Adam laughed softly and shook his head. “You’re not much different than me, McIntyre. You can’t tell me taking yourself out of the game isn’t killing you already.”
Alec stared at his soda can, at the mark his thumb left behind as he dragged it through the condensation. “Actually, I can,” he said as he lifted his gaze to Adam’s. “It drove me crazy at first and, okay, there’s a part of me that misses the action, but do you really want an agent on your team who might put his fellow agents at risk?”
“No, but I know you wouldn’t do that.”
Alec leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. “See. That’s the thing. Until I know I won’t do that, until I’ve got my mind right, I’m not willing to take that chance.”
They both knew Alec may never get his mind right again, at least not in the way it had been before. The doctors had told him it was possible he wouldn’t ever regain his full memory. He’d accepted that and had been teaching himself to live one day and one memory at a time.
“So, that’s why you’re here? To try to convince me to come back to the bureau?”
Adam shook his head again. “The house has been lonely since you left.”
Alec lifted a brow along with his sandwich. “And you missed me this much. Gee, you have been spending too much time with Cameron.”
Adam scoffed, but he was grinning. “Fuck you.”
Alec pointed at him with his sandwich. “Thanks, but no. You might have changed sides of the fence, but I haven’t.”
“Kiss my ass, McIntyre.”
“Never knew you to be one to dig your own hole, Cooper, but it’s getting pretty deep.”
“Shit,” Adam muttered.
Alec threw his head back and laughed. “Eat your sandwich. We’ll go mosey around the island, stop off for a beer, and I’ll show you how people live who don’t have to watch their backs every second of the day.”
Something moved through Adam’s expression that Alec couldn’t quite define, but it made him wonder about the real reason behind the man’s sudden visit to the island.
“I’m game,” Adam said as he ate his sandwich.
Alec polished his off, too, figuring after a couple of beers he’d get Adam to tell him what was really going on.
* * * *
“Who are they?”
Puzzled by Amie’s question, Jennifer drew her brows together as she set the round of drinks on the tray for Amie to deliver to table two. “Who are who?”
Amie rolled her eyes. “You have been dancing around behind that bar ever since you started your shift.”
“That’s what I love about bartending. There’s never a reason one can’t have fun at work.”
“Uh-huh,” Amie said slowly. “But what I want to know about is the fun you had before work.”
Jennifer played dumb. “What makes you think I had any fun before work?”
Amie rolled her eyes again. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe all I had to do was take one look at you and how you’ve been acting since you got here. You were with someone today. Or, considering we live on Silver Island, more than likely two someones.”
Jennifer felt her cheeks heat. God! Was she really that transparent? Deciding she was already busted and should probably save Amie before she eye-rolled herself into a migraine, she gave the woman half the truth. “One someone.”
And, okay, so maybe she had been with two someones today, but it hadn’t been at the same time. She felt like such a slut! She’d practically gone from Alec’s bed to Adam’s. Not that she regretted having sex with either man, but still!
Amie smacked her palm on the counter of the waitress station before she picked up her tray. “See. I knew it!”
Jennifer laughed and turned to scan the levels of alcohol in the customer’s glasses at the bar as Amie walked away. It hadn’t taken her long to settle into a rhythm at Ménage a Drink. The bar wasn’t as packed as it had been the night before, but she was still entertaining a good crowd, and most of them were sitting around the bar. There were only two stools empty on the far end. She’d arrived just before four o’clock, listened to Cerrie’s instructions as the woman had showed her around the place, and dove right in. It felt great being back behind a bar again, like home, and she decided to seriously reconsider her career choice when she returned to Waterston.
Would Adam be okay with her leaving her job at the clinic to be a full-time bartender again? Would he be okay with the late night shifts and men constantly hitting on her? And, oh, my God, one afternoon of sex with Adam and she was thinking about him as if they were about to get married or something!
Pushing that astonishing thought from her head, she turned when she spotted someone sliding onto one of the empty barstools in her peripheral vision and smiled when she realized it was Lexie. Knowing her friend would want a Pearl Diver, Jennifer made the drink and set it on the bar in front of Lexie.
