Love is a Battlefield

by Vivian Arend

  “Don’t touch—” She sucked in a quick gasp as he traced his fingers along the edge where her ribs met the dip to her stomach. Her curses cut off abruptly, and he glanced up to discover she had locked her teeth together, staring straight ahead as if her life depended on not making a sound.

  Damn stubborn woman. “You might have cracked a couple of them.”

  “Maybe.”

  Her obstinate attitude was beginning to piss him off. “You don’t think you should get checked out?”

  She laughed, an abrupt sound. It still sent his heartbeat dancing for some stupid reason.

  “Tell me, Jack. The last time you and Parker did something stupid like, oh, let’s say, kiteboarding without ever having tried it before. Did you go and get your booboos checked after?”

  “That’s different—”

  “Because you’re all big and strong and a dude, and I’m a delicate little female flower.” Pepper turned away from him, separating his hand from where he’d forgotten it rested on her stomach.

  Bullshit he’d forgotten.

  And bullshit on her argument. “You have a black eye, busted ribs, and bruises from head to toe. I’m worried, okay? Suck it up, Pepper Wilson. You’ll just have to put up with me giving a shit if you’re hurt or not.”

  That stopped her short, and a faint flush hit her cheeks, this time apparently not from wanting to throw something at him. “Aww. That was sweet. But really, I’ll be fine.” She wrinkled her nose. “Although, can I borrow some more clothes? I’ll do laundry today, but until I do, I’m down to towels.”

  God. “I’ll find you something.”

  Like five minutes ago, because if he had to watch her walk around his place for much longer… He grabbed his phone off the floor. “You’re staying for a few days?”

  By the time he turned back she had the towel firmly in position. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the disappointment in his gut.

  Pepper strolled through his living room, the bottom edge of the towel nearly exposing her butt.

  “If you don’t mind.” She glanced over at him as if she’d just remembered something vital. “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “Charlene. Your sugary dinner date.”

  “She’s not my…” Jack let his denial fall away. He wasn’t even sure what to call the woman. One-night stand that kept going on way too long?

  Pepper wouldn’t drop it. “Am I in the way? Because I can totally be out of here by this afternoon.”

  “No. You’re staying.” He said it with a lot more force than he’d intended, and her brows rose. “Charlene’s just a friend. Nothing serious.”

  “No sleepovers then?”

  She was going to kill him. Or he was going to kill her. “My sleepover situation is nothing you need to worry about, okay? Stick around for a few days, get your feet under you. If you’re healing fine in a couple days I’ll stop ragging on you to see a doctor.”

  “Deal.” Her utter delight in his seeming to cave went beyond pleasure, sliding over the line into revelry in pulling one over on him. “I’ve got a list of things I need to look into, jobs and stuff. I’ll even do the dishes and tidy up to pay for my keep.”

  She was still gloating when he handed her a pile of clothes he’d salvaged from his dresser and pointed her back down the hall to the guest room.

  His tormenter might have vanished behind the door, but her smirk followed him. All the way back to the bathroom and into the shower where the heater had somehow managed to pull together a faint bit of power so the water wasn’t icy cold.

  Jack stood under the full-on spray, letting the water smack him in the face.

  He was a fool. And a shit. And all kinds of bastard. Because no matter how much he tried, the only thing filling his head were images of Pepper standing naked in front of him. And not thoughts of her dyed black hair—dye covering the gorgeous color he remembered far too vividly considering she was supposed to have never been on his radar. Not thoughts of the injuries she had—although he’d love to punch the crap out of both the guys who’d been around when she got hurt. Little shits for not taking care of her better.

  But even as he tried to muster up brotherly indignation, he found his hand wrapped around his cock, his body refusing to see Pepper as anything less than the sexy-as-fuck woman that she was. He gave in to temptation, soaping his body and his hands, leaning toward the showerhead and letting the sharp spikes of cooling spray stab him like punishment for what he was about to do.

  Because he was totally going to do it—stroke off to images of her.

