by Joss Wood
She wouldn’t say no, he was her brother’s best friend and hospitality ran through the Hamilton family like beer ran through bars.
He saw her hesitation but it was the flash of desire in her eyes that caught his attention. Oh, hell, the chemistry hadn’t disappeared. If anything it now glowed hotter and brighter.
He had enough to deal with. He didn’t need a hot, sexy woman distracting him as well. And she was just out of a nasty breakup...
“Sure,” Leah said but she didn’t sound sure at all.
Back out, go to a hotel, you’re playing with fire...
“Thanks. What if I meet you back here at five and I follow you home?”
Leah nodded. She glanced at her computer monitor and back up at him. “I need to do an inspection on a house after work. You can either go home, I’ll give you a key, or you can tag along.”
He wanted to go directly home and hit the sack, pass out for a couple of hours but his gut instinct was still screaming it wasn’t a good idea to leave her alone.
Enough of those acid-inducing thoughts. Seth picked up his pack and easily slung it over his shoulder. At the doorway he turned and looked back at her. “How are you doing? With the asshat situation?”
Lean pushed her hair back from her face and lifted one shoulder. “The lawyers have petitioned the court to have the marriage annulled.”
Good. That was a start. “And emotionally? How are you coping?”
Leah pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and when she released it to speak, he noticed the teeth marks dotting her skin. “Good days and bad days. Sometimes relieved, sometimes sad, sometimes so angry I could kill someone.”
“Sounds normal.” But what the hell did he know? He’d never come remotely close to being committed, let alone married. “See you later.”
Seth had one foot out the door when Leah called his name. He turned to look at her.
“I wanted to say thank you, for staying with me in jail, for being there. I might’ve fallen apart if you weren’t there.”
No, she wouldn’t have. Leah was tougher than she realized. “You would’ve been okay but I’m glad I could help.” He squinted at her. “Should I apologize for kissing you?”
Amusement, hot and cheerful, jumped into her eyes. “I’ll see you later, Halcott.”
It didn’t escape Seth’s attention that she declined to answer his question. Seth walked out of her office and into the African sunshine, thinking a little part of him, a very tiny, minuscule part of him, was almost grateful to this current crazy situation for giving him an excuse to drop back into Leah’s life.
Seth followed Leah into the hall of her house in Simon’s Town and instantly felt at ease. The hall opened into an open plan lounge, dominated by a massive fireplace. Above the fireplace was an oversized seascape and while Seth didn’t know his Turner from a turnip, he recognized the quality of the art. Beneath the painting were numerous photo frames but Seth was particularly interested in a photograph of a smiling woman who could only be Leah’s mom. They shared the high cheekbones, the triangular face, the laughing eyes.
Two leather couches complemented the rich antique furniture and begged for a guest to grab a book and settle down. The flowers were fresh and plentiful and mingled with the smell of beeswax polish. As he followed Leah, Seth’s eyes darted from the furniture to the art and the Persian rugs on the floor. He’d expected modern and minimalistic from Leah, not this easy combination of plump couches, fresh flowers, and old and new.
“I need a drink.” Leah stated. She’d kicked her shoes off at the door and she was tugging her shirt out of the waistband of her skirt. “Do you need a drink?”
“Honestly, what I’d really like is a beer in the shower. That possible?” Seth asked, dropping his backpack from his shoulder to the floor. He ignored his exhaustion, knowing he could go for a lot longer without any sleep.
“Sure. Let me grab a beer and I’ll show you to your room.”
Seth leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen and watched as Leah yanked open the large fridge and Seth caught a glimpse of fruit and vegetables before she slammed the door shut. He was tired, sure, but he also felt like his stomach was eating itself. He hadn’t eaten since the tiny breakfast he’d scoffed before he landed.
Leah handed him the beer. “While you’re in the shower, I’ll make us something to eat.”
“You cook?”
“Sure. Don’t you?”
Seth shook his head. “Not if I can help it. What are you going to make?”