“Where have you been? I was certain Arianrhod would’ve let you off work hours ago.”
“She did,” Lexie confirmed as she pulled her drink closer and bent her head to take a sip through the straw. She smacked her lips. “Nobody can make Pearl Divers like you.”
“Thank you.” Jennifer curtseyed. “Now, tell me where you’ve been.”
Lexie’s lips parted, but she closed them as the man with the tousled dark hair and dark green eyes from the Karma Café slid onto the stool next to her.
The man looked at Lexie’s drink. “That looks interesting. Do you mind if I have a taste?”
Jennifer watched, barely able to keep her jaw from dropping, as Lexie slid the drink closer to the man. He sipped it, made an “Mmm” sound, and met Jennifer’s gaze.
“I’ll have one of those, too, and put the third in reserve for the next round, please.”
Jennifer’s mind reeled as she turned to mix up another Pearl Diver. Who was the woman she’d just walked away from and what had she done with Lexie? Sure, she looked like Lexie, but she certainly wasn’t acting like her. She hadn’t even flinched when the guy had sat next to her. She had even let him taste her drink without hesitation. The drink fixed, she returned to them, giving Lexie a “What the fuck” look as she set the glass in front of the man.
“This is Robby Bragg,” Lexie told Jennifer. “Robby, Jennifer Moss. He claims I didn’t need a few days to perfect my cheeseburgers after all, but I’m not so sure he’s telling me the truth.”
Lexie was teasing him. Her eyes were dancing as she looked at him and smiled. Smiled! Jennifer felt positively dumbfounded. “You stayed for breakfast and lunch?” she heard herself ask Robby.
Robby took a swig of his drink before he answered. “I didn’t stay the whole time. I ate breakfast, went for a run, showered and changed, and went back for a late lunch. It took me a lot smooth talking to coax her into going for a walk on the beach with me when she got off work, but…”
“That’s what took me so long to get here,” Lexie explained when Robby trailed off. “We walked and talked for a while, and I lost track of time. When I told him I had promised you I would stop by for a drink, he offered to buy it for me.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Jennifer asked slowly. Lexie seemed okay if she discounted the fact that her friend hadn’t been okay in a man’s presence since before her abduction. Had Robby threatened her? Was he holding a gun on her Jennifer couldn’t see? Had he drugged her? She knew she was being stupid, but the way her friend was acting was setting off all her internal alarms.
Lexie reached across the bar, put a hand over Jennifer’s, and squeezed. “I’m fine. It’s not easy,” she admitted, “but I’m trying and, well, I’ve actually had fun this afternoon.”
Jennifer turned her hand over in Lexie’s and squeezed back, feeling a lump form in her throat. She’d watched and waited for her friend to start coming out of the cocoon Lexie had built around herself. It was obviously happening now, and she was so happy for her friend it made her chest hurt.
“I’m starting to think we’re on some kind
of magical island. Did you get the text I sent you?” Not wanting Lexie to be alarmed if she ran into Adam before they got the chance to talk, Jennifer had sent her friend a text telling her he was on the island. She had made sure to keep it short and sweet with no real details beyond assuring her friend that there was nothing to worry about. Apparently, Lexie hadn’t been worried about a thing. She’d been too busy going for a stroll on the beach with Robby Bragg.
Imagine that!
Lexie gasped. “You were talking about Adam Cooper the FBI agent, right?”
Jennifer made a face. “Do you know another Adam Cooper? Because I don’t.”
“No.” Lexie’s gaze flicked over Jennifer’s shoulder, and her eyes widened. “But if memory serves, girlfriend, I’m looking at the one I know now, and he is accompanied by the man you were with last night.”
Chapter Five
Adam saw Jennifer the instant he stepped beneath the thatch-covered triangular roof of Ménage a Drink. She was behind the bar, leaning over it slightly, seemingly in a deep conversation with Lexie Stratus. He saw when Lexie spotted him, watched her eyes widen, and knew she was alerting Jennifer to his presence.