  To the thought of slipping his hand higher, off her stomach where earlier his thumb had barely brushed the underside of her breasts. All the way up until he’d filled his palms with the heavy weight of those perfect tits. Her nipples would rub his palms, the tiny tips like spears into his flesh.

  Or maybe he’d slip his hand downward, over the—for fuck’s sake, she had a heart on her mound—and to where her pussy was waiting for him to touch her. He’d taste her, pushing her against the wall and swinging her leg over his shoulder so he could dive in and feast until she couldn’t stand.

  Jack tightened his grip, picturing Pepper giving him sass. Tossing her head as she leaned over the back of the couch, the edge of the towel riding up and exposing her ass. Her attitude drove him crazy, but it also drove him crazy.

  He pumped his fist around his shaft, circling the head on each upstroke, smart enough to know he’d never be able to slow down. No taking time to savor or draw out the fantasy. His balls tightened, and as he thrust his hips forward, driving his cock deep into his dream woman, he came, seed hotter than the shower water exploding out to coat his fingers as he pumped another half-dozen strokes.

  The door creaked open and Pepper stormed in. The real one, not the one he’d just fucked in his head.

  “You got an extra toothbrush in here?”

  “Pepper!” He jerked his back toward her, presenting his ass to the glass shower wall. He was still gasping for air after his brains had leaked out when he came, but he was coherent enough to know he didn’t want her spotting him with his dick in his fist.

  “Oops, forgot. So used to the dorm set-up. I’ll wait until you’re done.”

  She was out again, the door closing with a definite click, but Jack kept cursing. Pepper, himself, the entire fucking universe.

  The water had grown icy cold, but the urge remained to start all over. Or better yet, start all over, and this time, not make it a fantasy. He’d actually take her and turn her world upside down.

  What the hell was he going to do?

  Jack cut off the water and shoved aside the shower curtain, staring into the barely fogged-up mirror. Accusation stared back that he couldn’t turn away from. He had no right to be fantasizing about the woman, or at least not until he’d dealt with a shit-ton of other issues first.

  Now if his body would just get the message to wait, things would be fine.

  Parker

  Something was up.

  Parker eyed his best friend with suspicion. For the past week he could have sworn that Jack had something on his mind. They’d been through a lot over the years, and the currently distracted man wasn’t himself.

  Of course, Parker wasn’t the most alert these days, either—he’d admit it. Moving in with the love of his life had given him a new perspective, and having Lynn around 24/7 was distracting in all the best ways.

  Still, he needed to stay alert and keep the business end of things rolling. Which meant now, with both his partners in the room, he was looking at a long list of assignments and wondering how on earth they were going to get through them on time.

  And that was without Jack being a distracted fool.

  “Are you sure everything’s okay?” he asked again.

  Jack snapped to attention, guiltily turning away from where he’d been shredding the edge of a brochure. His lips twisted into a smile, but a far more fake one than the joker usually wore. “Of course. Everything’s fine.�
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  “Because if you need some time off, you’ve got it coming. You and Dean both.” Even though he had no idea how they’d finish all the work without everyone on board.

  “Time off? What’s that?” Dean quipped, tipping his chair back and rocking on two legs. “All we do around here is work, work, work.”

  “Ha,” Jack retorted. “You seem to have skipped the parts of your agenda where you fuck around with half the population of San Francisco.”

  “Half plus a little,” Dean said with a smile. “Female population outnumbers the male by one percent.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you’re one to talk—at least I’m not fucking around with a client.”

  For a second Parker thought Dean had been talking to him—after all, he had hooked up with Lynn after her slimy ex had tried to hire DreamMakers for her—but then he realized Dean’s gray eyes were directed at Jack.

  Who just shrugged. “Charlene and I aren’t sleeping together anymore. Things kinda fizzled.”