Leah turned, opened the fridge door again and looked inside. “Chicken stir fry?”
“Sounds good.” Actually, it sounded amazing; he hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in weeks, possibly months. “I like your house.”
Leah slammed the fridge door shut again and looked around. “I like it, too. I inherited this house and a smaller portion of the family trust fund via my maternal grandparents. Jed got a bigger share of the fund, which I am very okay with.”
“You both have a hell of a work ethic and neither of you are trust-fund babies.” Seth commented, picking the label off his beer.
“My father, the general, would never let us be.” Leah tipped her head sideways and looked puzzled. “How do you know how hard I work?”
He’d never admit he listened, closely, when either Jed or McKenna spoke about Leah, more closely than he should. Hell, whenever anyone mentioned Leah’s name his ears, and less convenient parts of his body, perked up.
“You and Mac are close, she talks about you often.”
“I hit the wonderful-sister-in-law jackpot,” Leah admitted, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I love Jed dearly but she’s everything he’s not; warm, open, relaxed.” Leah wrinkled her nose. “That wasn’t supposed to be a criticism, I understand that Mac and I have the luxury of running our mouths, we’re not soldiers, spies, retrieval experts, and we don’t run missions where people’s lives are at stake. Unlike you, we don’t have the responsibility of running the operations at Pytheon,” Leah said, her tone low but her eyes steady on his face.
Seth pushed his thumb under the strap of his backpack and kept his face unreadable. “What do you know of Pytheon?”
“That it is, at its core, an organization that rights wrongs.” Leah shrugged. “I’m sure none of you are angels but I learned enough from my father to know that sometimes justice cannot be realized through the normal channels. I think Pytheon is an abnormal channel.”
That was one way of describing what they did, who they were. It was simplistic but she’d nailed it. Leah bit the corner of her lip and Seth knew she wanted to say more. “I think your working life is full of puzzles, intrigue, hard decisions, and possible danger. In light of that, is it possible that you are reading too much into this situation with your father?”
Where was she going with this?
“Maybe there was a mix-up with his death, maybe you did get the wrong information. Maybe he’s just finally found a way to contact you, through me, and is taking it. Maybe you’re...”
Seth waited for her to finish her sentence, suspecting he knew what she was about to say.
“Overreacting?”
Yep, there it was. Seth forced himself not to look impatient, not to dismiss her concern with a scathing retort. He loved civilians and their rosy, let’s look on the bright side of life, attitude. No, he was not overreacting, yes, this situation was weird. He had a pseudo-father who’d popped up out of nowhere and a missing teenager taken by The Recruiter and both incidents happened in Cape Town. Coincidence? He didn’t think so, it was all too damned convenient.
Seth opened his mouth to explain, shut it again, and shook his head.
Leah sighed and pushed herself away from the kitchen counter. “It was just an idea, my two cents’ worth. I can see you don’t want to discuss this—”
Damn straight.
“And you must be longing for that shower. Let me show you your room.”
Seth followed Leah up the stairs onto
the first floor and she opened the door to the first door on her right. “This is the guest room; my room is across the hall.”
Seth entered the room, white and gray, dominated by a massive bed. God, it looked so damned comfortable. Then he imagined Leah in that bed with him and a little of his exhaustion disappeared. Yeah, if she offered, he could muster up the energy. Seth dropped his pack on the floor and removed the Glock from the hollow in his back and ignored Leah’s gasp of surprise. He checked that the safety was on and placed it into the drawer of the nightstand. He removed the top of his beer bottle and took a long, long sip.
“God, that tastes like heaven,” he murmured, resting the cool bottle against his throbbing forehead.
“I’ll leave you to it. Dinner in thirty minutes?”
“Thanks.”
As she walked away, Seth fought the urge to ask her about the kiss they shared in that cell, how she remembered it and whether she ever thought about it, whether she ever thought about him. Because the hell of it was that none of the women he’d ever had sex with managed to rock his boat like Leah did. And all they’d done was kiss...