“There aren’t any empty stools at the bar,” Alec told him. “I guess we’ll have to grab a table.”
“That would be because my new temporary bartender is attracting quite a crowd.”
Adam turned at the sound of the female voice as the woman came up behind them. He recognized her in an instant from his last visit to the island. He’d stopped in for a drink before leaving the island, ended up with three, and talked with Cerridwen Evans as he’d nursed them down.
“I don’t know how I’m going to pull it off, but it’s looking like I’m going to have to come up with some way to coerce her to stay on the island,” Cerridwen added.
“You could always offer her a pay raise,” Alec suggested.
Cerridwen seemed to consider that for a moment. “That’s not out of my realm of possibilities.” She shifted her attention to Adam. “Special Agent Cooper, isn’t it? Please tell me there’s not another serial killer on the island.”
Adam grinned. “Not that I’m aware of. This trip is more pleasure than business.”
“Excellent! Then, if you gentlemen would like, table four is open.” She gestured toward the table with a flourish of her arm. “I’ll send Amie over to take your order.”
Adam’s gaze landed on Jennifer as Cerridwen walked away. She was mixing a drink, but he saw her attention flick up, lock on him, and then slide to Alec. There was no way he could miss the look that flashed in her eyes. It was one of recognition, heat, and very akin to an “Oh, shit” look. Taken aback by it as much as he was intrigued, he followed Alec to the table and sat. The cocktail waitress, Amie, appeared in seconds to take their order.
“All the drinks are served three for one,” Alec told him. “We can get Jennifer to combine them into a pitcher if you’re wanting a beer.”
Adam nodded once, noting Alec had called Jennifer by her name. “Works for me.”
“We’ll have three Ultra drafts in a pitcher, please,” Alec told Amie.
“Coming right up, handsome,” Amie said as she spun on a heel and hurried away.
Adam waited until she returned with the beer and two chilled mugs, studying Jennifer as she filled the order. She glanced at him and Alec a couple of times, said something to Amie, and returned to checking on her other customers.
Adam lifted his mug to his lips and looked at Alec over the rim as he took a swig. “How long have you known Jennifer?”
The corner of Alec’s lips twitched as he took a long swig of his beer. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“And you claim you’ve lost you’ve lost your skills,” Adam muttered. “A couple of years, maybe a little more. The blonde at the far end of the bar…” He tipped his chin toward her.
Alec glanced her way. “Lexie.”
“Lexie Stratus,” Adam confirmed. “She’s Jennifer’s best friend. She was the victim of a sex trafficking ring we took down in Waterston a few years ago.”
“Jennifer told me a little about it. I didn’t know they were both from Waterston. Otherwise, I would’ve put two and two together and realized your team had likely caught the case.”
Adam barked a half laugh as he took another swig of his beer. “We didn’t exactly catch the case. Jennifer is the reason we found out about it. Her brother was WPD. He was killed in the line of duty several years ago. He taught her quite a lot, including, apparently, what to do when she couldn’t get anyone on the Waterston PD to believe her. She tried twice to report Lexie’s kidnapping. Both times went ignored. She lives in an apartment in Jackson’s building and knew he was an agent. One night, she kidnapped him at gunpoint in the parking garage, blindfolded him, and took him to the scene of the crime. She told him everything she knew except her name and left him there.”
Alec threw his head back and laughed. “She kidnapped Graham at gunpoint? Damn, the woman’s got balls.”
Adam smirked. “Tell me about it. I had half the team working to find Lexie and, for a while, the other half working to figure out who Jennifer was. Graham finally figured it out, brought her in to the bureau, and she assisted us with finding Lexie.”
Alec waited several beats before he said anything after Adam finished. “You’ve talked to her since you’ve been on the island.”
Adam had done more than merely talk to Jennifer, but no way was he going to point that out. Alec wasn’t the only one who hadn’t lost his skills. Adam’s were still finely tuned and as keen as they’d ever been. “I have, and you have something going on with her.”
