Say It Again (First Wives)

by Catherine Bybee

  “AJ?”

  He glanced at her.

  “I’m seldom wrong about these things.”

  He shook his head, as if removing a thought from his brain. “We need to come up with a plan.”

  “We will.”

  “No, you and I. Neil seemed to think I had some kind of influence over you, so he sent me in here to convince you to keep me with you while you went after Pohl. Obviously he’s mistaken. You’re going to run off as soon as you get information, and I’m heading back to DC to dig into my sister’s life more than I have. We convince Neil that we’re taking off together, and he doesn’t sic his men on you.”

  Sasha saw a flash inside her head in the form of an image of AJ rifling through his sister’s home, maybe an office. What if he stumbled on a truth she didn’t foresee? What if his trip to Germany led Amelia’s killer back to him?

  That thought didn’t sit well in her gut. Outside of taking orders, she hadn’t seen any evidence that AJ could identify a threat, let alone remove it. If he went off on his own, he could easily become a target if Pohl was connected. It was getting harder to see an endgame where Pohl wasn’t connected.

  “Don’t tell me you’re against the idea,” AJ said.

  Completely.

  “I’m circling back to why Neil thinks you have some kind of pull with me.”

  AJ flashed his teeth again. “I know . . . crazy. I guess he sees the spark.”

  “The what?” Her thoughts shifted to AJ’s words.

  “Spark. That thing you feel when I walk in the room that you’re refusing to acknowledge.”

  Her nipples—little shits—perked to attention. “That’s ridiculous.”

  He chuckled.

  “What?”

  “It’s okay. I get it. If you don’t admit it, you can pretend it isn’t there.” AJ took that moment to look at his leg. The leg her hand was resting on.

  She rolled her eyes and removed it. “I don’t have to pretend anything. Does my body respond to yours? Yes. It’s chemical. You undress me with your eyes and say things to purposely make me sexually aware you’re here.”

  Amusement danced on his face.

  “I never play where I eat,” she told him.

  He bent his leg, rested one of his arms on his knee. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means if you had picked me up in the bar in Germany, we would have fucked and I wouldn’t have seen you again. Instead, you asked for my help and took sex off the table.” Once the words left her lips, she took note of where they were both sitting, in a closed bedroom at thirty-some thousand feet.

  Sasha wiggled to the edge of the bed and bent to retrieve her shoes.

  “If I knew those were the rules, I would have changed my strategy.”

  She hoped he couldn’t see her smile. She pushed her foot into one boot, zipped it up before turning to the next.

  “You can’t change what is,” she said, her voice even.

  Second boot zipped and she sat up, looked at AJ.

  Poor guy looked like he’d just lost his puppy.

  “Trust me, AJ. You don’t want this.”

  She stood and took one step to the door.

  AJ moved faster than she thought anyone could.

  He blocked the door with his body and reached for her face with his hands. “Don’t tell me what I don’t want.” And then to prove himself, he kissed her.

  Stunned and silent. Two words Sasha never used to define herself when a man was taking what she didn’t approve of first.

  Yet there she stood, AJ’s lips moving over hers, coaxing them open while her body tossed imaginary pom-poms in the air.

  Push him away.

  Yeah, her nipples were like beacons of come and get me. Pushing away wasn’t going to happen.

  Just a little friction. A small touch that wasn’t her own.

  She opened her mouth and kissed him back. The slide of his tongue along hers was like warm silk on cool skin.

  Sasha reached for his waist.

  Push him away.

  She loved the feel of a man’s waist as it narrowed to his hips. AJ wasn’t a stranger to moving his muscles. Thick. Masculine.

  She wanted to purr.

  His arms wrapped around her, made her feel small in his embrace. And he kissed her. Assaulted her lips with a fever she was starting to catch.

  Hot. So hot . . .

  Sasha wanted her clothes off, and that single thought had her opening her mouth to catch her breath, her lips still pressed against his.

  This road was dangerous.

  Not something she was ready for.

