.”
“Wow, that would be amazing. Thanks, Jane.”
She tilted her head pensively. “Why didn’t Jen just ask me herself?”
“Um…well, she doesn’t exactly know I’m talking to you. Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like it if we kept this between us.”
Her bewilderment grew. “Why?”
“I don’t want her to think I’m overstepping my bounds and messing around with her career.
She’s got this blog where she posts her pictures. I can send you the link, and if your editor likes her work and wants to meet with her, maybe he can pretend he came across her blog.” Cash offered a sheepish shrug. “That way Jen will feel like she did it on her own, you know?”
Jane stared at him, slack-jawed.
“What?” he mumbled.
“You’re sleeping with her,” she accused.
“No,” he said in a half-ass denial. “We’re friends, that’s all.”
“Bullshit.” Jane grinned. “You’re sleeping together. And not only that, but you care about her, don’t you?”
Continuing to deny it was fruitless. Jane would see right through it.
“Yeah, I care about her.”
“A lot.”
“A lot,” he conceded.
“Oh, Hot Stuff, you’ve really gone and done it now.”
Cash arched a brow. Hot Stuff?
As if reading his mind, she waved a hand. “Yeah, that’s what all the wives and girlfriends call you. Deal with it. Anyway, you know Carson will kick your ass, right?”
“I know.” He let out a breath. “I tried to keep my hands off her, but she was determined to seduce me.”
Jane laughed. “How long did you manage to hold out for?”
“Two days.”
“That’s actually pretty impressive, considering that…well, that you’re a man.” She paused. “What about Jen? Does she feel the same way?”
Discomfort rippled through him. “She insists we’re only having a fling.”
“Becker insisted the same thing when we first got together. Don’t worry, they always come to their senses eventually.”
He had to smile. “That’s reassuring.”
“She’d be crazy not to want something more. You’re a great guy, Hot Stuff. A real catch. She’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“I hope so.”
Jane stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “She will. Now, will you be a doll and carry these cases upstairs for me?”
“Sure thing.”
Her sandals clicked on the wooden stairs as she hurried up them. Cash bent and picked up the cases, easily carting all three up the stairs. He was two steps from the kitchen when a familiar voice caught his attention.
“Can we please just talk about this?”
Carson.
He followed the voice to a closed door off to the left. The hall bathroom, he guessed, and when a female voice joined Carson’s, Cash realized the lieutenant wasn’t alone.
“For God’s sake, we’re at Sadie’s birthday party. We can talk about this later.”
Holly.
Cash breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, well at least Carson was in there with his wife, and not some member of the catering staff.
He felt guilty for even considering the latter as a legit possibility, but the memory of Carson with another woman hadn’t left Cash’s head. Unfortunately, the identity of the woman remained a mystery since Carson was once again avoiding Jen’s phone calls.
“You can’t tell me seeing Penny and Sadie and Lucas doesn’t make you want the same thing for us.”
“What I want is to fix this rift between us. A baby isn’t the solution, Carson.”
“It’ll bring us closer together, you know it will. And I’m ready for this.” He sounded desperate. “Besides, it’ll be nice for our kid to be around other kids his age. He’ll have an instant playmate in Penny and—”
Holly cut in angrily. “You want to knock me up so that Garrett and Shelby’s daughter has someone to play with?”
Cash stifled a sigh. Carson was really digging himself into a hole.
“That’s not the only reason. I’m getting older, babe. I just turned thirty-four. I don’t want to be an old dad.”
“Then you shouldn’t have married a woman who’s five years younger than you! You should’ve married one whose biological clock lines up with yours!”
Edging away from the doorway, Cash readjusted his grip on the beer cases. He felt like a shit for eavesdropping, especially now that the argument had treaded into TMI territory.
But he didn’t escape fast enough—the bathroom door suddenly swung open and Holly flew into the hall.
She froze when she spotted him, instantly reaching up to wipe the tears welling up in her green eyes. Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but then a little sob escaped her lips and she hurried past him. She rushed out the front door, which slammed with gusto.
A second later, Carson burst out of the bathroom, frustration clearly etched into his features.
When he saw Cash, some of the craziness left his eyes. “You heard all that?” he said in a weary voice.
Cash nodded.
“Fuck. Fuck. I don’t know what to do anymore, man. I can’t fucking stand having her mad at me all the time.” Carson raked both hands through his blond hair, then took a determined step. “I have to go after her.”
Cash hastily moved into the other man’s path. “I think you should probably give her some space.”