  Parker nodded. That made one item on the agenda easier to deal with. “Good, because now that she hired us to plan her folks’ anniversary party, it’d be a conflict of interest if you were still seeing her.” After Parker’s own borderline blip on the unethical radar, he wanted to avoid any potential headaches when it came to their business. Charlene Halliwell’s parents were paying DreamMakers a fortune to help arrange their fiftieth anniversary gala celebration, and he didn’t want to risk losing a major influx of cash all because Jack couldn’t keep his pants zipped.

  “Don’t worry, it’s over.” Jack’s tone was vague, but there was nothing disingenuous about his expression, which told Parker that his partner had indeed called it off with the busty Charlene.

  Didi’s voice crackled out of the intercom on his desk just then, announcing their ten o’clock appointment had arrived. With the stack of upcoming jobs overflowing on Parker’s desk, they’d decided it was time to hire a few extra employees. They’d set aside the morning to interview candidates, and Parker was seriously hoping at least some of them would be a good fit.

  “Who are we seeing first?” Dean asked. “Please tell me it’s Colby Warden. Now that you’re all googly-eyed over Lynn, I need another wingman, and Colby would be perfect for the job.”

  Parker grinned as he thought about the man they’d met years ago during Hell Week, but he wasn’t hiring anyone just so Dean could have a partner for his escapades. “Naah, Colby is coming in later. First up is—” he glanced at the list in his hand, “—Gillian Reyes. Second lieutenant, sniper, served in the 11th Regiment, stationed at Fort Irwin.”

  That intel finally broke through Jack’s fog. “The Blackhorse Regiment?” he said, naming the deadly unit that had been involved in multiple global conflicts. “She must be one tough mofo.”

  “She is,” Parker confirmed, remembering the conversation he’d had with his old unit’s CO, who’d told Parker they’d be “total morons” not to hire her. But no matter how highly recommended she came, he wasn’t making any decisions until he met the woman for himself.

  A moment later, the office door swung open and Didi appeared in the doorway. With her teased blonde hair, layers of makeup, and bright, skintight clothing, their receptionist looked like she’d walked off the set of The Real Housewives. Despite her flashy appearance, the woman had a heart of gold, and all their clients loved her.

  “Miss Reyes, your ten o’clock,” Didi introduced. She gestured to the woman beside her, then disappeared.

  Leaving all three men to gape at the newcomer, who turned out to be…

  Well, hot.

  Like seriously hot. So tall she could only be described as statuesque, with shoulder-length brown-black hair, bottomless dark eyes, and curves galore. Parker was a happily in love man, but not even he could deny that Gillian was goddamn stunning.

  In his armchair, Dean blinked rapidly, as if he’d just wandered into heaven and bumped into a bona-fide angel.

  “Hi. I’m Gillian.” The gorgeous woman extended a hand even as she raised a questioning brow at the trio of silent men.

  Dean blinked again. Then shot to his feet and blurted out two awestricken words.

  “You’re hired.”

  Chapter Three

  “Holy hell, Peps, I didn’t realize it was that bad!” Kendra Lewis looked horrified as she swept her gaze over Pepper’s face and bare arms. The bruises were fading at a rapid pace, but a bluish-green tinge continued to mar her skin, especially under her eye.

  Pepper sucked on her milkshake straw, welcoming the cool burst of strawberry on her taste buds. Kendra and the boys had finally made it to San Francisco, and the two women were meeting at an ice cream parlor a few blocks from Jack’s apartment so Kendra could drop off the suitcases Pepper had left behind. Fortunately, she’d come alone, though apparently Adam had begged to tag along.

  Pepper had no desire to see that jerk. Thanks to him, not only had her dream night gone up in flames—and not the good kind—but then she’d gotten into a fight with a hill. And the hill won.

  “Trust me, it was a lot worse a week ago,” she told her friend. “I can finally breathe without shooting pains going through my ribs.”

  “Fuckin’ Adam,” Kendra muttered. “I had no idea he was such a nutcase. Is he still texting you like crazy?”

  “Oh yeah.” She swallowed her annoyance as she thought of all the messages she had to delete from her phone on a daily basis.

  Please, Penny, call me back! I’m so sorry, Penny—I didn’t mean to freak out like that.

