The American Soldier Collection 7: Their Sin City Showgirl (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  He reached for her chin. “Is this why you were wearing the turtlenecks? You were hiding these from us?”

  She stared up into his eyes. Brook seemed completely upset. His expression was so unnerving.

  “You don’t need to be afraid of us. You can ask me anything that you want to.”

  A series of crazy thoughts went through her mind. She could ask him lots of things and learn all about him, Conway, Calder, and Lincoln. But then what would happen when danger found her? She would feel guilty for getting them killed, for getting close to them, or even simply becoming their friend. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t risk having friends, opening up her heart to emotions that would only weaken her and expose her to pain. After Anthony died, a part of her died, too. But Lincoln’s words came back to her. He wanted her to show them a sign that she could let them in, and trust them. Could she? Were they men she could trust her life with? The thought freaked her out. How could she show them? What if she was wrong? Dead wrong?

  “I don’t have any questions, Brook. It’s better this way.”

  He squinted his eyes at her.

  “Better, why? Are you planning on leaving here? Do you not realize that we’re in this for the long haul? What happened in your life, aside from whatever it is we’re protecting you from, to make you so fearful to connect?”

  Her eyes widened at his interpretation. Brook nailed it on the head. But before she could respond, they heard Calder raising his voice and telling someone to get out.

  “I think your friend needs some help.”

  He looked reluctant to release his hold on her chin. And as crazy as it was, she felt the loss of his touch immediately when he stepped away. She looked at the screen on the wall as she took a deep breath. The woman sat at the kitchen table holding J.J.’s sweatshirt. She was staring at the three men with daggers in her eyes, and Calder looked about ready to lose it.

  J.J. stepped out of the surveillance room. She could hear the woman’s voice. “Who is she?” she asked.

  “There isn’t anyone. We’re not interested in you. We’ve told you that before. Now please leave. We’re in the middle of something,” Lincoln stated, and by his tone, J.J. could tell that he was frustrated. Then she heard the door open and Conway’s stern voice.

  “What in God’s name is she doing here?”

  “She wouldn’t leave. She showed up and forced her way into the house,” Calder said.

  “How the hell can she force herself in here?” Conway asked.

  “Oh, Calder, come on now, honey. That’s not how it went down. You were all over me outside. You practically carried me in here,” the woman said. J.J. couldn’t believe it. The woman was lying. It really pissed her off that she was doing this, but what could J.J. do?

  The bickering continued, and J.J. realized that these four very strong-minded, yet rational men really couldn’t physically throw the woman out of their home, but she wasn’t getting the message that they didn’t want her. Feeling annoyed at hearing the continued back and forth banter, J.J. took matters into her own hands.

  She pulled off her jeans and tossed them behind the couch. Then she lifted off the T-shirt and pulled the white guinea tee down as far as it could go, which barely covered her panties or her ass. She looked in the mirror on the wall, saw her boobs pouring from the tank top, and undid the ponytail in her hair and let her long brown locks hang down. She ran her hands through the strands of hair and then shook her head, making her appear well loved or in this case well fucked by at least three of the four men. She licked her lips and then stood in the living room near the couch, where she tossed one of the bottom cushions onto the floor, as if she’d had a wild time with the men.

  She could hear the woman arguing with Calder, as Calder sounded like he was telling the woman to back off.

  “Calder! Calder, when are you coming back? I need you,” J.J. called out.

  She stood in her most sexy, yet innocent-looking pose, with her hands pressing the tank down further, and her ass sticking slightly out to the side, as the woman ran into the room.

  The blonde gasped as Calder, Lincoln, Brook, and Conway followed her inside. J.J. tried her hardest to ignore the expressions of hunger and obvious excitement in seeing her practically naked in their living room. J.J. knew she had a voluptuous figure, but it had been years since she’d done anything so bold. Anthony had been her one and only lover.

  “Who the hell is she?” the blonde asked.

