She straightened in her chair. “Well, count me in. Jackson grew up with everything handed to him, and now he’s become very successful off the work of others while taking all the credit. After tonight, I’m happy to help nail his ass to the wall.”
Her feisty words made him smile. But as he gathered their dirty dishes and rinsed them, he couldn’t help but think about her bruise, and how Jack himself had taken things to the next level with that move.
Big mistake, buddy.
“We’re definitely on the same page,” he agreed as he set the glass and mug in the top rack of the dishwasher and closed it. “Let me think about it over the weekend and we’ll see what Mike has to say on Monday.”
She frowned as he turned back around. “That sounds like a brush-off.”
“No, not at all.”
“No?”
He moved around to stand kitty corner at the counter with her, and leaned on one elbow while looking her in the eye. “Let me ask you, in the two years you were with him, did he ever hit you or show any signs of violence?”
“No.” Her gaze held his even as she gave a vehement shake of her head. “I mean, I’ve seen him get angry, but never like tonight. That’s why I was so shocked when he…did this.” She lowered her gaze as her hand lifted to gingerly touch her face.
He believed it was the truth, even though that little pause convinced him ‘this’ wasn’t the entire truth. A controlled breath in through the nose held his fury in check, because she wasn’t the one who deserved to see it—especially right now.
“He’s escalating, and that’s why I’m hesitating,” Dean explained, drawing her gaze up once more. “He’s spooked about getting caught and backed into a corner, so before I blindly put you in a position that could get you hurt again, I need to consider all the options. The safest options.”
“Oh.”
The resentment in her eyes softened and disappeared. He was close enough to see how blue and violet melded together to give her irises that unusual, beautiful tint.
As the moment stretched, he became conscious of the seconds ticking by. For the first time since her unexpected arrival, he felt his pulse trip faster for a reason other than anger. Even with her face bruised, and one side slightly swollen, she was beautiful enough to take his breath away.
The slight dilation of her pupils told him she felt the sudden charge in the air as well. His gaze lowered to her mouth as she rose up from her chair and leaned across the counter to kiss him.
At the first brush of her lips, he closed his eyes to savor the sensation of her soft, warm mouth on his. Her hands came up to palm his face, and when her tongue sought entrance to his mouth, he eagerly shifted closer and parted his lips for her sumptuous exploration. The sugar in her tea enhanced the sweetness he remembered vividly from their previous kisses. The woman was like a drug he was fast becoming addicted to and would never get enough.
Passion surged hot and heavy in his veins, urging him to take control, drag her against him, and dive in deep. His hand rose, but before he could touch her, he curled his fingers and lowered his arm. Instinct told him that was not what this was about.
Instead, he followed her lead and enjoyed the unhurried, tender exchange of give and take until she eased back with one final sensual tug on his bottom lip. Her hands still cradled his jaw as she slowly lifted her lashes.
“What was that?” he asked softly.
Her eyes and smile conveyed her gratitude that he hadn’t tried to push things further. She lowered her arms and stood beside her chair. “A good memory for me to take to bed.”
When she turned away and glided out of the kitchen, he tracked her progress until she disappeared from sight. Hopefully it worked for her. Right about now, he didn’t think he’d manage one wink of sleep.
Not that that was her fault. No, for that, he entirely blamed Jack.
Sure, he had him to thank for Gina showing up on his doorstep, but he’d give up kissing her if it meant she wouldn’t have had to endure whatever the guy had done. He’d resented Jack Brady for the past three years. Tonight, he was pretty damn sure he hated the sonofabitch.
In his office, he glanced at the hour hand nearing eleven and called Mike anyway. He answered on the fifth ring, his voice barely audible above the loud background music. Being a Friday night, Dean wasn’t surprised. Mike worked hard, but he played even harder.
“Dean, buddy, I’d love to talk about it, but I’m about two minutes away from a sure thing.”
“Then why’d you answer?”
“Because I’m assuming you’re calling about Quinn’s email?”
“Nope. Didn’t see it yet.” But he was clicking over now. “Must be good if you’re gambling a sure thing.”
“Better than good.” In a couple seconds, he had the information in front of him and skimmed the email as Mike talked. “Quinn got a tip from one of his Denver contacts that Brady’s name came up in a tax evasion investigation run by the FBI white collar division. Apparently, he’s done a little creative accounting over the years.”
Over the years. Tension knotted in his gut. Contrary to Mike’s declaration, this was not good at all. How long had Jack been up to that shit? Did he now have to worry about being implicated in a felony from back when they were still business partners? Maybe even set up as the fall guy?
Back then, he’d trusted his partner to handle the business side when he obviously shouldn’t have. Now, even though he’d jokingly told Gina that Mike handled all the things he didn’t want to deal with, it didn’t mean that as the sole owner and CEO he didn’t keep discrete tabs on all aspects of his company. Or try to. That’s part of what made not knowing for sure who was currently betraying him so damn frustrating.