  The only saving grace about the situation was that Adam wouldn’t be able to track her down at her folks’ place when she finally headed back there tonight. Pepper had enrolled in college as Penny Wilson, after enduring years of belittlement about her real name. Her parents were both comic book artists, and they’d had the brilliant idea of naming their children after their favorite comics characters. Parker had lucked out. At least his namesake, Peter Parker, was totally normal. But to name a child after Pepper Potts?

  Sometimes she wondered if her parents had done it on purpose, almost like they’d known she’d end up being a pain in the ass and had preemptively decided to punish her.

  Although she’d told some of her classmates, like Kendra, her real name, Adam only knew her as Penny Wilson, and this past week he’d texted Penny so much, and so often, that Jack had started to notice. Luckily, Pepper had found a surefire way to distract him from asking too many questions.

  Turned out all she had to do to get Jack to back off? Flash a little skin.

  Yup, who would’ve thunk it. She’d known that Jack was a horndog, but she’d figured his one-track mind hadn’t applied to her. That first morning, when her towel had fallen off, she’d realized how wrong she’d been. Jack Hunter might not like her, but he liked women, and she happened to possess a couple things that were bound to trigger his lust—boobs, a nice ass, and no qualms about using either against him.

  So if her neckline sagged a little too low in the middle of one of his lectures? Oops. Or if she happened to drop something and slowly bent over to retrieve it just as he asked who kept texting her?

  Oops again.

  She’d been toying with the man all week, and she had to admit, it was kind of fun. The only thing better than verbally demolishing Jack Hunter was watching his eyes glaze over every time she sauntered around in something skimpy.

  And the best part was knowing he would never act on his lust. He might notice her very womanly attributes, but he still viewed her as a kid. She knew he didn’t really want her, which was fine by her. She didn’t want him, either. He was annoying. And always on her case. If they ever wound up in bed, he’d probably scold her the whole time and list all the things she was doing wrong.

  So…no, thank you.

  “Well, don’t worry, I gave him a piece of my mind on the drive back.” Kendra’s voice jerked her from her thoughts. “I told him he’s not allowed to go near you ever again.”

  The memory of Ada
m’s enraged brown eyes floated into Pepper’s head, making her uneasy. “Let’s hope he listens to you.”

  “Are you still planning on moving back home?” Kendra asked as she brought a spoonful of chocolate-banana ice cream to her lips.

  Pepper nodded. “I’m heading there later. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome at Jack’s. If I stay even a day longer, he might murder me.”

  Kendra flashed a grin. “When do I get to meet him?”

  “Never, if you’re lucky. Trust me, Jackjack is a grumpy bastard. He wouldn’t know fun if it hit him in the face, and all he ever does is order me around.”

  “I like ’em grumpy, and I like being ordered around. Alpha men are super sexy.”

  Pepper strongly disagreed, at least about the ordering-around part. She’d spent her entire life fighting for her independence, but no matter how hard she tried, her family viewed her as an immature brat who needed a good scolding. Her father still saw her as “his little girl”—hell, he’d almost gone into cardiac arrest when she’d brought her first boyfriend home.

  Parker was even worse. He was insanely overprotective, acting like she wouldn’t survive a day in this world without his assistance. She still remembered the time she’d gotten her learner’s permit—she’d been bouncing up and down with glee, only to have her excitement shatter when Parker informed her she wasn’t “responsible enough” to operate a motor vehicle by herself.

  Needless to say, she was very glad he’d seemed to lose the complete control freak gene while she was gone. He’d still tried bossing her around even from the opposite side of the country, but the attempts faded quicker. Still, she wasn’t looking forward to seeing her big brother today. When she’d called earlier to tell him she was back in town, he’d reverted to his old unwanted norm and demanded she come to his office. Supposedly he had something important to discuss with her, but with Parker, that meant another lecture.

  She made a mental note to throw on a cardigan and put some makeup on her face to cover up her lingering bruises before she went over there. If Parker saw her like this, it definitely wouldn’t go over well.