  She gripped his hips, hips she’d been fondling, and held him away.

  AJ started to say something. She stopped him. “You made your point.”

  Their eyes met. His were soft and charged all at the same time.

  What did hers look like?

  His hands fell to her arms. “You’re wrong.”

  She questioned him with a look.

  “I do want this.” Without saying anything else, he walked behind her to the private bathroom and closed the door.

  Chapter Eighteen

  By the time their flight landed on a private airstrip in Texas, it was past eight in the evening, but for those on the flight, their clocks told them it was well past two in the morning.

  They stepped out of the jet and onto a nearly deserted tarmac. There were two cars, one for their party and the other for the flight crew.

  Neil shuffled them to a waiting limousine and climbed in the front with the driver.

  Sasha took a seat beside AJ and encouraged Claire to go back to sleep.

  “We have a good hour before we’ll get where we’re going.”

  Claire didn’t need to be told twice.

  AJ ran his hand along the leather seat. “Let me guess, this is Mr. Harrison’s, too.”

  “No. This is my sister-in-law’s.”

  “Your late half brother’s wife.”

  “You’ve been paying attention.” She liked that in a man.

  He looked out the window. “Following the bouncing ball.” His voice was distant, like it had been the rest of the time they were on the plane after he’d kissed her.

  “Well, keep your head up. Trina has remarried. Their home is the easiest to disappear in without the fear of being spotted.”

  “Remote?”

  Sasha followed his gaze into the vastness of nothing that made up the long spans of space in Texas.

  “Secure.”

  “Wouldn’t Pohl think to look for you at her home?”

  She’d considered that. Which was why she didn’t plan on staying long. Make sure Claire was taken care of, find a direction, and move. Only now she needed to figure out how to do that with a 190-pound man at her side. “Maybe if there were some happy family photos of us. We’re not that kind of a family.”

  AJ looked over his shoulder. “You and Trina don’t get along?”

  “No. We’re just not . . .” Sasha couldn’t even name what they weren’t. She still felt the need to protect Trina, long after the threats of her father were gone. Trina’s high-profile life kept Neil’s security team on alert from time to time. Sasha was right there to lend a hand. “We’re just not” was all Sasha could say.

  AJ stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his head back. “Aren’t you tired?”

  “I’ll drop when we’re inside.” While they were moving, she needed to be alert. Even if she wasn’t the one driving. Once she was at the ranch and had access to a gun, she’d feel better.

  AJ closed his eyes. “You’ll have to show me how you do it someday.”

  “Do what?”

  “Hide the toothpicks holding your eyes open.”

  “It’s adrenaline.”

  He smiled, even with his eyes closed. “Chemicals.”

  The memory of their conversation on the plane repeated in her head. “I aced chemistry.”

  AJ reached out, eyes still closed, and grabbed her hand.
“So did I.”

  Sasha stiffened, not sure what to do.

  “Relax, Stick. It’s just a hand.” He tucked her hand in his and sank deeper in the seat.

  Pulling it away felt childish.

  Leaving it there was awkward.

  Claire was sound asleep, and from the way AJ was breathing, it wouldn’t be long for him to nod off, too. She’d slip her hand away from his when he did.

  For forty-five minutes, AJ held her hand. Not since junior high had he measured time while holding a girl’s hand.

  He let his mind rest, and every time he felt Sasha attempting to pull away, he moved a little and held it tighter.

  It was comical just how uncomfortable she was with such a simple thing. For one brief moment he had wanted to make a joke and ask if she wasn’t hugged as a child.

  Thank God he’d been taught to think before he spoke. Because after hearing Sasha’s story, he realized that no . . . she hadn’t been hugged as a child. Affection was probably as foreign to her as hunger was to him. Yeah, his father could be a self-centered ass, but his mom had always been there to hug and kiss away the pain.

  Who had done that for Sasha?

  His heart hurt just thinking about it.

  He felt the car slowing down and Sasha shifting in her seat.

  AJ yawned away his pretend sleep and gave Sasha’s hand one more squeeze before she slowly pulled it away.