Leah’s kiss had been soft, exploratory, emotional. Oh, she’d been upset but when he kissed her she managed to temporarily forget she was in a cell, why she’d been arrested, and that she was married to a douchebag. And, conversely, that kiss had taken him away; it had been a temporary holiday from the stresses of his job and the busy but lonely life he’d chosen. He’d felt like he could kiss her all night, like she was the one woman he could consider kissing for the rest of...
Seth scrubbed his face with his hands. He was overtired if he was thinking about Leah in terms of the rest of his life. He reminded himself that close relationships made him feel overwhelmed because, thanks to living with an overprotective mother, he deeply feared feeling emotion, good and bad. His lack of stability and fear he experienced as a child had led to him learning to detach from his feelings. He was very self-sufficient and was a master at compartmentalizing his life. In his job, he had to be.
Leah was both work and temptation. She’d been pulled into this game for a reason he had yet to determine and he had to protect her and, at the same time, had to protect himself, his heart, and his steady, stable life.
And in between figuring out who this shadowy figure who called himself his father was, he also had a boy to find. He’d visited the Khans earlier that day and had touched base with the worried family. Cracker was currently analyzing all the computers in the house and tomorrow he was going to talk to Fayed’s sister, his schoolmates, and other friends. Someone knew something...
But for now he was going to finish his beer, have a shower, and grab some food. He wouldn’t say no to some great sex but that wasn’t on the menu.
Sadly.
Much later in her bedroom, Leah tossed the book she’d been trying to read onto the bed and yanked a pile of work folders towards her. Her thoughts, as they had all evening, wandered to Seth and she wondered what he was doing.
He was sleeping, idiot. He’d wolfed down dinner, told her he needed to work and, after helping her clean up the kitchen, headed upstairs, leaving her to fill a couple of hours before bedtime. Hours that had dragged without company...his company.
Leah shoved her hands into her hair and tugged, frustrated with herself. You had your heart stomped on two and a bit weeks ago and you’re thinking about another man? It was replacement thinking, transference, a way for her not to think about Heath and the hurt he’d inflicted on her. And Seth was as perfect for that since he was absolutely nothing like her ex-fiancé, husband...she didn’t know what to call him. Thinking about Seth was a way to avoid dealing with the breakup. Seth was Heath’s complete opposite; tough and terse where Heath was gentler and more pliable. Seth was ultra-alpha, Heath was as beta as they came. Seth was passion, Heath was safety. They were, on every level, so very different and that had to be why she was thinking of Seth so much, even going as far as to consider him a perfect rebound guy, a wonderful way to get over her split from her husband who never was and her broken heart.
But...her heart wasn’t really broken. She felt humiliated and blindsided, but was she as upset and devastated as she should be? Probably not.
If she was so in love with Heath as she’d always professed to be, shouldn’t she be crying more, ranting and raving? If she was so crazy in love with her husband, should she be feeling a little relieved, like she’d been given an emotional, as well as a literal, get out of jail free card?
Okay, she definitely needed to think about this a little more. And she needed to stop thinking about Mr. Rock-Hard-Abs-and-Sexy-Biceps a whole lot less.
“Leah?”
Leah jumped at Seth’s voice and she spun around to look at her bedroom door. Leah eventually managed to croak out a sound that vaguely resembled a “yes?”
“I’m taking a walk around the house. I’ll be back in five minutes.” Seth told her through the closed door. Leah looked at her bedside clock; it was 11:05. Leah heard Seth’s feet on the stairs and thought he was mad to go outside, hard rain pounded the roof and windows and a harsh wind caused the branches of the oak trees to scrape against the side of the house. Thunder rolled in after every lightning strike.
Leah looked down at a set of house plans and couldn’t make sense of the floor plan. 11:10. Get it together, Hamilton! She pulled the hem of her t-shirt over her bended knees and stared at the clock, listening for Seth’s footsteps on the stairs. Giving up her attempt at work, and irritated at her girlish bout of nerves, Leah walked over to her large window that looked over her pool.
