A Little Harmless Fantasy
Melissa Schroeder
Dedication
To Liz McChesney- Much luck on your move to Hawaii and wishing you only the best as you start your new life in the land of Harmless.
Acknowledgements
Here we are again and I once again have a ton of people to thank. This book took longer than any other Harmless book, and I hope that you love it as much as I do. It would not have happened without the people behind the scenes who helped me in so many ways. Big thanks to Kendra Egert for redoing the cover to make it even more beautiful than before. Also, thanks to Noel Varner for jumping in and editing. A big hug to Gina Bauman DeWitt for reading over the first few chapters and another one to Heather Long for the formatting. Thanks to the three people I live with, Les and my girls, for reminding me that it is sometimes good to step away from the computer and be just Mel. Also, gratitude and love to the ADDICTS for supporting me always. And last but DEFINITELY not least, to Brandy Walker who keeps me on schedule and keeps me sane. Your love of the ridiculous is only outshined by mine.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
A Little Harmless Fantasy
Copyright © 2013 by Melissa Schroeder
Edited by Noel Varner
Cover by Kendra Egert
Formatting by Heather Long
ISBN: 9780985447151
ARe Edition
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First electronic publication: January, 2013
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Chapter One
For the fourth time in less than ten minutes, Maura Dillon found her mind wandering. She looked out over the late afternoon Miami traffic and tried to concentrate on her brother’s voice in her ear, and just spaced out. A second later, she realized that her brother had stopped talking.
“What did you just say?” She asked, leaning back in her desk chair closing her eyes. She felt herself drifting again, as if she were floating in the Pacific, enjoying the warm sun on her skin. She could almost smell the salt of the ocean and feel the breeze shift over her. It did nothing to help the pounding in her head. She felt as if she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in three weeks. Probably because she hadn’t.
“You sound distracted,” Conner said.
Inwardly, she sighed. Her brother could always sniff out her mood, even five thousand miles away. It was one of his most irritating traits—and he had a lot of them.
“I’m not distracted. I’m just a little tired.”
There was a beat of silence. With most men, it didn’t mean anything. With Conner, it was a lethal situation. She turned her chair back so she faced her desk waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“No, this is distracted, not tired. When you’re tired, you’re bitchy.”
She ignored that comment, mostly because it was true. “I got the preliminary report on that group you want us to work with.”
“You’re going to ignore my question then?” her brother asked.
“Yes. When did you get all loving and want to talk feelings?”
“I didn’t say it was about feelings. You just did. So you are distracted.”
She was, but how did she tell her brother she was testy because she needed sex. She didn’t. She shared a lot with her brother, much to his irritation, but this, she could not. It was hard enough dealing with the dream team of Zeke O’Brian and Rory McAllister.
“I’m distracted by this job. It doesn’t help that I’m now a blonde.” She shoved her hand through her now chin length hair. It had been a whim a few days ago and she had loved it. But, now she wasn’t so sure.
Another beat of silence. “You only mess with your hair color when you’re depressed.”
She held the phone out from her ear and looked at it, then put it back. “This is Conner Dillon, right? Or has Jillian been giving you inside information?”
“Jillian hasn’t and I know you better than you think I do.”
That was probably true. Conner was devious that way. He seemed like the ultimate Alpha in any group, but one thing that had made him an excellent FBI agent was his observation skills. It was the bane of her existence when she was growing up—especially when he was left to raise her on his own. Nothing like having a criminal profiler watching your every move. Not that her teenage years had been that exciting.
“How do you know about the hair color thing, then?” she asked.
Maura recognized the aggravated sigh. She had first heard it when she was fifteen and asked her brother about lubricant. “The first boyfriend breakup you dyed it that disturbing bright red shade.”
Of course he would bring up her breakup with Tommy Foster—otherwise known as the Scumbag from Boca Raton. “There was nothing disturbing about it.”
“It glowed in the dark.”
She remembered the look on Conner’s face when she stepped out of the bathroom and chuckled. “Okay, I will give you that. It was pretty bad.”
“If you aren’t going to tell me, talk to Jillian when you get over here.”
“I can talk to Jillian some other time, but there’s nothing to talk about.” Then she realized what he had just said. “Get over there? What are you talking about?”
“I want you to come over to Hawaii for a week.”
Stranger and stranger. It was never a good idea to underestimate Conner, especially when he was scheming. And she definitely defined this as scheming. He was devious and most people wouldn’t pick up on it. They would see him as being efficient. She knew better. Conner was born creating plots.
She cleared her throat and readied herself for battle. “I wasn’t planning on coming over anytime soon. I was just there six weeks ago for your wedding.”