Gina had been right on the money when she’d said Jack could be whoever he needed to be to get what he wanted. He was also an expert at sucking others in to do his bidding. Frickin’ bastard just didn’t let up.
How many damn years? How many, he wondered, his mind turning back to the new information in front of him. He skimmed the missive for something that would quell the building nausea churning in his gut. About mid-way through the second paragraph, he read the investigation was specifically focused on the past two years and managed a breath of relief.
“With any luck, he’ll be arrested before the rest of this shit goes down,” Mike concluded.
“Except Quinn’s source says the investigation’s been in play for almost six months. If that’s the case, I’m not betting on luck to help us out.”
“Then do you mind if we continue this conversation tomorrow so I can capitalize on my own luck tonight?”
Dean hung up without telling his VP about the reason he’d called in the first place. He just wasn’t in a betting mood right now as he wondered if Gina keeping her mouth shut had anything to do with this new information. It certainly made a hell of a lot more sense.
Chapter 15
Gina finished emptying her suitcase as Britt entered the ranch’s main floor guest room Saturday evening. Her long, blond curls were pinned up with a few softening strands near her face and neck, and her emerald green dress deepened the color of her eyes. No doubt Joel was going to drool over the sexy, gold high heels gracing her feet.
“Wow. Horse trainer by day, bombshell by night. You clean up good.”
“Thanks. You should see my man,” Britt bragged.
She grinned. She had seen him a few minutes ago, and yeah, her man defined tall, dark, and damn handsome. “You guys about ready to go?”
“Joel is just changing Cody now. He’ll be down in a few minutes.” The bed creaked as she sat on the edge. “Everything working out all right in here?”
“It’s great. Thank you again for letting me stay.”
“Anytime, for as long as you need.”
Exactly what her other host had said.
“And you could’ve come over last night, you know. We were up late.”
“Like I said, Dean was pretty good about it.”
She flipped her empty suitcase shut and stashed it in the closet as she added, “Besides, I wanted to talk to him about Jackson anyway.”
Britt made a disgruntled sound. “I can’t even stand to hear that man’s name.”
Despite the situation, Gina smiled in appreciation of her friends. Britt and Joel had both gone into over-protective mode this morning from the moment she’d called on the way back to her apartment and explained what had happened. Well, most of what happened. They’d met her to help pack, and with Joel’s furious reaction to the bruise that’d darkened overnight and refused to be hidden under any amount of cover-up, it was a good thing she hadn’t mentioned how far Jackson had tried to take the incident.
Dean had been the same way. He’d controlled his reaction well, done his best to hide it, probably because he didn’t want to scare her, but she’d noticed his clenched fists and the wrath simmering in his eyes.
He and Joel were the good guys, and she was lucky to have them. And Britt. Which is exactly why she didn’t reveal all the demeaning details. If a few bruises made them look ready to do murder, the words ‘tried to force himself on me’ would probably send them straight to Jackson’s house to commit the act.
“What goes around, comes around,” Gina predicted. Never had she wished more for that statement to be true. “Karma can be a real bitch.”
“Sooner rather than later, I hope.”
She wholeheartedly agreed with her friend.
A few minutes later, Gina waved goodbye to the departing couple, closed the back door, and gazed down at the beautiful baby in her arms. The three month old had his mother’s fair hair versus Joel’s dark, but with his father’s golden brown eyes and Britt’s green, what color the little ones eyes would be was anyone’s guess for another month or two.
Their first half-hour together went smoothly, but shortly after, everything went to hell. At the ninety minute mark, Cody was crying like it was an Olympic sport and he was in gold metal contention. Whimpers and sniffles interspersed with endless minutes of all out screaming. His little face was red and blotchy, and clear boogers flowed freely from his nose. Each time she wiped his upper lip clean, he cried harder.
She closed her eyes as she held the wailing baby and swayed back and forth. Anything to relieve the pounding in her head keeping sync with each piercing cry. She’d fed him as Britt had instructed, changed his diaper, and then tried to lay him down.
Only he was having none of it. She’d tried the rocking chair…she’d tried walking…rocking while walking—and anything else she could think of. Nothing worked.
It was nearing seven-thirty, and she was on the verge of calling Britt, when cries became sniffles, then the occasional hiccup, and finally, the infant’s wet, spiked lashes began to droop.
Ah. Blessed silence.
Five minutes after he’d fallen asleep in her arms, she started for the stairs. Once he was in his crib, she was going to take some ibuprofen and make her rumbling stomach something to eat.
Her foot hit the third step when the ringing of the doorbell startled both her and the sleeping infant. His little arms and legs jerked, and his face scrunched up as he began to wail again.
Shoulders sagging, she turned for the door, fighting the overwhelming urge to cry herself as her headache intensified.
She rocked Cody while glancing out the long, narrow side window to see who was on the other side of the door.
Dean?
His gaze was focused on the ranch yard and horse-dotted pastures beyond, but she’d recognize his profile anywhere. He turned back toward the house, and her stomach flip-flopped as she unlocked the door and swung it open. When he saw her, his polite smile widened for a moment, then faded at the sight of the crying baby.