The realization of that twisted a knot in Adam’s gut. He’d finally given in to his desires, had finally allowed himself to have the one woman he’d never been able to shake from his mind and heart, and Alec had apparently moved in first. Except, Jennifer had given her body to him today, she’d asked him not to keep his distance from her once they returned to Waterston. So, exactly what did that mean?
Alec glanced toward the bar, toward Jennifer, as he relaxed back in his seat. “I wouldn’t say I have something going on with her. I’ve known her barely twenty-four hours, but I’ll admit that being with her makes me feel more alive than I have since I realized I’m not the man I thought I was.”
Being with her. The knot already in Adam’s gut tightened even more at Alec’s choice of words. Adam knew what they meant. Alec had slept with Jennifer and, if the man had only known her for barely twenty-four hours, that meant he’d done it shortly before she’d been in Adam’s bed.
The realization didn’t piss Adam off, but it made him jealous as hell. In an attempt to drown the green-eyed demon who reared his ugly head, he gulped down what remained of the beer in his mug. “I think we’re going to need another pitcher.”
Alec chuckled and reached across the table to toast Adam’s empty mug with his. “We just might, considering we’ve just figured out we have the hots for the same woman, boss.”
* * * *
It was one a.m. before Cerrie told Jennifer she could end her shift. Jennifer had elected to skip the offered hour break, putting in nine hours behind the bar. She’d enjoyed every second of those hours, even though she’d had to force herself to push aside the fact that she was being watched for most of them by the men she’d had sex with.
Why hadn’t the possibility even crossed her mind that Alec was an FBI agent? She’d known he’d been tortured, wondered if it had happened while he was defending man and protecting mankind, and it had never once occurred to her that he might be the friend Adam had said he’d come to the island to visit.
He obviously was. Why else would he have sat at a table drinking beers with Adam all night? She’d instructed Amie not to let the men leave, to tell both of them to stick around until she finished her shift. As she punched the buttons on the touchscreen computer to clock out, she wondered if she’d made a mistake.
Convincing herself she hadn’t, s
he turned the few remaining customers over to Cerrie, rounded the bar, and walked to Adam and Alec’s table. They both watched her every step, a conglomeration of heat, desire, and uncertainty in their eyes.
“I’m assuming the two of you have come to the conclusion that I owe both of you an explanation?”
“No,” the men said in unison.
Surprised by that response, she met their gazes in turn. “Then, is it too much to ask for both of you to give me one?”
“No.” Again, they spoke in unison.
“Do you want a drink?” Adam offered.
There was a pitcher of beer in the center of the table with less than a half a glass left. She reached for it, told them, “This will do,” and drank deep before replacing the pitcher on the table.
Adam chuckled, but it was Alec who asked, “Would you rather take a walk on the beach?”
His question brought images of last night to her mind. She pushed them away and nodded. “Yes, please.”
They got to their feet. Adam pulled out his wallet, tossed far more bills on the table than necessary to cover the tab, and rounded the table. He didn’t touch her. Neither did Alec as they flanked her sides on the way out of Ménage a Drink.
Her mind reeling, she waited until they’d reached the beach to speak. “Okay. Maybe you haven’t come to the conclusion that I own you an explanation, but I have.” She looked at Alec, loving the way the moonlight sparkled in his ebony hair. “What I did with you last night was something I’ve never done before.” Because having sex was obviously something she had done before, she elaborated. “Sleeping with someone I just met, someone I knew very little about, acting on that instant attraction.”
“I wish I could say the same, but I can’t because I don’t know if it would be the truth,” Alec told her. “I can tell you neither of us thinks any less of you because of what happened between you and me last night.”
He didn’t remember? Jennifer stared at him for a long moment as they walked toward the shoreline. Deciding to let the comment rest for now, she turned her attention to Adam on her other side.
Safe and Assigned to Ecstasy [The Heroes of Silver Island 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 9