No matter how much she wanted to run away from the office and her personal infatuation with Rory and Zeke, she would not use a trip to Hawaii to get away. Which, even as she thought it, made her crazy. Insane. Bonkers. Any sane woman would do it without much thought. She had gone over the edge.
And that is what those two had done to her. They had pushed her to the point that she was turning down vacations from her brother.
“I need someone who is good at being a nerd and it comes to you naturally.”
Most people would be upset with that comment, but not Maura. She was a nerd and proud of it. It was one of the many things Conner had taught her. On top of it, she knew he was lying.
“First, you’re lying. Big lying, but I love you for it so okay, I’ll come see you and Jillian.”
“And I want Rory and Zeke with you.”
That made her to pause. Going to Hawaii would be a great escape. She could forget her problems; spend some time recharging her brain. Bringing the source of her problem with her wouldn’t give her a break. Her concentration was already shot and now she had to deal with
them dressed in trunks and all oiled up? She shivered.
“But who will run the office?” she asked.
“Jennifer is well trained and former FBI. I’m sending a few of the new hires from here to be trained in the office with her.”
Which made sense, but it didn’t explain why she needed to be in Hawaii. Maura knew she could definitely help with that and keeping the office running while Jennifer was training. Maura could also help with part of the training.
“The Petersen case is going to trial next week. Don’t you think one of us should be here?”
“No. The federal prosecutor said he didn’t need you. Which is for the best.”
She frowned. She didn’t think so. They did all the legwork and found out that Petersen had been funneling millions of dollars through the company he was CFO for. The owner had thought there was something hinky, so he brought Dillon Securities in to look it over.
They just didn’t know Petersen had been working for the Columbians.
“Are you trying to get me out of the country?”
“Hawaii is part of the country. And when you get here, you would be smart to remember that.”
She rolled her eyes. Conner had become more Kama’aina than Jillian who had lived there for a several years. Heck, he even took off early every Friday to celebrate Aloha Fridays. That was so not like Conner—and she was glad for it. Jillian had definitely loosened her brother up. Before falling for her best friend, Conner had been uptight—and he still was to a point. But now he had someone to tell him to take a break when he got too intense.
“Sure, sure. But, why do Rory and Zeke need to come with me?” she asked and then cringed at the whiny tone in her voice. It was worse that she didn’t know what her brother’s motives were. There were times she knew him better than she knew herself, but lately, he’d been acting very un-Conner like. If he wanted to talk about feelings, there was something very wrong. The idea that she had to spend a week with them in Hawaii didn’t appeal. Okay, that was a lie. It did. But in the wrong way.
“Because they are associated with the case too. It would be best if you three are unreachable.”
“So, Hawaii isn’t connected to the rest of the world? I think the Hawaiians would be more pissed about your comments than some stupid haole tourist made.” she asked.
He ignored her question. “And, there’s that house I rented for us during the wedding crap—”
“Oh, how I love to hear my husband say our wedding was crap,” Jillian said in the background. The amusement in her voice had Maura smiling.
“Now you did it, Conner. And I’m not helping you with Jillian.”
He grunted and Maura imagined that Jillian had plopped down on his lap. It was something that she did on a regular basis.
“I don’t need help with Jillian. I can handle her all on my own.”
The tone in his voice left little to figure out just what he was talking about.
“Ugh, ew. I am going to bleach my brain after that image suggestion.”
He chuckled. “It’s your fault. You sent me over here.”
“Okay, moving onto other things, you said you had the house that you rented?”
“Yes. I found out someone backed out of the week’s rent for it, and I jumped on it. Use the jet.”
She wanted to argue with him, just for the fact that she didn’t want to be with the two men while they were together. Zeke and she had mutually decided he could not give her what she needed, so they had split. It was hard enough working together, but seeing him with his old lover Rory, knowing the two of them were living together now, was a little too much to take. Worse, she was attracted to both of the men. Having them in the same house, day in and day out, might just be the death of any sanity she had left.
Before she could talk to Conner about not inviting the guys, Zeke walked through her office door, and of course, Rory followed behind him.
“Has Conner talked to you about this trip?” she asked.
“No I haven’t,” Conner said on the phone.
“Trip?” Zeke asked, his brow furrowing.
“Let me talk to him,” Conner said.
“No. I’ll tell him.”
She didn’t need her brother sniffing out her mood with Zeke. Both men were relentless and they would badger her. At least in Hawaii, she could ignore them and enjoy the sunshine. Not to mention, a trip to Rough ‘n Ready would help.
“Maura—”
“Love you,” she said and hung up.