  “We’re here.”

  AJ peered out the window, expecting to see a whole lot of nothing.

  That wasn’t what he found.

  They pulled up to a massive gate with someone in a guardhouse. It reminded him a little of Richter. Only on each side of the gate were eight- to ten-foot walls of stone and plants . . . up lights illuminated the walls and made the place feel like a fancy hotel.

  Inside the walls, the views just kept coming, split rail fences with land beyond them. Tree-lined driveway that felt like it went on forever. They passed a house he thought was their destination. When they didn’t stop, he kept quiet and waited.

  Then he saw it.

  “You sure this isn’t a hotel?”

  “Positive.” Sasha leaned over and shook Claire’s shoulder.

  The girl woke with a jump.

  “It’s okay. We’re here,” Sasha coaxed.

  Wide, sleepy eyes started to focus. “M’kay.”

  The car stopped and AJ reached for the door.

  He stepped out and found himself awestruck by the size of the place. It stretched forever, a sprawling ranch that made the Harrison manor house appear way too prim and proper by comparison. “Wow.”

  Sasha accepted his hand as she got out of the car but let it go as quickly as she could.

  I need to work on that.

  “Whoa.” Claire stood with her mouth gaping open. “Where are we going to stay next? Disneyland?”

  “You made it.” The voice belonged to a woman trotting down the steps of the house. Petite with long dark hair and honey skin, her smile spread from ear to ear.

  AJ turned. “Trina?” he asked in a whisper.

  Sasha nodded.

  Trina stopped in front of Neil first. “I was starting to worry.”

  “Clean flight,” Neil told her.

  Trina opened her arms for a hug. “C’mon. It won’t hurt.”

  Neil stepped into her hug reluctantly.

  “Wade’s coming. He was in the studio,” Trina told him.

  “My men?” Neil asked.

  “In the kitchen. It’s like old times in there.”

  Neil walked away and Trina turned her attention on the three of them. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Trina was all smiles, and Sasha was even stiffer than when she held his hand. “I’m unsure what Neil has told you.”

  Trina laughed. “He says about half as much as you do. So next to nothing.”

  “This is AJ and Claire,” Sasha introduced them.

  Claire waved. “Thanks for having us.”

  Trina waved them inside. “You’re welcome, darlin’. If you need anything, just ask. Please don’t be shy.”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” AJ said.

  Claire glared over her shoulder toward him.

  AJ winked.

  He stood back with Sasha when Trina and Claire started up the stairs.

  “No hugs and kiss hello?” he asked close to her ear.

  Sasha looked at him as if he were crazy.

  “Okay, got it.”

  They stepped into the foyer to find Neil shaking a man’s hand. Jeans, button-down shirt, and cowboy boots. The man fit the ranch a million percent.

  Up until that moment, the term gobsmacked had been more of a metaphor than reality.

  Up until the exact moment when Mr. Cowboy turned to look at them.

  “Hey, hon. Come here and meet Sasha’s friends.”

  Trina’s husband turned their way, all smiles. “Hello, Sasha. Lovely as always.” The man didn’t hesitate as he placed an arm around Sasha’s shoulders for a hug.

  She looked like she forgot to breathe. “Wade.”

  “AJ, this is my husband, Wade.”

  Wade put his hand out.

  AJ grasped it and tried not to stutter. “Wade Thomas.” Country singer superstar. No wonder they were riding in limos and flying on jets.

  He grinned. “I take it Sasha didn’t tell you.”

  “Neither did Neil.”

  Wade turned to Neil. “Really, man?”

  “I forgot.”

  That made AJ laugh. “I’ll try not to embarrass myself. Thank you for having us.”

  “Anything for family,” Wade said.

  Sasha shifted on the balls of her feet.

  Claire stepped forward and waved. “I’m Claire and clueless. Should I know you?”

  Wade and Trina laughed.

  “Nope. Not at all,” Wade said.