  “Calder? What’s going on? Brook said that you were going to be here to give me a massage, and then you all disappeared and I heard yelling.”

  J.J. ignored Conway’s angry stare. If her gut was right, he was going to reprimand her for this. Oh well, too late to turn back now.

  “You’re with her? The four of you are—”

  “We’ve been together for over a month. Who the hell are you?” J.J. asked.

  “Honey, I’m theirs. I found them first.”

  “That’s not true, Pauline,” Calder began to say.

  Pauline shot daggers at J.J., but J.J. knew she was already winning this situation.

  J.J. looked the woman over.

  “I suggest you get your boney little ass out of my men’s house and fast. You better forget their address, their cell numbers, and never come back here again. If you do, I’ll personally kick you out. They’re being gentlemen, but when it comes to my men, I’m the jealous, crazy type,” J.J. said and then stomped her foot forward toward Pauline. Pauline screamed and then went running from the living room. They heard the door slam, and then Brook took a peek into the surveillance room.

  “She’s gone. She’s already heading down the road,” he said.

  J.J. stared at the four men before her. She didn’t know whose expression was more intense. Conway looked downright pissed off. Brook appeared stunned, or just in a daze as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at her. Lincoln was biting his lower lip. As she started to turn to grab her jeans from behind the couch, Calder’s voice stopped her.

  “Not so fast.”

  She turned around in time to see him stalking toward her.

  “Didn’t I tell you to stay put in the surveillance room? Did I not say to stay away from windows?” he asked, and she stepped back. He was intimidating to say the least, but just because she was standing here in the middle of their living room, half-naked, didn’t make her some weak female. J.J. placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin toward Calder.

  “I would have, but you apparently didn’t have it in you to toss that woman out of your own place. It was annoying to listen to her whine and carry on. Now at least she’ll think twice about bothering you again.” J.J. turned around and grabbed her pants from the floor. As she stepped into them, the four men watched.

  “You think I couldn’t toss her out on her ass? I wanted to, but I don’t manhandle women. She’s young and impressionable. We’re older and to her seem adventurous.”

  “Adventurous, huh? Yeah, Brook told me about Pauline’s endeavors with the four of you. Pretty interesting the way y’all do relationships out here in the middle of nowhere.” She zipped up her pants and then buttoned the button, putting on a little bit of a Southern accent just to be a wiseass.

  “You shouldn’t have exposed yourself to her. Now she’ll go blabbing around town about you,” Conway added to the conversation.

  “Listen, it sounded like you needed a woman to get rid of another woman. It’s a done deal. You can go back into town and tell all that your latest orgy girl left town. Then you can deal with that Pauline on your own.”

  “Personally, I think J.J. did us a huge favor. Now Pauline will leave us alone, and no one in town listens to her talk anyway. How many times have you been warned, Conway, that Pauline was after us?” Brook asked, as he stepped forward.

  “I agree with Brook. I think J.J. just helped us out. Besides, it’s a win-win situation,” Lincoln added.

  “How is that so?” Calder asked, still sounding pissed off.


  “Well, we got Pauline off our case. That’s amazing, and we got to see a side of J.J. I personally wouldn’t mind seeing some more of,” Lincoln stated as he eyed J.J.’s body over.

  J.J. chuckled.

  “Let’s get supper ready. I think that’s enough excitement for the evening,” Brook stated and then he and Lincoln headed toward the kitchen, but not before winking at J.J. She had to smile.

  She was looking for the shirt she’d worn over the tank top when she heard Conway clear his throat. Turning toward him, there he stood beside Calder, and neither man was smiling like Brook and Lincoln just were.

  Calder was holding her shirt.

  “I didn’t need you to get into my business,” Calder stated firmly.

  She raised one eyebrow at him, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “I thought otherwise.”

  He stepped closer.

  “I don’t know where you come from, or what type of job you’ve had or even the kind of person you are, but in this house, we’re in charge. We’re here to protect you.”