“Space,” Carson echoed, his tone wary.
“Hold up, let me put these away.” Without waiting for an answer, he quickly ducked into the kitchen and dropped the beer cases on the counter.
When he returned to the hall, he studied Carson’s ravaged face and softened his tone. “Let her be for a while. Maybe Jen should go and talk to her. They’re close, right?”
“My sister’s the one who got my wife riled up in the first place,” Carson snapped. “She filled her head with all these ideas about how we’re not communicating. Like Jenny’s one to dish out relationship advice, for fuck’s sake. Any advice, for that matter. Her taste in men sucks, she can’t hold a damn job, she’s the biggest underachiever I’ve ever known, she—”
“Enough,” Cash growled.
Carson blinked in shock. “What the fuck, McCoy?”
“Don’t talk about Jen like that,” he retorted, trying to control his anger. “I get that she’s your little sister, but she’s not a child, Carson. She’s a grown woman, and it’s pretty fucking sad that you don’t know a thing about her. She’s intelligent and kind and talented and she deserves a helluva lot more respect than what you give her.”
Deafening silence followed.
Cash caught his breath, instantly regretting the outburst, but the damage had already been done.
Understanding had dawned on Carson’s face, along with the hard glint of accusation. “You’re sleeping with her,” he hissed out.
Cash held the eye contact. “Yes.”
“You’re sleeping with my sister. Jesus Christ, McCoy. I told you I didn’t want you messing around with Jenny.”
“Jen,” Cash corrected. “And yes, I didn’t listen to you, okay? But I don’t regret getting involved with her. I care about her. She’s amazing, and it’s a damn shame you can’t see that.”
Carson clearly heard the possessive note in Cash’s voice, because his eyes blazed again. “You care about her? You expect me to buy that?”
“It’s the truth.”
Carson swore savagely. “This ends now. I don’t want you playing games with Jenny.”
“I’m not playing games,” he said evenly, crossing his arms. “And I’m not ending it. I told you, I care about—”
For the second time that week, a fist came flying at Cash’s face.
And yet again, the knuckles caught him in the side of the mouth, ripping open the cut that had just began to heal. Blood spurted and dripped down his chin, but this time Cash didn’t fight back.
He just stood there and eyed Carson. “You done?”
The other man was breathing heavily, his fists clenched as he glared at Cash like he wanted to kill him. “Yeah, I’m done,” Carson spat out. “And so is your involvement with my sister.”
“What the hell is going on?”
Both men spun to see Jen standing at the end of the hall. Shock and horror contorted her features. When she caught sight of Cash’s face,
she raced over and damned if she didn’t blot the blood on his lip with the sleeve of her thin blue cardigan.
Keeping her sleeve there to staunch the blood flow, she turned to glower at her brother. “What the hell is the matter with you?”
“Me?” Carson said bitterly. “What’s the matter with you? You’re the one sleeping with McCoy.”
Jen remained completely unfazed. “So what if I am? Who I sleep with is none of your business.”
“It is when it’s my teammate you’re fucking.”
She flinched, but recovered quickly. “So what?” she said again. “You just said it—Cash is your teammate. He’s your friend. I don’t see how you can be so opposed to this.”
“I’m opposed because I know the way he operates,” Carson retorted, speaking as if Cash wasn’t standing right there. “He doesn’t do relationships. One-night stands and casual flings, that’s all he’s interested in, isn’t that right, McCoy?”
Cash decided now wasn’t the time to admit he wanted more with Jen, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“Well, you deserve better than that,” Carson told his sister. “You deserve someone who’ll love you and honor you and—”
“Are you kidding me?” she interrupted.
She dropped her sleeve from Cash’s mouth and got right in her brother’s face—well, more like his chest, seeing as Carson was a foot taller than her. But Jen didn’t back down, and her petite frame vibrated with anger.
“You’re such a hypocrite, Carson! Love and honor? Isn’t that what you promised your wife when you recited those wedding vows?”
Carson jerked as if he’d been shot. “What the fuck does Holly have to do with this?”
“You tell me,” Jen snapped. “Were you loving and honoring her when you were sneaking around meeting your little angel?”
Her brother’s face paled.
“Jen,” Cash said cautiously. “Maybe now is not the time to—”
“Now is definitely the time, Cash! He’s standing here passing judgment on us when we both know what he’s been up to.” She glared at her brother. “Who was that redhead you met at Starbucks?”
Carson’s ashen face took on a hint of defeat, and his broad shoulders sagged beneath his white button-down.
Out of Uniform Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 66