Leah blinked, not sure whether her eyes were playing tricks on her. When she opened her eyes again, the body was still lying face down in her pool; dark head, broad shoulders, dark athletic shorts. Seth? Could it be?
Every atom in Leah’s body froze as her mind started spinning. She banged her fist against the glass of the window so hard that the glass cracked. She screamed Seth’s name and took off, yanking the bedroom door open and flying down the passage. She negotiated the stairs by the occasional burst of lightning. The fastest way to the pool was through the kitchen and she skidded across the tiles to the outside door. Her hands shaking, she attacked the handle of the kitchen door. After three attempts to open it, she finally registered that the door was locked and, after flipping the lock, she stumbled down the kitchen steps into the frigid rain.
“Please don’t let him be dead, please don’t let him be dead.” She chanted as she hit the path that led around the house.
“Help!” she shouted but the wind carried her words away.
Running towards the pool, Leah shrieked when a warm arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a hard, hot, muscled body.
“What the hell are you doing?” Seth yelled in her ear, his words half swallowed by the wind.
Leah’s legs collapsed as Seth spun her around and she snuggled into his chest, gripping him like a baby monkey. She considered yelling at him for scaring her half to death but she realized if she tried to talk, she might bite off her tongue because her teeth were chattering so much. It was safer to cling.
“And why are you half-naked?” Seth shouted as he scooped her up.
Skin to skin, she finally felt safe.
Safe and warm. Protected.
Leah hauled in some deep breaths as heat of Seth’s body both warmed her up. She became aware of her bare inner thighs on Seth’s skin, the ridges of his muscled body. He held her easily, his hand under her butt cheeks, his mouth bent to hers. Two minutes ago she’d been scared spitless, now she had wet panties and a racing heart and it was all because Seth was warm and strong and, God, so damn sexy.
The thought hit her with the power of a lightning bolt. If Seth was holding her then who was in the pool? Every muscle and tendon in her body stiffened. She pushed against Seth’s chest and he looked at into her eyes, his expression puzzled.
“What now?”
“There’s a body in the pool.” Leah stated.
“I know. It’s nothing to panic about.”
There was a dead man in her pool. She thought she might be allowed to panic a little.
Seth dropped her to her feet but he held her elbows to make sure that she wouldn’t fall over. He pushed his soaking hair off his forehead, looked towards the pool, and blew out a long breath. Seth held her hand as he led her to the edge of the pool. The pale, lifeless figure was still floating in the deep end of the pool but up close Leah noticed it looked too lifeless, too rigid.
She placed a hand on her heart and breathed again. “It’s a mannequin.”
Seth nodded and walked around to other side of the pool. Going down on his haunches, he stretched out a hand and pulled the mannequin towards him, flipping it over when it reached the side of the pool. It was a male mannequin, dressed in plain, black swimming shorts. It had wide shoulders and a fake six pack and when Seth grabbed its head, a dark brown wig came away in his hand. Seth tossed the wig aside, hauled the dummy out and laid it on the tiles. He stood up, placed his hands on his hips, and looked down. After a few moments, his eyes locked on hers.
“So, is finding a life-size, life-like mannequin in pool something that happens often around here?”
Leah instantly recognized the sound of the front door to the guest house door opening but before she could turn or even think of calling out a greeting, Seth had her behind his back and his right hand whipped his pistol out of the back of his shorts and he pointed it at Milo.
Milo instantly turned pale and lifted up his hands. “Whoa! What the hell? Leah?”
“Leah, you know this guy?” Seth didn’t drop the gun or turn to look at her as he asked the question.
Leah moved so she was standing next to Seth and she placed his hand on his forearm in an attempt to get him to lower his weapon. Neither Seth’s arm nor eyes wavered.
“Yes, I know him. Please put the gun down.”