  “Okay already, I got it. Now can I have my shirt, please?” She reached her hand out, and he stared at her.

  “We got rules around here.”

  “Okay, Calder, I’ll take care of this,” Conway said as Calder handed her the shirt and then looked her over before he walked from the room. Now Conway stood there and he was in uniform, leaning his hand on the holster on his hip, and looking too sexy. She had to give herself a mental shake. They were every woman’s type.

  Conway stared at her, and then stepped closer. He pointed his finger down at her, and she had no place to look but at his face, and the intensity of his eyes, as he towered over her.

  “Next time you even remotely disobey an order or place yourself in danger, I’m personally going to throw you over my knee and spank that ass of yours.”

  J.J. felt her jaw drop, and then saw Conway swallow hard.

  “I’d like to see you try that, Chief!”

  They stared at one another, and instantly something changed between them. J.J. understood what it was, but suddenly thoughts of the danger that she was in and what could possibly come to these four men hit her hard. She turned away.

  “We’ll talk more later.”

  “No need to. I’m sorry if I stepped out of line involving myself in your personal sex life. It won’t happen again.” She started to head out of the room.

  “It won’t happen again, and not everyone in this house had sex with Pauline.”

  She looked him over.

  “Good to know, Chief.”

  She walked away.

  * * * *

  “What are we going to do about her?” Brook asked Lincoln and Calder. Conway was on the phone in the surveillance room with Sandman.

  “Nothing to do. She’s got guts, I’ll tell you that much,” Lincoln said.

  “She shouldn’t have made her presence known. Pauline could go carrying on at the bar in town about J.J. Then what?” Calder asked.

  “It won’t matter. Everyone will know that Pauline’s pissed that we’re taken. J.J.’s move probably helped us finally get Pauline off our asses,” Lincoln said.

  They were quiet a moment and then Lincoln chuckled.

  “What?” Brook asked.

  “Calder’s face, when he heard J.J.’s voice calling his name.”

  “What?” Calder asked.

  “We were all shocked to hear her. But hot damn, when we entered that living room following Pauline, I thought my heart stopped beating,” Lincoln said.

  “You? Shit, I think we all know how our bodies reacted to seeing J.J. like that. Damn, that woman has got an amazing body,” Brook stated.

  “She also has a lot of bruises. Remember, we don’t know shit about her, or the situation she’s in. How do we know that she didn’t cause something? How do we know this doesn’t involve drugs, or like you said earlier, mafia shit? She could be one of the bad guys, a seductress, or some thug’s lover who was a witness to murder. Something that the feds are willing to protect her like this,” Calder stated. He was pissed off and obviously untrusting.

  “You don’t know that, Calder. Do you seriously think that she was involved with some criminal, and is a witness to operations or even murder?” Brook asked.

  “It could be why the other teams weren’t successful in protecting her. Big-time drug lords and gangsters have connections everywhere. In government, in law enforcement departments, and anywhere else they deem fit to be able to destroy people standing in the way of progress and making money,” Calder said.

  Then they heard voices coming from the living room again and knew it was J.J. and Calder.

  * * * *

  “We need to talk, J.J. I got some news from Sandman.”

  She turned back to face him.

  “Well?” She felt fearful instantly. Was it already too late? Did Dooley find her? She felt herself begin to teeter, when Conway grabbed on to her and steadied her by her shoulders. She looked at him, feeling instantly helpless now too. For that short period of time, even in angering Conway and Calder, she had forgotten about her situation and the worry.

  “It’s going to be okay, but I need more information. Someone was able to find out that a commander in the Nevada State Police contacted Sandman out here. A tip from someone inside the federal government, which means they’re involved in whatever situation this is, gave the heads-up to a friend of Sandman’s.”

  “Is Frank okay? Please tell me that they didn’t go after Frank?” she asked.