She took a second to gather her composure. Maura had found it best when confronted by the dual assault of having both Rory and Zeke in the room to be prepared. If she didn’t, her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. When she felt she was ready to address them and not drool on herself, she looked at them.
“He wants us to be in Hawaii when the trial starts.”
The men shared a glance. It irritated her on some level she didn’t completely understand. What was she thinking? Of course she understood. It made her feel small and petty but she seemed unable to move past it. She hated they knew each other so well a glance was all they needed to communicate. Worse, she hated being jealous of it. She was envious of their intimacy and their secrets. It would be bad enough if she was just hot for one of them, but both of them had her hot.
Both of them—and that was the problem.
She was definitely mental. What sane woman would be envious of two men who obviously have the hots for each other?
What made it even crappier were the dreams she had started having about both of them. It was disturbing her sleep and now disrupting her work. That was not good. Going to Hawaii was going to make it worse—unless she could find herself a Dom to play with while she was there. It might help her work out the demons that seemed to be chasing her for the last few months.
She glanced at Zeke and tried to keep her mind on the conversation. It was hard to do because the man was beyond gorgeous. What made him even more tempting was the fact that he didn’t see himself as attractive. His mother was Haitian and his father had been Irish, and both of them were easy to see in his character and his looks—not to mention his voice. His skin was dark brown, his eyes the color of milk chocolate and he had the body of a tough Irish fighter. All sculpted muscles and that stiff upper lip. Now that he had shaved his head and grown a goatee, he was even sexier. He was often times too serious, but maybe that is what appealed to her. He was hot and smart, two things that weren’t always easy to find.
“Maura?” he asked, those dangerous lips turning down.
She pushed those thoughts aside. Thinking about his lips wasn’t something she should do. Especially since Rory was now in the picture.
“As I said, he wants us there. It is kind of odd, but then, I can work on computer stuff there with no problem.”
“And you agree with it?” Zeke asked.
She didn’t really pay attention to the question. He had a baritone voice with that Irish lilt to it that just made her melt. She could remember hearing it first thing in the morning after their first night together.
“Uh, no. I would rather stay here because I have a load of work to do, but he wants us there. I will adjust. He’s using the lame excuse that he needs us there and he’s sending new hires for the upcoming Honolulu office here to be trained.”
“That’s actually a good idea,” Rory said.
She forced herself to look away from Zeke to Rory. An Irishman himself, Rory was what most people would call black Irish. Dark hair, blue eyes, and a lanky muscular build made him a treat for the eyes, and she had been dying for a bite. He was unconventional in every way. He had dyed some of his hair blond, probably just because he wanted to. The tats made him stand out even today when everyone seemed to be getting one. She had only seen glimpses of them because apparently, Rory liked to have his tats in naughty places.
He had a quick temper and she had often wondered if that is why he got into BDSM. Zeke had said when they were younger that Rory had learned to control it
.
They were opposites in a lot of ways. Zeke thought through everything. And, that is one of the reasons she had been sure he was a Dom. When she had found out he wasn’t, even after he tried to play a bit, she had been disappointed. But, apparently, that was Rory in some capacity—from the rumors she heard.
Zeke was good at looking at the positive things and making the best. Rory had a jaundiced view of life that she truly appreciated. The few times he had been around her without Zeke, his sarcastic comments had gotten a chuckle from her.
And sadly, she wanted them both. But they were apparently interested only in each other.
“So, he thinks we can’t protect you?” Rory asked with a sarcastic tone.
“I can protect myself, thank you very much,” she said watching him settle in the chair in front of her desk and then lift his feet to the edge. “Feet off, McAllister.”
Rory gave her a sweet smile, although there was nothing sweet behind it, and did as she ordered. She had a feeling he wasn’t accustomed to women telling him what to do.
Zeke ignored the byplay. He crossed his arms and looked down at her. “Did he hear something about the Alvarez family?” he asked. Of course, Zeke would think of the case first.
“No. But he just thinks it would be best if we were gone. And you know Conner. If he has decided we need to be gone, that’s the end of the discussion. He rented that house he had for the wedding.”
“That sounds like a brilliant plan,” Rory said. “Are we taking the jet?”
“Yes.”
Zeke opened his mouth to ask another question but she had too much to worry about. And she needed them out of her office right now. The combination of sexy men was starting to give her the vapors.
“Call Conner and ask him anything. I am assuming we are leaving tomorrow morning. Can you boys be ready by then?”
“I’ve been ready for months, love,” Rory said with one of those cute lopsided smiles that made her insides quiver. But she ignored it. Or pretended to. He had been saying things like that the last few weeks and completely confusing her. It was as if he was flirting with her and she didn’t get it. She didn’t have the time to even think about it.
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