She rocked from one foot to the other and raised her voice above the noise. “Hey.”
“Hi.” His gaze lifted from the baby and fixed on her face. Or more accurately, on the bruise that’d spread and now included a black and blue eye.
The warm spring air of the day had quickly cooled after the sunset, so she moved aside and took a step back. “Come on in.”
As he passed through the doorway, she swept her gaze over his attire. The man wore nice jeans and a tan, printed T-shirt under a darker brown sport coat and still managed to look classy. She, on the other hand, had tucked loose strands from her ponytail behind her ears more than once, and was wearing old, ripped jeans and a sweatshirt.
Nothing she could do about it now. Biting back a sigh, she shut the door and turned to face him. “What are you doing here? How’d you even know where I was?”
“You’d mentioned the ranch last night, so I looked it up.”
“But…Liz said you guys had a business dinner tonight.”
“I didn’t feel like going.” He shrugged as his attention dropped to Cody again. “Liz and Mike can represent the company just fine without me. Is he okay?”
She nodded, then released a huff of suppressed frustration. “I don’t know, I think so. Britt and Joel left over an hour ago, and he hasn’t stopped crying since I fed him. Well, actually, he had started to fall asleep, but then you rang the doorbell.”
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
She shrugged again and walked into the living room, trying to rock and soothe the infant at the same time. Unfortunately, even she could hear the tension in her voice, and she certainly felt it in her shoulders.
Dean took off his coat and laid it on the back of the couch before coming to stand in front of her. “Give him here.”
She paused to glance up at him. With him wearing shoes and her in socks, their height difference was more pronounced than ever. At the cessation of movement, Cody turned it up a notch, prompting her to start rocking again.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Just let me help.”
“I don’t know.”
Arms spread out from his sides, he bent his knees to meet her gaze. “Trust me, okay?”
She glanced down at the red-faced infant once more, then gingerly handed him over while cautioning Dean to support his head.
He didn’t reply because he was already talking in a low, soothing voice as he comfortably cradled the tiny little boy against his broad chest. Slow, measured steps carried him once around the room, then twice. By then, Cody had quieted to sniffles and stared up at the man holding him in wide-eyed wonder.
Disbelief struck her mute.
“Did you change him?” he asked without changing the soft pitch of his voice.
“Of course I changed him.”
Her defensive retort earned an apologetic glance. “Just checking.”
He continued walking, and in less than five minutes, the baby was sleeping in his arms. Dean raised his eyes from the infant’s relaxed face, and her heart tripped at the sight of his triumphant smile.
“That’s totally not fair,” she complained.
He shrugged slightly, but still looked mighty pleased with himself. “What can I say?”
“Nothing,” she shot back without any real resentment. Then she closed her eyes for a brief, blissful moment before reopening them to whisper, “Don’t say a word. Just be quiet.”
For a few seconds, they stood there together, watching the baby. She was enjoying the blessed silence when Dean lifted his right hand to adjust the blanket. Her gaze focused on his fingers, noticing a couple of his knuckles looked a little like her face.
“Did you do something to your hand?”
He stilled, then gave a one shouldered shrug while returning to a two-armed cradle, his right arm underneath the baby. “I hit it on something. It’s not a big deal.” His thick lashes lifted, givin
g her a full-on view of his chocolate brown eyes as they focused on her right eye. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” She drew in a shallow breath, struggling against the sudden heat his concern triggered. The baby offered a great distraction, so she stepped forward. “Here, I can take him now. Maybe I can go lay him down.”
The slight jostling during the handoff woke him up and he started crying yet again. Gina cringed as she muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
After a minute, she felt like a total failure and set him back in Dean’s arms. Muscled arms she couldn’t help but notice must get regular workouts in his home gym. Maybe she’d be lucky enough to catch a show while decorating the adjacent game room in a few weeks.
His magic touch yielded results with the baby in no time, and her bemused frown received a sheepish smile. “I have a confession to make.”
“What?”
“When my mom married my stepdad, she didn’t have to work anymore, so she started volunteering at the local children’s hospital. She loved the preemies and newborns, and I used to go with her after school sometimes, so I’ve had lots of practice.”
She pictured him as a teenager in high school helping care for sick babies. After last night and right now, it didn’t surprise her one bit. “Well, in that case, I hope you weren’t planning on leaving anytime soon.”
He gave a soft laugh. “No, I’m good.”
When his gaze met hers again, her stomach filled with flutters of anticipation. Whatever it was that charged the air when she was near him was out in full force. It made her want a repeat of their last kiss, but a lot less gentle. Last night had been perfect and exactly what she needed in that moment, but right now, she wanted the passion he’d held back.
As heat warmed her face, she quickly diverted her attention. “You said you skipped the dinner party, so I take it you didn’t eat?”
He shook his head. “I’ll grab something on my way home.”
“That could be a while. If you’re okay with him, I can make us a couple grilled club sandwiches.”
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