  * * * *

  Conway wasn’t sure why he was feeling so out of control right now. The sight of J.J. standing in the living room half-naked with a body of a fucking porn star might have done it. Then, of course, Sandman’s update on the abilities these people who were after J.J. had made him feel more protective. But now, hearing her ask about some guy named Frank made him feel jealous. Why the fuck for? She wasn’t his or his team’s. Although, by the way this scene had gone down tonight, a team meeting and discussion was needed. But first, Conway wanted answers.

  “I don’t know who Frank is. I’m assuming that he’s fine because Sandman didn’t indicate otherwise. We’ve got a lot of friends and connections in the government. We could find out—”

  She shook her head. “No. No asking questions or contacting anyone in the government. No. You don’t understand. The government can’t be trusted. Your police department can’t be trusted. These men have so many connections and contacts, the authorities will never be able to find them all. This is bad. They’ll kill Frank.”

  “Who’s Frank?” Calder asked as he reentered the room. One look up and Conway knew that his men were there, and they heard the conversation.

  J.J. looked at them and then at Conway.

  “Who is Frank?” Lincoln asked.

  “He’s a good friend,” she replied as she looked away.

  “A good friend or a lover?” Calder asked.

  She shot a look at him.

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “It is our business if you’re going to be focusing on some guy, instead of letting us in on what’s going on. Our lives are in jeopardy, too,” Calder stated.

  “I know that. Don’t you think I know that?” she asked, raising her voice.

  “Then who the fuck is Frank?” Brook asked this time.

  Conway could feel the tension in the room. They were feeling an attraction to J.J. and she was feeling it, too. But he had to remind his men that she was a victim. She wasn’t a trained professional like they were. She was more than likely some civilian who had gotten caught in the middle of something crazy. But she wasn’t like them.

  “Is this Frank guy some drug dealer you were fucking, and then you were picked up by the feds and rolled over to save your ass?” Calder asked.

  Conway saw J.J. squint her eyes at Calder and place her hands on her hips. She had changed her clothes. She was wearing a cream-colored blouse with a white
camisole underneath it and blue jeans. She wore no shoes on her feet, and Calder was a few feet in front of her, towering over J.J.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” She raised her voice at Calder. He stepped closer.

  “You. Who the fuck are you? Why are you here, who is after you, and who the fuck is Frank?”

  “Don’t you think it’s better if you don’t know? Don’t you understand the danger you’ll be placed in if you know all the details?” she asked.

  “Fuck, no, lady. We’re trained men. We were Special fucking Forces, not some academy trained federal agents. We’ve seen and done shit that would make your pretty little stomach lose its lunch,” Calder stated angrily. J.J. stood her ground.

  “I’ve seen my share of shit, too. The less you know, the better.”

  “That isn’t going to work, J.J.,” Conway stated.

  “I’m telling you, Conway, she’s a fucking criminal. We’re protecting her, keeping her under wraps and in hiding until a trial or some shit.”

  “You are so far off, Calder. For some fucking Special Forces guy, you sure can’t figure out shit,” J.J. said, and Conway realized that this was getting way out of hand. Both Calder and J.J. seemed to be stubborn individuals, and despite Calder’s larger, intimidating appearance, J.J. wasn’t backing down.

  “Oh, really? I can’t figure out who you are? Let’s see, you know some self-defense moves. Most women who are smart should know some, but you enjoy boxing more. You probably learned it on the streets, or in the local shitty neighborhood you grew up in. You have an attitude and a mouth on you, always trying to prove that you’re tough and can handle everything on your own. That probably means you’ve had a tough life. Who the fuck hasn’t?” he stated angrily and then Lincoln joined in.

  “You carry a gun and have multiple others in your room, so you’re familiar with weapons and how to use them. Could be family background or survival techniques.”

  “You thought nothing of playing that role earlier to get rid of Pauline. You’re used to pretending to be someone you’re not or you’re used to using your body to get what you want,” Lincoln added.