  Trina started speaking in a language AJ didn’t know. At first he thought it was German but then realized it sounded more Russian. Didn’t matter, he didn’t understand a word, but it appeared both Sasha and Claire caught what Trina was saying.

  Claire started to laugh.

  “You know I’m just going to make you tell me what you said later,” Wade teased his wife.

  “She said you’re famous outside of the house,” Claire told him.

  Wade shifted his gaze. “And inside?”

  Claire laughed.

  Trina stepped around Wade. “Let’s get out of the doorway. Are you guys hungry? I know it’s a long flight, but—”

  “I’m starving,” Claire interrupted.

  “I told you she wasn’t shy,” AJ said.

  It was Claire’s turn to say something he couldn’t understand.

  When Sasha laughed, he knew it had to be good.

  “Ever feel like you’re the butt of a joke, AJ?” Wade asked.

  “Every day this week.”

  There had only been a handful of times that Sasha had been in Trina and Wade’s home. Every time except one, Sasha had been part of the security detail policing the place. The other time was shortly after Lilliana was born. Even then, Sasha couldn’t bring herself to stay longer than a couple of hours. Hours that she watched from the sideline while Trina and Wade accepted congratulations from family and friends.

  Sasha and Trina were family by circumstance, not blood. A fact Sasha told herself often when she was face-to-face with the woman.

  Yet here she was watching the sky change colors from a private balcony on Trina and Wade’s ranch. It was hard to admit how well she’d rested the night before. They’d gone to bed long after midnight and here it was almost nine in the morning, and Sasha had just climbed out of the shower.

  Unheard of.

  She pulled out her stash of clothes and selected the cleanest pieces to wear. Laundry was in order . . . or a trip to a store. Not that there was time for that.

  After tidying the room and piling up her clothes, Sasha tied her hair back and walked through
the quiet house to find some coffee.

  Noise from the kitchen told her she wasn’t alone.

  “Is that good?” Trina said in a high-pitched voice.

  Poised in a high chair and shoving a fistful of what looked like Cheerios into her mouth was Lilliana.

  At least that’s what Sasha assumed. She hadn’t seen the girl since she was a newborn. And that was nearly a year ago.

  “She got big.” And beautiful. But then that was a given considering Trina was a cross between the angelic girl next door and model beautiful. Her Latin American heritage gifted her curves in the right places and perfect skin. And Wade . . . the man may not have been Sasha’s flavor, but he sure did fill out a pair of blue jeans.

  “I know, right? I go to bed, and when I wake up, it’s like she’s a different person.”

  Lilliana giggled around her full mouth and waved a chubby fist in the air.

  “Did you sleep well?”

  “I did.” Really well. Sasha crossed to the coffeepot and helped herself.

  “Oh, let me help you—” Trina started to stand up.

  “I’ve got it. Is everyone else still in bed?”

  “Oh, no. Wade is out there somewhere with AJ. And Neil has already jumped on the computer and started barking orders to his guys.”

  That sounded about right. “And Claire?”

  “Haven’t seen her yet. She’s a sweet girl.”

  Yeah, she was. And witty. The girl made her want to laugh. Except for some reason Sasha had spent her entire life trying not to. As if laughter was somehow a display of weakness.

  She sat in Trina’s kitchen, watching the joy on Lilliana’s face, and wondered what it would feel like to laugh so freely.

  Who had told her laughter was a weakness?

  Sasha tried to smile . . . knew she sucked at it.

  “Are you okay?” Trina asked.

  “I’m fine.” Am I?

  Trina faked a smile to say she didn’t believe her, and they both pretended all was good.

  “Claire needs a safe place to stay while we clear up everything legal.”

  “Neil said the same thing. She’s welcome here. You know that.”

  Sasha lowered her gaze. “Thank you.”

  Lilliana’s laughter turned to a cry and Trina snapped into Mom mode. “What is it?”

  As if the baby could tell her.

  Trina fussed with the high chair and unfastened the belt around her waist. “C’mere.” She patted her on the back once Lilliana was in her arms and started to shift from foot to foot.